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BEGINNINGS  OF  LITERARY  CULTURE 


OHIO   VALLEY 


HISTORICAL    AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


BY 

W.  H.  VENABLE,  LLD. 

Author  of  "A   School    History  of  the   United    States,"    "  Foot-prints   of  the   Pioneers, 
"June  on  the  Miami,"  "Melodies  of  the  Heart,"  "The  Teacher's  Dream,"  etc. 


CINCINNATI 

ROBERT     CLARKE     &     CO. 

1891 


Copyright,  1891, 
By  W.   H.  VENABLE. 


PREFACE. 


More  than  twenty  years  ago,  in  preparing  for  publica- 
tion a  series  of  articles  on  the  libraries  of  Cincinnati,  the 
writer  had  occasion  to  glance  through  a  good  many  books 
of  western  origin,  and  to  examine  files  of  the  earliest 
newspapers  and  magazines  issued  in  the  Central  States. 
This  incidental  rummage  through  the  alcoves  of  a  dozen 
dusty  libraries  led  to  further  investigation,  and  awakened 
curiosity  to  study  the  intellectual  agencies  which  created 
the  first  literary  institutions  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  Various 
items  of  information  concerning  local  writers  and  writ- 
ings, from  print  and  manuscript,  and  from  the  stored 
memory  of  persons  acquainted  with  the  general  subject, 
furnished  a  stock  of  material  which  seemed  worth  pre- 
serving. A  certain  historical  value  attaches  to  memoranda 
derived  from  interviews  with  literary  veterans  whose  minds 
are  rich  in  authentic  reminiscences  of 

"  The  days  when  we  were  pioneers." 

Data  obtained  from  the  sources  mentioned  supplied  the 
substance  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  Western  Poets  and 
Poetry,  delivered  in  College  Hall,  Cincinnati,  in  the  win- 
ter of  1881,  and  afibrded  topics  for  occasional  contribu- 
tions to  the  Commercial  Gazette,  the  Magazine  of  Western 
History,  and  the  Ohio  Historical  and  Archaeological  Quar- 
terly, in  the  years  1886-7.  Portions  of  the  lectures  and 
published  sketches  alluded  to  are  reproduced  in  this  vol- 

(iii) 

989496 


iv  Preface, 

ume,  in  revised  form,  and  with  much  additional  matter, 
never  before  in  print. 

The  discursive,  and  even  desultory  character  of  the 
present  book — its  defects  as  to  arrangement,  proportion, 
and  unity,  will  be  pardoned,  in  consideration  of  the  fact 
that  the  work  was  not  fore-planned,  not  a  regularly  de- 
veloped essay  or  treatise,  but  a  repository  of  accumulated 
notes.  To  condense,  classify,  and  connect  the  gathered 
fragments,  and  to  dispose  all  under  not  unsuitable  head- 
ings, so  as  to  produce  a  convenient  reference  book,  has 
been  the  unambitious  endeavor  of  the  author.  It  was  at 
the  urgent  advice  of  several  gentlemen  prominent  in  let- 
ters, and  interested  in  preserving  for  historical  and  literary 
purposes  such  ana  as  these  pages  record,  that  the  decis- 
ion was  made  to  put  forth,  in  book  form,  the  chapters 
here  collected  under  the  title  Beginnings  of  Literar}^  Cul- 
ture in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Though  not  confined  strictly  to  the  history  of  hegin- 
fiingSy  this  imperfect  survey  of  the  cultural  elements  of 
early  western  society  is  concerned,  in  the  main,  with  per- 
sons and  events  belonging  to  the  period  closed  by  the 
Civil  War.  As  a  rule,  the  biographical  parts  of  the  nar- 
rative relate  to  the  dead ;  but  exceptions  are  made  in  the 
case  of  many  noted  men  and  women,  yet  living,  who 
achieved  reputation  before  the  year  1860.  Brief  mention 
of  numerous  living  writers  will  be  found,  usually  in  foot- 
notes, in  the  chapter  on  Early  Periodical  Literature,  which 
deals  with  years  quite  recent. 

Doubtless  there  will  be  missed  from  the  index  names 
that  should  have  appeared,  but  no  invidious  discrimina- 
tion is  intended.  The  contents  of  this  volume,  far  from 
exhausting  the  subjects  discussed,  are  merely  suggestive. 
These  gleanings  show  only  specimen  sheaves,  not  a  com- 


Preface.  v 

plete  harvest.  The  collector  gathered  most  of  his  mate- 
rial from  the  sources  nearest  at  hand,  not  having  had 
leisure  or  opportunity  to  examine,  with  equal  care,  all 
parts  of  the  wide  field  indicated  by  the  title  of  the  book. 
Whatever  is  wanting  to  complete  it,  this  contribution  to 
the  history  of  early  culture  in  the  Ohio  country  is  offered 
as  a  report  of  progress. 

The  author  is  indebted  to  a  number  of  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, who,  in  several  ways,  have  aided  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  book.  Special  acknowledgment  is  made  to 
Col.  Reuben  T.  Durrett,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  for  much  in- 
formation in  regard  to  literary  matters  in  Kentucky  ;  to 
Mr.  Henry  Cauthorn,  of  Yincennes,  Ind.,  who  contributed 
an  entire  chapter  on  the  literary  beginnings  of  Indiana ; 
to  William  D.  Gallagher,  whose  cyclopediac  knowledge  of 
western  writers  extends  over  a  period  of  three-quarters 
of  a  century ;  to  Mr.  Robert  W.  Steele,  of  Dayton,  O.,  in 
whom  courtesy  and  public  spirit  unite  to  help  every  good 
cause;  and  to  Mr.  Robert  Clarke,  of  Cincinnati,  without 
whose  cordial  feeling  toward  ventures  of  the  kind,  this 
volume  would  not  have  been  issued.  Thanks  are  due, 
also,  for  the  loan  of  books  and  manuscripts,  or  for  letters 
of  information,  or  other  polite  favor  relating  to  this  pub- 
lication, to  Mr.  A.  C.  Quiseuberry,  Lexington,  Ky.;  Hon. 
Harvey  Rice,  Cleveland,  0.;  Hon.  Horace  P.  Biddle,  Lo- 
gansport,  Ind.;  Mrs.  Mary  M.  Coggeshall,  Chicago,  III.; 
Mrs.  M.  E.  Meline,  Cincinnati;  Mrs.  Sarah  H.  Foote,  Cin- 
cinnati; Mrs.  E.  T.  Swiggert,  Morrow,  0.;  Mrs.  Alice  W. 
Brotherton,  Cincinnati ;  Hon.  Chas.  D.  Drake,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C;  Hon.  A.  H.  McGuffey,  Cincinnati;  Mr.  Wm. 
Anderson  Hall,  Cincinnati ;  Mrs.  Josephine  Foster,  Cin- 
cinnati ;  Mr.  Moncure  D.  Conway,  Brooklyn,  ]^.  Y.;  Mr. 
Nathan  Baker  and  family,  Cincinnati ;  Mr.  Emerson  Ben- 


vi  Preface, 

iicttj  Philadelphia;  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  Boston ; 
Rev.  R.  W.  Alger,  Boston ;  E.  C.  Z.  Judson,  New  York  ; 
Mr.  L.  A.  Hine,  Loveland,  0.;  Hon.  Wm.  Heary  Smith, 
New  York;  Prof.  Wm.  G.  Williams,  Cincinnati;  Dr.  Ly- 
man C.  Draper,  Madison,  Wis.;  Hon.  Benj.  S.  Parker,  New 
Castle,  Ind.;  Mr.  Jerome  B.  Howard,  Cincinnati ;  Mr.  Sam- 
uel Bernstein,  Cincinnati ;  Mr.  C.  T.  Webber,  Cincinnati ; 
Hon.  D.  Thew  Wright,  Cincinnati ;  Mr.  Jacob  P.  Dunn, 
Indianapolis,  Ind.;  Mr.  R.  G.  Lewis,  Chillicothe,  O.;  Mr. 
Drew  Sweet,  Waynesville,  0.;  Mr.  J.  L.  Smith,  Dana, 
Ind.;  Dr.  John  Clark  Ridpath,  Greencastle,  Ind.;  Mr.  I. 
H.  Julian,  San  Marcos,  Texas ;  Mr.  Alexander  Hill,  Cin- 
cinnati; Hon.  Will  Cumback,  Greencastle,  Ind.;  and  Miss 
Harriet  Edith  Venable,  Cincinnati.  Every  convenience 
in  library  privileges  was  obligingly  afforded  the  writer, 
by  Mr.  A.  W.  Whelpley,  of  the  Cincinnati  Public  Library ; 
Mr.  John  M.  Newton,  of  the  Young  Men's  Mercantile 
Library;  Mr.  R.  E.  Champion,  of  the  Ohio  Mechanics' 
Institute ;  and  by  the  officers  of  the  Ohio  Historical  and 
Philosophical  Society. 

Cincinnati,  May  18, 1891. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists. 

Carlyle  to  Emerson  on  certain  Quaint  Books— Bossu's  Travels— Bar- 
tram's  Travels — Abundance  of  Literature  concerning  the  Central 
States — Character  and  Influence  of  this  Literature — Books  on 
the  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  by  French 
Travelers — John  G.  Shea's  translations  of  these — First  Accounts 
of  the  Ohio  Valley— Christopher  Gist  and  George  Croghan  Ex- 
plore Ohio  in  1750-1 — Major  George  Washington's  Journal — 
Boone  Explores  Kentucky  in  1769 — John  Filson,  and  his  History 
of  Kentucky — Captain  Gilbert  Imlay,  and  his  Account  of  the 
West  in  1792— Henry  Toulmin— Travels  of  Isaac  Weld— Weld's 
Description  of  the  People  of  the  Backwoods — Baily's  Journal — 
The  Travels  of  Michaux — Of  Yolney — "  The  Infamous  Ashe  " — 
The  Travels  of  H.  M.  Brackenridge— Of  Thaddeus  Mason  Har- 
ris—Of Christian  Schultz— Of  Timothy  Flint— Of  John  Brad- 
bury— Bradbury's  Interview  with  Boone,  in  Missouri — Books  of 
Travel  by  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Cuming,  Stoddard,  Harding,  Dana 
and  Long — Morris  Birkbeck's  English  Settlement  in  Illinois — 
Thomas  Nuttall's  Voyage  down  the  Ohio — A  Frolic — A  Corn- 
husking — Louisville  in  1821 — "  Silence  and  Gloomy  Solitude  " — 
H.  R.  Schoolcraft's  Travels— Along  the  Wabash  in  1821— 
Albion — Harmony — Bullock's  Journey — First  Historians  and 
Histories  of  the  Ohio  Valley— Humphrey  Marshall's  Kentucky 
— Butler's  Kentucky — Collins's  History — Haywood's  Books  on 
Tennessee — First  Historical  Sketches  of  Ohio — Nahum  Ward's 
Rare  Pamphlet — Salmon  P.  Chase's  Preliminary  Sketch — His- 
torical Labors  of  Caleb  Atwater,  Jacob  Burnet,  Henry  Howe, 
and  S.  P.  Hildreth — Historians  of  Indiana — John  B.  Dillon — 
Judge  Law — 0.  H.  Smith's  Reminiscences  —Early  Annals  of 
Illinois — The  Writings  of  Birkbeck,  Dr.  Peck,  Henry  Brown, 
Governor  Reynolds,  and  Governor  Ford — Extracts  from  Rey- 
nolds's Pioneer  History — Historical  Services  of  Judge  James 
Hall — Compendiums  of  Western  History  by  Timothy  Flint, 
James  H.  Perkins,  Dr.  Monette,  and  Others — Patterson's  His- 
tory of  the  Backwoods — Doddridge's  Notes — Withers's  Chroni- 
cles— Sketches  by  John  A.   McClung,  John   McDonald,  and 

(vii) 


viii  Contents. 

James  McBride — Books  of  Early  Travel  and  History  as  Literary 
Material  for  the  coming  Historian,  Novelist,  and  Poet 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Pioneer  Prbss  and  Its  Product— Book  Making— Book  Selling. 

The  First  Printing  in  America— The  Pittsburg  Gazette— John  Scull 
— First  Book  Printed  West  of  the  Alleghanies— First  Press  in 
Kentucky— John  Bradford  — The  Kentucky  Gazette— Other 
Kentucky  Newspapers— The  Public  Advertiser — The  Focus — 
The  Louisville  Journal — The  Centinel  of  the  North-western 
Territory — The  Western  Spy — Other  Newspapers  in  Ohio — The 
Early  Press  of  Indiana  and  Illinois— First  Paper  Mills  in  the 
West— Early  Book  Printing  in  the  Ohio  Valley— First  Books 
Made  in  Kentucky — First  Books  Made  in  Ohio — Beginning  of 
the  Book  Trade — First  Book-shops  in  the  West — The  Book  Busi- 
ness in  Cincinnati — Some  Veteran  Publishers — Sketch  of  U.  P. 
James 36 

CHAPTER  III. 

Early  Periodical  Literature  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  Medley,  1803— Hunt's  Western  Review,  1819— The  Cincinnati 
Literary  Gazette,  1824— Flint's  Western  Monthly  Review,  1827— 
Hall's  Western  Magazine,  1832— The  Western  Messenger,  1835— 
The  Hesperian,  1837— Moore's  Western  Lady's  Book,  1850— 
The  Parlor  Magazine,  1853— L.  A.  Hine's  Periodicals— The 
Western  Literary  Journal,  1844— The  Quarterly  Journal  and 
Review,  1846— The  Herald  of  Truth,  1847— The  Indies'  Repos- 
itory, 1841— The  Genius  of  the  West,  1857— Conway's  Dial, 
1860— List  of  Periodicals  Published  in  the  Ohio  Valley  from 
1803  to  1860 58 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Libra  RIBS —The  Historical  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Ohio. 

Libraries  of  Kentucky— Transylvania  Library— Georgetown  Li- 
brary—Danville Library— The  Old  Lexington  Library— The 
first  Library  in  Ix)ui8ville— Private  Libraries— The  Durrett 
Collection— Rare  Books— First  Libraries  in  Ohio— The  Putnam 
Family  Library— The  Belpre  Library— History  of  Putnam 
Library  by  Dr.  I.  W.  Andrews— The  Cincinnati  Library— The 
Coon-Skin  Lil)rary  at  Ames— The  Cincinnati  Circulating  Li- 
brary—First Library  in  Dayton,  O.— Historical  and  Philosophi- 
cal Society  of  Ohio— Its  Charter  Members— Early  Publications 
of— Transfer  from  Columbus  to  Cincinnati— I/etter  from  J.  Sulli- 
vant— Growth  of  the  Library— Removals  of  the  Society— The 
New  England  Society— Present  Condition  of  the  Historical  Li- 
brary    129 


Contents.f  ix 

CHAPTER  V. 

Backwoods  Colleges,  Schools,  and  Teachers. 

Jefferson's  Educational  Doctrines— Influence  of  "  Notes  on  Vir- 
ginia"— Founding  of  Lexington,  Ky. — John  McKinney  and 
the  Wild  Cat  — Another  Schoolmaster  John — The  Virginia 
School  Act  of  1780— Transylvania  Seminary — Kentucky  Acad- 
emy— Transylvania  University— A  Distinguished  Faculty — Dr. 
Horace  HoUey — Dr.  Charles  Caldwell— Prof.  Rafinesque — Dr. 
Joseph  Buchanan — The  College  Library — The  Literary  Society 
Alumni — The  First  Seat  ui  Culture  in  the  West— "Athens"  and 
"Tyre  " — New  England  comes  to  Ohio — The  Ordinance  of  1787 
Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler— His  Labors  in  Behalf  of  Education — 
Ohio  University  Founded — Thomas  Ewing — Other  Graduates — 
Miami  University — Its  Alumni — Dr.  R.  H.  Bishop — Prof.  R.  H. 
Bishop — Lancaster  Seminary — Cincinnati  College — Dr.  W.  H. 
McGufFey — Other  Early  Colleges  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illi- 
nois— The  Course  of  Study— The  Golden  Age  of  Academies — 
First  Schools  in  Ohio— The  Classics  in  the  Woods— First  School 
House  in  the  North-west — Pioneer  Schools  in  Cincinnati — New- 
port Academy— Francis  Glass— Pioneer  Pedagogues — Getting 
up  a  School — Whisky  and  Tobacco — The  School  in  Operation — 
Character  of  Early  School  Books— The  Three  R's— School-book 
Authorship— Publishers— A  Dream  of  "  Dillworth  "—Cadmus 
Conquers 161 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  the  Clash  of  Creeds. 

"  My  Church  "—The  Jesuit  Missionaries— The  French  Catholics  in 
Illinois  and  Indiana — The  Moravians  in  Ohio — Heckewelder — 
Zeisberger- First  Preachers  in  the  Ohio  Valley— The  Baptists  in 
Kentucky — Lewis  Craig — Presbyterians — Catholics— The  First 
Church  in  Marietta— Cutler— His  Liberality— Rev.  Daniel 
Story — Divine  Service  in  Military  Form — Putnam's  "Two 
Horned"  Church— The  Baptists  in  the  Miami  Purchase — 
Founding  of  the  First  Church  in  Cincinnati — Rev.  David  Rice — 
Rev.  James  Kemper — Church  Troubles— Rev.  Joshua  R.  Wil- 
son and  Son — War  of  Sects — Heresy  and  Infidelity — Origin  of 
the  Camp-meeting — "The  Great  Awakening" — Revivals  of 
1826-7-8-9— Barton  W.  Stone— The  Cane  Ridge  Meeting-house- 
New  Lights — Alexander  Campbell — The  Unitarian  Revival — 
Dr.  Flint— Lorenzo  Dow — "  Johnny  Appleseed  " — Dr.  Peck  in 
Illinois — His  Useful  Labors — Peter  Cartwright — Dr.  Bascom — 
Dr.  W.  H.  Raper— Dr.  Russell  Bigelow— Dr.  Lyman  Beecher — 
His  Battle  with  Dr.  Wilson— The  Proselyting  Spirit— "New 
Lights"  —  Campbell's  Work  —  Great  Debates  —  Campbell  v. 
Owen — Campbell  v.  Purcell— Campbell  v.   Rice — Rice  v.   Pin- 


X  Contents, 

gree— Owen  at  New  Harmony— Frances  Wright—The  Free  En- 
quirer—The "  Leatherwood  God  " 197 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Political  Oratory  and  Orators — The  Lecture. 

Fourth  of  July  Eloquence — Judge  Varnum  at  Marietta — Governor 
Bt.  Clair's  Response— Edward  Everett  at  Yellow  Springs  in 
1829— Toasts  and  Responses— A  Reception  to  Webster  in  1 833— 
Speeches  and  "Sentiments" — New  England  and  Ohio — The 
Golden  Age  of  Debating  Clubs— The  Danville,  Ky.,  Political  Club 
of  1786-90— The  People's  Lyceum— Education  by  thinking  on  the 
feet— Lincoln— The  Circuit  Court  a  School— "  Every  Man  a 
Politician  " — The  Horse-race  an  Intelleetual  Stimulus— Talking 
Politics  and  Theology — Party  Strife— The  Disgusted  French- 
man— The  Slavery  Agitation— Stump  Speaking— Clay's  Power — 
His  Speech  in  the  Senate  in  1842— Other  Kentucky  Orators- 
Tom  Corwin — Ewing  and  other  Ohio  Orators — Oratory  in  Indi- 
ana and  Illinois — Lincoln's  Eloquence — Douglass — The  Lecture 
'^^  ♦.form — Brilliant  Teachers  in  Colleges— Scientific  Lectures — 
Early  Lectures  in  Cincinnati— Stowe — Lectures  before  the  Mer- 
cantile Library  Association — John  Quincy  Adams's  last 
Speech— Dr.  Locke— O.  M.  Mitchel— List  of  Eastern  Lecturers 
in  the  year  1854 — List  of  Western  Lecturers 227 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Planting    of    Literary    Institutions    at    Vincennes,    Indiana — Li- 
braries, Schools,  and  the  Press. 

Canadian  and  Creole  Settlers— Bishop  Benedict  I.  Flaget^-Roman 
Catholic  Educational  Influences— Bishop  Brut^  — The  Source  of 
a  Celebrated  Address  by  Judge  Law — The  Oldest  Library  of  the 
North-west— St.  Francis  Xavier  Church— Old  Church  Records- 
William  Henry  Harrison,  first  Territorial  Governor — Francis 
Morgan  de  Vincenne— Fort  Sackville— Expedition  Against  the 
Chickasaw  Indians — Harrison's  Vincennes  Mansion — Distin- 
guished Legislators  and  Educators— The  Western  Sun— Elihu 
Stent—"  Thespian  Society  " — Vincennes  University— Prominent 
Lawyers— Bar  Association—"  Vincennes  Historical  and  Anti- 
quarian Society  "—George  Rogers  Clarke— Vincennes  Library — 
Youth's  Library  of  Vincinnes— Working  Men's  Library- 
Township  Lil)raries— Agricultural  Society— Sy mines  Harrison — 
H  Benjamin  Pji-  t  Bible  Society — Physicians  and  Sur- 
1  geons — First  "  Society— St.  Gabriel  College— Organized 
l.v  I'ludi.^t    PrifhtH 264 


Contents.  xi 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-Writers. 

Aboriginal  Poetry — French  Wood-notes — Song  on  the  Ohio  Flat- 
boats — Negro  Melody — "  The  Eolian  Songster  " — Popular  Songs 
for  Stage  and  Parlor—"  Seat  of  the  Muses"— The  Verse  Market 
Overstocked  in  1824 — John  Filson  a  Rhymester — R.  J.  Meigs,  Jr., 
the  first  poet  in  Ohio — Byron  a  Favorite  in  the  West— English 
and  American  Poets  of  Seventy  Years  Ago — Percival — Char- 
acter of  Pioneer  Poetry — Classical  Aflfectation— Subjects  of 
Poems — "The  Mountain  Muse" — Firet  Anthology  of  AVestern 
Poetry— A  List  of  Poets— Coggeshall's  "  Poets  and  Poetry  of  the 
West"— Worth's  "American  Bards"— "The  Muse  of  Hes- 
peria  " — Thomas  Peirce  the  "  Horace  of  Cincinnati " — John  M. 
Harney — William  Wallace  Harney — Mrs.  Julia  Dumont — John 
Finley,  Author  of  "  The  Hoosier's  Nest  "— Otway  Curry— Har- 
vey D.  Little— G.  W.  Cutter— Wm.  Ross  Wallace— Mrs.  Frances 
D.  Gage — Sarah  T.  Bolton — Rebecca  S.  Nichols — Hon.  Harvey 
Rice — Theodore  O'Hara — General  AV.  H.  Lytle — Foreseythe 
Willson— Writers  of  Fiction — The  Ohio  a  Romantic  Stream — 
Themes  for  Story — "Modern  Chivalry" — The  First  AVestem 
Novel — Tales  and  Sketches  in  the  Cincinnati  Literary  Gazette, 
1824— In  the  "  AA'estern  Souvenir,"  1829-In  the  "Mirror"— 
In  Hall's  Magazine— Novels  of  F.  AA".  Thomas— Drake's  "Tales 
of  the  Queen  City,"  1839—"  Blood  and  Thunder  "  Serials— Em- 
erson Bennett — "  Ned  Buntline  " — Letter  from  Judson — Fos- 
dick's  "  Malmiztic,  the  Toltec  " — Alice  Gary's  Novels — Mrs. 
Warfield's  "  Household  of  Bouverie  " — Mrs.  Stowe's  Literary 
AVork  in  Ohio-"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  " 267 

CHAPTER  X. 

Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  the  Franklin  of  Cincinnati. 

The  Old  Kentucky  Home — Life  on  a  "Clearing" — Home  Manu- 
factures— Things  before  Words— Books  and  Schools— On  Horse- 
back to  "  Cin."— Peach  Grove— Dr.  AVilliam  Goforth— Drake's 
Marriage — His  First  Publication — "  Picture  of  Cincinnati  " — 
Rev.  Joshua  L.  AViison— The  Circulating  Library — School  of 
Literature  and  the  Arts — Drake  in  Philadelphia — Dr.  AA'istar — 
First  Soda-Fountain  in  the  AA^est — Drake  at  Lexington — Aled- 
ical  College  of  Ohio — A  Famous  Medical  Book — The  AA'estern 
Museum — Audubon  a  Curator — The  Infernal  Regions — Powers, 
the  Sculptor— Mrs.  Trollope — Drake  on  Prohibition — Vine 
Street  Reunions — The  Literary  Coterie  of  the  'Thirties — College 
of  Professional  Teachers — The  Buckeye  Dinner— A  Native 
Menu — Mrs.  Lee  Hentz — "  Drake's  Discourses  " — Destiny  of  the 
AA^est — AVritings  of  Drake— Death  and  Character 299 


xii  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Timothy    Fi.in  i    -ionakv,    <  iKoi.uAi'HKit,    P^ditor,    Novelist,    and 

Poet. 

The  Flint  Family  in  Salem,  Mass.— Timothy  Flint's  Birth,  Boyhood, 
and  Education— Whimsical  Reports  of  the  Far  West— Lunen- 
berg — Flint  Resolves  to  be  a  Missionary— Over  the  Mountains 
in  a  Coach — Pennsylvania  Wagons  and  Wagoners — A  Brother 
Clergyman — A  Shaggy  Drover  from  Mad  River,  Ohio — Pittsburg 
—Wrecked  on  Dead  Man's  Riffle— Afloat  in  a  Pirogue— River 
Scenery — Big  Sycamores — Marietta — General  Rufus  Putnam — 
A  Profane  Boatman — Cincinnati — General  AV.  H.  Harrison — 
In  the  Saddle— Lawrenceburg — A  Bear  in  the  Way — Vincen- 
nes — Vevay — Kentucky  in  1816 — Heaven  a  "Kaintuck  of  a 
Place"— "A  Preaching"  at  Frankfort— "  The  Athens  of  the 
West  "—Backwoods  "  Culture  "—Harry  Clay— The  Peach  Trees 
in  Bloom — All  Aboard  a  Keel-boat— Sunshine  and  Storm — Up 
the  Hills  to  Harrison's — Afloat  Once  More — Lawrenceburg — 
Shawneetown — Cairo  the  Wobegone — Up  the  Mississippi— A 
Half  Day  of  Bliss— The  Cordelle — Bushwhacking — Romance  of 
the  Night  Camp — River  Characters — The  Skulking  Shawnee — 
Ste.  Genevieve — Other  Old  French  Villages — St.  Louis— The 
Missionary  at  Work— Quarrelsome  Christians — A  Sojourn  on 
the  Arkansas  River — A  Dreadful  Summer — Pulpit  Versus  Bail- 
Room  and  Billiards — Up  Stream  Once  More— The  Extremity 
of  Affliction— A  Baby's  Lonely  Grave—"  Thy  Will  Be  Done  "— 
A  Learned  Lady — Earthquake  at  New  Madrid — Flint  at  Cape 
Girardeau — Fever  and  Ague — A  Winter  by  Pontchartrain — Be- 
comes President  of  Rapide  Seminary — Life  at  Alexandria,  La. — 
Tour  to  the  Sabine  Country — A  Twenty-Five-Hundred-Mile 
Journey— The  National  Road— Flint's  "Recollections"  Pub- 
lished— Residence  in  Cincinnati — The  Novel,  "  Francis  Ber- 
rean"— The  Western  Review— Hervieu,  the  Artist— His  Paint- 
ing of  Lafayette  Landing  at  Cincinnati— Hiram  Powers— A 
School  of  Fine  Arts — Mrs.  Trollope  and  Family — Jose  Tosso — 
The  Bazaar— Flint's  Various  Books— Flint  Edits  the  "  Knicker- 
bocker " — He  Goes  to  Louisiana — Tornado  at  Natchez — Death 
of  Flint 323 

CHAPTER  XIL 

JuDOB  Jambs  Hall,  Soldier,  Jurist,  Author,  Editor. 

Jameft  Hall's  Literary  Kin— Rev.  John  Ewing,  D.D.— Mrs.  Sarah 
Hall— Her  Writings— James  Hall's  Brothers— The  Port  Folio- 
Hall's  Hchooling— Two  Years  in  a  Counting-house— Joins  the 
Army—"  The  Dandies  "—Becomes  a  Lieutenant— In  the  Battles 
of  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane— A  Cruise  to  Algiers— Studiee 
Law— Life  at  Pittsburg— The  Young  Man  Goes  West— From 


Contents,  xiii 

Pittsburg  to  Shawneetown— The  Deck  of  a  Keel-boat— Hall's 
"  Letters  from  the  AVest  "—Romantic  Life  in  Southern  Illinois 
—Pioneer  Lawyers— A  Den  of  Thieves— A  Bargain  with  a  Des- 
perado—Judge Hall's  First  Marriage— The  Posey  Family — 
"The  Illinois  Emigrant "—" The  Illinois  Magazine  "—" The 
Western  Souvenir  "— Morgan  Neville  —  Anecdote  by  Jose 
Tosso,  the  Violinist — The  Illinois  Magazine — The  AVestern 
Monthly  Magazine — Contributors — Hannah  F.  Gould — Caroline 
Lee  Hentz — Harriet  Beecher — The  Semicolon  Club — James 
Hall  versus  Lyman  Beecher — The  Catholic  Question — Hall  En- 
gages in  Banking — Various  Publications— Range  and  Character 
of  His  Writings — His  Best  Books — Style — His  Poetry — Marriage 
to  Louisa  Anderson  Alexander— Childreu—AVilliam  A.  Hall 
alias  "Timothy  Timid  " — Passage  from  Judge  Hall's  Address  on 
the  "  Dignity  of  Commerce  " 361 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

George  Dennison  Prentice,  Journalist,  Poet,  and  Wit. 

Prentice's  Childhood— His  Mother — His  Precocity — AVonderful 
Memory — Teaches  School — Goes  to  Brown  University — Taught 
by  Horace  Mann— Studies  Law — Edits  the  New  England  Re- 
view—Is Succeeded  by  John  G.  Whittier — Goes  to  Kentucky 
in  1830— Prentice's  Life  of  Clay— The  Soaring  Style— "  The 
Broken-Hearted,  a  Tale  " — Louisville  Journal  Founded — Per- 
sonal Editors— Prentice  and  Greeley — Hammond  and  Dawson — 
Shadrach  Penn — Prentice,  the  AVit— "  Prenticeana" — Brilliant 
Mots—"  The  Darling  of  the  Mob  "—The  Code  of  Honor— Tip- 
pecanoe— Know-Nothing  Party — Prentice  and  the  Civil  AVar — 
AVorship  of  Clay — Prentice  in  the  Lecture  Field — Mr.  Prentice's 
Wife  and  Sons — Major  Clarence  Prentice  and  President  Lin- 
coln— The  Veteran  Journalist  in  His  Sanctum — Last  Days  and 
Death — Tombs  in  Cave  Hill  Cemetery — Statue  of  Prentice — 
Disposition  and  Character — A  Patron  of  Literary  People — 
Writers  AVhom  He  Helped — Prentice  as  a  Poet — His  Poems 
Edited  by  J.  J.  Piatt — Sentimental  Diction — The  Substantive- 
Adjective  "  Eden  " — Prentice  like  Bryant — Prentice  a  Social 
Favorite— His  Tribute  to  His  AVife 386 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Edward  Deering  Mansfield,  Publicist  and  Author. 

Colonel  Jared  Mansfiekl — Marietta  in  1803 — Madame  Blennerhas- 
sett — To  Cincinnati  in  an  Ark— Cincinnati  in  1805 — Ludlow 
Station — First  Astronomical  Station  AA^est  of  the  Alleghanies — 
Mount  Comfort — E.  D.  Mansfield's  First  Books — His  Education 
at  Cheshire  Academy,  West  Point,  and  Princeton — Admitted  to 
the  Bar  in  1825 — Distinguished  Friends— Percival,  the  Poet — A 


xiv  Contents, 

Poet's  Description  of  Niagara— The  Young  Lawyer  Goes  West 
—The  Columbia  Street  Theater—"  Cincinnati  in  1826  "—Assists 
Benjamin  Drake  to  Edit  the  "  Chronicle  "—Marries  Miss  Mary 
Wallace  Peck— Goes  in  Partnership  with  O.  M.  Mitchel— 
Sketch  of  Mitchel's  Life— Mansfield  Embarks  in  Literature- 
Literary  Parties  at  Dr.  Drake's— The  Semicolon  Club— The 
Footes— Other  Members  of  the  Club— Mrs.  Stowe— Benjamin 
Drake — Nathan  Guilford— William  Greene— Cincinnati  Society 
in  1834 — Charles  Fenno  Hoffman— The  College  of  Profes- 
sional Teachers — Alexander  Kinmont— The  Common  Schools — 
George  Graham  —  Eminent  Educators  —  Mansfield's  Political 
Grammar — His  Addresses — Connection  with  Cincinnati  Col- 
lege— Edits  the  Railroad  Record — Edits  Cincinnati  Gazette — 
"A  Veteran  Observer" — Made  Commissioner  of  Statistics — His 
First  Meeting  with  Governor  Morton— Popularity  of  E.  D.  M. — 
His  Books— "  Personal  Memories" — Family  History — Second 
Marriage— Sons  and  Daughters — Home  at  Morrow,  Ohio — 
Death— Character 409 


CHAPTER  XV. 

William  Davis  Gallagher,  Poet,  Editor,  and  Government  Official. 

Birth  and  Parentage — The  Gallaghers  Move  to  Ohio — Settle  near 
Cincinnati — Sir  Woodworth's  School — A  Boy's  Pleasures— 
"  Billy  "  Goes  to  Clermont  County — His  few  Books — Goes  to 
the  Lancastrian  Seminary— Learns  to  Set  Type — "  The  Remem- 
brancer "—"  The  Western  Tiller"— "The  Emporium "—" The 
Commercial  Register" — "The  Western  Minerva" — Gallagher 
Visits  Kentucky — Is  Entertained  by  Mrs.  James  Taylor — Pays 
His  Respects  to  Clay  at  Ashland — Writes  for  the  "  Chronicle  " 
— Builds  a  House  for  His  Mother — Edits  the  "  Backwoodsman  " 
at  Xenia,  O. — First  Meeting  with  George  D.  Prentice — Marriage 
— Edits  the  "Mirror" — Makes  His  Maiden  Speech — Debating 
Societies— "The  Lyceum"— "The  Inquisition  "—"  The  Tags" 
—"The  Forty-twos" — Publishes  "Erato" — A  Handsome  Man 
-Hard  up— The  "  Western  Literary  Journal  "—The  "  Hesper- 
ian " — Assists  Hammond  on  the  Cincinnati  Gazette — Secretary 
of  the  Whig  Committee — Letters  to  Otway  Curry— A  New  Lit- 
erary Comet— Issues  "Selections  of  Western  Poetry"— A  Re- 
former—His Poems— Edits  the  "  Daily  Message  "—Made  Presi- 
tlent  of  the  Ohio  Historical  Society— Address  on  "  Progress  in 
the  North-west " — Becomes  Private  Secretary  to  Thomas  Corwin 
—Conveys  (Jold  from  New  York  to  New  Orleans— A  Storm- 
Anecdote  of  Corwin— Goes  to  Ix)uisville— Connection  with  the 
"  Courier  " — Quarrel  with  Prentice— A  Challenge— Rt'tires  from 
Journalism— Life  at  Pewee  Valley — Literary  Associations  with 
Kdwin  Bryant,  Noble  Butler,  Ross  Wallace,  Mrs.  Warfield,  and 
Others— Letter  from   Wallace  to  Gallagher— Delegate  to  the 


Contents.  xv 

Chicago  Convention — Carries  the  News  to  ''  Old  Abe  " — Threat- 
ened with  Violence  in  Kentucky — Becomea  Secretary  to  Salmon 
P.  Chase — Collector  of  Customs — Literary  Activity — Reputation 
as  a  Public  Official— Character  of  His  Poetry—"  Miami  Woods" 
— A  Pathetic  Story— Mr.  Gallagher's  Family — His  Serene  Old 
Age 436 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Amelia  B.  Welby. 

Amelia  Welby  and  Alice  Cary  Compared — Birthplace,  Parentage, 
and  Infancy  of  Amelia — Her  Childhood — A  Born  Singer — An 
Improvisatrice— The  Emotions  of  Sweet  Sixteen — Two  Girls — 
"When  Shines  the  Star" — Amelia  and  Prentice — A  Sudden 
Blossoming — Enter  George  Welby — Amelia's  Beauty  and  Bril- 
liancy— Ben  Cassidy's  Eulogy  of  Her — The  Poets  Worship 
Their  Queen— "Ah  !  Lovely  Shade  "—The  Apotheosis  of  Senti- 
mentalism — Mourning  for  Amelia  Dead — Threnodies — Popular- 
ity of  the  "  Poems  by  Amelia  " — Fourteen  Editions — What  Poe 
Wrote  of  Amelia — Character  of  her  Verses — Subjects  of  Her 
Poems — Specimens — The  "  Rainbow  "  Faded — A  Monument  in 
Cave  Hill  Cemetery 471 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Alice  Cary. 

Genealogy — Robert  Gary's  Home — The  New  House — An  x\ppari- 
tion — The  Shadow  of  Death — Alice  a  Romp — A  Country  Girl's 
Tasks — Studying  under  Difficulties — What  the  Girls  Read — 
First  Appearance  in  Print — Alice  Contributes  to  the  Star  in  the 
West — John  A.  Gurley — Phoebe's  Name  in  a  Boston  Paper — 
Letter  to  Lewis  J.  Cist — The  Sisters  Become  Acquainted  with 
L.  A.  Hine,  Emerson  Bennett,  and  Dr.  Gamaliel  Bailey — First 
Earnings  of  Alice — Praise  from  Poe — Help  from  Griswold — 
Horace  Greeley — The  Sisters  Visit  Whittier — Alice  Moves  to 
New  York  City — Publication  of  "Clovernook" — Letters  to 
Wm.  D.  Gallagher — A  Slave  of  the  Pen — Author  and  Editor — 
A  Merciless  Criticism — Coates  Kinney  Reviews  Alice  Cary's 
Poems — Alice  Cary  Buys  a  House — Distinguished  Guests — 
Bonner's  Liberality — Novels — The  Sorosis — A  Brave  Woman — 
Dissatisfied — Longing  for  the  West — In  Clover— A  Love  Story 
Remarks  on  Alice  Cary's  Poetry— Clovernook  Dedicated— The 
House  is  Haunted 482 


Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER  I.  ■'■'■ 

SOME  EARLY  TRAVELERS  AND  ANNAL'l'fea*S.' ^  ^     "'^  '^ 

In  a  letter  to  R.  W,  Emerson,  dated  July  8, 1851,  Thomas 
Oarlyle  wrote  as  follows :  "  I  lately  read  a  small  old  brown 
French  duodecimo,  which  I  m.ean  to  send  you  by  the  first 
chance  there  is.  The  writer  is  Capitaine  Bossu  •}  the  pro- 
duction, a  Journal  of  his  experiences  in  '  La  Louisiana,' 
'  Oyo  '  (Ohio),  and  those  regions,  which  looks  very  genuine, 
and  has  a  strange  interest  to  me,  like  some  fractional  Odys- 
sey or  letter.  Only  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  the  Mississippi 
has  changed  as  never  valley  did :  in  1751,  older  and  stranger, 
looked  at  from  its  present  date,  than  Balbec  or  Mneveh ! 
Say  what  we  will,  Jonathan  is  doing  miracles  (of  a  sort) 
under  the  sun  in  these  times  now  passing.  Do  you  know 
Bartram's  ^  Travels  f  This  is  of  the  Seventies  (1770)  or  so ; 
'treats  of  Florida  chiefly,  has  a  wondrous  kind  of  flounder- 
ing eloquence  in  it ;  and  has  also  grown  immeasurably  old. 
All  American  libraries  ought  to  provide  themselves  with 
that  kind  of  book;  and  keep  them  as  a  kind  of  future 
biblical  article." 


^  Nouveaux  Voyages  aux  Indes  Occidentales,  Contenant  une  Relation 
des  diffe rents  peuples  qui  habitent  les  environs  du  grande  fleuve  Saint 
Louis,  appelle  vulgairement  le  Mississippi;  leur  Religion;  leur  Gouv- 
ernement;  leurs  Guerres,  leur  Commerce.  Par  M.  Bossu,  Amsterdam, 
1768. 

=*  Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  East  and  West 
Florida,  the  Cherokee  Country,  the  Extensive  Territories  of  the  Musco- 
gulges,  or  Creek  Confederacy,  and  the  Country  of  the  Choctaws.  By 
William  Bartram.    Plates.    8vo.    London,  1792. 

(1) 


2  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Writing  a  month  later  to  the  same  appreciative  corre- 
spondent, the  great  Scotchman  said  :  "Along  with  the 
sheets  [of  the  life  of  Sterling]  was  a  poor  little  French  book 
for  you — Book  of  a  poor  Naval  Mississippi  Frenchman,  one 
*Bo88u/  I  think;  written  only  a  century  ago,  yet  w^hich 
already  seemed  old  as  the  Pyramids  in  reference  to  those 
strange,  fast-growing  countries.  I  read  it  as  a  kind  of  de- 
faced romance;  very  thin  and  lean,  but  all  truc^  and  very 
marye^QUpja^  such."  The  books  thus  strikingly  character- 
jzp4.l>y'Q^J^ryl.e  represent  a  species  of  writings  constituting 
.thi  \^v  Jfajfjiid^ation  of  western  literature. 

The  archives  of  the  Central  Mississippi  Valley  are  rich 
in  records  of  discovery,  exploration,  adventure,  and  early 
scientific  observation.  The  journals  and  memoranda  of 
those  who,  from  sight  or  hearsay,  gave  report  of  the  In- 
dian country  before  it  was  reclaimed  for  the  uses  of  civil- 
ization, show,  as  it  were,  the  dark  theater  of  history,  ere 
yet  the  curtain  had  risen  on  the  great  play  of  State-making. 
How  like  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,  fall  upon  the 
mind^s  ear,  the  relations  of  Marquette  and  the  other  orig- 
inal explorers  of  the  interior  of  the  continent.  When  we 
read  the  strange  travels  of  Spaniard,  Frenchman,  or  En- 
glishman, in  old  Florida  or  Louisiana,  in  the  years  of  the 
rivalry  of  Europe's  leading  nations  for  supremacy  in  the 
New  World,  we  seem  to  realize  the  beginning  of  the  be- 
ginnings. We  stand  on  prehistoric  ground,  and  wait  the 
genesis  of  a  people.  We  see  the  red- tribes  begin  to  re- 
treat westward,  fighting  as  they  yield;  and  w^e  behold  the 
slow  coming-in,  from  east,  and  south,  and  north,  of  the 
hunter,  the  chopper,  the  trader,  the  maker  of  farm  and 
town.  In  dingy-paged  volumes  of  old  books  we  learn 
what  manner  of  men  and  women  were  those  who  first 
set  foot  in  the  western  forest,  and  dared  the  bloody  game 
of  Life-or-Death  with  the  savages. 

The  beginnings  of  culture  in  the  west  were  dependent 
on  what  was  said  about  the  country  and  the  settlers. 
Many  of  the  first  books  relating  to  the  frontier  were  writ- 
ten by  outsiders,  sojourners,  whose  motive  was  to  tell  the 
Old  World  what  the  New  was  like.     These  books  infiu- 


Som.e  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  3 

eiicecl  migration,  and  made  no  slight  impression  on  the 
minds  of  the  pioneers.  Narratives  of  travel,  and  sketches 
of  backwoods'  trial  and  adventure,  naturally  became  the 
favorite  reading  matter  of  the  log-cabin.  The  character 
of  the  families  that  had  gone  west  to  grow  up  with  the 
country,  was  shaped  by  this  kind  of  primitive  literature. 

As  settlement  proceeded,  and  society  became  organized, 
the  settlers  themselves  took  occasion  to  employ  the  goose- 
quill,  in  the  way  of  chronicle  and  description,  and  thus 
arose  a  rude  indigenous  literature.  The  writers  were 
jealous  of  the  reputation  of  their  adopted  backwoods,  and 
wrote  with  provincial  zeal.  The  opinions  of  foreign 
travelers  came  to  be  quite  generally  read  and  discussed; 
especially  the  reports  of  the  more  critical  tourists.  The 
uncomplimentary  account  of  the  American  common  peo- 
ple, as  rendered  by  such  writers  as  Wald,  Ashe,  and  Basil 
Hall,  though  very  disagreeable  to  such  as  were  satirized  in 
the  harsh  pages,  formed  what  a  distinguished  editor  calls 
"  mighty  interesting  reading,"  and  no  doubt  had  a  whole- 
some effect,  as  did  afterward  the  bitter  medicines  adminis- 
tered by  Mrs.  TroUope,  Captain  Marry att,  and  Charles 
Dickens.  Of  more  importance  than  such  books  of  general 
travel  are  numerous  carefully  prepared  journals  of  sci- 
entific character,  giving  in  a  most  delightful  style  observa- 
tions on  the  archaeology  and  natural  history  of  the  new 
regions.  Bartram's  "  Travels,"  the  "  iiounderino^  elo- 
quence "  of  which  so  impressed  Carlyle,  belongs  to  the 
scientific  department  of  our  ancient  literature.  The 
Bartrams,  John,  born  1701,  and  William,  born  in  1739, 
w^ere  Pennsylvanians,  and  both  eminent  in  botany.  The 
*'  Travels "  of  William  Bartram  w^as  first  published  in 
Philadelphia,  in  1791.  Coleridge  honored  it  with  his 
praise,  calling  it  "  a  work  of  high  merit  every  way." 

Travels,  anticipating  by  nearly  a  century  those  of 
Bossu,  were  undertaken  by  his  countrymen,  the  French 
explorers  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  Sev- 
enteenth century.  Who  that  has  read  can  ever  forget 
the  vivid  and  intensely  dramatic  "  relations"  of  those  de- 
voted actors  in  the  romantic  drama  of  discovery  and  con- 


4  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

quest:  Marquette,  Allouez,  Membre,  Hennepin,  Anastase 
Douay,  Cavelier,  St.  Cosme,  Le  Sueur,  Gravier,  and  Guignas, 
covering  a  period  of  fifty-live  years,  from  1673  to  1728. 
These  heroic  Jesuits  tell  the  simple,  but  absorbing,  story 
of  a  half  century's  endeavor  to  learn  the  mystery  of  the 
mighty  Mississippi,  and  the  shifting  "  nations  "  that  dwelt 
along  its  shores.  As  one  pursues  the  marvelous  con- 
tinued tale,  more  strange  than  fiction,  he  floats  along  un- 
known waters  in  a  bark  canoe  ;  sees  the  herded  buftaloes 
feeding  on  the  shore;  meets  thronging  savages  in  lodge 
or  wild- woods,  and  smokes  the  calumet  of  peace  ;  visits 
rude  temples  of  the  sun-god;  joins  with  the  gentle 
messengers  of  a  new  religion  as  they  erect  the  cross  of 
Christ  in  the  shadow  of  the  forest  and  sing  the  holy  mass 
to  the  naked  chiefs  who  wonder  the  more  the  less  they 
comprehend.  The  labors  of  the  indefatigable  John  Gil- 
mary  Shea^  have  put  within  every  reader's  reach  the 
complete  series  of  narratives  in  clear  translation,  giving 
the  French  accounts  of  the  discovery  and  exploration  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  early  voyages  up  and  down  that  mag- 
nificent stream.  These  "  relations  "  draw  a  sort  of  irregu- 
lar line  of  uncertain  history  along  the  region  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  down  the  Mississippi,  and  out  through  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  The  early  voyageurs  kept  close  to  the  water- 
courses. They  had  acquaintance  with  the  Wisconsin,  the 
Illinois,  and  some  other  aflluents  of  the  Mississippi,  but, 
for  the  most  part,  their  knowledge  of  the  tributaries  of 
the  great  stream  was  confined  to  what  they  could  see  in 
passing  the  mouths  of  the  inflowing  rivers,  or  what  they 
could  learn  by  inquiry  of  the  Indians.  But  the  time  was 
soon  to  come  when,  ascending  the  Ohio,  and  every  other 
stream  that  finds  its  way  to  the  Father  of  Waters,  the 

'  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  With  the 
Original  Narratives  of  Marquette,  Allouez,  Membre,  Hennepin,  and 
Anastase  Douay.  By  John  Gilmary  Shea.  8vo.  pp.  268.  New  York, 
1852. 

Early  Voyages  up  and  down  the  Mississippi,  by  Chevalier,  St.  Cosme, 
Le  Sueur,  Gravier,  and  Guignas.  With  Introduction,  Notes,  and  an  In- 
dex.   By  John  Gilmary  Shea.    4to.  pp.  191.    Albany,  1861. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  5 

French  canoe  should  penetrate  the  mystery  of  the  inland, 
and  bring  back  authentic  information  of  what  the  Indian, 
the  Spaniard,  the  Saxon  were  doing  or  planning  in  the 
region  between  the  Gulf  and  the  Lakes,  between  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Appalachians.  French  settlements 
were  soon  to  be  made  in  Southern  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
and  Gaul  was  to  gain  a  foothold  in  the  western  part  of 
the  Ohio  Valley  three-quarters  of  a  century  before  the 
first  English  settlements  were  made  at  the  head-waters 
of  la  belle  riviere.  What  La  Salle  may  have  said  or 
thought  of  the  "  Fair  River,"  which  he  discovered  two 
centuries  and  a  quarter  ago,  is  left  to  conjecture.  But 
we  possess  definite  information  concerning  the  impressions 
of  many  explorer's  who  spied  out  the  Ohio  and  its  basin 
in  the  eighteenth  century.  Christopher  Gist,  agent  and 
surveyor  for  the  Ohio  Company  of  Virginia,  made  a 
venturesome  trip  to  the  West  in  the  year  1750-1.  From 
his  southern  home,  on  the  Yadkin,  this  wood-wise  scout 
and  shrewd  reader  of  Indian  character  wended  his  way  to 
Logstown,  an  Indian  village  on  the  Ohio  a  few  miles  be- 
low the  fork  of  the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela,  and  pro- 
ceeded thence,  in  company  with  George  Croghan,^  of 
Pennsylvania,  across  what  is  now  the  state  of  Ohio.  The 
explorers  examined  and  admired  portions  of  the  rich 
valleys  of  the  Muskingum,  the  Scioto,  and  the  Miamis. 
"First  of  white  men  on  record,"  says  Bancroft,  "they 
saw  that  the  land  beyond  the  Scioto,  except  the  first 
twenty  miles,  is  rich  and  level,  bearing  walnut  trees  of 
huge  size,  the  maple,  the  wild  cherry,  and  the  ash ;  full  of 
little  streams  and  rivulets ;  variegated  by  beautiful  natural 
prairies,  covered  with  wild  rye,  blue  grass,  and  white 
clover.  Turkeys  abounded,  and  deer,  and  elks,  and  most 
sorts  of  game;  of  buftaloes,  thirty  or  forty  were  frequently 
seen   feeding   in    one   meadow."      The   Indian   town    of 


^Journal  of  Colonel  George  Croghan,  who  was  sent,  after  the  Peace  of 
1763,  by  the  government  to  explore  the  Country  adjacent  to  the  Ohio 
River,  and  to  conciliate  the  Indian  Nations  who  had  hitherto  acted  with 
the  French.     Small  4to,  pp.  38.     Burlington,  N.  J. 


6  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Piqua,  on  the  Big  Miami,  had  a  population  of  about  four 
hundred  families.  From  Piqua,  Gist  took  his  departure, 
alone,  at  the  beginning  of  March,  1751,  and  passed  south- 
ward through  the  grassy  valleys  of  the  Miamis,  in  which 
wild  herds  grazed ;  and,  reaching  the  Ohio,  followed  down 
that  stream  to  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  Falls.  As  the 
old  sea-captain,  Othere,  is  said  to  have  carried  with  him, 
from  the  North  Cape,  a  walrus-tooth,  to  show  King  Alfred, 
in  verification  of  his  discovery,  so  Christopher  Gist  took 
with  him  from  Kentucky  -the  tooth  of  a  mammoth,  to 
astonish  his  Virginia  employers  with  a  specimen  curiosity 
of  the  West. 

The  name  of  Gist  is  immortalized  by  its  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  that  of  Washington,  whose  guide  and  comrade 
he  was  on  the  memorable  expedition^  sent  by  Governor 
Dinwiddle  to  Forts  Venango  and  Le  Boeuf,  in  the  year  1753. 
The  journal  of  Major  George  Washington,  giving  in  crude 
but  clear  English,  the  official  report  of  his  forty-seven  days' 
doings,  from  the  time  he  set  out  from  Williamsburgh  to  his 
return  thitheis  detailing  the  particulars  of  his  interviews 
with  the  French  officers  in  Pennsylvania,  is  one  of  the 
rarest  and  most  interesting  bits  of  Americana.  The  diary 
proper  contains  only  twenty  pages,  ordinary  octavo  size, 
but  every  word  tells.  Surely  this  little  book,  the  first 
fruits  of  Washington's  pen,  produced  when  the  hero  was 
but  a  youth,  deserves  to  be  kept  as  a  "  kind  of  biblical 
article."  The  Robinson  Crusoe-like  adventures  which  it 
relates,  of  the  Virginia  Major  and  his  man  Friday,  Mr. 
Gist,  ought  to  render  the  story  a  boy-classic.  Tied  up 
in  their  "  match  coats,"  with  gun  in  hand  and  pack  on 
shoulders,  the  two  men  tread  the  dangerous  woods ;  they 
pass  "  the  murdering-town  ;"  Washington  is  shot  at  by  an 
Indian  who  lay  in  wait  for  him  ;  in  order  to  cross  the  freez- 
ing Allegheny,  they  set  about  making  a  raft,  "  with  but  one 

*  The  Journal  of  Major  George  Washington,  sent  by.  Hon.  Robert  Din- 
widdle to  the  Commandant  of  the  French  Forces  on  Ohio.  To  which  are 
added  the  Governor's  Ix'tter.  and  a  Translation  of  the  French  Oihcer's 
answer.  8vo.  pp.  32.  Map.  Williamsburgh,  printed.  London,  reprinted 
1754. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists,  7 

poor  hatchet,"  and  the  task  requires  a  whole  day's  work ; 
they  finally  launch  the  raft,  but  are  "jammed  in  the  ice  " 
in  a  most  dangerous  manner,  and  they  expect  to  perish. 
"  I  put  out  my  setting  Pole  to  try  to  stop  the  Eaft,  that 
the  Ice  might  pass  by ;  when  the  Rapidity  of  the  Stream 
threw  it  with  so  much  violence  against  the  Pole,  that  it 
jerked  me  out  into  ten  feet  of  Water;  But  I  fortunately 
saved  myself  by  catching  hold  of  one  of  the  Raft  Logs." 

The  incidental  visit  of  Washino:ton  to  the  border  of  white 
settlement,  on  the  eve  of  the  great  contest  of  the  English 
with  the  French  and  Indians,  marks  the  commencement 
of  mighty  changes.  Imagination  pictures  the  resolute 
young  American,  who  was  to  become  the  Father  of  his 
Country,  as,  bestriding  his  Virginia  steed,  he  surveyed  the 
land  at  the  confluence  of  the  Allegheny  .and  Monongahela. 
rivers,  building  a  fort,  and  perhaps  a  city,  in  his  mind. 
"  I  spent  some  time,"  he  wrote, "  in  viewing  the  River,  and 
the  Land  in  the  Fork:  which  I  think  extremely  well  sit- 
uated for  a  Fort."  Might  not  a  sculptor  make  something 
striking  of  that? — Young  Washington,  on  Jiorseback,  at 
the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio,  looking  westward ! 

On  the  second  of  January,  1754,  Washington,  then  at 
Frazier's  settlement  on  the  Monongahela,  saw  "  seven- 
teen horses  loaded  with  materials  and  stores  for  a  Fort  at 
the  Forks  of  Ohio,"  and  the  day  after,  "  some  families 
going  out  to  settle."  Those  families  going  west  to  settle 
were  of  the  pioneer  van.  The  Saxon  foot  had  begun  its 
tramp  into  the  backwoods. 

Boone  made  his  first  exploration  in  Kentucky  in  1769 ; 
and  white  settlements  were  established  in  Western  Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  before  the  breaking  oat 
of  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  is  estimated  that  in  the 
year  1784,  thirty  thousand  people  moved  into  Kentucky. 
In  that  same  year,  and  as  if  born  of  the  impulse  of  the 
active  time,  came  into  existence  the  first  historical  sketch 
of  Kentucky. 

Seven  years  before  the  publication  of  Bartram's  Travels^ 
there  was  issued  from  the  press  Filson's  "Kentucky,"  a 
Volume  which  has  now  become  such  a  rare  curiosity  that 


8  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

I  here  trascribe  the  complete  title.  "  The  Discovery.  Set- 
tlement, and  Present  State  of  Kentucky ;  and  an  Essay 
towards  the  Topography  and  Natural  History  of  that  Im- 
portant Country;  by  John  Filson.  To  which  is  added  an 
Appendix  containing:  I.  The  Adventures  of  Col.  Daniel 
Boone,  one  of  the  First  Settlers,  comprehending  every  im- 
portant Occurrence  in  the  Political  History  of  that  Province. 
II.  The  Minutes  of  the  Piaukashaw  Council,  held  at  Post  St. 
Vincent's,  April  15, 1784.  HI.  An  Account  of  the  Indian 
Nations  inhabiting  within  the  Limits  of  the  Thirteen  United 
States;  their  Manners  and  Customs;  and  Keflections  on 
their  Origin.  lY.  The  Stages  and  Distances  between 
Philadelphia  and  the  Falls  of  Ohio ;  from  Pittsburg  to 
Pensacola,  and  several  other  Places.  The  whole  illus- 
trated by  a  new  and  accurate  Map  of  Kentucky,  and  the 
Country  adjoining,  drawn  from  actual  surveys.  Wilming- 
ton, printed  by  John  Adams,  1784." 

Very  few  copies  of  Filson's  book  and  map  are  in  exist- 
ence, and  a  single  copy  of  the  work  has  been  sold  for  as 
much  as  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  Next  to  noth- 
ing had  been  published,  or  was  generally  known  about 
Filson,  until  quite  recently,  when  Colonel  R.  T.  Durrett^ 
gathered  together  the  scanty  memorials  of  the  romantic 
pioneer,  and  gave  them  to  the  world  in  a  small  volume^ 
put  forth  by  the  Filson  Club,  Louisville.  From  this  vol- 
ume (which  contains  a  weird  and  shadowy  portrait  of  John 
Filson)  we  learn  that  he  was  born  near  the  Brandywine, 
Pennsylvania,  about  the  year  1747,  and  that  he  canic'  to 
Kentucky,  probably  in  1783,  being,  then,  perhaps,  thirty- 
six  years  old.     He  formed  the  acquaintance  ot,  and  col- 


*  RonV>on  Thomas  Durrett,  lawyer,  editor,  and  aullH.r.  horn  in  Ilcnry 
county,  K.ntucky,  January  22,  1824,  founder  of  tli.-  lils-.n  (lul,.  lives 
in  I/<>uisvilli*.  He  possesses  the  finest  historic:!  1  lil.i;n\  in  Krntutky. 
A  cornHponflent  of  the  New  York  Tribune  descrilx  s  (  olonri  l>nn(ti  ;w 
a'Mull.  uliit(-licanl.-<l,  l.Iuc-cyc.l  man,  witli  tin-  \\vm\  oi  Longfellow 
and  thr  inaiin.Ts  ..f  Sir  Ko;,n,'r  dc  ("owrly." 

'.If.lm  1  il-(.ii.  tlir  l-'irst  Historian  of  Kcntnck.w  An  A.vmuh;  .,i"  His 
Life  uu<I  WritiM--.  i»rincipally  from  Original  Sonrc.  s.  I'l-.pan.i  lor  ihe 
FilBOnChil..  l.y  UruhruT.  Durrett.     Ix)ui8vilK' an.i  Ciiuinnati.  Is-i.      , 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  9 

lected  iuformatioii  from,  Daniel  Boone,  Levi  Todd,  James 
Harrod,  Christopher  Greenup,  John  Cowen,  William  Ken- 
nedy, and  other  pioneers.  The  adventures  of  Boone  were 
related  by  that  hero  directly  to  the  enterprising  school- 
master, speculator,  and  verse-maker,  Filson,  who  pub- 
lished them,  and  who  is  therefore  not  only  the  first  his- 
torian of  Kentucky,  but  the  original  biographer  of  the 
typical  backswoodsman  of  literature.  The  narrative  of 
Filson  furnished  the  basis  of  Bryan's  "  Mountain  Muse," 
one  of  the  early  attempts  to  put  Western  scenery  and 
pioneer  romance  into  verse.  Having  prepared  his  manu- 
script and  map,  the  author  returned  to  the  East  and  had 
them  published.  The  next  year  he  turned  his  face  west- 
ward, and  proceeded  from  his  home  to  Pittsburg  in  a  Jer- 
sey wagon,  and  thence  in  a  flat-boat  down  the  Ohio,  to 
the  mouth  of  Beargrass  Creek,  where  Louisville  now  is. 
The  entire  journey  consumed  two  months,  from  April  25, 
to  June  27,  1785. 

In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  Filson  went  in  a  canoe 
to  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  and  walked  back  through 
the  woods  to  Beargrass.  This  journey  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  he  repeated  in  the  autumn,  the  object  of 
both  excursions  being  to  collect  materials  for  a  history 
of  the  Illinois  country.  On  the  first  day  of  June,  1786,  he 
set  out  from  Yincennes  for  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  in  a 
"perogue,"  accompanied  by  three  men.  The  party  was 
attacked  by  Indians,  and  compelled  to  land  and  take  to  the 
woods  for  safety.  Filson,  after  many  perils  and  sufierings, 
found  his  way  back  to  Yincennes,  exhausted  by  famine  and 
sore  with  wounds.  After  this  adventure,  he  returned  safe 
to  Kentucky,  and  again  traveled  over  the  long  road  to 
Philadelphia  on  horseback.  In  1787  he  once  more  appeared 
in  the  land  of  Boone,  and  advertised  proposals  in  the  Ken- 
tucky Gazette  to  start  a  classical  academy  in  Lexington,  the 
sylvan  "Athens  of  the  West."  The  project  seems  not  to 
have  been  realized ;  but  Filson  was  fertile  in  expedients, 
and  soon  he  engaged  in  the  important  enterprise  which 
fixed  his  name  in  history.  In  August,  1788,  he  went  into 
partnership  with  Mathias  Denman  and  Robert  Patterson 


10  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

in  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Ohio  River,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking,  on  which 
it  was  proposed  to  lay  out  tlie  town  of  Losantiville,  now 
Cincinnati.  Filson  invented  the  name  Losantiville,  which 
has  been  much  ridiculed,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
word  Cincinnati,  which  is  either  a  genitive  singular  or  a 
nominative  plural,  is  not  as  absurd  as  the  euphonious 
name  compounded  by  the  Lexington  schoolmaster.  Filson, 
who  was  a  surveyor,  marked  out  a  road  from  Lexington 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Licking,  and,  with  his  partners,  ar- 
rived at  the  site  of  their  town  in  September,  and  began 
to  lay  out  streets,  at  least  on  paper.  One  of  these  was  to 
be  called  Filson  Avenue,  but  the  name  was  changed  to 
Plum  street  after  Filson's  tragic  disappearance  from  the 
stage  of  affairs.  The  circumstances  of  his  exit  are  shrouded 
in  mystery.  The  supposition  is  that  he  fell  a  victim  to 
the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  of  some  prowling  sav- 
age. All  that  we  know  is  he  set  out  alone  to  explore  the 
solitudes  of  the  Big  Miami  woods,  and  was  seen  no  more 
by  his  white  comrades.  Kor  was  any  trace  of  his  body 
ever  found. 

I  pass  from  the  story  of  Filson  to  that  of  another 
traveler  and  writer  who,  in  some  sense,  took  up  the  his- 
torical and  romantic  role  which  Filson  had  ceased  to  play. 
Gilbert  Imlay,  a  Captain  in  the  American  army,  and  com- 
missioner for  laying  out  lands  in  the  back  settlements, 
published,  in  the  year  1792,  a  remarkably  complete  and 
entertaining  book^  on  Kentucky  and  the  West.  It  was 
written  in  the  form  of  a  series  of  letters,  and  first  appeared 
from  a  London  press.  This  Captain  Imlay  was  the  man 
whose  scandalous  relation  with  Mary  WoUstonecroft  and 
cruel  abandonment  of  her  once  made  a  considerable  excite- 
ment in  the  world.  He  met  Miss  WoUstonecroft  in 
France  some  time  in  1792,  and  the  two  formed  a  free- 
love  alliance  which  Imlay  broke,  thereby  causing  the  lady 
to  attempt  suicide.     She  afterward  became  the  wife  of 

*  A  Topographical  Description  of  the  Western  Territory  of  North 
America,  Containing  an  Account  of  its  Climate,  Population,  Manners, 
and  CustoniH,  etc.     By  Captain  (liibort  Imlay.    London,  1792. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  11 

William  Goodwiu,  by  whom  she  had  a  daughter  who 
married  the  poet  Shelley.  Imhiy  was  the  author  of  a 
novel  entitled  "  The  Emigrants,"  which  appeared  in  three 
volumes,  in  1793. 

To  the  second  edition  of  Imlay's  "America,"  1793,  was 
appended  John  Filson's  "  Kentucky."  The  work  was  fur- 
nished with  several  useful  maps.  A  third  edition,  much 
enlarged,  was  published  in  1797.  This  contains :  "  Obser- 
vations on  the  Ancient  Works,"  by  Jonathan  Heart ; 
^'  Description  of  Louisiana  and  West  Florida,"  by  Thomas 
Hutchins;  Patrick  Kennedy's  "Journal  up  the  Illinois 
River,"  "  Description  of  the  State  of  Tenasee,  1796,"  etc. 
Several  of  the  chapters  deal  in  general  historical  facts 
collected  from  other  books.  The  writer  dwells  with 
prolix  comment,  on  the  American  theory  and  form  of 
government,  and  on  systems  of  polity,  religion,  and  so- 
ciety, evidently  regarding  himself  as  an  authority  in 
statesmanship  and  philosophy.  His  social  views  arc  ex- 
tremely radical,  and  he  indulges  in  divers  rhapsodical 
flights  on  liberty,  equality,  fraternity,  and  millennial  per- 
fection. 

The  interest  of  Imlay's  book  to  readers  of  the  present 
day  consists  in  his  descriptions  of  Kentucky,  its  products 
and  people,  as  he  saw  them  a  hundred  years  ago.  It  is 
pleasant,  for  instance,  to  read  what  he  wrote  of  the  cane- 
brakes  that  once  covered  many  parts  of  the  Ohio  Valley, 
and  which  were  of  value  as  fodder.  "  The  cane,"  he  says, 
""  is  a  reed  that  grows  to  the  height  frequently  of  ten  or 
twelve  feet,  and  it  is  in  thickness  from  th6  size  of  a  goose- 
quill  to  that  of  two  inches  in  diameter.  When  it  is 
slender,  it  never  grows  higher  than  from  four  to  seven 
feet ;  it  shoots  up  in  one  summer,  but  produces  no  leaves 
until  the  following  year.  It  is  an  evergreen,  and  is,  per- 
haps, the  most  nourishing  food  for  cattle  upon  earth,  ^o 
other  milk  or  butter  has  such  flavor  and  richness  as  that 
which  is  produced  from  cows  which  feed  upon  cane. 
Horses  which  feed  upon  it  work  nearly  as  well  as  if  they 
were  fed  upon  corn." 

The   Captain's  style  is   often  picturesque   and  vivid, 


12  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

but  8omc  of  his  delineations  of  primitive  customs  in  Ken- 
tucky are  probably  toiulicd  with  the  hues  of  fancy.  The 
following  idylic  paragraphs  might  have  been  written  of 
Arcadia : 

"  The  season  of  sugar  making  occupies  the  Avomen 
whose  mornings  are  cheered  by  the  modulated  buifoonery 
of  the  mocking-bird,  the  tuneful  song  of  the  thrush,  and 
the  gaudy  plumage  of  the  paroquet.  Festive  mirth 
crowns  the  evening.  The  business  of  the  day  being  over, 
the  men  join  the  women  in  the  sugar  groves  where  en- 
chantment seems  to  dwell.  The  lofty  trees  wave  their 
spreading  branches  over  a  green  turf,  on  w^iose  soft  down 
the  mildness  of  the  evening  invites  the  neighboring  youth 
to  sportive  play;  while  our  rural  Xestors,  with  calcu- 
lating minds,  contemplate  the  boyish  gambols  of  a  grow- 
ing progeny ;  they  recount  the  exploits  of  their  early  age, 
and,  in  their  enthusiasm,  forget  there  are  such  things  as 
decrepitude  and  misery.  Perhaps  a  convivial  song  or  a 
pleasant  narrative  closes  the  scene. 

"  Rational  pleasures  meliorate  the  soul  ;  and  it  is  by 
familiarizing  man  with  uncontaminated  felicity  that  sordid 
avarice  and  vicioiis  habits  are  to  be  destroyed. 

"  Gardening  and  tishing  constitute  some  part  of  the 
amusements  of  both  sexes.  Flowers  and  their  genera 
form  one  of  the  studies  of  our  ladies;  and  the  embellish- 
ment of  their  houses  with  those  which  are  known  to  be 
salutary  constitute  a  part  of  their  employment.  Domestic 
cares  and  music  fill  up  the  remaincK'r  of  the  day,  and 
social  visits,  without  ceremony  or  form,  leave  them  with- 
out ennui  or  disgust.  Our  young  men  are  too  gallant  to 
peiMnit  the  wonicii  to  liavo  separate  amusements;  and 
thus  it  is  that  we  lind  that  suavity  and  politeness  of  man- 
ners universal,  which  can  only  be  effected  by  female 
polish. 

**  The  autumn  and  winter  produce  not  less  pleasure. 
Evening  visits  mostly  end  with  dancing  by  the  young 
people,  while  the  more  aged  indulge  their  hilarity,  or 
disseminate  information  in  the  disquisition  of  politics,  or 
some  useful  art  or  science. 


Some  Eaiiy  Travelers  and  Annalists.  13 

"  Such  are  the  aniusemeiits  of  this  country,  which  have 
for  their  hasis  hospitality,  and  all  the  variety  of  good 
things  which  a  luxuriant  soil  is  capahle  of  producing 
W'ithout  the  alloy  of  that  distress  of  misery  which  is  pro- 
duced from  penury  or  want.  Malt  liquor,  and  spirits  dis- 
tilled from  corn  and  the  juice  of  the  sugar  tree,  mixed 
with  water,  constitute  the  ordinary  beverage  of  the  coun- 
try. Wine  is  too  dear  to  be  drank  prodigally ;  but  that 
is  a  fortunate  circumstance,  as  it  will  be  an  additional 
spur  to  us  to  cultivate  the  vine." 

Enough  and  perhaps  too  much  of  Captain  Imlay's'rosy* 
rhetoric.  Let  us  tarn  from  the  perusal  of  his  pages  to 
the  less  florid  volumes  of  his  cotemporary,  Henry  Toul- 
min  ^  (born,  1767  ;  died,  1823) ;  another  historiographer  of 
Kentucky.  He  was  an  Englishman,  a  disciple  and  fol- 
lower of  Joseph  Priestly.  Migrating  to  Kentucky,  he 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  public  aftairs  of  the  young 
state.  For  a  time  Toulmin  was  president  of  Transylvania 
University,  at  Lexington ;  and  he  afterward  became  Sec- 
retary of  State.  A  collection  of  the  acts  of  the  Kentucky 
Legislature,  by  him,  w^as  published  at  Frankfort  in  1802. 
His  "  Description  of  Kentucky,"  and  "  Thoughts  on  Emi- 
gration," both  published  in  London,  in  1792,  were  valu- 
able in  their  day  in  spreading  knowledge  of  the  West, 
and  inducing  immigration. 

In  the  years  1795-6-7,  Isaac  Weld,  Junior,  a  young 
Irishman,  of  Dublin,  made  a  journey  through  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  an  account  of  which,  as  a  collection 
of  letters,  was  published  in  1797.  This  volume,^  though 
written  in  a  captious  spirit,  gives  the  reader  a  very 
definite  if  not  very  flattering  running  description  of 
American  life  in  the  later  days  of  Washington.  The 
author's  bitter  and  contemptuous  comments  on  what  he 


'  A  Description  of  Kentucky  in  North  America,  to  which  are  prefixed 
Miscellaneous  Observations  respecting  the  United  States.  Map,  8vo. 
Printed  in  November,  1792, 

2  Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America,  and  the  Provinces  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  in  1795-97.  By  Isaac  Weld.  Maps  and 
plates.    4to,  pp,  464,     London,  1799, 


14  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

considered  the  rudeness  and  vulgarity  of  the  lower  orders 
of  society  were  much  resented  by  the  newspapers  of  the 
period.  In  the  last  sentence  of  his  pettishly  scornful 
book,  Weld  says  :  "  I  shall  speedily  take  my  departure 
from  this  continent,  well  pleased  at  having  seen  so  much 
of  it  as  I  have  done;  but  I  shall  leave  it  without  a  sigh, 
and  without  entertaining  the  slightest  wish  to  revisit  it.'^ 
The  narrative  relates  chiefly  to  the  Atlantic  States  and 
Canada,  though  it  contains  lively  descriptions  of  Niagara, 
Lake  Erie  and  Detroit.  The  map  which  accompanies  the 
book,  showing  the  United  States  as  far  south  as  Florida 
and  as  far  west  as  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  river,  indi- 
cates the  location  of  but  two  towns  in  Kentucky,  Lexing- 
ton and  Lewistown,  and  only  one  in  the  "  Western  Terri- 
tory," namely.  Marietta.  The  point  farthest  west  which 
Mr.  Weld  reached  in  his  Virginia  explorations  was  the 
town  of  Fincastle.  Speaking  of  the  "great  road,  running 
north  and  south  behind  the  Blue  mountains,  and  which  is 
the  high  road  from  the  [N'orthern  States  to  Kentucky,"  the 
traveler  gives  the  following  bit  of  personal  observation 
and  experience  :  "As  I  passed  along  this  road,  I  met  with 
great  numbers  of  people  from  Kentucky  and  the  new 
State  of  Tennessee,  going  toward  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more, and  with  many  others  going  in  the  contrary  direc- 
tion, *  to  explore,'  as  they  call  it,  that  is,  to  search  for 
lands  conveniently  situated  for  new  settlements  in  the 
western  country.  These  people  all  travel  on  horseback, 
with  pistols  or  swords,  and  a  large  blanket  folded  up  un- 
der their  saddle,  which  last  they  use  for  sleeping  in  when 
obliged  to  pass  the  night  in  the  woods.  There  is  but  little 
occasion  for  arms  now  that  peace  has  been  made  with  the 
Indians ;  but  formerly  it  used  to  be  a  very  serious  under- 
taking to  go  by  this  route  to  Kentucky,  and  travelers 
were  always  obliged  to  go  forty  or  fifty  in  a  party,  and 
well  prepared  for  defense.  It  would  be  still  dangerous 
for  any  person  to  venture  singly;  but  if  five  or  six  travel 
together  they  are  perfectly  secure.  There  are  liouses  now 
scattered  along  nearly  the  whole  way  from  Fincastle  to 
Lexington  in  Kentucky,  so  that  it  is   not   necessary  to 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Anrtalists.  15 

sleep  more  than  two  or  three  nights  in  the  woods  in  going 
there.  Of  all  the  uncouth  human  beings  I  met  with  in 
America,  these  people  from  the  western  country  were  the 
most  so;  their  curiosity  was  boundless.  Frequently  have 
I  been  stopped  abruptly  by  some  of  them  in  a  solitary 
part  of  the  road,  and  in  such  a  manner  that,  had  it  been 
in  another  countr}^  I  should  have  imagined  that  it  w^as  a 
highw^ayman  that  was  going  to  demand  my  purse,  and 
without  any  farther  preface,  asked  where  I.  came  from  ? 
if  I  was  acquainted  wdth  any  news?  w^here  bound  to?  and 
finally,  my  name  ?  '  Stop,  mister  !  Why  I  guess  now  you 
be  coming  from  the  new  state?'  '  ^o,  sir.'  '  Why  then  I 
guess  as  how  you  be  coming  from  Kentuc'  '^o,  sir.' 
'  Oh !  Why  then,  now,  where  might  you  be  coming 
from?'  'From  the  low  country.'  '  Why  you  must  have 
heard  all  the  news  then  ;  now,  mister,  what  might  the 
price  of  bacon  be  in  those  parts?'  '  Upon  my  word,  my 
friend,  I  can't  inform  you.'  'Aye,  aye  ;  I  see,  mister,  you 
be'n't  one  of  us ;  now,  mister,  what  might  your  name  be?' 
A  stranger  going  the  same  way  is  sure  of  having  the  com- 
pany of  these  worthy  people,  so  desirous  of  information, 
as  far  as  the  next  tavern,  w4iere  he  is  seldom  suiFered  to 
remain  for  live  minutes,  till  he  is  again  assailed  by  a  fresh 
set  of  the  same  questions." 

Another  entertaining  book  of  travel  is  the  Journal  of 
Francis  Baily,^  who  made  a  toar  down  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi in  1796-7. 

The  celebrated  naturalist,  F.  A.  Michaux,  who,  clad  in 
a  suit  made  of  the  skins  of  wild  animals,  traversed  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  collecting  materials  for  his  "  History  of 
American  Oaks,"  also  published  a  book^  of  travels.  The 
descriptions  which  he  gave  of  the  West,  and  of  his  expe- 

^  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  Unsettled  Parts  of  North  America  in  179(>-7. 
(Down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  back  to  Knoxville,  Tennessee.) 
By  Brands  Baily.     8vo,  pp.  439.     London,  1856. 

2  Travels  to  the  Westward  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  in  the  States 
of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  and  return  to  Charleston  through 
the  Upper  Carolinas.     London,  1804. 


16  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

riences  of  log-cabin  life  and  woodland  adventure,  are  well 
worth  reading. 

Not  less  entertaining  and  more  general  in  its  scope  was 
a  book  of  travels  by  the  French  savant,  C.  F.  Yolney 
(1757-1820),  a  translation^  of  which  appeared  in  1804,  and 
was  very  generally  circulated.     It  is  chiefly  geographical. 

There  was  published  in  1808,  a  book  ^  that  created  a 
sensation  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  particularly  in  Cincin- 
nati. This  was  a  pretentious  but  blundering  narrative  by 
Thomas  Ashe,  compiled  from  the  "  !N'avigator  "  and  other 
books,  with  orrginal  statements  based  on  insufficient  ob- 
servation, and^  not  a  few  downright  inventions  of  the  au- 
thor's fancy.  For  example,  the  Big  Miami  river  is  repre- 
sented as  flowing  out  of  Lake  Erie.  Ashe  went  under  the 
assumed  name  of  D'Arville,  and  introduced  himself  by 
forged  letters  to  leading  citizens  of  the  West.  We  are 
told  by  an  early  western  writer  that  this  imposter  "  be- 
guiled the  late  learned,  ingenious,  and  excellent  Dr.  Go- 
forth  of  his  immense  collection  of  mammoth  bones,  and 
made  a  fortune  of  them,  and  of  his  book,  in  London." 
E.  D.  Mansfield  brands  Ashe  as  the  "  first  to  discover  that 
a  book  abusing  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  be 
profitable  by  its  popularity."  Daniel  Drake,  whose  pre- 
ceptor was  the  deluded  Goforth,  mentions  Ashe,  alias 
D'Arville,  as  that  "  swindling  Englishman ;"  but  the 
favorite  appellation  by  which  indignant  Cincinnatians  ad- 
vertised the  ofiending  bone-stealer  w^as  "  the  infamous 
Ashe."     The  London  Quarterly  Review  said  of  Ashe  and 

»  View  of  the  Climate  and  Soil  of  the  United  States  of  America,  with 
Remarks  on  Florida.    By  C.  F.  Volney.    London,  1804. 

Volney  was  known  to  many  readers  from  his  celebrated  book  "  The 
Ruins,"  which  was  published  in  1791. 

'  Travels  in  America  performed  in  1806,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring 
the  Rivers  Allegheny,  Monongahela,  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  ascer- 
taining the  Produce  and  Condition  of  their  Banks  and  Vicinity.  By 
Thomas  Ashe.    3  vols.,  18mo.    London,  1808. 

Also,  Memoirs  of  Mammoth  and  various  other  Extraordinary  and 
Stupendous  Bones  found  in  the  Vicinity  of  the  Ohio,  Wabash,  Illinois, 
MissiBBippi  and  other  Rivers.  By  Thomas  Ashe.  Plate.  8vo.  Liver- 
pool, 1806. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  17 

f 
his  "  Travels  :"  "  He  has  spoiled  a  good  book  by  engraft- 
ing incredible  stories  on  authentic  facts." 

II.  M.  Brackenridge's  Recollections^  of  a  journey  from 
Pittsburg  to  St.  Genevieve  in  1792 ;  Rev.  Thaddeus  Mason 
Harris's  accouat^  of  his  tour  from  Boston  to  Marietta  in 
1803  ;  Christian  Schultz's  diary ,^  detailing  the  particulars 
of  a  journey  from  Kew  York  city  to  the  West  and  South 
in  the  years  1807-8;  and,  above  all,  Timothy  Flint's  story* 
of  his  travels  in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi, 
begun  in  1815,  hold  the  reader's  attention,  with  all  the 
excitement  of  romance,  and  more  than  the  interest  of  any 
fiction.* 

An  exceedingly  delightful  book  of  its  class  is  Brad- 
bury's "  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  America,"^  a  racy,  off- 
hand, and  manifestly  true  report  of  the  author's  personal 
observation  of  nature  and  man  in  the  wilder  parts  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  in  the  years  1809,  '10,  '11.  John  Brad- 
bury, an  English  botanist,  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1809,  and  having  consulted  Thomas  Jefferson  concerning 
the  best  field  for  his  scientific  labors,  decided  to  make  St. 
Louis  his  head-quarters.     He  ascended  the  Missouri,  made 


^  Recollections  of  Persons  and  Places  in  the  West.  By  H.  M.  Brack- 
enridge.     12mo,  pp.  331.    Philadelphia,  1868. 

^  The  Journal  of  a  Tour  into  the  Territory  northwest  of  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains,  with  a  Geographical  and  Historical  Account  of  the 
State  of  Ohio.  By  Thaddeus  Mason  Harris.  With  five  maps.  8vo,  pp. 
271.     Boston,  1805. 

^  Travels  on  an  Inland  Voyage  through  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  etc.,  in  1807-8.  By 
Christian  Schultz.  Portrait,  maps,  and  plates.  2  vols.,  8vo,  pp.  207-224. 
New  York,  1810. 

*  Eecollections  of  the  last  Ten  Years,  passed  in  occasional  Residences 
and  Journeyings  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  from  Pittsburg  and 
the  Missouri  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  By  Timothy  Flint.  8vo,  pp.  395. 
Boston,  1826. 

^  For  a  synopsis  of  these  entertaining  books,  see  Venable's  Footprints 
of  the  Pioneers  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

®  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  America  in  the  Years  1809-10-11,  includ- 
ing a  Description  of  Upper  Louisiana,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Ten- 
nessee, with  the  Illinois  and  Western  Territories.     By  John  Bradbury. 
8vo.    Liverpool,  1817. 
2 


18  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

collections  of  i»lants  and  minerals,  studied  the  habits  and 
language  of  the  Indians,  and  prepared  an  excellent  gen- 
eral description  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  His  book  is  entirely 
original,  a  transcript  of  daily  doings  and  seeings,  written 
in  simple  but  pittorial  style,  with  that  golden  medium  of 
skill  in  detailing  particulars  which  gratifies  but  never 
cloys  the  reader.  The  diary  pleasantly  talks  of  natural 
scenery;  of  plants,  birds,  beasts;  of  Indians,  S[)aniards, 
French  and  P]nglish  men.  Isow  we  have  a  lively  descrip- 
tion of  a  bear  hunt,  then  of  a  bee  tree;  now  an  account 
of  a  buitalo  herd,  then  of  a  rattlesnake  den.  We  are  told 
how  beaver  meat  tastes,  and  how  to  make  bread  of  corn 
meal  and  pounded  persimmons.  We  see  the  Indians 
dance  and  hear  them  sing;  we  enter  the  smoky  wigwams, 
and  sympathize  with  Mr.  Bradbury  in  his  embarassed  at- 
tempts to  escape  the  tender  advances  of  squalid  squaws. 

One  reads  with  curious  interest  that,  on  the  morning  of 
January  17, 1810,  while  proceeding  up  the  Missouri  river 
in  a  boat,  Bradbury  saw,  standing  on  the  shore,  near  the. 
French  village  of  Charette,  an  old  man,  "  Daniel  Boone, 
the  discoverer  of  Kentucky."  "As  I  had  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction to  him,  from  his  nephew  Colonel  Grant,  I  went 
ashore  to  speak  to  him,  and  requested  that  the  boat  might 
go  on,  as  I  intended  to  walk  until  evening.  I  remained 
some  time  in  conversation  with  him.  He  informed  me 
that  he  was  eighty-four  years  of  age ;  that  he  had  spent 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  alone  in  the  back 
woods,  and  had  lately  returned  from  his  spring  hunt,  with 
nearly  sixty  beaver  skins." 

The  several  volumes  of  exploration,  travel,  or  history, 
by  Lewis  and  Clarke,^  Cuming,^  Pike,  Stoddard,^  Hard- 

*  Sketches  of  a  Tour  to  the  Western  Country,  throu^^h  the  States  of 
Ohio  an<l  Kentucky;  a  Voyage  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers, 
and  a  Trip  though  the  Mississippi  Territory  and  Part  of  West  Florida. 
By  F.  Cuming.     KJino,  pp.  504.    Pittsburg,  1810. 

"  Sketches,  Historical  and  Descriptive,  of  Louisiana.  By  Amos  Stod- 
dard.   8vo,  pp.  488.    Philadelphia,  1812. 

•  The  results  of  the  expedition  of  Captuins  Merriwether  Ijewis  and 
William  Clarke  were  communicated  to  Congress  by  a  message  from  the 
President,  and  printed  by  the  government  in  an  octavo  volume  of  178 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  19 

ing,^  Dana,^  Loiig,^  and  others,  publislied  within  the  first 
quarter  of  the  Nineteenth  century,  though  not  all  treating 
of  the  Ohio  Valley,  furnished  much  information  bearing 
upon  common  interest,  and  were  widely  read  in  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  Their  influence  helped  to 
form  the  opinions  and  motives  of  the  people  of  the  Cen- 
tral West. 

In  the  year  1818,  Morris  Birkheck,  an  English  specu- 
lator who  founded  the  settlement  of  Albion,  in  Southern 
Illinois,  published  in  London  two  little  books,  ^'Letters 
from  Illinois,"  and  "  Xotes  on  a  Journey  in  America." 
These  very  agreeable  volumes  were,  in  purpose,  similar  to 
the  writings  Toulmin  had  produced  in  Kentucky,  thirty 
years  before.  They  were  designed  to  encourage  migra- 
tion from  Great  Britain  to  Illinois. 

Thomas  jSTuttall,  an  American  naturalist,  who  spent  tea 
or  twelve  years  traveling  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  for  scientific  purposes,  made  an  extensive  journey 
into  Arkansas,  in  1818-19.  A  journal  ^  of  his  travels  was 
published  in  1821.  The  second  and  third  chapters  of  this 
book,  giving  minute  particulars  of  the  author's  descent 


pages,  in  1806.  The  best  account  of  this  important  expedition,  how- 
ever, was  prepared  for  the  press  by  Paul  Allen,  and  published  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1814,  in  two  volumes,  8vo,  under  the  title  of  ''  History  of  the 
Expedition,  under  the  Command  of  Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke,  to  the 
Sources  of  the  Missouri,  thence  Across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  down 
the  River  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  performed  during  the  Years 
1804-5-6." 

1  A  Tour  through  the  Western  Country,  a.  d.  1818  and  1819.  By  Ben- 
jamin Harding.     8vo,  pp.  17.     New  London,  1819. 

^  Geographical  Sketches  on  the  Western  Country  ;  designed  for  Emi- 
grants and  Settlers,  being  the  Result  of  Extensive  Researches  and  Re- 
marks. Including  a  particular  Description  of  the  unsold  Public  Lands, 
etc.     By  E.  Dana.     16mo,  pp.  312.     Cincinnati,  1819. 

^  Account  of  an  Expedition  from  Pittsburgh  to  the  Rocky  Mountains 
in  1819-20.  Compiled  from  the  Notes  of  Major  Stephen  H,  Long  and 
others,  by  Edwin  James.  Colored  Illustrations.  3  vols.  8vo.  Lon- 
don, 1823. 

*  A  Journal  of  Travels  into  the  Arkansas  Territory  during  the  Year 
1819.  With  occasional  Observations  on  the  Manners  of  the  Aborigines. 
By  Thomas  Nuttall.  Map  and  engravings.  Svo,  pp.  296.  Philadel- 
phia, 1821. 


20  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

of  the  Ohio  river,  from  Pittsburg  to  the  Mississippi,  bear 
the  stamp  of  photographic  tidelity.  They  are  written  in 
a  style  somewhat  dry  and  crabbed,  but  never  dull.  The 
naturalist,  accompanied  by  a  young  man,  left  Pittsburg, 
October  i^l,  1^18,  in  a  skiff  which  he  purchased  for  six 
dollars.  On  the  night  of  the  22d  the  voyagers  landed 
about  two  miles  below  Beavertown,  and  went  to  a  tavern 
to  obtain  rest  and  shelter  for  the  night  which  was  cold. 
"  Finding  the  tavern  crowded  with  people  met  together 
for  merriment,"  says  the  journal,  "  we  retired  to  a  neigh- 
boring hovel.  Our  prospect  of  repose  was  soon,  however, 
banished,  as  our  cabin,  being  larger  than  the  tavern,  was 
selected  for  a  dancing  room,  and  here  we  were  obliged  to 
sit  as  waking  spectators  of  this  riot  till  after  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  The  whisky  bottle  was  brought  out  to 
keep  up  the  excitement,  and,  without  the  inconvenience 
and  delay  of  using  glasses,  was  passed  pretty  briskly  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  exempting  neither  age  nor  sex.  Some 
of  the  young  ladies  also  indulged  in  smoking  as  well  as 
drinking  drams."  According  to  ^N'uttall,  pretty  nearly 
every  body  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  white,  black,  or 
red,  was  devoted  to  the  spirit  of  corn.  That  distilled  on 
the  Monongahela  had  the  preference. 

On  the  evening  of  November  7th,  the  travelers  landed 
on  the  Kentucky  shore  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Sandy.  "  We  took  up  our  lodgings  where  there  happened 
to  be  a  corn  husking,  and  were  kept  awake  with  idle  mer- 
riment and  riot  till  past  midnight.  Some  of  the  party,  or 
rather  of  the  two  national  parties,  got  up  and  harangued 
to  a  judge,  like  so  many  lawyers,  on  some  political  argu- 
ment, and  other  topics,  in  a  boisterous  and  illiberal  style, 
but  without  coming  to  blows.  Is  this  a  relic  of  Indian 
customs  ?  " 

Arriving  at  Cincinnati,  Nuttall  went  to  see  his  friend 
Dr.  Drake,  whom  he  describes  as  "  one  of  the  most  scien- 
tific men  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains."  Descending 
the  river  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Swiss  towns  of  Ve- 
vay  and  Ghent,  the  traveler  lodged  with  a  polite  and  hos- 
pitable Frenchman,  with  whom  he  drank  some  sour  native 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  21 

wine,  costing  only  twenty-live  cents  a  bottle.  The  record 
in  the  diary  for  i^ovember  23d,  reads :  "  At  length  I  ar- 
rived at  the  large  and  flourishing  town  of  Louisville,  but 
recently  a  wilderness." 

Nuttall  was  detained  at  Louisville  until  December  7th, 
and  his  stay  there  gave  opportunity  to  observe  the  stir 
and  bustle  of  migrating  people  seeking  fortune  in  a  new 
country.  Our  traveler  reports  his  impressions  in  this  lan- 
guage :  "A  stranger  who  descends  the  Ohio  at  this  season 
of  emigration,  can  not  but  be  struck  with  the  jarring  vor- 
tex of  heterogeneous  population  amidst  which  he  is  em- 
barked, all  searching  for  some  better  country,  which  lies 
to  the  west  as  Eden  did  to  the  east." 

Having  purchased  a  flat-boat  at  Shippingport,  Xuttall, 
accompanied  by  an  "  elderly  gentleman  and  his  son,"  em- 
barked, and  was  carried  by  the  current  alone  at  the  rate 
of  eighty  miles  a  day.  They  see  few  inhabitants  along- 
shore— only  an  occasional  '^  hunting  farmer,"  seeking  wild 
turkeys  in  the  woods  or  canebrakes.  They  pass  a  small 
town  called  Evansville,  pass  Diamond  Island  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Wabash,  and,  on  the  fourteenth,  behold 
Shawneetown,  Illinois,  ''  a  handful  of  log  cabins."  They 
float  by  Battery  Rock,  Rock  in  the  Cave,  and  other  bold 
clifi^s,  and  drift  into  regions  untouched  by  civilization. 
"  The  occidental  wilderness  appears  here  to  retain  its  pri- 
meval solitude;  its  gloomy  forests  are  yet  unbroken  by 
the  hand  of  man,  they  are  only  penetrated  by  the  wander- 
ing hunter  and  the  roaming  savage."  The  river,  below 
Massac,  was  infested  by  professional  wreckers — little  bet- 
ter than  robbers — a  band  of  whom  fleeced  the  unwary 
travelers  at "  Wolf's  Island."  Finally  the  flat-boat  reached 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  voyage  was  continued  without  se- 
rious accident  down  to  Arkansas.  Borne  along  on  the 
great  bosom  of  the  waters,  the  meditative  naturalist  gazed 
out  upon  the  lovely  panorama  of  nature.  The  result  of 
his  reflections  is  summed  in  the  words  of  his  journal: 
"  How  many  ages  may  yet  elapse  before  these  luxuriant 
wilds  of  the  Mississippi  can  enumerate  a  population  equal 
to  the  Tartarian  deserts  !     At  present  all  is  irksome  silence 


22  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

and  gloom  of  solitude,  such  as  to  inspire  the  mind  with 
horror.'*  Yet  this  was  written  in  1819 — not  three-quarters 
of  a  century  ago  ! 

It  was  hut  a  few  years  after  Nuttall  made  his  journey  to 
Arkansas  that  H.  \i.  Schoolcraft  set  out  on  his  travels^  in 
the  central  portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  book 
which  records  his  adventures  is  dedicated  to  Lewis  Cass, 
governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  under  whose 
patronage,  by  the  sanction  of  the  general  government,  the 
author's  explorations  were  undertaken.  Indeed,  Governor 
Cass  accompanied  Schoolcraft  on  some  of  his  journeys. 
The  tour  was  begun  July  3,  1821,  when  the  travelers 
started,  from  Detroit.  The  route  chosen  was  up  to  the 
head-waters  of  the  Maumee,  thence  across  to  the  sources 
of  the  Wabash,  and  down  that  river  to  its  mouth,  thence 
across  Illinois  to  St.  Louis,  and  up  the  Mississippi  to  Fox 
river,  and  overland  to  Chicago. 

Schoolcraft  says,  writing  in  1821 :  "  The  whole  district 
of  country  between  Fort  Detiance  and  Fort  AVayne  is  yet 
in  a  state  of  nature.  The  only  shelter  to  be  obtained  in 
passing  through  it,  is  Brush's  cabin  ;  a  small  log  tenement 
put  up  during  the  present  season  as  a  'kind  of  half-way 
house."  At  Fort  AVayne  he  visited  the  Indian  school, 
conducted  on  the  "  Lancastrian  system."  The  number  of 
pupils  was  forty-eight,  most  of  them  Pottowatamies. 

On  the  portage  between  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash, 
Schoolcraft  and  his  excellency  Governor  Cass  spent  a 
night  at  an  Indian  village,  making  an  effort  to  sleep  in  a 
wigwam,  the  lodge  of  a  chief.  But  the  Indians  of  the 
village  were  engaged  in  a  drunken  carousal,  and  made 
night  hideous  with  wild  noise.  "As  is  usual  when  their 
liquor  is  exhausted,"  writes  the  traveler,  "  they  fell  to 
quarreling  and  fighting,  and  we  momentarily  expected 
that  some  murder  would  be  perpetrated.  At  this  critical 
period,  we  were  pleased  to  observe  an  aged  squaw,  care- 

'  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  compris- 
ing obwrvations  on  its  Mineral  (reography,  Internal  Resources,  and 
Aboriginal  Population.  By  H.  R.  Schoolcraft.  Map  and  plate.  8vo, 
pp.  45».    New  York,  1825. 


Some  Earhj  Trarelers  and  AnnaUsts.  23 

fully  ir^ither  ii|»  all  the  knives  about  the  loclo^e,  two  of 
whicii  wore  di-awn  from  crevices  in  the  logs  near  our 
heads;  and  she  eifectually  concealed  them." 

The  Indians  along  the  AVabash  practiced  a  peculiar 
mode  of  decoying  deer,  by  niglit,  r'alled  "Fire-hunting." 
The  hunter  fixes  a  torch  in  the  bow  of  his  canoe,  and 
floating  slowly  down  stream,  watches  his  opportunity  to 
shoot  the  deer  that  seek  the  river  banks,  and  are  dazzled 
by  the  flame.  "  The  light  which  they  employ  is  prepared 
from  the  Avax  separated  from  the  wild  honey.  This  wax 
is  poured  in  the  hollow  stem  of  the  cane,  through  which 
a  strip  of  cotton  cloth  has  been  drawn,  to  serve  the  pur- 
]30se  of  a  wick." 

In  the  vicinity  of  Terre  Haute,  flocks  of  showy  green 
parroquets  were  common,  and  three  red  deer  were  seen 
swimming  the  Wabash. 

The  travelers  spent  several  days  at  Vincennes,  where 
the}'  were  entertained  by  J.  C.  S.  Harrison,  Esq.,  and 
wdiere  they  met  "  with  several  gentlemen  who  had  borne 
a  conspicuous  part  in  the  civil  and  miilitary  transactions 
of  the  country."  Among  these  was  General  Zachary 
Taylor. 

Passing  the  little  town  of  Albion,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Bonpas,  the  voyagers  made  inquiry  concerning  the  place. 
It  was  the  English  settlement  founded  by  Morris  Birk- 
beck.  The  population  in  1821  was  two  hundred.  School- 
craft says :  ''  The  town  contains  an  hotel,  where  the  in- 
habitants resort  to  drink  beer  in  the  English  style;  and  a 
library  of  standard  books,  accessible  to  all,  and  much  at- 
tention is  paid  to  the  improvement  of  the  mind  as  well  as 
the  soil." 

Schoolcraft  gives  a  lengthy  account  of  Harmony,  Fred- 
erick Rappe's  "  fraternal "  settlement,  founded  on  the 
Wabash,  in  1814. 

The  list  of  books  of  travel,  throwing  light  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  Ohio  Valley  and  its  people  in  the  flrst  half 
of  the  Nineteenth  century,  might  be  extended  indeflnitely. 
Our  reference  to  this  class  of  writings  may  close  with  the 


24  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

mention  of  Bullock's  "  Sketch,"^  a  volume  of  much  local 
interest  to  the  citizens  of  the  metropolis  of  Ohio. 

The  hooks  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  pages,  and  num- 
erous other  sketches,  journals,  letters,  and  notes,  furnished 
material  from  which  local  historians  constructed  state  his- 
tories and  gazetteers  or  compiled  more  general  and  com- 
prehensive manuals.  The  student  of  Ohio  Valley  annals 
may  be  assisted  in  his  researches  by  having  his  attention 
called  to  some  of  the  more  important  historical  writings 
produced  by  early  writers  in  the  several  states,  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 

John  Filson's  "Kentucky,"  already  described  on  a  pre- 
ceding page,  leads  the  catalogue  of  Ohio  Valley  historical 
compositions.  This  omnium  gatherum ,  however,  can  hardly 
be  ranked  as  a  formal  history. 

One  of  the  first  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  a  regu- 
lar history  ^  of  Kentucky  was  Humphrey  Marshall,^  a  dis- 
tinguished Southern  politician  and  orator,  related  to 
Chief-Justice  John  Marshall.  He  was  born  in  Virginia, 
bwt  came  to  Kentucky  in  1780.  He  was  elected  to.  the 
United  States  Senate  over  John  Brecken ridge  for  the 
term  of  1795-1801.  He  once  ibught  a  duel  with  Henry 
Clay.  Marshall  died  in  1842,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-two.  His  history  has  a  force  and  piquancy  that 
make  it  readable  to-day,  and  the  bias  in   favor  of  Fed- 


*  Sketch  of  a  Journey  through  the  Western  States  of  North  America, 
from  New  Orleans  to  New  York,  in  1827.  By  W.  Bullock.  AVith  a  De- 
scription of  the  New  and  Flourishing  City  of  Cincinnati,  by  Messrs.  B. 
Drake  and  E.  D.  Mansfield.     12mo.     London,  1827. 

'  The  History  of  Kentucky.  Including  an  Account  of  the  Discovery, 
Settlement,  and  Present  State  of  the  Country.  By  Humphrey  Marshall. 
Vol.  1.  Frankfort.,  1812.  This  is  the  first  edition,  the  second  volume 
of  which  was  never  published ;  the  complete  edition,  which  embraced 
the  above,  n^viw^d  and  rewritten,  was  not  published  until  twelve  years 
later,  under  the  following  title:  The  History  of  Kentucky.  An  Ac- 
count of  the  Mo<lern  Discovery,  Settlement,  Progressive  Improvement, 
Civil  and  Military  Transactions,  and  the  Present  State  of  the  Country. 
2  vols.     8vo,  i>p.  47:1-524.     Frankfort,  1824. 

•  A  Life  of  Marshall,  by  A.  C.  Quisenbcrry,  is  aini(Mnu<'<l  for  publica- 
tion by  tlie  Filson  Club. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  25 

eralism  acids  a  relish  to  its  pages  like  that  which  one  dis- 
covers in  Hildreth's  "  United  States." 

Another  historian  of  comparatively  early  time  in  Ken- 
tucky was  Mann  Butlei',  a  pioneer  who  deserves  to  be 
remembered  for  his  virtues  and  services.  Butler  was  born 
in  Baltimore  in  1784;  visited  England  in  boyhood;  gradu- 
ated at  St.  Mary's  College,  D.  C;  came  west  in  1806,  and 
began  the  practice  of  law  at  Lexington ;  taught  school  at 
Marj^sville,  Versailles,  and  Frankfort ;  served  some  3'ears 
as  professor  in- Transylvania  University;  located  at  Louis- 
ville, where  he  was  a  prominent  educator  and  writer  from 
1831  to  1845 ;  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  resided 
from  1845  to  the  year  of  his  death,  4852.  He  was  the 
father  of  the  educator,  Xoble  Butler. 

Butler's  history^  is  agreeably  written,  and  is  specially 
interesting  on  account  of  its  descriptions  of  life  in  the 
backwoods. 

The  History  of  Kentucky,  by  Judge  Lewis  Collins,^  first 
issued  in  1847  (revised  and  enlarged  fourfold,  and  brought 
down  to  1874  by  Dr.  Richard  Collins),  gathers  up  all  the 
fragments  of  Kentucky  history,  new  and  old,  and  is  a 
standard  reference  book. 

John  Haywood's  histories  of  Tennessee,^  dating  from 


^  A  History  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  from  its  Exploration 
and  Settlement  by  the  Whites  to  the  Close  of  the  Northwestern  Cam- 
paign in  1813.     By  Mann  Butler.     12mo,  pp.  396.     Louisville,  1834. 

2  Historical  Sketches  of  Kentucky,  embracing  its  History,  Antiqui- 
ties, and  Natural  Curiosities,  Geographical,  Statistical,  and  Geologi- 
cal Descriptions.  AVith  Anecdotes  of  Pioneer  Life,  Biographical 
Sketches,  etc.  By  Lewis  Collins.  Illustrated.  8vo,  pp.  500.  Mays- 
ville,  1S4S. 

Anotlurr  edition.  Revised,  enlarged  fourfold,  and  brouglit  down  to  the 
Year  1874,  by  his  son,  Richard  H.  Collins,  embracing:  Pre-historic  An- 
nals for  331  Years,  by  Counties,  Sketches  of  Courts,  Churches,  Free- 
masonry, etc.,  Pioneer  Incidents,  and  nearly  500  Biographical  Sketches 
of  Distinguished  Citizens.  Map,  portrait,  etc,  2  vols.  8vo.  Coving- 
ton, 1874. 

^  The  Natural  and  Aboriginal  History  of  Tennessee,  up  to  the  First 
Settlement  therein  by  the  White  People,  in  the  Year  1708.  By  John 
Haywood.     8vo,  pp.  375-|-liv.     Nashville,  1823. 

The  Civil  and  Political  History  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  from  its 


26  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

182o,  have  irrowii  so  valuable  as  to  command  fabulous 
prices. 

Turniuu:  our  nftoution  to  tlie  liistorical  literature  of  the 
states  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  we  find  among  the  names 
of  early  annalists,  that  of  Nahum  Ward,  who,  as  early  as 
1822,  published  a  "  Brief  Sketch  of  the  State  of  Ohio,"^ 
a  pamphlet  of  only  sixteen  pages,  and  not  of  mucli  in- 
trinsic value,  but  so  rare  that  a  copy  has  sold  for  $84. 

'The  "Preliminary  Sketch  of  the  History  of  Ohio,"  con- 
tained in  the  "Statutes  of  Ohio  and  of  the  ^Northwestern 
Territory,"  edited  by  Salmon  P.  Chase,^  and  published  in 
1833,  is  justly  regarded  as  a  stand^ard  of  reference  that 
can  be  relied  upon,  and  it  is,  in  fact,  the  iirst  systematic 
presentation  of  the  history  of  the  Buckeye  State.  The 
volume  in  which  it  originally  appeared  was  entirely  of 
Western  manufacture,  the  paper  having  been  made  at 
Zanesville,  and  the  printing  and  binding,  done  in  Cincin- 
nati. Before  Chase's  Sketch  was  issued,  Mr.  John  H. 
James,  of  Urbana,  had  begun  to  print,  in  Hall's  Western 
Magazine,  his  chapters  on  the  history  of  Ohio.  Caleb 
Atwater's^  history  of  Ohio,  a  book  that  has  suffered  more 
adverse  criticism,  and  enjoyed  less  praise  than  it  deserves, 
came  out  in  1838. 


Earliest  Settlement  up  to  the  Year  1796.     Including;  the  Bouudaries  of 
the  State.     By  John  Haywood.     8vo,  pp.  504.     Knoxville,  1828. 

New  editions  of  these  two  works  have  just  been  issued  by  Judge 
Haywood's  great-grandson,  W.  H.  Haywood.  The  latter  contains  a  bio- 
graphical sketch  of  the  author,  by  Colonel  A.  S.  Colyar. 

*  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  one  of  the  United  States  in 
North  America.  With  a  Mapilelineating  the  same  into  Counties:  Giv- 
ing the  Opinion  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Esq.,  Geographer  of  the  United 
States,  and  British  Travelers  in  1787,  when  that  State  was  uninhabited 
by  Civilize<l  Man.  Likewise  exhibiting  a  View  of  the  UnpanUleled 
Progress  of  that  State  since  1789  to  the  Present  Day,  it  being  now  the 
Fourth  State  in  the  Union  in  Point  of  Population  and  Representation 
in  Congress.  By  a  Resident  of  Twelve  Years  at  Marietta  in  that  Stote. 
Map.    8vo,  pp.  10.    Glasgow,  1822.    " 

*  A  IVeliminary  Sketch  of  the  History  of  Ohio.  By  Salmon  P.  Chase. 
8vo,  pp.  39.    Cincinnati,  1833. 

*  History  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  Natural  and  ('ivil.  By  Cal»'b  Atwater. 
8vo,  pp.  407.     Cincinnati,  1838. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  2T 

Jacob  Burnet's  "  Xotes,''  ^  a  most  useful  contribution  to 
pioneer  bistory,  and  personally  interesting  to  tbe  descend- 
ants of  tbe  early  settlers  of  Ohio,  from  tbe  fact  that  tbe 
autbor  was  bimself  a  pioneer,  and  describes  tbe  Miami 
country  as  be  saw  it  in  1796,  was  not  pablisbed  until  1847. 
In  tbe  same  year  Henry  Howe^  gave  tbe  public  bis  won- 
derful "  Collections,"  tbe  best  and  most  readable  state 
history  tbat  bas  yet  been  publisbed,  a  work  entirely  orig- 
inal and  unique.  Howe's  ''  Historical  Collections  of  Obio  " 
is  correctly  described  as  a  "  treasure-bouse  of  local  and 
general  information,  of  bistory,  of  legend  and  story,  of 
geography  and  antiquities,  of  every  tbing  indeed  pertain- 
ing to  Obio  and  Ohio's  history."  Tbe  autbor  traveled 
over  the  state  in  tbe  years  1846-7,  collecting  his  material ; 
and  again  in  1886-7,  be  made  a  tour  over  tbe  same  ground, 
gathering  fresh  matter  for  a  revised  centennial  edition  of 
his  great  work,  which  bas  just  appeared,  in  two  large 
volumes. 

Ko  enumeration  of  comparatively  early  works  on  Ohio 
is  complete  tbat  does  not  name  Dr.  Samuel  Prescott  Hil- 
dreth's  "Pioneer  History  of  tbe  Ohio  Yalley,"^  and  its 
companion  volume,  "  Biographical  and  Historical  Mem- 
oirs of  tbe  Pioneers."* 

Most  prominent  of  tbe  early  historians  of  Indiana  Avas 
John  B.  Dillon,  whose  career  falls  in  quite  recent  years, 
and  whose  first  important  book  came  out  in  1843.     This 


^  Notes  on  the  Early  Settlement  of  the  Northwestern  Territory.  By 
Jacob  Burnet.     8vo,  pp.  501.     Cincinnati,  1847. 

2  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio.  Containing  a  Collection  of  the  most 
Interesting  Facts,  Traditions,  Biographical  Sketches,  Anecdotes,  etc.,  re- 
lating to  the  General  and  Local  History,  with  Descriptions  of  its  Coun- 
ties, Cities,  Towns,  Milages,  etc.  By  Henry  Howe.  8vo,  pp.  599.  Cin- 
cinnati, 1847. 

'  Pioneer  History.  Being  an  Account  of  the  First  Examinations  of 
the  Ohio  Valley,  and  the  Early  Settlement  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 
Chiefly  from  Original  Manuscripts,  containing  the  Papers  of  Colonel 
Georgt  Morgan,  Judge  Barker,  Records  of  the  Ohio  Company,  etc.  By 
S.  P.  Hildreth.     Plates  and  map.     8vo,  pp.  525.     Cincinnati,  1848. 

*  Biographical  and  Historical  Memoirs  of  the  Early  Pioneer  Settlers 
of  Ohio.  With  Narrative  of  Incidents  and  Occurrences  in  1775.  By  S. 
P.  Hildreth.     Portraits.     8vo,  pp.  539.     Cincinnati,  1852. 


28  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

was  the  initial  volume  of  a  projected  elaborate  work 
which  was  never  completed.  The  author,  however,  pub- 
lished, in  1859,  a  "  History  of  Indiana  from  its  Earliest 
Explorations  to  the  Close  of  the  Territorial  Government 
in  1815." '  Dillon  wrote  other  historical  books.  He 
was  a  most  amiable  gentleman  and  a  useful  citizen.  For 
many  years  he  was  State  Librarian  of  Indiana.  He  died 
in  1879.2 

Judge  John  Law's  address^  before  the  Historical  So- 
ciety of  Vincennes  is  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the 
history  of  the  Hoosier  State.  Xor  can  any  thing  be  more 
clear  and  suggestive,  notwithstanding  its  discursiveness, 
than  Smith's  "  Reminiscences.''  * 

Illinois  is  quite  rich  in  historial  records.  Having  w^hite 
settlements  in  the  southern  part  at  a  very  early  date,  the 
Illinois  country  became  the  object  of  much  attention  from 
travelers  and  writers.  I  have  referred  to  the  letters  of 
Morris  Birkbeck,*^  which  date  back  as  far  as  1818.  The 
Rev.  John  Mason  Peck,^  a  distinguished  Baptist  mission- 
ary and  educator,  wrote  "A  Guide  for  Emigrants ;  Con- 

*  A  History  of  Indiana,  from  ite  earliest  Explorations  by  the 
Europeans  to  the  close  of  tlie  Territorial  Government  in  1810,  including 
the  Discovery,  Settlement,  etc.,  of  the  Territory  north-west  of  the  Ohio 
River,  etc.  By  .John  B.  Dillon.  8vo,  pp.  xii,  ()37.  Maps  and  plates. 
Indianapolis,  1859. 

'  See  Life  and  Services  of  John  B.  Dillon,  liy  (Jcneral  John  Coburn 
and  Judge  Horace  P.  Biddle.  Published  by  tin-  In. liana  Historical  So- 
ciety, 1880. 

*  The  Colonial  History  of  Vincennes,  under  thr  French,  British,  and 
A  mencan  Governments,  from  its  First  Settlement  down  to  the  Terri- 
torial Administration  of  General  W.  H.  Harrison.  Being  an  Address 
before  the  Vincennes  Histori(!al  and  Antiquarian  Society,  with  addi- 
tional notes  and  illustrations.  By  John  Law.  Svo,  pp.  157.  \'in- 
cennes,  1858. 

*  Keminiscences.  Early  Indiana  Trials  and  Sketches.  Historical, 
Biographical,  Political,  et<\     Portrait.    8vo,  pp.  040.    Cincinnati,  1858. 

*  letters  from  Illinois.  By  Morris  Birkbeck.  8vo,  pp.  112.  Ixjndon, 
1818.  Notes  on  a  Journey  in  America,  from  the  Coast  of  Virginia  to 
the  Territory  of  Illinois.  By  Morris  Birkbeck.  8vo,  pp.  lO:).  lx>ndon, 
1818. 

•Gaaettt^er  of  Illinois:  Containing  a  General  View  of  the  State;  a 
General  View  of  each  County,  and  a  Particular  Description  of  each 
Town,  etc.,  By  J.  M.  Peck.    lOrao,  pp.  376.    Jacksonville,  1834. 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Armalisis.  29 

taining  Sketches  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  the  adjacent 
Posts,"  which  was  published  in  Boston  in  1831 ;  and  also 
a  "  Gazetteer  of  Illinois,"  published  in  1834.  Henry 
Brown's  ^  "  Illinois  "  came  out  in  1844. 

A  book  valued  for  its  historical  information,  and  amus- 
ing as  a  literary  curiosity,  is  "  The  Pioneer  History  of 
Illinois,"  ^  written  by  John  Reynolds,  one  of  the  early  Gov- 
ernors of  Illinois,  an  illiterate  man  of  strong  common 
sense.  The  volume  was  published  at  Belleville,  Illinois, 
in  1852,  and  contains  the  history  of  Illinois  from  1673  to 
1818.  The  author  says  naively  :  "  My  friends  will  think 
it  strange  that  I  have  written  a  book,  no  matter  how 
small  and  unpretending  it  may  be."  He  justifies  his 
effort  on  the  score  that  "  many  facts  stated  in  the 
'  Pioneer  History,'  since  the  year  1800,  came  under  my 
own  observation,  which  may  be  relied  on  as  true."  Re- 
counting his  personal  history,  he  says :  "  The  first  Illinois 
soil  I  ever  touched  was  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio,  where 
Golconda  now  stands,  in  March,  1800.  When  we  were 
about  to  start  from  the  Ohio,  I  asked  Mr.  Lusk  how  far 
it  w^as  to  the  next  house  on  the  road,  and  when  he  told  us 
the  first  was  Kaskaskia,  one  hundred  and  ten  miles,  I  was 
surprised  at  the  wilderness  before  us.  My  father  hired  a 
man  to  assist  us  in  traveling  through  the  wilderness.  We 
were  four  weeks  in  performing  this  dreary  and  desolate 
journey." 

Governor  Reynolds  gives  the  following  odd  description 
of  the  French  settlers  of  Illinois  :  "  The  French  seldom 
plowed  with  horses,  but  used  oxen.  It  is  the  custom  with 
the  French  every-where  to  yoke  oxen  by  the  horns,  and 
not  by  the  neck.  Oxen  can  draw  as  much  by  the  horns 
as  by  the  neck,  but  it  looks  more  savage.     Sometimes  the 


^  The  History  of  Illinois,  from  its  first  Discovery  and  Settlement  to 
the  Present  Time.  By  Henry  Brown.  Map.  8vo,  pp.  492.  New  York, 
1844. 

2  The  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois:  Containing  the  Discovery,  in  1673, 
and  the  History  of  the  Country  to  the  Year  1818,  when  the  State  Gov- 
ernment was  organized.  By  John  Reynolds.  12mo,  pp.  348.  Belle- 
ville, 111.,  1852. 


30  Litcraru  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

French  worked  oxen  in  carts,  but  mostly  use  horses.  I 
presume  that  a  w  auon  was  not  seen  in  Illinois  for  nearly 
one  hundred  years  after  its  first  settlement.  A  French  cart, 
as  well  as  a  plough,  was  rather  a  curiosity.  It  was  con- 
structed without  an  atom  of  iron.  When  the  Americans 
came  to  the  country,  they  called  these  carts  '  barefooted 
carts,'  because  they  had  no  iron  on  their  wheels.     . 

*'  The  French  generally,  and  the  females  of  that  nation 
particularly,  caught  u[)  the  French  fashions  from  New  Or- 
leans and  Paris,  and  with  a  singular  avidity  adopted  them 
to  the  full  extent  of  their  means  and  talents.  The  females 
generally,  and  the  males  a  good  deal,  wore  the  deer  skin 
mawkawsins.  A  nicely  made  mawkawsin  for  a  female  in 
the  house  is  both  neat  and  serviceable 

.  .  .  "  The  ancient  and  innocent  custom  was  for  the 
young  men  about  the  last  of  the  year  to  disguise  them- 
selves in  old  clothes,  as  beggars,  and  go  around  the 
village  in  the  several  houses  where  they  knew  they  would 
be  welcome.  They  enter  the  houses  dancing  what  they 
call  the  Gionie,  which  is  a  friendly  request  for  them  to 
meet  and  have  a  ball  to  dance  away  the  old  year.  The 
people,  young  and  old,  meet,  each  one  carrying  along 
some  refreshment,  and  then  they  do,  in  good  earnest, 
dance  away  the  old  year.  About  the  6th  of  January,  in 
each  year,  which  is  called  Lejourde  Rais,  sl  party  is  given, 
and  four  beans  are  baked  in  a  large  cake ;  this  cake  is 
distributed  among  the  gentlemen,  and  each  one  who  re- 
ceives a  bean  is  proclaimed  king.  These  four  kings  are  to 
give  the  next  ball.  These  are  called  '  King's  balls.'  These 
Kings  select  each  one  a  queen,  and  make  her  a  suitable 
present.  They  arrange  all  things  necessary  for  tlie  danc- 
ing party.  In  these  merry  parties  no  set  supper  is  in- 
dulged in.  They  go  there  not  to  eat,  but  to  be 
and  make  merry.  They  have  refreshments  of  cake  and 
coffee  served  round  at  proper  intervals.  Sometimes 
Bouillon,  as  the  French  call  it,  takes  the  place  of  coffee. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  party,  the  old  queens  select  each 
one  a  new  King,  and  kisses  him  to  qualify  him  into  office ; 
then  each  new  King  chooses  his  new  Queen,  and  goes 


Some  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  31 

throiigli  tlie  ceremony  as  before.  In  this  manner  the 
King  balls  are  kept  up  all  the  carnival." 

Another  Illinois  Governor,  Thomas  Ford,  wrote  a  his- 
tory of  the  state,  wliich  was  published  at  Chicago  in 
1854.^ 

Illinois  is  deeply  indebted  to  the  literary  industry  and 
enterprise  of  Judge  James  Hall,  who  resided  in  the  State 
from  1820  to  1833,  and  there  conducted  the  "  Illinois 
Magazine,"  devoting  much  time  and  pains  to  historical 
subjects.  To  him,  also,  the  people  of  the  Ohio  Valley 
owe  gratitude  for  general  labors  in  the  field  of  local  his- 
tory, and  especially  for  his  delightful  volume,  ''  The 
Romance  of  Western  History." 

Supplementing  and  uniting  the  special  histories,  such 
as  we  have  just  glanced  at,  are  many  more  general  com- 
pends  not  easily  classified.  One  of  the  earliest  and  most 
important  of  these  is  Flint's  "  The  History  and  Geography 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  ^  1833. 

Another  exceedingly  important  and  useful  digest  of 
eve-nts,  covering  the  whole  ground  of  Ohio  Valley  history, 
is  James  H.  Perkins's  "Annals  of  the  West,"  first  issued 
in  1846  ;  revised  in  1850  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  and  re-revised 
by  James  R.  Albach  in  1852,  and  again  in  1857.  From 
this  well-ordered  store-house  of  valuable  information, 
many  compilers *and  historians  have  borrowed,  and  many 
more  will  borrow. 

Dr.  Monette's  painstaking  and  exhaustive  *^  History  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley,"  ^  1846,  and  Hart's  later  and  briefer 


^  A  History  of  Illinois,  from  its  Commencement  as  a  State,  in  1818,  to 
1847.  Containing  a  full  Account  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  the  Rise, 
Progress,  and  Fall  of  Mormonism,  the  Alton  and  Lovejoy  Riots,  and 
other  important  and  interesting  Events.  By  Governor  Thomas  Ford. 
12mo,  pp.  447.     Chicago,  1854. 

*  The  History  and  Geography  of  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  to  which  is 
appended  a  Condensed  Physical  Geography  of  the  Atlantic  United 
States  and  the  whole  American  Continent.  2  vols.  By  Timothy  Flint. 
8vo.  Boston,  1833. 

'  History  of  the  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi by  the  great  European  Powers,  Spain,  France,  Great  Britain, 
etc.     By  John  AV.  Monette.     2  vols.,  8vo.     New  York,  184G. 


S'2  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

work*  on  the  same  subject,  are  books  that  sum  up  many 
facts  with  clear  authenticity. 

Far  more  attractive  to  the  average  reader  than  any  la- 
bored compilation,  however  accurate,  are  divers  and  sun- 
dry volumes  containing  free,  off-hand  delineations  of  pio- 
neer life  in  the  days  when  the  Ohio  Valley  was  still 
described  as  The  Wilderness.  These  books  consist  largely 
of  personal  narrative,  and  have  all  the  vividness  and  force 
of  sketches  from  life.  In  many  instances  the  artless  di- 
rectness of  an  earnest  teller  of  true  adventures,  has  lent 
the  illiterate  pen  a  glowing  power  that  rhetoric  despairs 
to  win.  IN'ot  a  few  of  the  heroic  participants  in  border 
warfare,  and  the  rude  experience  of  log-cabin  life,  have 
set  down  the  story  of  their  hardy  deeds  and  stern  endur- 
ance in  autobiography.  But  more  frequently,  the  record 
of  frontier  events  was  left  to  hands  not  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  the  scalping  knife  or  the  hunter's  trap  and 
^un. 

A  very  succinct  and  satisfactory  general  view  of  the 
beginning  of  settlement  in  the  Ohio  Valley  is  that  em- 
braced in  Patterson's  '^  Histor}^  of  the  Backwoods."  ^  This 
•contains  a  remarkable  map,  engraved  at  Pittsburg  in 
1843,  and  showing  '^the  backwoods  in  1764."  Patterson's 
book  is  based,  in  part,  upon  those  perennially  fascinating 
old  Virginia  prose  epics  of  the  bor(Jer,  Doddridge's 
"  Notes," '   and    Withers's   "  Chronicles."  *     To   complete 


*  History  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  By  A.  M.  Hart.  12mo,  pp.  286. 
Cincinnati,  1853. 

'  History  of  the  Backwoods;  or,  The  Region  of  the  Ohio.  Authentic, 
from  the  I^arliest  Accounts.  Embracing  many  Events,  Notices  of  Prom- 
inent Pioneers,  Sketches  of  Early  Settlements,  etc.,  not  heretofore  pub- 
lished. By  A.  W.  Patterson.  Map.  12mo,  pp.  311.  Pittsburg.  Printed 
for  the  author.     1843. 

*  Notes  on  the  Settlement  and  Indian  Wars  of  the  Western  Parts  of 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  from  the  year  17(>3  to  178:5.  Together  with 
A  View  of  the  State  of  Society  and  Manners  of  the  First  Settlers  of  the 
Western  Country.  By  Joseph  Doddridge.  16mo,  pp.  316.  Wellsburgh, 
Va.,  1824. 

*  Chronicles  of  Border  Warfare ;  or,  a  History  of  the  Settlement  by 
the  Whites  of   Northwestern  Virginia,  and  of  the  Indian  War|  and 


Some  Earhj  Travelers  and  Annalists,  33 

our  select  list  of  authors  identilied  with  the  pioneer  period 
of  Ohio  Valley  history,  what  names  more  suitable  than 
those  of  the  three  Macs,  McClung,^  McDonald,^  and  Mc- 
Bride?^  Each  of  these  authors  has  been  admired  by 
thousands  of  readers ;  and  their  books  should  live  as  long 
as  human  nature  continues  to  sympathize  with  heroism. 
McClung's  Sketches  were  first  published  in  Maysville  in 
1832. 

Even  a  cursory  perusal  of  the  leading  books  of  travel 
and  history,  inadequately  sketched  in  the  foregoing  pages, 
reveals  to  the  student  a  world  of  suggestive  knowledge  in 
regard  not  only  to  the  material  features  of  the  diversified 
Valley  of  the  Ohio,  but  still  more  concerning  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  vast  region,  their  origin,  character,  ideas, 
achievements  and  aspirations.  In  these  books,  as  in  a 
mirror,  the  first  processes  in  the  development  of  states 
and  social  institutions  are  reflected.  We  see  the  people 
at  work,  conquering  savage  nature,  and  laying  the 
foundations  of  science,  literature  and  art.  Only  by  con- 
sidering the  circumstances  under  which  they  did  their 
mental  work,  only  by  estimating  fairly  their  "  means, 
culture  and  limits,"  can  we  judge,  impartially,  what  they 


Massacres  in  that  section  of  the  State ;  with  Reflections,  Anecdotes,  etc. 
By  Alexander  S.  Withers.     16mo,  pp.  319.     Clarksburg,  Va.,  1831. 

A  new  edition  of  the  "  Chronicles,"  with  notes  by  Dr.  Lyman  C. 
Draper,  of  Wisconsin,  is  in  press. 

^  Sketches  of  Western  Adventures.  Containing  an  Account  of  the 
most  interesting  Incidents  connected  with  the  Settlement  of  the  West, 
from  1755  to  1794,  with  an  Appendix.  By  John  A.  McClung.  Also, 
additional  Sketches  of  Adventure,  and  a  biography  of  the  author  by 
Henry  Waller,  with  a  portrait  and  other  illustrations.  12mo,  pp.  398. 
Louisville,  Ky.,  1879. 

^  Biographical  Sketches  of  General  Nathaniel  Massie,  General  Duncan 
McArthur,  Captain  William  AVells  and  General  Simon  Kenton,  who 
were  Early  Settlers  in  the  AVestern  Country.  By  John  McDonald. 
16mo,  pp.  267.     Cincinnati,  1838. 

'  Pioneer  Biography ;  being  Sketches  of  the  Lives  of  some  of  the 
Early  Settlers  of  Butler  County,  Ohio.  Contiiining  detailed  Accounts 
of  Harmar's,  St.  Clair's,  and  Wayne's  Campaigns,  and  many  of  the 
Early  Conflicts  with  the  Indians  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  By  James 
McBride.  2  vols.,  8vo.  Cincinnati,  1869-71. 
3 


34  Literal^  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

accomplished,  and  surmise  what  their  successors  may  do 
in  the  future. 

It  is  but  a  little  while,  in  terms  of  history,  since  history 
began  on  the  shores  of  the  Ohio.  Though  crowded  events 
80  confuse  our  retrospect  that  Daniel  Boone  and  George 
Rogers  Clark  appear  in  the  deceptive  vista  of  our  past 
like  far-off  heroes  of  antiquity ;  though  the  French  ex- 
plorers of  Louisiana  seem,  in  the  fancy  of  Carlyle,  as  re- 
mote as  the  Pelasgi,  they  are  all  of  yesterday — French- 
men, Boone  and  all.  The  aborigines  of  the  Backwoods, 
the  invading  European  scouts  and  traders  who  penetrated 
the  cane-brake  and  the  tangled  wild,  the  hunters  and  sur- 
veyors that  tracked  and  measured  the  new  lands  on  this 
side  of  the  "  Great  Mountains "  of  Pennsylvania — are 
painted  on  the  canvas  of  imagination,  dim  figures,  yet  to 
be  vivified  and  vitalized  by  the  touch  of  literary  art.  The 
dry  bones  of  old  journals  and  chronicles  are  to  rise  and 
move,  and  be  clothed  upon  with  flesh  that  bleeds  and 
feels.  From  the  catacombs  of  dusty  libraries,  shall  be 
resurrected  the  eventful  past,  with  all  its  stirring  scenes 
and  splendid  characters — resurrected  or  recreated  by  the 
potent  spell  of  the  coming  historian,  novelist,  and  poet  of 
the  Ohio  Valley. 

GENERAL  NOTE. 

Much  valuable  service  has,  of  late  years,  been  rendered  to  students 
and  readers  interested  in  the  history  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  by  the  enthusi- 
asm and  energy  of  several  public  spirited  individuals,  who  have  labored 
to  collect,  edit,  or  reprint  the  most  important  facts  and  records  of  a  com- 
paratively recent  but  nevertheless  fast  fading  past.  The  "  Ohio  Valley 
Historical  Series,"  conceived,  and,  in  some  of  its  most  interesting  num- 
bers, edited,  by  its  publisher,  Mr.  Robert  Clarke,  is  a  rich  mine  of 
knowledge  of  inestimable  worth  to  the  historian.  The  series  embraces 
seven  large  octavo  volumes,  uniformly  bound.  The  following  are  the 
titles  in  brief : 

1.  Bouquet's  Expedition  against  the  Ohio  Indians,  1764. 

2.  Walker's  Athens  County,  Ohio,  and  the  first  Settlement  in  State. 

3.  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois,  1778-79. 

4.  McBride's  Pioneer  Biographies.    2  vols. 

6.  Smith's  Captivity  with  the  Indians,  1755-59. 

6.  Drake's  Pioneer  Life  in  Kentucky. 

7.  Miscellanies:  I.  t^spy's  Tour  in  Ohio,  etc.,  in  1805.     11.  Williams's 


Som.e  Early  Travelers  and  Annalists.  35 

Western  Campaigns  in  the  War  of  1812-13.     III.  Taneyhill's  Leather- 
wood  God.     In  one  volume. 

Another  notable  series  of  i)ublications  is  that  prepared  by  the  Filson 
Club  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  a  vigorous  historical  society,  largely  pro- 
moted by  its  founder,  Mr.  R.  T.  Durrett.  The  following  is  a  list  of  its 
publications : 

1.  The  tife  and  Times  of  John  Filson,  the  First  Historian  of  Ken- 
tucky.    By  Reuben  T.  Durrett. 

2.  The  Wilderness  Road,  or  Routes  of  Travel  by  which  our  Fore- 
fathers reached  Kentucky.     By  Thomas  Speed. 

3.  The  Pioneer  Press  of  Kentucky.     By  William  H.  Perrin. 

4.  The  Life  and  Times  of  Judge  Caleb  Wallace.  By  William  H. 
Whitsitt. 

5.  The  History  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Louisville,  Ky.  By  Reuben  T. 
Durrett. 

6.  The  Political  Beginnings  of  Kentucky.     By  John  Mason  Brown. 

7.  The  Life  and  Times  of  Hon.  Humphrey  Marshall.  By  A.  C. 
Quisenberry. 

The  publications  of  the  several  State  Historical  Societies  of  the  Ohio 
Valley  are  generally  known  to  those  interested. 


36  .  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  PIONEER  PRESS  AND  ITS  PRODUCT. 
BOOK    MAKING — BOOK    SELLING. 

The  first  printing  done  on  the  western  continent  was 
by  Spanish  priests  in  Mexico.  Stephen  Daye  brought 
from  England  the  first  press  used  in  our  country,  and  it 
was  set  up  in  1638.  The  first  printed  work  of  any  kind 
done  in  what  is  now  the  United  States  was  the  "  Free- 
man's Oath,"  impressed  on  one  side  of  a  small  sheet  of 
paper,  in  1639.  The  first  book  printed  was  the  "  Bay 
Psalm  Book,"  dated  1640.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  paid 
$1,200  for  a  copy  of  this  book.  In  1670  Sir  William 
Berkley,  Governor  of  Virginia,  reported  that  there  were 
no  free  schools  or  printing  in  the  colony,  and  hoped  that 
God  would  keep  the  people  from  both  for  *'  these  hundred 
years."  But  in  fewer  than  twenty-five  years  from  the  time 
Sir  William  wrote,  Virginia  had  both  a  college  and  a 
printing-press,  at  Williamsburg.  And  ninety-six  years 
later  Kentucky  had  her  type  and  press,  a  little  before  Ohio 
could  boast  of  the  same  aids  to  the  progress  of  man. 

The  first  newspaper  established  west  of  the  Allegheny 
mountains  was  the  Pittsburg  Gazette,  which  dates  its 
birth-day  July  29,  1786.  The  founder  of  this  pioneer 
sheet,  a  journeyman  printer  named  John  Scull,  was  born 
in  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  in  1765,  and  he  removed  to 
Pittsburg  at  the  age  of  about  twenty-one.  It  is  handed 
down  as  a  tradition  in  the  coal-and-iron  city  that  Mr. 
Scull  was  distinguished  in  his  days  of  advent  as  "  the 
handsome  young  man  with  the  white  hat."  Witli  him 
was  associated  anotlier  printer,  Joseph  Hall.  Though  a 
devout  Federalist,  the  liberal  editor  opened  the  columns  of 
his  newspaper  to  welcome  contributions  from  the  distin- 
guished Republican  leader,  Judge  II.  H.  Bracken  ridge. 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  37 

One  of  tlie  first  books  printed  west  of  the  mountains  was 
the  third  volume  of  Brackenridge's  "  Modern  Chivalry," 
issued  in  1793  from  the  Gazette  press.  The  iirst  and  the 
second  volume  of  the  celebrated  novel  were  published  in 
Philadelphia.  The  Pittsburg  Gazette  survives,  and  is  one 
of  the  leading  newspapers  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Iirst  printing  press  in  Kentucky  was  set  up  in  Lex- 
ington, by  John  Bradford,  in  August,  1787.  Bradford, 
a  Virginian,  born  in  1749 — a  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 
migrated  to  Kentucky  in  1785.  His  father  was  a  printer, 
his  sons  were  printers,  and  he  was  the  first  public  printer 
of  Kentucky,  holding  that  office  from  1792  to  1798.  He 
wrote  and  published  "  i*Totes  on  the  Early  History  of  Ken- 
tucky ;"  he  was  honored  by  his  familiar  cotemporaries  with 
the  rank  and  title  of  "  Old  Wisdom ;"  and  he  is  known  to 
have  played  cards,  and  surmised  to  have  sipped  grog,  with 
Henry  Clay,  as  an  agreeable  relaxation  from  business. 

In  July,  1786,  Lexington  granted  the  use  of  a  lot  to 
John  Bradford,  on  condition  that  he  establish  a  printing- 
press.  Accordingly  he  sent  to  Philadelphia  for  a  printer's 
outfit — press,  type,  ink-balls,  and  ink.  These  novelties 
came,  slowly  climbing  over  the  mountains  in  a  wagon, 
and  floating  in  an  "  ark,"  from  Pittsburg  to  Limestone, 
now  Maysville.  Most  of  the  type  for  the  first  number  of 
the  Kentucky  Gazette  was  set  up  at  Limestone,  and  fell 
into  "  pi  "  in  transportation  to  Lexington  by  pack-horse. 
The  matter  was  reset,  and  the  first  impression,  upon 
Philadelphia  paper  in  leaves  about  as  large  as  a  half- 
sheet  of  ordinary  foolscap,  appeared,  August  11,  1787. 
The  office  of  publication  w^as  a  rude  log-cabin,  of  which 
a  picture  is  given  in  ''  Perrin's  Pioneer  Press  of  Ken- 
tucky," one  of  the  publications  of  the  "Filson  Club." 
The  editor's  inventive  skill  enabled  him  to  add  to  his 
scanty  fonts  some  larger  types  and  rude  engravings  cut 
by  his  own  hand  from  dog-wood,  the  American  box.  The 
initial  copies  of  the  Kentucky  Gazette  were  carried  hither 
and  thither  in  the  wilderness  by  post-riders  and  distrib- 
uted to  be  perused  eagerly  in  cabins  or  read  aloud  to 
curious  assemblies,  from  that  backwoods  forum,  a  stump. 


38  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Here,  emphatically,  we  have  civilization  invading  the  sav- 
age hold  of  nature — we  Bee  the  wilderness  of  privation 
and  illiteracy  blossoming  into  the  rose  of  knowledge  and 
thought. 

The  ('ii/Aite  was,  in  the  main,  political  and  reportorial 
of  the  old  news  of  the  Atlantic  States.  Not  much  local 
matter  appeared  in  its  columns.  Yet  the  advertisements 
reflect,  with  wonderful  vividness,  the  primitive  conditions 
of  life  in  Kentucky,  over  a  hundred  years  ago.  Cattle, 
whisky,  and  pelts  were  legal  tender  in  those  days.  Prom- 
inent among  articles  for  sale  this  pioneer  voice  of  the  press 
advertises  tomahawks,  rifles,  gun-flints,  blankets,  buckskin 
for  breeches,  saddle-bags,  and  saddle-bag  locks.  Besides 
these  which  so  forcibly  suggest  the  out-of-door  roughness 
and  rudeness  of  the  war-path  and  the  post- road  through 
the  wilderness,  other  articles  belonging  to  the  house  are 
oftered  for  sale,  such  as  spinning-wheels;  and  the  fashions 
of  yore  are  recalled  to  our  thoughts  when  we  are  told 
where  and  of  whom  we  may  buy  knee-buckles,  and  powder 
for  the  hair. 

Bradford's  enterprise  proved  successful — the  Gazette 
came  to  stay ;  it  continued  in  existence  down  to  the 
year  1848.  Several  other  newspapers  were  started  in 
Kentucky  before  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. One  of  these,  the  Kentucky  Herald,  founded  by 
James  H.  Stewart,  February,  1795,  at  Lexington,  lasted 
about  ten  years,  and  w^as  merged  in  the  Gazette.  In 
1797  Colonel  William  Hunter,  an  enterprising  printer  from 
New  Jersey,  oarae  to  Kentucky,  and  soon  entered  into 
lively  competition  with  the  Bradfords.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Washington  Mirror,  and  also  of  the  Frank- 
fort Tal  hull  mil,  both  of  which  newspapers  were  started  in 
1798.  Hunter  printed  "Decisions  of  the  Court  of  Ap- 
peals," "Littoll's  Laws  of  Kentucky,"  4  vols.,  and  "  Lit- 
telFs  Political  Transactions  in  and  about  Kentucky." 

Colonel  S.  I.  M.  Major,  m  a  sketch  of  the  Frankfort 
press,  gives  a  list  of  the  papciv  pnhlishcJ  in  Kentucky 
from  1787  to  1812,  as  follow^ : 

1787,  The  Kentucky  Gazette,  Lexington. 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  39 

1795,  The  Herald,  Lexington. 

1798,  The  Mirror,  Washington. 

1798,  The  Palladium,  Frankfort. 

1798,  The  Guardian  of  Freedom,  Frankfort. 

1798,  The  Kentucky  Telegraph, . 

1803,  Western  American,  Bardstown. 
1803,  Independent  Gazetteer,  Lexington. 

1803,  Weekly  Messenger,  Washington. 

1804,  Republican  Register,  Shelby vi He. 

1805,  The  Mirror,  Danville. 

1805,  The  Informant,  Danville. 

1806,  Western  World,  Frankfort. 

1806,  Republican  Auxiliary,  Washington. 
1806,  The  Mirror,  Russellville. 
1806,  Impartial  Review,  J3ardstown. 
1808,  The  Reporter,  Lexington. 
1808,  Louisville  Gazette,  Louisville. 

1808,  Western  Citizen,  Paris. 

1809,  Farmers'  Friend,  Russellville. 
1809,  Political  Theater,  Lancaster. 
1809,  The  Dove,  Washington. 

1809,  The  Globe,  Richmond. 

1810,  The  Examiner,  Lancaster. 
1810,  American  Republic,  Frankfort. 

1810,  The  Luminary,  Richmond. 

1811,  American  Statesman,  Lexington. 
1811,  Western  Courier,  Louisville. 
1811,  Bardstown  Repository,  Bardstown. 
1811,  The  Telegraph,  Georgetown. 

For  interesting  details  concerning  these  and  other  Ken- 
tucky newspapers,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Perrin's  Pioneer 
Press  of  Kentucky. 

The  first  newspaper  issued  from  Louisville  was  the 
Farmer's  Library  or  Ohio  Intelligencer,  printed  by  Samuel 
Vail,  a  native  of  Vermont.  This  paper  was  started  Jan- 
uary 7,  1801,  and  was  discontinued  in  1808. 

The  Western  Monitor,  a  weekly  paper  devoted  to  the 
Federal  party,  was  begun  in  Lexington  in  1814,  and  edited 
by  Thomas  Curry.     The  Monitor  passed  into  the  hands  of 


40  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

William  Gibbs  Hunt,  a  New  England  man,  who,  in  1819, 
changed  it  into  the  Western  Review,  of  which  a  full  ac- 
count is  given  in  the  chapter  on  Early  Periodical  Litera- 
ture. 

The  first  daily  newspaper  of  Kentucky  was  the  Public 
Advertizer,  founded  b}'  Shadrach  Penn  at  Louisville. 
The  Advertizer  was  started  in  1818  as  a  weekly.  After 
some  years  it*  became  a  semi-weekly,  and  then  a  daily. 
The  first  daily  issue  appeared  April  4,  1826,  one  year  be- 
fore the  Cincinnati  Gazette  became  a  daily. 

The  Focus,  established  in  1826,  in  Louisville,  by  W.  W. 
Woreley  and  Dr.  Joseph  Buchanan,  was  merged  in  the 
celebrated  Louisville  Journal,  the  history  of  which  will 
be  found  in  the  chapter  on  George  D.  Prentice. 

On  November  9,  1793,  William  Maxwell  sent  out,  from 
a  little  garret  on  Front  street,  west  of  Main,  Cincinnati, 
the  initial  number  of  the  "  Centinel  of  the  Northwestern 
Territory,"  the  first  newspaper  published  north  of  the 
Ohio  river.  Wm.  T.  Coggeshall  says :  "A  wheelbarrow 
would  have  moved  all  the  types,  cases,  and  stands  which 
this  pioneer  establishment  contained.  The  press  was  con- 
structed entirely  of  wood,  and,  in  order  that  the  paper 
might  be  impressed,  it  was  operated  upon  very  much  after 
the  fashion  that  country  boys  operate  on  a  cider  press." 
The  only  copy  of  the  Centinel  known  to  the  writer  is 
owned  by  the  Ohio  Historical  Society  in  Cincinnati.  It 
was  bought  at  auction  for  $148. 

The  Centinel  bore  the  independent  motto :  "  Open  to 
all  parties,  but  influenced  by  none."  In  1796  the  paper 
was  sold  to  Edmund  Freeman,  who  changed  the  name  to 
Freeman^s  Journal,  and  published  it  until  1800,  when  he 
removed  to  Chillicothe. 

A  much  more  important  paper  was  begun  May  28, 1799, 
when  Joseph  Carpenter  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
Western  Spy,  which  was  continued  irregularly  for  about 
ten  years.  At  the  time  when  the  Spy  first  came  out,  the 
village  of  Cincinnati  probably  contained  fewer  than  eight 
hundred  inhabitants.  The  paper,  of  course,  was  a  weekly, 
and  it  frequently  failed  to  appear  on  the  appointed  day  of 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  41 

issue,  skipping  a  week  whenever  circumstances  made  it 
inconvenient  to  come  to  time. 

Carpenter's  Western  Spy  and  Hamilton  Gazette  passed 
into  the  possession  of  Carney  and  Morgan,  who,  in  1809, 
renamed  it  The  Whig.  After  fifty-eiglit  numbers  of  The 
Whig  had  been  issued,  the  paper  again  changed  owners 
and  names,  becoming  the  Advertizer,  which  was  discon- 
tinued in  1811. 

A  newspaper  called  Liberty  Hall  and  Cincinnati  Mer- 
cury, edited  by  Kev.  John  W.  Browne  and  published  by 
Looker  and  Wallace,  first  appeared  in  December,  1804. 

The  Cincinnati  Gazette,  founded  in  July,  1815,  absorbed 
the  Liberty  Hall,  and,  in  January,  1827,  became  a  daily. 

The  press  was  propagated  rapidly  in  Ohio.^     Newspa- 


^  The  following  facts  were  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  R.  G,  Lewis,  of 
Chillicothe,  O.: 

"  The  Scioto  Gazette  "  was  started  in  Chillicothe,  O.,  by  Windship 
and  Willis,  April  25,  1800.  Nathaniel  Willis,  grandfather  of  the  poet 
N.  P.  Willis,  took  sole  charge  of  it,  October  25, 1800,  and  published  it  for 
several  years.  He  afterwards  retired  to  a  farm  in  the  south-west  corner 
of  Ross  county. 

August  10, 1815,  the  "Scioto  Gazette  "  and  the  "  Fredonian  Chronicle  " 
were  consolidated  under  John  Bailhache.  The  "  Gazette "  had  been 
published  by  James  Barnes;  the  *'  Fredonian,"  started  November,  1809, 
was  published  by  John  Bailhache. 

"  The  Supporter  "  was  started  October,  1808 ;  it  was  published  in  Jan- 
uary, 1816,  by  Nashee  and  Denny;  in  March,  1816,  it  was  published  by 
George  Nashee. 

In  January,  1819,  John  Scott  was  publisher  of  the  "  Scioto  Gazette 
and  Fredonian  Chronicle."  In  April  of  the  same  year  Bailhache  and 
Scott  were  the  publishers.  October  30, 1822,  "  The  Supporter  and  Scioto 
Gazette"  was  edited  by  John  Bailhache,  but  published  by  George 
Nashee.  In  1825,  it  was  published  by  J.  Bailhache  &  Co.,  and  in  1826. 
by  J.  Bailhache. 

"The  Ohio  Herald"  was  started  at  Chillicothe,  August  3,  1805,  by 
Thomas  G.  Bradford  &  Co.     It  was  not  long  lived. 

"  The  Farmer's  Watch-Tower  "  was  started  in  Urbana,  O.,  by  Corwin 
and  Blackburn,  in  June,  1812. 

"  Ways  of  the  World  "  was  started  in  Urbana,  O.,  July,  1820.  Pub- 
lished, in  1821,  by  A.  R.  Col  well. 

June  20,  1822,  was  issued  No.  31  of  Vol.  XI  of  the  "  Columbus  Ga- 
zette," Ohio,  by  P.  H.  Olmstead. 

July  28,  1821,  was  published  No.  1,  Vol.  VI,  of  the  "Ohio  Monitor 
and  Patron  of  Industry,"  Columbus,  O.,  by  David  Smith. 


42  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

pers  were  80on  established  at  Williamsburg,  Lebanon, 
Hamilton,  Dayton,  Urbana,  Greenfield,  Marietta,  Chilli- 
cothe,  and  other  centers  of  population.  In  the  year  1819 
there  were  about  forty  newspapers  in  the  state. 

Nor  were  Indiana  and  the  other  western  territories 
much  behind  Kentucky  and  Ohio  in  spreading  the  news. 
The  Vincennes  Sun,  Vincennes,  Indiana,  edited  by  Elihu 
Stout,  dates  from  1803.^  The  Missouri  Gazette,  now  the 
Republican,  was  started  in  St.  Louis  by  Joseph  Charless, 
in  1808.  The  Illinois  Herald  was  founded  at  Kaskaskia 
in  1809  by  Matthew  Dunbar,  the  public  printer.  The  Illi- 
nois Enquirer,  the  second  newspaper  in  Illinois,  was  issued 


Vol.  VI,  No.  52,  of  the  "American  Friend,"  was  published  May  24, 
1822,  by  R.  l^rentiss,  at  Marietta,  O. 

Vol.  XIII,  No.  38,  of  the  "  Western  Herald  and  Steubenville  Gazette  " 
was  published  September  16,  1820,  by  James  Wilson,  at  Steubenville. 

1^0.  475  of  the  "  Ohio  Patriot "  was  published  November  4,  1820,  at 
New  Lisbon,  O. 

No.  XIV,  Vol.  I,  "  Miami  Weekly  Post,"  was  published  June  15, 1820, 
at  Troy,  Ohio. 

No.  22,  Vol.  2,  "Olive  Branch,"  was  published  April  16,  1819,  at  Cir- 
cleville,  O.,  by  Olds  and  Thrall. 

No.  286  of  "The  Western  Star"  was  published  May  25,  1822,  at  Leba- 
non, O.,  by  Van  Vleet  &  Co. 

No.  31,  Vol.  1,  of  "  The  Galaxy,"  was  published  May  27,  1822,  at  Wil- 
mington, O. 

No.  13,  Vol.  Ill,  of  the  "  Delaware  Patron  and  Franklin  Chronicle," 
was  published  May  27,  1822,  at  Delaware,  O.,  by  Griswold  and  Howard. 

No.  24,  Vol.  I,  "The  Dayton  Watchman  or  Farmers  and  Mechanics' 
Journal,"  was  published  at  Dayton  by  G.  S.  Houston  and  R.  J.  Skinner. 

No.  41,  Vol.  XII,  "The  Ohio  Eagle,"  was  published  at  Lancaster, 
May  9,  1822,  by  John  Herman. 

No.  205,  "  Hillsborough  Gazette  and  Highland  Advertiser,"  was  pub- 
lished May  16,  1822,  by  Moses  Carothers. 

No.  46,  Vol.  2,  "  The  Piqua  Gazette  and  Register  of  News,  Agricult- 
ure, Arts  and  Manufactures,"  was  published  July  4, 1822,  by  William  R. 
Barrington. 

No.  25, Vol.  VIII,  "  Mad-Kivir  Courant,"  was  published  Nov.  21,  1828, 
at  Urbana,  O.,  by  M.  L.  Lewis. 

No.  77,  "The  Farmers'  Friend,"  was  published  July  21  y  Will- 

Jam  A.  (^amron,  at  Williamsburg,  O. 

There  are  others,  also,  published  in  Portsmouth,  Springfield,  West 
Union,  Washington  C.  H.,  Xenia,  Waverlv,  etc. 

»  See  Chapter  VHL 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  43 

at  Shawneetown  in  1818,  by  Henry  Eddy  and  S.  H.  Kim- 
mel.  Judge  James  Hall  succeeded  Kimmel,  and  the  name 
of  the  paper  was  altered  to  the  Hlinois  Gazette. 

The  whole  number  of  newspapers  in  the  United  States, 
in  1813,  is  recorded  as  three  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  of 
which  seventeen  were  published  in  Kentucky,  fourteen  in 
Ohio,  and  six  in  Tennessee. 

The  Postmaster-General  reported  in  1824  that  there 
were  then  598  newspapers  published  in  the  United  States. 
Of  these  Ohio  had  48;  Kentucky,  18;  Indiana,  12;  Hli- 
nois, 5;  and  Tennessee,  16.  The  number  at  that  date  in 
New  York  was  137,  and  in  Pennsylvania,  110. 

De  Quincey  says  :  "  I^ot  any  want  of  a  printing  art — that 
is  an  art  for  multiplying  impressions — but  the  want  of  a 
cheap  material  for  receiving  such  impressions,  was  the  ob- 
stacle to  an  introduction  of  printed  books  even  as  early 
as  Pisistratus."  This  obstacle  continued  as  late  as  the 
time  of  John  Bradford.  The  difficulty  and  expense  of  ob- 
taining paper  was  at  first  a  great  drawback  to  the  progress 
of  publication  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  By  and  by,  however, 
the  supply  came.  The  first  paper  mill  of  the  West  was 
begun  in  1791  and  completed  in  1793,  at  Royal  Springs, 
Georgetown,  Kentucky,  by  Craig,  Parkers  &  Co.  This 
Craig  was  the  Rev.  Elisha  Craig,  the  celebrated  pioneer 
preacher.  The  Georgetown  paper  mill  was  a  wooden 
building  with  a  stone  basement,  and  was  sixty  feet  long 
by  forty  in  width.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  year 
1836  or  1837.  The  first  of  the  numerous  paper  mills  on 
the  Miami  river  was  erected  in  the  year  1814. 

The  first  type  foundry  on  the  Ohio  was  established  in 
1820,  when  John  P.  Foote  and  Oliver  Wells  started  the 
Cincinnati  Type  Foundry. 

BACKWOODS    BOOK-MAKING.. 

The  newspaper  offices  were  the  first  book  publishing 
places  in  pioneer  days,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the 
backwoods  editor  and  publisher  to  sell  his  publications  at 
retail.  Almanacs,  codes  of  local  laws,  and  reprints 
of  books   in   general   demand,   were   manufactured    and 


44  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

vended  by  the  enterprising  newspaper  man.  We  have 
mentioned  that  John  Scull  issued  "  Modern  Chivalry " 
and  other  books  from  the  job  office  of  the  Pittsburg 
Gazette,  in  1793;  and  that  Bradford  and  Hunter,  rival 
editors  in  Kentucky,  competed  for  the  public  printing  of 
the  state,  and  put  forth  histories  of  Kentucky  from  their 
active  hand-presses.  Hunter  opened  a  book-store  in 
Frankfort  in  1808. 

John  Bradford,  though  he  printed  almanacs,  circulars, 
and  pamphlets  from  the  year  1787,  did  not  get  out  a  book 
until  1793;  and  that  was  subsequent  to  the  issue  of  a 
book  by  Maxwell  and  Cooch,  who  established  a  printing 
press  in  Lexington  long  after  Bradford. 

The  first  book  published  in  Kentucky  appeared  in  1793, 
and  it  bears  the  following  title  : 

"A  Process  in  the  Transylvania  Presbytery,  etc.  Con- 
taining: Ist.  The  charges,  depositions,  and  defense  in 
which  the  defendant  is  led,  occasionally,  to  handle  the 
much  debated  subject  of  psalmody.  2d.  His  reasons  for 
declining  any  further  connections  with  the  body  to  which 
he  belonged.  3d,  His  present  plan  of  proceeding  with 
the  pastoral  charge.  4th.  His  belief  and  that  of  his  peo- 
ple concerning  the  articles  of  faith  contended  between  the 
reformed  associate  Sinod  and  the  Sinod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  5th.  An  appendix  on  a  late  performance 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Black,  of  March  Creek,  Pennsyl- 
vania. By  Adam  Rankin,  Pastor  at  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky. Lexington :  Printed  by  Maxwell  and  Cooch,  at 
the  sign  of  the  Buffalo,  Main  street,  1793." 

This  voluminous  title  page  fronts  a  duodecimo  of  98 
pages  in  the  old-fashioned  nonpareil  type  of  the  last 
century.  It  is  bound  in  leather  and  has  quite  a  venerable 
appearance.  It  grew  out  of  a  quarrel  in  the  church  as  to 
whether  the  psalms  of  David  or  the  hymns  of  Watts 
should  be  sung.  No  doubt  each  party  sang  well  its 
psalms  or  its  hymns,  but  there  were  discords  enough  to 
rend  the  church  and  send  Rankin  and  his » party  off  sing- 
ing their  psalms  while  the  others  sang  their  hymns.  The 
following  year,  1794,  John   Bradford  published  "  A  reply 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  45 

to  a  narrative  of  Mr.  Adam  Rankin's  trial,"  etc.  It  was 
an  octavo  of  71  pages.  And  then  the  quarreling  and 
singing  went  on  long  after  it  had  furnished  Kentucky  with 
its  first  printed  book.  Probably  those  who  sang  Watts's 
hymns  were  strongest,  for,  in  1803,  Joseph  Charless  pub- 
lished a  duodecimo  of  "hymns  and  spiritual  songs  for  the 
use  of  Christians,"  at  Lexington,  containing  246  pages, 
while  there  seems  to  be  no  psalm-book  published  by  the 
other  party. 

In  1793,  John  Bradford  printed  in  folio  the  Acts  of  the 
Kentucky  Legislature  and  the  Journals  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  for  the  June  and  November 
sessions  of  1792.  He  continued  to  print  the  acts  and 
journals  in  folio  until  1797,  after  which  the  octavo  form 
was  adopted.  In  1799,  Bradford  issued  his  general  in- 
structor intended  to  furnish  justices  of  the  peace  with  the 
law  forms  necessary  for  their  decisions,  and  the  same  year 
issued  the  first  volume  of  his  collected  laws  of  Kentucky. 
In  1803,  he  issued  the  large  quarto  edition  of  the  decisions 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kentucky,  b}^  James  Hughes, 
which,  with  its  diagrams,  was  a  wxMiderful  work  for  the 
times.  In  1807,  was  issued  the  second  volume  of  collected 
laws  of  Kentucky,  and  in  1817,  the  third  and  last. 

While  Bradford  was  thus  printing  numerous  law  books 
and  legislature  proceedings,  he  was  also  doing  something 
for  the  unprofessional  reader.  In  1798,  he  issued  the  cele- 
brated "Letter  from  George  IN'icholas  of  Kentucky  to  his 
friend  in  Virginia,"  and  in  1799,  "An  Account  of  the  Re- 
markable Occurrences  in  the  Life  of  Colonel  James  Smith, 
of  Bourbon  County,  during  his  Captivity  with  the  Indians 
from  the  Year  1755  to  1759,  inclusive." 

After  the  present  century  had  well  set  in,  there  were 
other  printers  in  Lexington  besides  those  named,  and  Lex- 
ington became  a  publishing  center  not  only  for  Kentucky 
but  for  the  West.  Besides  the  newspaper  offices  of  the  Ga- 
zette and  the  Herald  and  the  printing-offices  of  Maxwell  and 
Cooch,  Thomas  T.  Skillman,  Joseph  Charless,  Wessely  and 
Smith,  and  Downing  and  Phillips,  were  prepared  to  issue 
books.     So   much    capacity  for  turning  manuscript  into 


46  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

print  was  calculated  to  produce  the  matter  to  be  printed, 
and  such  was  the  result.  Important  works  now  began  to 
come  from  the  Lexington  presses  at  frequent  intervals.  In 
1800,  Bradford  published  "  Voyages,  Adventures,  and  Lit- 
erature of  the  French  Emigrants  from  the  year  1789  to 
1799;"  in  1802,  "A  Review  of  the  :N'oted  Revivals  in  Ken- 
tucky, by  Adam  Rankin ;"  "  Wilson's  Grammar,  revised 
and  corrected;"  "IN'ew  Travels  to  the  Westward;"  and 
"  Trying  the  Great  Reformation  in  this  State,  etc.;" 
in  1803,  ''Political,  Commercial  and  Moral  Reflections 
on  the  late  Cession  of  Louisiana,"  by  Allan  B.  Ma- 
gruder ;  "  Poems,"  by  J.  R.  Toulmin  ;  "  The  Stud  Book," 
and  David  Barlow's  "Defense  of  the  Trinity;"  in  1804, 
"Infernal  Conference,  or  Dialogues  of  Devils ;"  "  IS'otes 
on  the  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River,"  by  James 
M.  Bradford,  and  "An  Apology  for  Calvinism,"  by  R. 
H.  Bishop;  in  1805,  "The  Chain  of  Lorenzo,"  by  Lo- 
renzo Dow,  and  "  Strictures  on  the  Letters  of  Barton  W. 
Stone,"  by  John  P.  Campbell;  in  1806,  "A  Map  of  the 
Rapids  of  the  Ohio,  with  explanatory  Notes,"  by  Jared 
Brooks;  and  during  these  six  years,  numerous  school 
books,  such  as  Harrison's  English  Grammar,  the  Union 
Primer,  School  Master's  Assistant,  the  American  Orator, 
the  Western  Lecturer,  the  Monitor,  the  Kentucky  Precep- 
tor, and  the  Kentucky  English  Grammar,  by  Samuel  Wilson. 

In  1815,  "  The  History  of  the  American  Revolution," 
by  David  Ramsay,  was  issued  in  two  octavo  volumes  by 
Downing  and  Phillips  of  Lexington.  In  1816,  Wesseley  and 
Smith  issued  the  "  History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  West- 
ern Country,'  by  Robert  B.  McAfee,  and  the  same  year,  F. 
Bradford  issued  "A  Complete  History  of  the  Late  Amer- 
ican War  with  Great  Britain  and  her  Allies,"  by  M.  Smith. 
In  1821,  William  G.  Hunt  issued  "A  Collection  of  Some 
of  the  Most  Interesting  Narratives  of  Indian  Warfare  in 
the  West,"  by  Samuel  L.  Metcalf.  In  1824,  Thomas  Skill- 
man  issued  "An  Outline  of  the  History  of  the  Church  in 
the  State  of  Kentucky,"  by  Robert  H.  Bishop. 

It  would  be  vain  to  pursue  the  history  of  Lexington 
publications   further,  unless  a  regular  bibliography  were 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  47 

intended.  It  may  be  stated,  however,  that  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  books  there  printed  was  of  a  religious  char- 
acter. Mr.  D arret t  ^  has  whole  shelves  of  them,  and  but 
few  of  them  are  of  much  value,  except  as  showing  the  cast 
of  thought  in  their  day. 

All  the  Kentucky  books,  however,  were  not  pririted  at 
Lexington.  In  the  little  town  of  Washington,  in  Mason 
county,  books  were  printed  at  an  early  day.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1797,  a  w^eekly  newspaper  called  the  "  Mirror  " 
was  established  by  Beaumont  and  Hunter,  and  the  next 
year  books  began  to  issue  from  their  press.  "  The  Ken- 
tucky Primer,"  the  "  Kentucky  Spelling  Book,"  and  the 
"  Ohio  Kavigator,  comprising  an  Ample  Account  of  the 
Beautiful  River  from  its  Head  to  its  Junction  with  the 
Mississippi,"  were  all  issued  from  this  press  in  1798. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1798,  the  enterpris- 
ing Beaumont  and  Hunter  moved  to  Frankfort,  Kentucky, 
and  there  established  a  weekly  newspaper  called  the 
"  Palladium."  Soon  thereafter,  the  "  Mirror  "  was  dis- 
continued and  the  printing  of  books  transferred  to  the 
office  in  Frankfort.  Here  the  school  books,  etc.,  begun  at 
Washington  were  continued.  The  editors  did  not  now, 
however,  confine  themselves  to  school  books,  but  before 
the  year  1798  had  closed  they  issued  "  Speeches  of  Ers- 
kine  and  Kidd  in  the  Trial  for  Publishing  Paine's  'Age  of 
Reason ;'  "  "A  Summary  of  the  Declaration  of  the  Faith 
and  Practice  of  the  Baptist  Church  ;"  "  The  Several  Acts 
Relative  to  Stamp  Duties ;"  ''A  Sermon  on  Sacred  Music," 
by  Rev.  John  A.  Campbell;  "A  Yiew  of  the  Administra- 
tion of  Government,"  and  "Steuben's  Manual  Exercises." 

It  was  not  long  before  more  important  books  than  those 
just  named  began  to  be  pulished  at  Frankfort.  In  1802, 
appeared  "A  Collection  of  all  the  Public  and  Permanent 
Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Kentucky,"  by  Harry 
Toulmin ;  in  1806,  "  Political  Transactions  in  and  Con- 
cerning Kentucky,"  by  William  Littell ;  "A  Review  of  the 
Criminal   Law   of  the  Commowealth    of  Kentucky,"   by 

'  The  author  is  under  obligation  to  Col.  Durrett  for  most  of  the  infor- 
mation here  given  concerning  Kentucky  books. 


48  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Harry  Toulmin  and  James  Blair,  and  "  View  of  the  Pres- 
ident's Conduct,"  by  Joseph  Hamilton  Daveiss ;  in  1808, 
"Principles  of  Law  and  Equity,"  by  William  Littell,  and 
the  following  year,  by  the  same  author,  the  first  volume 
of  his  great  work,  **  The  Statute  Law  of  Kentucky," 
which  closed  with  the  fifth  volume  in  1819;  in  1810,  the 
great  work  of  Joseph  Hamilton  Daveiss  entitled  "  Sketch 
of  a  Bill  for  an  Uniform  Militia  of  the  United  States, 
w^ith  Redections  on  the  State  of  the  Kation,"  etc.;  in 
1812,  the  first  edition  of  Humphrey  Marshall's  great  his- 
tory of  Kentucky,  followed  in  1824  by  the  enlarged  two- 
volume  edition  ;  in  1814,  '^  Festoons  of  Fancy,"  poems  by 
Wm.  Littell;  in  1816,  "A  Xew  Kentucky  Composition  of 
Hymns,"  by  Rev.  Wm.  Downs  ;  and  in  1824,  ^'Ancient 
History  or  Annals  of  Kentucky,"  by  C.  S.  Rafinesque. 

During  this  time,  however,  the  making  of  books  was 
not  confined  to  Lexington  and  Frankfort.  In  1810,  there 
was  printed  in  the  town  of  Richmond,  Madison  county, 
**  The  American  Medical  Guide,"  by  Thomas  W.  Ruble  ; 
and  in  1812,  a  large  octavo,  entitled  "  The  Philosophy  of 
Human  Nature,"  by  Joseph  Buchannan.  The  same  year, 
1812,  in  the  town  of  Paris,  in  Bourbon  county,  was 
printed  "A  Treatise  on  the  Mode  and  Manners  of  Indian 
War,"  etc.,  by  Colonel  James  Smith.  In  these  early 
times,  books  were  printed  at  Georgetown,  Harrodsburg, 
Versailles,  Bardstown,  Bloomfield,  Glasgow,  Russellville, 
Covington,  Bowling  Green,  etc.  The  celebrated  "  Sketches 
of  Western  Adventure,"  by  John  A.  McClung,  was  printed 
at  Maysville  in  1832,  and  in  1847,  Lewis  Collins's  *'  History 
of  Kentucky." 

Nothing  has  been  said  about  book-making  at  Louis- 
ville, and  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  work  did  not  be- 
gin there  until  it  had  long  been  successfully  conducted  at 
other  places.  In  1801,  Samuel  Vail  established  a  weekly 
newspaper  in  Louisville,  called  the  '*  Farmer's  Library,  or 
Ohio  Intelligencer."  Pamphlets,  hand-bills,  circulars,  etc., 
soon  were  issued  from  this  office,  but  nothing  that  can  be 
honored  with  the  name  of  book,  that  has  come  down  to 
our  times.     In  1800,  F.  Penniston  establislii'd  tlio  second 


71ie  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  49 

newspaper  in  Louisville,  which  was  called  the  "  Western 
American  ;"  in  1808,  the  "Louisville  Gazette"  was  estab- 
lished by  Charless  and  Bruner,  and  in  1810,  the  "  Western 
Courier,"  by  Nicholas  Clarke ;  but  nothing  in  the  shape 
of  a  book  has  come  down  to  us  from  any  of  these  early 
printing  offices.  It  was  not  until  Shadrack  Penn  estab- 
lished the  "Public  Advertiser"  here,  in  1818,  that  any 
book  Avas  produced  worthy  of  the  name,  and  that  has 
come  down  to  our  times. 

In  1819,  was  issued  from  the  press  of  Shadrack  Penn, 
"  Sketches  of  Louisville  and  its  Environs,"  by  II.  McMur- 
trie.  This  was  the  first  history  of  Louisville,  and  the 
first  book  worthy  of  the  name  printed  in  Louisville. 
Book-making,  thus  slow  to  begin  in  Louisville,  dragged 
slowly  on  for  a  number  of  years,  but  still  it  went  on.  •  As 
the  old  barges  and  keels  gave  place  to  steamboats  in  the 
w^ater,  and  turnpikes  and  railroads  took  the  place  of  the 
buffalo  paths  upon  the  land,  books  took  the  place  of 
pamphlets  and  hand-bills  and  circulars,  in  the  printing 
offices.  Those  of  an  early  date,  "such  as  "  Meditations  on 
Various  Religious  Subjects,"  by  David  P. '  Nelson,  in 
1828  ;  "An  Account  of  the  Law-suit,"  etc.,  by  Rev.  N.  L. 
Rice,  in  1837;  and  "Pulpit  Sketches,"  by  Rev.  John 
ISewland  Maffitt,  in  1839,  were  not  of  a  character  to  add 
lasting  fame  to  the  town  as  a  publishing  center.  In  1832, 
the  first  directory  of  Louisville  was  published,  containing 
a  sketch  of  the  city  by  Mann  Butler,  and  tw^o  years  there- 
after, Mr.  Butler's  history  of  Kentucky  was  issued  from 
the  press  of  Wilcox,  Dickerman  &  Co.  This  directory 
and  history  were  far  the  most  important  books  that  had 
been  published  since  McMurtrie's  "  Sketches,"  and  it  was 
some  time  before  any  others  of  equal  value  followed. 

The  first  book  printed  in  Ohio  is  known  as  "  Maxwell's 
Code."     It  is  a  small  octavo  of  225  pages,  entitled : 

"  Laws  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States,  North- 
west of  the  Ohio,  adopted  and  made  by  the  Governor  and 
Judges,  in  their  legislative  capacity,  at  a  session  begun  on 
'  Friday  the  XXIX  day  of  May,  one  thousand  seven  hiin- 
4 


50  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

dred  and  ninety-five,  and  ending  Tuesday  the  25th  day  of 
August  following,  with  an  Appendix  of  Resolutions  and 
the  Ordinance  for  the  Government  of  the  Territory.  By 
Authority.     Cincinnati  :  Printed  by  W.  Maxwell,  1796." 

The  laws  enacted  by  the  territorial  legislature  in  1798, 
were  published  in  the  same  year  by  Edmund  Freeman, 
Cincinnati;  and  subsequent  laws,  by  Carpenter  and  Find- 
ley,  Printers  to  the  Territory,  in  1800.  When  the  capital 
was  removed  from  Cincinnati  to  Chillicothe,  Windship 
and  Willis,  of  the  latter  place,  were  made  printers  '*  to 
the  Honorable  the  Legislature,"  and  issued  volumes  of 
laws  in  1801  and  1802. 

Carpenter  and  Findley,  proprietors  of  the  "  Western 
Spy,  and  Hamilton  Cazette,"  published  in  that  paper,  of 
date  August  19,  1801,  the  following:  "Now  in  press,  and 
for  sale  at  this  office,  to-morrow,  price  25  cents,  a  pamphlet 
entitled.  The  Little  Book :  The  Arcanum  Opened^^ containing 
the  fmidamentcds  of  a  pure  and  most  ancient  theology— The 
Urim,  or  Halcyon  Cabala,  containing  the  platform  of  the 
spiritual  tabernacle  rebuilt,  composed  of  one  grand  substantive 
— and  Seven  excellent  Topics,  in  opposition  to  spurious  Chris- 
tianity. A  liberal  deduction  will  be  made  to  those  who 
take  a  quantity.     No  trust." 

Almanacs  were  published  in  Cincinnati  by  Wm.  Mc- 
Farland,  in  1805;  by  Carney  and  Morgan,  in  1809;  by 
John  W.  Browne  &  Co.,  at  the  Liberty  Hall  Office,  in 
1810;  by  Joseph  Carpenter,  in  1811;  by  Browne  and 
Looker,  in  1813;  by  Looker  and  Wallace,  in  1814;  by 
Williams  and  Mason,  in  1816;  by  Morgan,  Lodge  &  Co., 
in  1817;  by  Ferguson  and  Sanxay,  in  1818;  and  by  Oliver 
Farnsworth  &  Co.,  in  1822.  The  number  of  these  names 
of  publishing  firms  gives  some  idea  of  the  activity  of  the 
printing  business  in  Cincinnati,  in  her  young  days. 

One  of  the  earliest  books  published  in  Cincinnati  was 
iMued  from  the  press  of  David  E.  Carney,  in  the  year 
1807,  and  bears  the  title,  "The  Trial  of  Charles  Vattier, 
convicted  of  the  Crimes  of  Burglary  and  Larceny,  for 
Btealing  from  the  Office  of  Receiver  of  Public  Monies  for 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  61 

the  District  of  Cincinnati,  large  sums  in  specie  and  bank- 
notes, amounting  to  many  thousands  of  dollars,  etc." 

Dr.  Daniel  Drake's  "  Notices  Concerning  Cincinnati," 
printed  by  John  W.  Browne  in  1810,  is  declared  by  Peter 
G.  Thompson,  author  of  **A  Bibliography  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,"  to  be  "  without  doubt  the  rarest  work  relating  to 
Cincinnati."  Drake's  "  Picture  of  Cincinnati,"  printed 
by  Looker  &  Wallace  in  1815,  Mr.  Thompson  tells  us  is 
*'  often  erroneously  catalogued  as  the  first  book  printed  in 
Cincinnati." 

A  very  rare  and  curious  volume  printed  by  Browne  &  \ 
Looker  for  the  author,  in  1813,  is  *'  The  Indian  Doctor's  \ 
Dispensatory;  being  Father  Smith's  Advice  respecting 
Diseases  and  their  Cure;  consisting  of  Prescriptions  for 
many  Complaints,  and  a  Description  of  Medicines,  Simple 
and  Compound,  showing  their  virtues  and  how  to  apply 
them.  Designed  for  the  benefit  of  his  children,  his 
friends,  and  the  public,  but  more  especially  for  the  Citi- 
zens of  the  Western  Parts  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica. By  Peter  Smith  of  the  Miami  Country."  Mr. 
Thompson  quotes  from  the  preface  of  this  primitive  phar- 
macopeia this  passage  :  "  The  author  would  notify  the 
purchaser  that  he  puts  the  price  of  one  dollar  on  this 
book,  well  knowing  that  75  cents  would  be  enough  for  the 
common  price  of  a  book  of  this  size ;  but  those  who  do 
not  chuse  to  allow  him  25  cents  for  his  advice,  may  desist 
from  the  purchase.  He  claims  this  25  cents  as  a  small 
compensation  for  the  labor  and  observations  of  fifty  years, 
etc." 

Doctor  Drake,  in  his  "Picture  of  Cincinnati,"  1815, 
sa3'8  :  "  Ten  years  ago,  there  had  not  been  printed  in  this 
place  a  single  volume ;  but  since  the  year  1811,  twelve 
difierent  books,  besides  may  pamphlets,  have  been  exe- 
cuted. These  works,  it  is  true,  were  of  moderate  size  ; 
but  they  were  bound,  and  averaged  more  than  200  pages 
each." 

The  first  publishers,  as  we  have  noted,  were  proprietors 
of  newspapers.  One  of  the  earliest  and  most  energetic 
of  these  pioneers  of  the  press  was   Ephraim   Morgan,  a 


52  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Quaker  (born  1790,  died  1873),  avIio  was  a  proprietor  of 
the  "Whig"  in  1809,  of  the  "Spy"  in  1815,  and  senior 
member  of  the  firm  of  Morgan,  Lodge  &  Fisher,  which, 
in  1826,  established  the  Daily  Gazette.  Mr.  Morgan  built 
up  a  large  publishing  business,  and  had  perhaps  the  largest 
printing  house  and  bindery  in  the  city  up  to  about  the 
year  1830.  In  that  year  the  house  had  "  five  power  presses, 
propelled  by  water,  each  of  which  could  throw  off  5,000 
impressions  daily."  They  manufactured  the  Eclectic 
School  Books  prepared  b}^  Truman  &  Smith. 

The  firm  of  Truman  &  Smith,  founded  by  Winthrop  B. 
Smith  about  the  year  1830,  which  grew  to  be  the  most  ex- 
tensive school-book  publishing  house  in  the  world,  and  is 
now  merged  in  the  American  Book  Company,  leaped  to 
prosperity  almost  at  the  beginning  of  its  career.  Seven 
hundred  thousand  copies  of  their  books  had  been  sold  up 
to  the  year  1841.  The  series  at  that  time  comprised  only 
McGuffy's  Readers  and  Speller,  Ray's  Arithmetics,  Miss 
Beecher's  Moral  Instructor,  Mansfield's  Political  Gram- 
mar, and  Mason's  Music  Book. 

When  the  Territory  of  Indiana  was  organized,  under 
the  governorship  of  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  the  laws  adopted 
by  the  governor  and  territorial  judges  were  printed,  and 
one  of  the  few  sets  now  known  to  exist  is  owned  by 
Judge  John  H.  Stotsenburg,  of  I^ew  Albany,  Indiana. 
The  sessions  of  the  governor  and  judges  were  held  in  the 
years  1801-2-3.  The  proceedings  of  the  Territorial  Gen- 
eral Assembly  were  published  in  the  Western  Sun,  a  news- 
paper established  by  Elihu  Stout,  at  Vinceniics,  in  1804. 
This  was  the  first  newspaper  published  in  Indiana,  and  it 
is  interesting  to  note  that  Mr.  Stout  came  from  Lexing- 
ton, that  starting  point  of  western  culture.  In  1807,  a 
volume  of  revified  statutes  was  printed  at  Vinroimc's  with 
the  title,  "Laws  of  the  Indiana  Tcriitory."  Tlu'  pub- 
lishers were  Messrs.  Stout  and  Smoot,  authorized  [.ublic 
printers.  The  paper  on  which  the  code  was  printed  was 
conveyed  by  pack-horse  from  Georgetown,  Ky.  A  copy 
ot  the  "Revision  of  1807"  is  owned  by  William  Farrell, 
Paoli,  Indiana. 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  53 


THE    BOOK    TRADE. 

The  Western  Spy  of  August  13,  1799,  contains  an  ad- 
vertisement announcing  that  James  Ferguson  would  sell 
in  Cincinnati  a  large  assortment  of  books,  about  120  in 
number,  among  which  were  Young's  ''Xight  Thoughts," 
Watt's  ''  Psalms,"  ''  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  Fox's  ''  Book  of 
Martyrs,"  and  other  religious,  classical  and  standard  works. 
In  the  same  newspaper,  of  date  January  30,  J.802,  Mr.  A. 
Casey,  of  Philadelphia,  has  the  following  notice: 

"PUBLIC  AUCTIOX. 

"  Will  be  offered  for  sale  on  Tuesday,  the  second  day  of 
February,  at  the  Court  House  in  Cincinnati,  a  handsome 
collection  of  books  and  pamphlets." 

Mr.  Robert  Clarke  conjectures  that  the  books  offered 
for  sale  by  Mr.  Casey  were  purchased  by  public-spirited 
citizens  and  probably  formed  the  basis  of  the  first  Cincin- 
nati library,  organized  in  1802.  There  was  certainly  no 
book-shop  in  the  town  at  that  time.  One  was  in  opera- 
tion in  Lexington,  Ky,  in  1803,  owned  by  John  Charles. 
Frankfort,  Ky.,  had  a  book-shop  five  years  later.  The 
wants  of  the  people,  in  the  line  of  books,  were  supplied  at 
first  through  the  newspapers,  or  by  the  keepers  of  general 
stores.  Isaac  Drake  combined  traflic  in  books  and  sta- 
tionery with  the  drug  business,  and  John  P.  Foote  made 
it  an  adjunct  to  his  vocation  as  type-founder. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  John  P.  Foote 
was  the  orio^inator  of  the  first  regular  book-store  in  Cin- 
cinnati.  In  1820  (?),  Mr.  Foote,  in  company  with  Oliver 
Wells,  started  the  Cincinnati  Type  Foundry,  a  branch  of 
E.  White's  Xew  York  foundry.  IN'ot  long  afterward 
Foote  opened  a  book-store  at-^o.  14  Lower  Market  street. 
The  business  was  continued  until  1828. 

A  rival  book-store  was  established  by  Messrs.  John  T. 
Drake,  of  Massachusetts,  and  William  Conclin,  of  ^ew 
York,  who  carried  on  business  until  1829,  when  the 
partnership  was  dissolved,  Mr.  Drake  going  into  business 


54  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

with  Phillips  &  Spear,  paper-makers,  and  Mr.  Conclin 
starting  a  new  book-store  at  43  Main  street,  where  he  re- 
mained a  dozen  years.  Mr.  John  T.  Drake  died  in  1830, 
and  his  brother,  Josiah  Drake,  carried  on  the  book  busi- 
ness from  1831  to  1839.  His  store,  No.  14  Main  street, 
was  the  literary  resort  of  the  day.  It  is  stated  that  his 
sales  amounted  to  from  eighty  to  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year. 

There  were  several  other  book-sellers  in  the  city  in  the 
period  of  which  we  are  writing,  among  them  Flash  & 
Ryder,  Thomas  Reddish,  Hubbard  &  Edmunds,  Jacob 
Ernst,  Nathan  and  George  Gilford,  and  Desilver  &  Burr. 
But  it  seems  that  E.  H.  Flint,  son  of  the  Rev.  Timothy 
Flint,  and  publisher  of  the  "  Western  Review,"  was  the 
principal  competitor  of  Josiah  Drake,  and  that  his  book- 
shop was  a  favorite  loaiing-place  for  bibliophiles  and  mu- 
sicians. In  the  year  1827,  Flint  kept  the  following  adver- 
tisement standing  in  the  "  Western  Review  :" 

"E.  H.  FLINT, 

HAS    OPENED   A    BOOK-STORE, 

Corner  of  Fifth  and   Walnut  streets,  south  side  of   Upper 

Market, 

CINCINNATI  : 

Where  he  has  a  general  assortment  of  school-books, 
geographies,  atlases,  stationery,  &c.  His  assortment  at 
present  is  small,  but  comprises  many  interesting  and  valu- 
able works,  particularly  upon  the  history  and  geography 
of  the  Western  country.  He  has  many  books  that  were 
selected,  to  form  part  of  a  private  library.  He  intends 
soon  to  import  from  Boston  and  Philadelphia  a  complete 
assortment  of  books,  stationery,  engravings,  &c.,  and  to 
keep  on  hand  all  the  new  publications  of  interest.  Hav- 
ing recently  commenced  the  business  of  sending  books  to 
all  the  chief  towns  and  villages  in  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, he  will  be  able  to  make  up  packages  with  neat- 
ness, and  transmit  them  with  safety  and  dispatch  to  any 
town  in  the  Western  and  Southwestern  country.     Beiu^ 


The  Pioneer  Press  and  its  Product.  55 

determined  to  devote  himself  to  that  hiisiness,  and  to 
make  annual  visits  to  those  towns  and  villages,  he  solicits 
orders  of  this  kind,  for  which  he  will  charge  very  moder- 
ate commissions.  He  will,  also,  sell  books  at  auction,  if 
transmitted  with  that  object.  He  will  endeavor  to  merit 
confidence  by  punctuality  and  attention,  and  will  thank- 
fully acknowledge  the  smallest  favor." 

« 

Flint's  store  was  removed  in  1828  to  ]S'o.  160  Main 
street,  "  nearly  opposite  the  First  Presbyterian  Church," 
and  the  proprietor  advertised,  by  title,  a  long  list  of  books 
and  other  articles,  including  ''  quills,"  "  silver  pens," 
''  rice  paper,  assorted  colors,"  "  seal  stamps,"  and  a  "  large 
assortment  of  new  and  fashionable  music." 

The  booksellers  who  advertised  in  "  Cist's  Cincinnati,  in 
1841,"  were  Williamson  &  Strong,  140  Main  street;  Tru- 
man k  Smith,  Main  between  Fourth  and  Fifth  streets  ;  J. 
W.  Ely,  "Sign  of  the  Franklin  Head,"  10  Lower  Market 
street;  E.  Morgan  &  Co.,  131  Main  street;  George  Conclin, 
55  Main  street ;  and  U.  P.  James,  26  Pearl  street. 
Conclin  issued  quite  a  list  of  original  publications,  in- 
cluding the  "  Practical  Farmer,"  "  Texan  Emigrant," 
"  Life  of  Colonel  Daniel  Boone,"  "  Life  and  Adventures  of 
Black  Hawk,"  "Western  Pilot,''  and  "Hall's  Western 
Reader." 

The  name  of  U.  P.  James,  more  than  that  of  any  other 
early  publisher  in  the  Ohio  Yalley,  is  identified  with  what 
is  distinctively  of  a  literary  character.  Without  detract- 
ing from  the  merits  of  his  cotemporaries,  we  may  credit 
Mr.  James  with  being  the  first  Western  publisher  who 
ventured  to  embark  any  considerable  capital  in  repro- 
ducing standard  works  in  general  literature,  and  who  had 
the  enthusiasm  to  bring  out  new  books  in  prose  and 
verse  by  home  authors.  His  long,  useful,  and  beautiful 
life  has  but  recently  closed,  February  25,  1889,  and  the 
"American  Geologist "  and  other  scientific  journals  have 
honored  his  memory  by  recording,  with  praise,  his 
eminent  services  as  a  paleontologist,  geologist,  and  patron 
of  natural  science  in  general.     The  writers  of  the  West 


56  Liiterary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

also  owe  him  that  unpayable  debt  which  gratitude  incurs 
to  a  benefactor  of  their  profession. 

The  following  passage  from  a  memorial  printed  in  1889 
may  fittingly  end  this  chapter. 

"  Uriah  Pierson  James  was  born  in  the  town  of  Goshen, 
Orange  Co.,  JsT.  Y.,  on  December  30,  1811.  Ilis  father, 
Thomas  James,  was  a  carpenter,  who  followed  his  trade 
until  h*is  death  in  1824,  the  result  of  an  accident.  His 
mother,  Rhoda  Pierson  James,  was  a  direct  descendant  of 
Thomas  Pierson,  a  brother  of  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  the 
first  president  of  Yale  College.  He  had  two  brothers  and 
three  sisters,  all  of  whom  he  survived,  so  that  he  was  in 
reality  the  last  of  his  immediate  family. 

**  In  1881,  long  before  any  railroad  had  crossed  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  he  and  his  brother  Joseph  traveled  by  stage  and 
canal,  west  to  Cincinnati,  arriving  in  August,  and  wit- 
nessing the  great  flood  of  February,  1832.  Having 
learned  the  trades  of  printer  and  stereotyper,  he  began  to 
work  at  these  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Cincinnati,  and 
followed  them  successfully  for  a  number  of  years.  In  a 
short  time  he  began  publishing  books,  and  his  first 
venture,  the  "  Eolian  Songster,"  was  printed  in  1832,  the 
copyright  being  dated  June  15th.  This  book  was  followed 
at  intervals  by  others  until  the  complete  list  would  num- 
ber hundreds.  In  1847,  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
his  brother  Joseph  as  publishers,  printers,  stereotypers, 
and  type-founders,  the  firm  name  being  J.  A.  &  U.  P. 
James.  The  business  increased  rapidly,  book  publishing 
became  a  prominent  part  of  it,  and  the  firm  became  widely 
known  throughout  the  Mississippi  Valley  as  the  'Harpers 
of  the  West.'  Many  of  the  books  published  by  the  firm 
and  later  by  Mr.  James  himself  have  had  a  very  wide  cir- 
culation. The 'James's  River  Guide'  and  the  '  Western 
Pilot*  were  standard  works  among  river  men  on  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers.  These  books  contained 
charts  of  the  river  channels  and  accounts  of  the  cities  and 
towns  along  their  banks,  and  they  were  considered  so  ac- 
curate that  in  several  instances  they  were  used  to  settle 
disputed  points  in  the  courts. 


The  Pioneer  Fress  and  its  Product.  57 

"  He  published  an  edition  of  '  Yestiges  of  Creation ' 
Boon  after  that  celebrated  book  first  appeared.  He  was  a 
patron  of  many  of  the  early  authors  of  the  West,  and  was 
the  means  of  bringing  many  of  them  before  a  very  wide  cir- 
cle of  readers.  For  many  years  he  edited  and  published 
the  ^  Farmer's  and  Mechanic's  Almanac '  long  considered 
a  standard  among  the  farmers,  who  looked  upon  its  pre- 
dictions of  the  w^eather  with  the  greatest  respect  and  con- 
fidence. The  flood  of  patent  medicine  almanacs  and 
calendars  finally  made  this  unprofitable  and  its  publica- 
tion was  discontinued  in  1869." 


S9  Lit^ary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER    HI. 

EARLY  PERIODICAL  LITERATURE  OF  THE  OHIO  VALLEY. 
"  THE    MEDLEY,    OR    MONTHLY    MISCELLANY.*' 

It  is  recorded  in  numerous  publications,  and  has  been 
accepted  as  final,  by  bibliographers,  that  the  Western  Re- 
view, edited  by  William  Gibbs  Hunt,  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
in  1819-21,  was  the  first  literary  magazine  published  west 
of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  A  recent  discovery  by  Mr. 
A.  C.  Quisenberry,  of  Lexington,  an  accomplished  and 
enthusiastic  student  of  Kentucky  literature  and  history, 
proves  that  the  pioneers  of  the  Ohio  Valley  could  boast 
of  a  distinctively  literary  monthly,  in  the  year  1803,  full 
sixteen  years  before  Hunt's  Review  appeared.  The  Medley^ 
or  Monthly  Miscellany,  printed  by  Daniel  Bradford,  in  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  for  one  year  only,  from  January  to  Decem- 
ber, 1803,  must  be  considered  the  first  magazine  of  the 
West,  at  least  until  somebody  finds  its  predecessor.  His- 
torians need  be  cautious  in  deciding  wi^ow  first  events — the 
first  child  born,  the  first  house  built,  the  first  institution 
established  in  a  given  settlement,  or  state,  or  territory. 

Mr.  Quisenberry,  while  engaged  in  gathering  material 
for  a  biograpliical  sketch  of  the  elder  Humphrey  Marshall, 
author  of  MarshoWs  History  of  Kentucky,  had  occasion  to 
ransack  the  Lexington  library,  and  to  make  diligent 
search  through  the  files  of  the  Kentucky  Gazette,  the  earli- 
est newspaper  published  west  of  Pittsburg.  His  attention 
was  attracted  by  the  following  announcement  in  tho 
Gazette,  dated  October  26,  1802: 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  59 

"PROPOSALS, 

By  Daniel  Bradford, 

For  Publishing  by  Subscription 

THE  MEDLEY, 

Or  Monthly  Miscellany. 

I.  The  Medley  shall  be  published  in  numbers,  one  of 
which  shall  be  ready  for  delivery  the  first  Tuesday  in 
every  month,  and  regularly  forwarded  to  subscribers  as 
directed. 

II.  Each  number  shall  contain  twenty-four  pages,  duo- 
decimo^ Printed  with  a  neat  type,  on  good  paper. 

III.  The  price  to  Subscribers  will  be  One  Dollar  per  an- 
num^ to  be  paid  at  the  expiration  of  six  months,  oy  seventy - 
five  cents  at  the  time  of  subscribing. 

I@*  The  first  number  will  issue  on  January  4th,  1803. 

The  design  of  this  publication  being  to  combine  Amuse- 
ment with  Useful  information,  it  will  be  the  Study  of  the 
Editor,  by  the  variety  of  his  Subjects,  to  attain  that  ob- 
ject, and  suit  the  tastes  of  each  reader. 

It  is  expected  that  Literary  Characters  will  accept  the 
opportunity  this  Work  will  afford  them  of  rendering  the 
result  of  their  lucubrations  useful  to  the  public. 

Besides  Original  Essays,  The  Medley  shall  contain  Se- 
lections in  Prose  and  Yerse,  from  the  most  approved 
Authors. 

As  '  The  proper  study  of  Mankind  is  Man,'  biograph- 
ical sketches  of  those  whom  talent  or  patriotism  have 
rendered  conspicuous  shall  be  frequently  introduced. 

The  advantages  resulting  from  the  publication  of  a 
Literary  Miscellany  must  be  obvious.  The  editor  has 
only  to  add  that  Industry  in  the  collection  of  materials, 
and  particular  attention  to  the  merits  and  variety  of  Ex- 
tract, shall  not  be  wanting  on  his  part  to  entitle  the 
Medley  to  the  patronage  of  the  Public." 

According  to  this  prospectus,  the  first  number  of  the 


60  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Medley  was  to  appear  January  fourth,  eighteen  hundred 
and  three.  On  that  date  the  following  notice  appeared  in 
the  Kentucky  Gazette  :  *^  The  Editor  of  the  Gazette  an- 
nounces that  a  disappointment  in  securing  paper  has 
obliged  the  Editor  to  defer  the  publication  of  the  first 
number  of  The  Medley  until  the  last  Tuesday  in  the 
Month,  at  which  time  it  will  certainly  be  commenced,  and 
thereafter  be  continued  regularly.  The  number  of  the 
subscription  list  for  The  Medley  has  already  extended  be- 
yond the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  the  Editor;  but 
what  peculiarly  adds  to  his  gratification  is  to  find  among 
the  number  a  great  proportion  of  ladies,  under  whose 
protecting  auspices  double  diligence  shall  be  used  to  make 
the  work  worthy  of  a  patronage  so  amiable." 

On  January  3, 1804,  just  one  year  after  the  above  notice 
was  printed,  the  Editor  of  the  Gazette  addressed  his  read- 
ers as  follows  :  "  The  subscribers  to  The  Medley  are  in- 
formed that  it  will  be  no  longer  published.  The  twelfth 
number,  which  was  issued  on  Tuesday  last,  completes  the 
volume.  Those  who  wish  to  preserve  their  volumes  can 
have  them  bound  on  reasonable  terms ;  and  any  parts  lost 
or  destroyed  will  be  replaced  at  6d  per  number.  A  few 
sets,  complete,  may  be  had  on  the  same  terms." 

These  notices  in  the  Kentucky  Gazette  aroused  Mr. 
Quisenberry's  curiosity  and  led  him  to  discover  a  com- 
plete, bound  copy  of  the  Medley  in  the  Lexington  Library, 
He  says,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer  of  this :  "  I  had  seen 
several  vcjumes  of  Mr.  Hunt's  '  Western  Review,'  but 
had  never  even  heard  of  *  The  Medley.'  The  Librarian 
stated  that  she  had  never  heard  of  it,  and  that  the  library 
contained  no  copy  of  '  The  Medley  '  magazine.  Not  con- 
tent with  this,  I  began  on  my  own  account  a  search  of  the 
library,  and  was  finally  rewarded  by  finding  in  an  odd 
corner  a  full  volume  of  the  little  magazine,  bound  in 
sheep,  and  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation.  It  was 
uncatalogued.  The  twelve  numbers  aggregate  276  pages, 
and  the  pages  are  about  the  size  of  those  in  the  old  *  blue- 
backed'  Webster's  spelling  book.     I  believe  it  to  be  the 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  61 

only  copy  of  this  pioneer  Western  magazine   now  in  ex- 
istence." 

The  contents  of  the  Medley  are  varied,  comprising  es- 
says, sketches,  short  stories,  poems,  and  miscellaneous 
articles,  original  and  selected.  A  series  of  papers  on 
"  Commerce "  runs  through  the  year.  There  is  a  bio- 
graphical study  on  Samuel  Adams,  by  James  Sullivan ;  a 
History  of  the  Virginian  Mountains,  by  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, and  an  account  of  Monticello  written  by  an  English- 
man in  1797.  Perhaps  the  most  notable,  original  articles 
in  the  magazine  are  two  on  the  "  Character  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,"  from  the  pen  of  Allan  Bowie  Magruder,  once  a 
prominent  lawyer  in  Kentucky,  and  afterward  U.  S.  Sen- 
ator from  Louisiana,  in  1812.  He  was  an  author  of  some 
prominence,  and  wrote  extensively  on  Louisiana,  and  on 
the  Indians.  His  article  on  the  character  of  Jefferson 
was  reprinted  in  several  European  papers,  and  was  copied 
in  a  New  York  paper  which  credited  it  to  the  London 
Times.  Finally  it  came  out  in  book  form.  Magruder  was 
born  in  1775  and  died  in  1822. 

The  index  to  the  Medley  shows  more  than  a  hundred 
headings,  among  which  are  "Advice  to  Married  Ladies," 
"  The  Story  of  Alcander  and  Septimus,"  "  History  of 
Maria  Arnold,"  "  Character  of  Lord  Chatham,"  "  Captain 
Cook,"  "Dreadful  Effects  of  Jealousy,"  "  Comtesse  Gen- 
lis,"  "  The  Experienced  Man's  Advice  to  his  Son,  on 
Drinking,  Dress,  etc.,"  "  Charles  James  Fox,"  "  Intemper- 
ance :  Advice  to  the  Bloods  of  the  Hour,"  "  Sir  William 
Jones,"  "  Thoughts  on  the  Word  '  Woman,'  "  "  Volcanoes 
in  the  Moon,  by  Dr.  Herschell,"  "  The  Vision  of  Hamid, 
an  Eastern  Tale."  From  a  long  list  of  titles  of  original 
poems,  the  following  are  taken  as  a  sample :  "A  Tear  to 
Hume,"  "An  Ode  (in  Latin)  to  Thomas  Jefferson,"  "Lines 
on  Seeing  Miss  E.  B.  Shed  Tears  at  the  Celebration  of  her 
Marriage,"  "  Ode  to  Hope,  by  a  Voung  Gentleman  of 
Lexington,"  "  Ode  Addressed  by  a  Physician  to  his 
Horse." 


92  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

GIBBS   hunt's    western    REVIEW. 

More  than  twenty  ephemeral  periodicals  of  a  semi-lite- 
rarj  character  were  published  in  Kentucky  between  the 
years  1798  and  1820,  of  which  some  of  the  titles  are  given 
in  the  list  appended  to  this  chapter. 

But  the  second  literary  magazine  of  historical  im- 
portance published  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains 
appeared  in  Lexington,  Kentucky.  The  title  is  "  The 
Western  Review  and  Miscellaneous  Magazine :  a  Publica- 
tion Devoted  to  Literature  and  Science."  It  ran  from 
August,  1819,  to  July,  1821,  inclusive,  making  four  vol- 
umes of  384  pages  each.  The  editor  and  publisher  was 
Mr.  William  Gibbs  Hunt.  A  perfect  copy  of  this  rare 
periodical  lies  before  me  as  I  write. 

The  Western  Review  was  a  carefully  edited,  unpretend- 
ing, dignified  publication,  though  in  some  respects  crude 
and  provincial.  Its  scientific,  historical,  and  archaeological 
features  have  a  permanent  value.  The  geology,  topogra- 
phy and  natural  history  of  the  Ohio  Valley  received  much 
attention  in  its  pages.  A  series  of  articles  entitled  **  In- 
dian Antiquities,"  contributed  to  it  by  John  D.  Clifford, 
elicited  much  contemporary  comment,  and  scientific  men 
still  regard  the  series  w^ith  interest.  Mr.  Clifford  w^as  a 
member  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  N^atural  Sciences, 
and  also  of  the  Antiquarian  Society  of  Massachusetts. 
He  was  a  citizen  of  Lexington,  w^here  he  died  May  8, 
1820. 

Caleb  Atwater,  born  1778,  died  1867,  Indian  commis- 
sioner under  Jackson  and  the  author  of  a  **  History  of 
Ohio,"  wrote  some  letters  to  The  Western  Review  from 
his  home  in  Circleville,  Ohio.  Prof.  C.  S.  Rafinesque,  of 
Transylvania  University,  contributed  numerous  articles 
on  the  botony,  zoology  and  meteorology  of  the  West.  He 
furnished  several  on  the  Ohio  river  and  its  fishes.* 


*  This  was  afterward  published  separately  in  pamphlet  form.  It  is 
exceedingly  scarce ;  has  sold  for  $50.  Prof.  D.  S.  Jordan  has  writttm  a 
valuable  monogram  on  this  first  effort  to  describe  the  fishes  of  the  Ohio, 
which  was  published  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  ^ 

But  perhaps  the  most  important,  and  certainly  the  most 
readable  part  of  the  contents  of  the  magazine,  is  the  series 
of  authentic  narratives  headed  "  Heroic  and  Sanguinary 
Conflicts  with  the  Indians."  In  the  opening  number  of  his 
periodical  the  editor  solicits,  "  from  persons  in  every  part  of 
the  western  countr^^  who  may  be  able  to  furnish  them,  au- 
thentic and  well  attested  narratives  of  this  kind,  mentioning 
names  and  dates,  and  detailing  all  the  valuable  facts  with 
the  utmost  minuteness  and  precision."  In  a  foot-note  he 
says  further:  '*  Gentlemen  who  are  not  in  the  habit  of 
writing  for  the  public,  and  who  are  not  even  accustomed 
to  composition  of  any  sort,  are  still  solicited  to  communi- 
cate, in  the  plainest  manner,  the  facts  within  their  knowl- 
edge." The  solicitation  appears  to  have  called  forth  a 
good  many  responses,  for  almost  every  number  of  the 
magazine  contains  one  or  more  '■'•  thrilling  narratives," 
chiefly  relating  to  the  early  settlement  of  Kentucky. 

Appearing,  as  it  did,  so  soon  after  the  close  of  the  War 
of  1812-15,  The  Western  Review  contained  much  concern- 
ing the  political  and  military  characters  and  questions  of 
the  time.  The  first  article  in  the  first  number  of  the  work 
is  a  lengthy  review  of  Reed  and  Eaton's  "  Life  of  Jack- 
son ;"  and  the  same  number  contains  a  biographical  sketch 
of  Major  Zachary  Taylor,  then  a  rising  hero,  in  the  thirty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Consonant  with  the  spirit  of  the  day,  the  periodical  pub- 
lished occasional  "forensic"  eflbrts,  orations,  eulogies  and 
80-forth,  for  the  encouragement  of  eloquence.  An  elab- 
orate essay,  by  C.  D.,  on  ^'American  Eloquence,"  startles 
the  reader  by  the  conclusion  that  the  "  time  is  at  hand 
when  American  eloquence  shall  glow  in  the  fervid  fire  of 
Demosthenes  and  roll  in  the  copious  magniticence  of 
Tully."  We  ought  to  be  thankful  that  a  prophecy  so  ter- 
rible was  not  fulfilled. 

The  purely  literary  department  of  The  Western  Review 
was  very  prominent,  and  was  evidently  conducted  with 
pride  by  Mr.  Hunt  and  the  "  few^  friends  of  learning"  who 
wrote  the  leading  articles.  The  title,  "  Review,"  was  no 
misnomer,  for  the  magazine  devoted  more  than  half  its 


64  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

space  to  formal  reviews  of  current  books  in  general  litera- 
ture. Within  the  brief  twenty-four  months  of  its  exist- 
ence, it  spread  before  its  critical  readers  full  synopses,  with 
extracts  and  comments,  of  Scott's  "  Tales  of  a  Landlord," 
^'  Ivanhoe,"  "  The  Monastery,"  "  The  Abbot,"  and  "  Kenil- 
worth,"  these  five  all  coming  out  in  two  years.  Among 
other  new  books  reviewed  were  Southey's  ^'  Life  of  Wolsey" 
and  Irving's  "  Sketch  Book,"  of  which  last  the  critic  says : 
'*'  This  work  is  not  so  well  known  in  the  w^estern  country  as 
from  its  literary  merit  and  interesting  character  it  ought  to 
be."  Alluding  to  the  story  of  Rip  Yan  Winkle,  the  re- 
viewer betrays  an  amusing  incapacity  for  humor  by  gravely 
objecting  to  the  possibility  of  a  man's  sleeping  for  twenty 
years  !  "  We  are  only  assured  that  it  is  an  absolute  fact," 
grumbles  the  literal  commentator,  *^and  are,  of  course,  un- 
able to  conjecture  how  the  story  can  be  reconciled  with 
reason  or  common  sense." 

No  fewer  than  three  of  Byron's  poetical  productions  are 
reviewed  in  this  pioneer  western  magazine.  These  are 
^'  Mazeppa,"  the  first  part  of  "  Don  Juan,"  and  the  '  ^Vision 
of  Dante."  The  moral  character  of  "  Don  Juan "  of 
course  is  reprehended.  I  wonder  how  the  "Hesperian 
bards"  relished  the  remark  that  Byron  "seems  to  have  no 
fixed  principles  upon  any  subject,  but  is  entirely  a  poet." 

The  Western  Review  has  but  little  to  say  on  American 
poetry,  for  the  reason  that  but  little  American  poetry  ex- 
isted in  1819.  There  is  indeed  a  long  article  on  "  The 
Poetical  Works  of  John  Trumbull,  XiL.D.,"  closing  with 
some  strictures  upon  the  "school  of  poetry,  in  which 
Trumbull,  Dwight,  Barlow,  Humphreys  and  some  others 
who  were  educated  at  Yale  College  formed  themselves.'^ 
The  article  concedes  that  these  writers  produced  works 
that  are  "highly  respectable,"  and  caps  the  climax  of 
faint  literary  praise  by  assuring  us  that  "  they  were  men 
of  high  minds,  pure  morals  and  ardent  patriotism." 

Halleck's  "  Fanny,"  published  anonymously  in  1820, 
was  reviewed  and  commended  cautiously  by  the  Lexing- 
ton censors.  The  author  was  advised  to  employ  his  muse 
upon  subjects  more  worthy  of  her. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.     •  65 

Metrical  composition  was  a  copious  element  in  Gibbs 
Hunt's  periodical.  Every  number  displayed  from  four  to 
six  pages  headed  "  Poetry,"  for  tlie  most  part  original. 
There  were  enigmas,  impromptus,  inscriptions,  elegies, 
epigrams,  songs,  odes,  and  "  effusions,"  specifically  so 
headed.  There  were  album  verses  and  lines  mildly  ama- 
tory ''  To  Julia,"  "  To  Malvina,"  "  To  Sylvia,"  "  To  Julia  " 
again,  "  To  a  Little  Bird,"  ".  To  a  Rose-Bud,"  and,  finally, 
"  To  Julia's  Urn,"  which,  being  interpreted,  happily  means 
Julia's  tombstone.  The  odes  were  most  numerous.  These 
and  the  elegies  were  written  now  in  English  and  again 
in  Latin.  Several  semi-erotic  poems  were  written  in 
French,  and  a  few  even  in  Italian — French  and  Italian  of 
Lexington.  For  this  versing  in  foreign  tongue  Transyl- 
vania University  doubtless  was  responsible.  The  first 
commencement  of  that  institution  occurred  July  12,  1820, 
with  seven  graduates  steeped  in  classic  literature. 

The  last  number  of  the  last  volume  of  The  Western 
Review,  July,  1821,  contains  a  genuine  poem,  entitled  the 
"  Boat  Horn,"  by  Orlando.  This  was  the  first  draft  of 
William  Orlando  Butler's  ^  melodious  lyric,  the  "  Boat- 
man's Horn,"  afterward  made  familiar  to  the  public  in 
Coggeshall's  "  Poetry  of  the  West."  Coggeshall  says  it 
was  first  published  in  1885,  but  he  is  mistaken.  It  came 
out,  as  I  have  said,  in  1821,  when  the  author  was  twenty- 
eight  years  old. 

On  the  completion  of  the  fourth  and  final  volume  of  the 
"  Review,"  the  editor  wrote  :  "  If  we  have  in  any  degree 
succeeded  ia  creating  or  fostering  a  literary  taste ;  if  we 
have,  to  any  extent,  drawn  out  the  resources  of  the  schol- 
ars of  the  western  country;  if  we  have  been  instrumental 
in  preserving  for  the  future  historian  and  for  the  admira- 
tion of  posterity  any  of  those  interesting  narratives,  which 
contemporaries  only  could  furnish,  of  the  difiiculties  and 
and  dangers  and  almost  incredible  deeds  of  heroism  that 
distinguished,  and  ought  to  immortalize,  the  early  settlers 

^  General  Wm.  O.  Butler,  soldier  and  politician,  was  born  in  1791,  and 
died  in  1880.    See  "  Life  and  Public  Services,"  by  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  1848. 


66  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

in  the  West;  if,  in  fine,  we  have  successfully  repelled  a 
single  unjust  aspersion  cast  upon  the  American  character, 
our  exertions  have  not  been  in  vain,  and  we  have  no  cause 
to  regret  the  existence,  feeble  and  short-lived  as  it  may 
Ixave  been,  of  The  Western  Review." 

THE   CINCINNATI    LITERARY   GAZETTE. 

This  is  the  age  of  gnagazines, 

Even  sceptics  must  confess  it ; 
Where  is  the  town  of  much  renown 

That  has  not  one  to  bless  it  ? 

—  Thomas  Peirce  in  the  Literary  Gazette,  1824. 

Three  months  after  the  first  number  of  Hunt's  Monthly 
came  out,  Dr.  Joseph  Buchanan  issued  in  Cincinnati  the 
initial  number  of  a  weekly  paper  called  the  Literary  Cadet, 
the  pioneer  literary  leaf  of  the  Queen  City.  Before  six 
months  elapsed  the  Cadet  was  merged  in  the  Western  Spy, 
a  newspaper  dating  from  1799.  In  1821-2  lived  and  died 
the  Olio,  a  semi-monthly  literary  venture,  published  and 
edited  by  John  li.  Wood  and  Samuel  S.  Brooks.  Among 
the  contributors  to  the  Olio  were  Robert  T.  Lytic,  Solo- 
mon S.  Smith,  Dennis  M'Henry,  John  H.  James,  Lemuel 
Reynolds,  and  Lewis  Noble. 

It  was  in  the  days  of  the  Olio  that  John  P.  Foote  started 
a  bookstore  at  No.  14  Lower  Market  street.  This  became 
•a  meeting  place  for  men  of  literary  inclinations.  Mr.  W. 
T.  Coggeshall  recorded  in  the  Genius  of  the  West  that 
"  One  evening  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1823,  John  P. 
Foote,  Peyton  S.  Symmes,  Benjamin  Drake,  John  H. 
James,  D.  Dashiel,  and  one  or  two  others,  assembled  in 
the  back  room  of  the  bookstore,  when  the  propriety  of  a 
literary  gazette  was  taken  up  for  discussion.  There  was 
no  lack  of  confident  hopefulness  in  the  opinions  of  the 
counselors,  and  the  publication  was  resolved  upon." 

The  Literary  Gazette  was  issued  weekly  from  the  press 
of  A.  N.  Deming,  corner  of  Main  and  Columbia  streets,  op- 
posite to  the  Western  Museum.  The  first  number  ap- 
peared January  1,1824.  Each  number  bore  the  motto: 
"Not  to  display  learning,  but  to  excite  a  taste   for  it." 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  67 

Whether  any  very  eager  taste  for  leartiing  was  excited  in 
its  readers,  there  is  no  means  of  telling,  but  it  is  certain  the 
editor  failed  in  the  essential  of  securing  a  sufficient  list  of 
pa3nng  subscribers.  Mr.  Foote  laments,  in  his  Christmas 
valedictory,  that  his  readers  must  part  "  with  the  year  and 
the  Gazette  together,  and  thus  furnish  one  more  instance 
of  the  futility  of  all  hopes  founded  on  the  anticipated  en- 
couragement of  those  intellectual  exertions  w^iich  con- 
tribute to  soften  and  adorn  hfe  among  a  people  whose 
highest  ambition  would  seem  to  be  exhausted  in  acquiring 
the  means  of  support."  This  long  sentence,  when  chewed, 
will  be  found  tinctured  with  the  tempered  bitterness  of 
mild  irony.  After  Mr.  Foote  abandoned  it,  the  Gazette 
was  revived,  with  Looker  and  Reynolds  as  printers,  and 
was  carried  on  for  two-thirds  of  a  second  year,  when  a 
second  death  finally  extinguished  it. 

Among  the  contributors  to  the  Gazette  were  John  H. 
James,  Charles  ]!!s'eave,  Ethan  A.  Brown  (afterward  ijov- 
ernor  of  Ohio),  David  G.  Burnet,  1789-1870  (president  of 
Texas),  Mrs.  Julia  Dumont,  Mrs.  Mary  Austin  Holley,^ 
wife  of  Dr.  IIorac6  Holley,  president  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, Miss  W.  Schenk,  of  Franklin,  J.  G.  Drake,  and 
Dr.  John  D.  Godman. 

The  prevailing  character  of  the  Literary  Gazette, 
readers  of  to-day  would  call  heavy  and  dry.  "  It  is  our 
aim  in  this  paper  to  be  useful  rather  than  original,"  wrote 
the  editor.  Yet  the  severely  useful  features  of  the  paper 
were  relieved  l^y  much  original  matter  designed  to  be 
sprightly  and  entertaining  without  lapsing  into  frivolity. 
The  fun  is  invariably  serious  and  the  serious  writing 
never  funny. 

The  Gazette  flourished  in  the  palmy  days  of  Transyl- 
vania University  and  the  Cincinnati  College,  and  the  pro- 
fessors in  these  and  other  academical  institutions  con- 
tributed much  useful  information  to  its  columns.  Pro- 
fessor C.  S.  R^afinesque,  of  Transylvania,  who  had  written 


^  Mrs.  M.  A.  Holly  was  the  author  of  a  "  History  of  Texas,"  1833,  and 
of  a  memoir  of  her  hu&band. 


68  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

many  articles  of  a  scientific  kind  for  Hunt^s  Review,  wrote 
still  more  for  the  Gazette,  furnishing  a  series  of  learned 
papers  on  the  "Ancient  History  of  Korth  America,"  and 
another  series  on  "Systematic  Botany."  Prof.  John 
Locke,  the  respected  head  of  Locke's  Female  Academy, 
contributed  several  un readably  dr}^  discussions  on  botany 
and  on  mechanics.  Prof.  Locke  was  a  pioneer  in  scien- 
tific teaching  and  investigation.  He  was  born  in  Maine  in 
1792,  and  died  in  Cincinnati,  in  1856.  Prof.  T.  J.  Mat- 
thews, father  of  Justice  Stanley  Matthews,  projected  a 
mathematical  department,  and  there  was  printed  from  his 
pen  a  lecture  on  Symmes's  Theory.  In  those  days  the  usual 
place  for  lectures  in  Cincinnati  was  the  Western  Museum. 
Mons.  J.  Dorfeuille,  the  proprietor,  was  himself  a  cyclopedia 
of  popular  knowledge,  and  he  gave  didactic  addresses  on 
languages,  books,  birds,  and  I  know  not  what  besides. 
In  the  Gazette  for  November  7, 1824,  it  is  advertised  that 
"  This  evening  Mr.  Dorfeuille  will  lecture  (for  the  second 
time  and  by  particular  request)  on  *  The  Pleasures  and 
Uses  Arising  from  the  Study  of  Natural  History  and  the 
Fine  Arts,'  and  conclude  with  an  address  to  the  ladies." 

The  Gazette  gave  a  summary  of  general  news  and  brief 
notices  of  books  and  writers,  native  and  foreign.  It  sym- 
pathized with  the  "  cause  of  the  Greeks,"  and  with  all 
struggles  for  popular  liberty.  The  coming  of  La  Fayette 
was  heralded  in  its  pages  with  paeans  of  praise. 

Benjamin  Drake  contributed  to  the  Gazette  a  series  of 
sketches  under  the  general  caption,  "  From  the  Portfolio 
of  a  Young  Backwoodsman."  Several  of  these  sketches 
were  reprinted  in  the  author's  first  volume,  "  Tales  of  the 
Queen  City."  The  western  verse-makers  sent  reams  of 
rhyme  to  Mr.  Foote,  and  he  printed  quires  of  it.  The 
most  prolific  and  also  the  cleverest  of  our  local  poets  was 
Thomas  Peirce,  author  of  the  "  Muse  of  Ilesperia  "  and 
"  Horace  in  Cincinnati."  Peirce  was  wonderfully  versatile. 
In  addition  to  his  rollicking  original  pieces  in  many 
meters,  he  made  creditable  versions  from  the  French  and 
Spanish.     Some  of  his  liveliest  lyrics  in  the  Gazette  are 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  .  69 

subscribed  "  Charlie  Ramble."  lie  contributed  to  the 
Gazette  a  series  of  narrative  and  descriptive  cantos,  in 
the  style  of  Byron's  Don  Juan,  giving  a  lively  and  amus- 
ing account  of  his  personal  adventures  during  a  river 
voyage  to  New  0^'leans  and  a  sea  voyage  thence  to 
Boston. 

The  poet,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  contributed  to  Mr. 
Foote's  paper  at  least  three  poems,  *'  Memory,"  ^'  To  Good 
Humor,"  and  '^  The  Tempest,"  which  are  all  to  be  found 
in  the  author's  published  works.  Halleck,  when  a  very 
young  man,  used  to  visit  at  the  house  of  Foote's  father  at 
iTut-plains  Farm,  near  Guilford,  Connecticut,  and  here  it 
was  that  his  literary  tendencies  were  encouraged. 

Mr.  John  P.  Foote  himself  is  described  as  bearing  a 
striking  personal  resemblance  to  John  Quincy  Adams. 
He  was  an  active  man  of  affairs,  with  a  taste  for  literature. 
Long  after  the  demise  of  the  Gazette,  he  produced  two 
valuable  books,  "  The  Schopls  of  Cincinnati  and  its 
Vicinity"  iind  "A  Memoir  of  Samuel  Edmund  Foote." 

flint's  western  monthly  review.^ 
It  is  stated  incorrectly  in  "AUibone's  Dictionary," 
"Duyckinck's  American  Literature,"  and  similar  works, 
that  Timothy  Flint  began  the  publication  of  The  Western 
Magazine  and  Review  in  1834.  The  fact  is  that  the  first 
number  of  this  pioneer  literary  journal  was  issued  in  May, 
1827.  The  "  Geography  and  History  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  "  appeared  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  in  two 
large  volumes  from  the  press  of  E.  &  H.  Flint.  This  use- 
ful work  rapidly  passed  through  numerous  large  editions. 
Many  passages  from  "Flint's  Recollections"  are  incor- 
porated in  it.  The  peculiar  criticism  was  made  on  this 
book  that  it  was  too  interesting  to  be  useful !  The  reader 
searching  for  geographical  or  historical  facts  in  its  pages 
was  carried  away  from  his  object  by  its  absorbing  narra- 
tive or  brilliant  description. 


^  See  Chap.  XI. 


T©  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  Western  Review  was  published  onlj  tliree  ;years.,  ar 
■until  June,  1830.  The  editor  was  the  principal  contrib- 
utor, though  James  Hall,  E.  D.  Mansfield,  Micah  F. 
Flint,  and  some  others  sent  occasional  articles.  The 
magazine  had  the  motto,  ^^ Benedicire  haud  Maledicere.*^ 
The  subjoined  extracts  from  the  "Editor's  Address/' 
in  the  first  number,  are  not  without  piquancy  and  local 
color : 

-  "  We  are  a  scribbling  and  forth-putting  people.  Little 
as  they  have  dreamed  of  the  fact  in  the  Atlantic  country^ 
we  have  our  thousand  orators  and  poets.  We  have  not  a 
solitary  journal  expressly  constituted  to  be  the  echo  of 
public  literary  opinion.  The  teeming  mind  wastes  its 
sweetness  on  the  desert  air.  .  .  .  IS'ow  we  are  of  the 
number  who  are  so  simple  as  to  believe  that  amidst  the 
freshness  of  our  unspoiled  nature,  beneath  the  shade  of  the 
huge  sycamores  of  the  Miami,  or  cooling  the  forehead  in 
the  breeze  of  the  beautiful  Ohio,  and  under  the  canopy  ot 
our  Italian  sky,  other  circumstances  being  equal,  a  man 
might  write  as  well  as  in  the  dark  dens  of  a  city.  .  .  . 
Our  literary  creed  is  included  in  one  word,  simplicity.  Our 
school  is  the  contemplation  of  nature.  .  .  .  Review- 
ers who  imagine  that  nothing  good  can  be  written  beyond 
a  circle  of  three  and  a  half  miles  in  diameter,  of  which 
circle  they  are  the  center,  may  have,  as  must  certainly  be 
conceded  to  Boston  reviewers,  a  good  deal  of  mechanical 
cleverness  in  manufacturing  sentences  and  rounding 
periods." 

The  Review  contained  only  original  articles,  not  a  few 
of  which  were  long  and  dreary,  on  the  "  Philosophy  of  Ed- 
ucation," "  Political  Economy,"  "An  American  Uni- 
versity," "  The  Trinitarian  Controversy,"  "  Temperance/' 
and  the  like.  One  can  not  help  thinking,  as  he  turns  the 
leaves  of  this  sixty  yesLVs  old  exponent  of  western  letters, 
that  the  good  editor  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  show 
more  than  usual  gravity,  dignity,  and  learning.  It  seems 
as  though  he  might  have  said  to  himseli',  as  he  trimmed 
his  goose-quill:  "We  will  demonstrate  to  tliose  carping 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  71 

eastern  critics  that  our  Review  is  a  review  indeed,  solid 
and  solemn  enough  for  the  most  exacting  scholar.  We 
will  prove  to  the  workl  that  the  west  is  by  no  means  friv- 
olous, and  that  we  ourself,  though  for  relaxation  we  may 
dash  off  a  novel  now  and  then,  are  capable  of  much  heav- 
ier things,  and  we  do  not  forget  we  are  a  collegian  and  a 
clergyman." 

To  natives  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  the  Western  Review 
contains  much  that  is  of  local  and  historical  interest. 
Flint  was  loyal  to  his  adopted  region,  and  gave  prominence  , 
to  western  topics.  Every  book  or  periodical  published 
this  side  of  the  Alleglienies  received  attention  in  his 
monthly  pages.  All  public  addresses,  orations,  sermons, 
and  debates  were  duly  announced  and  generously  com- 
mented on.  The  great  discussion  between  Robert  Owen 
and  Alexander  Campbell,  which  Flint  attended,  was  made 
the  subject  of  several  editorial  articles. 

The  Review  was  a  magazine  of  fifty^six  octavo  pages; 
price  three  dollars  a  year.  It  was  issued  from  the  press  of 
W.  M.  Farnsworth,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

hall's  western  monthly  magazine. 
TlaU's  Illinois   Magazine,  1830,  and  Western  Monthly 
Magazine,  1832,  are  important  repositories  of  western  his- 
tory and  literature.     A  detailed  account  of  them  is  given 
in  the  chapter  relating  the  life  of  Judge  Hall,  which  see. 

THE    WESTERN    MESSENGER. 

The  Western  Messenger,  a  magazine  devoted  to  religion 
and  literature,  and  published  by  the  Western  Unitarian 
Association,  was  started  in  Cincinnati,  June,  1835.  The 
first  volume  comprised  twelve  monthly  numbers ;  the  seven 
succeeding  volumes  included  six  numbers  each,  a  volume 
every  half  year.  The  last  issue  appeared  April,  1841. 
The  magazine  was  edited  until  March,  1836,  by  Rev. 
Ephraim  Peabody,  an  amiable  young  man  of  fine  poetical 
ability,  who  was  born  in  JS"ew  Hampshire  in  1807.  Mr. 
Peabody  was  taken  ill  and  was  obliged  to  go  south.     The 


72  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

management  of  the  periodical  devolved  upon  the  Rev. 
James  Freeman  Clarke,^  and  the  place  of  publication  was 
changed  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  Mr.  Clarke  was 
stationed  as  minister  to  a  Unitarian  Society.  In  1840  Mr. 
Clarke  returned  to  Boston,  where  he  soon  after  founded 
the  Free  Church,  of  which  he  was  the  pastor  until  his 
death  in  1888.  The  Messenger  was  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
and  was  edited  by  Ilev.  W.  II.  Channing,  who  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church  of  that  city  May  10, 1839. 
Channing  w^as  assisted  by  his  cousin.  Rev.  James  II.  Perkins, 
who  indeed  was  a  contributor  j:o  the  Messenger  from  the 
start,  and  whose  best  literary  work  was  published  in  it. 

The  Western  Messenger  was,  of  course,  denominational, 
and  derived  support  from  eastern  Unitarians,  who  took 
an  active  interest  in  planting  their  ideas  in  the  west.  Its 
subscription  list  was  never  large,  and  its  pecuniary  strug- 
gles were  constant.  Few  comph:ite  copies  of  the  work  are 
to  be  had,  and  I  ani  told  that  sets  are  very  costly.  Mr.  U. 
P.  James,  the  veteran  publisher  and  dealer  in. old  and  rare 
books,  remembered  sorting  out  a  "great  pile"  of  the 
Western  Messenger,  which  Mr.  Perkins  brought  to  the 
store  on  Walnut  street,  about  the  year  1845. 

The  Western  Messenger  was  essentially  an  eastern  mes- 
senger— the  organ  of  ]N'ew  England  liberalism  in  the  Val- 
ley of  the  Ohio.  Devoted  to  religion  and  literature,  it 
was  even  more  literary  than  religious,  and  both  its  theology 
and  its  literature  were  tinctured  with  transcendentalism. 
No  other  periodical  that  has  appeared  in  the  Ohio  Valley 
is  richer  than  it  in  original  and  suggestive  contributions, 
and  I  doubt  if  any  other  contains  so  much  tine  and  deli- 
cate writing. 

The  lirst  editor,  Mr.  Peabody,  and  his  enthusiastic 
friend,  Mr.  Perkins,  were  imbued  witli  the  idea  of  **  en- 


'  JamcB  Freeman  Clarke,  D.D.,  woh  born  in  New  Hampshire,  April  4, 
1810.  GraduaUnl  at  Harvard  in  182t),  and  at  Cambridge  Divinity  School 
in  1833.  Resided  at  Ixjuisville  18:^3-1840.  Founded  Church  of  Disciples, 
Boston,  1841.  Author  of  **  l.ife  of  General  Wra.  Hull,"  1848;  "Eleven 
Weeks  in  Kuropt>,"  1851;  "Christian  Doctrine  of  Forgiveness;"  "Ten 
Great  Rt^Ut'i«>T>H ''  otc. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  73 

eouraging"  and  developing  the  literary  spirit  of  what 
was  then  "the  west."  They  invited  to  their  columns  the 
aid  of  William  D.  Gallagher,  Otway  Curry,  Thomas  H» 
Shreve,  and  other  western  writers.  "  It  ought  to  he  one 
object  of  a  western  journal  to  encourage  western  litera- 
ture," wrote  the  editor.  In  accordance  with  this  princi- 
ple, the  magazine  made  prominent  a  series  of  carefully 
prepared  articles  on  "  Western  Poetry."  These  articles 
gave  conspicuous  reviews  of  the  literary  productions  of 
William  D.  Gallagher,  F.  W.  Thomas,  Lewis  F.  Thomas, 
C.  D.  Drake,  J.  G.  Drake,  Albert  Pike,  John  B.  Dillon,^ 
and  Thomas  Shreve.  Readers  of  to-day  will  smile  or  sigh 
to  read  the  critical  opinion  that  "  Mr.  Shreve  has  a  Bul- 
werian  control  over  language  and  a  Byronic  grandeur 
of  imagination  and  gloom  of  thought." 

A  leading  w^estern  contributor  to  the  Messenger  was 
Mann  Butler,  who  furnished  a  number  of  valuable  sketches 
on  the  "  Manners  and  Habits  of  the  Western  Pioneers." 

After  James  Freeman  Clarke  took  hold  of  the  maga- 
zine, the  editorial  tone  was  changed,  and  a  new  set  of 
contributors  began  to  write.  Among  the  regular  corre- 
spondents were  Rev.  George  W.  Hosmer,  who,  coming 
from  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  organized  a  church  in 
Rochester,  and  Rev.  William  G.  Eliot,  w^ho  established 
his  famous  society  in  St.  Louis. 

In  response  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  concerning  the  West- 
ern Messenger,  Dr.  Clarke  kindly  sent  the  following: 

"Jamaica  Plains,  Mass.,  Feb.  19,  1886. 
"Dear  Mr.  Venable: — If  I  were  not  laboring  under  an 
indisposition,  I  should  like  to  write  you  at  length  about 


^  John  Brown  Dillon  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1805.  He  removed  to 
Ohio,  and  became  a  printer  in  Cincinnati ;  began  to  write  for  the  Gazette 
in  1826 ;  went  to  Logansport,  Indiana,  and  studied  law  ;  afterward  he 
removed  to  Indianapolis,  where  he  was  appointed  state  librarian  ;  held 
other  public  positions;  wrote  much  in  verse  and  prose.  Among  his 
works  are  "Historical  -Notes,"  "  History  of  Indiana,"  "Oddities  of  Fed- 
eral Legislation."     Died  in  1879. 


T4  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

the  Western  Messenger  and  its  contributors.  It  was 
rather  a  vivacious  affair,  ranging  from  grave  to  gaj,  from 
lively  to  serious.  We  were  the  first  to  publish  any  of 
Emerson's  poetry.  We  had  a  contribution  from  Dr.  Cban- 
ning  and  a  poem  from  John  Keats  not  before  printed, 
and  one  which  Wendell  Holmes  sent  to  me. 

"...  The  Messenger  was  a  wandering  star.  First 
published  in  Cincinnati,  it  came  to  Louisville,  where  Eph. 
Peabody  became  an  invalid,  and  went  back  again  because 
the  facilities  were  better  in  Cincinnati  than  in  Louisville. 
While  in  the  latter,  I  was  not  only  editor,  but  also  pub- 
lisher, and  even  went  about  once  in  Kentucky  to  get  sub- 
scribers. I  found  I  could  import  paper  to  print  it  on 
from  Boston,  via  New  Orleans,  at  less  cost  than  I  could 
buy  in  Louisville,  and  did  so.  When  the  number  was 
ready  for  distribution,  I  recollect  that  Cranch  or  Osgood, 
or  whoever  happened  to  be  with  me,  and  I  would  fold,  di- 
rect, and  carry  the  copies  to  the  post-office.  Sam  Osgood 
and  I  were  carrying  the  basketful  to  the  post-office  one 
evening,  when  we  met  a  stout  negro,  and  offered  him  a 
"  quarter"  to  take  it  for  us.  He  lifted  the  basket  and  put 
it  down  again,  saying:  "Too  heavy,  massa  !"  So  we  took 
it  ourselves. 

"  When  you  see  Mr.  Gallagher,  give  him  my  kind  re- 
gards. He  and  Edward  Cranch  are  the  only  survivors  of 
the  Messenger  group  that  I  know  of  now  in  Cincinnati. 
T  have  the  original  subscription  book,  and  of  the  Cincin- 
nati names — Foote,  Donaldson,  Lawler,  Yardy,  Urner, 
Hastings,  Sampson,  Jos.  Longworth^  Timothy  Walker, 
Evart,  Shoenberger,  Thomas  Bakewell,  Ryland,  etc. — I 
fancy  all  are  gone. 

"  I  am  glad  you  propose  to  do  justice  to  the  forgotten 
magazine,  which,  in  its  day,  was,  I  think,  a  rather  respect- 
able effort  for  the  young  people  who  wrote  in  it.     Yours, 

"Jamks  Freeman  Clarkk.'* 

The  poem  by  John  Keats,  referred  to  in  the  above,  is 
the  "  Ode  to  Apollo,''  beginning: 


Early  Periodical  Litcratuir..  T5 

"  God  of  the  golden  bow, 
And  of  the  golden  lyre, 
And  of  the  golden  hair, 
And  of  the  golden  fire  ; 
Charioteer 
Of  the  patient  year; 
Where,  where  slept  thine  ire, 
When  like  a  blank  idiot  I  put  on  thy  wreath. 
Thy  laurel,  thy  glory, 
The  light  of  thy  story  ; 
Or  was  I  a  worm,  too  low-crawling  for  death? 
O  Delphic  Apollo  !  " 

The  original  manuscript  of  this  ode  was  presented  to 
the  editor  by  George  Keats,  a  brother  of  the  poet,  who 
lived  in  Louisville,  and  a  sketch  of  whose  life  was  written 
by  James  Freeman  Clarke.  In  the  Messenger  were  also 
printed  extracts  from  a  journal  kept  by  John  Keats  in 
England  and  Scotland,  in  1818.  Introducing  these  ex- 
tracts to  his  readers,  the  editor  notes  it  as  strange  "to 
meet  with  the  original  papers  of  Keats  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio." 

In  October,  1836,  there  appeared  in  the  Messenger  a 
long  letter  written  from  Boston,  in  June  of  the  same  year, 
by  the  distinguished  Dr.  William  E.  Channing.  This  let- 
ter, I  believe,  does  not  appear  in  Dr.  Channing's  collected 
works,  although  some  passages  of  it  are  finished  in  his 
best  literary  style.  Readers  of  to-day  will  find  food  for 
reflection  in  what  so  eminent  an  observer  thought  of  Bos- 
ton some  fifty  years  ago  : 

"  Shall  I  say  a  word  of  evil  of  this  good  city  of  Boston  ? 
Among  all  its  virtues,  it  does  not  abound  in  a  tolerant 
spirit.  The  yoke  of  opinion  is  a  heavy  one,  often  crush- 
ing individuality  of  judgment  and  action.  Xo  city  in  the 
world  is  governed  so  little  by  a  police  and  so  much  by  mu- 
tual inspection  and  what  is  called  public  sentiment.  We 
stand  more  in  awe  of  one  another  than  most  people. 
Opinion  is  less  individual,  or  runs  more  into  masses,  and 
often  rules  with  a  rod  of  iron." 

Interesting  also  to  dwellers  in  the  Central  States  will  it 
be  to  read  the  great  preacher's  views  regarding  the  then 
W^eat.     The  letter  says  : 


76  JJterary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"All  our  accounts  of  the  West  make  me  desire  to  visit 
it.  I  desire  to  see  nature  under  new  aspects ;  but  still 
more  to  see  a  new  form  of  society.  I  hear  of  the  defects 
of  the  West ;  but  I  learn  that  a  man  there  feels  himself  to 
be  a  man,  and  that  he  has  a  self-respect  which  is  not  al- 
ways found  in  older  communities ;  that  he  speaks  his 
mind  freely ;  that  he  acts  from  more  generous  impulses 
and  less  selfish  calculations.  These  are  good  tidings.  I 
rejoice  that  the  intercourse  between  the  East  and  the 
West  is  increasing.  Both  will  profit.  The  West  may 
learn  from  us  the  love  of  order,  the  arts  which  adorn  and 
cheer  life,  the  institutions  of  education  and  religion  w^hich 
lie  at  the  foundation  of  our  greatness,  and  may  give  us  in 
return  the  energies  and  virtues  which  belong  to  and  dis- 
tinguish a  fresher  state  of  society. 

"  You  press  me  to  come  and  preach  in  your  part  of  the 
country.  I  should  do  it  cheerfully  if  I  could.  It  would 
rejoice  me  to  bear  testimony,  however  feeble,  to  great 
truths  in  your  new  settlements.  I  confess,  however,  that 
my  education  would  unfit  me  for  great  usefulness  among 
you.  I  fear  the  habits,  rules  and  criticisms  under  w^hich  I 
have  grown  up  and  almost  grown  old  have  not  left  me  the 
freedom  and  courage  which  are  needed  in  the  style  of  ad- 
dress best  suited  to  the  Western  people.  I  have  fought 
against  these  chains.  I  have  labored  to  be  a  free  man, 
but  in  the  state  of  the  ministry  and  of  society  here,  free- 
dom is  a  hard  acquisition.  I  hope  the  rising  generation 
will  gain  it  more  easily  and  abundantly  than  their 
fathers." 

The  young  men  who  uttered  their  opinions  in  the  West- 
ern Messenger  availed  themselves  of  the  intellectual  free- 
dom which  "  a  new  form  of  society "  afforded.  They 
said  their  say  more  boldly  than  New  England  encouraged 
them  to  do.  The  iron  rod  of  public  sentiment  was  not  so 
threatening'  in  Louisville  and  Cincinnati  as  in  Boston. 
Thinkers,  such  as  Samuel  Osgood  and  C.  P.  Cranch,  be- 
gan their  literary  career  in  this  Western  periodical. 
Cranch  was  for  a  time  Clark's  assistant  in  Louisville. 

Clarke  was  an  enthusiastic  student  of  German  literature 


Early  Periodical  Lifrrfrtiuy.  77 

and  philosophy,  unci  he  translated  for  the  Messenger  De 
Wette's  "  Theodore,  or  the  Skeptic's  Progress  to  Belief," 
afterward  reprinted  in  George  Ripley's  "Specimens"  of 
German  literature.  There  was  a  department  of  "  Orphic 
Sayins^s,"  from  Ga3the;*and  one  or  two  of  Goethe's  stories 
were  printed.  Rev.  Charles  T.  Brooks  contrihuted  many 
translations  from  Krummacher,  Herder,  Uhland  and  other 
German  poets.  J.  S.  D wight  also  wrote  original  poems  and 
translations  of  both  prose  and  verse  for  the  Messenger. 
Dwight  won  a  permanent  place  in  literature  by  produc- 
ing the  well-known  verses  beginning : 

"  Life  is  not  quitting 
The  busy  career ; 
Life  is  the  fitting 
Of  self  to  its  sphere." 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  editor  of  the  Messenger,  satu- 
rated as  he  was  with  German  literature  and  transcendental 
philosophy,  should  be  one  of  the  first  to  admire  Carlyle, 
and  among  the  first  to  discover  the  rising  genius  of  Emer- 
son. When  Emerson's  "  Kature  "  appeared  in  1836,  Os- 
good reviewed  it  in  the  Messenger.  He  said  :  "  There  are 
some  things  in  this  book  that  we  do  not  understand ;"  but 
he  discovered  in  the  luminous  pages  a  *'  wonderful  dawn." 
Commenting  on  Emerson's  oration  before  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society  in  1837,  C.  P.  Crancli  wrote  :  "  It  is  full  of 
beauties,  full  of  original  thought.  Every  sentence  indi- 
cates the  man  of  genius,  the  bold,  deep  thinker,  the  origi- 
nal writer." 

It  is  a  fact  noteworthy  in  the  history  of  letters  that  Em- 
erson first  appeared  in  print,  as  poet,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio.  He  contributed  to  the  Western  Messenger, 
gratis^  the  poems:  "Each  and  All,"  "The  Humble-bee," 
"  Good-bye,  Proud  World,"  and  "  The  Rhodora."  These 
are  among  his  best  metrical  pieces.  "  Good-bye,  Proud 
World,"  is  perhaps  his  most  popular  lyric,  though  the  au- 
thor did  not  esteem  it  highly.  It  came  out  in  April,  1839, 
but  is  subscribed  "Canterbury  Road,  1823."  On  compar- 
ing these  verses  as  they  were  printed  originally,  with  the 


78  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

later  copies  as  they  stand  in  the  author's  volumes,  one 
discovers  many  curious  verbal  changes.  In  some  cases 
considerable  addition  has  been  made  to  the  first  version, 
and  in  other  cases  passages  have  been  left  out.  The  alter- 
ations are  invariably  obvious  improvements.  For  instance, 
the  expression,  "  Vulgar  feet  have  never  trod,"  is  happily 
•ubstituted  for  ''  Evil  men  have  ever  trod."  The  first  line 
of  the  quaint  and  beautiful  poem  on  ^*  The  Humble-bee," 

"  Burly,  dozing  humble-bee," 

originally  read : 

"  Fine  humble-bee!  fine  humble-bee!" 

In  the  letter  from  Mr.  Clarke,  allusion  is  made  to  a 
poem  sent  to  the  Western  Messenger  by  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes.  The  poem  was  that  entitled  ''  The  Parting 
Word,"  Avhich  admirers  of  the  ''Autocrat "  will  recall 
from  the  first  line  : 

"  I  must  leave  thee,  lady  sweet." 

Another  literary  star,  not  of  the  first  magnitude,  yet  of 
a  clear  and  lasting  luster,  tbat  rose  from  the  East  to  shine 
in  Clarke's  Western  galaxy,  was  the  religious  poet,  Jones 
Very.  This  eccentric  character,  in  March,  1839,  sent  the 
following  letter  from  Boston  to  Louisville: 

"  Rev.  J.  .F.  Clarke,  editor  Western  Messenger : 

**  Hearing  of  your  want  of  matter  for  your  Messenger, 
I  was  moved  to  send  you  the  above  sonnets  that  they  may 
help  those  in  afiliction,for  Christ's  name  is  ever  the  prayer 
of  me,  his  disciple,  called  to  be  a  witness  of  his  sufferings 
and  an  expectant  of  his  glory.  If  you  ask  for  more — as 
I  have  them — so  will  they  be  communicated,  freely. 
Amen. 

**The  hope  of  Jesus  be  with  you  wlu  n  V(jii  are  called 
to  be  a  partaker  of  his  temptations. 

"Jones  Very." 


Ear^y  Periodical  Literature.  7^ 

The  letter  was  accompanied  by  twenty- seven  sonnets, 
which  were  published,  as  were  many  other  of  Very's 
poems,  from  time  to  time,  in  the  Messenger.  Nearly  all 
of  these  are  included  in  the  edition  of  Very's  poems  issued 
a  few  years  ago. 

Clarke  was  an  appreciator  of  Hawthorne's  early  work. 
He  reprinted  "Footsteps  on  the  Sea-shore"  from  the  first 
edition  of  "Twice  Told  Tales,"  and  wrote  an  editorial 
Comment :  "  Since  the  days  of  Elia  we  have  seen  nothing 
to  compare  with  it.  It  lias  all  of  Washington  Irving's 
delightful  manner  with  a  pro  founder  meaning  and  a 
higher  strain  of  sentiment." 

Among  the  contributors  to  the  Messenger  were  two 
women  who  afterward  became  well  known  in  letters — 
Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody  and  the  more  celebrated  Mar- 
garet Fuller.  The  latter  sent  her  friend  Clarke  a  number 
of  articles,  reviews  on  "  George  Crabbe  and  Hannah 
More,"  on  "  Bulw^er,"  on  "Letters  from  Palmyra,"  and  a 
paper  on  "  Philip  Van  Arte  veld."  Her  contributions  were 
signed  S.  M.  F. — Sarah  Margaret  Fuller. 

When  Clarke  left  Louisville  for  Boston,  the  Western 
Messenger  ofiice  was  removed  to  Cincinnati,  and  Rev.  W. 
H.  Channing  became  editor,  assisted  by  Rev.  James  H. 
Perkins.  The  magazine  grew  more  than  ever  devoted  to 
German  translations  and  to  transcendental,  poetic  theol- 
ogy. The  many  articles  furnished  by  Perkins  were  filled 
with  earnest,  practical  fact  and  thought,  and  possess  a 
high  value. 

In  June,  1840,  the  editor  wrote :  "  Our  friend,  Mr.  Bron- 
son  Alcott,  of  Boston,  has  kindly  given  us  his  prose  poem, 
'Psyche,  or  the  Growth  of  the  Soul.'"  But  "Psyche'* 
never  unfolded  her  silvery  wings  before  the  readers  of  the 
Western  Messenger. 

The  magazine  vanished  in  a  sort  of  rosy  mist  in  budding 
April,  1841.  There  was  a  conditional  promise  on  the  last 
page  of  the  last  number  that  the  publication  of  it  might 
be  resumed  in  July;  but  the  promise  failed.  The  period- 
ix3al  was  an  exotic — a  Boston  iiower  blooming  in  the  Ohio 
Valley. 


80  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

The  Western  Magazine  was  a  harbinger*  of  the  famous 
Boston  Dial,  which  made  its  first  appearance  in  July, 
1840.  It  is  a  very  interesting  and  notable  fact  that  at 
least  ten  of  the  contributors  to  the  Messenger  were  also 
among  the  writers  for  the  Dial.  These  were  Emerson, 
Fuller,  Clarke,  E.  P.  Peabody,  Dwight,  Brooks,  F.  II. 
Hedge,  W.  H.  Channing,  Cranch,  and  Very.  Miss  Pea- 
body  was  the  first  publisher  of  the  Dial,  and  Margaret 
Fuller  and  Emerson  were  its  editors.  Of  the  ten,  all  wer6 
born  between  the  years  1803  and  1813,  and  four,  Cranch, 
Dwight,  Brooks,  and  Very,  were  born  in  1813.  I  can  not 
better  close  this  sketch  than  by  quoting  from  the  final 
volume  and  number  of  the  Western  Messenger  this  word 
of  praise  and  prophecy  : 

"  We  have  not  said  a  word  of  the  Dial,  for  we  are  slow 
to  praise  our  own  family,  and  the  writers  of  the  periodical 
are  our  dear  friends.  Therefore,  one  word  only,  readers — 
believe  not  the  geese  who  have  hissed  their  loudest  at  this 
newcomer.  Such  foolish  creatures  can  not  save  the  capi- 
tol.  The  Dial  marks  an  era  in  American  literature.  It  is 
the  wind-flower  of  a  new  spring  in  the  western  world. 
For  profound  thought,  a  pure  tone  of  personal  and  social 
morality,  wise  criticism  and  fresh  beauty,  the  Dial  has 
never  been  equaled  in  America." 

w.  D.  Gallagher's  "  HESPERIAN." 

No  other  man  has  done  so  much  for  the  cause  of  western 
periodical  literature  as  William  D.  Gallagher.^  He  was 
connected  editorially  with  numerous  magazines  and  news- 
papers, including  The  Western  Minerva,  The  Cincinnati 
Mirror,  The  Western  Literary  Journal,  the  Cincinnati  Ga- 
zette, the  Louisville  Courier,  the  Ohio  State  Journal.  But 
his  most  important  literary  venture  was  the  Hesperian. 
He  has  given  us  the  history  of  the  publication  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

"  In  the  winter  of  1837-38  Mr.  Gallagher  projected  at 

'  Mr.  Gallagher's  literary  services  to  the  West  are  giv6n  in  detail  \A 
the  biographical  sketch,  Chapter  XV. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  81 

Columbus,  Ohio,  where  he  was  then  residing,  a  work  of 
larger  size  and  more  diversified  character  than  any  he  had 
yet  attempted  in  the  West,  or,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows, 
in  the  United  States.  This  was  the  Hesperian,  which  ap- 
peared in  May  following,  W.  D.  Gallagher  and  Otway 
Curry,  editors ;  John  D.  Mchols,  publisher;  Charles  Scott 
and  John  M.  Gallagher,  printers ;  ninety-four  pages  super- 
royal  octavo,  double  column ;  five  dollars  per  year  sub- 
scription. This  work  was  so  exclusively  one  of  the 
writers  own  projecting;  it  was  made  to  bend  so  entirely 
to  his  ideas  of  what  such  a  periodical  should  be ;  his  own 
pen  furnished  such  a  large  proportion  of  its  entire  con- 
tents ;  his  reputation  was  so  intimately  connected  with  it; 
his  fame  and  fortune  so  staked  upon  its  success,  and  his 
humiliation  at  its  failure  so  deep  and  abiding,  that  he  feels 
he  is  not  the  proper  one  to  write  its  history.  He  is  proud 
to  say  that  no  similar  work  was  ever  received  in  the 
United  States  with  more  decided  marks  of  favor.  Its 
characterizing  feature  was  one  of  usefulness ;  its  numerous 
articles  on  the  early  history  of  the  state,  on  its  agricult- 
ural resources,  on  its  manufacturing  industry,  on  its  com- 
mercial channels,  on  its  mineral  treasures,  on  its  literary 
and  humane  institutions,  on  its  geology,  flora,  etc.,  were 
appreciated  by  a  circle  of  readers  of  which  any  periodical 
might  boast.  The  best  talent  of  the  West  was  engaged 
contributing  to  its  pages,  and  on  its  subscription  books 
the  names  of  the  educated  and  intelligent  were  most  lib- 
erally written.  But  notwithstanding  all  this,  through  the 
grossest  remissness  and  most  culpable  mismanagement  on 
the  part  of  its  publisher,  the  publication  of  the  work  was 
suspended  at  the  close  of  the  third  volume — eighteen 
months  from  its  commencement.  Over  the  causes  of  this 
suspension  the  writer,  then  alone  in  the  editorship,  had  no 
control,  and  he  was  in  no  manner  pecuniarily  responsible 
for  the  injustice  done  by  it  to  that  portion  of  the  subscrib- 
ers who  had  paid  for  the  full  second  year.  He  declined 
subsequent  propositions  from  the  publisher  to  recommence 
the  work,  in  the  first  place,  because  his  confidence  in  the 
6 


82  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

integrity  of  that  individual  had  been  shaken,  and  in  the 
next,  because  the  propositions  were  accompanied  by  con- 
ditions which  would  have  made  it  necessary  materially  to 
modify  the  plan  of  the  publication,  which  would  have  left 
him  without  an  adequate  support.  In  this  manner,  what 
was  at  first  in  reality  only  a  suspension  of  the  work  be- 
came a  discontinuance  of  it.  His  long  and  bitter  regret 
at  this  mortifying  termination  of  a  venture  on  which  he 
had  staked  so  much,  it  is  useless  to  speak  of,  as  it  can  be 
measured  by  the  feelings  of  no  one  who  has  not  been  cir- 
cumstanced similarly  with  himself" 

moore's  western  lady's  book. 

Half  a  century  ago  "gentlemen's  magazines"  and  "la- 
dies' books "  were  in  demand  and  the  supply  was  forth- 
coming. One  of  the  oldest  American  lady's  books  is  the 
familiar  "  Godey,"  now  in  its  sixtieth  year. 

I  have  come  across  No.  1,  Vol.  I,  of  a  Western  Lady's 
Book,  printed  in  August,  1840,  by  H.  P.  Brooks,  Walnut 
street,  Cincinnati.  It  is  a  thin  pamphlet  of  twenty-eight 
pages,  edited  by  an  "Association  of  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men," and  bears  the  motto,  "  The  Stability  of  Our  Repub- 
lic, and  the  Virtue  of  her  Institutions  is  with  the  Ladies." 
It  does  not  appear  that  the  patriotism  and  other  virtues 
of  the  "  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  projected  the  Western 
Lady's  Book "  were  equal  to  the  task  of  preserving  its 
stability ;  at  least  I  have  never  seen  a  second  number  of 
the  publication,  nor  met  any  one  who  ever  did  see  a  second 
number. 

The  leading  article  in  No.  1,  Vol.  I,  of  the  Western 
Lady's  Book  is  by  P.  Sturtevant,  and  is  entitled  "  The 
Heroine  of  Saratoga :  a  Tale  of  the  Revolution,"  and  it  tells 
us  how  Emeline  Wharton,  for  love  of  Henry  Elverton,  dis- 
guised herself  as  a  soldier,  saved  her  country  and  married 
her  lover.  Another  story  by  "Jane,"  and  having  the 
cheerful  caption,  "  The  Village  Graveyard,"  relates  the 
languishing  loves  of  Charles  Anson  and  Caroline  Lee, 
and  how,  soon  after  they  were  wedded,  they  breathed 
their  last  and  were  nicely  buried  in  the  same  grave. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  88 

A  periodical  of  much  vitality  was  Moore's  Western 
Lady's  Book,  edited  by  A.  and  Mrs.  H.  G.  Moore,  Cincin- 
nati, and  devoted  to  literature,  biography,  science  and 
general  miscellany.  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  a 
complete  set  of  the  quite  numerous  volumes  of  this  publi- 
cation, which  was  issued  somewhat  irregularly  through  a 
period  of  eight  or  ten  years.  It  was  started,  I  believe,  in 
1850,  with  the  name  "  Western  Magazine,"  but  the  pub- 
lishers and  editors  announced,  early  in  1854,  that  "  having 
received  such  liberal  patronage  from  the  ladies  of  our 
country  to  the  Western  Magazine,  they  have  concluded  to 
change  the  name  and  make  it  more  exclusively  a  '  Lady's 
Book.'  "  The  magazine  was  made  "  more  exclusively  a 
Lady's  Book,"  by  introducing  two  new  features — fashion 
plates  and  music.  Ladies  of  to-day,  who  gaze  with  de- 
light upon  the  monthly  array  of  illustrations  in  Demorest, 
the  Bazaar,  or  the  Delineator,  would  laugh  at  the  pictures 
in  the  Lady's  Book. 

Much  of  the  contents  of  Moore's  Lady's  Book  is  se- 
lected matter,  yet  a  good  many  of  the  Western  writers 
favored  its  pages  with  original  pieces.  Honorable  Horace 
P.  Biddle,^  of  Lidiana,  T.  H.  Burgess,  Harriet  jN".  Babb, 
P.  F.  Reed,  R.  E.  H.  Levering,  Osgood  Mussey,  and  Alf 
Burnet  wrote  for  it.     The  issue  for  January,  1855,  con- 

^  Horace  P.  Biddle,  LL.D.,  Ph.  D.,  was  born  March  24,  1811,  in  a  log 
cabin  near  Logan,  O.  He  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  original  Marietta 
settlers,  and  a  protege  of  Thomas  Ewing.  He  studied  law  with  Hocking 
Hunter,  of  Lancaster,  O.  Began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Ohio, 
but  settled  at  Logansport,  Ind.,  in  1839.  Was  elected  Judge  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  in  1846,  and  called  to  the  Supreme  bench  in  1857.  Presided 
as  Supreme  Judge  for  twenty-five  years.  Judge  Biddle  is  living  and  oc- 
cupies a  fine  old  mansion  on  "  Biddle 's  Island,"  on  the  Wabash,  at  Lo- 
gansport. He  has  by  far  the  largest  private  library  in  Indiana— a  col- 
lection of  over  7,000  standard  books  and  bound  newspapers,  filling  ten 
or  twelve  rooms.  Biddle  began  his  literary  career  in  1842  by  writing 
for  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger.  In  1850  he  published  his  first 
volume,  "A  Few  Poems."  A  second  volume  of  his  poems  appeared  in 
1868  from  the  press  of  Hurd  &  Houghton.  Other  works  by  him  are 
"  The  Musical  Scale,"  a  scientific  treatise,  1850 ;  "  Glances  at  the  World," 
1873;  "Elements  of  Knowledge,"  and  "Prose  Miscellany,"  1881;  and 
"  Last  Poems,"  1882. 


84  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

tains  a  biographical  sketch  of  Alf  Burnet  from  the  pen  of 
Coates  Kinney.  The  best  of  the  poetry  contributed  to 
the  Lady's  Book  is  that  of  F.  B.  Plimpton,  whose  "  Mari- 
ners of  Life,"  ''  Poesie,"  ''  Mount  Gilbo,"  and  "  The  Oak" 
appeared  originally  in  this  periodical. 

Several  continued  stories  were  written  for  the  Lady's 
Book — one  a  prize  tale,  '*  The  Twin  Sisters,"  by  Mattie 
Lichan  ;  another,  "  Elizabeth,  or  the  Broken  Vow,"  by 
Edward  Clifton ;  and  a  third,  and  by  far  the  best  of  the 
three,  "  The  Prophecy,  or  the  Recluse  of  the  Maumee," 
by  U.  D.  Thomas. 

Decidedly  more  interesting  than  these  fictions  are  two 
illustrated  articles  by  William  T.  Coggeshall.  The  first 
of  these,  published  in  March,  1854,  describes  a  visit  to 
Niagara  falls,  and  opens  with  this  paragraph : 

"  I  was  fortunate  in  the  associations  of  my  first  visit  to 
Niagara  falls.  I  went  with  Kossuth  and  suite,  and  I 
found  there  Godfrey  Frankenstein  and  his  brother  George, 
the  artists  who  had  been  studying  and  painting  the  cata- 
ract, the  rapids,  the  rocks,  the  river  and  the  whirlpool, 
for  several  years,  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to  rep- 
resent them  on  canvas,  and  take  Niagara  to  those  people 
who  could  not  go  to  it." 

The  second  article  by  Coggeshall  is  called  a  "  Trip  to 
New  York,"  and  was  printed  in  January,  1855.  A  local 
interest  belongs  to  this,  because  it  is  illustrated  by  twelve 
wood-cuts  by  R.  J.  Telfer,  representing  views  on  the 
Little  Miami  Railroad.  One  of  these  is  a  picture  of 
Jamestown,  now  Dayton,  Kentucky. 

The  descriptive  text  says : 

"  On  the  right,  and  near  two  miles  from  the  depot,  you 
will  see  a  handsome  town  on  the  Kentucky  shore.  This 
is  Jamestown.  It  was  laid  out  only  three  or  four  years 
since,  and  is  now,  as  you  see,  a  considerable  village.  In  a 
few  years  the  Kentucky  shore,  like  the  Ohio,  will  be  lined 
with  a  continuous  town.  The  three  towns  of  Covington, 
Newport  and  Jamestown,  now  contain  about  twenty  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  Three-fourths  of  this  is  the  growth  of 
the  last  ten  years." 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  85 

Among  the  objects  shown  by  pictures  are  the  Cincinnati 
water-works,  Jamestown,  the  Columbia  burying-ground, 
Milford,  Miami  railroad  bridge,  Deerfield  station,  and  Mor- 
row's mill.^ 

Mr.  Coggeshall  discoursed  on  Gov.  Morrow  as  follows : 

"  Just  before  you  come  to  Foster's  Crossings,  you  will 
notice  on  the  left  hand  of  the  cars  as  you  come  from  Cin- 
cinnati, on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  a  large  mill  and 
plain  frame  house.  This  was  the  residence  of  one  of  the 
real  statesmen  of  our  country — Governor  Morrow.  He 
entered  public  life  in  1802,  and  remained  in  the  public 
service  half  a  century,  in  which  time  he  never  lost  the 
public  confidence  nor  ever  failed  in  any  part  of  his  duty. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  state  convention  to  form  the  first 
constitution,  was  twelve  years  a  member  of  the  house  ot 
representatives  in  congress,  and  most  of  the  time  the  only 
representative  of  Ohio.  He  was  six  years  in  the  United 
States  senate,  four  years  governor  and  several  years,  toward 
the  close  of  his  life,  president  of  the  Little  Miami  Railroad 
Company.  The  Duke  of  Weimer,  after  visiting  him  in 
1825,  described  him  as  a  faithful  copy  of  ancient  Cincin- 
uatus.  "He  was  engaged,  on  our  arrrival,  in  cutting  a 
wagon  pole,  but  immediately  stopped  his  work  to  give  us 
a  hearty  welcome." 

To  return  from  this  excursion  up  the  Miami  to  our 
"  Lady's  Book,"  we  find,  in  the  issue  of  March,  1854,  and 
subsequent  numbers,  a  feature  worth  noting.  Mrs.  E.  A. 
Aldrich,  having  suspended  the  publication  of  a  women's 
right's  paper,  the  Genius  of  Liberty,  made  an  arrange- 
ment with  the  proprietors  of  the  Lady's  Book,  to  continue 
the  advocacy  of  her  views  by  occupying  eight  or  ten 
pages  of  the  magazine,  every  month,  with  such  articles  as 
she  or  her  sister  reformers  might  choose  to  write.  "  In- 
dividual sovereignty,"  declared  Mrs.  Aldrich,  "  is  our  star. 
This  is  our  deepest  foundation.      It  is  the  motto  on  all 


*  The  mill  is  still  standing,  a  picturesque  relic.  '  Two  pictures  of  it, 
painted  by  Gustave  Frankenstein  about  the  year  1855,  may  be  seen  in 
Springfield,  Ohio. 


86  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

our  banners.  It  is  the  vitality  of  this  movement.  Per- 
sonal independence  is  the  all  in  all.  It  is  our  center  and 
circumference — the  soul  and  body  of  our  efforts."  To  the 
department  headed  "  Genius  of  Liberty/'  there  were  sev- 
eral contributors,  viz.,  Melissa  M.  Taylor,  M.  E.  Wilson, 
M.  A.  Bronson  and  Mary  S.  Legare.  The  most  exciting 
passage  in  their  discussions  is  entitled,  "  Women's  Intel- 
lectual Inferiority  or  Horace  Mann  vs.  Physiology,"  a 
stricture  on  the  president  of  Antioch  College,  who,  it 
seems,  had  accepted  the  theory  that  woman's  mental 
powers  are  not  equal  to  man's,  because  her  brain  is  lighter 
than  his. 

The  student  of  the  history  of  western  literature  will 
find  in  Moore's  Western  Lady's  Book  a  series  of  a  dozen 
or  more  sketches  on  the  '^  Poets  and  Poetry  of  the  West." 
He  will,  perhaps,  be  surprised  to  read  long  biographical 
reviews  of  poets  and  poetesses  w^hose  names  he  never  heard. 
M.  D.  Conway  said  in  a  review  of  Coggeshall's  "  Poets 
and  Poetry  of  the  West :"  "  Some  filtration  is  necessary 
for  all  our  western  streams  before  they  are  drinkable. 
About  half  a  dozen  of  these  poets  should  have  been 
omitted  accidentally."  The  Lady's  Book  includes  sev- 
eral names  among  its  poets  that  Coggeshall  did  omit. 

THE    PARLOR   MAGAZINE. 

In  July,  1853,  appeared  the  first  number  of  the  Parlor 
Magazine,  conducted  by  Jethro  Jackson,  180  Walnut  street, 
Cincinnati.  It  was  handsomely  printed  on  sixty-four  large, 
double-columned  pages,  and  illustrated  with  steel-plates 
and  wood-cuts.  Some  of  the  fashion  plates  were  printed 
in  colors. 

The  Parlor  Magazine  thundered  a  good  deal  in  the  in- 
dex. The  prospectus  contains  quite  an  ethical  treatise. 
"In  the  high  moral  tone  and  scrupulous  purity  of  senti- 
ment, the  truthfulness  and  intelligence  which  will  pervade 
our  ])ages,"  wrote  Mr.  Jackson,  *' we  hope  our  most 
serious  readers  will  find  qualities  to  propitiate  and  secure 
their  careful  scrutiny  and  ])crmanent  approbation.  It  will 
be   our   jiim    to    hlciid    \-alual)U'    i n In im nation   and   sound 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  87 

morality  with  the  gratification  of  a  literary  and  imagina- 
tive taste.  Phases  of  history,  illustrations  of  local  inter- 
est, vivid  portraitures  of  virtuous  life  and  occasional  dis- 
quisitions and  reviews,  embellished  here  and  there  with 
glittering  gems  of  poetry,  will,  we  trust,  give  value  to  our 
pages."  This  studied  announcement  of  intention  to  in- 
struct and  improve  the  public  drew  a  certain  patronage, 
but  was  not  as  attractive  to  people  in  general  as  Mr. 
Jackson  hoped  it  would  be.  His  plan  was  to  make  such 
a  magazine  as  he  judged  the  people  ought  to  read,  rather 
than  one  which  they  w^ould  like  to  read.  The  maxim  of 
Sleary,  the  circus  manager,  in  Dickens'  novel,  that  "  Peo- 
ple mutht  be  amuthed,"  holds  true  of  magazine  readers. 
In  his  anxiety  to  keep  every  thing  frivolous  out  of  his 
publication,  the  conductor  put  in  it  too  much  that  was 
dull.  Yet,  on  the  wdiole,  the  contents  of  the  Parlor  Mag- 
azine were  attractive,  and  became  more  so  as  the  months 
passed  by  and  Mr.  Jackson  gave  up  a  prejudice  against 
romances. 

The  follow^ing  is  a  partial  list  of  contributors  to  the 
Parlor  Magazine  :  Rev.  S.  D.  Burchard,  Dr.  J.  R.  Howard, 
Thomas  H.  Shreve,  W.  S.  Gaffney,  Yirginius  Hutchen, 
Mrs.  Helen  Truesdell,  S.  W.  Irwin,  Rev.  Edward  Thomson, 
Harriet  E.  Benedict,  Mary  Clemmer,^  Anne  Chambers 
Bradford,  M.  Louisa  Chitwood,  Roley  McPherson,  Horace 
Rubley,  J.  H.  Bone,  D.  F.  Quinby,  William  T.  Coggeshall, 
Mary  E.  Hewett,  Kate  Harrington,  G.  W.  L.  Bickley,  W. 
W.  Dawson,  M.  D.,  William  Baxter,  F.  H.  Risley,  Miss  M. 
E.  Wilson,  Thomas  H.  Chivers,  J.  H.  Baker  and  Peter 
Fishe  Reed. 

At  the  end  of  six  months  Messrs.  Applegate  &  Com- 
pany, 43  Main  street,  became  the  publishers  of  the  maga- 
zine, Jackson  continuing  the  general  management,  assisted 
by  Alice  Cary.  The  first  semi-annual  volume,  from  July 
to  December,  1853,  was  issued  as  an  independent  work, 
under  the  title  of  "  Family  Treasury." 

The  accession  of  Alice  Cary  to  the  editorial  control  of 


Afterward  Mary  Clemmer  Ames,  the  biographer  of  the  Cary  sisters. 


88  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

the  periodical  gave  new  life  to  its  pages.  She  took  a  more 
cheerful  view  of  the  duties  of  an  editor  than  Mr.  Jackson 
had  taken.  But  it  is  evident  from  her  first  editorial  that 
she  was  not  sanguine  as  to  the  success  of  the  magazine, 
nor  over-confident  of  her  own  powers  of  pleasing.  There 
is  a  sprightly  wit  and  a  keen  common  sense  about  her 
salutatory  that  warrant  me  in  quoting  some  sentences 
from  it.  She  says :  "As  we  seat  ourself  at  the  editorial 
table  of  the  Parlor  Magazine,  an  anecdote,  which  we  have 
read  somewhere,  occurs  to  us : 

"A  French  surgeon,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  boasting 
of  the  performance  of  some  very  difiicult  operation,  hav- 
ing treated  no  less  than  sixteen  patients,  was  asked  how 
many  of  them  he  had  saved.  '  Oh,*  replied  the  French- 
man with  naivete^  '  they  all  died — but  I  assure  you  the  ex- 
periments were  yqvj  brilliant ! ' 

"  Our  magazine  is  not  greatly  below  the  sixteenth  one 
that  has  struggled  for  existence  in  Cincinnati,  and  if  it 
should  fail,  why  w^e  shall  congratulate  ourselves  with  the 
reflection  that  it  was  at  least  a  brilliant  experiment.  .  .  . 
Some  years  ago  the  editor  of  a  small  paper  in  the  interior 
of  Ohio  announced  in  Viis  salutatory  that  he  had  that  day 
commenced  '  the  wielding  of  the  tripod,'  and,  lest  we 
should  fall  into  a  similar  blunder,  we  will  cut  short  our 
introductory,  simply  referring  the  reader  to  what  we  pre- 
sent, rather  than  to  showy  promises,  for  it  is  surely  true 
that  a  bird  in  the  hand,  even  if  it  be  a  common  sort  ot 
bird,  is  worth  two  in  the  bush." 

Alice  Gary  contributed  to  the  Parlor  Magazine  a  story 
written  in  her  best  vein,  entitled  "  The  Actress."  She  also 
contributed  a  number  of  short  poems,  remarkable  for  their 
naturalness,  pathos,  and  melody.  One  of  these,  doubtless 
the  sincere  expression  of  feelings  she  had  recently  experi- 
enced in  New  York  City,  is  called  "  Homesick" — 

Oh !  shall  I  ever  be  going 

Back  any  more  ? 
Back  where  the  green  woods  are  blowing 

Close  by  the  door ! 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  89 

Back  where  the  mowers  are  binding 

Pinks  with  their  sheaves — 
Where  homeward  the  cattle  are  winding 

Together  of  eves  ? 

The  fresh-smelUng  earth  at  the  planting — 

The  blue-bird  and  bee, 
The  gold-headed  wheat  fields  aslanting 

How  pleasant  to  me ! 

I'm  sick  of  the  envy  and  hating 

All  efibrt  brings  on — 
I'm  sick  of  the  working  and  waiting, 

And  long  to  be  gone. 

Gone  where  the  tops  of  red  clover 

With  dew  hang  so  low, 
And  where  all  the  meadow-side  over 

The  buttercups  grow. 

I'm  weary — I'm  sick  of  the  measures 

Each  day  that  I  track— 
Of  all  which  the  many  call  pleasures. 

And  long  to  be  back. 

Back  where  the  ivy-vines  cover 

The  low  cabin  wall. 
And  where  the  sweet  smile  of  my  lover 

Is  better  than  all. 

Oh  !  shall  I  ever  be  going 

Back  any  more — 
Back  where  the  green  woods  are  blowing 

Close  by  the  door  ? 

The  genius  of  Alice  Gary  did  not  bring  financial  pros- 
perity to  the  Parlor  Magazine.  She  soon  retired  from  the 
editorial  chair  to  return  to  IN'ew  York,  and  Mr.  W.  F. 
Lyons  took  her  place.  Mr.  George  W.  L.  Bickley,  who  had 
been  publishing  the  West  American  Review,  transferred 
bis  subscription  list  to  that  of  the  Parlor  Magazine,  and 
in  1855  he  became  a  partner  in  the  concern.  The  merged 
magazines  formed  one,  with  the  new  name,  The  West 
American  Monthly,  which  did  not  survive  to  greet  the 
year  1856. 


^  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

LUCIUS  A.  hine's  periodicals. 

The  literary  magazines  of  the  west  have  usually  been 
private  enterprises,  undertaken  by  enthusiastic  young  men 
bent  on  carrying  out  ideals  rather  than  making  money. 
Only  youth  and  enthusiasm  have  the  strength  and  the 
rashness  to  venture  on  reforming  the  world  without  cap- 
ital and  by  means  of  printer's  ink  and  a  publication. 

Something  near  fifty  years  ago,  a  handsome,  stalwart,, 
all-hopeful  student,  fresh  from  I^orwalk  Academy,  Ohio, 
came  to  Cincinnati  and  took  the  regular  course  in  the  law 
school,  then  under  the  direction  of  Timothy  Walker. 
This  young  gentleman  was  Mr.  L.  A.  Hine,  oldest  son  of 
Sheldon  Hine,  a  thriving  farmer  who  came  from  the  good 
old  Orthodox  county  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  in  1818, 
and  settled  at  Berlin,  Erie  county,  Ohio,  where  he  pros- 
pered. L.  A.  Hine  was  born  at  Berlin,  February  22, 
1819. 

Though  trained  to  conservative  views  and  habits,  both 
in  theology  and  economics,  Hine  departed  from  the  coun- 
sel of  his  family,  having  been  indoctrinated  with  the  rad- 
icalism of  Horace  Greeley,  Robert  Owen,  and  other  agi- 
tators. He  did  not  enter  upon  the  practice  of  law,  but, 
actuated  by  hopes  of  literary  success,  he  started  the  West- 
ern Literary  Journal  and  Monthly  Magazine,  the  first 
number  of  which  came  out  in  November,  1844.  In  this 
venture  he  was  associated  with  E.  Z.  C.  Judson  ("Ned 
Buntline  ") — an  ill-assorted  partnership.  Hine  was  to  fur- 
nish one  thousand  dollars  and  Judson  ^ve  hundred  dol- 
lars; but  it  turned  out  that  Hine  furnished  nlore  than  one 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  and  Judson  nothing.  Both 
were  very  young  men — Hine  only  twenty-five  and  his 
partner  twenty-one.  By  and  by  they  took  into  the  firm  a 
third  ambitious  young  fellow  from  Tennessee — Hudson  A. 
Kidd.  Judson  was  nominally  editor,  he  having  already 
achieved  some  reputation  as  a  writer  for  the  Knicker- 
bocker Magazine,  and  as  editor  of  Ned  Buntline's  Own,  a 
story  paper  which  he  had  started  at  Paducali,  Kentucky. 
Unfortunately  for  liimself  and  for  his  associates,  Judsoa 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  91 

got  into  a  quarrel  at  IS'ashville,  Tennessee,  which  led  to  a 
passage  at  arms,  in  which  he  killed  a  man  who  had  shot 
at  him.  Judson  was  captured  by  a  mob  and  almost 
hanged,  w^as  glad  to  escape  with  his  life  and  fly  to  Pitts- 
burg. In  consequence  of  this  affair,  the  literary  magazine 
was  discontinued  after  six  numbers  had  been  issued,  Iline 
paying  the  debts. 

The  contents  of  this  unfortunate  Journal  and  jReview 
are  varied  and  entertaining.  Almost  all  the  leading 
writers  of  the  West  contributed  to  its  columns.  The  post 
of  honor  in  the  first  number  was  occupied  by  William  D. 
Gallagher,  who  furnished  a  long  historical  article  on 
"  Periodical  Literature."  The  same  veteran,  who,  how- 
ever, was  then  no  veteran,  but  a  dashing  young  man  but 
thirty-six  years  old,  gave  to  the  public,  through  the  Jour- 
nal, a  number  of  his  best  poems,  such  as  "  Truth  and 
Freedom."  Mrs.  Julia  L.  Dumont,  that  Hannah  More  of 
the  West,  contributed  column  after  column  of  moral  sketch 
and  story  to  encourage  the  magazine ;  Mrs.  R.  S.  Nichols, 
Mrs.  An;ia  Peyer  Dinneis,  Miss  E.  A.  Evans,  Mrs.  S.  M. 
Judson,  Mrs.  Lee  Hentz,  and  Miss  E.  A.  Dupay  were  con- 
stant writers  for  it. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  has  bleus  monopolized 
the  pages  of  our  young  men's  magazine.  Many  male 
writers,  grave  and  gay,  kept  the  post-bags  enriched 
with  their  offerings.  Productions  were  printed  from  T. 
H.  Shreve,  Albert  Pike,  J.  Ross  Browne,  J.  B.  Russell,. 
Charles  Cist,  J.  L.  Cist,  Prof.  Cross,  J.  B.  Hickey,  B.  St. 
James  Fry,  Hiram  Kaine,  Otway  Curry,  L.  C.  Draper, 
Colonel  Charles  Whittlesey,  J.  R.  Eakin,  E.  P.  is'orton,  F. 
Colton,  C.  B.  Gillespie,  W.  B.  Fairchild,  J.  C.  Zachos,  D. 
L.  Brown,  H.  A.  Kidd,  Anson  Nelson,  H.  B.  Hirst,  James 
W.  Ward,  H.  C.  Beeler,  G.  T.  Stuart,  J.  J.  Martin,  W.  H. 
Hopkins,  John  Tomlin,  A.  S.  Mitchell,  Dr.  T.  M.  Tweed, 
Emerson  Bennett,  and  Donn  Piatt.  The  gentleman 
named  last  wrote  on  the  subject  of  "  Old  Bachelors,"  and 
under  the  pseudonym  "John  Smith."  The  novelist,  W. 
Gilmore  Simms,  contributed  a  poem,  "  The  Grave  of  the 


92  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Bard."  Emerson  Bennett's  contribution  was  a  languish- 
ing sonnet  to  his  "  ladje  love." 

Many  of  the  names  just  given  will  be  recognized  as 
holding  a  worthy  place  on  the  scroll  of  literary  dis- 
tinction. 

Albert  Pike '  was  well  known  and  highly  popular,  not 
only  in  the  West,  but  throughout  the  country,  on  account 
of  his  successful  eftbrts  as  poet,  law  reporter,  and  editor 
in  Arkansas  and  Tennessee.  His  poems,  an  ''  Ode  to  the 
Mocking  Bird,"  "Ariel,"  "  Hymns  to  the  Gods,"  were  re- 
garded as  products  of  genius.  Pike  was  born  at  Boston 
in  1809.  He  seems  to  have  struck  up  a  jolly  acquaintance- 
ship with  "Ned  Buntline,"  to  whom  he  addressed  a 
poetical  letter,  which  was  published  in  the  Journal.  It 
opens  thus : 

Dear  Ned,  your  craft  I  see 's  at  length  afloat, 

A  tight,  sea-worthy,  staunch,  and  well-manned  boat. 

Mr.L.  C.  Draper,  named  in  the  list,  is  Dr.  Lyman  C. 
Draper,  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  whose  col- 
lections of  Western  biographical  and  historical  material 
are  invaluable.  Draper  was  born  near  Butfalo,  New  York, 
in  1815.     Much  of  his  work  has  been  done  in  co-operation 

*  General  Pike  died  in  Washington  City,  April  2,  1891,  in  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  his  age.  He  was  Grand  Commander  of  the  Scottish  Rite 
Masonry  of  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  and  Chief  of  the  Royal  Order  of 
Scotland  for  this  country.  He  was  born  in  Boston  in  1809.  He  was 
author,  editor,  lawyer,  and  soldier.  He  edited  the  Arkansas  Advocate 
and  the  Memphis  Aj)peal.  It  was  stated  in  the  New  York  Times  that 
he  had  the  largest  and  most  costly  library  in  the  South.  His  "  Hymns 
of  the  Gods  "  was  published  in  1839.  Besides  this  he  wrote  three  other 
volumes  of  poems.  His  writings  on  Masonry  are  considered  the  high- 
est authority.  In  1874,  he  published  a  book  on  Philology.  General 
Pike  removed  to  Washington  in  1868.  Since  the  year  1875,  he  translated 
about  twenty  volumes  from  Sanskrit  into  English.  A  Washington  cor- 
respondent of  the  Chicago  News,  writing  of  these,  says :  **  They  are 
not  printed,  but  are  in  manuscript,  every  word  being  written  by  Gen- 
eral Pike,  and  in  all  of  the  thousands  of  pages,  there  is  not  a  scratched 
word  or  an  erasure.  If  General  Pike  had  given  the  same  time  and 
erudition  to  the  world  of  literature,  instead  of  to  the  secret  order  of 
which  he  was  the  head,  his  name  would,  undoubtedly,  have  been 
classed  with  the  Raskins,  Emersons,  and  Carlyles." 


Early  Periodical  Literature  93 

with  Benson  Lossing.  Dr.  Draper  is  deservedly  distin- 
guished as  the  editor  of  the  ten  volumes  of  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections,  and  the  author  of  "  King's  Moun- 
tain and  its  Heroes,"  and  other  historical  works.  He  con- 
trihuted  to  Hine's  publication  an  article  on  "  General 
George  Rogers  Clarke." 

Colonel  Charles  Whittlesey's  important  donations  to  the 
Journal  include  articles  on  "  Indian  History,"  "  John 
Fitch,"  and  "  The  Northern  Lakes." 

Judson,  besides  numerous  editorials,  furnished  charac- 
teristic sketches  in  true  "  Xed  Buntline"  style — "The 
Last  of  the  Buccaneers,"  "  The  Lost  Chief  of  the  Uchees," 
and  reminiscential  "Sketches  of  the  Florida  War." 

Benjamin  St.  James  Fry,. born  1824,  now  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  and  the  editor  of  the  "  Central  Christian  Advo- 
cate," St.  Louis,  was  very  active  in  literary  matters  in  the 
Ohio  Valley.  He  edited  in  Cincinnati  a  periodical  called 
the  "  Rambler,"  and  was  connected  with  Hall's  Maga- 
zine. He  became  president  of  "  Worthington  College." 
To  his  pen  we  are  indebted  for  the  biographies  of  several 
prominent  Methodist  clergymen. 

John  Celevergoz  Zachos,^  an  occasional  contributor  to 
Hine's  periodical,  is  a  Greek,  born  at  Constantinople  in 
1820.  Coming  to  America,  he  graduated  from  Kenyon 
College,  Ohio ;  studied  medicine  in  Miami  University, 
Ohio ;  became  associate  principal  of  Cooper  Female  Col- 
lege, Dayton,  Ohio ;  and  afterward  professor  in  Antioch 
College  under  Horace  Mann.  In  1852,  he  edited  the  Ohio 
School  Journal.  He  is  the  author  of  several  school 
books.  For  some  years  he  was  a  Unitarian  preacher. 
Since  1871,  he  has  been  curator  of  Cooper  Institute,  ^ew 
York  City.    • 

L.  A.  Hine,  by  nature  earnest  and  by  reflection  serious, 
felt  an  inward  call  to  serve  humanity  by  effecting  social 
and  educational  reforms,  especially  by  some  great  land  re- 
form, to  bring  about  such  happy  conditions   as   Henry 


^  For  some  years  teacher  of  mathematics  in  Rev.  Dr.  Colton's  school, 
Cincinnati. 


'94  Literary  .Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Oeorge  looks  forward  to.  Hine  "Busied  his  pen  in  the  elu- 
cidation of  his  chosen  themes.  He  wrote  articles  en- 
titled "  Distinctions,"  "  Standard  of  Respectability/* 
•"  Teaching  a  Profession,"  "  Union  of  Mental  and  Physical 
Labor,"  and  "  One  Dollar."  Occasionally  he  invoked  the 
lyric  muse,  who  inspired  him  with  strains  of  a  contem- 
plative and  melancholy  tone.  The  young  man  w^as  loaded 
with  a  burden  no  less  than  the  old,  sad  world  with  its  im- 
memorial woes. 

The  Literary  Journal  w^ent  to  wreck  in  April,  1845. 
In  the  following  January,  Hine  put  forth,  at  his  own  ven- 
ture, as  editor  and  publisher,  the  initial  number  of 

THE    QUARTERLY  JOURNAL    AND    REVIEW. 

This  was  published  through  the  year  1846,  and  then 
merged  in  the  Herald  of  Truth.  In  his  Quarterly,  he 
gave  fuller  scope  to  his  opinion  on  political  and  social 
economy.  His  reviews  took  the  form  of  radical  discus- 
sion under  such  captions  as  "Association,"  "  The  Spirit  of 
Democracy,"  "  Obligations  of  Wealth,"  "  Progression," 
"  The  Land  Question,"  '^  Our  Social,  Political  and  Educa- 
tional System."  One  of  his  earliest  out-and-out  radical 
utterances  was  a  review  of  E.  P.  Hurlbut's  "  Essays  on 
Human  Rights,"  published  by  Greeley  in  1845.  When 
Hine's  father  (prudent  and  sagacious  money-maker  that  he 
was)  saw  this  article,  he  dryly  remarked,  "  Lucius  will 
make  nothing  by  writing  in  that  way."  Nevertheless 
Lucius  did  make — enemies. 

The  Quarterly  was  not  wholly  given  up  to  radical  dis- 
cussion. David  Dale  Owen  contributed  several  scientific 
papers  on  "  Geology."  The  editor  continued  also,  as  in 
his  previous  publication,  to  give  prominence  to  literary 
topics,  and  to  solicit  contributions  from  purely  literary 
writers.  Albert  Pike,  Emerson  Bennett,  George  F.  Mar- 
shall, Alice  Gary,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Chamberlain,  Mrs.  R.  S. 
Nichols  and  Mrs.  Sophia  H.  Oliver  wrote  poems  for  the 
Quarterly.  A  piece  contributed  by  Mrs.  Oliver  entitled, 
^*  I  Mark  the  Hours  that  Shine,"  went  the  rounds  of  the 
press  and  was  printed  in  school-readers. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  95 

George  S.  Weaver,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  who  became  a 
^celebrated  Universalist  preacher  and  writer,  began  his  lit- 
erary practice  in  this  Quarterly. 

THE    HERALD    OF    TRUTH. 

"  The  Herald  of  Truth,  a  monthly  periodical  devoted  to 
the  interests  of  Religion,  Philosophy,  Literature,  Science 
and  Art,"  a  magazine  of  eighty  pages,  the  organ  of  a 
brotherhood  of  social  and  religious  radicals  who  had  a 
community  on  the  Ohio  river,  was  started  in  January, 
1847,  and  was  continued  nineteen  months,  when  the 
"  Brotherhood  "  failed.  L.  A.  Hine  was  employed  to  edit 
the  periodical,  but  no  effort  was  made  by  the  society  to 
push  it,  the  leader  believing  it  w^ould  work  its  own  way. 
The  Herald  partook  somewhat  of  the  character  of  its  pre- 
decessor, the  Quarterly,  though  it  contained  greater  vari- 
ety and  was  superior  in  literary  style  and  mechanical 
"  make-up."  The  devotees  of  the  "  Philosophy  of  Uni- 
versal Harmony  "  used  its  free  pages  as  a  vehicle  for  con- 
veying their  theories  to  the  public.  The  editor  resumed 
his  efforts  to  set  forth  the  facts,  figures,  and  arguments  to 
demonstrate  the  necessity  of  land  reform.  He  made  an 
exhaustive  historical  survey  of  the  "  Roman  Land  Laws  " 
and  of  the  "  Hebrew  Land  System."  Articles  were  pub- 
lished on  various  phases  of  socialism,  on  St.  Simon  and 
Fourier,  and  on  Swedenborg.  A  long  discourse  on  the 
history  of  "  Labor,"  from  the  pen  of  Robert  Dale  Ow^en, 
found  an  acceptable  place  in  the  Herald. 

Many  of  the  men  -and  w^omen  who  wrote  for  the  Lit- 
erary Journal  and  the  Quarterly  were  personal  friends  of 
Mr.  Hine  and  continued  to  favor  him  with  their  assist- 
ance. Among  them  were  Alice  and  Phoebe  Gary  and 
Emerson  Bennett.  Several  new  contributors  made  the 
Herald  of  Truth  their  medium  of  communication  with 
the  "  gentle  reader."  Among  the  contributors  of  prose  I 
name  John  0.  Wattles,  Dr.  Diver,  John  Patterson,  I.  P. 
Cornell,  John  White,  Thos.  L.  Boucher,  Maria  L.  Varney, 
and  Milton  J.  Sanders.  Warner  M.  Bateman,  now  a 
prominent  Cincinnati  lawyer,  made  one  of  his  earliest  lit- 


96  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

erary  efforts  in  preparing  for  the  Herald  an  article  enti- 
tled "Education — Freedom,"  written  from  Springboro, 
Ohio." 

The  poetical  contributors,  besides  those  already  men- 
tioned, were  Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Bolton,  Mrs.  Frances  D.  Gage, 
Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Howe  and  Coates  Kinney. 

THE   WESTERN    QUARTERLY    REVIEW. 

In  1849  Mr.  J.  S.  Hitchcock,  who  once  kept  a  news 
room  in  the  old  post-office  building  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
and  who  was  an  able  solicitor  for  journals,  started  in  Cin- 
cinnati another-  Quarterly  Review,  expecting  to  pay  ex-- 
penses  and  more  by  canvassing  for  subscribers.  Mr.  Hine 
agreed  to  do  the  editorial  work,  which  he  did  gratis  until 
the  proprietor  mysteriously  disappeared  in  Chicago,  where 
he  had  gone  on  a  soliciting  tour.  Whether  Hitchcock 
was  killed,  or  whether  he  died  among  strangers  who  gave 
no  information  of  him,  is  unknown  to  this  day.  What- 
ever may  have  been  his  fate,  it  is  certain  that  the  Quar- 
terly failed.  Two  numbers  only  were  issued,  of  about 
two  hundred  pages  each.  The  first  was  illustrated  with  a 
steel  engraving  of  the  poet,  William  D.  Gallagher ;  and 
the  second,  with  a  portrait  of  John  Locke.  The  volume 
contains,  in  all,  twenty-eight  articles,  in  prose  and  verse, 
the  titles  of  the  most  important  being :  "  The  Youth  of 
Christ,"  "  The  Land  Question,"  "  Ethology,"  "American 
Eloquence,"  "Neurology,"  "Powers's  Greek  Slave,"  "  The 
Free-Soil  Movement,"  "  William  D.  Gallagher,"  "  The 
Revolution  of  1698  and  Macaulay's  History,"  "  Decline  of 
the  Church,"  "  The  Republic,"  "Education  and  Crime," 
"  Mission  of  Democracy,"  and  "  Ohio  :  Her  Resources  and 
Prospects." 

In  nine's  Quarterly  of  1849,  the  literary  element  is  en- 
tirely subordinated  to  the  controversial,  though  the  work 
contains  a  few  poems  and  a  story  with  a  purpose,  called 
"A  Philosophical  Sketch,"  composed  by  the  editor.  In- 
deed, the  battle  of  opinions  had  thickened  around  Hine, 
and  henceforth  he  gave  himself  to  his  favorite  "  cause." 
He  had  drawn  the  tire  of  many  conservative  journalists, 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  97 

who  hated  his  radicalism  on  general  principles.  We  find 
him,  in  1850,  editing  the  Daily  Nonpareil,  a  paper  con- 
ducted on  the  co-operative  plan  by  a  company  of  printers. 
On  ceasing  to  write  for  the  I^onpareil,  he  commenced 
traveling  as  a  lecturer  on  reforms,  especially  the  land  re- 
form and  educational  topics.  His  magnificent  personal 
appearance,  his  fine  voice,  and  eloquent,  poetic  style  of 
delivery,  make  him  a  very  impressive  orator.  He  is  the 
author  of  numerous .  pamphlets  on  political  and  social 
economy,  and  of  several  radical  stories,  "  The  Unbal- 
anced," "Patty  Parker,"  "  Currie  Cummings,"  "The 
Money  Changer,"  etc.  In  1869  Mr.  Hine  published  three 
numbers  of  a  reform  journal  called  Hine's  Quarterly,  or 
the  Pevolutionist,  having  for  its  motto  the  word^  '''■Taurus 
cornthus  captusJ' 

Mr.  Hine  now  resides  near  Loveland,  Ohio,  living  a 
recluse  life,  but  still  actively  engaged  in  study  and  lite- 
rary composition. 

THE    ladies'    repository. 

By  far  the  longest  lived,  most  extensive,  and  most  ex- 
pensive literary  periodical  ever  published  west  of  the  Al- 
legheny mountains  was  the  Ladies'  Repository  and  G-ath- 
erings  of  the  West,  a-  monthly  which  was  started  nine 
years  before  the  first  number  of  Harper's  was  issued.  It 
was  almost  the  only  western  magazine  that  had  the  good 
fortune  to  be  sustained  by  any  considerable  capital  and 
patronized  from  the  start  by  a  considerable  class  of  read- 
ers. The  periodical  was  owned  and  managed  by  the 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  and  naturally  received  the  sym- 
pathy and  support  of  the  great  denomination  which,  in  a 
special  way,  it  represented.  It  was  conducted  in  a  liberal 
spirit,  according  to  a  policy  that  extended  a  tolerant  hand 
to  all,  and  it  was  hospitable  to  the  ideas  of  any  writer  who 
expressed  himself  with  moral  propriety  and  a  fair  degree 
of  literary  skill. 

The  Ladies'  Repository  contains  thirty-six  annual  vol- 
umes, published  in  the  years  1841-1876.  Each  of  the  first 
7 


98  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

* 
fourteen  volumes  has  380  pages,  and  the  succeeding  vol- 
umes each  comprise  760  pages.  The  Repository  was  dis- 
continued after  1876,  but,  in  its  stead,  the  Book  Concern 
published  a  still  larger  periodical,  the  ^N'ational  Repository, 
which  was  kept  up  four  years,  1877-1880.  The  life  of  the 
two  magazines — they  may  be  regarded  as  one  and  the 
same — covered  forty  years  of  the  most  interesting  period 
of  the  history  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  Ladies'  Repository  was  started  in  consequence  of  a 
memorial  suggesting  the  desirability  of  such  a  publica- 
tion, addressed  to  the  M.  E.  Conference,  at  Cincinnati,  in 
September,  1839,  by  Mr.  Samuel  Williams,  of  Mt.  Auburn, 
the  father  of  Professor  Samuel  W.  Williams,  now  in  the 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  and  of  John  Fletcher  Williams, 
librarian  of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society,  St.  Paul. 

Samuel  Williams  was  one  of  the  early  pioneers.  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  literary  tendencies,  and  he  contributed 
to  the  Repository,  under  the  name  of  "Plebius,"  a  series 
of  reminiscential  papers  called  "  Leaves  from  an  Auto- 
biography," giving  experiences  in  Pennsylvania  and  West 
Virginia  from  1790  to  1850. 

As  the  name  would  indicate,  the  Ladies'  Repository  was 
designed,  originally,  to  furnish  reading  particularly  ac- 
ceptable to  women,  or  to  the  family  circle.  Hence,  for 
the  first  year  or  two,  its  columns  abounded  with  advices 
and  admonitions,  somewhat  solemn  and  heavy,  to  the  fe- 
male sex.  Caleb  Atwater,  the  pioneer  historian  of  Ohio, 
contributed  an  article  on  "  Female  Education."  An  ad- 
dress by  Samuel  Galloway,  A.M.,  to  the  pupils  at  Oakland 
Female  Seminary,  at  Hillsborough,  Ohio,  on  "  Female 
Character  and  Education,"  was  published.  There  also  ap- 
peared in  print  a  discourse  to  a  Young  Ladies'  Lyceum, 
by  Honorable  Bellamy  Storer,  the  distinguished  jurist  and 
statesman.  As  one  glances  over  the  introductory  volumes 
of  the  long  series  of  Repositories,  and  observes  how  im- 
measurably and  unceasingly  the  misses,  maids,  and  mat- 
rons were  belectured  and  relegated  to  their  "sphere,"  one 
feels  sorry  retrospectively.  That  was  before  the  day  of 
Kansas  voting  and  Vassar  College,    Yet,  it  must  be  said 


Early  Periodical  Literature,  9^ 

to  the  credit  and  honor  of  the  early  editors  of  the  Repos- 
itory, that  they  opened  their  columns  freely  to  female 
writers,  and  that,  as  time  went  on,  the  women  had  their 
full  "  say,"  to  the  exclusion,  we  trust,  of  some  masculine 
severities  on  female  education,  which  might  have  been 
printed. 

The  first  editor  of  the  Ladies'  Repository  was  Rev.  L.  L. 
Hamline,  A.  M.,  afterward  bishop,  who  held  the  manag- 
ing pen  for  nearly  five  years.  As  was  expected,  the  lead- 
ing preachers  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  West,  and 
many  of  the  presidents  and  professors  in  Western  colleges, 
wrote  for  the  magazine,  which  was  expressly  devoted  to 
"Literature  and  Religion."  A  majority  of  the  most 
prominent  denominational  ministers  and  educators  con- 
tributed to  the  useful  work.  isTumerous  writers  not  of  the 
Methodist  persuasion  also  proffered  their  aid,  which  was 
accepted,  always  with  thanks,  and  often  with  pay  in  cash. 
The  subscription  list  rapidly  increased,  and  in  its  palmiest 
days,  the  Repository  enrolled  thirty  thousand  subscribers, 
and  had  three  or  four  times  that  many  readers.  Every 
number  was  illustrated  with  one  or  more  fine  steel  en- 
gravings. The  subjects  chosen  for  illustration  in  the 
early  years  of  the  periodical  were  local  scenes  and  objects, 
drawn  from  nature  by  Western  artists.  The  first  number 
presented  "  Views  on  the  Ohio."  Other  of  these  pictures 
made  in  the  forties  were  "A  Railroad  Scene,"  ''  View  on 
the  Miami  Canal,"  and  very  beautiful  sketches  of  the 
"  Big  Miami  River"  and  "  Indiana  Knobs." 

Among  those  who  wrote  for  the  Repository  in  its  first 
decade,  when  the  Book  Concern  was  managed  by  Rev.  J. 
F.  Wright  and  Rev.  L.  Swormstedt,  were  many  who  had 
already  risen  to  distinction  and  'more  who  afterward 
achieved  honored  names  for  worthy  public  service  in  re- 
ligion, education,  literature,  legislation  or  law.  This 
magazine  was  the  seed-bed  in  which  were  germinated  and 
nurtured  hundreds  of  intellectual  growths  that  in  time 
bore  fragrant  blossoms  and  good  fruits  in  the  West,  or 
were  transplated  to  bloom  and  bear  in  other  parts  of  the 


100  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

world.     The  list  of  contributors  is  a  very  long  one ;  I  will 
seleot  from  it  a  few  leading  names : 

Prof.  F.  Merrick,  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 
wrote  for  the  Repository  on  zoology.  Rev.  M.  P.  Gaddis, 
as  early  as  1841,  contributed  a  "  Scene  in  a  School  Room," 
and  afterward  he  sent  other  pieces.  Rev.  J.  L.  Tomlinson, 
president  of  Augusta  College;  Bishop  Morris,  D.D.;  Prof. 
W.  G.  Williams,  of  Woodward  College ;  Rev.  Joseph  F. 
Tuttle,  of  Wabash  College;  Rev.  D.  D.  Whedon,  D.D., 
president  of  Michigan  University ;  Rev.  W.  P.  Strickland, 
Prof.  Waterman,  Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw,  Rev.  L.  D.  Mc- 
Cabe,  Prof.  E.  C.  Merrick,  Rev.  A.  M.  Lorraine,  Rev.  S. 
McClure,  Rev.  W.  C.  Hoyt,  Rev.  J.  R.  Wilson,  Rev.  R. 
Sapp,  Rev.  T.  Harrison,  G.  P.  Disoway,  Rev.  R.  W.  Allen, 
Rev.  J.  B.  Durbin,  D.D.,  and  Pro£  E.  W.  Merrill,  all 
slione  in  the  galaxy  of  contributors  between  the  years 
1840  and  1850. 

Dr.  Hamline  was  succeeded  in  the  editorial  chair  by  the 
Rev.  E.  Thompson,  who,  on  being  elected  president  of  the 
Ohio  Wesleyan  Univerity  in  1845,  gave  place  to  Rev.  B* 
F.  Teeft.  Teeft  was  followed  in  1845  by  Prof.  W.  C. 
Larrabee,  who  acted  as  editor  for  five  months,  until  Janu- 
ary, 1853,  at  which  time  Dr.  Davis  W.  Clark,  afterward 
Bishop  Clark,  took  the  responsible  position.  All  of  these 
had  been  generous  contributors  to  the  Repository  before 
they  were  selected  to  edit  it,  and,  of  course,  as  editor, 
«ach  in  turn  wrote  much  for  its  columns. 

Dr.  Thompson  had  been  the  much  loved  and  respected 
head  of  a  famous  academy  at  ITorwalk,  Ohio.  His  schol- 
arship and  literary  ability  were  very  great,  and  few  men 
have  done  more  to  advance  civilization  by  individual  ef- 
fort than  he.  Prof.  Larrabee  was  a  distinguished  teacher 
in  Asbury  University  (now  De  Pauw),  Indiana. 

Dr.  B.  F.  Teeft  wrote  much  and  well  on  various  sub- 
jects. He  was  of  a  literary  turn,  and  he  gave  to  the  Re- 
pository a  more  decided  literary  character  than  it  had  be- 
fore his  editorial  connection  with  it.  Through  its  pages 
he  gave  to  the  public  a  historical  and  philosophic  story 
relating  to  the  time  of  Louis  the  Thirteenth  of  France 


Early  Periodical  Literalare.  101 

and  entitled  "  The  Shoulder-knot."  This  was  published 
in  a  separate  volume  by  the  Harpers,  in  1850. 

In  1840  and  1841,  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder,  who,  in  1839,  had 
made  a  visit  to  Brazil,  furnished  the  Repository  with  a 
series  of  ''  Sketches  of  Travel." 

Colonel  John  McDonald,  of  Poplar  Ridge,  Ohio,  author 
of  McDonald's  "  Sketches  of  the  Pioneers,"  contributed 
an  account  of  "  Logan,  the  Mingo  Chief,"  whom  he  had 
seen.  Another  pioneer,  illustrious  in  politics,  the  Honor- 
able Joshua  R.  Giddings,  contributed  in  November,  1844, 
his  personal  recollections  of  the  "  Skirmishes  on  the  Lake 
Peninsula  in  1812."  In  June,  1846,  the  Rev.  James  B. 
Finley  published  in  the  Repository  the  first  of  several 
papers  giving  reminiscences  of  his  early  life.  Finley  came 
West  with  his  father,  down  the  Ohio  river  to  Kentucky, 
in  1788,  and  his  narrative  is  extremely  interesting. 

Mrs.  Julia  L.  Dumont,  who  resided  in  Yevay,  Indiana, 
from  1814  to  the  year  of  her  death,  1857,  wrote  for  the  Re- 
pository "  Sketches  from  Life,"  "  Our  Village,"  and  other 
things.  Her  style  is  sometimes  tedious  and  prolix,  but 
her  stories  have  the  supreme  merit  of  dealing  with  reali- 
ties, and  the  strata  of  dull  paragraphs  ai^e  veined  with  the 
gold  of  good  writing.  Here  is  a  specimen  of  her  descrip- 
tive composition,  valuable  for  its  picturesque  vividness, 
and  for  the  true  glimpse  it  gives  of  the  customs  of  pioneer 
days  along  the  Ohio  river :  '•  We  are  watching  the  boats 
that  are  descending  the  stream — we  have  no  eye  for  ob- 
jects of  mere  visual  interest.  Here  is  one  at  hand  that 
has  been  heralded  by  some  half  dozen  '  outriders ' — a 
store  boat!  laden  with  fancy  merchandise — an  exciting 
array  of  red  and  green  and  yellow,  now  quiet  for  the 
hearts  of  the  demoiselles,  both  of  our  town  and  the  back- 
woods. Why,  look  !  the  stirring  rumor  has  been  out  upon 
the  wings  of  the  ^vind.  They  are  already  hurrying,  in  not 
silent  groups,  down  to  the  bank — the  young,  the  fair,  the 
gaileless-hearted.  Beshrew  the  heart  that  would  &corn 
their  simple  vanity.  May  every  little  purse  (and  well  we 
ken  they  were  light  enough)  prove  sufiicient  for  the  favor- 
ite want,  for  hardly  have  its  contents  been  earned,  and 


102  Jjiterar.y  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

carefully  have  they  been  treasured,  doubtless  for  such 
destination." 

An  enormous  quantity  of  very  poor  poetry  lies  entombed 
under  the  covers  of  the  Ladies'  Repository.  To  compen- 
sate for  this  rubbish,  there  is  excellent  poetry  to  be  found, 
here  and  there,  scattered  through  these  forty  volumes. 

Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Howe,  a  verse  writer  of  considerable 
power,  wrote  her  best  pieces  for  the  Repository.  She 
achieved  a  good  reputation  on  the  merit  of  a  poem, 
"Bolesdas  II.,  or  the  Siege  of  Kiow."  In  1849  she  con- 
tributed to  the  Herald  of  Truth  a  scene  from  another  orig- 
inal drama,  of  which  the  hero  is  an  Indian  chief.  Mrs. 
Howe  lived  in  Newport,  Kentucky.  Her  poems  were 
never  published  in  a  collected  form. 

Otway  Curry,  who  in  his  lifetime  divided  with  W.  D. 
Gallagher  the  laurels  of  local  fame,  won  his  literary  hon- 
ors by  means  of  the  Repository.  He  was  a  constant  and 
valued  contributor  to  its  pages  ;  and  when  he  died  his  life 
was  written  lovingly  by  Edward  Thomson  and  by  Wm. 
D.  Gallagher. 

Alice  Cary  began  to  write  for  the  Repository  in  1847. 
Her  genius  was  soon  recognized,  and  she  was  employed 
as  a  regular  contributor  of  poetry  and  prose.  She  pub- 
lished about  a  hundred  short  stories  and  sketches,  many 
of  which  were  reprinted  in  her  volumes  called  "  Clover- 
nook." 

Poems  were  contributed  to  the  Repository  by  Mrs. 
Helen  Truesdell,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Ruter  Dufour,  Mrs.  L.  H. 
Sigourney  (who  also  contributed  stories),  Mrs.  S.  T.  Bol- 
ton, Mrs.  R.  S.  Nichols,  Miss  M.  Louise  Chitwood,  Virginia 
F.  Townsend,  Hannah  F.  Gould  and  Phcebe  Cary.  The 
much  admired,  much  ridiculed,  Mr.  Martin  Farquhar 
Tupper,  was  a  personal  friend  of  Doctor  Teeft,  to  whom 
he  sent  occasional  letters  and  poems.  The  following 
note  from  him  was  written  from  Furze  Hill,  Brighton, 
England,  and  is  dated  September  28, 1848 : 

"  My  Dear  Sir  :  I  hope  you  will  long  ago  have  received 
my  letter,  and  that  a  response  from  you  may  be  on  its 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  103 

road.  By  the  way  of  stirring  up  your  mind  to  remem- 
brance, I  send  you  the  inclosed  ballad,  which  I  have  just 
written,  and  which  tells  its  own  tale.  I  send  it  to  you, 
my  friend,  as  a  newly  forged  link  of  love  between  our 
nations.  Send  any  tidings  likely  to  be  of  interest.  Salute 
all  unseen  friends,  and  believe  me,  as  ever, 

"  Truly  yours,  Martin  F.  Tupper." 

The  ballad  inclosed  is  named,  "  Ye  Thirty  !N'oble  IN'a- 
tions,"  and  addresses  the  states  of  the  Union  in  terms  of 
general  praise,  tempered  by  a  mild  denunciation  of  slavery. 
The  Repository  published  perhaps  a  dozen  strings  of  verse 
from  Mr.  Tupper,  who  usually  added  to  his  name  the  let- 
ters "  D.  C.  L.,  F.  R.  S."  In  September,  1848,  appeared 
a  "  National  Anthem  for  Liberia  "  and  a  monitory  rhymed 
address  "To  America,"  beginning: 

"  Young  Hercules  thus  traveling  in  might, 
Boy-Plato,  filling  all  the  West  with  light. 

Thou  new  Themistocles  of  enterprise : 
Go  on  and  prosper — Acolyte  of  fate  ! 

And,  precious  child,  dear  Ephraim— turn  those  eyes— 
For  thee,  thy  mother's  yearning  heart  doth  wait." 

Turning  the  leaf  illuminated  by  the  verse  of  Tupper, 
we  find  on  other  pages  of  the  Repository  names  familiar 
to  the  eye  and  ear,  but  which  we  do  not  associate  with 
the  idea  of  verse-making.  Yet  here  they  are  prefixed 
or  suffixed  to  eff'usions  in  measure  and  rhyme !  M.  B. 
•Hagans,  now  a  grave  and  dignified  judge  in  Cincinnati, 
sent  to  the  Repository,  forty  years  ago,  a  little  poem  on 
"  Memory."  And  here,  in  volume  ten,  is  the  "  Emigrant's 
Lay,"  by  Ben.  Pitman,  since  the  author  of  many  phono- 
graphic books.  And  on  another  page  not  far  from  the 
"  Emigrant's  Lay,"  we  read  "  The  Christian's  Fear,"  a 
hymn  by  the  scholarly  0.  J.  Wilson.  We  are  not  sur- 
prised, after  these  discoveries,  to  find  attached  to  a  bit  of 
blank  verse,  written  in  1847,  the  name  of  Alfred  Holbrook, 
the  widely  known  president  of  the  National  Normal  Uni- 
versity, Lebanon,  Ohio.  In  volume  sixteen  the  curious 
reader  comes  upon  "Autumn  Musings,"  a  sentimental  lyric 


104  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

by  Rev.  J.  H.  Vincent,  now  bishop,  the  far-famed  leader 
of  the  "  Chautauqua  Movement."  Another  volume  brings 
to  light  a  poem  by  Kev.  Edward  Eggleston,  whose  writings 
are  now  known  wherever  English  is  read. 

After  tracing  the  literary  beginning  of  so  many  noted 
men  to  a  fountain  of  verse,  one  is  prepared  to  read  Prof. 
"William  G.  Williams's  article,  in  volume  thirteen  of  the 
Repository,  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  is  Poetry?" 
Or,  the  reader  may  turn  to  a  critical  and  suggestive  essay  by 
Coates  Kinney,  on  "  Poetry  and  Poets."  Kinney's  own  muse 
very  well  answers  the  query,  "  What  is  Poetry?"  for  she 
enabled  him  to  produce  many  genuine  poems,  a  few  of  which 
were  printed  in  this  same  Ladies'  Repository,  for  which  he 
began  to  write,  as  a  paid  contributor,  in  1855.  The  titles 
of  his  principal  articles  are,  ''  Clyde  Sutven's  Story," 
"Duty  Here  and  Glory  There,"  "Soma  and  Psyche," 
"Elocution,"  "Impressibility,"  "Pronunciation,"  and 
"  The  Future  of  the  English  Language." 

A  very  able  and  eminent  contributor  to  the  earlier  vol- 
umes was  Rev.  A.  Stevens,  who  became  the  historian  of 
the  Methodist  Church.  His  articles  include  "  Sketches 
of  New  England  Life,"  "  Klopstock,"  "  Meta  Klopstock," 
and  "  Horse  Sylvestrse  " — a  series  of  beautiful  essays. 

Mr.  Erwin  House,  for  many  years  assistant  editor, 
wrote  numerous  articles  for  the  magazine.  He  prepared 
many  of  the  book  notices. 

Another  writer,  admired  for  his  exact,  varied,  and 
thorough  learning,  and  for  his  lucid  and  charming  style,  is 
Prof.  S.  W.  Williams,  who  began  to  write  for  the  Repos- 
itory in  1857,  and  who  gave  it  much  valuable  aid  for  a 
number  of  years.  His  first  article  is  entitled  "  The  Myth- 
ical Character  of  William  Tell." 

In  1850  L.  A.  Hine,  the  reformer,  published  in  the  Re- 
pository a  long  and  able  article  on  the  "  Idea  of  Virtue." 
The  paper  gives  the  ethical  views  of  many  philosophers, 
ancient  and  modern,  and  rciiclK's  the  conclusion  that  "love 
is  virtue,"  and  tliat  we  '-vainly  setk  reform  on  any  other 
basis  than  that  of  intellectual  and  religious  improve- 
ment." 


.   Early  Periodical  Literature.  105 

M.  D.  Conway,  who  began  his  public  career  as  a 
Methodist  preacher,  wrote  critical  studies  on  "  Gray's 
Elegy,"  on  '' Ebenezer  Elliott,  the  Corn-Law  Rhymer," 
and  "  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,"  for  the  Repository  in 
1850. 

Other  literary  people  who  wrote  for  the  Repository  be- 
tween 1850  and  1860,  were  Isaac  H.  Julian,^  J.  W.  Roberts, 
George  W.  Hoss,  Rev.  J.  W.  Wiley,  Rev.  Robert  Allyn, 
Hon.  Horace  P.  Biddle,  Dr.  Cornelius  G.  Comegys,  Horatio 
N.  Powers,  Rev.  E.  O.  Haven,  D.D.,  O.  J.  Victor,  Metta 
V.  Fuller,  W.  W.  Fosdick,  William  T.  Coggeshall,  and 
Mrs.  Donn  Piatt,  author  of  "  Belle  Smith  Abroad;"  Peter 
Fishe  Reed,  Rachel  Bodley,  late  president  of  the  Woman's 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia;  Virginia  F.  Townsend, 
editor  of  Arthur's  Home  Magazine  and  author  of  a  dozen 
or  more  volumes;  and  Charles  Nordhotf,  the  Prussian, 
who  wrote  *'  Man-of-War  Life,"  "  Kine  Years  a  Sailor," 
and  other  popular  works. 

When  Dr.  Clark  became  editor  of  the  Repository,  1853, 
the  work  was  enlarged  to  double  its  original  size,  and 
several  new  features  were  added.  Almost  every  number 
contained  a  finely  engraved  portrait  of  some  favorite  Amer- 
ican female  writer,  accompanied  by  a  lengthy  sketch  of  her 
life  and  works.  A  few  of  the  women  thus  honored  were 
L.  H.  Sigourney,  Sarah  Josepha  Hale,  Elizabeth  Stewart 
Phelps,  Alice  Cary,  Amelia  B.  Welby,  Emily  C.  Judson, 


^  Isaac  H,  Julian,  noAV  conducting  a  literary  agency  in  San  Marcos,  Texas, 
has  done  much  for  the  cause  of  general  culture,  as  editor  and  otherwise. 
He  writes  under  date  of  March  13,  1891 :  "  Since  my  happy  release  from 
the  newspaper  tread-mill,  I  am  devoting  most  of  my  time  to  those  lit- 
erary pursuits  and  recreations  w^liich  were  the  delight  of  my  youth." 
Julian  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Indiana,  June  19,  1823.  He  was  a 
contributor  to  the  National  Era,  the  Ladies'  Repository,  the  Genius  of 
the  West,  and  other  periodicals.  From  1846  to  1850  he  resided  in  Iowa. 
Returning  to  Indiana  he  became  editor  of  the  "  True  Republican,"  at 
Centerville.  He  has  since  edited  several  newspapers.  In  1873  he  re- 
moved to  Texas.  He  published  in  1857  a  biief  "  History  of  the  White- 
water Valley."  A  volume  of  his  poems  is  now  in  preparation.  Mr. 
Julian  possesses  a  rare  and  valuable  collection  of  western  books  and  man- 
uscripts. 


106  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  The  picture  of  Mrs.  Stowe 
represents  her  as  almost  ideally  beautiful. 

Portraits  of  many  eminent  preachers  were  also  engraved 
for  the  Repository;  and  other  illustrations — landscapes, 
fancy  groups,  reproductions  of  historical  and  classical 
paintings — appeared  from  month  to  month.  It  is  said 
that  the  sum  spent  on  pictures  far  exceeded  the  amount 
paid  for  all  other  matter  in  the  magazine,  and  that  con- 
tributors dropped  off  and  the  literary  character  of  the  Re- 
positoiy  declined  as  the  department  of  illustrations  became 
prominent.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  the  man- 
agers of  the  periodical  concluded  not  to  attempt  to  compete 
with  the  general  illustrated  literary  magazines,  such  as 
"  Harpers',"  and  decided  to  give  a  more  specially  re- 
ligious and  denominational  direction  to  their  work.  After 
1860  the  Repository  gradually  lost  its  hold  as  a  representa- 
tive western  literary  journal,  though  it  retained  great  vi- 
tality and  continued  to  be  a  strong,  intellectual,  and  moral 
force,  not  only  within  the  church,  but  in  the  community  at 
large. 

I  may  record,  as  a  point  of  historical  interest,  that  for 
many  years  the  editorial  offices  and  binderies  of  the 
Methodist  Book  Concern  were  located  in  the  old  St.  Clair 
mansion,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Eighth  streets,  Cin- 
cinnati. I  remember  calling  on  Dr.  Clark,  in  1861,  at 
the  editorial  room  of  the  Repository,  on  which  occasion 
he  said,  "Do  you  know  that  we  are  now  sitting  in  the 
library  of  General  Arthur  St.  Clair?" 

The  Evening  Times  of  May  19,  1879,  contains  a  his- 
torical sketch  of  the  St.  Clair  house,  to  which,  unfor- 
tunately, no  name  is  affixed,  but  which  was  evidently  pre- 
pared with  care  and  accuracy.     The  writer  says : 

"  Doubtless  the  foundation  was  laid  in  the  summer  of 
1800,  and  the  house  followed  closely  the  type  that  had 
ruled  for  years  before  in  the  East.  It  was  the  model  to  the 
West,  the  first  dwelling  of  any  pretensions,  the  first  house 
of  brick  built  in  the  Miami  country.  The  very  bricks 
were  brought  from  Pittsburg  in  keel-boats.  A  large 
piece  of  freestone  that  forms  the  door-step  came  in  the 


Early  Periodical  Literature..  107 

same  way,  and  was  the  wonder  of  the  folks  at  the  time. 
The  building  was  a  marvel  and  a  matter  of  pride.  Yet, 
in  1822,  John  I.  Jones  bought  the  house  and  lot  at  tax 
sale  for  twenty-five  dollars.  Then  it  was  owned  by  the 
United  States  Bank,  and  in  1835,  Crafts  J.  Wright  deeded 
the  property  to  Salmon  P.  Chase  for  $8,064.  Chase 
deeded  it  back  to  Wright  &  Swan,  agents  for  the  Methodist 
Book  Concern,  for  $11,200.  The  Book  Concern  made 
editor's  offices  of  the  bed-chambers  and  binderies  of  the 
parlors.  It  was  at  one  time  divided  by  a  wood  partition 
into  two  dwelling-houses,  and  finally  it  has  become  the 
litter  place  of  a  manufactory.  St.  Clair's  home  deserves 
a  better  fate  than  to  perish,  when  so  much  life  might  be 
its  lot.  The  walls  are  as  sound  as  they  were  nearly  a 
century  ago.  With  us  this  building  is  the  beginning, 
the  ancient  temple,  the  first  step  out  of  the  wildnerness. 
St.  Clair  left  no  family  of  wealth  to  cover  his  faults  and 
lift  up  his  virtues.  His  name  has  been  covered  in  the 
local  history  by  the  fame  of  those  less  worthy  in  many 
respects,  and  clouded  by  a  disaster  in  his  early  history 
which  some  future  historian  will  sweep  away.  Then 
General  St.  Clair  and  all  he  left  here  will  assume  a  new 
value." 

THE    GENIUS    OF    THE    WEST. 

The  Genius  of  the  West,  a  monthly  magazine  of  West- 
ern literature,  was  projected,  and  for  a  time  conducted,  by 
Howard  Durham,  a  young  Jerseyman,  who  came  from  his 
native  state,  in  1847,  to  the  village  of  Mount  Healthy, 
near  Cincinnati.  Durham  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  but, 
disregarding  the  proverb,  "  Stick  to  thy  last,"  he  forsook 
his  humbler  bench  for  a  seat  on  the  editor's  tripod,  and 
began  his  literary  fortune  by  publishing  a  neat  paper.  The 
Western  Literary  Gem,  which  was  presently  united  with 
another  paper,  the  Temperance  Musician.  The  last-named 
sheet  was  edited  by  Rev.  A..D.  Fillmore,  author  of  a  series 
of  singing-books  which  followed  the  system  of  angular  or 
"Buckwheat"  notes  once  in  vogue.  Durham  also  joined 
John  W.  Henley  in  getting  up  a  "  moral  and  literary 
monthly  for  the  young,"  which  was  christened  "  The  Lit- 


108  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

tie  Traveler,"  a  name  afterward  changed  to  "  The  Little 
Forester,"  by  Durham,  who  bought  his  partner  out. 

The  initial  number  of  the  Genius,  printed  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Phonetic  Advocate,  by  Elias  Longley  ^  and  Brothers, 
169J  Walnut  street,  is  dated  October,  1853.  After  issuing 
several  numbers,  Mr.  Durham  took  into  partnership  with 
him  Coates  Kinney,  a  poet  already  famous  on  account  of  the 
popularity  of  his  "  Rain  on  the  Roof."  ^    Kinney  had  just  re- 

^  Elias  Longley  waB  born  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  in  August,  1823,  while  his 
father  was  still  a  student  in  Oxford  College.  His  father  moved  to 
Lebanon,  Ohio,  in  1832,  and  thence  to  Cincinnati  in  1840.  Here  the. 
boy  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  Woodward  College,  and 
then  studied  for  the  Universalist  ministry,  but  he  soon  gave  up  the 
ministry  for  a  newspaper  life.  In  1848,  he  learned  Phonography,  and 
in  1850,  began  the  publication  of  a  monthly  magazine  of  thirty-two 
pages,  entitled  "The  Phonetic  Magazine."  This  paper  was  continued 
two  years,  then  it  became  a  semi-monthly,  and  later  was  enlarged  to  a 
weekly  newspaper.  Its  publication  was  suspended  in  1861.  During  the 
ten  years  previous  to  the  war,  Elias  Longley,  in  connection  with  his 
brothers,  compiled  and  published  an  American  Manual  of  Phonography, 
and  a  primer,  first  and  second  readers  in  phonetic  spelling,  which  ob- 
tained extensive  sales  all  over  the  United  States.  From  1861  to  1884, 
he  was  engaged  in  daily  newspaper  reporting  on  the  Commercial  and 
the  Daily  Gazette,  doing  all  of  the  short-hand  speech  reporting  and 
much  of  the  interviewing.  Beginning  with  the  speech  of  Lincoln,  on 
the  old  Burnet  House  steps,  before  the  election,  he  reported  the  ad- 
dresses of  Johnson,  Grant,  Hayes,  Garfield,  and  many  other  distin- 
guished statesmen.  He  was  sent  to  report  the  re-hoisting  of  the  flag 
at  Fort  Sumter,  where  he  took  down  the  speeches  of  Beecher  and  AVm. 
Lloyd  Garrison.  He  was  the  first  short-hand  reporter  of  Cincinnati, 
where  he  was  for  two  years  official  court  reporter.  He  was  also,  for  a 
time,  official  reporter  of  the  Ohio  legislature.  Mr.  Longley  is  now  re- 
siding in  South  Passadena,  California. 

^"Rain  on  the  Roof,"  unquf^stionably  the  most  popular  poem  ever 
written  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  an  i  xqiiisite  lyric  that  has  been  everybody's 
favorite,  now  for  over  forty  years,  luis  a  very  interesting  history.  TUe 
poem  was  written  in  the  summer  of  1840,  while  the  author  was  visiting 
his  father's  family  at  Spring  Valley,  Greene  county,  Ohio.  Colonel 
Kinney  says,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer :  "  I  slept  one  night  next  the  roof, 
in  the  little  frame  cottage  which  our  folks  lived  in,  and  which  has 
since  been  torn  away  and  replaced.  In  the  evening  there  came  up  a 
gentle  rain,  which  pattered  on  the  shingle  roof,  two  or  three  feet  above 
my  head,  all  the  part  of  the  niij;ht  during  which  I  was  awake.  Here  I 
lay  a.id  ( oticeived  the  lyric ,  and  then  went  to  sleep.  It  haunted  me 
till    next  day,  which  was  brigiit,  and  green,  and  glorious;  and,  on  a 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  109 

signed  his  professorship  of  languages  and  belles  lettres  in 
Judson  College,  Mt:  Palatine,  Illinois,  and,  on  his  return  to 
Ohio,  he  hecame  the  leading  editor  of  the  new  magazine. 
Some  business  difficulty  having  arisen  between  Durham 
and  Kinney,  the  latter  bought  the  concern,  taking  as  com- 
pany Wm.  T.  Coggeshall^  and  Durham  retired.  The  fol- 
lowing curt  valedictory  appeared  in  the  Genius  of  August, 
1854: 

"  For  numerous  reasons,  more  interesting  to  myself 
than  to  the  public,  I  have  withdrawn  from  the  Genius  of 
the  West  and  Forester,  leaving  my  partners  '  monarchs 
of  all  they  survey.'  Howard  Durham." 

In  January,  1855,  Durham  issued  the  first  number  of  a 
rival  magazine,  which  he  named  "  The  New  Western,  the 
original  Genius  of  the  West."  The  enterprising  young 
editor  was  overtaken  by  financial  troubles,  added  to  which 
he  suffered  a  bereavement  in  the  death  of  a  child.  He 
was  obliged  to  abandon  the  "  'New  Western,"  and  not 
long  after  he  was  attacked  by  cholera,  of  which  he  died 
September  14,  1855,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven. 

By  the  terms  of  his  partnership  with  Kinney,  William 
Turner  Coggeshall  became  the  chief  owner  of  the  Genius 
of  the  West.  Born  at  Lewistown,  Pennsylvania,  Septem- 
ber 6,  1824,  Coggeshall  came   to  Akron,   Ohio,  in  early 


walk  from  Spring  Valley  down  to  Mt.  Holly — three  miles — where  I 
went  to  visit  my  uncle's  folks,  I  composed  most  of  the  poem,  finishing 
it  the  same  afternoon  during  a  sequestration  of  myself  and  a  ramble  in 
the  woods  just  adjoining  the  town — woods  now  long  since  cleared 
away.  It  was  the  easiest  production  I  ever  wrote.  It  cost  me  no  labor. 
.  .  .  I  sent  it  to  the  Great  West,  which  was  then  edited  by  the  nov- 
elist of  Indians,  Emerson  Bennett.  I  was  personally  acquainted  with 
Bennett,  and  he  knew  me  as  a  writer,  for  I  had  contributed  to  a  little 
literary  paper  of  his.  It  was  so  long  before  the  poem  appeared  that  I 
had  given  it  up  as  unaccepted.  But  finally  it  did  appear,  September  22, 
1849.  ...  I  learned  later,  from  E.  Penrose  Jones,  who  was  pub- 
lisher of  the  Great  West,  that  the  poem  escaped  oblivion  through  an 
accidental  discovery  of  his.  He  was  looking  through  Bennett's  rejected 
manuscript  drawer,  and  found  it.  Bennett  had  thought  it  not  quite  up 
to  the  standard  of  Indian-novelist  literature,  and  had  tossed  it  into  that 
drawer." 


110  Literary  Culture  in  the  OhioValley. 

manhood,  and  embarked  in  the  publication  of  a  temper- 
ance paper,  bearing  the  peculiar  caption,  The  Roarer.  At 
Akron  he  was  married,  October  26,  1845,  to  Mary  Maria 
Carpenter.  Mr.  Coggeshall  removed  to  Cincinnati  in 
1847,  and  became  reporter  for  the  Times,  under  the  man- 
agement of  "  Pap "  Taylor.  In  1849  he  worked  on  the 
Gazette  with  Wm.  D.  Gallagher.  He  traveled,  in  1851-2, 
with  General  Louis  Kossuth,  reporting  that  eloquent 
Hungarian's  speeches  for  both  western  and  eastern  papers. 
In  the  fall  of  1852  he  established  a  little  paper  called  the 
Commercial  Advertiser,  but  soon  gave  it  up,  and  went 
into  the  office  of  the  Daily  Columbian  as  assistant  editor. 
Having  resigned  his  position  on  the  Columbian,  he  took 
charge  of  the  Genius,  saying  in  brief  salutatory :  *^A11  I 
have  and  all  I  am  are  invested  in  the  enterprise  this  maga- 
zine announces." 

Coates  Kinney's  connection  with  the  Genius  of  the 
West  was  severed  June,  1855,  when  he  wrote  a  "  good- 
byographical  "  and  retired,  leaving  Coggeshall  sole  pro- 
prietor. Early  in  1856  Coggeshall  was  appointed  state 
librarian  by  Governor  Chase,  and  the  Genius  was  disposed 
of  to  Mr.  George  True,  who  conducted  it  until  July,  1856, 
when  it  was  discontinued,  five  complete  volumes  having 
been  issued.  Three  thousand  copies  of  the  Genius  were 
the  greatest  number  ever  put  forth  in  any  single  month. 

Complete  sets  and  even  stray  numbers  of  this  periodical 
are  very  scarce,  as,  indeed,  are  sets  and  copies  of  most 
other  western  publications.  This  is  accounted  for,  in 
part,  by  the  circumstance  that,  during  the  civil  war,  the 
sanitary  commission  gathered  and  sent  to  the  soldiers  all 
the  copies  of  unbound  periodicals  that  could  be  procured. 
Every  house  was  ransacked  for  reading  matter,  and  tons 
of  books  and  pamphlets  were  collected  and  shipped  to 
Southern  camps  and  hospitals. 

The  quality  of  a  magazine  is  indicated  by  the  character 
of  its  contributors.  In  the  prospectus  of  the  Genius  of 
the  West,  the  editor  announced  the  following  men  and 
women  as  his  pledged  "  assistants  :'*  Coates  Kinney,  Wm. 
T.  Coggeshall,  J.  H.  A.  Bone,  Peter  Fishe  Reed,  Clement 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  Ill 

E.  Babb,  J.  W.  Roberts,  R.  E.  H.  Levering,  J.  Hunt,  Jr., 
J.  M.  Walden,  Comly  Jessup,  U.  P.  Ewing,  T.  H.  Burgess, 
Benjamin  S.  Parker,  Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Bolton,  Alice  Gary, 
Frances  D.  Gage,  Harriet  E.  Benedict,  Garrie  Myer,  M. 
Louisa  Ghitwood,  Miss  M.  E.  Wilson,  Mary  A.  Reeves, 
Kate  Harrington,  Julia  M.  Brown,  Mary  "Eulalie"  Fee, 
Louise  E.  Vickroy.  Goggeshall  printed  in  his  list  of 
contributors  most  of  the  above  names  and  these  additional 
ones  :  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  Thompson,  Rev.  A. 
A.  Livermore,  James  W.  Taylor,  James  W.  Ward,  Donald 
Macleod,  Don  A.  Pease,  D.  Garlyle  McGloy,  Florus  B. 
Plimpton,  Anson  G.  Ghester,  E.  S.  S.  Rouse,  Thos.  Hub- 
bard, Alfred  Burnett,  G.  A.  Stewart,  General  L.  V.  Bierce, 
S.  S.  Gox,  John  B.  Dillon,  J.  B.  Burrows,  T.  Herbert 
Whipple,  Mrs.  R.  S.  Nichols,  Mattie  Griffith,  Carrie  Piatt, 
Elvira  Parker,  Phoebe  Gary,  Harriet  N.  Babb,  E.  D.  Mans- 
field, Dr.  I.  J.  Allen,  L.  J.  Gist,  Gsgood  Mussey,  Prof.  J» 
R.  Buchanan,  W.  W.  Fosdick,  O.  J.  Victor,  W.  Albert 
Sutliffe,  S.  D.  Harris,  Isaac  H.  Julian,  M.  Halstead,  J.  H. 
Baker,  Prof.  E.  E.  Edwards,  L.  A.Hine,  Y.  M.  Griswold, 
Sydney  Dyer,  T.  J.  Janvier,  Metta  Victoria  Fuller,  Mrs, 
Susan  W.  Jewett,  Mrs.  Frances  S.  Locke,  Ida  Marshall, 
Jane  Maria  Mead,  Lydia  Jane  Pierson,  Daniel  Vaughn. 

John  Morgan  Walden,  born  1831,  now  Rev.  J.  M.  Wal- 
den, D.  D.,  a  bishop  in  the  M.  E.  Ghurch,  contributed  to 
the  Genius  of  the  West,  in  its  first  year,  a  religious  sketch 
entitled  "  The  Orphan's  Prayer ;  or  the  Superstitions  of 
Yore,"  and  a  temperance  story,  ''The  Contrast;  or  the 
Old  Still-House  and  its  Owner  in  Ruins."  The  scene  of 
both  these  little  stories  is  the  bank  of  the  Big  Miami 
river,  and  the  writer  delineated  with  much  fidelity  local 
scenery  and,  to  some  extent,  local  customs. 

Mr.  Goggeshall  took  an  active  interest  in  history,  and 
solicited  competent  writers  to  send  him  chapters  recount- 
ing the  annals  of  the  West.  James  W.  Taylor,  author  of 
the  "  History  of  Ohio,"  contributed  some  valuable  matter ; 
John  B.  Dillon  of  Indiana,  W.  S.  Drummond  of  Missouri, 
and  Humphrey  Marshall  of  Kentucky,  all  wrote  special 
articles  for  the  Genius.     The  veteran  historian  of  Marietta, 


112  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Dr.  S.  P.  Ilildreth,  contributed  an  excellent  article  on 
"Heroic  Women  of  the  Early  Western  Settlements." 
Mr.  Coggesliall,  himself  an  indefatigable  explorer,  espe- 
cially in  the  fields  of  western  literature  and  journalism, 
gave  his  readers  the  benefit  of  his  researches. 

Orville  James  Victor  was  one  of  the  best  writers  for 
the  Genius.  He  contributed  a  long  and  excellent  review 
of  "  Gerald  Massey,  the  Workingman's  Poet."  Victor 
was  born  in  1827,  at  Sandusky,  Ohio,  where,  in  1852,  he 
became  assistant  editor  of  the  Daily  Register.  He  was  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  Ladies'  Repository  and  other 
periodicals.  In  July,  1856,  he  was  married,  in  Mansfield, 
Ohio,  to  the  accomplished  writer.  Miss  Metta  Victoria 
Fuller,  and  the  Genius  published  a  handsome  account  of 
the  wedding,  under  the  happy  heading,  "  Victoria,  the 
Victor."  The  couple  moved  to  Kew  York,  and  Mr.  Vic- 
tor became  editor  of  the  Cosmopolitan  Art  Journal,  and 
engaged  in  various  other  literary  work.  He  is  the  author 
of  a  four-volume  "  History  of  the  Southern  Rebellion," 
which  Horace  Greeley  pronounced  an  "  admirable  work  " 
and  used  as  an  authority. 

Mrs.  M.  V.  Victor,  nee  Fuller,  was  born  in  1831.  She 
began  to  write  verses  and  stories  at  the  age  of  fourteen, 
and  at  sixteen  she  was  known  to  a  numerous  circle  of  ad- 
miring readers,  through  various  pieces  contributed  to 
Willis's  Home  Journal,  under  the  sentimental  pseudonym 
of  the  "  Singing  Sibyl."  In  1847  she  published  her  first 
book,  "  The  Last  Days  of  Tul."  Then  appeared  "  Poems 
of  Sentiment,"  1851 ;  "  Fresh  Leaves  from  the  Western 
Woods,"  1852 ;  "  The  Senator's  Son  "  and  "  Fashionable 
Dissipation,"  1854.  The  last  two  were  temperance  novels, 
and  thousands  of  copies  were  sold.  On  her  removal  with 
her  husband  to  N'ew  York,  Mrs.  Victor  continued  her  lit- 
erary career,  publishing,  in  1857,  "  The  Two  Mormon 
Wives ;"  in  1858,  "  The  Arctic  Queen :  a  Poem,"  and,  in 
1860,  "  Mrs.  Slimmon's  Window."  Another  of  her  books, 
"  The  Dead  Letter,"  is  "  believed  to  be,"  says  J.  C.  Derby,, 
its  publisher,  "  one  of  the  most  widely  circulated  Ameri- 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  113 

can  novels — second  only  to  '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.'  "     Mrs. 
Victor  died  in  1886. 

Another  writer  of  the  Genius'  fraternity,  who,  like  the 
Victors,  the  Carys,  and  Wallace,  and  Whitelaw  Reid  and 
Howells,  and  many  more,  went  East  to  better  his  fortunes, 
was  James  Warner  Ward.  Born  in  ^N'ew  J  ersey  in  1818,  and 
educated  at  Boston  High  School,  Ward  came  to  Cincinnati 
when  a  very  young  man,  and  studied  natural  sciences  under 
the  guidance  of  Prof.  John  Locke.  He  was  a  contributor 
to  Gallagher's  Mirror  and  to  the  Hesperian.  Becoming  a 
practical  botanist,  he  joined  John  A.  Warder  in  conduct- 
ing the  Western  Horticultural  Review.  A  man  of  wide- 
ranging  tastes  and  talents,  he  turned  his  attention,  with 
success,  to  the  composition  of  sacred  music.  Ward  set- 
tled in  ^N'ew  York  city  in  1859. 

Peter  Fishe  Reed,  a  man  of  weird  and  delicate  fancy, 
almost  a  genius,  but  lacking  in  will-power  and  practical 
qualities — a  painter,  poet,  and  romancer — wrote  for  the 
Genius  of  the  West  some  impressive  verses  and  several 
prose  pieces  of  remarkable  insight  and  subtilty.  "  The 
Still  Demon :  A  Fable,"  is  the  name  of  one  of  his  queer 
allegories ;  "  The  Devil's  Pulpit :  A  Legend  of  Tullulah 
Falls,"  is  a  wild,  strange  story  of  Indian  love  and 
savage  incantation.  More  skillfully  wrought  is  a  strange 
study  of  the  conflict  of  pride  and  humility,  presented  in 
the  form  of  a  Poe-like  story,  called  "  The  Wills  of  Arlam 
and  Malra."  But  the  most  original  and  meritorious  of 
Reed's  prose  contributions  to  the  Genius  is  a  short  one, 
"The  Triune  Muse,"  a  beautiful  allegory  showing  the 
unity  of  poetry,  painting,  and  music.  Other  contributions 
by  Reed  were  three  articles  discussing  the  "Principles 
of  Poetry,"  and  the  quaint  poems,  "  The  Poet-Zone,"  and 
"  Dream- World  Wonders  :  A  Fantasia." 

Reed  was  what  is  called  "  self-made  " — that  is,  he  was 
poor,  and  had  not  the  benefit  of  schools  or  influential 
friends.  He  was  born  at  South  Boston  in  1819.  He  has 
been,  he  tells  us,  "farmer,  shoemaker,  house  and  sign 
painter,  editor,  doctor,  photographer,  music  teacher,  and 
8 


114  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

painter  of  portraits  and  landscapes."  He  lived  in  Ver- 
mont, Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  Chicago,  Santa  Bar- 
bara, and  Cedar  Rapids,  the  last  place  being  his  home  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  His  first  writing  was  for  the 
Weekly  Columbian.  In  the  days  of  the  Genius  of  the 
West,  he  owned  and  tilled  a  farm  near  Vernon,  Indiana. 
There  he  wrote  a  novel,  in  which  the  career  of  a  self-made 
man  was  portrayed.  This  was  never  published.  In  1868 
he  published,  in  Chicago,  a  volume,  "The  Voices  of  the 
Wind  and  Other  Poems."  Two  years  before,  he  brought 
out  a  very  ingenious  and  amusing  book  for  young  people, 
under  the  title  "  Beyond  the  Snow,"  and  he  was  engaged 
in  writing  a  romance  of  a  marvelous  sort,  which  he  named 
"  The  Moon  City,"  when  he  died,  in  1887. 

William  Whiteman  Fosdick,  a  born  poet,  a  true  wit,  a 
boon  companion  of  artists  and  literary  men,  a  courteous 
gentleman,  loved  and  admired  by  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  who  knew  him,  contributed  to  the  Genius  two 
poems — his  stanzas,  "  To  William  Cullen  Bryant,"  and  a 
pretty  love-story  in  rhyme,  "  The  Maiden  of  the  Mill." 
Fosdick  was  a  native  of  the  west,  being  born  in  Cincin- 
nati in  January,  1825.  He  died  in  the  same  city  in  1862, 
universally  lamented.  Ko  reader  possessed  of  sensibility 
can  read  Fosdick's  collected  pieces,  "Ariel  and  Other 
Poems,"  without  feeling  that  they  sparkle  with  the  divine 
light.  Such  lyrics  as  "  The  Maize,"  "  The  Pawpaw,  "  The 
Catawba,"  "The  Thrush,"  have  both  the  body  and  the 
soul  of  truth,  and  they  deserve  to  be  cherished. 

The  name  of  Florus  B.  Plimpton,  another  western  born 
and  western  bred  poet  of  high  merit,  whose  recent  death, 
in  April,  1886,  is  fresh  in  the  public  memory,  occurs  on 
the  pages  of  the  interesting  magazine  of  which  we  are 
giving  a  history.  Mr.  Plimpton  was  born  in  Portage 
county,  Ohio,  in  1830.  The  energy  of  his  comparatively 
short  life  was  spent  chiefly  in  the  arduous  labors  of  news- 
paper editing.  Most  of  his  poetical  compositions  were 
produced  in  the  period  of  his  early  manhood,  from  about 
1850  to  1860.  He  wrote  for  Knickerbocker,  Moore's 
Western  Lady's  Book,  the  New  York  Tribune,  any  many 


Early  Feriodical  Literature.  115 

other  periodicals.  Seventy  of  his  select  poems  were  col- 
lected and  published  in  a  most  elegant  and  richly  illus- 
trated volume  by  his  wife.  Plimpton  contributed  to  the 
Genius  of  the  West  only  two  poems,  "  The  Flight "  and 
"Woman's  Love  in  Woman's  Eyes." 

Hon.  Benjamin  S.  Parker,  whose  pen  and  tongue  have 
done  so  much  to  promote  the  cause  of  literature  and  the 
prosperity  of  writers,  in  Indiana,  was  a  contributor  to  the 
Genius.  Mr.  Parker  was  born  in  a  backwoods  cabin,  in 
Henry  county,  Indiana,  February  10,  1833.  He  was  edu- 
cated chiefly  by  his  mother,  who  read  aloud  to  him  much 
of  the  best  English  poetry,  fiction,  and  history.  After  at- 
tending a  Quaker  school  at  Rich  Square,  he  taught  school 
for  a  while,  and  then  went  into  mercantile  business.  Later 
he  became  a  newspaper  editor.  In  1880,  he  was  elected  to 
the  state  legislature,  on  the  Republican  ticket.  President 
Arthur,  in  1882,  appointed  him  United  States  Consul  to 
Sherbrooke,  Canada.  He  is  now  clerk  of  the  court  of 
Henry  county,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Parker  has  written  in  prose  and  verse  for  numerous 
periodicals,  including  the  Century  Magazine.  He  has 
published  two  books,  "  The  Session  and  Other  Poems,"  in 
1871 ;  and  "  The  Cabin  in  the  Clearing  and  Other  Poems,'' 
in  1887.  It  is  announced  that  he  is  preparing  for  the 
press  a  comprehensive  work  on  the  "Poets  and  Poetry  of 
Indiana."  A  competent  and  enthusiastic  student  of  west- 
ern authors,. he  has  delivered  excellent  lectures  on  "West- 
ern Literature,"  "  Poets  and  Poetry,"  and  other  subjects. 
A  recognized  and  much  respected  leader  in  every  local 
movement  for  the  advancement  of  "the  good  cause,"  he 
was  one  of  the  founders  and  the  second  president  of  the 
Western  Association  of  Writers,  an  organization  now  in 
the  sixth  year  of  its  flourishing  existence,  and  embracing 
in  its  membership  about  a  hundred  writers  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky. 

Coates  Kinney's  portion  of  the  contents  of  the  Genius 
was  generous  in  quantity  and  excellent  in  quality.  Be- 
sides editorial  correspondence  and  "  littlegraphs,"  he  con- 
tributed two  or  three  good  poems  and  a  number  of  finely- 


116  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

written  prose  articles,  including  "  Improvisations  of  an 
Opium-Thinker,"  "  The  Poetry  of  Alice  Gary,"  and  "  Two 
Scenes  of  the  War,"  the  last  a  bit  of  dramatic  word- 
painting,  in  two  vivid  scenes,  one  of  the  battle  of  Inker- 
man,  the  other  of  an  English  cottage  home  and  a  maiden, 
who  receives  news  of  the  death  of  her  lover  at  Inker- 
man.  This  composition  is  admirable;  its  brilliant  merit 
was  recognized  throughout  the  country,  and  the  piece  was 
widely  copied. 

It  remains  for  me  to  add  something  further  about  Mr. 
Coggeshall.  A  most  industrious  worker,  he  furnished 
nearly  half  the  matter  of  the  volumes  of  the  Genius  that 
he  edited.  A  practical  moralizer,  he  wrote  sketches  for 
young  men  on  "  State  Governors,"  on  ''  Millard  Fillmore," 
and  "  Young  America."  A  sifter  and  compiler  of  facts, 
he  prepared  historical  papers  on  the  *'  Origin  and  Prog- 
ress of  Printing,"  "  Men  and  Events  in  the  West,"  and 
"  Literary  and  Artistic  Enterprises  in  Cincinnati."  .  He 
published  an  essay  entitled  "  Genius  and  Gumption,"  sev- 
eral short  stories,  and  one  long  one  called  "  The  Counter- 
feiters of  the  Cuyahoga :  a  Buckeye  Eomance."  In  1854 
a  collection  of  some  of  his  stories  was  published  by  Red- 
field,  New  York,  with  the  title,  "  Easy  Warren  and  His 
Cotemporaries ;  Sketched  for  Home  Circles."  In  1855  he 
brought  out  a  volume  called  "  Oakshaw ;  or  the  Victims 
of  Avarice :  a  Tale  of  Intrigue,"  and  a  lecture  on  "  Caste 
and  Character."  In  1859  he  published  "A  Discourse  on 
the  Social  and  Moral  Advantages  of  the  Cultivation  of 
Local  Literature,"  and  in  1863,  "  Stories  of  Frontier  Ad- 
venture in  the  South  and  West."  .  While  connected  with 
the  Genius  he  announced  himself  as  a  public  lecturer,  and 
became  quite  popular  on  the  platform. 

He  was  appointed  state  librarian  in  1856,  and  held  the 
position  during  the  administrations  of  Governors  Chase 
and  Dennison.  His  opportunities  as  editor,  lecturer,  and 
librarian,  facilitated  the  task  which  he  had  set  himself  of 
collecting  materials  for  his  most  important  work,  "  The 
Poets  and  Poetry  of  the  West."     This  well-known  vol- 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  117 

ume  was  copy-righted  in  the  year  1860,  and  was  issued  as 
a  subscription  book  by  Follett,  Foster  &  Company,  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio.  It  contains  six  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
large  pages,  and  is  a  compendium  rather  than  a  selection 
of  western  poetry,  presenting  biographical  notices  of,  and 
poems  by,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  writers. 
Among  the  biographical  contributors,  the  following  were 
named  in  the  canvasser's  prospectus,  with  place  of  resi- 
dence and  occupation  :  Rev.  Edward  Thomson,  president 
of  Ohio  Wesleyan  University ;  William  D.  Gallagher, 
Kentucky ;  Ben  Cassedy,  Louisville  ;  Rev.  T.  M.  Eddy, 
editor  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate ;  W.  W.  Fosdick, 
Esq.,  Cincinnati;  Orville  J.  Victor,  editor  Cosmopolitan 
Art  Journal ;  Frances  Fuller  Barritt,  ]N"ew  York  city ; 
Honorable  J.  W.  Gordon,  Indianapolis ;  Honorable  Rob- 
ert Dale  Owen,  United  States  minister  at  J^aples ;  Hon- 
orable Heman  Canfield,  Medina,  Ohio ;  William  T.  Bas- 
com,  Esq.,  Columbus,  Ohio ;  Benjamin  St.  James  Fry, 
president  of  Worthington  Female  College  ;  Prof.  L.  D. 
McCabe,  Ohio  Wesleyan  College ;  Lyman  C.  Draper,  sec- 
retary of  Wisconsin  Historical  Society;  Lucius  A.  Hine, 
Loveland,  Ohio ;  Rev.  M.  D.  Conway,  Cincinnati ;  Sulli- 
van D.  Harris,  editor  Ohio  Cultivator;  William  Henry 
Smith,  city  editor  Cincinnati  Gazette;  T.  Herbert  Whip- 
ple, Chicago  ;  J.  W.  Hoyt,  editor  of  Wisconsin  Farmer ; 
Coates  Kinney,  Waynesville,  Ohio;  J.  D.  Botefur,  Fre- 
mont, Ohio ;  Thomas  Gregg,  editor  Hamilton  (111.)  Repub- 
lican; Austin  T.  Earle,  J^ewport,  Kentucky;  Abram 
Brower,  Esq.,  Cincinnati;  James  S.  Frost,  Esq.,  Detroit ; 
Henry  B.  Carrington,  Esq.,  Columbus,  Ohio;  Honorable 
William  Lawrence,  Bellefontaine,  Ohio ;  C.  E.  Muse,  as- 
sistant editor  of  Louisville  Democrat. 

In  1862  Coggeshall  removed  to  Springfield,  Ohio,  and 
purchased  the  Springfield  Republic.  In  1865  he  returned 
to  Columbus,  and  became  editor  of  the  Ohio  State  Jour- 
nal. At  this  time  his  health  failed,  from  the  effects  of 
exposure  while  in  secret  service  in  the  first  year  of  the 
war,  and  he  resigned  his  position   as  editor  and  accepted 


118  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

the  office  of  private  secretary  to  Governor  J.  D.  Cox.^ 
He  received,  in  June,  1865,  a  government  appointment  as 
United  States  minister  at  Quito,  Ecuador,  and  immediately 
removed  to  South  America.  His  broken  health  was  not 
restored  ;  he  died  at  Quito,  August  2, 1867,  aged  forty-two 
years,  having  accomplished  a  large  amount  of  useful  )vork, 
especially  in  the  promotion  of  culture  in  the  West.  His 
"Poets  and  Poetry  of  the  West"  has  done  much  to  keep 
green  the  memory  of  our  early  authors,  and  much  to  give 
prestige  to  men  and  women  who  are  yet  living,  and  who, 
in  many  instances,  were  introduced  to  the  public  in  its 
pages.  The  facts  here  printed  concerning  him  were  ob- 
tained from  his  widow,  Mrs.  Mary  M.  Coggeshall. 

conway's  dial. 

"  The  Dial :  A  Monthly  Magazine  for  Literature,  Phil- 
osophy, and  Religion.  M.  D.  Conway,  Editor.  Horas 
non  numero  nisi  serenas.  Cincinnati.  N"o  76  West  Third 
Street.     1860." 

Thus  reads  the  title-page  of  a  bound  volume  of  one  of 
the  most  original,  peculiar,  and  audacious  publications 
that  ever  issued  from  the  press.  The  work  is  complete  in 
twelve  numbers,  just  filling  the  eventful  months  of  the 
memorable  year  1860,  the  year  of  Lincoln's  first  election, 
the  year  after  John  Brown's  raid,  and  before  the  fall  of 
Sumter.  The  opening  article  in  the  January  number,  en- 
titled, "A  Word  to  Our  Headers,"  concludes  with  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph : 

"  The  Dial  stands  before  you,  reader,  a  legitimation  of 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  which  aspires  to  be  "free ;  free  in 
thought,  doubt,  utterance,  love,  and  knowledge.  It  is,  in 
our  minds,  symbolized  not  so  much  by  the  sun-clock  in 
the  yard  as  by  the  floral  dial  of  Linnteus,  which  recorded 
the  advancing  day  by  the  opening  of  some  flowers  and 

*  Jacob  Dolson  Cox,  diBtinguished  in  American  history,  military  and 
civil,  as  general,  governor,  and  cabinet  officer,  is  eminent  in  the  educa- 
tional world  as  dean  of  the  Cincinnati  Law  School  and  late  president 
of  the  Cincinnati  University.  He  is  an  authority  in  science  and  his- 
tory. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  119 

the  closing  of  others ;  it  would  report  the  day  of  God  as 
recorded  in  the  unfolding  of  higher  life  and  thought,  and 
the  closing  up  of  old  superstitions  and  evils ;  it  would  be 
a  dial  measuring  time  by  growth." 

When  Moncure  Daniel  Conway  penned  this  paragraph 
he  had  not  completed  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  his  very 
active  life,  though  he  had  begun  an  aggressive  literary 
career  ten  years  before.  Born  in  Virginia  in  1832,  he 
graduated  from  Dickinson  College  in  1849,  then  studied 
law,  and  in  1851  entered  the  ministry  as  a  Methodist 
preacher.  Before  ascending  the  pulpit  he  had  written  for 
the  Southern  Literary  Messenger,  the  Richmond  Examiner 
and  the  Ladies'  Repository,  and  had  put  forth  a  vigorous 
pamphlet  advocating  the  introduction  of  the  lN"ew  Eng- 
land system  of  free  schools  in  Virginia.  lie  had,  also,  not 
only  repudiated  all  sympathy  with  the  system  of  slavery, 
but  had  begun  a  war  on  that  institution  as  fierce  as  the 
pen  could  wage.  Some  time  in  1852  he  withdrew  from 
the  Methodist  Church  and  went  to  Cambridge,  where  he 
entered  the  divinity  school,  from  which  he  graduated  a 
"  broad-gauge "  Unitarian,  or,  rather,  an  Emersonian 
transcendentalist.  From  1854  to  1856  he  was  pastor  of 
the  Unitarian  Society  at  Washington  city.  The  reason 
for  his  leaving  Washington  for  Cincinnati  is  thus  given  in 
his  own  language  :  "  I  was  by  a  majority  of  five  of  the 
Unitarian  congregation  in  Washington  city  declared  to 
be  too  radical  in  my  discourses  on  slavery  for  the  critical 
condition  of  that  latitude ;  and,  therefore,  I  was  invited 
to  become  minister  of  the  First  Congregational  church  ia 
Cincinnati,  Ohio."  This  was  in  1856.  Conway's  think- 
ing, writing,  and  preaching  became  more  and  more  inde- 
pendent, liberal,  and  unpopular  with  evangelical  denomi- 
nations. He  disbelieved  in  the  supernatural  elements  of 
Christianity,  and  published  what  were  regarded  as  flippant 
**  Tracts  for  To-day"  and  discourses  in  "Defense  of  the 
Theater,"  and  on  the  "Natural  History  of  the  Devil." 

Such  was  the  history  and  record  of  the  young  man,  M. 
D.  Conway,  at  the  period  when  the  Dial  was  conceived 
and  born,     llis    mind  was  saturated  and  dripping  with 


120  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

speculative  philosophy  and  the  thoup^ht  and  dream  of  the 
Concord  seer.  The  very  name  of  the  new  magazine  was 
identical  with  that  of  the  celebrated  Boston  "  organ," 
conducted  in  1840-5  by  Margaret  Fuller  and  R.  W.  Emer- 
son, of  which  the  western  journal,  as  Conway  confessed, 
aspired  "  to  be  an  Avatar." 

The  great  majority  of  pieces  in  the  Dial  were  written 
by  Conway,  even  including  several  bits  of  poetry,  "  Eola," 
"Amor  Respicit  Coelum,"  etc.  He  wrote  a  series  of  ten 
papers,  a  sort  of  didactic  story  in  the  Carlylesque  style, 
called  "  Dr.  Einbohrer  and  His  Pupils,"  in  which  are  dis- 
cussed various  problems  of  evolution,  life  and  faith.* 
Other  of  his  articles  are  :  "  Excalibur :  A  Story  for  Anglo- 
American  Boys,"  being  a  dramatic  history  of  John 
Brown's  sword;  "The  God  with  the  Hammer,"  "The 
Two  Servants,"  "  ^N'emesis  of  Unitarianism,"  "  Sweden- 
borgian  Heretic,"  "The  Magic  Duet,"  "The  Word," 
"  Moral  Diagnosis  of  Disease,"  and  "  Who  Discovered  the 
Planet?"  The  last  named  was  widely  copied  and  the  poet 
Longfellow  praised  it. 

The  Dial  had  a  number  of  able  contributors,  several  of 
them  distinguished  in  letters.  Among  these  was  Rev.  O. 
B.  Frothingham,  who  published  in  the  Dial  a  complete 
work  running  through  nine  numbers,  entitled  "  The 
Christianity  of  Christ."  This  was  the  earliest  published 
work  of  importance  by  the  author. 

Emerson  honored  his  friend  and  admirer  by  sending  oc- 
casional contributions  in  prose  and  verse  to  the  Cincinnati 
periodical.  The  essay,  "  Domestic  Life,"  was  published 
October,  1860,  and  "  The  Story  of  West  Indian  Emanci- 
pation," in  November.  The  quatrians — "  Cras,  Heri, 
Hodie,"  "Climacteric,"  "Botanist,"  "Forester,"  "Gar- 
dener," "Northman,"  "From  Alcuin,"  "Nature,"  "Na- 
tura  in  Minimus,"  "  Orator,"  "  Poet,"  "Artist,"  were  orig- 
inally printed  in  Conway's  Dial. 

A  number  of  the  early  poems  of  W.  D.  Howells  ^  adorn 


*  Ohio  people  take  pride  in  knowing  that  Mr.  Howells  was  a  "  Buck- 
eye boy,"  bred  and  educated  in  the  thoughts,  feelings,  and  customs  of 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  121 

the  pages  of  the  Dial.     Of  these  I  name  ''  The  Poet," 
'*  Misanthropy,"  and  the  lines  beginning 

"  The  moonlight  is  full  of  the  fragrance 
Of  the  blooming  orchard  trees." 

It  rests  upon  undeniable  authority  that  the  first  printed 
notice  of  his  work  that  Howells  ever  saw  was  a  little 
review  of  the  "  Poems  of  Two  Friends,"  published  in 
the  Dial  for  March,  1860.  The  notice  says,  "  Mr.  Howells 
has  intellect  and  culture,  graced  by  an  almost  Heinesque 
"familiarity  with  high  things ;  and  if  it  were  not  for  a  cer- 
tain fear  of  himself,  we  should  hope  that  this  work  was 
but  a  prelude  to  his  sonata." 

Translations  from  Taussennel,  Balzac,  and  other  French 
authors  were  furnished  the  Dial  by  Dr.  M.  E.  Lazarus. 
The  longest  of  these  Avas  a  complete  translation  of  Balzac's 
''  Ursula." 

E.  D.  Mussey  wrote  for  the  Dial  a  striking  allegorical 
composition  on  love,  with  the  figurative  title,  "  My  Sculp- 
tured Palace  Walls." 

A  very  remarkable  and,  to  most  minds,  shockingly  ir- 
reverent article  on  ''Prayer,"  was  .contributed  by  the  late 
Orson  S.  Murray.  The  object  of  the  writer  was  to  prove 
that  all  prayer  is  unmitigated  evil.  Mr.  Conway  added  a 
comment  to  the  article,  disclaiming  responsibility  for  its 
sentiments  and  combatting  them. 

Orson  Murray  was  a  noted  anti-slavery  agitator,  and 
opposer  of  the  church.  Whittier  described  him  as  a 
"  man  terribly  in  earnest,  Avith  a  zeal  that  bordered  on 
fanaticism,  and  who  was  none  the  more  genial^  for  the 
mob  violence  to  which  he  had  been  subjected."  He  was 
born  in  Orwell,  Vermont,  September  23, 1806 ;  removed  to 
Ohio  in  1844,  where  he  published  the  radical  paper.  The 
Regenerator,  which  had  been  started  in  [N'ew  York.     He 


the  "  old  "  West.  Born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  he  spent  his  boyhood 
and  youth  in  the  counties  of  Butler,  Greene,  Montgomery  and  Frank- 
lin. Delightful  reminiscences  of  his  early  life  are  given  in  his  autobio- 
graphical story,  "A  Boy's  Town." 


122  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

died  at  his  residence,  near  Foster's,  Warren  county,  Ohio, 
June  14,  1885,  aged  seventy-nine.  lie  had  prepared  his 
own  funeral  sermon,  or  "Death-bed  Thoughts,"  which 
was  read  on  the  day  of  his  burial. 

An  exceedingly  attractive  and  suggestive  feature  of  the 
Dial  was  a  department  called  "  The  Catholic  Chapter,"  a 
monthly  collection  of  religious  and  moral  aphorisms  from 
all  sources,  ancient  and  modern,  which,  no  doubt,  was  the 
beginning  of  Conway's  "  Sacred  Anthology." 

The  best  and  most  readable  of  Conway's  own  writing 
in  the  Dial  is  the  part  included  under  the  head  of  "  Critical 
iN'otices."  In  this  sort  of  work  the  versatile  editor  was 
crisp,  piquant  and  wonderfully  discriminating.  His  gen- 
ius is  essentially  literary,  and  he  reads  and  reviews  books 
con  amore. 

The  year  1860  was  prolific  of  significant  books,  especially 
in  the  line  of  controversies,  religious  and  political,  and  of 
discussion,  scientific  and  philosophical.  A  few  of  the 
numerous  works  reviewed  with  more  or  less  thoroughness 
in  the  Dial,  were  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  "  Views  and  Evi- 
dences of  Religious  Subjects,"  and  Edward  Beecher's 
"  Concord  of  Ages,"  both  progressive  ;  Sir  William  Ham- 
ilton's "Logic,"  the  "Political  Debates  of  Lincoln  and 
Douglas,"  and  "  Redpath's  "  Life  of  John  Brown," 
Darwin's  "  Origin  of  Species,"  Hawthorne's  "  Marble 
Faun,"  and  George  Eliot's  "Mill  on  the  Floss,"  and,  in 
poetry,  "  Lucile "  and  Walt  Whitman's  "  Leaves  of 
Grass." 

The  editor's  breezy  criticism  of  Whitman  contains  an 
amusing  passage,  which  is  here  quoted,  because  it  kills 
two  or  more  birds  with  a  well-slung  stone.  It  reads  as 
follows:  "A  friend  of  ours  told  us  that  once,  when  he 
was  visiting  Lizst,  a  fine-dressed  gentleman  from  Boston 
was  announced,  and  during  the  conversation  the  latter 
spoke  with  great  contempt  of  Wagner  (the  new  light)  and 
his  music.  Lizst  did  not  say  any  thing,  but  went  to  the 
open  piano  and  struck  with  grandeur  the  opening  chords  of 
the  Tannhiiuser  overture;  having  played  it  through,  he 
turned  and  quietly  remarked,  *  The  man  who  doesn't  call 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  123 

that  good  music  is  a  fool.'  It  is  the  only  reply  which 
can  be  made  to  those  who  do  not  find  that  quintessence  of 
things  which  we  call  poetry  in  many  pages  of  his  (Whit- 
man's) work." 

In  a  short  but  cordial  notice  of  Coggeshall's  "  Poets  and 
Poetry  of  the  West,"  published  at  Columbus  in  1860, 
occur  these  resounding  sentences :  "  But  we  do  not  fear 
that  any  man  ^\\\\  carefully  read  this  book  without  seeing 
that  the  West  has  a  symphony  to  utter,  whose  key-note 
is  already  struck,  and  which  is  to  make  the  world  pause 
and  listen.  The  world  has  heard  the  song  of  Memnon 
in  the  Orient;  it  must  now  turn  to  hear  the  Memnon, 
carved  by  the  ages,  as  it  shall  respond  to  the  glow  of  the 
Occident." 

The  very  last  one  of  the  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
pages  included  in  the  Dial  is  devoted  to  a  reverential  and 
laudatory  heralding  of  Emerson's  "  Conduct  of  Life,"  the 
sheets  of  which  the  Boston  master  furnished  in  advance 
to  his  Cincinnati  disciple. 

The  Dial  was  self-supporting.  It  wa,s  largely  patronized 
by  Jews. 

In  his  "  Parting  Word  "  to  the  reader,  the  proprietor 
w^rote  :  ^'  We  confess  to  some  complacency  regarding  what 
we  have  done,  and  can  never  be  brought  to  look  upon  the 
Dial  as,  in  any  sense,  a  failure.  We  could  name  one  or 
two  papers  that  we  have  been  enabled  to  lay  before  the 
public,  and  claim  that  they  alone  w^ere  worth  all  the  toil 
and  expense  which  our  project  has  involved  w^ith  editor 
or  subscriber.  Sweeter  verses  have  never  been  sung  in 
the  land  than  some  which  have  been  wafted  from  the 
branches  of  the  Dial  through  the  country.  And  we  rest 
from  our  labors  quite  sure  that  we  shall  see  the  day  when 
the  numbers  remaining  on  hand  will  be  insufficient  to 
supply  the  demand  for  them." 


124  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

PARTIAL  LIST  OF  LITERARY  PERIODICALS  PUBLISHED   IN 
THE  OHIO  VALLEY  FROM  THE  YEAR  1803  TO  1860. 

Note. — The  list  includes  a  few  newspapers  devoted  specially,  if  not 
wholly,  to  literature,  but  does  not  embrace  the  numerous  publications 
issued  to  represent  sectarian  and  professional  interests.  The  early 
West,  teemed  with  periodicals  of  a  religious  character,  nor  were  there 
lacking  journals  of  law,  medicine,  and  agriculture. 

The  Medley  or  Monthly  Miscellany.  Daniel  Bradford,  Lexington, 
Ky.    From  January  to  December,  1803. 

The  Western  Review  and  Miscellaneous  Magazine.  Monthly.  Wm. 
Gibbs  Hunt,  Lexington,  Ky.     August,  1819,  to  July,  1821. 

Successor  to  the  Western  Monitor,  a  Federal  weekly  paper  established 
in  1814,  and  edited  by  Thos.  Curry. 

The  Literary  Cadet.  Weekly.  Dr.  Joseph  Buchanan,  Cincinnati, 
November,  1819.  Twenty-three  numbers  were  issued  and  then  the 
Cadet  was  merged  in  the  Western  Spy,  which  was  thereafter  published 
as  the  Western  Spy  and  Literary  Gazette. 

The  Olio.  Semi-monthly.  John  H.  Wood  and  Samuel  S.  Brooks, 
Cincinnati,  1821.    Continued  for  one  year. 

The  Literary  Pamphleteer.    Paris,  Ky.,  1823. 

The  Literary  Gazette.  Weekly.  John  P.  Foote,  Cincinnati,  January, 
1824,  to  December,  1824.  Revived  by  Looker  and  Reynolds,  who  con- 
tinued it  for  eight  months  in  1825. 

The  Western  Censor.     Indianapolis,  Ind.,  1823-24. 

The  Western  Luminary.     Lexington,  Ky.,  1824. 

The  Microscope.     Louisville,  Ky.    Weekly.     1824. 

The  Western  Minerva.     Francis  and  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  Cincinnati, 

1826.  Survived  less  than  one  year. 

New  Harmony  Gazette.  New  Harmony,  Ind.  Robt.  Owen.  1825. 
1  vol.    Continued  as  the  Free  Enquirer  in  New  York.    1828-35.    6  vols. 

The  Literary  Focus.  A  Monthly  College  Paper.  Oxford,  Ohio, 
1827-8.  Published  by  the  Erodelphian  and  Union  Literary  Societies. 
Printed  by  J.  D.  Smith. 

The  Western  Review.     Monthly.    Timothy  Flint,  Cincinnati,  May, 

1827,  to  June,  1830. 

Transylvania  Literary  Journal.  A  college  paper.  Prof.  Thos.  J. 
Matthews,  Lexington,  Ky.,  1829. 

Masonic  Souvenir  and  Pittsburg  Literary  Gazette.  A  quarto  weekly. 
Flint  called  it,  "in  form  and  appearance  the  handsomest  in  our  valley." 
1828. 

The  Shield.  Weekly.  R.  C.  Langdon,  Cincinnati,  182-.  Survived 
two  years. 

The  Ladies'  Museum.  Weekly.  Joel  T.  Case,  Cincinnati,  1830.  Sur- 
vived one  or  two  years. 

The  Illinois  Magazine.  Monthly.  James  Hall,  Shawneetown,  111., 
October,  1830,  to  January,  1832. 

The  Ladies'  Museum  and  Western  Repository  of  Belles  Lettres.    Cin- 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  125 

cinnati.  Edited  by  Joel  T.  Case.  .  Printed  by  John  Whetstone. 
Weekly.  Begun  in  1830,  and  merged  in  the  Mirror  in  November,  1831. 
The  Cincinnati  Mirror  and  Ladies'  Parterre.  Edited  by  Wm.  D. 
Gallagher.  Published  by  John  H.  Wood.  Semi-monthly.  First  num- 
ber issued  October  1,  1831.  At  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  Thomrs 
H.  Shreve  went  into  partnership  with  Gallagher,  and  the  two  bought 
the  paper,  enlarged  it,  and  issued  it  weekly  under  the  name  Cincinnati 
Mirror  and  Western  Gazette  of  Literature.  In  April,  1835,  the  Chron- 
icle was  merged  in  the  Mirror  and  James  H.  Perkins  became  one  of  its 
editors.  The  Mirror  was  sold  in  October,  1835,  to  James  B.  Marshall, 
and  bought  again  in  January,  1836,  by  Flash  and  Ryder.  It  was  dis- 
continued early  in  1836. 

The  Olive  Branch.  Circleville,  O.  Scientific  and  Literary.  Bi- 
monthly, $1.50.     Edited  by  "  a  number  of  gentlemen."     1832. 

The  National  Historian.    St.  Clairsville,  O.,  Horton  J.  Howard. 

The  South-western  Port  Folio.  Proposals  were  issued  for  publishing 
in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  the  above,  to  be  conducted  by  Thomas  Hoge  and 
Wilkins  Tannehill.  The  periodical  was  to  appear  April,  1832.  Price, 
$5.00.     Came  to  naught. 

Western  Quarterly  Review.  In  April,  1832,  Messrs.  Hubbard  and 
Edwards,  of  Cincinnati,  issued  the  prospectus  of  a  quarterly,  each  num- 
ber to  contain  250  pages.  The  projectors  proposed  to  pay  for  all  ac- 
cepted articles  at  the  rate  of  $3.00  a  page.  The  first  number  was  to 
come  out  in  November,  1832,  but  it  never  appeared. 

[The  two  last  named  projects,  and  another  of  a  similar  sort  by  Mrs. 
Julia  Dumont,  all  originating  about  the  same  time,  attest  the  general 
literary  interest  and  ambition  of  the  writers  of  the  third  decade  of  the 
century.] 

The  Literary  Cabinet.  St.  Clairsville,  O.,  1833.  Monthly.  12  num- 
bers.   Edited  by  Thomas  Gregg. 

The  Academic  Pioneer  and  Guardian  of  Education.  Cincinnati, 
monthly,  1833.  Forty  8vo.  pages.  Price,  $2.00.  Organ  of  the  Western 
Academic  Institute,  and  predecessor  of  the  Academician.  Albert 
Pickett,  Editor. 

Lexington  Literary  Journal.  Lexington,  Ky.  John  Clark,  Esq., 
Editor  and  Proprietor.     Twice  a  week.    $3.00  a  year,  1833. 

The  Western  Monthly  Magazine,  a  continuation  of  the  Illinois  Maga- 
zine.    Cincinnati,  James  Hall,  January,  1833,  to  February,  1837. 

The  Literary  Pioneer.    Nashville,  Tenn.,  1833. 

The  Kaleidoscope.    Nashville,  Tenn.,  1833. 

The  Literary  Register.    Elyria,  O.,  1833. 

The  Schoolmaster  and  Academic  Journal.  Semi-monthly.  B.  F. 
Morris,  Oxford,  O.,  1834. 

The  Western  Gem  and  Cabinet  of  Literature,  Science,  and  News.  St. 
Clairsville,  O.  Semi-monthly,  and  afterward  weekly.  Gregg  and 
Dufi'ey.  Mrs.  Dumont  and  Mrs.  Sigourney  were  contributors.  1834. 
Kept  up  about  a  year. 

The  Western  Messenger.    Cincinnati  and  Louisville.    Western  Uni- 


126  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

tarian  ABSOciation.  Edited  by  Ephraira  Peabody,  James  Freeman 
Clarke,  James  H.  Perkins,  and  VV.  H.  Channing.  June,  1835,  to  April, 
1841. 

The  Family  Magazine.  Cincinnati,  Eli  Taylor.  Started  in  1836  and 
published  six  years  or  more. 

The  Western  Literary  Journal  and  Review.  Cincinnati,  Wm.  D. 
Gallagher,  183G.    One  volume. 

Western  Monthly  Magazine  and  Literary  Journal.  Louisville,  W,  D. 
Gallagher  and  Lewis  B.  Marshall,  1837.    Five  numbers  only. 

The  Hesperian ;  or,  Western  Monthly  Magazine.  Columbus  and 
Cincinnati,  Wm.  D.  Gallagher  and  Otway  Curry,  May,  1838  to*1841. 
3  vols. 

The  Literary  New-Letter.  Weekly.  Louisville,  Ky.,  Edmund  Flagg 
and  I^onard  Bliss,  December,  1838,  to  November,  1840.  Published  by 
Prentiss  and  Weissenger  in  the  Journal  office. 

The  Monthly  Chronicle.  Edited  by  E.  D.  Mansfield,  Cincinnati,  0., 
1839.    Published  by  Achilles  Pugh.    One  vol.,  568  pages. 

Literary  Examiner  and  Western  Review.  Pittsburg,  E.  B.  Fisher  and 
W.  H.  Burleigh.  Monthly.  Eighty-four  pages  to  a  number.  1839. 
Published  about  a  year  by  Wm.  W.  Whitney. 

The  Buckeye  Blossom.  Xenia,  P.  Lapham  and  W.  B.  Fairchild,  1839. 
16  pages. 

The  Family  Schoolmaster.  Richmond,  Ind.,  Halloway  and  Davis, 
1839.    Short  lived. 

The  Western  Lady's  Book.  Cincinnati.  Edited  by  an  association  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen.  'Published  by  H.  P.  Brooks.  Begun  August, 
1840. 

The  Ladies'  Repository  and  Gatherings  of  the  West.  Cincinnati, 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  1841  to  1876.  In  the  year  1877  the  Methodist 
Book  Concern  began  to  publish  the  National  Repository,  which  was 
kept  up  for  four  years. 

Young  Ladies'  Museum.  Cincinnati.  Monthly  quarto.  J.  P.  and 
R.  P.  Donough,  Publisliers.    Circulation  of  1,200.    1841. 

Family  Magazine.  Jas.  H.  Perkins,  Editor.  J.  A.  and  U.  P.  James, 
Publishers.  Cincinnati.  Monthly.  Circulation  of  3,000.  Begun  in 
1841. 

The  American  Pioneer.  Vol.  I,  Chillicothe,  1842;  Vol.  II. ,  Cincin- 
nati, 1842.    John  S.  Williams.    Historical. 

The  Western  Rambler.  Cincinnati,  Austin  T.  Earle  and  Benj.  S.  Fry. 
Started  September  28,  1844.    Survived  only  a  few  months. 

The  Youths'  Monthly  Visitor.  Cincinnati,  1844.  Quarto.  Edited  by 
Margaret  L.  Bailey.  Transferred  to  Washington  city  in  1847,  and  con- 
tinued until  1852. 

Southwestern  Literary  Journal  and  Monthly  Review.  E.  C.  Z.  Judson 
("Ned  Buntline)  and  H.  A.  Kidd,  assisted  by  L.  A.  Hine.  Nos.  1  and 
2  were  published  in  Cincinnati;  Nos.  3,  4,  5,  6  in  Nashville,  Tennessee. 
From  November,  1844,  to  April,  1845. 


Early  Periodical  Literature.  127 

The  Querist.  Cincinnati,  Mrs.  R.  S.  Xichols,  1844.  Continued  a  few 
months. 

The  Democratic  Monthly  Magazine  and  Western  Review.  Columbus, 
Ohio,  B.  B.  Taylor,  Editor;  S.  Medary,  Publisher.  June  and  July, 
1844. 

The  Casket.  Cincinnati,  J.  H.  Green,  "  the  reformed  gambler,"  and 
Emerson  Bennett,  1845. 

The  Semi-Colon.     Cincinnati.     Robinson  and  Jones,  1845.     Monthly. 

Indiana  Farmer  and  Gardener.  Devoted  to  Rural  Affairs  and  Domes- 
tic Economy.  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  1 845.  Edited  by  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 
Continued  in  1846,  in  Cincinnati,  as  Western  Farmer  and  Gardener, 
^lany  of  tht  articles  in  the  above  were  incorporated  into  Beecher's 
book,  "A  Pleasant  Talk  About  Fruits,  Flowers,  and  Farming." 

The  Cincinnati  Miscellany  or  Antiquities  of  the  West.  Cincinnati. 
Edited  by  Charles  Cist ;  printed  by  Caleb  Clark.  Monthly.  2  vols. 
From  October,  1844,  to  April,  1846.     Very  valuable. 

The  Quarterly  Journal  and  Review.  Cincinnati,  L.  A.  Hine,  January 
to  October,  1846. 

The  Olden  Time.  Pittsburg,  1 846.  Edited  by  Neville  Craig.  Monthly. 
Devoted  to  Preservation  of  Documents,  etc.,  relating  to  Early  Settle- 
ment of  Upper  Ohio  Valley.  Reprinted  by  Robert  Clarke,  Cincinnati, 
in  1876,  in  2  vols.    Valuable. 

The  Herald  of  Truth.  Cincinnati,  L.  A.  Hine,  January,  1847,  to  June, 
1848. 

The  Great  AVest.  Literary  newspaper.  Cincinnati,  E.  Penrose  Jones, 
May  5,  1848,  to  March,  1850. 

Sackett's  Model  Parlor  Paper.  Cincinnati,  Egbert  Sackett  and  F.  Col- 
ton,  December,  1848.     Eight  numbers  issued. 

The  Shooting  Star.     Cincinnati,  S.  H.  Minor. 

The  Western  Mirror.  G.  W.  Copelan  and  "  Sam'l  Pickwick,  Jr.," 
Woodward  College,  Cincinnati. 

Western  Quarterly  Review.  Cincinnati,  L.  A.  Hine,  January  to  April, 
1849. 

Gentlemen's  Magazine.  Cincinnati,  J.  Milton  Sandei-s  and  J.M.  Hun- 
tington, 1849.     A  few  numbers  only. 

The  Hipean.     Cooper  Female  Institute,  Dayton,  Ohio,  1849. 

Moore's  Western  Lady's  Book.  Cincinnati.  Edited  by  A.  and  Mrs. 
H.  G.  Moore.     Begun  in  1849,  and  continued  about  eight  years. 

The  Western  Pioneer.  Chillicothe  and  Cincinnati,  S.  Williams, 
1841-4.    2  vols. 

The  Western  Literary  Magazine.     Columbus,  Ohio.     George  Brewer. 

The  Columbian.  Literary  newspaper.  Cincinnati,  W.  B.  Shattuc 
and  W.  D.  Tidball,  October  20,  1849,  to  [March,  1850. 

Buchanan's  Journal  of  Man.  Cincinnati.  Begun  1850,  and  continued 
five  or  six  years.  Edited  and  published  by  Joseph  R.  Buchanan,  :M.D. 
A  valuable  publication. 

The  Western  Literary  Magazine.     Louisville,  Ky.,  1853.     Monthly. 


128  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  Phonetic  Magazine.  48  pages.  Monthly.  Partly  in  the  reformed 
spelling.    Longley  Brothers,  1853. 

Type  of  the  Times.  Successor  to  above.  Weekly  octavo.  Same  pub- 
lishers. Edited  by  L.  A.  Hine,  Elias  Longley,  and  William  Henry 
Smith.    1853. 

Columbian  and  Great  West.  Cincinnati,  W.  B.  Shattuc,  March,  1850, 
to  September,  1854. 

The  Citizen.    Lyons  and  McCormick,  Cincinnati,  1851. 

Pen  and  Pencil.  Cincinnati,  W.  Wallace  AVarden.  Started  January, 
1853.  .  Eight  numbers  issued. 

The  Parlor  Magazine.  Cincinnati.  Conducted  by  Jethro  Jackson, 
assisted  by  Alice  Cary.    Begun  July,  1853.    2  vols. 

Genius  of  the  AVest.  Cincinnati.  Edited  by  Howard  Durham,  Coates 
Kinney,  and  W.  T.  Coggeshall.    October,  1853,  to  June,  1856. 

The  Literary  Journal.  Cincinnati,  Mrs.  "Ella  Wentworth,"  Mrs.  E. 
K.  Banks,  and  H.  Clay  Pate,  1854.    A  few  numbers. 

West  American  Review.    Cincinnati,  G.  W.  L.  Bickley,  1854. 

The  Forest  Garland.     Cincinnati,  Smith  and  Lapham,  1854. 

The  Odd  Fellows'  Literary  Casket.  Cincinnati.  Edited  by  W.  P. 
Strickland ;  published  by  Tidball  and  Turner.     Begun  in  1854. 

Afterward  published  by  Longley  Brothers,  who  engaged  William 
Henry  Smith  to  edit  it.  Among  the  contributors  were  Rev.  I.  D.  Will- 
iamson and  Wm.  Dean  Howells,  the  latter  then  working  on  the  Ohio 
State  Journal.  Howells  contributed  pieces  under  the  pseudonym 
^'  Chipsa." 

The  Templars'  Magazine.  Monthly.  Cincinnati,  Dr.  Wadsworth, 
Editor,  1854. 

The  Diadem.    Attica,  Ohio,  J.  C.  Michell,  1854. 

The  Literary  Messenger.    Versailles,  Ind.,  Ross  Alley,  1854. 

The  National  Cadet.  Cincinnati,  Forrest  and  Stevens.  Monthly. 
A  temperance  paper.    Short-lived.     1854. 

The  Western  Literary  Cabinet.     Detroit,  Mich.,  Mrs.  Sheldon,  1854. 

The  Home  Journal.    Cincinnati,  Alf  Burnett  and  Enos  B.  Reed,  1855. 

The  Western  Art  Journal.  Cincinnati.  Edited  by  Rev.  W.  P.  Strick- 
land ;  published  by  J.  S.  Babcock,  1855. 

The  Message  Bird.    Waynesville,  Ohio,  J.  W.  Roberts,  1856  to  1860. 

The  Louisville  Review.    Louisville,  Ky.     Monthly.     1856. 

The  Dial :  A  Monthly  Magazine  for  Literature,  Philosophy,  and  Re- 
ligion.   Cincinnati,  M.  D.  Conway,  January  to  December,  1860. 


Libraries.  129 


CHAPTER    IV. 

LIBRARIES-THE  HISTORICAL  AND  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 

OF  OHIO. 

I.      SOME    EARLY   LIBRARIES. 

Reuben  T.  Durrett,  an  exact  historical  writer  and  biog- 
rapher, and  himself  the  owner  of  by  far  the  largest  and 
best  private  library  in  Kentucky,  writing  from  Louisville 
in  1888,  says : 

"As  early  as  1795,  our  provident  neighbors  of  Lexing- 
ton began  the  work  of  gathering  together  books  for  a 
public  library.  On  J^ew  Year's  day  of  that  year,  a  few 
citizens  met  in  the  old  state-house,  and  resolved  to  estab- 
lish a  library,  to  be  called  '  Transylvania  Library.'  They 
appointed  a  committee  to  secure  subscriptions  and  perfect 
the  organization,  and  in  a  few  days  they  secured  the 
amount  of  |500,  and  the  money  was  collected  and  sent  to 
the  East  for  books.  In  the  following  January  the  books, 
400  in  number,  arrived,  and  the  people  of  Lexington  were 
made  glad  by  their  appearance.  In  1798  the  old  Kentucky 
Academy  was  merged  in  Transylvania  University,  and  its 
little  library  of  200  volumes  wenfto  swell  the  new  collec- 
tion to  600.  On  the  29th  of  ]^ovember,  1800,  the  library 
thus  started  was  incorporated  by  the  legislature  under  the 
name  of  '  The  Sharers  of  the  Lexington  Library,'  and 
thus  was  permanently  established  the  first  library  ever 
started  in  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

"  By  the  same  act  of  the  legislature  which  established 
the  Lexington  Library,  two  others  were  incorporated  in 
the  state :  one,  called  '  The  Sharers  of  the  Georgetown 
9 


130  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Library/  at  Georgetown,  Ky.,  and  the  other,  *  The  Sharers 
of  the  Danville  Library,'  at  Danville,  Ky.  Among  the 
incorporators  of  the  last-named  library  appears  the  name 
of  Ephraim  McDowell,  the  early  surgeon  of  Kentucky, 
who  was  the  father  of  ovariotomy ;  and  who,  as  early  as 
the  year  1809,  performed  the  first  operation  in  the  world 
for  removing  diseased  ovaries. 

"  In  1804  a  library  was  incorporated  at  Lancaster,  in 
Garrard  county ;  in  1808  at  Paris,  in  Bourbon  ;  in  1809  at 
[N'ew  Castle,  in  Henry ;  in  1810  at  Shelbyville,  in  Shelby, 
and  Winchester,  in  Clark ;  in  1811  at  Washington,  in 
Mason;  in  1812  at  Versailles,  in  Woodford,  and  Frank- 
fort, in  Franklin ;  and  in  1815  at  Mount  Sterling,  in 
Montgomery  county. 

"  Each  of  the  dozen  libraries  thus  incorporated  ante- 
dated any  movement  of  the  kind  in  the  city  of  Louisville. 
Kone  of  them,  however,  is  entitled  to  any  honors  beyond 
antiquity  and  a  name  in  the  statute  book  except  the  first, 
the  Lexington  Library,  established  in  1795.  This  noble 
old  pioneer  of  human  knowledge  has  come  down  from 
the  past  century,  bearing  the  treasures  of  other  times.  It 
has  survived  fires,  removals,  changes  of  rulers  and  book 
thieves,  and  stands  to-day  with  its  ten  thousand  volumes, 
one  of  the  greatest  honors  of  the  city  that  has  cherished 
it  for  nearly  a  century.  On  its  shelves  are  valuable  old 
works  that  can  nowhere  else  be  found,  and  among  them 
may  be  named  complete  files  of  the  Kentucky  Gazette, 
the  earliest  paper  published  in  Kentucky,  from  its  first 
issue,  August  11,  1787,  to  its  last." 

The  Transylvania  College  Library  here  referred  to  by 
Mr.  Durrett  was  in  its  day  one  of  the  largest  and  best  in 
the  United  States. 

A  portion  of  its  classical  and  miscellaneous  collection 
was  selected  by  a  no  less  competent  scholar  than  Edward 
Everett.  The  medical  books  were  procured  in  Europe  by 
Dr.  Charles  Caldwell.  The  university  possessed  an  ana- 
tomical museum,  a  cabinet  of  specimens  in  natural  history, 
and  a  botanical  garden. 


Libraries.  131 

Besides  the  college  library,  there  was  an  independent 
collection,  the  Lexington  Library,  which  was  begun  by 
the  citizens  in  1795.  To  this  four  hundred  volumes  pur- 
chased in  Philadelphia  were  added  in  1796.  Donations 
were  made  to  this  pioneer  library  by  George  Washington, 
John  Adams,  Aaron  Burr,  and  other  notables.  Clay  be- 
came its  benefactor  in  his  days  of  power. 

The  old  Lexington  Library  contains,  among  other  rare 
works,  Rapin's  History  of  England,  printed  more  than 
two  hundred  years  ago,  a  large  number  of  old  black-letter 
English  law  books  from  one  to  three  hundred  years  old, 
and  a  London  street  directory  of  two  centuries  ago.  Per- 
haps the  most  curious  book  in  the  collection  is  a  huge 
volume  comprising  a  large  number  of  old  parchment 
deeds.  These  deeds  are  written  in  the  black-letter  script, 
in  a  barbarous  law  Latin,  and  each  of  them  conveys 
property  to  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul, 
at  Ipswich,  England.  They  are  supposed  to  be  older  than 
the  time  of  Edward  the  First  (1272),  in  whose  reign  the 
statute  of  mortmain,  forbidding  the  conveyance  of  land  to 
the  Church,  was  enacted.  An  inscription  on  the  fly-leaf 
of  the  volume  states  that  it  was  "  presented  to  the  Lex- 
ington Library  by  John  Bobb,  Esq.,"  but  does  not  say 
when.  The  old  Gazettes  of  almost  a  century  ago  have 
frequent  references  to  Mr.  John  Bobb,  and  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  to  lead  one  to  suppose  that  he  was  a  man  of 
prominence  in  his  day  and  generation,  but  it  appears  that 
he  has  now  utterly  vanished  out  of  the  memory  of  man. 
It  is  conjectured  that  this  book  was  confiscated  at  Ipswich 
some  time  during  the  wars  of  the  Commonwealth,  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  brought  to 
America  by  the  confiscator  or  some  member  of  his  family. 
The  vicinity  of  Lexington  was  settled  almost  exclusively 
by  Virginians,  a  very  great  many  of  whom  were  from 
that  portion  of  Virginia,  "  the  Northern  ISTeck,"  which  in 
1649  was  largely  settled  by  English  cavaliers  fleeing  from 
the  wrath  of  Cromwell  after  the  execution  of  Charles  the 
First. 


132  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Dnrrett  for  the  following  interest- 
ing sketch  of 

"  The  First  Library  in  Louisville. 
"It  was  not  until  1816  that  the  citizens  of  Louisville 
seem  to  have  thought  of  the  necessity  of  a  public  library. 
On  the  8th  of  February  of  this  year  Mann  Butler,  "Will- 
iam C.  Gait,  Brooke  Hill,  llezekiah  Ilawley,  and  William 
Tompkins  obtained  from  the  legislature  a  charter  for  the 
*  President  and  Directors  of  the  Louisville  Library  Com- 
pany.' This  library  was  a  joint  stock  association,  with 
the  right  to  issue  as  many  shares  as  its  directors  might 
think  necessary,  and  of  any  denomination  they  might  wish. 
They  had  the  authority  to  assess  the  shareholders,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  library,  to  any  sum  per  annum  not  exceed- 
ing one-fifth  of  the  value  of  the  shares  of  any  one  holder. 
In  1819,  when  Dr.  McMurtrie  published  his  history  of 
Louisville,  this  library  was  located  in  the  second  story  of 
the  south  wing  of  the  old  court-house,  then  standing  in 
the  place  of  the  present  city  hall.  Among  its  books  were 
valuable  histories  collected  by  Mann  Butler,  and  works  on 
-scientific  subjects  obtained  by  Dr.  McMurtrie.  The  whole 
number  of  volumes  was  about  500,  and  the  young  library 
may  then  be  said  to  have  been  in  its  prime.  It  never  ma- 
terially increased  afterward,  and  when  the  malignant 
fever  of  1822  almost  depopulated  the  city,  the  library,  as 
well  as  the  people,  seems  to  have  taken  the  seeds  of  death 
into  its  system.  The  files  of  the  first  newspapers  pub- 
lished in  our  city  perished,  and  so  did  the  early  works 
upon  the  history  of  our  city,  state,  and  country.  Only  a 
few  of  its  volumes  have  come  down  to  our  times,  and 
these  are  of  but  little  value  in  the  collections  in  which 
they  are  now  found.  The  most  valuable  books  perished, 
and  the  unimportant  ones  which  survived  reached  our 
times  in  such  a  mutilated  condition  as  to  be  of  little  con- 
sideration except  as  relics  of  the  past.  There  is  a  name 
connected  with  its  organization,  however,  that  should  not 
pass  from  our  memory  as  did  its  books  from  our  use. 
This  was  Mann  Butler,  the  first  named  among  those  who 


Libraries.  133 

appear  in  the  act  of  incorporation.  It  was  he  who  inau- 
gurated the  gathering  together  of  this  first  collection  of 
books  in  our  city,  and  if  he  had  had  as  much  money  as  he 
had  love  for  books,  he  would  have  placed  the  library  upon 
such  a  lasting  foundation  that  it  would  have  stood  to  our 
times." 

As  to  private  libraries  in  Kentucky,  there  have  been 
none  of  any  particular  importance  until  of  late  years. 
The  books  owned  by  the  pioneers  were  few  in  number 
and  of  an  ordinary  character.  There  were  some  respectable 
professional  libraries,  but  none  of  a  literary  or  general 
character  worthy  of  note.  George  Nicholas,  Henry  Clay, 
John  J.  Crittenden,  S.  S.  ISTicholas,  Madison  C.  Johnston, 
and  others,  had  good  professional  libraries.  Colonel  S.  I. 
M.  Major,  who  died  at  Frankfort  a  few  years  ago,  had  one 
of  the  best  literary  libraries  in  the  state,  but  the  number 
of  its  volumes  did  not  exceed  three  thousand.  The  late 
Dr.  T.  S.  Bell  left  a  library  of  some  two  thousand  volumes, 
and  Dr.  Eichard  H.  Collins  left  about  twenty-five  hundred 
volumes. 

The  largest  private  library  ever  collected  in  Kentucky, 
with  a  single  exception,  is  that  of  the  late  Jas.  P.  Boyce. 
It  numbers  about  ten  thousand  volumes,  and  is  very  valu- 
able as  a  theological  collection.  The  only  private  library 
larger  and  more  valuable  than  that  of  Mr.  Boyce  that  has 
ever  been  collected  in  Kentucky  is  that  of  Mr.  Durrett 
himself,  now  stored  in  his  large  mansion  house,  No.  202 
Chestnut  street,  Louisville.  Though  the  collections  just 
named  can  not  properly  be  called  early  libraries,  they  may, 
with  propriety,  be  considered  under  that  head,  because 
they  abound  in  material  directly  concerning  the  begin- 
nings of  our  history  and  literature.  To  the  student  inter- 
ested in  the  picturesque  and  romantic  annals  of  pioneer 
days,  in  the  newspapers,  magazines,  history,  fiction,  and 
poetry  of  the  grand  old  State  of  Kentucky,  the  library  of 
Colonel  Durrett  is  a  treasure-trove  that  can  not  be  dupli- 
cated upon  the  globe. 

Colonel  Durrett's  absorbing  passion — he  calls  it  his 
"hobby" — is  the  study  of  history  and  the  collection  of 


134  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

books,  pictures,  and  relics  of  an  archaeological  kind.  His 
father  was  a  book  collector,  and  gathered,  in  early  days,  a 
considerable  library,  which  the  son  inherited,  and  to 
which  he  has  been  adding  for  forty  years.  The  collection 
is  the  largest  and  most  valuable  that  has  ever  been  made 
in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  In  Kentucky  books  this  li- 
brary has  no  equal.  The  proprietor  has  made  it  a  point 
to  secure  every  book  that  was  written  by  a  Kentuckian  or 
about  Kentucky  or  a  Kentuckian,  or  that  was  printed  in 
Kentucky.  While  the  library  has  pretty  well  exhausted 
the  Kentucky  State  of  publications,  it  also  embraces  the 
best  works  of  all  the  other  states,  and  of  the  United 
States  and  of  Europe.  The  collection  occupies  six  large 
rooms  and  a  hall,  and  contains  at  least  fifty  thousand 
books  and  pamphlets.  There  are  many  old  and  rare 
works  in  the  collection,  and  several  valuable  manuscripts 
relating  to  western  history.  The  files  of  bound  newspa- 
pers constitute  an  important  feature  of  the  library.  There 
are  numerous  books  that  have  severally  a  special  interest 
as  having  belonged  to  distinguished  men,  or  having  passed- 
through  strange  adventures.  For  instance,  there  is  a  copy 
of  "  Gulliver's  Travels,"  the  identical  copy  which  the  pio- 
neer Keely  read  aloud  to  Boone  and  others  in  camp  in  the 
year  1770. 

Among  Colonel  Durrett's  manuscripts  is  a  letter  written 
by  Boone,  which  I  here  reproduce : 

"  May  the  1th,  1789. 
"Dear  Sir: — This  Instant  I  Start  Down  the  River. 
My  Two  Sunes  Eeturned  anieadetely  from  Philadelphia 
and  Daniel  Went  Down  With  Sum  goods  in  order  to  Take 
in  gensgn  at  Lim  Stone.  I  hope  you  Will  Wright  me  By 
the  Bearer  Mr  goe  how  you  Ccm  on  With  my  Ilorsis — I 
Hear  the  Indians  have  Killed  Sum  peple  Neer  Limstone 
and  Stole  a  Number  of  horsis — Indeed  I  Saw  one  of  the 
men  Who  Was  iired  on  When  the  kiled  also  5  pursons 
War  Cirtinly  kiled  on  the  head  of  Dunkard  Crick  on  this 
River  a  bout  Six  Dayes  since  30  miles  from  Radstone  I 
'  Likewise  saw  a  Later  yesterday  from  Muskingdom  To  Mr 


Libraries.  135 

Galaspey  at  the  old  fort  that  300  Indans  are  Certinly 
Sitout  from  Detraight  To  Way  Lay  the  Kiver  at  Deferent 
placis  to  Take  Botes  Sum  Say  700  Sum  Say  100  But  the 
Later  Cartiiies  of  300  this  accoumpt  you  may  Rely  on  I 
am  Dear  Sir  With  Respect  your  omble  Sarvent 

"  Daniel  Boone. 

"  My  Best  comtm.  To  Mrs.  Huntt  Col  Rochester  and 
Lady." 

The  first  settlers  of  the  Xorth- western  Territory,  com- 
ing chiefly  from  the  most  cultured  Xew  England  stock, 
considered  books  a  necessary  part  of  their  household 
goods.  Dr.  S.  P.  Ilildreth,  the  historian  of  Marietta,  in 
his  "  Pioneer  Biographies,"  mentions  that  General  Israel 
Putnam  "  collected  a  large  library  of  the  most  useful 
books ;  embracing  history,  belles-lettres,  travels,  etc.,  for 
the  benefit  of  himself  and  children,  called  the  Putnam 
Family  Library.  After  his  death  they  were  divided 
amongst  the  heirs,  and  quite  a  number  found  their  way  to 
Ohio,  being  brought  out  by  his  son  and  grandchildren." 

The  first  library  in  the  territory  north-west  of  the  Ohio, 
like  the  first  school,  was  at  Belpre,  near  Marietta,  0.  It 
was  organized  in  1796,  probably  in  August  or  September, 
and  called  the  Putnam  Family  Library,  though  the  name 
was  changed  to  Belpre  Library,  or  Belpre  Farmers'  Li- 
brary. The  library  was  owned  by  a  joint  stock  company, 
with  shares  valued  each  at  ten  dollars.  The  hooka  were 
kept  at  the  house  of  Esquire  Isaac  Pierce,  who  was  libra- 
rian. Dr.  I.  W.  Andrews  took  the  pains,  in  1879,  to  trace 
and  find,  in  the  possession  of  several  families,  more  than  a 
score  of  volumes  belonging  originally  to  this  pioneer  col- 
lection, and  bearing  the  inscription,  "Putnam  Library," 
or  "  Belpre  Library."  He  gives  the  following  particulars, 
which  I  copy  from  the  Marietta  Register  of  June  — , 
1879: 

"  The  library  formed  in  1804  at  Amesville,  in  what  was 
then  Washington  county,  now  Athens,  is  a  matter  of  gen- 
eral knowledge.  It  has  been  often  referred  to  as  a  signal 
instance   of   the   beneficial   effects    of   good   books   in  a 


136  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

community.  That  township  has  produced  some  remark- 
able men,  such  as  Bishop  Ames  and  Thomas  Ewing;  and 
many  of  the  families  resident  there  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century,  like  the  Browns,  Cutlers,  Walkers,  and  oth- 
ers, have  been  noted  for  their  intelligence  and  elevated 
character.  The  formation  of  that  library  is  a  matter  of 
familiar  history,  and  the  descendants  of  those  who  founded 
it  may  well  be  proud  of  the  part  there  ancestors  took  in 
establishing  such  an  association. 

"Another  library,  formed  by  the  early  settlers  in  another 
part  of  the  Ohio  Company's  purchase,  is  not  so  well 
known.  When  the  writer  prepared  the  centennial  his- 
torical sketch  of  Washington  county,  three  years  ago,  he 
was  ignorant  that  such  a  company  existed.  His  attention 
was  arrested  by  seeing,  among  some  old  memoranda  of 
early  times,  preserved  by  Colonel  John  Stone,  of  Belpre, 
a  receipt  for  money  paid  for  a  share  in  a  library  in  Bel- 
pre, in  1796. .  He  at  once  wrote,  asking  for  information 
respecting  that  library,  and  for  the  facts  presented  in  this 
article  he  and  the  public  are  indebted  to  Colonel  Stone. 

"  In  the  '  Lives  of  the  Early  Settlers,'  by  Dr.  Hildreth, 
there  is  an  allusion  to  the  library  of  General  Israel  Put- 
nam, from  which  the  inference  is  possible  that  Colonel 
Israel  Putnam,  son  of  the  General,  might  have  brought 
with  him  to  Ohio  a  number  of  books  from  the  collection 
of  his  father,  and  that  these  became  the  nucleus  of  a  pub- 
lic library.  However  this  may  be,  there  is  abundant  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  such  a  library  at  Belpre  at  a 
very  early  day.  The  receipt  referred  to  above,  and  which 
is  before  me  as  I  write,  is  as  follows : 

"  '  Marietta,  2Qth  Oct.,  1796. 
"  *  Received  of  Johathan  Stone  by  the  hand  of  Benj. 
Miles,  ten  dollars  for  his  share  in  the  Putnam  Family  Li- 
brary. W.  P.  Putnam,  Clerk' 

"  Here  was  a  library  organization  with  its  stockholders 
and  officers,  the  value  of  a  share  being  $10.  The  organi- 
zation had  probably  been  recently  effected,  as  the  Indian 


Libraries.  137 

war  was  not  ended  till  1795.  Captain  Jonathan  Stone, 
father  of  Colonel  John  Stone,  was  doubtless  one  of  the 
original  shareholders,  and  this  receipt  was  for  the  pay- 
ment of  his  stock.  In  the  records  of  the  Probate  Office 
of  Washington  county,  among  the  items  in  the  inventory 
of  the  estate  of  Jonathan  Stone,  dated  September  2,  1801, 
is  this :  '  One  share  in  the  Putnam  Library,  §10.' 

"In  the  Ohio  Historical  Collections,  by  Henry  Howe, 
under  the  head  of  Meigs  County,  is  an  account  of  pioneer 
life  written  by  Amos  Dunham,  who  settled  in  Washing- 
ton county  about  1802,  and  afterward  removed  to  Meigs. 
He  says  :  '  The  long  winter  evenings  were  rather  tedious, 
and  in  order  to  make  them  pass  more  smoothly,  I  pur- 
chased an  interest  in  the  Belpre  Library,  six  miles  dis- 
tant. .  .  .  Many  a  night  have  I  passed  in  this  man- 
ner (using  pine  knots  in  place  of  candles)  till  12  or  1 
o'clock,  reading  to  xny  wife,  while  she  was  patcheling, 
carding,  or  spinning.' 

"  Have  we  any  testimony  as  to  the  library  from  those 
now  living?  Mr.  Edwin  Guthrie  has  distinct  remembrance 
of  his  father  having  books  taken  from  the  Belpre  Library. 
Colonel  Otis  L.  Bradford  remembers  that  the  library  was 
kept  at  the  house  of  their  nearest  neighbor,  Isaac  Pierce, 
Esq.  Mrs.  Smith,  of  Pomeroy,  remembers  her  mother  say- 
ing that  her  husband  (Amos  Dunham,  mentioned  above) 
could  always  find  time  to  attend  the  Belpre  Library  meet- 
ing, regardless  of  hurrying  work.  Colonel  John  Stone 
recollects  that  Esquire  Pierce  was  the  librarian  and  kept 
the  library  at  his  house.  He  remembers  attending  at  sev- 
eral times  the  meeting  for  drawing  books,  and  has  a  dis- 
tinct recollection  that  the  association  was  dissolved  by 
common  consent,  that  he  was  present  at  the  sale  or  dis- 
tribution of  books,  and  selected  the  Travels  of  Johathan 
Carver.  The  time  of  dissolution  he  can  not  give  pre- 
cisely, but  thinks  it  was  about  1815  or  1816.  He  is  prob- 
ably the  only  person  now  living  who  was  present  at  that 
time. 

"  But  if  the  organization  was  thus  dissolved  and  the 
books  distributed,  can  not  some  of  them  be  found?     Mr. 


138  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Geo.  Dana  reports  six  volumes  among  his  books.  John 
Locke's  Essays  concerning  the  Human  Understanding, 
London,  1793,  has  "  Putnam  Family  Library,  JS'o.  6," 
which  is  crossed,  and  underneath  is  written,  "  Belpre  Li- 
brary, !N"o.  29."  The  Practical  Farmer,  title  page  gone,  but 
dedicated  to  Thos.  Jeiferson  in  179.2,  has  "  Putnam  Family 
Library,  JNo.  5,"  which  is  crossed,  and  underneath  is  writ- 
ten, "Belpre  Library  ITo.  6."  He  has  also  Robertson's 
History  of  Scotland,  two  volumes,  inscribed,  "  Belpre 
Farmers'  Library,  JS'o.  24,"  and  Johnson's  Lives  of  the 
English  Poets,  three  volumes,  inscribed,  "  Belpre  Farmers' 
Library,  'Eo.  10."  Both  the  last  two  works  were  published 
in  1811.  It  would  seem  that  the  name  was  changed  from 
Putnam  Family  Library,  as  the  inscription  on  some  of  the 
books  is  Belpre  Library,  and  on  others  is  Belpre  Farm- 
ers' Library. 

"  Mr.  1.  W.  Putnam  writes  that  there  are  in  his  family, 
the  History  of  Vermont,  1794,  one  volume ;  Bassett's  His- 
tory of  England,  four  volumes;  Hume's  History  of  Eng- 
land, six  volumes;  and  Goldsmith's  Animated  Nature. 

"In  the  family  of  Mrs.  O.  H.  Loring  are  five  volumes 
of  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  pub- 
lished in  England  in  1783.  Some  of  these  contain  the 
name  of  Wanton  Casey,  as  well  as  the  words  *  Belpre  Li- 
brary.' Mr.  Casey  married  the  daughter  of  Major  Good- 
ale,  and  returned  to  Rhode  Island,  probably  before  1800. 

"  There  are  then  in  these  three  families  twenty-three 
volumes  belonging  originally  to  the  Belpre  Library,  and 
inscribed  with  one  or  the  other  of  the  designations  men- 
tioned above. 

"  We  have  thus  documentary  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  this  library,  which  is  contirmed  by  the  testimony  of 
living  witnesses,  and  by  the  production  of  more  than 
twenty  volumes  having  upon  them  the  original  library 
mark.  How  many  volumes  were  in  the  library  is  not  now 
known.  One  of  those  referred  to  bears  the  number  80. 
From  titles  quoted,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  works  were 
solid  and  good.    The  library  was  established  as  early  as 


Libraries.  139 

1796,  and  continued  in  operation  for  twenty  years  or 
more. 

'"  That  the  settlers  of  the  Ohio  Company  thus  established 
two  libraries  at  a  very  early  day  can  not  be  disputed. 
And  the  communities  where  they  were  established  were 
both  such  as  we  might  expect  in  intelligence  and  charac- 
ter. A  large  number  of  the  present  families  of  Belpre 
are  the  descendants  of  the  early  settlers.  The  ancestors 
of  all  the  families  in  whose  possession  are  the  old  library 
books  were  in  Farmers'  Castle  at  Belpre  during  the  In- 
dian war.  And  so  w^ere  the  ancestors  of  nearly  all  "whose 
names  are  mentioned  in  this  article." 

Several  of  the  volumes  named  by  Dr.  Andrews  w^ere 
exhibited  by  the  owners,  in  the  great  Centennial  Exposi- 
tion at  Cincinnati,  in  the  summer  of  1888. 

The  second  library  collected  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Ohio  river  was  projected  and  organized  by  a  number  of 
gentlemen  on  Saturday,  February  13,  1802,  at  Yeatman's 
Tavern,  Cincinnati.  The  following  subscribers  each  took 
one  or.  more  shares,  at  ten  dollars  a  share,  contributing, 
in  all,  the  sum  of  $340.  The  names  are  Arthur  St.  Clair, 
Peyton  Short,  Cornelius  R.  Sedam,  Samuel  C.  Vance, 
James  Walker,  S.  S.  Kerr,  James  Findlay,  Jeremiah 
Hunt,  Griffin  Yeatman,  Martin  Baum,  C.  Kilgour,  P.  P. 
Stewart,  W.  Stanley,  Jacob  White,  Patrick  Dickey,  C. 
Avery,  John  Reily,  John  R.  Mills^  Jacob  Burnet,  J.  S. 
Findlay,  Joseph  Prince,  David  E.  Wade,  Isaac  Van  Huys, 
Joel  Williams.  The  ''  Cincinnati  Library"  went  into  op- 
eration March  6,  1802,  with  Lewis  Kerr  as  librarian.  It 
is  of  interest  to  know  that  the  above  list  begins  with  the 
name  of  the  governor  of  the  ISTorth-western  Territory, 
General  St.  Clair,  and  that  it  contains  the  name  of  John 
Reily,  first  teacher  in  Ohio,  and  that  of  Judge  Burnet,  the 
author  of  "  Burnet's  Xotes." 

More  interesting  in  its  history  than  either  of  the  libra- 
ries mentioned  is  the  celebrated  '^  Western  Library,"  or 
"  Coonskin  Library,"  of  Ames  township,  Athens  county, 
Ohio.  Ephraim  Cutler,  son  of  Manasseh  Cutler,  Sylvanus 
Ames,  father  of  Bishop  Ames,  and  Benjamin  Brown,  the 


140  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

revolutionary  soldier  were  among  the  organizers  of  this 
library.  Mr.  Walker,  in  his  "  History  of  Athens  County," 
says:  "  Some  of  the  settlers  were  good  hunters,  and^there 
being  a  ready  market  for  furs  and  skins,  which  were 
bought  by  the  agents  of  John  Jacob  Astor  and  others, 
they  easily  paid  their  subscriptions.  Mr.  Samuel  Brown, 
who  was  soon  to  make  a  trip  to  Boston  in  a  wagon, 
would  take  the  furs  and  skins  intended  for  the  purchase 
of  books  and  bring  back  the  books  in  return-  His  trip 
was  unavoidably  delayed  longer  than  he  expected,  but  in  . 
the  summer  of  1803  he  went  to  Boston  with  the  furs,  etc., 
with  which  he  purchased  the  first  installment  of  books. 
These  books  cost  $73.50,  and  comprised  the  following: 
^  Robertson's    North    America,'    '  Harris'    Encyclopaedia,' 

*  Morse's  Geography,'  ^Adam's  Truth  of  Eeligion,'  '  Gold- 
smith's Works,'  'Evelina,'  'Children  of  the  Abbey,' 
'  Blair's  Lectures,'  '  Clark's  Disclosures,'  '  Ramsey's  Amer- 
ican Revolution,'  '  Goldsmith's  Animated  Nature,'  '  Play- 
fair's  History  of  Jacobinism,'  'George  Barnwell,'  'Ca- 
milla,' '  Beggar  Girl,'  and  some  others.  Later  purchases 
included  Shakespeare,  '  Don  Quixote,'  '  Locke's  Essays,' 

*  Scottish  Chiefs,' '  Josephus,' '  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations,' 

*  Spectator,'  '  Plutarch's  Lives,'  'Arabian  Nights,'  and 
^  Life  of  Washington.'"  A  pleasant  anecdote  associates 
the  name  of  Thomas  Ewing  with  the  organization  of  the 
"  Coonskin  Library."  It  is  related  that  while  a  boy  Ewing 
used  to  carry  books  to  the  field  and  read  aloud  to  the 
workhands,  and  that  the  rumor  of  this  caused  the  neigh- 
bors to  make  up  a  purse  of  $100  to  buy  a  library,  the 
young  reader  contributing  ten  coon -skins  to  forward  the 
project. 

The  transubstantiation  of  rattlesnakes  into  bacon,  "for 
the  posterity  of  Adam,"  which  so  impressed  Carlyle's  im- 
agination, is  not  so  striking  and  suggestive  as  this  change 
and  conservation  of  the  force  of  traps  and  gunpowder 
into  printed  thought. 

The  second  public  library  of  Cincinnati  was  opened  in 
1814.  Rare  copies  exist  of  a  "  Systematic  Catalogue  of 
Books  Belonging  to  the  Circulating  Library  of  Cincinnati, 


Libraries.  141 

to  which  are  prefixed  au  Historical  Preface,  the  Act  of  In- 
corporation and  By-Laws  of  the  Society.  Published  by 
order  of  the  Board  of  Directors.  Cincinnati ;  Printed  by 
Looker,  Palmer  and  Reynolds,  1816."  The  ''  Historical 
Preface,"  evidently  prepared  by  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  presi- 
dent of  the  society,  tells  us  that,  "  in  the  autumn  of  1808, 
several  persons  desirous  of  seeing  a  public  library  estab- 
lished in  Cincinnati,  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  applying 
to  the  legislature  of  the  state  for  a  law  of  incorporation ;" 
that  a  petition  and  draft  of  the  bill  were  forwarded,  but, 
"  for  reasons  not  discovered  to  the  petitioners,  their  prayer 
was  not  granted;"  that  in  1811  "the  project  was  again  re- 
vived and  a  subscription  paper  circulated  by  George 
Turner,  Esq.,  with  considerable  success."  A  meeting  of 
subscribers  was  held,  a  constitution  adopted,  and  finally  a 
charter  of  incorporation  was  secured.  The  "Preface" 
goes  on  to  record  that,  "  on  the  sixteenth  of  April,  1814, 
the  library  containing  little  over  three  hundred  volumes 
was  opened.  To  eifect  an  immediate  increase  of  this  di- 
minutive collection  was  regarded  as  a  great  desideratum; 
and  in  addition  to  a  pressing  call  for  the  unpaid  subscrip- 
tions, the  directors  resolved  upon  and  succeeded  in  bor- 
rowing from  several  persons  small  sums  of  money  on  a 
credit  of  three  years  without  interest,  and  of  purchasing 
from  others  a  number  of  valuable  books  on  the  same 
terms."  The  first  purchase  of  books,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  volumes,  was  made  at  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of 
1815.  Li  the  same  year,  "  the  trustees  of  Miami  Univer- 
sity authorized  a  committee  of  that  board  to  examine  the 
books  belonging  to  that  institution  and  dispose  of  such  as 
were  not  essential  to  its  library.  Of  the  books  thus  re- 
jected, a  committee  of  the  directors  of  the  Library  Society 
purchased,  on  credit,  one  hundred  volumes,  many  of  which 
are  well  suited  to  the  popular  tastes."  "  In  the  autumn  the 
board  vested  one  of  its  members,  about  to  visit  the  eastern 
cities,  with  discretionary  power  to  purchase  books.  The 
fruits  of  this  delegation  were  about  four  hundred  volumes, 
among  which  are  many  rare  and  valuable  works."  The 
interesting  document  we  quote  is  dated  October  17,  1816, 


142  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

and  signed  by  Daniel  Drake,  president,  and  Jesse  Embree, 
secretary.     The  preface  concludes  as  follows  : 

"  For  the  present  year  it  has  been  found  absolutely  nec- 
essary to  increase  the  annual  assessments  ($1)  a  hundred 
per  cent.  To  this  measure  no  reasonable  shareholder  will 
object  after  a  moment's  reflection.  In  all  similar  institu- 
tions there  is  a  contribution  of  this  kind,  and  in  most  of 
those  with  which  the  directors  have  any  acquaintance,  it 
is  greater  than  that  under  consideration.  Without  it  no 
public  library  can  flourish." 

The  directors  of  the  Circulating  Library  in  1816  were: 
Daniel  Drake,  Jesse  Embree,  William  8.  Hatch,  Thomas 
Peirce,  Peyton  S.  Symmes,  David  Wade,  Micajah  T.  Will- 
iams.    The  librarian  was  David  Cathcart. 

The  library  contained  about  one  thousand  four  hundred 
volumes,  value  estimated  at  three  thousand  dollars.  The 
books  were  classified  in  the  catalogue  under  these  heads  : 
Arts  and  Sciences,  Agriculture  and  Veterinary  Art,  Bot- 
any and  Medicine,  Biography,  Chemistry,  Mineralogy  and 
the  Arts,  Drama,  Education,  Geography  and  Topography, 
Oivil  History,  Law  and  Politics,  Moral  Philosophy,  Mili- 
tary Tactics,  Modern  Classics,  Miscellany,  IN'atural  His- 
tory, Philosophy  and  Mathematics,  Kovels,  Political  Econ- 
omy, Statistics  and  Commerce,  Philology,  Periodical 
Works,  Poetry,  Theology  and  Ecclesiastical  History,  Voy- 
ages and  Travels,  Donations. 

Among  the  donors  to  this  ambitious  collection  were : 
Christopher  Anthony,  S.  D.  Baldwin,  Wm.  H.  Burton, 
William  Corry,  Daniel  Drake,  Prof.  Hosack  of  [N'ew  York, 
William  S.  Hatch,  Samuel  Lowry,  James  H.  Looker, 
Prof.  E.  D.  Mansfield,  of  the  Military  Academy,  West 
Point,  Josiah  Meigs  of  Washington,  Richard  Marsh, 
Thomas  Rawlins,  Peyton  S.  Symmes,  Cleves  Short,  and 
David  Wade. 

In  the  departments  of  history,  law,  and  theology,  this 
early  library  was  well  supplied.  It  contained,  in  biogra- 
phy: Bosweirs  "Johnson,"  Johnson's  "  Poets,"  Marshall's 
"  Washington,"  Roscoe's  "  Lorenzo  de  Medici,"  Southey's 
"Nelson,"  Voltaire's  "Peter  the   Great"  and  "Charles 


Libraries.  143 

XII."  Under  the  head  Modern  Classics,  it  included  "  The 
Adventurer,"  ^'  The  Tattler,"  "  The  Spectator,"  "  The 
Guardian,"  '''The  Eambler,"  the  works  of  Bacon,  Beatty, 
Sterne  and  Swift,  Johnson's  '•'  Rasselas,"  and  Irving's 
*•'  Salmagundi."  Fiction  and  poetry  were  represented  by 
Edgeworth,  Hannah  More,  Madam  D'Arblay,  Madam  De 
Stael,  Cervantes,  Mrs.  Opie,  Henry  Brooks,  Smollett, 
Mackenzie,  Rousseau,  Miss  Porter,  Mrs.  Holfland,  Hol- 
croft,  Goldsmith,  Akenside,  Beattie,  Barlow,  Butler, 
Burns,  Bloomfield,  Byron,  Crabbe,  Cowper,  Campbell, 
Darwin,  Dryden,  Freneau,  Gray,  Hogg,  Homer,  House, 
Moore,  Montgomery,  Pope,  Southey,  Thompson,  Trum- 
bull, Scott. 

Some  of  the  by-laws  of  the  Circulating  Library  Society 
are  curious  in  the  minute  stringency  of  detail.  For  ex- 
ample : 

"  Every  shareholder  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  from  the 
library  two  volumes  for  each  share  he  may  hold  therein. 

"All  persons  are  debarred  from  the  privilege  of  lending 
any  book  taken  out  of  the  library  to  a  non-shareholder; 
under  the  penalty  of  one  dollar  for  every  such  offense. 

"  The  time  for  detaining  a  book  out  of  the  library  shall 
be :  for  a  duodecimo,  or  any  number  of  a  periodical  jour- 
nal, one  week ;  for  an  octavo,  two  weeks ;  for  a  quarto, 
three  weeks ;  for  a  folio,  four  weeks.  And  if  any  book 
be  not  returned  according  to  the  time  specified,  there 
shall  be  paid  a  fine  of  six  and  one-quarter  cents  for  a  duo- 
decimo, twelve  and  a  half  cents  for  an  octavo,  and  twenty- 
five  cents  for  a  quarto  or  folio  volume ;  and  the  fines  shall 
be  respectively  doubled  on  every  succeeding  week,  until 
they  shall  amount  to  the  value  of  the  book.  Provided, 
that  the  above  periods  be  extended  two  weeks  to  persons 
resident  in  the  country. 

"A  deposit  of  Jive  dollars  shall  be  made  with  the  librarian 
by  every  shareholder,  on  receiving  a  volume  of  the  '  Cy- 
clopsedia'  (Rees),  Wilson's  '  Ornithology,'  or  the  'English 
and  Classical  Dictionary.' " 

Mansfield  and  Drake's  "  Cincinnati  in  1826  "  informs  us 
that  the  Circulating  Library  "  is  kept  in  one  of  the  lower 


144  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

rooms  of  the  college  edifice,  where  access  may  be  had  to 
it  every  Saturday  afternoon."  The  "  college  edifice"  was 
the  original  Cincinnati  College  building,  first  known  as 
the  Lancastrian  Seminary,  from  the  fact  that  a  large 
school  on  the  Lancastrian  method  was  conducted  there  in 
1816  by  Edmund  Harrison,  under  the  presidency  of  Jacob 
Burnet,  author  of  "  Notes  on  the  Northwestern  Territory." 
Eventually,  for  some  reason  unknown  to  the  writer,  the 
books  were  boxed  up  and  packed  away  in  the  cellar  of  a 
bookstore  on  Main  street.  Here  they  remained  for  sev- 
eral years,  gathering  dampness  and  mold,  until  Rev.  J.  H. 
Perkins,  author  of  the  invaluable  "  Western  Annals,"  as- 
sumed the  responsibility  of  overhauling  the  boxes,  and 
bringing  their  neglected  contents  to  the  light.  The  treas- 
ured volumes  of  "Wilson's  Ornithology"  fell  to  pieces  of 
their  own  weight.  Such  of  the  books  as  were  in  tolerable 
condition  were  selected  and  placed  on  the  shelves  of  the 
library  of  the  Ohio  Mechanics'  Institute,  a  harbor  des- 
tined to  receive  the  drifting  remnants  of  several  pioneer 
<jollections.  The  history  of  the  Circulating  Library  re- 
flects vividly  the  kind  and  degree  of  culture  possessed  by 
the  Queen  City  of  the  West  in  her  ambitious  youth.  The 
kind  was  practical,  the  degree  high  enough  to  grasp  the 
relations  of  reading  to  academic  training,  and  to  stimulate 
several  original  literary  enterprises.  The  Seminary,  which 
grew  up  with  the  library  and  was  nourished  by  it,  was  the 
first  important  school  in  the  city.  The  men  whose  pro- 
vincial enthusiasm  over  a  few  hundred  books  provokes  a 
smile,  included  in  their  number  some  authors  not  to  be 
despised. 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  this  library  society,  the 
entire  population  of  the  Queen  City  was  less  than  six 
thousand.  In  1813,  according  to  a  census  taken  by  order 
of  the  town  council,  the  population  was  only  four  thou- 
sand. However,  there  was  a  high  degree  of  intelligence 
among  the  citizens,  and  a  zealous  public  spirit.  Many  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Cincinnati  were  educated  persons,  and 
had  a  correct  appreciation  of  the  value  of  books,  schools, 
and  like  means  of  intellectual  cultivation.     The  decade 


Libraries.  145 

extending  from  1810  to  1820,  which  includes  the  period  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Circulating  Library,  seems  to 
have  been  a  time  of  considerable  literary  activity  and  pro- 
ductiveness in  the  young  metropolis  of  the  Miami  country. 
It  was  then  that  permanent  newspapers  were  established 
here,  then  that  books  were  first  made  in  Ohio,  that  schools 
received  special  attention,  that  libraries  came  into  popular 
demand,  and  that  science  and  art  found  here  true  devotees. 
An  association  for  literary  and  scientific  improvement  was 
established,  under  the  presidency  of  the  accomplished 
Josiah  Meigs. 

Doubtless  the  patient  investigator  might  find  in  the  lo- 
cal records  of  the  older  Ohio  towns  many  traces  of  pioneer 
libraries  formed  under  circumstances  not  unlike  those, 
which  surrounded  the  citizens  of  new-sprung  Marietta, 
Amesville  and  Cincinnati.  The  time  has  come  when, 
resting  from  the  exciting  cares  of  business  life  and  mate- 
rial conquest,  western  people  are  beginning  to  give  atten- 
tion to  the  things  of  the  mind,  and  to  regard  as  important 
not  only  the  history  of  war,  legislation  and  commerce,  but 
also  the  memorials  of  education  and  culture  in  the  back- 
woods. Historical  societies  are  forming  in  almost  every 
important  locality,  and  special  writer  are  busy  reviewing 
the  intellectual  progress  of  our  short  but  busy  past. 

Among  the  quiet  but  enthusiastic  workers  in  the  field 
of  Ohio  history  and  literature,  no  one  is  more  deserving 
of  mention  and  gratitude  than  Robert  W.  Steele,  of  Day- 
ton, Ohio,  who  is  doing  for  his  city  what  R.  T.  Durrett 
has  done  for  Louisville,  in  the  way  of  founding  institu- 
tions and  preserving  records  of  intellectual  history.  For 
many  years  the  head  and  front  of  educational  and  literary 
enterprises  in  Dayton,  Mr.  Steele  may  justly  be  named 
the  soul  of  the  noble  Public  Library,  which  is  the  pride 
of  his  city.  To  the  history  of  Dayton  he  has  furnished  a 
chapter  on  "  Public  Schools  and  Libraries,"  from  which  I 
extract  an  interesting  passage  concerning  the  first  library 
in  Dayton  : 

"  In  1805,"  says  Mr.  Steele,  "  the  citizens  of  Dayton  ob- 
10 


146  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

tained  from  the  legislature  the  first  act  of  incorporation 
for  a  public  library  granted  by  the  State  of  Ohio.  The 
incorporators  were  Rev.  William  Robertson,  Dr.  John 
Elliot,  William  Miller,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  and  John 
Folkerth.  A  pamphlet,  stained  and  yellow  with  age,  con- 
taining the  constitution  and  rules  of  this  library — proba- 
bly the  only  copy  in  existence — fortunately  has  been  pre- 
served and  deposited  in  the  public  library.  A  few  of  the 
rules  are  peculiar  and  may  be  worth  presenting : 

"  Damage  done  to  a  book,  while  in  the  hands  of  a  pro- 
prietor, shall  be  assessed  by  the  librarian  at  the  rate  of 
three  cents  for  a  drop  of  tallow,  or  folding  down  a  leaf, 
and  so  in  proportion  for  any  other  damage." 

In  this  day  of  gas  and  electricity,  the  fine  for  a "  drop 
of  tallow  "  is  rather  ludicrous,  but  no  doubt  books  were 
often  injured  in  that  way  when  the  reader  was  compelled 
to  peruse  them  by  the  feeble  light  of  a  tallow-dip.  Libra- 
rians are  aware  that  the  "  folding  down  a  leaf"  is  one  of 
the  common  and  annoying  abuses  of  books  at  the  present 
day. 

Another  rule  prescribes  that  "  the  method  of  drawing 
books  shall  be  by  lot ;  that  is  to  say,  it  shall  be  determined 
by  lottery  who  shall  have  the  first  choice,  and  so  on  for 
each  proprietor."  Unfortunately,  we  have  no  intimation 
how  the  lottery  was  conducted.  Rule  eighteenth  declares 
"  if  a  proprietor  lends  a  book  belons^ing  to  the  library  to 
any  person  who  is  not  a  proprietor,  or  sufiers  a  book  to  be 
carried  into  a  school,  he  or  she  shall  pay  a  fine  equal  to 
the  value  of  one-quarter  of  said  book."  It  is  not  easy  to 
see  what  great  damage  could  result  to  a  book  from  being 
"  carried  into  a  school,"  but  the  whole  tenor  of  the  rulea 
illustrates  the  preciousness  of  books  at  that  early  day,  and 
the  vigilant  care  taken  of  them.  Like  all  libraries  sup- 
ported by  voluntary  subscription,  every  expedient  had  to 
be  resorted  to  to  raise  money.  In  the  Gridiron,  a  satirical 
paper  published  in  Dayton  in  1822,  a  file  of  which  has 
been  preserved  in  the  public  library,  a  play  and  farce  are 
advertised  to  be  given  by  the  Thespian  Society  for  the 
benefit  of  the  library. 


Libraries.  147 

The  library  existed  until  1835,  when  it  was  sold  at  auc- 
tion, as  appears  from  the  following  advertisement  in'che 
Dayton  Journal  of  September  8,  1835 :  "  Library  at  auc- 
tion. The  books  and  book-case  belonging  to  the  Dayton 
Library  Association  will  be  sold  at  auction  at  the  clerk's 
office,  at  2  o'clock  p.  m.,  on  Saturday,  the  12th  inst. 
Henry  Stoddard,  William  Bomberger,  John  W.  Yan 
Cleve,  Committee."  Mr.  Van  Cleve  thus  speaks  of  the 
character  of  the  library :  "  The  number  of  the  books  is 
small,  but  they  are  well  selected,  being  principally  useful 
standard  works,  which  should  be  found  in  all  institutions 
of  this  kind.  Among  them  are  the  '  North  American  and 
American  Quarterly  Reviews  for  the  last  few  years.' 
Who  can  doubt  that  this  library,  during  the  thirty  years 
of  its  existence,  was  of  inestimable  value  to  the  citizens 
of  Dayton  ?" 

An  account  of  the  early  libraries  of  Indiana  will  be 
found  in  the  chapter  on  Yincennes. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    HISTORICAL    AND    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY   OF 

OHIO. 

In  1822  an  effort  was  made  to  form  an  Ohio  historical 
society.  The  legislature  passed  an  act  of  incorporation, 
but  the  society  failed  to  organize.  Nine  years  later  the 
project  was  revived,  and  on  the  11th  of  February,  1831, 
the  Historical  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Ohio  was 
chartered.^  The  body  was  organized  at  Columbus,  Ohio, 
December  31,  1831,  by  the  adoption  of  a  code  of  by-laws 
and  the  election  of  Benjamin  Tappan  president;  Ebenezer 


^  The  following  is  a  list  of  charter  members :  Benjamin  Tappan,  John 
C.  Wright,  and  Dr.  John  Andrews  of  Steubenville ;  Arius  Xye  and  Dr. 
S.  P.  Hildreth,  of  Marietta;  Appleton  Downer,  Dr.  T.  Planner,  and  E. 
Buckingham,  of  Zanesville  ;  Thomas  James,  B.  G.  Leonard,  and  James 
T.  AVorthington,  of  Chillicothe ;  Gustavus  Swan,  John  M.  Edmiston, 
Alfred  Kelly,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Piatt,  of  Columbus ;  Joseph  Sullivant, 
of  Franklinton;  Dr.  E.  Cooper,  of  Newark;  R.  H.  Bishop,  Thomas 
Kelly,  and  James  McBride,  of  Butler  county ;  Dr.  J.  Cobb,  Dr.  Elijah 
Slack,  X.  Longworth,  John  P.  Foote,  and  Timothy  Flint,  of  Cincinnati ; 
John  Sloan,  of  Wayne  county ;  Ebenezer  Lane,  of  Huron  county,  and 
William  Wall,  of  Athens. 


148  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Lane  and  Rev.  William  Preston,  vice-presidents;  Alfred 
Ke'ly,  corresponding  secretary ;  P.  B.  "Wilcox,  recording 
secretary ;  John  W.  Campbell,  treasurer ;  and  G.  Swan, 
Edward  King,  S.  P.  Hildretli,  B.  G.  Leonard,  and  J.  K. 
Kirtland,  curators. 

Among  the  leading  members  of  the  society  in  its  first 
years,  beside  the  above,  w^ere  J.  C.  Wright,  James  Hoge, 
Arius  Nye,  C.  B.  Goddard,  Joseph  Sullivant,  J.  R. 
Swan,  N".  H.  Swayne,  M.  Z.  Kreider,  J.  H.  James,  I.  A» 
Lapham,  J.  Ridgeway,  Jr.,  R.  Thompson,  William  Awl, 
Jacob  Burnet,  J.  Delafield,  Jr.,  J.  B.  Thompson,  J.  W. 
Aildrews,  W.  D.  Gallagher,  T.  L.  Hamer,  J.  L.  Miner, 
William  Wall,  and  Simeon  Nash.  Benjamin  Tappan  filled 
the  office  of  president  until  1836,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Ebenezer  Lane,  who  gave  place  to  Jacob  Burnet  in 
1838.  During  all  these  years  P.  B.  Wilcox  was  recording 
secretary,  and  Alfred  Kelly  was  corresponding  secretary 
until  1836.  J.  C.  Wright  was  chosen  president  in  1841, 
an^  was  continued  in  the  office  until  1844,  at  which  date 
Judge  Burnet  was  again  elected. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  December,  1832,  the  presi- 
dent, Benjamin  Tappan,  gave  an  address  on  the  general 
objects  of  the  society,  and  S.  P.  Hildreth  read  a  paper  on 
"  Floods  in  the  Ohio  River."  In  1833  Hon.  Ebenezer  Lane 
delivered  the  annual  address.  In  1834  the  annual  address 
was  by  J.  H.  James,  and  a  paper  was  read  by  Joshua 
Malin,  on  the  "  Meteoric  Phenomena  of  November  13, 
1833,"  and  Mr.  G.  H.  Flood  pronounced  a  eulogy  on  the 
life  and  labors  of  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Connor.  In  December, 
1837,  Hon.  Timothy  Walker  delivered  the  annual  address, 
and  Mr.  J.  Delafield  presented  a  series  of  letters  from  Hon. 
Jacob  Burnet. 

The  society  in  1838  issued  its  first  publication,  a  pam- 
phlet of  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  pages,  entitled  **  Jour- 
nal of  the  Historical  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Ohio," 
containing  Volume  I,  Part  I,  of  the  Transactions  of  the 
Society.  It  includes  the  act  of  incorporation,  by-laws,  list 
of  officers  for  1838,  the  annual  address  of  Tappan  and  of 
James,  Hildreth's  paper  on  the   "Floods  in  the  Ohio 


Libraries.  149 

River,"  a  "  Brief  History  of  the  Settlement  of  Dayton," 
by  John  W.  Van  Cleve ;  a  "  Brief  Description  of  Wash- 
ing County,  Ohio,"  by  a  member,  and  papers  by  James 
McBride  on  the  "  Topography,  Statistics,  and  History  of 
Oxford,  and  the  Miami  University,"  and  on  "Ancient 
Fortifications  in  Butler  County,  Ohio." 

In  1839  the  second  part  of  the  first  volume  of  transac- 
tions was  published,  containing  addresses  by  Timothy 
Walker,  James  H.  Perkins,  James  T.  Worthington,  and 
Arius  [N'ye  ;  a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  J.  Delafield, 
Jr.,  by  Jacob  Burnet,  on  the  settlement  of  the  ITorth-west 
Territory,  and  an  address  on  the  aborigines  of  the  Ohio 
Valley,  by  W.  H.  Harrison. 

In  1841  Charles  Whittlesey  delivered  an  address  on  the 
expedition  of  Lord  Dunmore,  of  Virginia,  against  the  In- 
dian towns  on  the  Scioto  in  1774.  The  next  annual  meet- 
ing was  held  in  1844.  At  that  meeting  Mr.  J.  SuUivant 
was  chosen  corresponding  secretary  and  curator.  I  am 
able  to  furnish  an  interesting  letter  from  Mr.  Sullivant, 
written  from  Columbus,  March  11,  1869,  and  giving  a  his- 
tory of  the  transfer  of  the  Historical  and  Philosophical 
Society  to  Cincinnati,  an  event  which  took  place  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1849. 

Mr.  Sullivant  wrote: 

"  I  was  one  of  the  incorporators  named  in  the  char- 
ter, and  attended  every  meeting  ever  held  in  Columbus ; 
was  an  ofiicer  and  curator  of  the  society,  and  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  of  its  meetings  was  ever  held  in  Cincin- 
nati previous  to  its  singular  and  informal  transfer,  the  his- 
tory of  which  I  now  propose  to  give.  After  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  society,  the  annual  meetings  and  elections 
were  held  at  Columbus  in  the  winter,  during  the  sitting  of 
the  legislature,  at  which  time  new  members  were  proposed 
and  voted  for,  some  of  them  paying  the  initiation  fee,  and 
seldom  or  never  attending  afterward,  or  keeping  member- 
ship by  their  annual  subscription.  And  so  it  went  on 
from  year  to  year — an  annual  address,  proposing  new  mem- 
bers, and  occasionally  listening  to  original  papers  on  local 
history;  but  it  is   a   fact   that  very  few  of  these   papers 


150  Literacy  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

actually  passed  the  possession  of  the  society,  being  re- 
tained by  the  writers  or  withdrawn  under  some  plea  of  al- 
teration or  revision.  The  meetings  were  usually  in  the 
representatives'  hall  in  the  old  state  house,  the  last  two 
at  the  iN'eil  House,  and  the  one  at  which  the  transfer  was 
made  in  a  little  bedroom  third  story  of  the  same  hotel. 
The  first  case  belonging  to  the  society  was  set  up  in  the 
old  room  of  the  canal  commissioners'  ofiice  when  I.  A. 
Lapham  was  clerk,  and  this  case  was  well  filled  with  min- 
erals, shells,  fossils,  antiquities,  and  specimens  of  natural 
history  by  Judge  Benjamin  Tappan,  Lapham,  and  myself. 
Of  books  and  pamphlets,  Tappan  and  I  deposited  a  num- 
ber on  science,  early  histories,  and  antiquities,  but  other 
than  these,  few  were  received  except  from  the  general 
government,  which  sent  many  volumes  of  state  papers, 
surveys,  reports,  etc.  These  books  and  collections  were 
moved  about  from  place  to  place,  and  finally  pilfered  and 
scattered  beyond  recovery,  with  the  exception  of  two 
hundred  and  three  moderate-sized  boxfuls,  which  were 
turned  over  to  a  Mr.  Randall,  and  he  it  was  who  first  pro- 
posed and  most  importunately  and  persistently  urged  the 
the  removal  of  the  society  to  Cincinnati.  Mr.  Randall,  I 
believe,  went  to  California  and  died  there.  As  has  already 
been  said,  most  of  the  papers  read  before  the  society 
were  upon  local  history  and  antiquities,  such  as  mounds 
and  earthworks.  The  few  prepared  on  natural  history 
were  so  coldly  received  as  to  discourage  the  few  of  us  en- 
gaged on  those  researches,  and  of  course  these  papers  did 
not  pass  under  the  control  of  the  society. 

"  I  well  remember  when  the  names  of  William  McClure, 
the  father  of  American  geology,  and  of  Thomas  Say,  the 
distinguished  naturalist,  both  well  known  and  appreciated 
in  Europe,  were  proposed  for  membership.  It  was  only 
after  a  good  deal  of  explanation  and  some  discussion  that 
they  were  voted  in. 

"  It  will  be  perceived  tliat  the  society  never  had  much 
vigor  or  vitality,  nor  could  it  scarcely  have  been  expected, 
with  its  members  widely  scattered  and  meeting  but  once 
a  year;  and  finally  even  the  annual  address  failed,  and  its 


Libraries.  151 

meetings  had  ceased  for  two  years  when  Mr.  Randall  came 
during  the  winter  and  after  the  time  of  the  annual  meet- 
ing, and  as  he  said,  on  behalf  of  the  Cincinnati  Historical 
Society,  and  proposed  and  urged  a  union  of  the  two  so- 
cieties. I  was  at  that  time  secretary  and  curator  of  our 
society,  and  had  the  records  in  my  possession,  and  ex- 
plained to  him  that  the  proper  time  was  already  passed, 
and  I  had  no  authority  to  call  a  meeting.  He  still  per- 
sisted, and  as  there  was  but  little  of  value  either  in  books, 
manuscripts,  or  collections,  and  it  was  evident  the  society 
was  failing  of  its  purpose  in  its  then  existing  condition, 
I  thought  there  would  be  no  objections,  provided  it  could 
be  legally  done,  if  the  charter  would  be  of  any  use  to  a 
body  of  active  and  working  members.  Therefore,  I  con- 
sulted here  with  the  nominal  and  residing  members,  and 
with  Mr.  Chase,  w^ho  was  in  the  city  and  likewise  favoring 
the  change  of  locality..  Finding  no  particular  objections, 
I  issued  without  signature  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  0.  H. 
and  P.  Society  at  the  Neil  House. 

"  Here  let  it  be  observed  that  of  all  those  voted  for  as 
members,  a  large  number  failing  to  pay  the  initiation  fee 
and  conform  to  other  requirements  never  really  became 
members.  When,  at  this  time,  Dr.  John  Thompson,  the 
society's  treasurer,  came  to  examine  into  the  matter,  it 
was  found  that  there  were  not  enough  legal  members  to 
fill  the  offices  of  the  society,  for  continued  membership 
depended  on  the  paying  of  an  annual  fee,  and  at  the  time 
of  this  called  meeting,  not  one  person  in  Cincinnati  was 
a  member  under  the  charter  rules  and  regulations,  and  in 
this  city  but  Dr.  Thompson  and  the  writer. 

At  the  hour  appointed,  Dr.  John  Thompson,  as  treas- 
urer, and  myself,  as  secretary,  proceeded  to  Mr.  Randall's 
room,  in  the  l!^eil  House,  where  we  met  Mr.  Randall  and 
Mr.  Chase,  and  then  and  there  handed  over  the  records, 
telling  them  to  make  such  entries  and  records  as  would  give 
the  transfer  a  formal  and  legal  sanction,  and  if  the  records 
noio  show  any  annual  meeting  of  the  society  at  that  time 
in  Cincinnati,  where  the  '  members  of  the  Cincinnati  His- 
torical Society  were  then  elected  members,  and  a  donation 


152  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

of  all  the  property  of  the  Cincinnati  Historical  Society 
was  then  accepted/  I  apprehend  the  entries  were  made  in 
accordance  with  the  above  understanding." 

The  Cincinnati  Historical  Society  was  organized  in 
August,  1844,  with  the  following  officers :  President, 
James  H.  Perkins;  vice-presidents,  John  P.  Foote  and 
William  D.  Gallagher;  recording  secretary,  E.  P.  Norton; 
treasurer,  Robert  Buchanan ;  librarian,  A.  Randall. 
These  continued  in  office  until  1847,  when  the  following 
were  chosen  :  President,  D.  K.  Este  ;  vice-presidents,  J. 
Hall  and  J.  P.  Foote  ;  recording  secretary,  James  H.  Per- 
kins; corresponding  secretar}^  J.  G.Anthony;  librarian, 
A.  Randall.  In  1848,  William  D.  Gallagher  was  made 
president,  with  James  H.  Perkins,  Charles  Whittlesey, 
and  E.  D.  Mansfield  as  vice-presidents. 

In  1847,  Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth  presented  to  the  society  the 
manuscript  of  his  "  Pioneer  History,"  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1848. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Historical  and  Philosophical 
Society  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati  was  held  in  February, 
1849.  Then  the  two  societies  united  ;  the  members  of  the 
Cincinnati  society  were  elected  members  of  the  older  or- 
ganization, and  all  the  property  of  the  Cincinnati  society 
was  donated.  The  election  of  officers  for  the  year  1849 
was  held  March  20th.  The  following  were  elected: 
President,  William  D.  Gallagher ;  vice-presidents,  James 
H.  Perkins,  Edward  D.  Mansfield,  Charles  Whittlesey; 
treasurer,  Robert  Buchanan ;  corresponding  secretary,  A. 
Randall ;  recording  secretary,  Samuel  B.  Munson  ;  libra- 
rian, G.  Williams  Kendall;  curators,  John  C.  Wright, 
John  P.  Foote,  David  K.  Este,  Edwin  R.  Campibell, 
Restore  C.  Carter. 

Early  in  1850  the  constitution  of  the  society  was  recon- 
structed. The  primary  object  of  the  society  was  an- 
nounced to  be  "  research  in  every  department  of  local  his- 
tory, collection,  preservation,  and  diffusion  of  whatever 
may  relate  to  the  history,  biography,  literature,  philosophy, 
and  antiquities  of  America,  more  especially  of  the  state 
of  Ohio,  of  the  West,  and  of  the  United  States."     The 


Libraries,  153 

number  of  curators  was  increased  from  five  to  fifteen. 
The  date  of  the  annual  meeting  was  fixed  for  the  first 
Monday  in  December. 

Mr.  Gallagher  was  re-elected  president  for  1850,  and 
Eobert  Buchanan,  treasurer.  On  the  8th  of  April,  1850,  a 
meeting  was  held  to  commemorate  the  first  settlement  of 
Ohio,  the  sixty-second  anniversary  of  which  fell  on  Sun- 
day, April  7th.  On  that  occasion  Mr.  Gallagher  delivered 
an  elaborate  address  entitled  "  Facts  and  Conditions  of 
Progress  in  the  North-west."  This  was  published  by  the 
society,  with  an  appendix  containing  a  sketch  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  society,  the  constitution,  and  the  report  of 
ofiicers  for  1849.  Hildreth's  '"  Memoirs  of  the  Pioneer 
Settlers  of  Ohio  "  was  published,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
society,  two  years  later. 

The  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  society,  from 
1850  to  1868,  unfortunately,  are  lost.  According  to  the 
best  recollection  of  several  old  members  whom  the  writer 
interviewed  in  1869,  E.  D.  Mansfield  succeeded  Wm.  D. 
Gallagher  as  president,  and  Colonel  Johnson,  the  Indian 
agent,  succeeded  him.  John  P.  Foote  was  the  next  presi- 
dent, and  after  him  Robert  Buchanan  held  the  office  down 
to  1870,  when  Hon.  M.  F.  Force  was  made  president. 

When  the  society  moved  to  Cincinnati,  in  1849,  it 
brought  its  library.  The  books  and  archives  of  the  united 
societies  were  deposited  in  the  front  room  of  the  fourth 
story  of  a  new  brick  building  on  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Race  streets,  Cincinnati.  They  were  removed,  probably 
about  1853,  to  an  apartment  in  the  basement  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati College,  on  Walnut  street,  between  Fourth  and 
Fifth.  John  P.  Foote,  in  his  "  Schools  of  Cincinnati,'^ 
published  in  1855,  says : 

"  The  room  in  the  college  building  devoted  to  the  so- 
ciety's library  and  its  meetings  is  spacious  and  convenient, 
and  the  meetings  which  have  been  held  there  have  gen- 
erally been  remarkably  interesting." 

The  late  George  Graham,  one  of  the  most  eminent  and 
useful  members  of  the  society,  gave  me  his  recollections- 
in  writing,  as  follows  : 


154  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"  It  was  deemed  advisable  by  the  directors  to  discontinue 
the  occupancy  of  the  college,  when  the  books,  manu- 
scripts, etc.,  of  the  library  were  bound  up  and  taken,  I 
think,  to  Mr.  Buchanan's  store.  After  remaining  there 
some  time,  they  were  transferred  to  the  school  library  and 
placed  in  two  alcoves,  where  they  were  to  remain  unmo- 
lested until  called  for  by  the  Historical  Society." 

This  removal  took  place  in  1860,  as  the  records  of  the 
public  library  show.  The  public  library  was  then  in  the 
Mechanics'  Institute  building,  corner  of  Sixth  and  Vine 
streets. 

Hon.  M.  F.  Force,  referring  to  the  struggling  years  of 
the  society  just  after  1852,  says  : 

"  Meetings  were  regularly  held,  and  while  the  attend- 
ance varied,  some  nine  or  ten  members  were  quite  constant 
— E.  D.  Mansfield,  Robert  Buchanan,  George  Graham, 
Peyton  Symmes,  James  Lupton,  J.  G.  Anthony,  Osgood 
Mussey,  John  D.  Caldwell,  A.  li.  Spofiord,  and  ftiyself. 
There  were  constant  though  not  large  accessions  to  the 
library,  and  many  papers  were  read,  some  of  which  were 
published  in  the  newspapers.  .  .  .  Some  members 
have  died,  others  moved  away,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war 
there  were  four  active  members  remaining  in  the  city, 
Robert  Buchanan,  George  Graham,  John  D.  Caldwell, 
and  myself.  Julius  Dexter,  Robert  Clarke,  and  E.  F. 
Bliss  became  interested  in  reviving  the  society.  Some  of 
the  four  survivors,  or  possibly  one,  flocking  by  himself, 
held  a  meeting  and  elected  a  number  of  new  members  in 
May,  1868.  Meetings  were  held  about  in  offices  till  De- 
cember, 1868,  when  an  arragement  was  made  with  the 
Literary  Club,^  and  what  was  left  of  the  library  was  ob- 

*  The  Cincinnati  Literary  Club  was  organized  October  29,  1849,  at  the 
rooms  of  Mr.  A.  R.  Spofford,  now  Librarian  of  Congress.  The  member- 
ship was  originally  limited  to  twenty-five,  was  increased  to  thirty  in 
1851,  afterward  to  thirty -five,  then  to  fifty,  then  to  eighty,  and,  in  1875, 
to  one  hundr.  ,1.  On  April  15,  1861,  the  club  formed  a  military  com- 
pany, the  liiniH  t  Ivities,  and  subsequently  fifty  members  entered  the 
army.  The  following  is  a  list  of  club  members  during  the  first  club 
year  1849:  John  G.  Baker,  Henry  B.  Blackwelh,  D.  L.  Brown,  J.  D. 
Buchanan,  Francis  Collins,  Isaac  C.  Collins,  Nelson  Cross,  W.  M.  Dick- 


Libraries.  155 

tained  from  the  public  library  and  moved  into  the  rooms 
of  the  club." 

At  the  meeting  called  for  reorganization,  May  23,  1868, 
the  following  officers  were  re-elected :  President,  Robert 
Buchanan ;  corresponding  secretary,  M.  F.  Force  ;  record- 
ing secretary,  Charles  E.  Cist ;  librarian,  John  D.  Cald- 
■well.  Robert  Buchanan  was  re-elected  in  1869.  M.  F. 
Force  was  elected  president  in  1870,  and  held  the  office 
until  1889,  when  he  removed  from  Cincinnati,  and  Eugene 
F.  Bliss  was  chosen  to  the  place.  Robert  Clarke  was 
treasurer  from  1869  to  1873,  since  which  he  has  been  cor- 
responding secretary.  E.  F.  Bliss  became  treasurer  in 
1874,  and  held  the  office  till  1885,  when  A.  H.  Chatfield 
succeeded  him.  J.  Mi  J^ewton  was  librarian  in  1869, 
Julius  Dexter  from  1870  to  1880,  Miss  E.  H.  Appleton 
from  1880  to  September,  1886,  since  which  time  the  im- 
portant position  has  been  held  by  Mrs.  C.  W.  Lord. 

The  society  republished,  in  1872,  Part  I,  Volume  1,  of 
its  transactions,  the  Columbus  edition  of  1838  being  out 
of  print.  In  1873  a  new  series  of  publications  was  begun, 
by  the  publication  of  the  "  Journal  of  Captain  John  May." 
The  last  publication,  to  date,  of  the  society,  is  the  "  Jour- 
nal of  David  Zeisberger,"  translated  from  the  German 
manuscript,  with  annotations  by  Eugene  F.  Bliss.  This, 
the  largest  and  most  important  work  yet  issued  by  the 
society,  was  put  forth  in  1885.  The  trustees  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati College  gave  the  society  the  use,  rent  free,  of  five 
rooms  in  the  upper  story  of  the  college  building,  to  which 
the  society  moved  April  1,  1871,  and  where  it  remained 
fourteen  years.  The  growth  of  the  society  in  that  period 
was  constant  and  vigorous.  Contributions  toward  a  build- 
ing fund  and  an  endowment  fund  were  made,  and  care- 


son,  Edwin  D.  Dodd,  Wm.  Ferguson,  Manning  F.  Force,  Israel  Garrard, 
C.  A.  Glass,  Wm.  Guilford,  John  Gundry,  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  John 
W.  Herron,  L,  A.  Hine,  Patrick  Mallon,  Stanley  Matthews,  John  H. 
McDowell,  W.  C.  McDowell,  Charles  C.  Pierce,  M.  L.  Sheldon,  Albert 
Sheppard,  J.  R.  Skinner,  A.  R.  Spoflord,  R.  H.  Stephenson,  A.  S.  Sulli- 
van, H.  G.  Wade,  W.  A.  Warriner,  M.  Hazen  AVhite,  A.  T.  Whittaker, 
J.  K.  Wilson,  P.  C.  Wyeth,  J.  C.  Zachos. 


156  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

fully  invested.  In  the  siiramer  of  1885,  the  society  pur- 
chased a  fine  three-story  building  on  Eighth  street,  No. 
115,  west  of  Race  and  next  to  the  Lincoln  Club  building. 
Formal  possession  was  taken  of  these  commodious  new 
quarters  on  October  15,  1885,  when  the  president,  Hon. 
M.  F.  Force,  delivered  a  short  address,  concluding  with 
the  following  words : 

"We  have  not  moved  into  this  comfortable  home  to 
rest  from  labor.  It  is  only  vantage  ground  for  renewed 
zeal  and  larger  enterprise.  Two  works  on  interesting  and 
obscure  points  in  the  early  history  of  Ohio  are  in  compe- 
tent hands,  and  will  appear  in  due  time.  Twenty  thou- 
sand dollars  are  due  upon  the  purchase  of  the  house,  and 
there  are  only  $1,400  dollars  in  the  building  fund.  The 
deficiency  must  be  made  up.  From  the  experience  of  the 
past,  we  can  trust  to  the  continued  growth  of  the  library. 
The  cabinet  must  be  enlarged.  Ohio  was  the  richest  field 
for  Indian  implements  and  relics  of  the  Mound  Builders, 
but  constant  sale  of  collections  to  the  eastern  states  and 
to  Europe  have  carried  off  nearly  all,  and  what  little  is 
left  is  apt  to  go  in  the  same  way.  New  Mexico  has  in 
like  manner  been  parting  with  objects  illustrating  the  life 
of  the  Pueblo  Indians.  Some  collections  are  left,  which 
can  be  got  for  a  price  small  compared  with  their  real 
value.  Let  us  trust  that  some  hand,  guided  by  wise  lib- 
erality, will  rescue  a  portion  before  the  opportunity  passes 
away  forever. 

"  Members  of  the  society,  press  on  with  unflagging 
zeal.  Let  your  collections  become  so  full  that  they  will 
form  a  monument  worthy  of  the  city  and  the  state — so 
complete  that  no  question  can  arise  concerning  the  history 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  which  can  not  find  an  answer  on  your 
shelves." 

The  object  of  the  society,  as  defined  in  the  present  con- 
stitution, is  to  collect  and  preserve  all  things  relating  to 
the  history  and  antiquities  of  America,  more  especially  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  and  to  diffuse  knowledge  concerning 
them.     I  have  mentioned  the  various  publications  of  the 


Libraries.  157 

society.     It  remains  to  give  some  account  of  the  collec- 
tions of  its  library  and  cabinet. 

The  number  of  volumes  in  the  library  at  the  time  of 
the  removal  from  Columbus  is  not  now  known.  An  ac- 
cession of  about  four  hundred  volumes  was  received  from 
the  Cincinnati  society.  Sometime  between  1849  and 
1855  Mr.  George  T.  Williamson  made  to  the  society  a  do- 
nation of  several  rare  and  costly  works,  chief  of  which 
was  a  set  of  "  Lord  Kinsborough's  Mexican  Antiquities," 
published  at  London,  in  nine  large  folios,  elaborately  il- 
lustrated. The  first  seven  volumes  of  this  magnificent 
publication  are  estimated  to  have  cost  $300,000.  Among 
other  works  understood  to  belong  to  Mr.  Williamson's 
contribution  are  a  number  of  volumes  of  old  English 
chronicles  in  Latin  ;  eleven  volumes  of  English  state  pa- 
pers of  the  time  of  Henry  YIIL;  the  "  ^N'aval  History  of 
Great  Britain,"  by  Hon.  George  Berkley,  a  large  folio  of 
seven  hundred  and  six  pages,  printed  in  1756;  "  Kegister 
of  the  Great  Seal  of  the  Kingdom  of  Scotland  from  1306 
to  1324;"  "Acts  of  the  Lords'  Auditors  of  Causes  and 
Complaints  of  Scotland,  from  1466  to  1494  ;"  "Acts  of  the 
Lords  of  Council  of  Scotland,  from  1478  to  1495,"  and  a 
dozen  or  more  other  volumes  of  proceedings,  ordinances, 
records,  etc.,  relating  to  the  early  history  of  Scotland  and 
England.  Also  the  "  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Colony  of  JSTew  York,"  in  two 
volumes,  covering  a  period  of  seventy-four  years,  from 
1691  to  1751;  the  "Laws  of  :N'ew  York  from  1691  to 
1751 ;"  and  the  "  Laws  of  Maryland,"  by  Thomas  Bacon, 
rector  of  All  Saints'  parish,  in  Frederick  county,  and  do- 
mestic chaplain  in  Maryland  to  the  Right  Honorable 
Frederick  Lord  Baltimore.  All  these  highly  interesting 
works  are  in  the  library  in  a  state  of  good  preservation. 

Besides  the  contributions  of  Mr.  Williamson,  a  number 
of  important  volumes  were  donated  at  about  the  same 
time  by  Mr.  Peter  Force,  of  Washington  City.  Among 
these  are  Mr.  Force's  own  useful  compilations,  the  "  !N"a- 
tional  Calendar,"  in  several  volumes,  dating  from  1820. 
The  Smithsonian  Institute  favored  tlje  society  with  its 


158  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

contributions  to  useful  knowledge,  and  the  national  gov- 
ernment furnished  Schoolcraft's  "  Reports  on  the  Indians," 
and  a  vast  number  of  valuable  documentary  works. 

Some  time  before  the  year  1855,  the  books  of  the  ]^ew 
England  Society,  numbering  about  three  hundred  and 
forty-three  volumes,  were  deposited  with  the  Historical 
Society  and  became  its  property.  The  [N'ew  England  So- 
ciety was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  "  perpetuating  the 
memory  of  early  settlers  of  New  England,"  "  extending 
charity  to  the  needy  of  New  England  birth,  and  their 
widows  and  orphans,"  and  "  promoting  virtue,  knowledge 
and  all  useful  learning."  ^  Timothy  Walker  was  president 
of  the  society  in  1847  and  1848.  The  formation  of  a  his- 
torical and  antiquarian  library  was  undertaken  about  the 
end  of  the  year  1847.  Contributions  in  money  and  books 
were  obtained  from  prominent  New  Englanders  residing 
in  Cincinnati,  and  from  Nathaniel  B.  Shurtliff  and  Samuel 
G.  Drake,  of  Boston.  The  books  include  a  fair  showing 
of  reports  of  various  historical  societies,  especially  of  the 
States  of  Massachusetts,  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and 
Rhode  Island,  with  some  of  Connecticut,  Maryland  and 
Louisiana ;  directories  of  Boston  and  other  cities,  sketches 
of  American  antiquities  and  early  history,  chronological 
statistics,  colonial  records,  accounts  of  early  travel  and  ex- 
ploration, etc. 

When,  in  1869,  the  books  were  removed  from  the  Me- 
chanics' Institute  to  the  rooms  of  the  Literary  Club,  the 
efficient  librarian,  Mr.  J.  M.  Newton,  set  about  overhauling 
and  classifying  the  collection.  The  discovery  of  an  old 
catalogue  revealed  the  loss  of  a  number  of  volumes  and 
many  valuable  manuscripts.  Mr.  Newton  found  that  the 
library  comprised  in  all  700  bound  volumes  and  1,250 
pamphlets. 

*  It  was  chartered  March  1,  1845,  on  the  application  of  Henry  Star, 
Nathaniel  Sawyer,  Bellamy  Storer,  Ephraim  Robins,  Lot  E.  Brewster, 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  R.  D.  Mussey,  Nathan  Sampson,  Edward  D.  Mans- 
field, Lyman  Beecher,  Henry  Crane,  Edmund  Gage,  Calvin  E.  Stowe, 
M.  Flagg,  Alphonso  Taft,  Ira  Athearn,  T.  Woodrough,  C.  K.  Cady,  Jona- 
than Bates,  Charles  Fisher  and  others. 


Libraries,  159 

But  donations  came  in  steadily.  On  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary, 1872,  Mr.  Julius  Dexter,  then  librarian,  began  the 
tedious  task  of  cataloguing  the  growing  collection.  He 
gave,  substantially,  two  years  of  his  time  to  the  work. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  1874,  the  society  owned  4,967 
bound  volumes  and  15,856  pamphlets,  accurately  cata- 
logued and  arranged. 

There  are  at  present  (1890)  in  the  library  10,850  bound 
volumes  and  50,000  pamphlets. 

A  valuable  special  feature  of  the  library  is  that  know^n 
as  the  Centennial  Collection,  presented  by  A.  T.  Goshorn, 
and  comprising  67  volumes,  303  pamphlets,  and  many 
photographs,  etc.,  the  whole  relating  to  international  ex- 
positions, and  particularly  to  the  Philadelphia  Exposition, 
of  1876,  of  which  Mr.  Goshorn  was  manager. 

Another  highly  important  portion  of  the  archives  of  the 
society  is  the  collection  known  as  The  Torrence  Papers, 
donated  by  Aaron  Torrence  in  1885.  The  manuscript 
part  of  this  collection  is  fully  described  in  a  catalogue 
prepared  by  Mr.  Bliss  and  published  in  1887.  A  general 
description  of  the  Torrence  Papers  is  here  quoted  from 
Mrs.  Lord's  report  for  the  year  1886 : 

"  In  the  last  report  of  the  librarian  of  the  society  occurs 
the  name  of  Aaron  Torrence  as  the  giver  of  67  volumes 
and  630  pamphlets;  to  these  are  this  year  added  40 
volumes.  But  printed  matter  was  the  least  part  of  his 
gift.  He  made  over  to  the  society  a  mass  of  letters  and 
documents  of  every  sort.  Related  as  is  his  family  to  the 
Findlays,  the  Harrisons,  the  Whitemans,  the  Irvins,  all  of 
whom  have  been  prominent  in  the  development  of  Cin- 
cinnati, he  had  in'  his  hands  documents  of  the  highest 
value  for  the  local  history  of  our  city  and  going  back 
almost  to  its  foundation.  There  are  the  curious  orders  of 
our  earliest  settlers  and  of  the  o:te.cers  and  soldiers  of  Fort 
Washington  upon  Smith  &  Findlay,  suttlers  or  general 
traders ;  the  orders  and  vouchers  of  the  military  author- 
ities in  the  various  campaigns  against  the  Indians  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century;  many  certificates  of  the  receiver 
in   the   land   office   here ;   the   muster   rolls  of  the  state 


160  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

militia,  and  documents  relating  to  the  War  of  1812. 
There  is  a  great  number  of  letters  received  by  General 
Findlay  when  he  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  hungry 
constituents,  there  are  letters  written  by  Samuel  Torrence 
from  West  Point,  when  he  was  a  cadet  there  in  1823-28, 
letters  from  General  Wayne,  from  General  Wilkinson  and 
from  General  Jessup.  In  this  collection  all  the  prominent 
families  of  the  early  city  and  vicinity  are  represented,  the 
Shorts,  Worthingtons,  Wrights,  Lytles,  Burnets,  Long- 
worths,  Schencks,  Taylors,  Southgates,  Ludlows,  Sloos, 
Mahards,  Bullocks,  Kilgours,  Yeatmans,  Euffins,  Storers, 
Baums,  Buchanans,  Carneals,  Dawsons,  Drakes,  Ham- 
monds, Kempers.  There  are  letters  and  other  papers  of 
President  Harrison  from  the  time  he  was  a  lieutenant  in 
the  army.  There  are  plats  of  the  various  subdivisions  of 
the  city,  legal  documents  of  many  kinds,  specimens  of 
early  paper  money,  invitations  and  visiting  cards,  accounts 
with  individuals  and  lists  of  prices,  a  mine  of  treasure  to 
the  future  investigator." 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges,  161 


CHAPTER  V. 

TEACHERS,  SCHOOLS,  AND  COLLEGES  IN  THE  BACKWOODS. 

The  founders  of  the  American  IN'ation,  whether  residing 
in  ^ew  England,  the  Middle  States,  or  the  South,  were 
advocates  and  promoters  of  popular  education.  Frank- 
lin, Washington,  the  Adamses,  Jefferson,  however  much 
they  might  differ  on  other  questions,  were  united  in  the 
conviction  expressed  hy  Washington  to  Congress,  that 
"  Knowledge  in  every  country  is  the  surest  basis  of  pub- 
lic happiness."  Jefferson's  writings  are  saturated  with 
the  doctrine  that  knowledge  and  thought  are  the  safe- 
guards of  democracy. 

The  celebrated  "  ISTotes  on  the  State  of  Virginia,"  was 
written  in  1781,  and  revised  in  1782,  just  before  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  lirst  American  edition 
was  issued  in  1787,  the  year  of  the  ordinance  which  or- 
ganized the  "  Old  ISTorth-west."  In  the  chapter  on  the 
charters  and  laws  of  Virginia,  Jefferson  outlines  a  plan 
for  the  revisal  of  the  statutes,  embracing  a  proposal  "  To 
establish  religious  freedom  on  the  broadest  bottom,"  and 
"  To  emacipate  all  the  slaves  born  after  the  passing  of  the 
act."  The  chapter  discusses  the  subject  of  education,  and 
concludes  with  this  noble  passage :  "  Every  government 
degenerates  when  trusted  to  the  rulers  of  the  people  alone. 
The  people  themselves,  therefore,  are  its  only  safe  de- 
positories. And  to  render  even  them  safe,  their  minds 
must  be  improved  to  a  certain  degree.  This  indeed  is  not 
all  that  is  necessary,  though  it  be  essentially  necessary. 
An  amendment  to  our  constitution  must  here  come  in 
aid  of  the  public  education.  The  influence  over  govern- 
ment must  be  shared  among  all  the  people." 

With  the  possession  of  intelligence,  Jefferson  associates 
11 


162  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

the  exercise  of  suffrage.  He  exerted  an  active  and  con- 
tinuous influence  in  favor  of  popular  education  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  power  of  his  word  and  example  spread  to 
Kentucky  and  other  parts  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  Mr.  Dunn, 
in  his  history  of  Indiana,  says :  "  If  we  look  to  the  influ- 
ence of  literature,  we  find  nothing  from  the  North  that 
had  more  effect  in  Indiana  than  Jefferson's  ^  Notes  on 
Virginia.'  " 

But  Jefferson  is  by  no  means  entitled  to  all  the  credit 
for  promoting  the  cause  of  education  in  the  South. 

In  the  year  1780,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  passed  "  An 
Act  to  vest  certain  escheated  Lands  in  the  County  of  Ken- 
tucky, in  Trustees  for  a  Public  School."  The  passage  of 
this  bill,  which  was  brought  about  chiefly  by  Colonel  John 
Todd,  led  to  the  founding  of  Transylvania  University,  the 
first  important  college  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  Other  laws 
enacted  by  the  Kentucky  legislature  in  1796,  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  an  academy  in  every  county  of  the 
state,  and  endowed  twenty-six  academies,  each  with  six 
thousand  acres  of  land.  These  academies  were  to  become 
feeders  of  the  great  central  university.  Those  patriots 
who  conceived  the  splendid  project  of  a  school  system 
for  Kentucky,  knew  better  than  they  builded. 

When  the  embattled  farmers  at  Concord  Bridge  "•  fired 
the  shot  heard  round  the  world,"  the  swift  report  flying 
westward,  saluted  the  ears  of  a  party  of  hunters  encamped 
near  the  Kentucky  river.  These,  one  of  whom  was  Simon 
Kenton,  were  genuine  *'  Long  Knives  " — rangers,  clad  in 
garments  stripped  from  the  deer,  the  bear,  and  the  wolf, 
and  armed  with  rifle,  tomahawk,  and  scalping-knife.  By 
patriotic  consent  they  named  the  place  of  their  encamp- 
ment Lexington,  and  four  years  later,  in  April,  1779,  a  vil- 
lage was  begun  on  the  spot.  Founded  but  five  years  after 
Boone  led  the  vanguard  of  immigration  through  Cumber- 
land Gap,  and  broke  the  old  Wilderness  Road  through 
primeval  solitude,  Lexington  is  only  less  ancient  than  a 
few  stations  like  Harrodsburg  and  Boonesborough.  It  is 
now  but  little  over  one  hundred  years  since  the  pioneers 
"  Chopping  out  the  night,  chopped  in  the  morn," 


Teachei^s,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  163 

and  took  the  forest  trees  to  fashion  the  rude  stockade 
which  was  the  beginning  of  the  "Athens  of  the  West." 

A  higher  distinction  than  that  derived  from  its  rapid 
material  growth,  belongs  to  this  town.  Thither  from  the 
East,  with  commerce  went  culture.  Lexington  and  its 
vicinity  formed  the  first  island  of  civilization  in  the  green 
ocean  of  the  western  wilderness.  Just  outside  the  fort, 
the  settlers  built  a  school-house,  perhaps  the  first  in  the 
Ohio  Valley.  The  stockade  was  a  defense  against  sav- 
ages, the  school-house  a  redoubt  against  ignorance,  and  a 
magazine  for  mental  stores.  John  McKinney,  the  school- 
master, deserves  a  monument  or  a  statue.  One  morning, 
John,  waiting  for  his  pupils,  was  surprised  by  a  visit  from 
a  most  unwelcome  examiner,  a  monstrous  wild-cat,  which 
stealthily  came  in  at  the  open  door,  and  sprang  at  the 
pedagogical  throat.  The  unarmed  man  of  letters,  after  a 
terrific  combat,  killed  the  powerful  beast  by  choking  and 
crushing  it  upon  his  desk ;  and  while  its  fierce  teeth  were 
yet  locked  in  the  flesh  of  his  side,  he  said  placidly  to  some 
men  who  rushed  to  his  rescue :,  "  Oentlemen,  I  have 
caught  a  cat."  The  progress  of  civilization  is  symbolized 
by  the  picture  of  McKinney  slaying  the  wild-cat  in  the 
rude  hut  dedicated  to  the  education  of  children.^ 

About  the  year  1783,  there  appeared  upon  the  scene  of 
aftairs  in  Kentucky,  a  schoolmaster  from  the  banks  of  the 
Brandywine — another  John,  whose  figure,  like  that  of 
McKinney,  stands  in  picturesque  relief  in  the  mixed  light 
of  history  and  tradition.  He  wrote  the  first  annals  of 
Kentucky,  and  surveyed  the  first  i^oad  from  Lexington  to 
Cincinnati,  or  Losantiville,  as  he  named  the  town ;  he  it 
was  who,  in  the  Kentucky  Gazette,  proposed  to  organize 
a  seminary  in  Lexington,  in  which  should  be  taught  the 
"  French  language,  with  all  the  arts  and  sciences  used  in 
the  academies,"  for  a  fee  of  '^  five  pounds  per  annum,  one- 
half  cash  and  the  other  property,"  and  who  offended  cer- 
tain citizens  by  announcing  his  intention  to  employ 
"  northern  teachers;  " — John  Pilson,  who,  as  I  have  stated 


'  See  the  author's  "  Footprints  of  the  Pioneers,"  Cincinnati,  1888. 


164  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

in  a  preceding  chapter,  wandered  from  his  comrades,  en- 
camped on  the  northern  shore  of  the  Ohio,  and  took  a 
lonely  walk  in  the  Big  Miami  woods — a  walk  from  which 
he  never  returned. 

The  Virginia  school  act  of  1780  is  in  the  following  lan- 
guage : 

"  Whereas,  it  is  represented  to  this  General  Assembly 
tliat  there  are  certain  lands  within  the  county  of  Ken- 
tucky, formerly  belonging  to  British  subjects,  not  yet  sold 
under  the  law  of  escheats  and  forfeitures,  which  might  be, 
at  a  future  day,  a  valuable  fund  for  the  maintenance  and 
education  of  youth;  and  it  being  the  interest  of  this  Com- 
monwealth always  to  promote  and  encourage  every  de- 
eign  which  may  tend  to  the  improvement  of  the  mind  and 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  even  among  its  remote  citizens, 
whose  situation,  in  a  barbarous  neighborhood  and  a  savage  in- 
tercourse, might  otherwise  render  unfriendly  to  science;  be  it 
therefore  enacted,  that  eight  thousand  acres  of  land  within 
the  said  county,  of  Kentucky  .  .  .  should  be  vested 
in  trustees  as  a  free  donation  from  this  Commonwealth, 
for  the  purpose  of  a  public  school  or  seminary  of  learning, 
to  be  erected  within  said  county  as  soon  as  its  circum- 
stances and  the  state  of  its  funds  will  admit." 

Thus,  fifteen  years  before  lands  were  selected  for  the 
support  of  the  first  college  in  the  North-western  Terri- 
tory, at  Athens,  U.,  the  Virginia  Assembly  provided  en- 
do  wiiimt  for  a  seminary  in  Kentucky.  The  institution 
was  in  practical  operation  in  1785  in  the  private  house 
of  Rev.  David  Rice,  near  Danville.  "  Old  Father  Rice  " 
was  selected  as  the  first  teacher ;  the  school  was  christened 
Transylvania  Seminary,  a  good  name,  meaning,  literally, 
the  nursery  or  seed-plat  beyond  the  woods. 

Three  years  after  its  organization  the  school  was  re- 
moved from  Danville,  the  early  capital  of  the  district  of 
Kentucky,  to  Lexington,  the  real  seat  of  power,  where, 
in  1788,  a  small  two-story  brick  building  was  erected  for 
its  accommodation.  For  the  first  nine  years  the  manage- 
ment of  the  seminary  was  in  the  hands  of  Presbyterians; 
but,  in  1794,  Rev.  Henry  Toulmin,  nominally  a  Baptist, 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  165 

but,  in  fact,  an  English  Unitarian  and  disciple  of  Priestly, 
was  chosen  president. 

The  Presbyterians  started  a  rival  school  at  Pisgah, 
naming  it  Kentucky  Academy.  To  this  institution  $1,000 
were  subscribed  by  friends  of  education  in  the  East. 
Washington  gave  §100  ;  John  Adams,  $100 ;  Aaron  Burr, 
$50.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Gordon,^  of  London,  gave  £80  for  the 
purchase  of  books  and  apparatus. 

The  two  schools  were,  1798,  united  under  the  presi- 
dency of  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  Rev.  James  Moore.  At 
the  same  time  the  institution  was  reorganized,  enlarged, 
and  chartered  as  Transylvania  University.  Lexington 
was  chosen  as  its  permanent  seat.  The  second  president 
was  Rev.  James  Blythe,  D.D.,  whose  administration  ex- 
tended from  1804  to  1818. 

Degrees  were  conferred  by  this  backwoods  university 
as  long  ago  as  1802.'  Yet  it  is  no  disparagement  to  say 
that  during  the  period  from  its  founding  to  1818,  Transyl- 
vania University  was  not  much  superior  to  a  modern  first- 
class  grammar  school.  Just  after  the  close  of  the  war  of 
1812-15,  literary  institutions  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
took  a  new  lease  of  life. 

Dr.  Blythe  was  succeeded  in  December,  1818,  by  Rev. 
Horace  Holley,  LL.D.,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  an 
admirer  and  favorite  of  Pi'esident  Timothy  Dwight.  For 
several  years  he  had  been  pastor  of  Hollis  Street  Unitarian 
Church,  Boston,  and  his  preaching  power  was  much 
praised.  One  of  his  enthusiastic  biographers  claims  that 
in  pulpit  eloquence  he  was  not  surpassed  by  Bossuet  or 
Massilon,  while  he  undoubtedly  excelled  Chalmers  and 
Irving!  All  accounts  agree  that  Holley  was  eloquent, 
learned,  and  handsome.  Timothy  Flint,  who  was  of  the 
same  cloth  and  sect  as  the  doctor,  and  possibly  was 
touched  with  a  slight  jealousy,  wrote  that  "  Dr.  Holley 
was  fond  of  society,  and  not  much  given  to  seclusion ; 

^  Rev.  Wm.  Gordon,  D.D.  (172^1807),  preacher  and  author.  From 
1770  to  1786,  he  was  minister  of  a  church  in  Roxbury,  Mass.  Wrote 
"  History  of  Independency  in  the  United  States." 


166  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

and  yet  he  seemed  to  be  a  living  library,  and  to  have  a 
universal  acquaintance  with  literature." 

The  new  president  was  welcomed  to  his  fresh  field  of 
labor,  where  his  energy  and  many  accomplishments 
wrought  miracles  for  the  university.  His  popularity 
drew  students  from  far.  The  catalogues  for  1823-4-5 
show  an  average  yearly  attendance  of  about  four  hundred. 
The  three  departments  of  literature,  law,  and  medicine 
were  conducted  by  full  faculties  of  eminent  professors. 
At  the  head  of  the  law  school  was  Judge  Jesse  Bledsoe, 
LL.D.  Among  the  medical  teachers  were  Dr.  Samuel 
Brown,  reputed  to  be  the  first  physician  who  practiced 
vaccination  in  the  United  States;  Dr.  Ben.  W.  Dudley, 
the  famous  surgeon ;  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  the  first  prominent 
medical  author  of  the  West,  and  Dr.  Charles  Caldwell,  a 
man  of  varied  talents  and  achievements  in  science  and 
letters,  but  chiefly  noted  as  the  "American  Spurzheim." 

Charles  Caldwell  was  born  in  IN'orth  Carolina  in  the 
year  1772.  lie  was  a  pupil  and  protege  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush,  the  signer;  an  intimate  friend  of  Jefterson  and 
Madison,  and  on  terms  of  familiar  correspondence  with 
Washington.  In  1795,  he  translated  Blumenbacli's  "  Ele- 
ments of  Physiology."  In  1814,  he  succeeded  Nicholas 
Biddle  as  editor  of  the  Port  Folio^  Philadelphia.  He  pub- 
lished a  "  Life  of  Nathaniel  Greene,"  ^  in  1819,  and  in  that 
year  took  up  his  residence  in  Lexington.  He  went  to 
Europe  in  1820  to  purchase  books  and  models  for  the 
medical  school  of  Transylvania.  A  voluminous  author, 
he  wrote  on  various  subjects ;  his  printed  books  comprise 
10,000  pages.  His  writings  are  chiefly  of  a  scientific 
character,  though  he  contributed  to  literature  the  "  Life 
of  Greene,"  a  "Memoir  of  Dr.  Ilolley,"  and  an  entertain- 
ing "Autobiography."  From  1837  to  his  death,  in  1853, 
he  lived  in  Louisville. 

The  literary  department  of  Transylvania  retained  the 
servicea  of  ex-President  Blythe,  who,  in  after  years,  pre- 

»  Greene  (Nathaniel).  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Campaigns  of.  By 
Charles  Caldwell.    Portrait.    8vo.  pp.  452.    Philadelphia,  1819. 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  167 

sided  over  Hanover  College,  Indiana.  R.  H.  Bishop,  who 
subsequently  became  president  of  Miami  University,  was 
professor  of  history  at  Lexington.  He  published  an 
"  Outline  of  the  History  of  the  Church  in  Kentucky,"  in 
1824.  In  the  same  year  Thomas  Johnson  Matthews, 
father  of  Justice  Stanley  Matthews,  was  elected  professor 
of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy  at  Transylvania. 
He  had  been  a  canal  surveyor,  and  in  later  years  taught 
in  Miami  University  and  in  Woodward  College,  now 
Woodward  High  School,  Cincinnati.  A  very  prominent 
figure  in  the  Lexington  Faculty  was  Prof.  C.  S.  Rafinesque, 
who  lectured  on  every  thing  in  general  and  archaeology 
and  natural  history  in  special.  Rafinesque  was  a  Greek, 
a  universal  genius,  whose  very  name  some  of  his  contem- 
poraries ''  considered  synonymous  with  literature  and 
science,"  while  others,  and  especially  those  who  afi:ected 
his  line  of  studies,  suspected  him  of  being  a  humbug  and 
charlatan. 

Constantine  Samuel  Rafinesque,  born  at  Galata,  near 
Constantinople,  in  1784,  came  to  America  in  1802,  returned 
to  Europe  in  1805,  and,  after  spending  ten  years  in  Sicily, 
published  in  French  a  work  called  "  The  Analysis  of  I^a- 
ture."  Sailing  for  ITew  York,  he  was  shipwrecked  on 
Long  Island.  He  resided  a  while  in  I^qw  York,  support- 
ing himself  by  tutoring,  but  came  to  Kentucky,  in  1818, 
on  invitation  of  the  naturalist,  John  D.  Clifford.  He  de- 
scended the  Ohio,  in  an  "  ark,"  from  Pittsburg,  stopping 
at  pleasure  to  botanize  and  to  study  the  shells  and  fishes 
of  the  river. 

At  Henderson,  Kentucky,  he  became  acquainted  with 
J.  J.  Audubon,  the  American  ornithologist.  He  settled 
at  Lexington  in  1819,  and  remained  there  about  seven 
years,  lecturing  in  the  college  on  his  specialties,  and 
teaching  French,  Italian  and  Spanish.  During  these  years 
he  collected  materials  for  a  proposed  work  entitled  "•  Tel- 
lus,  or  the  History  of  the  Earth  and  Mankind,"  which 
was  never  finished.  In  1824  he  published  the  "Ancient 
History  of  Kentucky,"  and  in  1836,  his  "  Life  of  Travels 
and  Researches  in  ^N'orth  America  and  South   Europe." 


168  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Rafinesque  died  in  Philadelphia  in  1842.  It  is  recorded  of 
him  in  Collinses  "  Kentucky,"  that  he  claimed  to  be  "  a 
botanist,  naturalist,  conchologist,  geologist,  geographer, 
ethnographer,  philologist,  historian,  antiquarian,  poet, 
philosopher,  economist,  and  philanthropist;  also,  a  trav- 
eler, merchant,  manufacturer,  collector,  improver,  pro- 
fessor, teacher,  surveyor,  draughtsman,  engineer,  author, 
editor,  bookseller,  librarian,  secretary,  and  chancellor." 

Another  professor  in  Transylvania  was  Dr.  Joseph 
Buchanan  (born  1785,  died  1829).  He  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  his  eminent  son,  Dr.  Joseph  Rhodes  Bu- 
chanan, who  was  born  in  Frankfort,  Ky,  in  1814,  and  who 
was  editor  of  the  "  Journal  of  Man  "  and  originator  of  a 
system  of  "Anthropology."  Joseph  Buchanan  was  the 
author  of  a  volume  on  the  "  Philosophy  of  Human  Na- 
ture," published  in  1812.  He  is  credited  with  being  the 
first  to  introduce  into  Kentucky  the  Pestalozzian  method 
of  teaching.  He  edited  the  Lexington  Reporter,  the 
Frankfort  Palladium,  and  the  Cincinnati  Literary  Cadet; 
and,  in  1826,  projected  the  Louisville  Focus,  which  was 
merged  in  the  Journal  of  George  D.  Prentice. 

E.  D.  Mansfield  said  of  Dr.  Holley  and  his  associates : 
"Altogether,  a  greater  array  of  strength,  of  brilliant  tal- 
ents and  wide  reputation,  has  scarcely  ever  been  collected 
atone  time  and  in  one  institution."  The  fame  of  Tran- 
B^ivania  went  abroad,  and  numerous  visitors,  native  and 
foreign,  made  pilgrimage  to  Lexington  to  honor,  and  to 
be  honored  by,  the  colleges.  Governor  Barry,  President 
Monroe,  and  General  Jackson  were  among  Dr.  HoUey's 
distinguished  guests.  The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  wended 
bis  triumphal  way  to  Lexington,  where  he  was  formally 
received  at  the  university,  in  a  glowing  address  by  the 
president.  Lord  Stanley,  Earl  of  Derby,  also  journeyed 
throagh  the  "  blue  grass  "  to  interview  the  professors  and 
study  the  workings  of  the  wonderful  backwoods  institu- 
tion of  learning. 

The  college  library  was  one  of  the  largest  and  best  in 
the  United  States.  A  portion  of  its  classical  and  miscel- 
laneous collection  was   selected    by  a  no  less  competent 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  169 

scholar  than  Edward  Everett.  The  medical  books  were 
procured  in  Europe  by  Dr.  Caldwell.  The  university  pos- 
sessed an  anatomical  museum,  a  cabinet  of  specimens  in 
natural  history,  and  a  botanical  garden. 

In  1823  a  literary  society,  called  the  Kentucky  Institute, 
was  established  at  Lexington.  The  membership  was  lim- 
ited to  twenty-four,  and  half  of  these  were  college  pro- 
fessors. It  was  a  rule  of  the  society  that  at  least  one 
essay  or  paper  should  be  read  and  discussed  every  week* 
Some  of  the  themes  presented  were :  "  The  Manufacture 
of  Pottery  Earthenware  and  China  in  Kentucky,"  by 
Charles  Humphreys ;  "  The  Manufactory  of  Whisky  and 
Gin,"  by  the  same ;  "  The  Shawanoe  E'ation  "  and  "  Geol- 
ogy of  Kentucky,"  by  Prof.  Ratinesque ;  ''  The  Peculiar 
Manners  of  the  Inhabitants  of  IsTorth  Virginia,"  by  Dr. 
Ilolley  ;  "  The  Theory  of  Language,"  by  Mr.  Butler ;  ''  The 
Atomic  Theory,"  by  Mr.  Best ;  "  The  Influence  of  Climate 
upon  Character,"  by  Dr.  Drake ;  ''  Roads  and  Schools  in 
the  West,"  by  Mr.  R.  Wicklitfe. 

In  1827  Dr.  Ilolley  resigned,  on  account  of  violent  ob- 
jection to  his  theological  views.  Dr.  Alva  Woods,  D.D., 
who  had  been  at  the  head  of  Brown  University,  wa& 
called  to  the  Kentucky  institution,  and  though  he  was  an 
able  man,  the  literary  department  of  Transylvania  stead- 
ily declined.  The  palmy  da3'S  of  the  college  had  already 
passed.  Sectarian  differences  divided  public  sentiment* 
The  Presbyterians  centered  their  forces  at  Danville,  where 
Center  College  and  the  Theological  School,  incorporated 
in  January,  1819,  soon  rose  to  prominence.  From  1842  ta 
1849,  Transylvania  University  was  a  Methodist  College, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  influential  Rev.  Henry  Bas- 
com.  In  1849  the  state  resumed  control  of  the  institution ^ 
which,  in  1856,  was  reorganized  with  a  normal  depart- 
ment, under  the  charge  of  Rev.  L.  W.  Green.  But  the 
college  did  not  flourish.  After  a  languishing  existence  of 
ten  years,  it  was  merged  into  Kentucky  University  in 
1865. 

The  alumni  of  old  Transylvania  are  numbered  by  hun- 
dreds, and  many  of  them  won  distinction  in  public  life,. 


170  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

and  in  the  professions  of  law,  medicine  and  journalism. 
Jefferson  Davis  was  a  son  of  this  Lexington  "  alma  mater," 
having  taken  his  degree  in  1824. 

Among  the  prominent  graduates  may  be  mentioned  Dr. 
Joseph  Buchanan,  Dr.  Benj.  W.  Dudley,  Wm.  T.  Barry, 
Jesse  Bledsoe,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Chas.  S.  Morehead, 
Thomas  F.  Marshall,  Chas.  A.  Wicklifte,  Richard  H. 
Menifee  and  John  Rowan. 

"We  linger,  with  peculiar  interest,  upon  the  early  history 
of  Transylvania.  A  Kentucky  annalist  has  truly  and  im- 
pressively written  that  in  the  first  years  of  its  career  the 
college  "  was  often  disturbed  by  the  yell  of  the  Indian  and 
the  crack  of  his  rifle,"  and  that  "  troops  were  almost  con- 
stantly needed  for  defense,  and  even  the  women  and  chil- 
dren had  to  bear  their  part  in  defending  the  settlements 
against  savages.  The  roll  of  the  drum  called  many  a 
youth  from  the  quiet  of  the  school-house,  and  the  turbu- 
lence of  the  times  often  forced  him  to  exchange  books  for 
rifle  and  tomahawk." 

But  the  college  grew  apace,  and  the  town  of  Lexington 
led  the  march  of  western  civilization.  When  Kentucky 
became  a  state,  Lexington  was  made  the  capital.  In  the 
year  1800,  when  Cincinnati  could  claim  a  population  of 
only  750,  her  southern  rival  had  2,000. 

Writing  of  Lexington  in  1815,  Timothy  Flint  says  :  "  It 
is  not  so  large  and  flourishing  as  Cincinnati,  but  has  an 
air  of  leisure  and  opulence  that  distinguishes  it  from  the 
busy  bustle  and  occupation  of  that  town.  In  the  circles 
where  I  visited,  literature  was  most  commonly  the  subject 
of  conversation.  The  window-seats  presented  the  blank 
covers  of  the  new  and  most  interesting  publications.  The 
best  modern  works  had  been  generally  read.  *  The  univer- 
sity, which  has  since  become  so  famous,  was,  even  then 
(1815),  taking  a  higher  standard  than  the  other  seminaries 
in  the  western  country.  There  was  generally  an  air  of 
ease  and  politeness  in  the  social  intercourse  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  town,  which  evinced  the  cultivation  of  taste 
and  good  feeling." 

In  the  Literary  Gazette  of  March,  1824,  the  editor,  John 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  171 

P.  Foote,  complainingly  wrote  :  "  It  is  certainly  a  source 
of  regret  that  the  talents,  learning,  and  enterprise  which 
should  have  been  employed  by  us,  in  rearing  up  our  own 
institutions,  should  be  transferred  to  a  rival  town,  and 
thus  become  a  means  of  rendering  the  State  of  Ohio  trib- 
utary to  Lexington." 

With  her  polite  families,  her  professors,  her  Henry 
Clay,^  her  schools,  libraries,  books  and  periodicals,  Lex- 
ington was  a  center  of  culture.  For  many  years  the  town 
outranked  Cincinnati  even  as  a  mart.  A  rivalry,  social 
and  intellectual,  was  kept  up  between  the  two  places. 
Lexington  claimed  to  be  the  "Athens  of  the  "West."  A 
traveler,  writing  of  Cincinnati  in  1815  says  :  "  Efforts  to 
promote  polite  literature  have  already  been  made  in  this 
town.  If  its  only  rival,  Lexington,  be,  as  she  contends, 
the  ^Athens  of  the  West,'  this  place  is  struggling  to  be- 
come its  Corinth."  But  as  years  went  by,  the  commercial 
importance  of  the  Ohio  city  rapidly  increased,  and  her 
citizens  called  her  neither  "Athens "  nor  "Corinth,"  but 
"  Tyre."  "  Come,  pass  round  the  bowl,"  wrote  a  Queen 
City  bard  in  1823, 

"  Come,  pass  round  the  bowl ;  let  us  drink  to  the  health 
Of  this  city,  the  depot  of  beauty  and  wealth  ; 
For  we  boast,  do  we  not,  of  our  city's  success. 
And  hail  in  full  bumpers,  '  The  Tyre  of  the  West.' " 

But  Lexington,  proud  in  her  classic  pre-eminence,  de- 
rided even  the  mercantile  Tyrian  claims  of  her  rival,  and 
Cincinnati  bided  her  time.  As  late  as  1827  the  "  Western 
Review,"  issued  from  the  "  Tyre  of  the  West,"  while 
claiming  great  glory  for  its  own  city,  was  forced  to  admit 
that  "  Perhaps  there  is  no  town  in  the  United  States 
where,  among  an  equal  number  of  people,  so  many  will 
be  found  able  and  disposed  to  join  in  a  literary  conversa- 
tion as  in  Lexington.  There  is,  in  fact,  a  rough-shod  en- 
ergy of  intellect  diffused  over  all  '  Old  Kentucky,'  which 
when  properly  trained  will  make  her  as  fruitful  in  litera- 
ture as  she  is' now  in  flour  and  tobacco." 


*  Clay,  born  in  Virginia  in  1777,  came  to  Kentucky  in  1797. 


1  Ti!  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  first  wliite  people  who  settled  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Ohio — the  "  Indian  side,"  as  pioneers  called  it — formed 
institutions,  social  and  civil,  after  the  New  England  model, 
and  strove  to  impress  the  stamp  of  Puritan  ideas  on  fam- 
ily, school,  church,  and  government.  Their  preliminary 
task  was  to  cut  trees,  provide  shelter,  kill  Indians,  and 
plant  seeds.  Carlyle,  in  one  of  his  picturesque  letters  to 
Emerson,  writes :  "  How  beautiful  to  think  of  lean,  tough 
Yankee  settlers,  tough  as  gutta-percha,  with  most  occult, 
unsubduable  fire  in  their  belly,  steering  over  the  western 
mountains,  to  annihilate  the  jungle,  and  bring  bacon  and 
corn  out  of  it  for  the  posterity  of  Adam.  The  pigs  in 
about  a  year  eat  up  all  the  rattlesnakes  for  miles  around ; 
a  most  judicious  function  on  the  part  of  the  pigs.  Be- 
hind comes  Jonathan  with  his  all-conquering  plowshare — 
glory  to  him,  too ! " 

Jonathan  brought  all  of  himself  along  when  he  steered 
over  the  mountains;  brought  brain  to  direct  muscle, 
brought  principles  with  his  plow,  and  while  speculation 
was  in  his  eye  it  did  not  render  him  indifferent  to  public 
duty.  As  Massachusetts  began  her  career  with  advan- 
tages not  enjoyed  in  England,  so  Ohio,  the  '*  Yankee 
State,"  or  "  New  England  of  the  West,"  was  organized 
under  circumstances  more  fortunate  than  had  surrounded 
the  colonists  of  the  East. 

The  territory  north-west  of  the  Ohio  was  dedicated  to 
liberty  without  reserve — to  complete  liberty,  civil  and  re- 
ligious. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  was  a  new  mold,  in  which  were 
cast  freer  and  better  institutions  than  before  had  been  de- 
vised. Therefore,  the  people  of  this  region  escaped  the 
blighting  influence  of  imported  crimes,  bigotries,  and  su- 
perstitions, that  afflicted  the  inhabitants  of  the  East  and 
the  South. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  places  freedom,  religion,  moral- 
ity, and  knowledge,  as  the  corner-stones  of  civilization. 
The  third  article  declares  that  "  religion,  morality,  and 
knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  and  to 
the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  edu- 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  173 

cation  shall  forever  be  encouraged."  The  constitution  of 
Ohio  reiterates  :  "  But  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge 
being  essentially  necessary  to  good  government  and  the 
happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion shall  forever  be  encouraged  by  legislative  provisions, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  conscience." 

Ex-president  R.  B.  Hayes  said  eloquently,  in  a  speech 
at  the  Marietta  centennial,  in  1888  :  "  Putnam  and  his 
followers  were  the  best  educated  men  the  world  ever 
knew.  For  eight  years,  from  1775  to  1783,  they  went  to 
school  to  George  Washington."  Manasseh  Cutler,  the 
prime  promoter  of  the  Ohio  Company,  though  he  did  not 
*'  go  to  school  to  George  Washington,"  was  educated  by 
the  Revolution,  and  was  also  a  man  learned  in  books  and 
the  art  of  speech.  He  was  an  excellent  and  exact  scholar, 
and  practical  teacher.  The  cause  of  liberal  education 
lay  very  near  to  his  heart.  To  Congress  he  said,  when 
urging  such  legislation  as  would  insure  the  best  good  to 
the  Ohio  Company:  "  If  we  venture  our  all,  with  our 
families,  in  this  enterprise,  we  must  know  beforehand 
what  kind  of  foundation  we  are  to  build  on."  In  his  ser- 
mon of  August  24,  1788,  to  the  settlers  at  Marietta,  he 
said  :  "  An  early  attention  to  the  instruction  of  youth  is 
of  the  greatest  importance  to  a  new  settlement.  It  will 
lay  the  foundations  for  a  well  regulated  society.  It  is  the 
only  way  to  make  subjects  conform  to  its  laws  and  regula- 
tions from  principles  of  reason  and  custom  rather  than 
fear  of  punishment." 

From  the  inception  of  the  plan  to  colonize  Ohio.  Cutler 
cherished  an  enthusiastic  idea  of  founding  a  noble  institu- 
tion of  learning  in  the  new  country.  His  views  were  dis- 
seminated by  means  of  a  pamphlet,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing extract  is  taken  :  "  In  the  late  ordinance  of  Con- 
gress for  disposing  of  the  western  lands  as  far  down  as  the 
Scioto,  the  provision  that  is  made  for  schools  and  the  en- 
dowment of  an  university,  looks  with  a  most  favorable 
aspect  upon  the  settlement,  and  furnishes  the  presentiment 
that,  by  proper  attention  to  the  subject  of  education,  un- 
der these  advantages,  the  field  of  science  may  be  greatly 


174  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

enlarged,  and  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge  placed 
upon  a  more  respectable  footing  here  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  Besides  the  opportunity  of  opening  a 
new  and  unexplored  region  for  the  range  of  natural  his- 
tory, botany,  and  the  medical  science,  there  will  be  an  ad- 
vantage which  no  other  part  of  the  world  can  boast,  and 
which  probably  will  never  occur  again ;  that,  in  order  to 
begin  riyht,  there  will  be  no  ivrong  habits  to  combat,  and 
no  inveterate  systems  to  overturn — there  is  no  rubbish  to 
remove  before  laying  the  foundations." 

Again,  the  sagacious  and  indefatigable  Cutler,  looking 
forward,  with  great  expectation,  to  the  good  of  the  future, 
wrote  to  Samuel  Putnam,  in  July,  1789,  saying :  "  So  far 
as  I  have  had  opportunity,  I  have  consulted  the  charters 
of  public  seminaries  in  Europe  and  America.  Those  in 
our  own  country  are  generally  the  most  modern,  and  the 
best  adapted  to  the  purposes  intended ;  but  none  appear 
to  me  to  accord  with  a  plan  so  liberal  and  extensive  as  I 
think  ought  to  be  the  foundation  of  the  constitution  of 
this  university."  The  university  here  alluded  to  was  that 
which  Cutler  proposed,  and,  in  large  part,  founded,  in 
Ohio — the  lirst  college  north-west  of  the  Ohio  river.  The 
name  originally  suggested  for  it  was  the  "American  Uni- 
versity." Cutler  discussed  the  subject  in  these  words : 
"There  is  a  Columbian  College,  and  a  Washington  Col- 
lege, etc.,  already  in  this  country,  but  no  American  Col- 
lege.    I  hope  the  name  will  not  be  altered." 

Such  utterances  prove  that  to  the  practical  men  who 
built  the  first  villages  and  tilled  the  first  farms  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Ohio,  this  about  education  was  not  a 
mere  flourish  of  words.  Fulfilling  to  the  letter  the  spirit 
of  the  organic  law,  Congress,  granting  public  lands,  en- 
dowed Ohio  University,  at  Athens,  Ohio.  Says  a  historian 
of  the  college  :  "  It  was  the  first  example  in  the  history 
of  our  country  of  the  establishment  and  endowment  of  an 
institution  of  learning  by  the  direct  agency  of  the  general 
government."  The  honor  of  it  belongs  chiefly  to  Manas- 
seh  Cutler,  and,  in  the  nqxt  degree,  to  Rufus  Putnam. 

The  institution  was  to  be  called  the  American  Western 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  175 

University,  but  when  established  by  act  of  the  Ohio  legis- 
lature, February  18,  1804,  the  less  ambitious  name  waS' 
adopted.  The  original  building,  called  the  academy,  a 
two-story  brick  house,  about  twenty-four  feet  by  thirty, 
built  in  1808-9,  was  for  ten  years  the  only  edifice  belong- 
ing to  the  university.  The  present  main  building  dates 
from  1817. 

The  first  academic  degree  bestowed  in  Ohio  was  con- 
ferred by  Ohio  University,  in  1815,  upon  Thomas  Ewing, 
afterward  a  distinguished  United  States  senator  and  mem- 
ber of  the  cabinet.  Ewing  w^as  '^  self-made,"  sold  coon- 
skins  to  buy  books,  which  he  read  aloud  in  the  fields, 
earned  money  by  hiring  as  a  boatman  on  the  Ohio  river, 
labored  in  the  Kanawha  salt  works,  and  so  climbed  the 
ladder  of  success.  A  correspondent  from  Athens  writes 
me  :  "  The  woods  around  here  are  full  of  characteristic 
stories  of  him." 

Governor  Edward  Tifiin  was  the  first  president  of  the 
university  board. 

Rev.  James  Irvine,  the  first  president  of  the  college, 
was  succeeded,  in  1824,  by  Rev.  Robert  G.  Wilson,  D.D., 
and  he,  in  1839,  by  Rev.  Wm.  H.  McGuffey,  LL.D. 

Many  of  the  graduates  of  Ohio  University  rose  to  emi- 
nence in  the  professions  of  law  or  divinity ;  but  the  college 
is  peculiarly  distinguished  for  the  large  number  of  noted 
educators  it  has  sent  and  is  sending  forth,  annually,  from 
its  famous  pedagogical  department.  Among  the  teachers 
who  were  taught  at  Athens  may  be  mentioned :  Dr.  Daniel 
Read  (born  1805,  died  1878),  who  at  the  time  of  his  death 
was  "  the  oldest  college  teacher  in  continuous  service  in 
the  United  States,"  and  whose  professional  services  were 
enjoyed  in  turn  by  four  state  universities;  Dr.  Elisha 
Ballantyne,  of  Indiana,  who  devoted  fifty  years  to  teach- 
ing in  university  and  college ;  Dr.  Lorenzo  Dow  McCabe, 
distinguished  as  clergyman,  professor  and  author;  Dr. 
James  M.  Safford,  the  geologist;  Hon.  Charles  Sheldon 
Smart,  school  commissioner  of  Ohio  in  1874;  and  Dr. 
"Wm.  H.  Scott,  now  president  of  the  Ohio  State  Uni- 
versity. 


176  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

The  Ohio  Company,  in  their  contract  with  Congress  in 
1787,  stipulated  that  two  townships  of  land  should  be  do- 
nated by  the  general  government  for  the  endowment  of  a 
college.  The  townships  of  Athens  and  Alexander  were 
chosen,  consisting  of  46,000  acres  of  land. 

The  Miami  Purchase  made  by  John  Cleves  Symmes, 
also  in  the  year  1787,  provided  for  the  grant  of  a  town- 
ship of  land,  by  Congress,  for  the  support  of  an  institu- 
tion of  learning  in  what  is  now  South-western  Ohio.  TJie 
land  was  selected  and  located  in  1803,  at  Oxford,  Butler 
county.  The  proposed  college,  named  Miami  University, 
was  chartered  February  18, 1809.  A  grammar  school  was 
established  on  the  site  of  the  contemplated  college  in 
1818,  and  the  university  itself  was  organized  in  1824. 
Hundreds  of  ambitious  young  men,  trained  at  Oxford, 
went  forth  carrying  the  enthusiasm  which  begets  its  like, 
and  which  kindled  a  desire  for  culture  in  other  hundreds 
toiling  on  solitary  farm  or  in  bustling  village.  The  first 
commencement  was  held  in  1826,  when  a  class  of  twelve 
graduated.  Among  the  distinguished  names  on  the  long 
list  of  men  who  were  students  at  old  Miami  University 
are  those  of  President  Benjamin  Harrison,  Hon.  Robert 
C.  Schenck,  Freeman  G.  Cary,  Governor  Charles  Ander- 
son, Hon.  Samuel  S.  Galloway,  Hon.  Wm.  M.  Corry,  Hon. 
Wm.  S.  Groesbeck,  Hon.  Samuel  F.  Cary,  Governor  Will- 
iam Dennison,  James  G.  Birney,  Judge  Jacob  Burnet, 
Hon.  Wm.  M.  Dickson,  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid,  Dr.  David 
Swing,  Hon.  John  P.  Craighead,  Hon.  Milton  Sayler, 
Hon.  C.  F.  Brown,  Hon.  D.  W.  McClung,  Hon.  Samuel 
F.  Hunt,  Hon.  John  W.  Caldwell,  Judge  W.  M.  Oliver, 
Hon.  J.  J.  Faran,  Mr.  R.  W.  Steele,  and  many  others  who 
are  well  known  to  history. 

The  iirst  president  of  the  college,  Robert  Hamilton 
Bishop,  D.D.,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  was  born  in  North 
Britain  in  1777,  and  came  to  the  United  States  in  1802. 
For  a  time  he  resided  in  Kentucky,  and  was  a  professor 
in  Transylvania  University..  He  was  made  president  of 
Miami  University  March  30,  1825,  and  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  institution  until  1841,  when  he  resigned.    Dr. 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  177 

Bishop  was  honored  and  loved  hy  his  many  papils  from 
every  part  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  venerable  Barnabas 
Hobbs,  himself  a  distinguished  educator  of  Indiana,  once 
school  commissioner  of  that  great  state,  pleasantly  relates 
that  he,  a  green,  awkward  lad,  impelled  by  an  unconquer- 
able desire  to  see  what  a  college  "was  like,  went  to  Oxford, 
with  a  note  of  introduction  to  the  president.  The  doctor 
was  not  home,  but  his  amiable  wife  welcomed  the  bashful 
boy  to  the  parlor  and  also  to  the  dining-table,  introducing 
him  to  lier  "baby,"  a  pretty  girl  of  about  fourteen. 
When  Dr.  Bishop  came  in,  he  received  the  note  of  intro- 
duction with  a  cheery  smile  and  a  sociable  "Well,  well, 
well,"  which  at  once  put  the  visitor  at  his  ease. 

l^ot  less  able,  and  perhaps  more  distinguished  than  Dr. 
Bishop,  was  his  son,  Prof.  R.  H.  Bishop,  who,  from  1838 
to  the  date  of  his  death  in  1890,  was  a  most  eminent 
teacher  in  the  college  which  his  father's  energy  made 
famous.  Prof.  Bishop  was  born  near  Lexington,  Ky., 
August  20,  1815.  He  came  to  Oxford  in  1824,  and  gradu- 
ated in  1831.  For  about  a  year  he  was  professor  of  math- 
ematics in  Hanover  College,  Indiana.  Returning  to  Ox- 
ford in  1835,  he  became  proprietor  of  a  book-store  and 
printing  office,  and  carried  on  business  until  1838,  in 
which  year  he  entered  the  grammar  school  of  Miami  Uni- 
versity as  teacher.  He  was  subsequently  elected  pro- 
fessor of  Latin  in  the  university. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  March,  1889,  Prof.  Bishop  and 
his  wife  celebratad  their  fiftieth  wedding  anniversary,  re- 
ceiving the  spoken  or  written  congratulations  of  a  host  of 
friends,  one  of  whom  was  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  A  gentleman  who  witnessed  the  interesting  event 
made  the  following  suggestive  notes  regarding  it:  "The 
anniversary  to-day  was  in  the  same  house  where  Prof. 
Bishop's  father,  then  president  of  Miami,  lived.  After 
their  wedding,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bishop  went  from  Oxford  to 
Hamilton  by  stage,  thence  to  Cincinnati  on  the  canal 
packet.  When  they  returned  to  Oxford  they  entered  the 
same  room  where  they  to-day  received  their  guests.  A 
12 


178  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

log  fire  burned  in  the  grate  to-day,  as  it  did  then,  and  the 
highly  polished  andirons  of  fifty  years  ago  smiled  to-day 
upon  that  same  old-fashioned  but  ever  cheerful  burning  log." 

One  of  the  first  popular  institutions  of  learning  of  Cin- 
cinnati was  Lancaster  Academy,  which  was  opened  Mon- 
day, March  27, 1815.  A«uitable  building  was  constructed 
on  Fourth  street,  near  Walnut,  and  the  school  was  organ- 
ized by  Mr.  Emund  Harrison,  who  had  been  converted  to 
the  "  monitorial  system  "  by  a  pupil  of  Joseph  Lancaster 
himself,  while  that  unfortunate  reformer  was  sojourning 
in  Philadelphia.  Within  a  fortnight  after  the  opening  of 
the  seminary,  420  pupils  were  admitted.  One  of  these 
was  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  the  poet. 

On  January  22,  1819,  Lancaster  Academy  was  char- 
tered, with  university  privileges,  under  the  name  of  Cin- 
cinnati College.  To  the  literary  department,  schools  of 
medicine  and  law  were  soon  added,  with  strong  faculties, 
and  the  college  came  into  rivalry  with  Transylvania  and 
Miami  Universities.  But  it  presently  languished,  and,  in 
1825,  suspended  operations,  and  the  rooms  were  rented  to 
private  teachers.  In  1832  an  appeal  to  the  public  for  the, 
revival  of  the  college  was  published,  signed  by  Morgan 
Neville,  president  of  the  board,  and  P.  S.  Symmes,  secre- 
tary, but  without  success.  The  institution,  however,  was 
resuscitated  in  1835,  with  Wm.  II.  McGuftey^  as  president. 

*  "NVilliam  Holmes  McGuffey,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1800, 
and  In-  •lit'd  in  Virginia,  in  1873.  He  came  in  childhood  to  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm.  He  was  educated  in  Washing- 
ton Colleges  but  in  1826,  before  finishing  his  course,  he  was  called  to 
Miami  University  as  professor  of  ancient  languages.  In  1829  he  was  li- 
censed as  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  1832  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  chair  of  mental  philosophy.  In  1836  he  resigned  his 
jwmitldii  \n  Miami  University,  and  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  Cin- 
•llege.  Three  years  later  he  was  elected  president  of  Ohio 
I  ju\'  iMiy.  He  resigned  in  1843,  and  returning  to  Cincinnati,  became 
a  profcHHor  in  Woodward  College,  but  was  called  from  this  position,  in 
1  Hi'),  to  the  chair  of  moral  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Virginia.  A 
1  if.- crowded  with  useful  duties,  and  fragrant  with  noble  results!  Not 
least,  but  probably  greatest  of  his  services  to  education,  was  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  series  of  school  readers  that  go  by  his  name.  These  were 
compiled  in  the  true  spirit  of  an  apostle  of  culture.  It  is  no  exaggera- 
tion to  say  tliat  millions  of  children  have  been  favorably  influenced  in 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  179 

Doctor  McGuffey  was  aided  in  Cincinnati  College  by 
Professors  0.  M.  Mitchel,  Asa  Drury,  E.  D.  Mansiield,  and 
others.  Lyman  Harding^  was  principal  of  the  prepara- 
tory department.  .  He  cheerfully  speaks  of  himself  as  be- 
ing the  last  of  the  old  college  faculty  *^  above  ground." 
Cincinnati  College  retains  its  charter  privileges,  but  its 
only  actual  department  is  the  law  school,  of  which  Gen- 
eral Jacob  D.  Cox  is  now  dean. 

When  Doctor  Cutler  projected  a  great  "American  Uni- 
versity "  for  the  I^orth-west,  he  contemplated  the  central- 
ization of  educational  forces  in  one  commanding  institu- 
tion of  learning.  But  the  theory  and  practice  which 
prevailed  in  the  application  of  the  democratic  idea  to  edu- 
cation, led  to  diffusion  rather  than  concentration,  and 
produced  many  small  colleges  instead  of  a  few  large 
ones.  Ohio  is  distinguished  for  the  number  of  her  educa- 
tional foundations.  At  least  eight  of  her  colleges  were 
established  within  a  third  of  a  century  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  state.  Three  of  these  have  been  mentioned. 
*'  Kenyon  College,"  starting  as  a  theological  seminary  in 
1824,  was  chartered  as  a  college  in  1826.  In  the  latter 
year  "  Western  Reserve  College "  was  incorporated.  A 
charter  was  granted  to  Granville  College,  now  Dennison 
University,  in  1832;  to  Oberlin,  in  1834;  and  to  Marietta 
College  in  1835.  A  most  delightful  narrative,  entitled 
*'  How  the  Bishop  Built  his  College  in  the  Woods,"  re- 
counting the  story  of  the  founding  of  Kenyon,  may  be 
read  in  "  Pencilled  Fly -Leaves,"  ^  a  book  of  essays  by  the 
poet  John  James  Piatt,  an  alumnus  of  the  college. 

morals  and  intellect  by  the  happy  literary  selections  in  these  books. 
McGuffey's  old  "Rhetorical  Guide"  has  led  many  a  youth  to  the 
sources  of  "  sweetness  and  light." 

^  Lyman  Harding  a  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Cincinnati,  for  many 
years  connected  with  the  post-office,  was  born  at  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  in 
1815.  He  graduated  from  Miami  University  in  1833.  He  was  for  six 
years  superintendent  of  public  schools  in  Cincinnati.  A  man  of  noble 
aspect,  he  has  a  correspondingly  noble  character,  fruitful  of  good  deeds. 

2  Pencilled  Fly-Leaves.  A  Book  of  Essays  in  Town  and  Country. 
"How  the  Bishop  Built  his  College  in  the  Woods,"  etc.  By  John 
James  Piatt.    16mo. 


180  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  planting  of  educational  institutions,  once  fairly  be- 
gun, went  on  rapidly  in  the  states  formed  out  of  the 
North-western  Territory. 

Though  Indiana  never  had  a  school  within  her  borders 
until  after  General  Clark,  the  "Hannibal  of  the  West," 
conquered  the  North-west,  she  was  not  much  behind  Ohio 
in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  in 
respect  to  education.  The  first  school  in  the  territory  was 
opened  at  Vincennes  about  the  year  1793,  by  M.  Rivet, 
who  is  described  in  "  The  Schools  of  Indiana"  as  a  polite, 
liberal-minded  missionary,  who  was  driven  out  of  Europe 
by  the  French  Revolution. 

Vincennes  University,  like  its  predecessor  at  Athens^ 
Ohio,  was  endowed  by  a  reservation  of  Congress  lands. 
It  was  chartered  by  the  territorial  legislature  of  Indiana, 
September  17,  1807,  and  located  at  the  old  town  of  Vin- 
cennes. Wm.  Henry  Harrison  was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  even  to  outline  the 
history  of  the  numerous  colleges  that  sprung  up  in  the 
West,  mainly  under  the  impulse  of  denominational  zeal. 
The  important  work  of  recording  their  history  has  been 
undertaken  by  the  Bureau  of  Education.  Our  object  is 
merely  to  sketch  the  beginnings  of  educational  activity  in 
the  Ohio  Valley,  and  to  suggest  what  were  the  motives, 
means,  and  methods  of  the  pioneers  of  letters.  The  early 
colleges  of  Indiana,  as  Vincennes  University,  Hanover 
College,  Wabash  College ;  and  those  of  Illinois,  as  Shurt- 
lilf,  were  not  unlike  their  sister  institutions  of  Kentucky 
and  Ohio.  In  many  instances  college  buildings  were 
erected  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness,  repeating  the  his- 
tory of  the  Bishop's  log  college  in  the  Ohio  woods.  In 
1882,  the  site  was  selected  for  Wabash  College,  Craw- 
fordsville,  Indiana,  in  the  unbroken  forest  when  the 
ground  was  covered  with  snow. 

Judge  James  Hall,  in  the  Western  Magazine  for 
A]. Ill,  1884,  thus  speaks  of  the  rise  of  Illinois  College, 
w  hich  may  be  taken  as  a  representative  type :  "  It  is  but 
five  or  six  years,"  says  Judge  Hall,  "  since  we  attended  a 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  181 

meeting  at  Jacksonville — then  a  hamlet  of  log  houses — 
held  in  an  unfinished  building,  where  the  company  stood 
among  the  carpenter's  chips  and  shavings,  and  when  an 
institution  was  organized  and  called  Illinois  College. 
From  this  small  beginning  has  arisen  a  valuable  institu- 
tion having  a  faculty  consisting  of  a  president  and  four 
other  -gentlemen  and  a  list  of  eighty-two  students. 
Their  buildings  are  commodious  and  their  prospects 
cheering." 

Let  it  riot  be  imagined  that  the  curricula  of  the  "  fresh 
water  "  colleges  of  the  new  West  were,  like  the  build- 
ings, of  green  material  from  the  woods.  Dr.  Jas.  H. 
Fairchild,  president  of  Oberlin  College,  says  : 

"  The  general  course  of  study  in  the  earlier  colleges  of 
Ohio  was  the  same  essentially  as  that  found  in  the  colleges 
of  the  older  states.  Yale,  Harvard,  Dartmouth,  and 
Princeton  were  the  models  after  which  our  college  took 
form.  It  was  thought  necessary  that  a  student  should  be 
able  to  pass  from  his  college  in  Ohio  to  one  of  the  east- 
ern colleges,  entering  ad  eundem,  and  this  was  often  ac- 
complished. The  material  of  the  regular  curriculum  was 
the  Latin  and  Greek  classics,  mathematics,  involving 
physics  and  astronomy,  chemistry  and  a  touch  of  natural 
science,  psychology,  ethics,  and  English  literature,  with  a 
limited  packing  of  history  and  other  specialties.  It  was  a 
good  solid  course,  and  it  may  very  reasonably  be  ques- 
tioned whether  any  thing  better  has  been  discovered  in 
our  day." 

Common  school  education,  as  it  is  now  conceived— 
that  is,  primary  instruction  for  the  mass  of  children,  was 
not  possible  in  pioneer  days.  Even  now  in  states  where 
the  public  school  system  has  been  in  operation  for  half  a 
century,  the  rural  districts  are  far  behind  the  cities  and 
towns  in  educational  advantages.  Almost  the  only  efii- 
cient  schools  in  the  Ohio  Valley  in  the  early  period  of  its 
history  were  located  in  centers  of  thick  settlement,  in  en- 
terprising villages — capitals  and  county  seats.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  fathers  when  they  chartered  universities  to  be 
organized  in  the  woods,  before  the  Indians  were  out  of 


182  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

sight,  seems  to  have  been  to  afford  ambitious  youths  an 
opportunity  to  fit  themselves  for  intellectual  leadership ; 
and  to  keep  alive  and  spread  abroad  the  desire  for  learn- 
ing until  secondary  and  primary  schools  could  be  started 
in  every  settlement.  They  were  guardians  of  the  sacred 
fiame.  Though  the  whole  people  might  not  at  first  reap 
the  harvest  of  education,  the  fittest  young  men  cQuld  go 
forth  and  gather  the  sheaves  that  the  seed  should  not  be 
lost.  Therefore,  colleges  were  projected  and  academies 
were  founded.  In  fact,  the  colleges,  or  universities  as  they 
were  ambitiously  called,  began  as  preparatory  academies, 
and  many  of  the  collegiate  institutions  of  these  central 
states  yet  retain  a  preparatory  department,  which  is  a  sur- 
vival of  the  original  seminary  out  of  which  the  college 
grew.  Transylvania  Seminary  began  its  existence  in 
1783,  fifteen  years  before  it  was  chartered  as  a  university. 
Twenty-seven  years  after  Congress  endowed  Ohio  Uni- 
versity, that  institution  first  conferred  college  degrees. 
Miami  University  served  a  probation  of  nine  years  as  a 
preparatory  school.  Cincinnati  College  was  a  develop- 
ment of  the  Lancastrian  Seminary,  the  first  important 
academy  of  the  Queen  City.  I  have  spoken  of  the  or- 
ganization of  academies  in  Kentucky.  The  common- 
wealth of  Ohio  is  known  to  have  had  at  least  two  hun- 
dred academies.  Indiana  and  Illinois  were  dotted  with 
similar  schools.  The  first  half  of  the  centuvy  was  the 
golden  age  of  private  academies  for  boys  and  of  "  female 
seminaries." 

The  Ohio  Company  carrying  out  tlie  provision  of  the 
great  ordinance,  that  **  schools  and  the  means  of  educa- 
tion shall  be  forever  encouraged,"  established  schools  as 
soon  as  first  settlers  were  housed  and  protected  by  forts. 
It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  first  school  in  Ohio  was 
taught  at  Belpre,  by  Miss  Bathsheba  Rouse,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1789.  A  meeting  of  the  agents  and  directors  of 
the  Ohio  Company  was  held  at  Marietta  in  April,  1791, 
in  which  it  was  resolved  to  appropriate  $160  to  provide 
instruction  for  the  children  of  Marietta,  Belpre,  and 
Waterford.    The  first  school  in  Marietta  was  opened  in 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  183 

1789,  at  Campus  Martius,  in  a  block-house,  used  also  as 
court-room  and  church.  The  lirst  teacher,  Major  Anselm 
Tupper,  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Jabez  True.  Benjamin 
Slocumb  and  Jonathan  Baldwin  also  taught  in  this  ac- 
commodating place.  Muskingum  Academy,  Marietta, 
was  projected  by  General  Putman  'in  1797,  but  w^as  not 
opened  until  1800.  It  was  used  as  a  place  of  instruction 
and  of  worship. 

In  the  Rainbow  Cemetery,  seven  miles  above  Marietta, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Muskingum,  stands  a  small  monu- 
ment bearing  the  following  inscription  : 

"MES.  SARAH  LAKE, 

born  at  bristol,  england, 

Died  at  Rainbow,  Ohio,  April  27,  1796, 

Aged  68  years. 

Mrs.  Lake  taught  a  Sunday  School  in  the  Blockhouse  at  Marietta 

from  1791  to  1795,  the  first  school  in  Ohio  and  one  of  the  first  in  the 

U.S. 

This  monument  erected  by  the  Sunday  School  Scholars  of  Washing- 
ton Co.,  O.,  Oct.  1889." 

At  Belpre  a  school  was  opened  in  Colonel  Battell's 
block-house,  Farmer's  Castle,  and  taught  by  Daniel  Mayo, 
a  Harvard  alumnus. 

Rufus  Putnam  wrote  to  Manasseh  Cutler,  from  Marietta, 
in  1790  :  "  There  are  several  academies  in  the  neighboring 
parts  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky,  where  the 
Latin  and  Greek  are  taught,  and  the  Muskingum  Academy 
at  Marietta  is  at  present,  and,  I  trust,  will  always  in  the 
future  be  supplied  with  a  master  capable  of  teaching  the 
languages,  and  I  think  it  can  not  be  long  before  Latin 
schools  are  established  in  several  other  places  in  the  terri- 
tory." Judge  James  Hall  records  in  his  "  Romance  of 
Western  History,"  that  the  "  Classical  School  "  was  among 
the  earliest  institutions  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  that 
"in  rude  huts  were  men  teaching  not  merely  the  primer, 
but  expounding  the  Latin  poets,  and  explaining  to  future 
lawyers  and  legislators  and  generals  the  severe  truths  of 
moral  and  mathematical  science.  Many  a  student  who 
was  preparing  himself  for  the  bar  or  the  pulpit,  held  up 


184  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

the  lamp  to  younger  aspirants  for  literary  usefulness  and 
honor,  in  those  primitive  haunts,  while  the  wolf  barked  in 
the  surrounding  thickets  and  the  Indians  were  kept  at 


Cincinnati  has  cause  to  honor  the  schoolmaster.  To 
him  she  is  indebted  for  much  of  the  best  that  she  is  and 
has. 

William  Goforth,  whom  George  Washington  commis- 
sioned one  of  the  judges  of  the  Territorial  Court  of  the 
North-western  Territory,  came  to  Columbia  [Cincinnati] 
in  January,  1790.  He  kept  a  diary,  a  brief  chronicle  of 
pioneer  events,  from  which  I  quote  what  has  been  quoted 
often  :  "  November  2,  1792.  Last  Monday  night  met  at 
my  house,  to  consult  on  the  expediency  of  founding  an 
academy,  Rev.  John  Smith,  Major  Gano,  Mr.  Dunlavy" — 
afterward  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas — '^  and 
myself.  Wednesday  night,  met  at  Mr.  Eeily's  school- 
house  " — Mr.  Reily,  then  the  teacher,  was  for  many  years 
clerk  of  Butler  Common  Pleas  and  Supreme  Court — "  to 
digest  matters  respecting  the  academy.  The  night  being 
bad  and  but  few  people  attending,  postponed  until  next 
night,  which  was  Ist  of  November.  Met  at  Mr.  Reily's  to 
appoint  a  committee." 

John  Reily's,  at  Columbia,  was  the  first  school-house  in 
Cincinnati,  and  in  the  North-western  Territory.  Reily,  a 
young  man  of  twenty-seven,  started  a  subscription  school 
there  June  21, 1790.  Symmes  and  Filson  were  ex-teachers 
when  they  came  to  the  Miami  country.  Reily  was  an  ex- 
Boldier,  who  had  fought  at  Camden,  Guilford  and  Eutaw. 
He  migrated  from  Pennsylvania  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  and 
thence  to  Columbia.  In  1791  Francis  Dunlevy,  a  Vir- 
ginian, thirty  years  old,  who  had  also  been  a  revolutionary 
soldier,  and  a  Kentucky  settler,  came  to  Columbia  and 
joined  Reily  in  the  work  of  education,  organizing  a  clas- 
sical department  in  the  school.  Tradition  does  not  tell  us 
what  manner  of  pedagogues  this  pair  of  veterans  made,  or 
what  system  of  new  education  they  practiced.  We  are 
tolerably  safe  in  assuming  that  they  flogged  the  boys,  a 
mode  of  punishment  that  Canon  Kingsley  considered  the 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  185 

best  of  all.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  educational  firm  of 
Reily  &  Dunlevy  was  maintained  for  about  two  years, 
when  Reily  withdrew,  and  then  Dunlevy  carried  on  the 
school  for  some  years  alone. 

IN'ot  long  did  the  Columbia  school  remain  without  rivals. 
In  1792  a  school  was  gathered  in  a  log  school-house  near 
Fort  Washington.  A  frame  school-house  was  erected  in 
1795  on  the  north  side  of  Fourth  street,  between  Walnut 
and  Main,  on  the  ground  occupied  afterward  by  the  Lan- 
castrian Seminary. 

A  Frenchman,  Francis  Menessier,  opened  a  coflTee-house 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  Main  street,  in  1799,  where  he 
taught  the  French  language  and  sold  liquors  and  pies. 

The  following  advertisement,  copied  from  the  Western 
Spy,  of  date  October  22,  1799,  gives  some  idea  of  the 
state  of  education  in  the  metropolis  of  the  Ohio  Valley  at 
the  end  of  her  first  decade : 

"English  School. — The  subscriber  informs  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  town  that  his  school  is  this  day  removed,  and 
is  now  next  door  to  Mr.  Thomas  Williams,  skin-dresser, 
Main  Street.  Gentlemen  who  have  not  subscribed  may 
send  their  scholars  on  the  same  terms  as  the  subscribers, 
(commencing  this  day).  He  also  intends  to  commence  an 
evening  school  in  the  same  house  on  the  third  day  of  No- 
vember next,  where  writing  and  arithmetic,  &c.,  will  be 
taught  four  evenings  in  each  week,  from  6  to  9  o'clock, 
during  the  term  of  three  months.  The  terms  for  each 
scholar  will  be  two  dollars,  the  scholars  to  find  firewood 
and  candles.  He  also  furnishes  deeds  and  indentures,  &c., 
on  reasonable  terms.  James  White." 

Advertisements  in  the  Spy  set  forth  the  superior  advan- 
tages of  a  rival  school  in  I^ewport,  Ky.,  conducted  by 
Robert  Stubbs,  Philomath,  an  English  gentleman,  who 
thus  announces : 

"  The  subscriber  intends  opening  his  academy  on  Mon- 
day next  at  his  farm,  two  miles  from  the  Ohio,  opposite 


186  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Cincinnati,  Campbell  County,  Ky.,  where  he  will  teach 
English  grammar,  Latin,  Greek,  arithmetic — all  the  most 
useful  and  some  of  the  ornamental  branches  of  mathe- 
matics. 

"  The  situation  of  his  academy  is  known  to  be  healthy. 
Good  board  can  be  had  in  the  neighborhood. 

"Should  he  be  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  young  gentle- 
men of  genius,  united  with  diligence  in  their  studies,  he 
flatters  himself,  from  his  long  approved  and  successful 
habits  of  teaching,  not  only  in  England,  but  during  many 
years  in  America,  that  he  will  gratify  the  most  ardent  ex- 
pectations of  those  who  may  honor  him  with  the  tuition 
of  their  sons.  He  will  have  an  assistant  teacher  for  the 
lower  forms,  so  that  his  time  will  be  almost  wholly  occu- 
pied amongst  the  students  of  the  higher  classes,  who  are 
to  have  a  separate  apartment  to  themselves. 

"  Should  any  feel  inclined,  he  will  also  teach  the  use  of 
the  globes,  at  stated  periods  in  Cincinnati.  His  terms 
may  be  known  by  application  to  Robert  Stubbs." 

"The  following  gentlemen  are  trustees  to  the  above- 
mentioned  academy,  viz :  Washington  Berry,  Charles 
Morgan,  John  Grant,  Thomas  Kennedy,  Thomas  Sanford, 
Thomas  Carneal,  Richard  Southgate,  Daniel  Mayo,  Robert 
Stubbs,  James  Taylor  and  Bernard  Stuart,  who  will  pay 
strict  attention  to  the  regulations  and  management  of  the 
same.  Washington  Berry,  Chairman'' 

In  1804,  the  following  appeared  in  one  of  the  Cincin- 
papers : 

"Notice. — The  public  in  general,  and  my  former  sub- 
scribers in  particular,  are  respectfully  informed  that  I  pur- 
pose to  commence  school  again  on  the  1st  day  of  January, 
1805.  I  shall  teach  reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  En- 
glish grammar,  indiscriminately,  for  two  dollars  per  quar- 
ter. The  strictest  care  will  be  given  to  the  school,  as  my 
circumstances  will  then  admit  of  my  constant  presence 
with  the  school.     Those  who  place  confidence  in  my  abil- 


Teachers^  Schools,  and  Colleges.  187 

ities  and  fidelity  may  be  assured  that  both  will  be  employed 
to  please  the  parents  who  shall  commit,  and  benefit  the 
children  who  shall  be  committed  to  my  care. 

"Ezra  Spencer." 

Dr.  Drake,  in  his  "  Picture  of  Cincinnati,"  records  the 
brief  history  of  a  school  association  formed  in  1806,  and 
incorporated  in  1807,  under  the  name  of  Cincinnati  Uni- 
versity. "Its  endowments,"  wrote  the  Doctor,  "were  not 
exactly  correspondent  to  its  elevated  title,  consisting  of 
only  moderate  contributions,  and  an  application  was  made 
to  the  legislature  for  permission  to  raise  money  by  a  lot- 
tery, which  was  granted.  A  scheme  was  formed  and  a 
great  part  of  the  tickets  sold.  They  have,  however,  not 
been  drawn,  and  but  little  of  the  money  which  they  brought 
refunded.  On  Sunday,  May  28,  1809,  the  school-house 
erected  by  the  corporation  was  blown  down,  since  which 
it  has  become  extinct."  Drake  tells  us  that  in  the  year 
1811  "  ten  or  twelve  individuals  purchased  a  small  lot, 
erected  a  couple  of  school-houses,  and  employed  two  or 
three  teachers.  But  notwithstanding  their  laudable  ex- 
ertions this  academy  has  not  flourished." 

Had  the  people  waited  to  build  college  and  academy 
walls  before  entering  upon  the  work  of  educating  their 
youth,  an  ignorant  generation  would  have  grown  up  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Ohio.  They  did  not  wait.  They  made 
tentative  provision  for  schooling  youth.  ;N"ot  in  every  new 
settlement  was  a  school-house  built  as  in  Lexington,  nor 
a  John  McKinney  found  in  the  woods  ready  to  kill  the 
wild-cats  and  tame  the  wild  children.  The  seat  of  instruc- 
tion was  frequently  a  room  within  a  block-house,  ^ot 
seldom  the  pioneer  place  of  worship  served  also  as  a  school- 
room, especially  in  the  neighborhoods  settled  by  new  En- 
gland families.  Cabins  originally  occupied  as  places  of 
residence,  when  abandoned  by  their  owner  for  better 
homes,  were  often  made  over  to  the  public  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  school-keeper  and  the  school  he  kept* 
Any  hut  or  hovel  was  considered  available  for  educational 
purposes.     Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  a  distinguished  pioneer,  tells 


188  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

U8  that  he  went  to  school  in  a  Kentucky  still-house.  Rev. 
John  Mason  Peck,  writing  of  the  hardships  of  frontier 
life  in  Southern  Illinois,  in  early  days,  says  :  "  The  oppor- 
tunity for  these  Illinois  pioneers  to  educate  their  children 
was  extremely  small.  If  the  mother  could  read,  while  the 
father  was  in  the  corn-field,  or  with  his  rifle  upon  the 
range,  she  would  barricade  the  door  to  keep  off  the  In- 
dians, gather  her  little  ones  around  her,  and,  by  the  light 
that  came  in  from  the  crevices  in  the  roof  and  sides  of 
the  cabin,  she  would  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  spelling 
from  the  fragments  of  some  old  book.  Even  after  schools 
were  taught,  the  price  of  a  rough  and  antiquated  copy  of 
Dillworth's  Spelling  Book  was  one  dollar,  and  the  dollar 
equal  to  live  now." 

Timothy  Flint,  describing  the  !N'orth  Carolina  school- 
house  in  which  Daniel  Boone  learned  his  letters,  says  it 
*'  stood  as  a  fair  sample  of  thousands  of  west  country 
school-houses  of  the  year  1834.  It  was  of  logs,  after  the 
usual  fashion  of  the  time  and  place.  In  dimensions,  it 
was  spacious  and  convenient.  The  chimney  was  peculiarly 
ample,  occupying  one  entire  side  of  the  building,  which 
was  an  exact  square.  Of  course,  a  log  as  long  as  the 
building  could  be  ^  snaked '  to  the  fire-place,  and  a  file 
of  boys  could  stand  in  front  of  the  fire  on  a  footing  of 
the  most  democratic  equality.  Sections  of  logs  cut  out 
here  and  there  admitted  light  and  air  instead  of  windows. 
The  surrounding  forest  furnished  ample  supplies  of  fuel. 
A  spring  at  hand,  furnished  with  various  gourds,  quenched 
the  frequent  thirst  of  the  pupils.  A  ponderous  puncheon 
door,  swinging  on  substantial  wooden  hinges,  and  shutting 
with  a  wooden  latch,  completed  the  appendages  of  this 
primeval  seminary." 

It  appears  that  the  frequent  "  thirst "  of  the  Irish  mas- 
ter of  this  school  was  not  quenched  from  a  gourd  dipped 
into  the  spring,  but  from  a  bottle  of  whisky  which  the 
bibulous  Hibernian  kept  hidden  under  a  mat  of  vines  in 
the  greenwood. 

The  picture  of  the  Boone  school-house  is  matched  by 
that  of  the  log-iabin  on  the  Virginia  "slashes,"  in  which 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  189 

Henry  Clay  was  taught  the  rudiments  by  an  English 
school-master,  who/says  Carl  Schurz,  "passed  under  the 
name  of  Peter  Deacon — a  man  of  uncertain  past,  and 
somewhat  given  to  hard  drinking." 

Lincoln,  writing  his  experience  as  a  boy,  said  of  Perry 
county,  Indiana :  "  It  was  a  w^ild  region  with  many  bears 
and  other  wild  animals  still  in  the  woods.  There  were 
some  schools,  so-called,  but  no  qualification  was  ever  re- 
quired of  a  teacher  beyond  '  readin',  writin',  and  cypherin^ 
to  the  Rule  of  Three.'  If  a  straggler,  supposed  to  un- 
derstand Latin,  happened  to  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood, 
he  w^as  looked  upon  as  a  wizard.  There  was  absolutely 
nothing  to  excite  ambition  for  education." 

Those  famihar  with  the  history  of  education  in  Ohio, 
will  recall  Jeremiah  ]N^.  Reynold's  description  of  the  school- 
house  in  which  his  preceptor,  Francis  Glass,  author  of  the 
Life  of  "Washington,  in  Latin,  expended  enthusiasm  and 
erudition  upon  a  mob  of  Buckeye  urchins.  "  The  school- 
house  now  rises  fresh  on  my  memory,"  wrote  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds. "  The  building  was  a  low  log-cabin,  with  a  clap- 
board roof,  but  indifferently  lighted — all  the  light  of 
heaven  found  in  this  cabin  came  in  through  apertures 
made  on  each  side  of  the  logs,  and  these  were  covered 
with  oiled  paper,  to  keep  out  the  cold  air,  while  they  ad- 
mitted the  dim  rays.  The  seats  or  benches  were  of  hewn 
timber,  resting  on  upright  posts  placed  in  the  ground  to 
keep  them  from  being  overturned  by  mischievous  lads 
who  sat  on  them.  In  the  center  was  a  large  stove,  be- 
tween which  and  the  back  part  of  the  building  stood  a 
small  desk,  without  lock  or  key,  made  of  rough  plank 
over  which  a  plane  had  never  passed,  and  behind  this 
desk  sat  Professor  Glass  when  I  entered  his  school.  There 
might  have  been  forty  scholars  present;  twenty-five  of 
these  were  engaged  in  spelling,  reading,  and  writing ;  a 
few  in  arithmetic  ;  a  small  class  in  English  grammar ;  and 
a  half  dozen,  like  myself,  had  joined  the  school  for  in- 
struction in  Greek  and  Latin." 

The  evolution  of  the  modern  highly  "  differentiated," 
and  often  palatial  school  edifice,  from  its  humble  proto- 


190  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

type  of  pioneer  days,  is  wonderful.  The  low-eaved, 
"  chinked,"  and  "  mud-daubed  "  hut,  with  clap-board  roof, 
stick  chimney,  greased  paper  window,  latch-stringed  door, 
with  no  floor  but  the  natural  clay  of  the  earth,  was  cer- 
tainly as  primitive  as  can  be  conceived.  Such  a  school- 
house  stood  in  Zaiiesville,  Ohio,  in  1805,  containing  within 
it  a  large  stump  which  served  admirably  for  a  "dunce- 
block."  On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Samuel  Herrick,  a  teacher 
in  this  educational  institution,  was  foiled  in  his  attempt  to 
flog  an  incorrigible  boy,  who,  weasel-like,  resorted  to  the 
expedient  of  crawling  under  the  lower  log  in  the  cabin 
and  escaping  into  the  free  forest.  The  lirst  developed 
form  of  school  architecture  gave  place  to  an  improved 
structure  of  hewn  logs,  with  puncheon  floor,  stone  chim- 
ney, and  some  attempt  at  clumsy  furniture.  This  type  of 
school-house  is  not  yet  extinct  in  Ohio.  A  few  specimens 
of  the  pioneer  pinfold  for  pupils  may  still  be  seen,  though 
1  am  not  aware  that  any  log-cabin  is  now  used  in  the  state 
for  school  purposes.  As  one  views  the  tumbled  ruins  of 
such  a  relic  of  the  past,  he  is  reminded  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  word  for  school-master,  namely,  "  child-herd." 
Our  fathers  and  mothers  were  herded  and  sheltered  in 
wooden  pens,  but  they  were  often  fed  on  the  bread  of 
life. 

James  K.  Parker,  an  honored  educator,  now  past  three 
score  and  ten,  but  still  teaching  in  Clermont  county,  Ohio, 
graphi<  ;ill\ described  in  a  private  letter  the  log  school- 
houses  in  which  he  began  his  studies.  "  The  first  two 
were  built  of  round  logs,  chinked  with  blocks  of  wood, 
and  daubed  with  clay  mortar.  The  roofs  were  of  split 
clap-boards,  weighted  down  with  small  logs.  The  third  I 
helped  to  build.  It  was  of  hewn  logs  chinked  with  stone, 
an«l  more  neatly  daubed  with  clay.  The  chimney  was 
built  of  stone  laid  in  lime  and  sand  mortar.  The  others 
were  what  was  known  as  "  cat  and  clay  chimneys." 
The  floor  was  of  boards ;  many  were  of  puncheon — i.  e., 
split  ami  Ih  uii.  Ouf  seats  were  long  benches  made  of 
slabs,  with  long  pegs  for  legs.  Our  writing-desks  were 
long,  broad  boards,  resting  on  long  pegs  inserted  in  the 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  191 

log  walls.  The  next  log  above  this  shelf  was  either  left 
out  in  the  building,  or  sawed  out  afterward.  In  this  long 
space  was  inserted  sash,  one  light  wide,  filled  either  with 
glass  or  oiled  paper.  The  writing  seats  were  usually  so 
high  that  our  feet  did  not  touch  the  floor.  There  were 
no  such  things  as  supports  for  the  back.  Our  ink  was 
mostly  home  made — from  oak-bark  ooze  and  copperas. 
Our  pens  were  all  made  from  goose-quills,  and  our  paper 
unruled ;  each  pupil  ruled  for  himself,  with  a  plummet 
made  of  common  metallic  lead.  Copies  were  all  set  by 
hand.  I  never  saw  ruled  paper  until  I  had  been  a  teacher 
several  years,  nor  a  letter  envelope  until  this  academy  (The 
Clermont)  was  eight  years  old.  My  first  steel  pen  cost  me 
25  cents.  My  first  box  of  lucifer  matches  (100),  while  I 
was  at  South  Hanover  College,  cost  18}  cents — postage  on 
a  letter  from  home  the  same  price." 

Many  of  the  backwoods  teachers  were  Irish,  others 
Scotch,  others  English.  Often  they  were  adventurers, 
adrift  upon  the  world — fair  scholars  it  might  be,  but 
worthless  men — impecunious,  and  addicted  to  the  pipe  and 
the  bottle,  like  Boone's  preceptor,  and  Henry  Clay's.  The 
drinking  habit  appears  to  have  been  a  pedagogical  qualifi- 
cation exceedingly  prevalent.  An  old  gentleman  in  Ye- 
vay,  Indiana,  told  me  that  it  was  not  uncommon,  in  the 
days  of  his  boyhood,  for  a  school-teacher  to  manifest  his 
goodwill  toward  the  big  boys  by  freely  ofiTering  them  the 
use  of  pipes  and  tobacco,  and  also  the  refreshment  of  an 
occasional  draught  from  his  whisky  jug.  E.  D.  Mansfield 
records  that  one  of  his  teachers  made  the  school  half  tipsy 
with  cherry-bounce.  So,  we  see,  time  has  changed  public 
sentiment  on  the  question  of  nicotine  and  alcohol.  I 
imagine  that  such  jolly  pedagogues  as  Master  Halfpenny 
and  Peter  Deacon  thought  little  on  the  subject  of  "  tem- 
perance physiology." 

In  the  course  of  time,  foreign  teachers  lost  popularity,  or 
rather  they  were  ousted  by  the  pervasive  Yankee  school- 
master, who  asserted  himself  in  the  western  wilderness, 
claiming  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  business,  and  giving 


192  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

to  the    "people's   colleges,"    a  decidedly  New   England 
character. 

The  method  of  "  getting  up  "  a  school  in  the  period  pre- 
ceding the  mode  by  taxation  and  the  appropriation  of  pub- 
lic funds,  was  this:  The  applicant  for  a  school  would  draw 
an  article  of  agreement,  stating  what  branches  he  was  able 
to  teach,  and  for  what  rate  of  compensation.  This  paper 
was  passed  around  from  house  to  house  for  signatures,  and 
subscriptions  payable  partly  in  money  and  partly  in  "  pro- 
duce." The  tuition  of  the  children  of  the  poor  was  paid 
customarily  by  public-spirited  individuals  of  comfortable 
fortune.  The  school  terms  were  usually  short,  from  ten 
to  fifteen  weeks  of  six  days  each ;  but  the  daily  sessions 
were  very  long,  extending  over  eight  and  even  ten  hours. 

I  scarcely  need  allude  to  the  custom  of  "boarding 
round,"  which  prevailed  long  before  and  long  after  the 
memorable  days  of  Ichabod  Crane.  It  was  a  custom  that 
came  from  the  East.  It  had  this  advantage,  that  it  en- 
abled the  teacher  to  become  well  acquainted  with  his 
patrons,  and  them  with  him. 

In  the  work  of  the  school-room,  not  much  system  was 
used  in  management  or  method  in  instruction.  The  pupils 
brought  to  the  school  such  books  as  they  could  obtain,  or 
no  books  at  all.  A  county  judge  in  Warsaw,  Kentucky, 
told  me  that  his  father  learned  the  alphabet  from  a  shingle 
upon  which  the  letters  were  scrawled  with  charcoal.  I 
find  no  reference  to  the  use  of  the  horn-book  in  the  Ohio 
Valley.  The  slate  susperseded  that  ancient  device.  Class- 
ification and  grading  were  next  to  impossible ;  the  schol- 
ars studied  in  their  own  way,  with  irregular  and  incidental 
help  from  the  teacher.  There  were  as  many  classes  in  a 
subject  as  there  were  pupils  studying  it.  Ambitious  farmer 
boys,  "  ciphering  arithmetic,"  ran  races  to  see  who  should 
first  get  through  old  "  Pike."  An  odd  miscellany  of  dog's- 
erred  volumes  came  from  cabin  closets  to  furnish  reading 
text.  Happy  he  who  possessed  a  copy  of  the  English 
Reader,  or  the  Columbian  Orator.  Wanting  these,  he 
must  put  up  with  -^sop's  Fables,  or  Gullivers  Travels,  or 
a  Dream   Book,  or  even   a  torn  Almanac.      The  Bible 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  193 

was  in  general  use  as  a  reading  book,  and  numerous  are 
the  stories  told  of  ludicrous  blunders  made  by  blockheads 
in  pronouncing  hard  scripture  words.  At  an  uncertain 
hour,  all  hands  engaged  in  scribbling  copies  which  the 
master  had  "  set "  in  advance,  beginning  with  "  pot-hooks," 
and  endinsf  with  moral  sentences  in  "  round  hand."  With 
pen-knife  sharpened  to  the  keenest  edge,  the  master  skill- 
fully fashioned  into  pens  the  goose-quills  brought  to  his 
desk.  But  the  culminating  exercise  was  the  spelling- 
match,  which  usually  closed  the  duties  of  the  day.  The 
scholars,  ranged  in  order  along  the  walls,  spelled  or 
"  missed "  the  words  pronounced  with  syllabic  precision 
by  the  master  who  stood  with  ferule  in  one  hand,  and 
Dillworth's  Spelling  Book  in  the  other^  like  the  genius  of 
education  holding  up  the  emblems  of  power  and  knowl- 
edge. The  spelling  school  at  early  candle  lighting,  that 
nocturnal  annex  to  the  social  and  scholastic  day,  is  em- 
balmed in  Eggleston's  story  of  the  "  Hoosier  School- 
master." 

The  three  E's — "  readin',  'ritin',  'rithmetic,"  the  trivium 
of  a  log-cabin  course  of  study,  are  rudimental — basilar — 
essential.  Where  demand  existed  or  was  created  for  other 
branches,  they  were  added,  and  manuals  of  information 
were  forthcoming.  In  1784,  Jedediah  Morse  had  prepared 
a  text-book  on  Geography  for  the  schools  of  ^^Tew  Haven. 
This  was  issued  from  a  Boston  press  in  1789,  and  by  the 
year  1811,  it  had  passed  through  sixteen  editions,  and  was 
in  use  in  all  the  states.  Lindley  Murray's  English  Gram- 
mar held  the  field  as  a  popular  text-book  until  about 
1830.  The  author  was  born  in  1745  and  died  in  1826. 
Supply  is  ever  swift  to  form  the  acquaintance  demand,  and 
competion  is  never  long  idle.  Dillworth'«  field  was  soon 
invaded  by  Webster  and  Walker.  Authors  and  compilers 
in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  !N"ew  York,  put  themselves 
to  the  task  of  supplying  a  "  long-felt  want,"  by  preparing 
series  upon  series  for  the  use  of  schools,  and  soon  rival 
authors  and  publishers  appeared  in  the  West,  in  Lexing- 
ton, Cincinnati,  and  elsewhere.  In  1795,  John  Wood,  of 
13 


194  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

New  York,  published  the  "  Mentor,  or  American  Teach- 
er*8  Assistant."  Dillworth's  "Schoolmaster's  Assistant" 
was  of  earlier  origin.  In  1811  was  issued,  in  Philadelphia, 
William  Duane's  "  Epitome  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  be- 
ing a  Comprehensive  System  of  the  Elementary  Parts  of 
a  Useful  and  Polite  Education  ;"  Albert  Picket's  series  of 
"American  School  Class  Books,"  including  works  on 
spelling,  reading,  grammar,  geography,  and  writing,  came 
out  early  in  the  century,  published  by  D.  D.  Smith,  l^ew 
York.  "  Gummere's  Surveying,"  and  James  Ross's  Latin 
Grammar,  popular  guides  in  their  day,  were  not  published 
until  the  year  1814. 

The  school  books  which  I  have  just  named  or  alluded 
to,  and  others  from  the  Atlantic  States,  were  used  in  the 
schools  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  stray  copies  of  them  may 
be  found  in  old  libraries  and  second-hand  book-stores. 
They  are  now  dead  leaves,  fallen  from  the  deciduous  tree 
of  educational  literature. 

The  history  of  school  book  authorship  and  publication 
in  the  Ohio  Valley  would  furnish  material  for  a  long 
chapter.  The  local  bibliographer  discovers  some  curious 
instances  of  learned  labor  by  backwoods  scholars.  The 
now  rare  Life  of  Washington,  "Washingionii  Vita,"  in 
Latin,  by  Francis  Glass,  was  submitted  in  manuscript  to 
the  faculties  of  Ohio  University  and  of  Cincinnati  College 
for  criticism,  in  1824.  In  the  same  year,  the  erudite  Dr. 
Martin  Uuter  published,  in  Cincinnati,  a  "Hebrew  Gram- 
mar" of  ninety-six  pages,  a  surprising  fact,  when  we  con- 
sider that  the  "  Sacred  Language  "  was  not  at  that  time 
taught  in  the  West.  One  of  the  first  books  composed 
and  published  in  the  Ohio  Valley  was  an  elaborate  "  His- 
tory of  Literature,"  by  Watkins  Tannehill  (1787-1858),  of 
Tennessee.  Tannehill  edited  a  literary  paper  called  The 
Orthopolitan,  in  Nashville.  As  long  ago  as  1829,  James 
Ruggles,  of  Cincinnati,  published  an  original  work  on 
«*  Universal  Language  "—the  "  Volapuk"  of  the  day. 

Among  the  early  publishers  of  school-books  in  Cincin- 
nati were  W.  M.  k  0.  Farnsworth,  who,  in  six  months,  in 
the  years  1826-7,  issued  9,000  spelling  books,  7,000  Mur- 


Teachers,  Schools,  and  Colleges.  195 

ray's  Introduction  and  English  Readers,  600  English  Gram- 
mars, 2,000  Arithmetics,  15,000  Primers,  and  60,000  Alma- 
nacs. N.  &  G.  Guilford  also  published  school  books.  So 
did  Morgan,  Lodge  &  Fisher,  and  others.  The  newspaper 
offices  long  continued  to  be  places  of  book  publishing. 
Of  early  western  text-books  popular  in  their  day,  mention 
may  be  made  of  Ruter's  Arithmetic,  Locke's  Grammar, 
and  particularly,  Kirkham's  Grammar,  a  little  book  widely 
known  and  valued  by  our  fathers.  Lincoln  learned  gram- 
mar from  Kirkham's  book. 

There  lies  before  me  as  I  write  the  conclusion  of  this 
chapter,  a  copy  of  "  Dillworth's  Schoolmaster's  Assistant," 
almost  a  hundred  years  old.  The  frontispiece  is  a  fright- 
ful wood-cut  of  the  venerated  Dillworth  himself — frightful 
and  grim.  On  one  of  the  fly-leaves  is  written,  in  a  sprawl- 
ing hand,  the  inscription, "  Martin  Augspwiger,  his  assist- 
ant, Williamsburg,  Virginia."  What  manner  of  man, 
what  style  of  school-master  was  Martin?  And  how  did 
"  his  assistant "  find  its  way  from  Williamsburg  to  Cin- 
cinnati? Martin  Augspwiger's  queer  name,  perchance, 
exists  only  on  a  tombstone  and  on  this  dingy  fly-leaf  of 
old  Dillworth's  fossil  book.  But  the  names  and  the  volume 
and  its  migration  from  Virginia  to  Ohio  tell  a  suggestive 
story  to  him  who  has  the  fancy  to  repeople  the  past,  and 
to  reconstruct  pioneer  schools  around  a  visible  fragment 
of  things  that  were. 

The  pioneer  schools  were  the  best  that  pioneer  circum- 
stances would  allow.  They  gave  boys  and  girls  a  start  in 
life.  The  children  learned  in  order  to  read,  write,  and 
cypher  in  practical  ways.  Harsh,  crude,. direct,  were  the 
instruction  and  the  discipline.  Among  the  branches  not 
neglected  by  the  teacher  nor  forgotten  by  the  pupil  were 
birch  and  hickory.  The  metaphor  was,  "give  hickory 
oil."  Flogging  was  a  specific  in  well-nigh  universal  use 
both  as  cure  and  preventive.  Our  good  fathers  had  to 
"toe  the  mark."  But  sometimes  they  got  even  with  a 
despotic  master  by  "  barring  him  out "  on  Christmas,  or 
smoking  him  in  with  burning  sulphur,  if  he  would  not 


196  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

come  out,  or  even  by  ducking  him  in  a  pond,  or  such-like 
playful  familiarity. 

But,  a  hundred  years  ago,  as  now,  and  as  will  be  a  hun- 
dred years  hence,  the  good  teacher  made  a  good  school. 
There  are  always  difficulties  to  overcome.  Relatively,  our 
ancestors  did  as  well  as  we  are  doing  now.  Cadmus  finds 
a  dragon  in  his  way,  but  Cadmus  conquers,  and  founds 
his  city,  and  dispenses  arts  and  letters  and  laws. 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.         197 


CHAPTER   YI. 

THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  CLASH  OF  CREEDS. 

"  My  Church  !  my  Church !  my  dear  old  Church ! 
My  fathers'  and  my  own ! 
On  Prophets  and  Apostles  built, 

And  Christ  the  corner-stone  ! 
All  else  beside,  by  storm  or  tide 

May  yet  be  overthrown ; 
But  not  my  Church,  my  dear  old  Church, 
My  fathers'  and  my  own  !" 

— Gerberding. 

The  voice  of  the  preacher  was  heard  in  the  western  for- 
est before  political  eloquence  could  command  a  hearing. 
As  long  ago  as  1749,  the  French,  taking  possession  of  the 
Yalley  of  the  Ohio,  planted  the  emblem  of  the  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church  at  many  points,  and  the  Jesuit  priests  scat- 
tered among  their  Indian  converts  numerous  little  silver 
crosses,  specimens  of  which  have  often  been  found. 

The  French  who  founded  missions  in  Southern  Illinois 
in  1682,  and  in  Indiana  about  twenty  years  later,  were  all 
Roman  Catholic.  A  mission  was  established  at  Yin- 
cennes  by  Father  Sebastian  Meurin,  perhaps  in  the  year 
1700.  Henry  S.  Canthorn,  in  the  Catholic  Record,  Indian- 
apolis, says  :  "  The  first  building  erected  for  St.  Francis 
Xavier's  church  was  constructed  of  timbers  set  on  end, 
and  the  interstices  filled  with  adobe.  It  was  built  under  the 
direction  of  the  unknown  Jesuit  father  who  accompanied 
de  Vincenne,  when  he  came  to  build  the  fort  in  1702.  It 
was  built  before  the  fort,  and  many  Indian  converts  as- 
sisted. It  had  a  dirt  floor,  benches  for  seats  and  a  very 
rude  and  plain  altar.  It  had  no  windows,  and  no  lights 
other  than  those  upon  the  altar.     The   door  was  in  the 


198  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

north-west  end,  and  faced  the  fort  and  river.  The  first 
church  was  located  upon  the  site  of  the  present  cathedral." 
After  the  organization  of  the  territory  north-west  of  the 
Ohio  river,  and  the  introduction  of  courts,  it  appears  that 
the  new  laws  interfered  somewhat  with  the  customs  of  the 
Church.  Mr.  Dunn,  in  his  history  of  Indiana,  says  that 
"Judge  Symmes  was  considered  a  particularly  dangerous 
heretic  hy  the  French  settlers,  because,  in  a  charge  to  a 
grand  jury  in  Wayne  county,  he  had  tried  to  persuade 
these  Catholics  that  their  payment  of  tithes  and  devotion 
of  so  much  time  to  worship  were  neither  enjoined  by 
Scripture  nor  conducive  to  temporal  welfare." 

The  Moravian  missionaries,  Heckewelder,  Zeisberger, 
Sensemann,  Edwards,  Jung  and  Jungmann,  had  pro- 
claimed the  Gospel  to  the  savages  in  the  valley  of  the 
Muskingum  for  a  number  of  years  before  the  English 
came  to  Marietta. 

The  Moravian  or  "  United  Brethren "  missionaries 
were,  indeed,  the  first  white  people  who  established  settle- 
ments within  the  limits  of  Ohio,^  and  Rufus  King  calls 
them  the  "  Pilgrims  of  Ohio."  As  early  as  the  year  1772, 
they  founded  on  the  Tuscarawas  river  their  rude  villages, 
one  of  which  was  piously  named  Gnadenhutten,  the 
tents  or  huts  of  grace.  Like  the  Quakers  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  Moravians  were  kind  to  the  Indians,  and  like 
the  Jesuits,  they  strove  to  propagate  Christianity.  The 
ruthless  destruction  of  their  settlements  by  American 
soldiers  is  a  blot  on  our  history,  but  their  self-sacrifice^ 
even  to  death,  illustrates  the  devotion  to  duty  which  is 
symbolized  by  the  cross. 

Rev.  John  Heckewelder  was  born  at  Bedford,  England, 
in  1743;  he  came  to  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  in  1756, 
and  began  missionary  labors  among  the  Indians  in  1762. 
He  was  the  founder  of  Salem  on  the  Tuscarawas.  Dur- 
ing nineteen  years  he  was  a  fellow  worker  with  Zeis- 
berger. Heckewelder  died  in  1823.  He  may  be  classed 
among  the  literary  pioneers  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  for  his 

*  Some  EDgliflh  traders  had  a  store  at  PkkawiUany,  on  the  Big  Miami, 
near  Piqua,  in  1752;  but  thin  can  hardly  ho  considered  a  settlement. 


Voice  of  the  Preachei^  and  Clash  of  Creeds,  199 

writings  are  of  considerable  importance.  Dr.  Wistar,  of 
Philadelphia,  induced  him  to  publish,  in  1819,  his  first 
work,  "An  Account  of  the  History,  Manners,  and  Cus- 
toms of  the  Indian  Nations  who  once  inhabited  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  neighboring  States."  But  his  most  im- 
portant publication  is,  ''A  J^arrative  of  the  Mission  of  the 
United  Brethren  among  the  Delaware  and  Mohegan  In- 
dians from  1740  to  1808,  interspersed  with  Anecdotes,  His- 
torical Facts,  Speeches  of  Indians,  etc."  This  appeared  in 
1820. 

Rev.  David  Zeisberger  was  born  in  Moravia  in  1721, 
and  he  died  in  Ohio  in  1808.  Perhaps  he  may  be  considered 
chief  of  the  Moravian  Evangelists.  "  The  Diary  of  David 
Zeisberger,"  ^  presented  to  the  Ohio  Historical  Society  by 
Judge  Ebenezer  Lane,  was  translated,  in  1885,  by  Eugene 
F.  Bliss.  It  comprises  two  exceedingly  interesting  vol- 
umes, which,  as  the  translator  remarks,  are  as  interesting 
from  a  psychological  as  a  historical  point  of  view.  Mr. 
Bliss  says :  "  The  action  of  white  men  upon  Indians, 
Christians  upon  heathen,  the  civilized  upon  savages,  can 
well  be  studied  in  these  pages.  Here  and  there  can  be  ob- 
served the  re-action  of  the  Indian  upon  the  white." 

I  have  found  mention  of  Rev.  David  Jones,  a  Baptist 
missionary  from  New  Jersey,  who  traveled  in  Ohio,  in 
1772  or  1773,  and  preached  to  the  Indians.  But,  perhaps, 
the  first  Protestant  preacher  who  ministered  to  a  white 
congregation  in  the  Ohio  Yalley  was  the  Rev.  John 
Lythe,  of  the  Episcopal  church,  who,  in  the  year  1775, 
conducted  divine  service  in  the  shade  of  a  majestic  elm 
tree  at  Boonesborough,  Kentucky.  It  was  in  the  event- 
ful year  1776  that  the  Rev.  William  Hickman,  Sr.,  began 
to  travel  from  station  to  station  in  the  wilderness  of  Ken- 
tucky preaching  to  the  settlers.  He  was  a  Baptist,  the 
advance  herald  of  a  sect  which  has  always  outnumbered 
any  other  denomination  in  Kentucky.  A  principal  reason 
why  the  Baptists  came  to  the  new  state  in  large  numbers 

^  The  Diary  of  David  Zeisberger,  Moravian  Missionary  among  the  In- 
dians of  Ohio  during  the  years  1781  to  1798.  Translated  from  the 
Original  Manuscript  in  German  by  Eugene  F.  Bliss.    2  vols.    8vo. 


200  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

soon  after  the  Revolution  was,  that  they  found  in  the  West 
that  freedom  from  religious  persecution  which  even  the 
law  could  not  secure  them  in  Virginia  owing  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  established  church.  We  are  told  that 
"  in  1780,  Lewis  Craig,  one  of  the  valiant  champions  of 
the  dissenting  cause,  who  was  carried,  singing,  to  prison 
in  Fredericksburg,  led  the  most  of  his  church  from  Spott- 
sylvania  county,  Virginia,  to  Gilbert's  creek,  in  Garrard 
county,  where  a  church  was  organized  in  the  following 
year."  Other  Baptist  congregations  followed  the  leading 
of  Craig;  and  thus  the  denomination  was  securely  planted 
in  the  new  country  at  a  very  early  day.  The  blue-grass 
region  received  from  the  older  states  many  immigrants 
holding  Calvinistic  creeds,  the  Rev.  David  Rice,  a  Presby- 
terian minister,  being  one  of  the  first  famous  leaders  of 
his  sect.  He  began  his  sacred  duties  in  Kentucky  in  the 
year  1783.  The  Roman  Catholic  church  also  gained  a 
foothold  in  the  state  at  about  the  same  period,  its 
founders  being  emigrants  from  Maryland.  Interesting 
particulars,  in  regard  to  the  planting  of  religious  denom- 
inations in  the  South-west,  may  be  found  in  Spencer's 
History  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Kentucky,  Davidson's 
History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Kentucky,  and 
Webb's  Centenary  History  of  Catholicity  in  Kentucky. 

When  we  take  up  the  story  of  how  the  church  and  the 
school  were  founded  at  Marietta,  we  seem  to  be  reading 
some  familiar  history  of  a  Puritan  village  in  New  En- 
gland. The  colonists  who  accompanied  General  Putnam 
to  Ohio  in  1788  were  Presbyterians,  and  religious  service 
was  never  neglected  by  them.  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,^  a 
director  in  the  Ohio  Company,  and  its  chief  founder,  was 
a  believer  in  "  preachers  and  schoolmasters,"  and  he  made 
provieion  for  bringing  both  to  the  Muskingum  settlement. 
Nathaniel  Rogers,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  came  to  Mari- 
etta in  May,  1788,  expecting  to  teach  ;  but  he  returned  to 
Massachusetts  the  same  year.     The  Rev.  William  Breck 

'  Manasseh  Cutler,  LL.D.  Life,  Journal,  and  Correspondence  of.  By 
his  Grandchildren,  William  P.  Cutler  and  Julia  P.  Cutler.  Portraits, 
etc.    2  vols.    8vo.    Cincinnati. 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  201 

is  accredited  with  having  preached  the  first  sermon  deliv- 
ered in  Ohio  to  white  people.  This  was  at  Marietta,  in 
July,  1788.  Probably  the  second  sermon  preached  at  Ma- 
rietta was  a  discourse  by  Dr.  Cutler  himself,  w4io  addressed 
the  settlers  assembled  on  the  Campus  Marti  as,  on  Sunday, 
August  24,  1788,  some  four  months  and  a  half  after  the 
landing  of  the  Ohio  Mayflower.  Dr.  Cutler,  though  he 
preserved  a  Puritan  antipathy  toward  Jews  and  "  infidels," 
was  in  spirit  and  practice  a  very  liberal  Christian.  In  his 
Marietta  discourse,  he  proclaimed  that  the  "  sum  total " 
of  the  Gospel  is  "  comprehended  in  love  to  God  and  man." 
He  further  declared,  "  We  ought  to  allow  others  the  same 
right  of  private  judgment  which  we  assume  to  ourselves." 
He  added :  "  There  are  doubtless  persons  already  here, 
who  may  be  of  difterent  sentiments  and  difterent  denom- 
inations. As  the  settlement  advances  they  will  enjoy  the 
privilege,  to  ^vhich  they  are  clearly  entitled,  of  forming 
societies  of  their  own  persuasion.  .  .  .  Whatever  you 
may  hear  which  does  not  correspond  with  your  own  opin- 
ion, you  are  not  obliged  to  receive  as  truth  ;  perhaps,  how- 
ever, it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  it  a  candid  examination, 
if  nothing  more ;  it  may  extend  your  acquaintance  with 
the  principles  and  faith  of  others,  and  you  will  set  an  ex- 
ample that  may  have  a  most  happy  effect  in  our  present 
state."  This  tolerant  attitude  toward  dissenting  views 
characterizes  the  generous  and  enlightened  mind,  and  is 
in  contrast  with  the  spirit  ascribed  to  some  of  the  preachers 
in  the  South  by  a  recent  history  of  Kentucky,  which  asserts 
that  the  early  preachers  of  that  state  were  generally  *'  illiter- 
ate men,"  whose ''  crude  logic  and  vigorous  declamation  met 
with  great  acceptation  in  a  society  where  .  .  .  relig- 
ion meant  the  'belonging'  to  some  church,  the  earnest 
opposition  to  peculiar  tenets  of  other  sects,  and  the  ab- 
staining from  certain  capital  violations  of  the  law-and- 
order  sentiment  of  the  community."  This  conception  of 
religion  was  not  confined  to  one  locality,  nor  has  it  yet 
quite  disappeared  from  the  minds  of  sectaries. 

The  first  regular  minister  or  chaplain  of  the  Marietta 
colony  was  Kev.  Daniel  Story,  a  tall,  slender  young  man 


202  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

from  Dartmouth  College,  who  came  west  late  in  1789,  on 
the  agreement  that  he  was  to  receive  his  board  and  four 
silver  dollars  a  week  for  his  professional  services.  Story 
went  back  to  Massachusetts,  but  in  1798  returned  to  Ohio, 
having  been  ordained  as  the  first  regular  Congregational 
minister  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains.  The  charge 
of  the  ordination  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Cutler,  at  Hamil- 
ton, Mass.,  August  15,  1798.  Story  continued  pastor  of 
the  church  until  March  15,  1804,  when  he  resigned  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health.  He  died  at  Marietta,  December  30, 
1804,  aged  forty-nine  years.  There  is  a  traditional  homely 
comment  current  in  old  days,  to  the  efiect  that  Daniel 
Story  "  was  like  a  cow  that  gave  a  good  pail  of  milk 
and  then  kicked  it  over,"  the  explanation  of  which  simile 
is  that  he  began  his  sermons  with  Arminian  liberality 
of  promise  of  salvation  to  all,  but  closed  them  with  se- 
verely Calvinistic  limitations. 

Mr.  Story  preached  once  a  month  at  Belpre,  going  to 
and  from  his  appointment  in  a  canoe.  Service  was  con- 
ducted every  Sunday  at  Belpre,  after  the  old  Puritan  fash- 
ion, some  layman  reading  a  sermon  aloud  when  no  clergy- 
man could  be  had.  The  services  were  held  at  the  military 
quarters.  Farmer's  Castle.  Sometimes  the  prayers  were 
read  according  to  the  Episcopal  form,  but,  as  there  were 
very  few  prayer  books  to  be  had,  the  ritual  was  followed 
with  difficulty,  and  it  is  related  that  a  certain  bluff*  revo- 
lutionary soldier,  who  acted  as  chaplain,  used  to  give,  at 
proper  times,  with  "military  promptness  and  sternness,  the 
orders,  "  Read !"  "  Kneel !"  "  Rise  !" 

The  congregation  came  together  at  the  summons  of  a 
loud  drum.  This  was  at  a  date  when  the  pillory,  the 
stocks,  and  the  whipping-post  still  maintained  their  places 
as  instrumentalities  of  justice  and  adjuncts  to  religion. 
They  came  to  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  with  the  early  im- 
migrants. 

The  first  cliurch  edifice  in  Marietta,  2k  building  planned 
by  Samuel  Putnam  in  1807,  is  still  standing,  and  is  the 
regular  place  of  worship  for  a  Congregational  society.  It 
is  known  as  the  "  two-horued  "  meeting-house,  from  the 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  203 

pair  of  cupolas  which  arise,  one  from  each  corner  of  the 
end  fronting  the  street.  Many  a  celebrated  preacher  has 
officiated  in  its  pulpit  within  the  century,  and  many  a 
famous  lecturer  has  delivered  his  message  from  its  high 
desk.  The  graduating  classes  of  Marietta  College  have 
held  their  commencement  exercises  there  annually  for 
more  than  fifty  years.  Altogether,  the  old  "two-horned" 
meeting-house  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  historical 
buildings  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  It  is  a  permanent  link 
uniting  ^ew  England  to  Ohio. 

Land  grants  issued  in  July,  1787,  for  educational  pur- 
poses in  the  North-west,  provided  that  "  Lot  No.  29,  in 
each  township  or  fractional  part  of  township,  be  given 
perpetually  for  the  purposes  of  religion."  This  favor  was 
confined  to  the  Ohio  Company  and  to  the  Symmes  Pur- 
chase. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  Miami  country  were  not  less 
zealous  in  religious  observances  than  were  the  colonists 
of  the  Muskingum,  though  they  organized  a  church  of 
different  denomination  to  begin  with.  When,  on  the 
morning  of  November  18,  1788,  the  adventurous  party  of 
twenty-six,  led  by  Major  Stites,  landed,  about  sunrise,  at 
Columbia,  the  first  thing  they  did,  after  making  fast  their 
boat,  was  to  sing  a  hymn  of  praise  and  to  fall  upon  their 
knees  and  offer  thanks  to  God.  The  Baptists  of  Colum- 
bia organized  a  church  in  January,  1790 — the  first  church 
society  in  the  state,  it  is  claimed,  and  Rev.  Stephen  Gano 
was  chosen  pastor. 

Memorial  exercises  celebrating  the  centennial  of  the  first 
church  erected  in  Cincinnati  were  held  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  on  Fourth  street,  October  14,  1890.  On 
that  occasion  the  Rev.  F.  C.  Monfort,  D.D.,  read  a  his- 
torical sketch  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  particulars  in 
regard  to  the  founding  of  the  first  Presbyterian  society  and 
church  edifice. 

Religious  services  were  held  during  the  Summer  of  1789, 
by  the  Presbyterians  of  Losantiville,  in  the  shade  of  forest 
trees,  or  in  the  settler's  cabins,  or,  sometimes,  in  a  mill  on 
Vine  street  below  third.     In  October,  1790,  Rev.  David 


204  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Rice,  mentioned  on  a  preceding  page  as  one  of  the  fathers 
of  Presbyterian  ism  in  Kentucky,  came  to  Cincinnati  and 
organized  a  church,  of  which  Rev.  James  Kemper,  then 
a  theological  student  at  Transylvania,  was  installed  pas- 
tor a  year  later.  Subscriptions  were  taken  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  building  a  church,  and  the  edifice  was  begun 
early  in  1792.     Dr.  Monfort  says  : 

"  The  building  was  of  frame,  30  x  40  feet.  It  was  oc- 
cupied in  the  fall  both  as  a  church  and  court-room. 
Presbytery  met  in  it  October  21,  1792.  It  was  not  plas- 
tered until  1794,  when  another  subscription  paper  was 
passed  round.  Judge  Burnet,  in  his  '  Sketches  of  the 
West,'  thus  describes  it :  *  It  was  inclosed  with  clapboards, 
but  neither  lathed,  plastered,  nor  ceiled.  The  floor  was 
of  boat  plank  laid  loosely  on  sleepers.  The  seats  were  of 
the  same  material  supported  on  blocks  of  wood.  There 
was  a  breastwork  of  unplained  cherry  boards,  called  the 
pulpit,  behind  which  the  clergyman  stood  on  a  piece  of 
boat-plank  resting  on  blocks  of  wood.'  " 

**  Mr.  Kemper's  pastorate  closed  in  1796.  The  church 
under  his  ministration  had  prospered.  He  was  an  earn- 
est preacher  and  a  fearless  man.  The  journey  from  Cin- 
cinnati to  Columbia,  which  he  made  every  other  Sabbath 
for  several  years,  was  one  of  danger.  The  woods  w^ere 
full  of  Indians,  and  it  was  a  time  of  war.  He  was  the 
man  for  the  time  and  place,  and  his  name  stands  as  the 
pioneer  minister  of  this  whole  region.  True,  the  Rev. 
David  Rice  preceded  him,  having  preached  a  few  weeks 
earlier,  but  he  came  to  stay.  He  was  the  first  installed 
pastor  of  any  denomination  north-west  of  the  Ohio.  He 
was  a  factor  in  the  history  of  most  of  the  early  churches 
of  the  Miami  Valley. 

**  The  closing  years  of  the  century  were  a  time  of  trial  to 
the  church  in  Cincinati.  Peace  had  been  established  with 
the  Indians,  and  this  meant  the  scattering  to  farms  and 
small  villages.  The  church  felt  the  loss  of  many  who  had 
been  her  support.  Her  loss,  however,  was  the  gain  of 
the  religion  throughout  a  large  section,  for  churches  sprang 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds,  205 

up,  many  churches  were  organized,  and  a  revival  spirit 
prevailed.  Unfortunately  this  was  marked  by  excesses 
which  led  to  strife  and  weakness. 

"  In  1797  Rev.  Peter  Wilson  took  charge  of  the  church. 
Little  is  known  of  him.  He  was  not  installed  and  died 
after  a  brief  service.  He  was  followed  by  Rev.  Matthew 
G.  "Wallace,  a  man  of  much  ability,  who  remained  part 
of  the  time  as  pastor  and  part  as  stated  supply  about  four 
years.  From  1804,  the  close  of  Mr.  Wallace's  labors,  un- 
til 1808,  was  a  time  of  controversy  and  danger.  The  New 
Light  doctrines  and  methods  w^ere  in  the  ascendant 
throughout  the  Miami  country.  Three  ministers,  Rev. 
John  Dunlevy,  Richard  Mc^N'ernan,  and  John  Thompson, 
had  seceded  from  Presbytery  and  been  successful  in  lead- 
ing off  or  dividing  their  churches. 

"  The  church  in  Cincinnati  was  seriously  affected.  In- 
deed it  is  on  record  that  for  allowing  Xew  Light  preach- 
ers to  preach  their  doctrines  in  its  pulpit,  it  was  refused 
representation  in  Presbytery.  During  this  period  Rev. 
Peter  Davis  and  Rev.  John  Davies  supplied  the  church 
each  for  a  short  time,  the  former  dying  before  the  time  for 
which  he  was  employed  had  expired." 

On  May  28,  1808,  the  "  pulpit  giant,"  Rev.  Joshua  L. 
Wilson,  from  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  was  installed  as  pas- 
tor of  the  Cincinnati  church,  in  which  he  continued  to 
preach  until  the  year  of  his  death,  1846.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son.  Rev.  S.  R.  Wilson,  who  held  the  pastorate  un- 
til 1861.  The  Wilsons,  father  and  son,  ministered  during 
a  period  of  fifty-three  years. 

The  first  quarter  of  the  present  century  witnessed  a 
general  religious  activity,  and  the  establishment  of  numer- 
ous sects. 

Representatives  of  every  old  creed  and  propagandists  of 
every  new  ism  went  about  in  the  new  country  proclaim- 
ing what  they  held  to  be  true,  and  denouncing  what  they 
held  to  be  false,  with  a  freedom  of  speech  adapted  to  the 
unfenced  fields  and  waving  forests  of  the  West.  Jews, 
Catholics,  Protestants,  and  agnostics  alike  sought  freedom 
to  worship  or  not  to  worship  in  the  new  country,  and  took 


206  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

passage  on  the  river  craft  at  Pittsburg  for  Kentucky,  or 
Ohio,  or  Indiana,  or  Illinois.  Such  churches  as  did  not 
choose  to  take  the  field  as  aggressively  "  militant,"  were 
obliged  at  least  to  stand  warlike  in  their  own  defense. 
Not  always  were  the  battles  of  theology  between  armies 
of  different  flags — civil  wars  arose,  dissentions  and  bitter 
feuds  within  the  borders  of  a  camp  professedly  standing 
for  the  same  tenets  and  forms.  The  Presbyterian  Church, 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  was  rent  in  twain  by  a  dispute 
on  psalmody. 

Charges  of  "  infidelity "  were  rife,  and  heresy  was 
spotted  every-where.  In  1823,  Thomas  T.  Skillman,  of 
Lexington,  started  the  "  Western  Luminary,"  a  religious 
periodical  intended  to  "  counteract  the  influence  of  in- 
fidelity." In  1824,  Dr.  Charles  Caldwell,  of  Transylvania 
University,  felt  called  upon  to  issue  a  "Defense  of  the 
Medical  Profession  against  the  Charge  of  Infidelity  and 
Irreligion."  The  "  Pandect,"  a  religious  periodical  pub- 
lished by  Rev.  Joshua  Wilson,  of  Cincinnati,  without  per- 
sonal rancor,  charged  Kev.  Timothy  Flint  with  skepticism. 
Flint,  with  dry  sarcasm,  questions  the  sincerity  of  some 
who  profess  extreme  orthodoxy,  and  he  gets  oft*  a  sly 
joke  at  the  expense  of  political  oflice  seekers  in  the  fol- 
lowing ;  "  We  saw  a  candidate,  known  to  be  a  derider 
of  religion,  sitting  at  a  camp  preaching  among  the  min- 
isters, and  ever  and  anon  uttering  a  dismal  groan,  as  if 
seized  with  a  colic  pang,  and  a  face  of  the  more  elongated 
and  rueful  sanctity." 

The  camp-meeting  in  some  sections,  especially  in  the 
Sonth,  exerted  an  attractive  control  over  multitudes,  and 
its  fervid,  solemn,  and  picturesque  methods  wrought 
effects  little  short  of  miraculous.  This  was  emphatically 
the  case  during  the  great  revival  of  1800,  which  shook 
the  states  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  to  their  spiritual 
center. 

The  origin  of  the  camp-meeting  is  given  by  Rev.  E.  B. 
Crisman  in  a  short  history  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church.  "  The  first  camp-meeting  ever  held,"  says 
Mr.  Crisman,  "  was  i;i  July,  1800,  at  Gaspar  river,  Logaa 


Voice  of  the  People  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  207 

county,  Kentucky.  The  circumstances  which  gave  rise 
to  it  were  as  follows  :  A  family  who  had  just  arrived  in 
the  country  from  one  of  the  Carolinas  were  desirous  of  at- 
tending one  of  Mr.  McGready^s  meetings,  hut  were  about 
to  decline  going,  because  the  meeting  was  some  distance 
from  them,  and  they  had  no  acquaintances  in  the  country. 
A  female  member  of  the  family  suggested  that  they  had 
camped  with  their  wagon  on  the  journey  from  Carolina 
,  to  the  country,  and  they  might  still  camp  long  enough 
to  attend  a  meeting.  They  accordingly  took  their  wagon 
and  provision  and  camped  near  the  church.  This  family, 
shared  largely  in  the  blessings  of  the  meeting.  At  the 
next  meeting  several  families  followed  the  example,  and 
were  also  blessed.  This  was  a  good  omen,  and  suggested 
to  Mr.  McGready  the  idea  of  a  camp-meeting,  and  he  ac- 
cordingly appointed  a  meeting  at  Gaspar  river,  and  an- 
nounced that  the  people  would  be  expected  to  camp  on 
the  ground.  For  shelter  they  used  their  wagon  sheets 
and  cloth  tents,  as  is  the  custom  at  the  present  time 
(1858)  in  Texas  and  other  new  countries.  The  first  camp- 
meeting  held  from  Friday  until  the  next  Tuesday,  and 
resulted  in  forty-five  conversions." 

Twenty  thousand  souls  are  said  to  have  attended  the 
session  of  a  camp-meeting  at  Cane  Ridge,  near  Paris,  Ky. 
About  three  thousand  persons,  mostly  men,  fell  in  a 
cataleptic  state.  Prof.  Shaler  estimates  that  perhaps  half 
the  entire  population  of  Kentucky,  were,  by  the  power  of 
this  great  revival,  "  brought  under  the  infiuence  of  an  en- 
thusiasm that  for  a  moment  took  them  quite  away  from 
material  things."  Extensive  revivals  spread  over  Ken- 
tucky in  1826-7-8-9. 

Yivid  descriptions  of  the  camp-meeting  and  its  im- 
pressive scenes  are  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  early 
Western  historians,  poets,  and  novelists.  The  pioneer 
"revivals"  furnish  a  theme  for  a  sort  of  sacred  romance 
or  divine  comedy. 

The  period  was  one  of  sect  forming.  The  Cumberland 
Presbyterian   Church  was  of  recent   origin.      It  sprung 


208  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

from  the  great  revival  and  was  organized  in  Kentucky, 
February  4,  1810. 

Rev.  Barton  W.  Stone  organized,  in  Kentucky,  the 
"  Stoneites,"  or  Christians.  The  sect  is  locally  powerful 
in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

They  were  dissenters  from  Presbyterianism,  and  met  in 
the  Cane  Ridge  Church  on  June  28,  1804,  as  the  "  Spring- 
field Presbytery,"  and  ordained  a  "  Last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment," in  which,  among  other  things,  they  solemnly  « 
"willed  that  this  body  die,  be  dissolved,  and  sink  into 
union  with  the  body  of  Christ  at  large ; "  that  "  the  Church 
of  Christ  resume  her  right  of  internal  government ; " 
that  "  each  particular  church  choose  her  own  preacher  and 
support  him  by  free-will  offering;"  that  "the  people 
hereafter  take  the  Bible  as  the  only  sure  guide  to 
heaven ; "  that  "  preacher  and  people  cultivate  a  spirit  of 
mutual  forbearance,  pray  more,  and  dispute  less ; "  and 
"  that  the  oppressed  may  go  free  and  taste  the  sweets  of 
gospel  liberty." 

The  Cane  Ridge  Church,  a  small  log  building  much 
ruined  by  storm  and  time,  is  standing  yet.  The  name  was 
given  from  the  fact  that  the  site  of  the  church  was 
originally  covered  with  a  cane-brake ;  and  visitors  to  that  ' 
locality  say  the  cane  still  springs  up  in  the  old  church- 
yard. 

Another  development  of  religious  convictions  took  or- 
ganized form  in  societies  known  at  first  as  Reformers,  New 
Lights,  and  Free- Will  Baptists.  Alexander  Campbell, 
originally  an  Irish  Presbyterian,  proposed  to  restore  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  primitive  Christianity,  and  drew  after 
him  a  large  following  of  earnest  adherents  who  took 
the  name  "Disciples  of  Christ."  Campbell  wrote  in  1824 ; 
"We  neither  advocate  Calvinism,  Arminianism,  Socinian- 
ism,  Arianism,  Trinitarianism,  Unitarianism,  Deism,  nor 
Sectarianism,  but  New  Testamentism." 

The  first  quarter  of  the  century  measures  the  duration 
of  the  movement  known  as  the  "Unitarian  Revival," 
which  really  began  in  1785,  when  James  Freeman,  at  Bos- 
ton, broke  away  from  the  regular  orthodox  denomination 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  209 

and  took  the  name  of  Unitarian.  As  early  as  1796,  Rev. 
Henry  Toulmin,  a  Unitarian,  disseminated  his  views  in 
Xentucky.  Dr.  Horace  HoUey,  a  Yale  graduate,  and  a 
favorite  of  Timothy  Dwight,  though  a  dissenter  from  Cal- 
vinism, came  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  in  1819,  and  became 
president  of  Transylvania  University.  When  it  was 
known  that  he  disbelieved  in  the  Trinity,  a  sectarian  war 
broke  out  and  raged  on  the  disputed  grounds  that  lie  be- 
tween orthodoxy  and  Unitarianism.  The  controversy 
ruptured  the  college,  and  caused  Dr.  Holley  to  resign  the 
presidency.  Unitarianism,  however,  got  a  foothold  in  the 
West  and  South.  Several  of  its  most  famous  champions 
have  been  stationed  in  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  St. 
Louis.  Universalism  also  set  up  strongholds  in  these  and 
other  western  cities.  "  The  Sentinel  and  Star  in  the 
West,"  a  Universalist  newspaper,  was  established  in  1829. 

Rev.  Timothy  Flint,  who  spent  several  years  as  a  mis- 
sionary in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  commencing  his  travels 
in  1814,  wrote  from  his  personal  observation  as  follows : 

''A  circulating  phalanx  of  Methodists,  Baptists,  and 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  of  Atlantic  missionaries,  and 
of  young  eleves  of  the  Catholic  theological  seminaries, 
from  the  redundant  mass  of  unoccupied  ministers,  both  in 
the  Protestant  and  Catholic  countries,  pervades  this  great 
valley  with  its  numerous  detachments  from  Pittsburg,  the 
mountains,  the  lakes  and  the  Missouri,  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  They  all  pursue  the  interests  of  their  several 
denominations  in  their  own  way,  and  generally  in  profound 
peace." 

Rev.  John  Mason  Peck,  a  prominent  Baptist  missionary 
in  Illinois,  writing  of  the  itineracy  of  other  days,  says : 
''  That  minister's  library  was  considered  to  be  well  sup- 
plied that  contained  a  complete  copy  of  the  Holy  Script- 
ures, a  copy  of  Watts's  Psalms  and  Hymns,  and  Russell's 
Seven  Sermons.  There  were  preachers  then,  who  taught 
the  people  in  the  best  manner  they  were  able,  without 
possessing,  and  without  the  power  of  obtaining,  a  whole 
copy  of  the  Word  of  God."  Yet  these  missionaries  and 
14 


210  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

early  preachers  exerted  a  vast  influence,  and  were  person- 
ages of  conspicuous  importance.  A  recent  popular  writer 
says :  "  They  were  for  a  lon^  time  the  only  circulating 
medium  of  thought  and  emotion  that  kept  the  isolated 
settlements  from  utter  spiritual  stagnation." 

One  of  the  most  striking  figures  in  the  religious  annals 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  is  Lorenzo  Dow,  a  sort  of  American 
Bunyan,  whose  pilgrimages  are  as  surprising  as  the  prog- 
ress of  Christian  in  the  allegory.  "  Few  who  have  seen 
him,''  reports  one  of  his  contemporaries,  "  will  forget  his 
outlandish  exterior,  his  orang-outang  features,  the  beard 
that  swept  his  aged  breast,  or  the  piping  treble  voice  in 
which  he  was  wont  to  preach  what  he  called  the  Gospel 
of  the  kingdom." 

This  eccentric  evangelist,  born  in  1777,  made  his  first 
western  tour  in  1804.  "  I  have  been  in  each  of  the  seven- 
teen states  of  the  Union,"  wrote  he  in  his  diary. 

Dow  makes  mention  of  many  strange  sects  he  met  with 
in  his  travels— the  jerking,  leaping,  and  rolling  converts, 
the  A-double-L-partists,  the  Molechites  and  the  Nichol- 
ites,  a  kind  of  Quakers,  "  who  do  not  feel  free  to  wear 
colored  clothes."  Peggy  Dow,  the  wife  of  Lorenzo,  left 
some  impression  upon  the  times  by  a  book  published  in 
Philadelphia  in  1816.  It  contains  a  ''Collection  of  Metho- 
dist Hymns,"  "A  Short  Account  of  the  Camp-meetings  in 
the  United  States,"  and  the  "  Cosmopolite's  Muse." 

Lorenzo  Dow's  peculiar  writings.,  published  as  a  sub- 
scription book  under  the  title,  "  History  of  a  Cosmopolite ; 
or  Lorenzo's  Journal,"  passed  through  many  editions,  and 
was  sold  by  tens  of  thousands  of  volumes,  in  all  parts  of 
the  West.  The  book  contains  "  Lorenzo's  Journal,"  "  Lo- 
renzo's Chain,"  "A  Cry  from  the  Wilderness,"  "  Defense 
of  Camp-meetings,"  "  Vicissitudes,  or  the  Journey  of  Life," 
and  "Analects  upon  Natural,  Social,  and  Moral  Philos- 
ophy." Old  people  are  frequently  met  with  in  the  Ohio 
Valley  who  love  to  relate  striking  anecdotes  concerning 
Lorenzo  Dow,  who  is  made  responsible  for  as  many  relig- 
ions extravagances  as  Lincoln  is  for  political  jokes. 

A  picture  to  match  that  of  Dow  might  be  drawn  of  the 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds,  211 

less  noted  Jonathan  Chapman,  or  "  Johnny  Appleseed," 
as  he  was  called,  from  the  circumstance  that  he  was  the 
first  nurseryman  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  brought  bushels 
of  apple  seeds  from  the  cider-presses  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
planted  them  in  many  parts  of  Ohio  and  Indiana.  He 
also  was  a  preacher,  or,  as  he  said,  a  "  messenger  sent  into 
the  wilderness  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  people."  Born 
in  Massachusetts  in  1775,  he  was  a  regularly  ordained 
Swedenborgian  missionary.  He  always  carried  tracts  and 
books,  zealous  to  plant  ideas  as  well  as  apple  seeds.  Fruit 
is  still  grown  on  surviving  trees  planted  by  Johnny  Apple- 
seed,  in  the  valleys  of  the  Muskingum  and  the  Scioto. 

Dr.  Peck  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice  in  the  an- 
nals of  western  intellectual  labor.  He  ranks  as  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  worthy  of  the  pioneer  useful  writers. 
Born  in  Litchfield  parish.  South  Farms,  Connecticut,  Oc- 
tober 31,  1789,  he  began  to  preach  in  1811,  was  ordained 
in  1813,  and  became  associated  with  Kev.  Luther  Rice  in 
efforts  to  arouse  the  Baptists  of  the  country  to  a  sense  of 
their  duty  in  foreign  missions.  He  was  appointed  by  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  to  labor  in  St.  Louis  and  vicin- 
ity. Proceeding  westward  in  a  covered  wagon,  with  his 
wife  and  three  children,  he  journeyed  four  months,  a  dis- 
tance of  1,200  miles,  reaching  Shawneetown  in  the  fall  of 
1817.  For  several  years  he  resided  in  Missouri,  where  he 
and  his  family  suffered  extremely  from  sickness.  In  1821 
he  removed  to  Rock  Spring,  Illinois,  and  established  a 
seminary,  into  which  were  gathered  at  one  time  as  many 
as  one  hundred  students.  In  April,  1828,  he  began  the 
publication  of  a  paper  called  the  Western  Pioneer  and 
Baptist.  Vigorous  and  energetic,  he  made  numberless 
extensive  preaching  tours,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  affairs  of  the  territory,  preliminary  to  its  becoming  a 
state.  Especially  was  he  interested  in  promoting  the 
cause  of  education  and  temperance.  The  Rock  Spring 
Seminary  became  united  with  what  is  now  Shurtleft*  Col- 
lege. 

Dr.  Peck  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  local  history, 
and    to    the    encouragement    of   literary    manifestation 


212  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

among  young  men.  Through  his  influence,  Prof.  John 
Russell,  of  Bluff  Dale,  Illinois,  was  induced  to  publish 
"The  Legend  of  the  Piasa"  and  other  pieces.  Russell 
was  the  author  of  a  temperance  essay  called  "  The  Ven- 
omous Worm,"  beginning  with  the  sentence  :  "  There  is  a 
worm  whose  bite  outvenoms  all  the  serpents  of  the  l^ile." 
Thousands  of  school-children  in  the  West  learned  the 
piece  by  heart  and  declaimed  it. 

Peck's  writings  include  a  "  Guide  for  Emigrants,"  a 
"  Gazetteer  of  Illinois,"  "  Father  Clark,  or  the  Pioneer 
Preacher,"  and  a  "  Life  of  Daniel  Boone."  He  revised 
and  enlarged  Perkins's  "Annals  of  the  West."  Dr.  Peck 
died  March  24,  1857.  A  memoir  of  him  has  been  pub- 
lished by  Rufus  Babcock,  in  a  book  entitled  "  Forty  Years 
of  Pioneer  Life." 

It  would  require  volumes  to  sketch  the  life  and  labors 
of  the  noted  preachers  of  the  West.  Many  of  them  were 
famed  for  eloquence.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  renowned 
Peter  Cartwright,^  1785-1872,  the  presiding  elder  of  Illi- 
nois, the  type  of  Methodist  pioneer  ministers?  His 
preaching  is  rhetorically  described  by  one  who  himself 
was  a  distinguished  circuit  preacher.  Rev.  W.  H.  Milburn, 
author  of  "  Ten  Years  of  Preacher  Life."  The  following 
are  Milburn's  words  on  Cartwright's  oratory  :  "A  voice 
which,  in  his  prime,  was  capable  of  almost  every  modula- 
tion, the  earnest  force  and  homely  directness  of  his  speech, 
and  his  power  over  the  passions  of  the  human  heart,  made 
him  an  orator  to  win  and  command  the  suffrages  and 
sympathies  of  a  western  audience.  And  ever  through  the 
discourse,  came,  and  went,  and  came  again,  a  humor  that 
was  resistless,  now  broadening  the  features  into  a  merry 
smile,  and  then  softening  the  heart  until  tears  stood  in  the 
eyes  of  all.  His  figures  and  illustrations  were  often 
grand,  sometimes  fantastical.  Like  all  natives  of  the  new 
country,  he  spoke  much  in  metaphors,  and  his  were  bor- 

*  The  Backwoods  Preacher.  An  Autobiography  of  Peter  Cartwright, 
for  moro  than  fifty  years  a  preacher  in  the  Backwoods  of  America. 
Edited  l  -trickland.    London,  1858. 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  213 

rowed  from  the  magnificent  realm  in  which  he  lived.  All 
forms  of  nature,  save  those  of  the  sounding  sea,  were  fa- 
miliar to  him,  and  were  employed  with  the  easy  familiarity 
with  which  phildren  use  their  toys.  You  might  hear,  in 
a  single  discourse,  the  thunder  tread  of  a  frightened  herd 
of  buffaloes  as  they  rushed  wildly  across  the  prairie,  the 
crash  of  the  windrow  as  it  fell  smitten  by  the  breath  of  the 
tempest,  the  piercing  scream  of  the  wild  cat  as  it  scared 
the  midnight  forest,  the  majestic  rhythm  of  the  Mississippi 
as  it  harmonized  the  distant  East  and  West,  and  united, 
bore  their  tributes  to  the  far-off"  ocean  ;  the  silvery  flow  of 
a  mountain  rivulet,  the  whisper  of  groves,  and  the  jocund 
laughter  of  unnumbered  prairie  flowers,  as  they  toyed  in 
dalliance  with  the  evening  breeze.  Thunder  and  lightning, 
fire  and  flood,  seemed  to  be  old  acquaintances,  and  he 
spoke  of  them  with  the  assured  confidence  of  friendship. 
Another  of  the  poet's  attributes  was  his — the  impulse  and 
the  power  to  create  his  own  language ;  and  he  was  the  best 
lexicon  of  western  words,  phrases,  idioms,  and  proverbs, 
that  I  have  ever  met." 

The  pioneer  period  produced  an  astonishing  array  of 
illustrious  pulpit  orators;  men  who  swayed  multitudes, 
and  who  were  regarded  with  a  veneration  that  bordered 
on  idolatry.  The  immense  popular  control  which  these 
voices  in  the  wilderness  exerted  is  incalculable.  They 
were  the  spiritual  and  moral  custodians  of  the  people. 
Their  winged  words  set  free  in  the  unreporting  air,  have 
flown  into  oblivion.  But  the  thought,  the  soul  of  the 
message,  was  recorded  in  the  heart  and  the  life  of  a  gen- 
eration. Few  books  did  these  fervent  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  indite.  Ko  stenographer  took  down  on  paper  and 
gave  to  the  press  their  exhortations  and  their  prayers. 
But  the  sermon  was  engraved  upon  listening  hearts  and 
the  benediction  was  heard  in  heaven.  Every  section  of 
the  West  had  its  evangelic  Boanerges  in  those  old  camp- 
meeting  years.  I  can  not  forbear  to  transcribe  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  favorite  orator  of  Tennessee,  the  once  cele- 
brated Dr.  Bascom.  A  distinguished  contemporary  clergy- 
man of  another  denomination  praises  Bascom  in  the  fol- 


214  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

lowing  language :  "  I  would  not  wish  to  laud  him  in  the 
same  affected  strain,  with  the  encomiums  of  the  blind 
minister  of  Virginia.  But  he  is  certainly  an  extraordi- 
nary man  in  his  way.  His  first  appearance  is  against  him, 
indicating  a  rough  and  uncouth  man.  He  uses  many  low 
words,  and  images  and  illustrations  in  bad  taste.  But 
perhaps,  when  you  are  getting  tired,  almost  disgusted, 
every  thing  is  reversed  in  a  moment.  He  flashes  upon 
you.  You  catch  his  eye  and  you  follow  him ;  he  bursts 
upon  you  in  a  glow  of  feeling  and  pathos,  leaving  you  not 
sufficiently  cool  to  criticise.  We  may  affect  to  decry  the 
talent  of  moving  the  inmost  affections.  After  all,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  it  the  most  important  qualification  which 
a  minister  can  possess.  He  possesses  this  in  an  eminent 
degree.  He  has  the  electric  eye,  the  thrilling  tones,  the 
unction,  the  feeling,  the  universal  language  of  passion  and 
nature,  which  is  equally  known  and  felt  by  all  people. 
He  has  evidently  been  richly  endowed  by  nature ;  but  his 
endowments  owe  little  to  discipline  or  education." 

A  correspondent^  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial  Gaz- 
ette, in  1890,  thus  graphically  pictures  two  of  the  great 
pioneer  preachers  of  South-western  Ohio  and  Eastern  In- 
diana : 

"  No  history  of  the  great  Ohio  Valley  will  be  full  and 
complete  without  giving  a  just  meed  of  praise  to  the 
labors  of  the  pioneer  preachers  who,  amid  all  difficulties, 
dangers,  and  hardships,  broke  the  bread  of  life  to  the 
early  settlers,  and  so  materially  aided  in  laying  broad  and 
deep  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  community.  Many  of 
those  men  deserve  a  chapter  in  the  future  history  of  the 
country.  In  their  labor  of  love,  for  it  was  a  labor  of  love 
to  them,  they  passed  through  dangers  and  endured  toils 
and  privations  that  few  of  the  present  day  know  any 
thing  about,  and  the  story  of  their  lives  and  their  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity  would  be  of 
thrilling  interest.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  those  early 
pioneers  was  William  H.  Raper,  well-known  in  his  day  in 

*  F.  D.  MuflBey. 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  215 

South-western  Ohio  and  Eastern  Indiana.  There  are 
some  living  yet  who  rememher  him  and  speak  with  love 
and  admiration  of  his  memory.  In  his  travels  he  tra- 
versed forests  and  oftentimes  was  compelled  to  swim 
rivers  and  encamp  all  night  in  the  midst  of  the  wildest 
storms  of  rain  or  snow,  with  no  covering  but  the  heavens 
or  the  branches  of  a  forest  tree.  On  one  occasion,  while 
traveling  his  circuit,  which  embraced  all  the  south-eastern 
part  of  Indiana,  he  got  lost  in  the  woods  one  dark  night, 
and  wandered  about  for  several  hours.  At  last  in  his 
wanderings  he  came  to  the  bank  of  a  stream.  The  rain 
had  been  falling  steadily  for  several  days,  and  he  knew  the 
water  must  be  very  high.  He  felt  that  to  remain  out  all 
night  in  his  exhausted  condition  meant  death ;  he  deter- 
mined to  cross  the  stream,  if  possible,  and  seek  shelter  on 
the  other  side.  He  dismounted  and  groped  along  in  the 
darkness  as  best  he  could,  until  he-came  to  what  he  sup- 
posed to  be  a  bridge.  He  carefully  led  his  horse  on  to  it. 
As  he  proceeded,  he  felt  it  giving  under  him  step  by 
step,  but  he  kept  on  until  finally  he  reached  the  other 
side  in  safety.  A  short  distance  from  there  he  discovered 
a  house,  and,  after  arousing  the  inmates,  obtained  per- 
mission to  stay  all  night.  They  asked  him  how  he  had 
been  able  to  cross  the  creek,  and  when  he  told  them  he 
had  crossed  on  the  bridge,  they  were  confounded,  and  told 
him  there  was  no  bridge  there  and  never  had  been.  In 
the  morning  they  went  to  the  place  and  discovered  that 
in  the  darkness  he  had  crossed  on  floating  driftwood  that 
had  become  jammed. 

"At  another  time  he  had  an  experience  which  would 
have  furnished  the  psychologist  of  those  days  a  hard  nut 
to  crack.  While  crossing  a  very  full  stream  at  an  early 
hour  one  morning,  his  horse  threw  him  into  the  water. 
The  accident  occurred  at  a  place  near  where  the  creek 
emptied  into  the  Ohio,  and  he  was  being  rapidly  borne 
out  into  the  current  of  the  river  when,  by  chance,  he  was 
swept  near  an  overhanging  branch,  which  he  was  able  to 
seize  and  hold.  To  that  he  clung  until  his  strength  was 
almost  exhausted.     He  was  about  to  give  up  in  despair, 


216  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

as  no  help  was  near,  when  he  seemed  to  hear  a  voice 
saying,  *  Mother  is  praying  for  you,  and  you  will  be 
saved/  This  gave  him  new  courage,  and,  making  an- 
other and  a  final  eftbrt,  he  reached  the  bank  in  safety. 
On  reaching  his  mother's  house,  several  days  afterward, 
she  told  him  she  had  a  terrible  dream  about  him.  She 
said  that  one  morning  she  was  awakened  in  a  great  fright, 
and  heard  some  one  saying,  *  William  is  in  great  danger.' 
She  sprang  from  her  bed  and  began  praying  for  him. 
This  she  kept  up  until  at  last  a  peace  fell  upon  her  spirit, 
and  she  was  satisfied  her  son  had  escaped  from  the  dan- 
ger which  threatened  him.  On  comparing  the  time,  it 
was  found  to  be  at  exactly  the  hour  he  was  struggling  with 
the  raging  waters  a  hundred  miles  distant.  Let  some  one 
explain  this  on  scientific  principles.  This  same  minister 
once  had  a  watch  stolen  from  him  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances in  Cincinnati.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Washburne 
was  condemned  to  death.  On  the  day  of  the  execution, 
Mr.  Raper  was  called  upon  to  act  as  chaplain.  He  visited 
the  condemned  man  in  his  cell  and  offered  up  prayer. 
"While  he  was  pra^'ing  Washburne  stole  his  watch  from 
his  pocket.  The  watch  was  not  missed,  and  it  was  not 
until  it  had  been  found  on  the  person  of  Washburne  after 
his  execution  that  Mr.  Raper  knew  it  had  been  stolen. 

"Among  the  most  gifted  of  those  devoted  men  was  Rus- 
sell Bigelow.  He  was  about  medium  height,  of  slender 
frame,  and  feeble  constitution.  His  head  was  large  and 
forehead  high  and  prominent.  He  wore  his  hair  long, 
and  as  it  was  rather  thin,  it  gave  him  a  cadaverous  ap- 
pearance. He  had  a  wonderful  power  over  an  audience, 
and  could  sway  the  multitudes  at  his  will  by  his  elo- 
quence, which  was  lofty  and  fervent.  Such  was  his  fame 
that  when  it  was  announced  that  he  was  to  preach,  the 
people  for  many  miles  flocked  to  hear  him.  His  appear- 
ance was  much  against  him,  for  he  was  always  clad  in 
coarse  and  ill-fitting  garments.  He  had  a  keen  eye, 
prominent  cheek  bones,  a  projecting  chin,  large  nose,  ex- 
panding nostrils,  and  wide  mouth.  A  noted  skeptic  who 
heard  him  on  one  of  his  great  occasions  as  he  preached  to 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  217 

a  large  audience  at  a  camp-meeting  near  Dayton,  0.,  wrote 
thus  of  his  sermon  : 

"  '  Having  stated  and  illustrated  his  position  clearly,  he 
laid  hroadly  the  foundation  of  his  argument,  and  piled 
stone  upon  stone,  hewed  and  polished,  till  he  stood  upon 
a  majestic  pyramid,  with  heaven's  own  light  around  him, 
pointing  the  astonished  multitude  to  a  brighter  home  be- 
yond the  sun,  and  bidding,  defiance  to  the  enemy  to  re- 
move one  fragment  of  the  rock  on  which  his  feet  were 
placed.  His  argument  being  complete,  his  peroration 
commenced.  This  was  grand  beyond  description.  The 
whole  universe  seemed  animated  by  its  Creator  to  aid  him 
in  persuading  the  sinners  to  return  to  God,  and  the  angels 
commissioned  to  open  heaven  and  come  down  and 
strengthen  him.  !N'ow  he  opens  the  mouth  of  the  pit, 
and  takes  us  through  the  gloomy  avenues,  while  the  bolts 
retreat  and  the  doors  of  damnation  burst  open,  and  the 
wails  of  the  lost  come  to  our  ears ;  and  now  he  opens 
heaven  and  transports  us  to  the  flowery  plains,  stands  up 
amid  the  armies  of  the  blest,  to  sweep  with  celestial  fin- 
gers angelic  harps,  and  join  the  eternal  chorus,  ''  Worthy, 
Worthy  the  Lamb."  As  he  closed  his  discourse,  every 
energy  of  his  body  and  mind  were  stretched  to  the  ut- 
most tension.  His  soul  appeared  to  be  too  great  for  its 
tenement,  and  every  moment  ready  to  burst  through  and 
soar  away  as  an  eagle  toward  heaven.  His  lungs  labored, 
his  arms  rose,  the  perspiration,  with  tears,  flowed  in  a 
steady  stream  on  the  floor,  and  every  thing  about  him 
seemed  to  say,  "  Oh,  that  my  head  were  waters."  But  the 
audience  thought  not  of  the  struggling  body,  nor  even  of 
the  giant  mind  within,  for  they  w^ere  paralyzed  by  the 
avalanche  of  thought  that  descended  upon  them.  I  lost 
the  man,  but  the  subject  was  all  in  all.' " 

"  At  one  time  the  Conference  was  to  be  held  in  Steuben- 
ville,  Ohio.  A  wealthy  Episcopalian  went  to  the  Metho- 
dist pastor  in  that  place  and  told  him  that  if  he  would 
send  him  the  most  talented  man  in  the  Conference  he 
would  be  glad  to  entertain  him.  Bigelow  was  sent  to 
him.     He  made  his  appearance   at  the   aristocratic   resi- 


218  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

dence  in  his  homespun  suit.  His  personal  appearance 
was  not  prepossessing,  and,  upon  meeting  the  pastor,  the 
Episcopalian  complained  that  he  had  not  been  rightly 
treated.  He  was  reminded  that  he  had  asked  for  the 
most  talented  man,  and  he  had  been  sent  to  him.  The 
pastor  said  to  him  :  '  He  is  to  preach  at  the  Presbyterian 
Ohurch  to-morrow  morning.  You  go  and  hear  him,  and 
then  if  you  are  still  dissatisfied,  I  will  change  him  and 
send  you  the  bishop.'  The  host  and  his  family  attended 
the  Presbyterian  Church  the  next  day.  Mr.  Bigelow  took 
his  seat  in  the  pulpit,  and  when  it  was  time  to  begin  the 
services,  arose  and  read  his  hymn.  Such  reading  of 
poetry  had  never  before  been  heard  in  Steubenville,  and 
the  host  and  his  daughters  exchanged  surprised  and  sig- 
nificant glances.  It  was  one  of  the  preacher's  grand  days, 
and  he  electrified  his  audience.  At  the  close  of  the  ser- 
mon the  host  requested  his  daughters  to  accompany  Mr. 
Bigelow  to  the  house,  saying  that  he  had  to  attend  to  a 
little  matter  down  the  street.  He  made  his  way  at  once 
to  the  Methodist  parsonage,  and,  calling  the  pastor  to 
one  side,  told  him  that  he  would  not  trade  off  Mr.  Bige- 
low and  his  homespun  suit  for  all  the  bishops.  Such  is 
the  power  of  eloquence." 

Hon.  E.  0.  Smith,  in  his  "  Indiana  Trials,"  writing  of 
"Itinerant  Preachers,"  remarks,  "that  early  Indiana, 
nay,  Indiana  to-day,  owes  more  to  the  itinerant  Meth- 
odist preachers  than  to  all  other  religious  denominations 
combined."  He  mentions,  with  praise,  the  names  of  the 
following  early  preachers :  James  Jones,  Augustus  Joce- 
lyn,  John  P.  Durbin,  James  Conwell,  John  Hardy,  Aaron 
Wood,  James  Havens,  Elijah  Whitten,  John  Morrow, 
Thomas  Silvey,  John  Strange,  and  Allen  Wiley. 

In  1832  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  came  to  Cincinnati,  called 
to  the  presidency  of  Lane  Seminary.  Though  a  stanch 
Calvinist  of  the  school  of  Mather,  Edwards,  and  Dwight, 
his  orthodoxy  was  impeached  by  Rev.  Joshua  Lacy  Wil- 
son, D.D.,  the  powerful  preacher  who  from  1808  to  1846 
ministered  from  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church.     Mrs.  Stowe  described  the  theological  battle  be- 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  219 

tweeu  her  father  and  Dr.  Wilson  as  a  '*  Spiritual  Arma- 
geddon, being  the  confluence  of  the  forces  of  Scotch-Irish 
Presbyterian,  Calvanistic  fatalism,  meeting  with  the  ad- 
vancing rationalism  of  IN'ew  England  new-school  theology." 
Beecher  was  tried  and  acquitted  in  his  own  church,  be- 
fore the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  on  charges  of  heresy 
preferred  by  Wilson,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  trial 
were  printed.^  While  carrying  on  this  defensive  war, 
he  published  a  long  discourse,  entitled,  "A  Plea  for  the 
West,"  which,  while  prophesying  the  future  greatness  of  the 
Wesjfc,  eloquently  urged  the  necessity  of  universal  educa- 
tion, and  violently  assailed  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
Lyman  Beecher's  sons,  Edward,  George,  Charles,  and 
Henry  Ward,  and  his  daughters,  Catherine  and  Harriet, 
were,  in  a  considerable  degree,  educated  by  western  in- 
fluences, and  they  all  began  their  aggressive  life-work  in 
the  West.  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  first  sermons  were 
preached  in  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  his  first  pastorate  was 
at  Lawrenceburg,  and  his  second  at  Indianapolis. 

The  new  sects  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  the  newly 
inspired  older  sects,  wrought  zealously  to  infuse  their 
doctrines  every-where.  Their  active  energy  might  be 
likened  to  that  force  of  chemical  elements  which  scien- 
tists observe  in  substances  just  set  free  from  combination, 
and  existing  in  what  is  called  the  nascent,  or  new-born  state. 
The  clash  of  beliefs,  and  the  ardor  to  establish  innovating 
systems,  gave  rise  to  many  public  debates  on  religious 
subjects.  The  most  distinguished  champion  in  the  lists 
of  the  theological  tournament,  was  Alexander  Campbell, 
already  mentioned  as  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  the 
Disciples.  The  appellation,  "  ISTew  Light,"  ^  was  frequently 
applied  to  him  and  his  followers,  sometimes  opprobiously, 
sometimes  approvingly.  That  name,  however,  originated 
long  before  Campbell's  time  ;  certainly  as  far  back  as  the 


*  See  "  Trial  and  Acquittal  of  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.,  before  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Cincinnati,  on  Charges  preferred  by  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.D,, 
Cincinnati,  1835." 

•  There  is  a  species  of  edible  fish  in  the  Kentucky  river  locally  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  "  New  Light." 


220  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"  Great  Awakening  "  of  1740,  which  started  in  ITew  En- 
gland. It  was  spoken  of  as  the  *'  New  Light  Stir,"  and 
continued  for  twenty-five  years  or  more,  in  which  period 
40,000  persons  were  "  converted."  A  popular  ITew  Light 
hymn  was  often  sung  in  religious  assemblies  of  the  period, 
in  Rhode  Island.  I  here  transcribe  two  of  its  eleven 
stanzas,  every  one  of  which  introduces  the  term,  "  New 
Light,"  in  some  connection : 

"  Despised  by  man,  upheld  by  God, 
We're  marching  on  the  heavenly  road ; 
Loud  hallelujahs  we  will  sing 
To  Jesus  Christ,  the  New  Light's  King. 

"  Though  by  the  world  we  are  disdained. 
And  have  our  names  cast  out  by  men. 
Yet  Christ  our  Captain  for  us  fights  ; 
Nor  death,  nor  hell,  can  hurt  New  Lights." 

The  New  Light  movement  spread  to  the  South  and  to 
the  West,  and,  no  doubt,  had  a  remote,  if  not  a  direct, 
bearing  upon  the  various  church  reformers.  Campbell 
disclaimed  all  sectarian  badges,  desiring  simply  to  be  con- 
sidered a  restorer  of  old  forms,  not  an  inventor  of  things 
new. 

Alexander  Campbell  was  born  in  Ireland,  September 
12, 1788,  and  he  died,  March  4,  1866.  His  father,  Eev. 
Thomas  Campbell,  a  seceder,  opened  an  academy  at  Eich 
Hill,  and  Alexander  assisted  in  teaching.  Thomas  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1807,  and  Alexander  followed  in 
1809.  They  settled  at  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  where 
the  son  wrote  essays  for  the  Washington  Reporter,  sign- 
himself  "  Clarinda."  He  made  his  first  attempt  at  preach- 
ing in  1810.  In  1823,  he  began  the  "  Christian  Baptist," 
espousing  the  principles  of  that  ancient  sect  "Called 
Christians  first  at  Antioch."  From  1823  to  1830,  "  he  is- 
sued of  his  own  works,  from  his  own  little  country  print- 
ing office,  no  less  than  46,000  volumes."  His  house  near 
the  Ohio  river  above  Wheeling  he  named  Bethany,  and  it 
was  made  a  post-office,  on  account  of  the  extensive  miiil 
he  received  and  dispatched.     His  numerous  works,  com- 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  221 

prising  about  sixty  volumes,  include  a  ''  N'ew  Version  of 
the  Testament,''  a  ''  Life  of  Thomas  Campbell,"  six  vol- 
volumes  of  "  Debates,"  seven  volumes  of  "  The  Christian 
Baptist,"  and  thirty-four  volumes  of  "  The  Millennial 
Harbinger,"  a  periodical  which  ran  from  1830  to  1863  in- 
clasive.  The  use  of  such  names  as  "  Millennial  Harbin- 
ger," *'  Western  Messenger,"  "  Herald  of  Truth,"  suggest- 
ive of  faith  in  the  ^'  good  time  coming,"  was  character- 
istic of  the  reformers  in  the  western  country.  Campbell 
was  the  founder  of  Bethany  College,  near  which  may  be 
seen  a  monument  erected  to  his  memory. 

Alexander  Campbell  challenged  the  whole  theological 
field,  ^nd  assaulted  the  outlying  territories  of  disbelief. 
He  hurled  a  lance  at  young  Mormonism  in  JSTorthern 
Ohio.  His  numerous  debates,  six  of  which  were  published, 
gave  him  widespread  renown.  As  long  ago  as  1820  he 
held  his  first  important  discussion,  on  baptism,  with  Mr. 
John  Walker,  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio.  Three  years 
later  he  debated  with  Mr.  McCalla,  a  Presbyterian,  on  the 
same  subject,  in  a  grove  near  Washington,  Kentucky. 
More  memorable  was  his  dispute  with  Eobert  Owen,  which 
took  place  in  Cincinnati,  April,  1829, 

Owen  denied  the  truth  of  religion  in  general  and 
Campbell  afiirmed  the  truth  of  Christianity.  People 
came  to  hear  this  discussion  frorn  'New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi.  Twelve  hun- 
dred persons  crowded  into  the  Methodist  Church,  where 
it  was  held,  and  many  went  away  unable  to  obtain  a  sit- 
ting. The  wordy  battle  was  continued  for  eight  days,  and 
at  the  conclusion  the  audience  decided  by  a  rising  vote 
that  Campbell  and  Christianity  were  victorious.  A  still 
more  exciting  duel  of  dogmas  was  fought  in  Cincinnati, 
January,  1837,  by  Campbell  and  Bishop  John  B.  Purcell, 
on  Catholicism.  This  stirred  up  the  polemic  spirit  of  the 
city,  caused  mass  meetings  to  pass  resolutions,  and  brought 
the  political  press  into  the  skirmish  line. 

Charles  Hammond,  of  the  Gazette,  and  James  Birney, 
of  the  Philanthropist,  drew  their  pens  and  rushed  to  the 
conflict.     Soon  after  the  Purcell  debate,  Campbell  began 


222  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

a  discussion  with  Rev.  Mr.  Skinner,  on  Universalism, 
which  was  carried  on  for  two  years  in  the  columns  of  the 
Harbinger.  The  last,  and  perhaps  the  most  noted  theo- 
logical tournament  in  which  Campbell  took  part  was  that 
of  November,  1843,  when  he  encountered  Rev.  'E.  L.  Rice, 
a  Presbyterian  clergyman  of  Danville,  Kentucky,  who  had 
won  a  high  reputation  as  an  oral  debater.  The  cham- 
pions met  at  Lexington,  and  Henry  Clay  presided  during 
their  sixteen  days'  disputation. 

Dr.  Rice  and  Rev.  E.  M.  Pingree,  a  brilliant  Universalist 
divine,  held  an  eight-day  discussion  in  the  year  1845.  The 
daily  sessions  took  place  in  the  Millerite  Tabernacle,  a 
large  wooden  structure  in  Cincinnati,  and  the  multitude 
of  auditors  was  greater  than  the  inside  of  the  building 
would  accommodate,  and  numbers  climbed  upon  the  roof 
to  listen  to  the  speakers. 

Propounders  of  original  views,  dissenters  and  reformers 
of  all  shades  of  belief  and  unbelief,  came  to  the  valley. 
They  considered  the  new  country  a  tabula  rasa,  upon 
which  every  man  who  had  a  positive  idea  was  free  to 
write  a  theory.  Campbell  declared  that  he  began  his  re- 
ligious movement  in  the  West  because  the  West  was  the 
field  of  best  opportunity.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  the  western 
people  believe  in  giving  every  man  liberty  of  speech ;  they 
gave  Owen  a  fair  chance." 

Robert  Owen,  whose  name  is  associated  with  St.  Simon 
and  Fourier,  was  a  Welsh  philanthopist  of  large  fortune, 
who  came  to  America  in  1824  to  propound  and  establish  the 
principles  of  Socialism.  In  1825  he  bought  of  Frederick 
Rappe  the  village  of  New  Harmony  and  twenty-live  thou- 
sand acres  of  land  on  the  Wabash,  Indiana,  paying  $190,- 
000,  and  there  organized  his  celebrated  community.  His 
assumptions  were  that  man  is  a  creature  of  circumstances, 
and  that  favorable  surroundings  make  good  character. 
He  repudiated  the  sanctions  of  the  Church,  relying  wholly 
upon  practical  education  as  the  source  of  correct  conduct. 
Sin  and  misery  he  ascribed  to  ignorance  and  its  transmit- 
ted effects.  A  strict  materialist,  he  accepted  nothing  as 
true   except  that  which  he   could  prove  by  facts.     The 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  223 

school  which  was  started  at  ^ew  Harmony  based  its- 
methods  on  the  writings  of  Pestalozzi,  and  made  the  name 
of  that  great  educator  familiar  in  the  backwoods.  Francis 
J.  J^.  Neef,  the  associate  of  Pestalozzi,  was  a  teacher  at 
ISTew  Harmony.  For  the  amusement  of  the  men  and  women 
social  parties  were  held  in  a  large  hall,  with  music  and 
dancing.  Sometimes  four  hundred  persons  were  on  the 
dancing  floor  at  once.  On  Sunday  scientific  lectures  were 
delivered  in  the  hall;  and  itinerant  preachers  were  invited^ 
and  even  urged,  to  use  the  same  pulpit  as  a  free  arena. 
"  Mental  Independence"  was  the  motto  of  the  Communists. 
A  paper,  Xew  Harmony  Gazette,  called  by  Campbell  the 
"focus  of  the  lights  of  skepticism,"  was  started  in  1825^ 
and  in  1827  Owen  issued  a  little  volume  called  "  'New 
Views  of  Society." 

The  New  Harmony  experiment  attracted  a  heterogeneous 
company.  Several  distinguished  visitors  from  Europe  so- 
journed with  Owen  for  awhile.  One  of  these  was  the 
Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar.  Another  was  William  Maclure^ 
the  scientist.  Another  was  Miss  Frances  Wright,  who^ 
like  Owen,  was  wealthy,  and  a  reformer.  Timothy  Flint 
classed  her  among  the  "  Wollstonecraftian  ladies." 

Frances  Wright  was  born  in  Dundee,  Scotland,  in  1797^ 
and  she  died  in  Cincinnati  in  1853.  She  lived  for  three 
years  in  France  in  the  family  of  Lafayette.  Coming  to 
America,  she  bought  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  Western 
Tennessee,  and  started  a  plantation,  which  she  named 
I^ashoba,  and  devoted  herself  to  the  education  of  thirty 
negroes  whom  she  purchased  from  slavery.  In  her  own 
words,  she  devoted  herself  to  a  "  race  oppressed  where 
liberty  had  planted  her  throne,  and  despised  where  man 
had  first  spoken  the  name  of  equality." 

Several  times  Miss  Wright  went  alone,  on  horseback,, 
from  Kashoba  to  ;N"ew  Harmony  ;  and,  finally,  her  health 
failing,  she  abandoned  the  Tennessee  scheme,  and  re- 
moved to  the  Owen  settlement.  For  the  New  Harmony 
Gazette  she  wrote  essays  and  a  series  of  articles  called  "A 
Few  Days  in  Athens,"  which  afterward  appeared  in  a 
volume.     She   traveled  throus^h   the   United   States   and 


224  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

gave  lectures  at  the  principal  cities  on  "Knowledge," 
"  Religion,"  "  Morals,"  "  Opinions,"  and  other  subjects. 
These  were  published  in  book  form. 

Noth withstanding  its  auspicious  name,  IN'ew  Harmony 
l)i'(:i!iie  a  scene  of  discord,  and  declined.^  Robert  Owen 
wont  back  to  Scotland.  His  son,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  ac- 
companied Miss  Wright  to  Xew  York,  where  the  latter 
bought  a  church,  which  she  rechristened  the  "  Hall  of 
Science,"  and  occupied  as  a  lecture-room  and  an  office  of 
publication  for  the  Free  Enquirer,  formerly  the  IS'ew  Har- 
mony Gazette.  This  paper,  its  editors  claimed,  was  "  the 
first  periodical  established  in  the  United  States  for  the 
purpose  of  fearless  and  unbiased  inquiry  on  all  subjects." 

A  number  of  other  papers,  of  a  similar  liberal  charac- 
ter, soon  sprang  into  existence,  among  which  we  may 
mention  "  The  Investigator,"  "  Comet,"  "  The  Beacon," 
and  the  "  Herkimer  Liberal." 

Frances  Wright  composed  a  tragedy  called  "Altorf," 
and  a  work  in  two  volumes  entitled  "  England,  the  Civil- 
izer."  It  is  recorded  that  she  preferred  the  society  of  men 
to  that  of  women,  on  account  of  the  superior  intelligence 
of  the  former.  She  contracted  a  marriage  with  Wilhelm 
Phiquepal  D'Arusmont.     It  was   stipulated  that,  should 

*  Owen's  experiment  at  New  Harmony  was  not  the  only  communistic 
attempt  to  reform  society  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  A  communistic  store  or 
"  Model  Bazaar  "  was  in  operation  in  Cincinnati  in  1827.  A  "  Commun- 
ity "  was  organized  in  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio,  in  1835.  In  1844,  the 
"  Clermont  Phalanx,"  an  association  according  to  Fourier,  was  formed 
on  the  Ohio  river,  in  Clermont  county,  Ohio.  This  failed  within  less 
than  three  years.  Its  property  was  purchased  by  a  company  of  reform- 
ers known  as  the  "Brotherhood,"  at  the  head  of  which  was  John  O. 
Wattles.  The  "  Brotherhood's  "  principal  building,  an  edifice  of  bripk, 
was  undermined  by  the  river  in  the  flood  of  1847,  and  seventeen  per- 
sons were  drowned.  More  interesting  and  successful  was  the  establish- 
ment organized  in  1847,  also  in  Clermont  county,  by  Josiah  AVarren. 
This  was  the  village  of  Utopia,  founded  by  a  small  company  in  accord- 
ance with  the  maxim,  "  cost  is  the  limit  of  price."  The  community 
broke  up  within  a  few  years.  Warren  removed  to  New  England.  He 
is  the  author  of  several  very  remarkable  pamphlets,  which  anticipate  the 
writings  of  George  and  Bellamy.  His  "  Equitable  Commerce  "  was  pub- 
lished at  Utopia  in  1840.  Three  other  pamphlets  of  his  on  "  True  Civil- 
ization." were  issued  in  Princeton,  Mass.,  in  1873. 


Voice  of  the  Preacher  and  Clash  of  Creeds.  225 

any  children  be  born,  the  mother  was  to  have  no  part  in 
their  education.  On  one  occasion,  when  Miss  Wright 
lectured  in  the  court-house  in  Cincinnati,  a  mob  cast 
stones  at  her.  Picking  up  one  of  these  rude  missiles,  she 
said,  smiling,  "  This  is  a  hard  argument." 

The  action  and  reaction  of  colliding  elements  in  the 
Ohio  Valley  struck  out  much  intellectual  heat  and  light. 
Civilized  races  met  with  savage,  Christianity  met  Judaism, 
Protestant  challenged  Catholic.  Calvinist  encountered 
anti-Calvinist,  Unitarian  opposed  Trinitarian,  old  denomi- 
nations split  by  contention  projected  new  sects  into  being, 
and  each  new  sect  criticised  all  the  others.  Antas^onizing 
churches  in  general,  and  even  assaulting  the  bulwarks  of 
religion  itself,  the  agnostics,  the  skeptics,  and  the  avowed 
atheists  joined  the  thick  combat.  Extremes  grappled. 
What  a  swing  of  the  pendulum  of  opinion,  from  the 
Catholic  kneeling  before  the  crucifix,  or  the  rapt  Protest- 
ant convert  swooning  at  the  mourners'  bench,  to  the 
Cincinnati  materialist  who  was  offended  when  his  child 
was  taught  that  God  exists,  or  to  Mrs.  Trollope,  who, 
after  witnessing  a  revival,  said:  "I  confess  that  I  think 
the  coarsest  comedy  ever  written  would  be  a  less  detesta- 
ble exhibition  for  the  eye  of  youth  and  innocence  than 
such  a  scene." 

How  wide  the  contrast  between  the  implicit  faith  of 
Lorenzo  Dow,  and  the  skepticism  of  Orson  Murray  who 
regarded  prayer  as  a  crime  and  whose  funeral  sermon, 
written  by  himself,  insists  that  death  ends  all ! 

I  doubt  if  the  world  has  witnessed  a  more  extraordinary 
series  of  religious  events  than  transpired  in  the  Ohio  Val- 
ley in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.'  Notwith- 
standing the  dissensions  within  old  denominations,  and 
unprecedented  splits  and  conflicts  among  new  sects,  and 
the  utter  repudiation  of  religion  by  some,  the  churches 
grew  and  flourished.  The  freedom  to  worship  God,  which 
the  Pilgrims  "  sought  afar,"  was  found  in  the  "  Kew  Eng- 
land of  the  West,"  as  Ohio  was  called.  Religious  liberty 
ran  riot,  and  was  not  distinguished,  in  some  cases,  from 
15 


226  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

license.  Even  Dilks,  the  Leatherwood  God,^  who,  in 
1828,  inaugurated  his  system  by  a  loud  snort  and  the  cry 
of  the  single  word  "  Salvation,"  was  tolerated,  and  had  a 
following  who  worshiped  him.  Smith,  the  inventor  of  the 
Mormon  bible,  found  refuge  in  Ohio,  in  1832,  and  though 
be  was  treated  to  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers,  that  did  not 
prevent  him  from  establishing  the  Latter  Day  Saints  at 
Kirtland,  and  ordaining  Brigham  Young  elder. 

The  clash  of  creeds  gave  origin  to  much  discourse,  oral 
and  printed.  Sermons  and  religious  debates  were  heard 
by  multitudes  of  listeners,  and  read  by  other  multitudes. 
Every  leading  sect  had  its  "  organ  "  or  periodical.  Prop- 
agandists of  new  systems  made  extensive  use  of  the  press 
and  the  platform.  Secular  newspapers  and  magazines  de- 
voted many  columns  to  news  and  discussions  bearing  on 
religious,  moral,  and  social  matters. 

In  a  word,  religious  worship,  Scripture  reading,  hymn 
singing,  sermon  hearing,  and  the  perusal  of  controversial 
periodicals  and  tracts,  attendance  at  camp-meetings,  "  re- 
vivals," theological  discussions,  and  the  universal  custom 
of  thinking  and  talking  on  religious  subjects,  had  an  im- 
mense influence  in  shaping  the  literature  of  the  Ohio 
Valley  "in  the  beginning." 

*  The  Leatherwood  God.  An  Account  of  the  Appearance  and  Pre- 
tensions of  Joseph  C.  Dilks  in  Eastern  Ohio,  in  1828.  By  R.  H.  Taney- 
hill.    12mo.    Paper. 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators,  227 


CHAPTER  VII. 

POLITICAL  ORATORY  AND  ORATORS— THE  LECTURE. 

The  American  veterans  who  survived  the  Revolutionary- 
War  rejoiced  in  anniversaries.  Emphatically  did  they 
celebrate  Independence  Day,  with  utterance  of  much  im- 
passioned eloquence  in  oration  and  poem.  On  the  4th  of 
July,  1788,  the  founders  of  Marietta,  then  a  settlement 
only  three  months  old,  met  to  commemorate  the  nation's 
birth.  Judge  J.  M.  Yarnum  ^  delivered  an  address  abound- 
ing in  balanced  sentences  and  rhetorical  phrases.  Antici- 
pating the  coming  of  his  excellency.  Governor  Arthur  St. 
Clair,  the  orator  exclaimed :  "  May  he  soon  arrive !  Thou 
gently  flowing  Ohio,  whose  surface,  as  conscious  of  thy 
unequaled  majesty,  reflecteth  no  image  but  the  impending 
heaven,  bear  him,  oh  !  bear  him  safely  to  this  anxious 
spot !  And  thou  beautiful,  transparent  Muskingum,  swell 
at  the  moment  of  his  approach,  and  reflect  no  objects  but 
of  pleasure  and  delight !  " 

Having  thus  glowingly  apostrophized  the  absent  gov- 
ernor, the  gallant  general  addressed  his  '^  fair  auditors  "  in 
still  more  ornate  style.  ''  Gentle  zephyrs  and  fanning 
breezes,  wafting  through  the  air  ambrosial  odors,  receive 
you  here.  Hope  no  longer  flutters  upon  the  wings  of  un- 
certainty. .  .  .  Amiable  in  yourselves,  amiable  in 
your  tender  connections,  you  will  soon  add  to  the  felicity 
of  others,  who,  emulous  of  following  your  bright  exam- 
ple, and  having  formed  their  manners  upon  the  elegance 
of  simplicity  and  the  refinements  of  virtue,  will  be  happy 

^  James  Mitchell  Varnum  was  a  member  of  the  first  class  that  gradu- 
ated from  Brown  University,  in  1769.  He  became  a  brigadier-general 
in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Colonial  Congress. 
He  was  an  eloquent  lawyer.  He  was  one  of  the  supreme  judges  of  the 
North-western  Territory.    Died,  January  10,  1789. 


228  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

in  living  with  you  in  the  bosom  of  friendship."  Such  was 
the  fashion  of  sentence-making  in  the  days  of  yore.  Ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Hildreth,  Judge  Yarnum  was  distinguished 
for  his  "  brilliant  language  and  thundering  eloquence." 

At  the  close  of  the  oration  a  feast  was  served  in  a  spac- 
ious bower,  constructed  on  the  point  of  land  at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Muskingum  and  the  Ohio.  From  the  four- 
teen toasts  offered  I  select  the  following:  *' The  United 
States,"  "The  Congress,"  "His  Most  Christian  Majesty," 
"The  ^ew Federal  Constitution,"  "  Patriots  and  Heroes," 
"  Captain  Pipe,  Chief  of  the  Delawares,"  "  The  Amiable 
Partners  of  our  Delicate  Pleasures." 

The  soldiers  at  Fort  Harraar  had  commemorated  the 
great  national  day  in  1786  by  firing  a  salute  of  thirteen 
guns,  "  after  which,"  wrote  Sergeant  Joseph  Buell,  in  his 
diary,  "  the  troops  were  served  with  extra  rations  of  liquor, 
and  allowed  to  get  drunk  as  much  as  they  pleased." 

St.  Clair  reached  Fort  Harmar  July  9,  and  on  the  15th 
he  made  his  public  entry,  "  at  the  bower,  in  the  city  of 
Marietta,"  and  another  grand  ceremony  took  place.  The 
Ordinance  of  1787  w^as  read,  and  appropriate  speeches  of 
welcome  and  response  were  spoken.  The  governor's  ad- 
dress, though  formal  and  stately,  was  warmed  by  a  sincere 
eloquence  evoked  by  the  place  and  purpose  of  the  meet- 
ing. In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  said  :  "  The  sub- 
duing a  new  country,  notwithstanding  its  natural  advan- 
tages, is  alone  an  arduous  task;  a  task,  however,  that 
patience  and  perseverance  will  at  last  surmount,  and  these 
virtues,  so  necessary  in  every  situation,  but  peculiarly  so 
in  yours,  you  must  resolve  to  exercise.  IN'either  is  reduc- 
ing a  country  from  a  state  of  nature  to  a  state  of  civiliza- 
tion 80  irksome  as  it  may  appear  from  a  slight  or  super- 
ficial view;  even  very  sensible  pleasures  attend  it;  the 
gradual  progress  of  improvement  tills  the  mind  with  de- 
lectable ideas ;  vast  forests  converted  into  arable  fields, 
and  cities  rising  in  places  which  were  lately  the  habita- 
tions of  wild  beasts,  give  a  pleasure  something  like  that 
attendant  on  creation.  If  we  can  form  an  idea  of  it,  the 
imagination  is  ravished  and  a  taste  communicated  of  even 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  229 

the  'joy  of  God  to  see  a  happy  world.'  "  General  Rufus 
Putnam  responded  to  St.  Clair's  speech. 

The  example  set  at  Marietta  of  celebrating  the  "  glorious 
Fourth"  was  imitated  in  hundreds  of  settlements  subse- 
quently formed  in  the  West.  When  General  Moses 
Cleveland,  with  a  company  of  surveyors,  arrived  on  the 
Western  Reserve  on  July  4,  1796,  a  patriotic  demonstra- 
tion was  made,  with  speeches  and  joyful  noise.  Doubt- 
less the  orators  of  the  day  reminded  their  hearers  that 
just  twenty  years  had  passed  since  John  Adams  wrote 
from  Philadelphia  to  his  wife,  in  Boston,  that  Indepen- 
dence Day  "  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp  and  pa- 
rade, with  shows,  games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and 
illuminations,  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other, 
from  this  time  forward  forevermore."  With  such  warrant 
and  exhortation,  our  patriotic  fathers  made  the  most  of 
the  anniversary,  and  "  spread-eagle "  eloquence  was  at  a 
premium  in  the  forensic  market. 

'The  visit  of  Lafayette  to  America,  in  1824,  acted  like  a 
fanning  breeze  on  the  fire  of  patriotism,  and  revived  the 
spirit  of  declamation.  The  marquis  came  to  Ashland  to 
see  Clay,  and  was  all-hailed  in  an  eloquent  speech  de- 
livered at  Transylvania  College  by  Dr.  Holley.  At  Cin- 
cinnati he  Avas  banqueted  and  welcomed  in  an  address  by 
Joseph  II.  Benham.  This  Avas  in  May.  It  was  not  until 
the  26th  of  August  that  Edward  Everett,  in  a  famous 
oration  pronounced  at  Cambridge  before  the  Society  of 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  addressed  Lafayette,  who  was  pres- 
ent at  the  delivery  of  the  oration,  using  the  familiar 
words:  "Welcome,  thrice  welcome  to  our  shores;  and 
whithersoever  throughout  the  limits  of  the  continent 
your  course  shall  take  you,  the  ear  that  hears  you  shall 
bless  you,  the  eye  that  sees  you  shall  bear  witness  to  you, 
and  every  tongue  exclaim,  with  heartfelt  joy,  welcome, 
welcome  Lafayette ! " 

Mr.  Everett,  w^hose  name  will  always  be -associated  with 
American  oratory  and  culture,  had  a  decided  interest  in 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  West.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1829,  on  his  journey- homeward  from  a  tour  in  the 


230  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Mississippi  Valley,  he  visited  the  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio, 
then  a  fashionable  watering-place  and  the  favorite  resort 
of  the  Cincinnati  gentry.  The  distinguished  sojourner 
accepted  an  invitation  to  partake  of  a  public  dinner,  and, 
in  accordance  with  the  fashion,  a  series  of  toasts  was 
offered  and  responded  to.  The  toastmaster  of  the  occa- 
sion was  Daniel  K.  Este,  who  offered  the  following  senti- 
ment: "  On  behalf  of  the  proprietor  and  visitors  at  the 
Yellow  Springs,  I  give  a  most  cordial  welcome  to  our 
fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Edward  Everett — highly  distinghed  as 
a  scholar  and  as  a  liberal  and  enlightened  statesman." 

Mr.  Everett  addressed  the  company  in  a  neat  speech, 
which  was  printed  in  full  in  the  "  Western  Tiller,"  of  July 
7,  1829. 

Mr.  Everett  spoke  of  the  wonderful  material  progress 
of  the  West,  the  rapid  increase  in  population,  the  con- 
struction of  the  National  road,  the  establishment  of  stage 
routes,  and  "  your  canal  policy — the  glory  and  prosperity 
of  the  state."  He  reminded  his  listeners  that,  "  Forty 
years  since  the  only  white  population  connected  with  Ohio 
was  on  its  way  in  a  single  wagon  from  Massachusetts  to 
this  place."  He  referred  to  Drake's  picture  of  Cincinnati 
as  the  work  from  which,  while  traveling  in  Europe  thir- 
teen years  ago,  he  had  gained  his  first  impressions  ot 
the  Ohio  Valley.  Flattering  allusion  was  made,  also,  to 
Flint's  Geography  and  History  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
and  to  Mansfield  and  Drake's  Cincinnati  in  1826.  jS'or 
did  he  fail  to  refer  to  the  near  relation  existing  between 
New  England  and  the  West.  Speaking  of  the  system  of 
public  schools  recently  transplanted  from  Massachusetts 
to  Ohio,  he  used  the  following  words  :  "  Regarding  the  mind 
of  the  citizen  as  the  most  precious  part  of  the  public 
capital,  we  have  felt  that  an  efficient  plan  of  general  edu- 
cation is  one  of  the  first  elements  of  public  wealth.  The 
diffusion  of  intelligence  has  furnished  us  our  best  com- 
pensation for  our  narrow  limits  and  moderately  fertile 
soil;  and  the  tax  which  has  effected  it  has  returned  with 
the  richest  interest  to  the  citizen.  We  rejoice  to  see  you 
adopting  the  same  policy,  and  providing  for  a  posterity 


Folitical  Oratory  and  Orators.  231 

instructed  in  the  necessary  branches  of  useful  knowledge. 
Such  a  policy,  besides  all  its  other  benefits,  binds  the  dif- 
ferent members  of  the  body  politic  by  the  strongest  ties ; 
it  lays  the  rich  under  contribution  for  the  education  of  the 
poor ;  and  it  places  the  strong  watchman  of  public  intelli- 
gence and  order  at  the  door  of  the  rich.  In  the  first 
adoption  of  such  a  system,  difficulties  are  to  be  expected. 
It  can  not  go  equally  well  into  operation  in  every  quarter, 
perhaps  not  perfectly  in  any  quarter,  but  the  man  or  the 
body  of  men  that  shall  efifectually  introduce  it  will  per- 
form a  work  of  public  utility  of  which  the  praise  will 
never  die." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Everett's  address,  which  was 
decidedly  flattering  to  western  pride,  the  following  toasts 
were  offered,  which  were  certainly  sufficiently  appeciative 
of  New  England  worth  : 

By  l!Tathan  Guilford,  Esq.  The  North  American  Review 
— -It  has  done  credit  to  the  science  and  literature  of  our 
country,  and  raised  our  reputation  abroad.  Its  founders 
and  conductors  are  entitled  to  the  honor  and  gratitude  of 
the  nation. 

By  John  P.  Foote.  The  Philosophers  and  Scholars  of 
Our  Country — May  their  usefulness  be  properly  appre- 
ciated. 

By  Stephen  Fales,  Esq.,  of  Dayton,  0. —  The  State  of 
Massachusetts. 

By  Major  William  Ruffin.  The  New  England  School 
System — May  it  be  extended  through  all  the  states  and 
territories  of  America. 

By  Dan  Stone,  Esq.  The  Pursuits  of  Literature  and  the 
Studies  of  Political  Science — How  greatly  are  both  assisted 
by  the  knowledge  acquired  by  travel  and  personal  ob- 
servation. 

By  Mr.  Mills.  The  State  of  Ohio — With  a  climate  equal 
to  that  of  Italy,  with  a  soil  equal  to  that  of  Egypt — to  be 
admired,  she  is  only  to  be  visited. 

Whether  Mr.  Mills,  the  framer  of  the  last  sentiment, 
was  an  "  Ohio  man"  or  a  compliment-paying  traveler,  we 


232  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

are  not  able  to  decide.  One  fancies  that  he  thought  IsTew 
England  was  getting  more  than  her  share  of  laudation, 
and  that  he  considered  it  but  fair  to  balance  the  account 
between  East  and  West  by  plumping  Ohio  into  the  west- 
ern scale. 

Some  four  years  after  the  Everett  banquet,  Daniel  Web- 
ster visited  Cincinnati,  and  he  was  waited  on  by  a  com- 
mittee of  thirty  prominent  citizens,  who  invited  him  "  to 
partake  of  a  public  dinner"  at  the  Exchange,  on  Wednes- 
day, June  19,  1833,  at  four  o'clock  p.  m.  The  following 
names  appear  on  the  roll  of  the  committee :  General 
James  Findlay,  Joseph  Pierce,  Kobert  Buchanan,  Judge 
Torrence,  Bellamy  Storer,  Josiah  Lawrence,  Robert  T. 
Lytle,  Morgan  IN'eville,  Judge  William  Miller,  General 
Samuel  Borden,  James  Goodloe,  Jacob  Resor,  Allison 
Owen,  Peyton  S.  Symmes,  Archibald  Irwin,  Jacob  Burnet, 
D.  T.  Disney,  William  C.  Anderson,  Judge  Goodenow, 
Daniel  Drake,  Ebenezer  Hulse,  General  Edward  King,  Dr. 
L.  Rives,  Colonel  Francis  Carr,  William  Tift,  William  R. 
Foster,  John  H.  Groesbeck,  Dr.  J.  Caswell,  E.  S.  Thomas, 
John  P.  Foote.  Morgan  Seville,  chairman ;  Bellamy 
Storer,  secretary. 

Mr.  Webster  accepted  the  invitation  in  the  following 
formal  note : 

Saturday^  June  15,  1833. 

Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
citizens  of  Cincinnati,  inviting  me  to  a  public  dinner  on 
Wednesday.  In  this,  my  first  visit  to  the  West,  it  has 
been  my  object  to  see  the  country,  as  extensively  as  I 
could,  and  to  enjoy  an  intercourse  with  the  people,  free 
from  the  restraints  and  inconveniences  attendant  on 
public  manifestations  of  regard  and  kindness.  On  the 
present  occasion,  however,  it  seems  to  be  thought  that 
what  is  so  kindly  proposed  may  afford  an  opportunity  of 
enlarging  that  intercourse,  and  of  exchanging  salutations 
with  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati,  more  favorable  than  may 
otherwise  be  presented.     With  these  impressions,  I  accept 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  233 

with  pleasure  the  invitation  which  is  given  to  me.     I  am, 
with  much  true  regard,  your  obliged  fellow  citizen, 

Daniel  Webster. 
Morgan  ]!^eville,  Esq. 

The  dinner  was  given  with  due  ceremon}',  and  the  sub- 
joined report  of  it  appeared  in  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  : 

"  The  dinner  to  Mr.  Webster,  on  Wednesday,  was  what, 
in  the  language  of  truth,  might  be  called  a  brilliant  affair. 
Every  thing  passed  off  well.  The  company  was  full  to 
overflowing,  and  no  unpleasant  incident  occurred  to  mar 
the  general  hilarity.  The  mayor  presided ;  the  Eev.  Wm. 
Burke  made  an  invocation  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  festivities.  The  dinner  was  a  good 
one — abundant,  well  prepared ;  the  wines — but  in  them  I 
have  no  skill.  Mr.  Webster  was  called  out  for  a  speech 
at  the  sixth  toast.  It  was  well  conceived  and  happy — 
natural  in  all  its  aspects,  a  little  flattering  to  the  whole 
West,  a  little  more  so  to  Cincinnati  in  particular,  and  yet, 
perhaps,  nothing  short  of  the  whole  truth.  He  has  prom- 
ised to  furnish  a  sketch  of  it  for  publication,  and  we  will 
not  anticipate  that  sketch  by  giving  one  from  mere  mem- 
ory. 

Mr.  Barry  (the  Postmaster  General,  who  happened  to 
be  in  Cincinnati)  declined  to  join  in  the  festivities,  in 
consequence  of  the  visitations  of  the  cholera  among  his 
friends  at  Lexington,  very  properly  considering  that  these 
ought  to  preclude  him  of  being  one  of  a  festive  board. 

REGULAR   TOASTS. 

1.  The  President  of  the  United  States. 

2.  The  heads  of  departments. 

3.  The  Federal  judiciary. 

4.  The  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States. 

5.  The  memory  of  Washington. 

6.  Our  distinguished  guest,  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster — 
the  profound  expounder  of  the  Constitution,  the  eloquent 
supporter  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  the  uniform  friend 
and  advocate  of  the  western  country. 


234  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

7.  Tbe  patriots  of  the  revolution. 

8.  The  defenders  of  our  country  during  the  late  war. 

9.  Our  friend,  fellow-citizen  and  guest,  General  William 
Henry  Harrison — identified  with  the  warfare  and  settle- 
ment, prosperity  and  glory  of  the  western  country — the 
laurels  which  he  wears  have  heen  well  won,  and  are  cheer- 
fully accorded. 

10.  The  press — when  conducted  by  learning  and  patri- 
otism, a  national  blessing;  but  in  its  licentiousness  a 
curse  to  all  mankind. 

11.  Common  schools — ^NTew  England  has  taught  us  their 
value,  in  the  fruits  she  has  produced  from  her  nurseries  of 
science. 

12.  The  Union — '^  It  must  be  preserved." 

13.  The  State  of  Ohio — May  the  devotion  of  her  sons 
to  the  institutions  of  the  country  keep  pace  with  the  im- 
provement of  her  soil,  the  increase  of  her  population,  and 
the  enterprise  of  her  citizens. 

14.  The  Fair — While  they  are  for  union  we  defy  the 
world. 

VOLUNTEERS. 

By  Daniel  Webster.  The  City  of  Cincinnati — A  beauti- 
ful illustration  of  the  co-operation  between  nature  and 
art.  May  the  prosperity  of  her  citizens  be  commensurate 
with  their  hospitality  and  enterprise. 

By  Wm.  H.  Harrison.  Daniel  Webster — The  true  rep- 
resentative of  the  character  and  manners  of  his  country. 
Skilled  in  all  the  labors  of  a  farmer  (his  original  profes- 
sion), he  is  able  to  instruct  the  chief  justice  of  England  in 
the  principles  of  the  law  which  are  common  to  both  coun- 
tries, and  to  compete  with  Lord  Chancellor  Brougham,  or 
any  other  lord,  for  the  palm  of  eloquence,  and  in  explain- 
ing the  principles  of  "good  old  English  liberty." 

Sent  by  a  lady.    Daniel  Webster— 

"  Westward  the  eastern  star  has  bent  his  way, 
May  more  than  empire  bless  its  cloudless  ray." 

By  W.  T.  Walker,  Esq.     Daniel  Webster— The  Daniel 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  235 

of  his  age.  He  may  be  cast  among  lions,  as  many  as  you 
please,  but  even  there  you  will  find  him  the  master  spirit. 

By  Marcus  Smith.  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States — Ambiguous  and  obscure  only  to  the  ambitious 
and  corrupt.  When  assailed  by  such,  may  there  ever  be 
found  among  the  people  a  Daniel  who  can  interpret  the 
writing. 

By  Samuel  Findlay.  To  him  who  yesterday  came 
among  a  community  of  strangers,  and  to-morrow  leaves  a 
community  of  friends." 

The  western  propensity  or  passion  for  discussion  is 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  proceedings  of  the  remark- 
able ''  Political  Club,"  ^  a  society  which  met  on  Saturday 
nights  in  Danville,  Kentucky,  from  1786  to  1790,  and  con- 
sidered, in  parliamentary  form,  the  great  financial,  judicial, 
and  political  questions  of  the  period.  The  members  of 
this  somewhat  famous  organization  were  Hary  Innes, 
Samuel  McDowell,  Christopher  Greenup,  John  Brown, 
Thomas  Todd,  George  Muter,  Peyton  Short,  Thomas 
Speed,  James  Speed,  Willis  Green,  James  Brown,  Baker 
Ewing,  Robert  Craddock,  B.  Tardiveau,  Benjamin  Sebas- 
tian, William  Kennedy,  John  Belli,  William  McClung, 
Stephen  Ormsby,  Wm.  McDowell,  John  Overton,  Thomas 
AUin,  Robt.  Dougherty,  John  Barbee,  and  Abraham 
Buford. 

The  people's  lyceum,  or  debating  society,  had  its  golden 
age  in  the  seventy-five  years  following  the  great  first  Fourth 
of  July.  In  fact,  it  took  the  place  of  schools  in  sections 
where  education  was  neglected.  The  lyceum  was  a  school 
for  both  young  and  old,  though  its  benefits  were  usually 
limited  to  the  male  sex,  and  principally  to  young  men. 
In  these  last  years  of  the  century,  women  are  the  leaders 
in  such  culture  as  may  be  obtained  in  literary  clubs. 

Prentice  relates  that  Clay,  coming  from  Virginia  to 
Kentucky  at  the  age  of  about  twenty,  joined  a  debating 
society  at  Lexington,  in  which,  like  another  Burke,  he 

^  A  history  of  the  PoHtical  Club,  by  Captain  Thomas  Speed,  is  prom- 
ised as  a  publication  of  the  Filson  Club. 


236  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

won  his  first  laurels  as  a  speaker.  Thomas  Ewing,  at 
Athens,  and  Thomas  Corwin,  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  by  a  sim- 
ilar experience,  developed  their  powers  of  expression  in 
the  debating  club.  The  great  serviceableness  of  the  de- 
bating society  in  early  times  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 

The  ability  to  think  to  a  point,  to  hold  arguments  in 
mind,  to  weigh  evidence  and  to  form  a  just  opinion,  was 
cultivated,  and  men  learned  by  such  mental  practice  to 
perform  their  public  duty  as  electors,  jurors,  trustees,  and 
presiding  officers.  The  efforts  of  a  boy  to  stand  up  in  a 
country  school-house  and  say,  "Mr.  President,  I  think 
pursuit  is  better  than  possession,"  or,  "  I  believe  the  pul- 
pit affords  a  wider  field  of  usefulness  than  the  bar,"  put 
his  whole  mind  and  body  to  a  test,  and  gave  the  tyro  a 
start  in  thought,  expression,  and  self-control.  The  aspiring 
youth,  who  in  the  Philomathean  or  the  Eurodelphian  So- 
ciety of  the  backwoods  college,  ventured  to  prove  that 
state  sovereignty  is  preferable  to  centralization,  or  that  the 
government  should  abolish  the  national  bank,  or  that 
Hannibal  was  greater  than  Scipio,  took  more  interest, 
perhaps,  in  such  exercise  of  his  faculties  than  he  did  in 
his  class-books.  In  every  village  were  found  a  few  am- 
bitious young  fellows  who  had  some  real  interest  in  cur- 
rent political  issues,  and  who  met  in  debate  for  debate's 
sake.  They  held  spirited  contests  in  argument,  wit,  and 
oratory. 

The  custom  prevailed,  too,,  of  attending  public  meetings 
of  all  kinds,  and  talking  over  the  points  made  by  the 
speakers.  This  was  the  way  in  which  Abraham  Lincoln 
began  that  brave  education  of  his,  which  the  events  of  the 
war  completed,  as  he  said.  Dennis  Hanks,  when  asked  by 
Mr.  Herndon  how  Lincoln  managed  to  learn  so  much  in 
Southern  Indiana,  replied :  **  He  learned  by  sight,  scent, 
and  hearing.  He  heard  all  that  was  said,  and  talked  over 
and  over  the  questions  heard.  Went  to  political  and  other 
speeches,  and  would  hear  all  sides  and  opinions,  talk  them 
over,  discuss  them,  agreeing  or  disagreeing." 

The  demand  for  orators  and  oratory  brought  forward 
the  elocution   teacher.     The  Philadelphia  Portfolio,   in 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  237 

1815,  announced  that  Mr.  Ogilvie,  of  South  Carolina  Col- 
lege, had  recently  established  a  "  new  branch  of  educa- 
tion," and  "  had  opened  for  himself  a  most  splendid  and 
useful  career  "  as  professor  of  eloquence.  The  new  branch 
became  popular  in  schools  of  all  grades,  was  cultivated, 
also,  in  "  exhibitions,"  thespian  societies,  and  debating 
juntos. 

A  most  practical  adult  school  for  instruction  in  the 
rights  and  duties  of  citizenship,  and  also  an  arena  for  the 
exhibition  of  argument  and  persuasive  declamation,  was 
afibrded  by  the  circuit  courts,  which  brought  together,  at 
their  sessions,  the  active-minded  men  of  a  whole  village 
or  neighborhood.  Judge  James  Hall,  whose  experience 
at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench,  in  the  early  days  of  Illinois, 
gave  him  ample  opportunity  to  observe  the  facts,  has  left 
valuable  testimony  on  this  subject  of  the  popular  educa- 
tional influence  of  the  courts.  He  says,  in  an  article  on 
"  Western  Character,"  written  in  1833  :  "  Every  man  is 
a  politician,  and  becomes,  to  some  extent,  acquainted  with 
public  aifairs.  In  some  of  the  other  states,  few  persons 
go  into  a  court  of  law,  unless  they  have  business.  It  is 
not  so  here.  Court  week  is  a  general  holiday.  ]!^ot  only 
suitors,  jurors,  and  witnesses,  but  all  who  can  spare  the 
time,  brush  up  their  coats,  and  brush  down  their  horses, 
and  go  to  court.  A  stranger  is  struck  with  the  silence, 
the  eagerness,  and  deep  attention  with  which  these  rough 
sons  of  the  forest  listen  to  the  arguments  of  the  lawyers, 
evincing  a  lively  interest  in  these  proceedings,  and  thor- 
ough understanding  of  the  questions  discussed.  Besides 
those  alluded  to,  there  are  a  variety  of  other  public  meet- 
ings. Every  thing  is  done  in  this  country  in  popular 
assemblies,  all  questions  are  debated  in  popular  speeches, 
and  decided  by  popular  vote.  These  facts  speak  for  them- 
selves. Not  only  must  a  vast  deal  of  information  be  dis- 
seminated throughout  a  society  thus  organized,  but  the 
taste  for  popular  assemblies  and  public  harangues,  which 
forms  so  striking  a  trait  in  the  western  character,  is,  in 
itself,  a  conclusive  proof  of  a  high  degree  of  intelligence. 
Ignorant  people  would  neither  relish  nor  understand  the 


238  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

oratory  which  our  people  receive  with  enthusiastic  ap- 
plause. Ignorant  people  would  not  attend  such  meetings, 
week  after  week,  and  day  after  day,  with  unabated  inter- 
est ;  nor  would  they  thus  go,  and  remain  ignorant." 

Intelligence  and  intellect  increase,  excited  by  the  stim- 
ulus of  social  action  and  reaction.  The  camp-meeting, 
the  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  the  popular  debate,  the 
session  of  the  circuit  court,  each,  bringing  many  together 
for  its  special  purpose,  also  became  an  occasion  for  the 
general  interchange  of  ideas,  and  therefore  a  means  of 
intellectual  and  moral  culture.  Even  the  horse  race  fur- 
nished a  rough  school  for  the  betterment  of  the  rude  mass. 
Such,  at  least,  was  the  opinion  of  bluff  Governor  Rey- 
nolds, the  pioneer  historian  of  Illinois,  who  compares  the 
sports, of  the  turf  to  the  Olympic  games.  He  tells  us 
that:  "At  these  races  almost  every  description  of  busi- 
ness was  transacted.  Horses  were  swapped  and  contracts 
made,  debts  paid  and  new  ones  contracted.  Amusements 
of  various  species  were  indulged  in.  Foot  racing,  wrest- 
ling, and  jumping  were  not  neglected.  Sometimes  shoot- 
ing matches  were  executed ;  so  that,  in  old  pioneer  times, 
these  horse  races  were  names  for  meetings,  where  much 
other  business,  or  pleasure,  was  transacted  or  experienced. 

"  Small  kegs  of  whisky  were  often  brought  to  the 
races — a  keg  in  one  end  of  a  bag  and  a  stone  in  the  other, 
sometimes  a  keg  in  each  end,  was  the  manner  of  getting 
the  liquor  to  the  races.  Old  females,  at  times,  had  cakes 
and  metheglin  for  sale." 

Men's  powers  of  thought  and  utterance  were  put  to  the 
test  by  the  exercise  of  the  democratic  art  known  as  "  talk- 
ing politics."  The  leading  themes  on  which  opinion  dif- 
fered in  the  very  earliest  pioneer  period  were,  of  course, 
those  growing  out  of  the  reorganization  of  the  national 
government,  such  as  are  discussed  in  the  several  volumes 
of  the  Federalist.  The  doctrines  of  Jefferson,  as  opposed 
to  "Washington  and  Adams,  excited  much  partisan  talk. 
In  educated  circles,  the  writings  of  Gibbon,  Hume,  Vol- 
taire, Rousseau,  Volney,  were  the  theme  of  conversation, 
pro  and  con;  while  Tom  Paine's  utterances  on  politics  or 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators,  239 

religion  were  bandied  about  by  the  ignorant  as  well  as  the 
learned.  The  subject  of  slavery  came  up  in  the  first  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  and  caused  an  exciting  debate,  though, 
at  that  time,  all  the  states,  except  Massachusetts,  held 
slaves.  The  War  of  1812  almost  obliterated  the  old  polit- 
ical parties,  Federal  and  Republican,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  Monroe,  from  1817  to  1825,  was  called  the  Era  of 
Good  Feeling.  Causes  were  at  work,  however,  which 
soon  again  divided  the  people  into  distinct  parties,  under 
the  leadership  of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Andrew  Jack- 
son. 

Before  the  period  in  which  party  lines  were  strictly 
drawn,  and  politics  became  subject  to  the  management  of 
leaders  and  conventions,  public  officers  were  chosen  on 
account  of  personal  popularity  rather  than  party  affilia- 
tion. The  pioneers  voted  iov  men  not  measures;  and  the 
men,  somewhat  after  the  old  Roman  method,  sought  the 
individual  ballots  of  the  people,  by  visiting  every  voter, 
and  being  as  "  clever  "  as  possible.  In  Illinois,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  century,  nearly  all  the  citizens  were  Jack- 
son men,  but  they  were  divided  into  two  factions,  known 
as  moderate  Jackson  men  and  "whole  hog"  Jackson 
men ;  but  in  most  parts  of  the  West,  as  in  the  country  at 
large,  the  spirit  of  partisanship  drew  a  bold  line  of  sepa- 
ration between  Whig  and  Democrat.  From  that  time, 
the  Ohio  Valley  has  been  the  arena  of  constant,  intense 
party  struggle.  What  an  array  of  famous  politicians  the 
region  has  produced  !  The  excited  state  of  partisan  feel- 
ing in  the  early  thirties  is  reflected  amusingly  by  an  inci- 
dent related  of  a  Frenchman  who,  riding  in  a  coach,  in 
Kentucky,  thus  expressed  himself  to  a  fellow  traveler: 
"  Sare,"  said  he,  "  I  come  to  Amerique  to  see  von  grande 
nation  enjoy  de  liberie.  I  look  for  find  all  broder,  all  vise. 
In  my  imagination  I  see  von  people  dat  vork  to  make  the 
whole  happy ;  dat  chose  de  vise  men  and  de  good  men  for 
ruler,  and  in  de  choice,  act  togeder  like  de  friend.  Mais, 
parbleu !  I  find  de  same  fight  of  dose  in  de  power,  and 
dose  out  of  de  power.  I  find  de  bribe,  de  quarrel,  de  hard 
word.     I  go  to  de  hotel,  and,  ma  foi,  dey  say,  ha !  you 


240  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Jaqueson  or  Clay  ?  I  get  in  de  stage,  and  dej  say  'gain, 
you  sare,  you  Jaqueson  or  Clay  ?  Every-where  dey  vorry 
me  to  piece.  Ah,  Monsieur  I  you  have  von  grande  countrie, 
you  have  de  people  avec  beaucoup  de  force,  but  vid  all  de 
liberti,  I  see  much  dat  vould  make  me  miserable.  I  shall 
go  back  to  France,  sare,  dere  we  have  von  revolution,  and 
all  is  still  again ;  here,  it  seems  to  me,  revolution  all  de 
time.     I  shall  go  back  to  France,  sare,  tout  a  pres.'' ' 

As  the  country  grew  older,  and  the  power  of  slavery 
increased,  the  Valley  of  the  Ohio  became  the  very  tropic 
and  battle- line  of  sectional  interests  and  antagonisms. 
The  atmosphere  was  surcharged,  from  Pittsburg  to  Cairo, 
with  opposite  electricities  of  passion  and  conviction. 
Every  steamboat  that  plied  up  or  down  the  Beautiful 
River  carried  in  her  cabin  a  committee  of  the  whole,  bur- 
dened with  the  responsibility  of  saving  the  country  by 
compromise  or  by  force.  Well  might  Alexander  Camp- 
bell prophecy,  *'  The  time  will  come,  when  the  controversy 
will  be  no  longer  between  Whigs  and  Democrats,  but  be- 
tween North  and  South."  "  If  the  abolition  excitement 
had  stirred  up  Boston,"  wrote  Mrs.  Stowe,  "  it  had  con- 
vulsed Cincinnati."  The  pro-slavery  advocates  were  not 
all  on  the  south  side  of  the  Ohio,  nor  the  anti-slavery  agi- 
tators all  on  the  north.  In  1804,  six  Baptist  ministers  or- 
ganized a  society  of  "  Friends  of  Humanity,"  in  Kentucky, 
declaring  for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Henry  Clay  was 
an  emancipationist,  and  Cassius  M.  Clay,  in  1843,  set  up 
an  anti-slavery  paper,  "  The  True  American,"  in  Lexing- 
ton. A  committee  of  sixty,  selected  at  a  citizens'  meet- 
ing, and  acting  under  instructions  of  a  resolution,  took 
forcible  possession  of  Clay's  press,  and  shipped  it  to  Cin- 
cinnati, to  the  care  of  January  and  Taylor.  Clay  entered 
suit  on  the  charge  of  riot,  but  the  jury  brought  in  a  ver- 
dict of  "not  guilty."  James  G.  Birney,  the  first  anti- 
slavery  candidate  for  the  presidency,  a  southern  man,  lib- 
erated his  slaves,  about  forty  in  number,  and,  coming  to 
Cincinnati,  started  an  abolition  paper,  the  Philanthropist. 

*  See  Hairs  Western  Magazine. 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  241 

He  too  was  mobbed — his  press,  types,  and  other  office 
property  were  taken  out  and  sunk  in  the  Ohio  river. 
Prejudice  ran  so  high  that  a  large  number  of  boarders 
left  the  Franklin  House  because  Birney  was  received  as  a 
guest  there. 

Southern  men  of  northern  principles  and  northern  men 
of  southern  principles  were  found  on  each  side  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  and  their  collisions  led  to  persecution 
and  even  martyrdom.  The  "  Underground  Railroad " 
had  many  termini  along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  its 
agents  were  helped  by  friends  and  hounded  by  foes  at 
every  border  station.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  was  murdered  in 
the  free  State  of  Hlinois  for  abolition  sentiments,  while 
slave-holding  Kentucky  produced  Tom  Corwin,  the  friend 
of  the  bondmen,  and  gave  to  the  lN"orth  Abraham  Lincoln, 
the  Emancipator. 

It  was  the  agitation  of  political  questions,  predomi- 
nantly of  the  slavery  question,  that  developed  the  multi- 
tude of  famous  partisan  orators  for  which  the  West  is  distin- 
guished. The  English  scholar  and  critic,  John  ]^ichol,  in 
his  comprehensive  volume  on  "American  Literature,"  ad- 
mits that,  "  in  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  the  West  has, 
from  the  first,  excelled."  He  says,  also,  "  The  West  has 
long  been  noted  for  fluency  —  often  superfluency  —  of 
speech."  These  remarks,  meant  to  apply  to  America  in 
general,  by  Mr.  Nichol,  may  be  applied  with  special  ap- 
propriateness to  the  Central  West,  in  the  time  of  which 
we  are  writing. 

We  have  already  considered  the  old-time  patriotic  ora- 
tory of  the  Fourth  of  July,  much  of  which  was  for  mere 
academic  display  of  the  "glittering  generalities"  of  non- 
partisan politics ;  but  as  time  went  on,  speech-making  be- 
came a  practical  art,  and  employed  the  ornaments  of 
rhetoric,  not  so  much  for  display  as  for  the  purpose  of 
winning  votes,  gaining  office,  obtaining  verdicts,  and  con- 
trolling legislation. 

The  ability  to  discuss  themes  of  popular  concern  viva 
voce,  was  considered  a  prime  requisite  in  civic  training. 
16 


242  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Perhaps  the  early  patriots  held  the  Roman  conviction  that 
it  is  every  citizen's  duty  to  learn  how  to  fight  and  how  to 
speak.  They  certainly  cultivated  the  power  of  delivery 
as  a  patriotic  duty,  a  mark  of  public  efiiciency,  not  less 
than  as  a  means  of  political  distinction.  The  renown  of 
the  Adamses,  Otis,  Henry,  Ames  and  Quincy,  extending 
beyond  their  day  and  generation,  kept  alive  the  early  pa- 
triotic sentiment,  and  furnished  themes  for  later  orators. 
The  famous  speeches  of  Calhoun,  Clay,  Webster  and 
Choate,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  stimulated  every 
young  politician  to  soar  and  every  school-boy  to  declaim. 
The  newspaper  then  had  not  subordinated  the  stump. 
Time  has  shown  that  of  all  these  great  speakers  Webster 
was  the  greatest.  The  fact  that  his  orations  and  speeches 
have  become  a  part  of  permanent  literature  proves  their 
intrinsic  merit.  Their  aggregate  influence,  exercised 
through  school-books  alone  upon  the  minds  of  American 
youth,  must  be  vast. 

Most  distinguished  of  the  orators  of  the  Ohio  Valley 
in  the  popular  estimation  was  Henry  Clay.  The  testi- 
mony of  his  contemporaries,  both  friends  and  opponents, 
is  that  his  magnetic  power,  as  a  public  speaker,  was  irre- 
sistible. But  the  cool  verdict  of  criticism  as  to  the  qual- 
ity and  style  of  his  preserved  speeches  does  not  sustain 
the  popular  decision  of  fifty  years  ago.  A  recent  careful 
and  judicious  writer  has  said  that  Clay's  "  speeches  are 
too  often  tawdry  and  inelegant.  Their  cheap  finery  makes 
their  bad  English  all  the  more  apparent.  What  is  worse, 
the  underlying  thought  is,  too  often,  neither  profound  nor 
valuable." 

We  should  bear  in  mind  that  by  far  the  greater  number 
of  eloquent  political  speeches  addressed  directly  to  the 
people,  like  the  thrilling  sermons  of  the  camp-meeting, 
were  never  consigned  to  print  or  to  writing.  We  are 
obliged  to  judge  of  Clay  and  others,  not  by  their  most 
moving  efforts,  but  by  such  speeches  as  are  preserved  in 
congressional  records.  In  selecting  a  specimen  to  illus- 
trate  the  average  style  of  Henry  Clay,  I  have  chosen  a 
passage  which  also  conveys  interesting  particulars  in  his 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators,  243 

own   personal   career.     The   extract    is  taken   from   the 
statesman's  valedictory  addressed  to  the  Senate  in  1842. 

"  Every- where  throughout  the  extent  of  this  great  con- 
tinent I  have  had  cordial,  warm-hearted,  faithful  and  de- 
voted friends  who  have  known  me,  loved  me,  and  ap- 
preciated my  motives.  To  them,  if  language  were  capable 
of  fully  expressing  my  acknowledgments,  I  would  now 
offer  all  the  return  I  have  the  power  to  make  for  their 
genuine,  disinterested,  and  persevering  fidelity  and  devoted 
attachment,  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  a  heart  over- 
flowing with  never-ceasing  gratitude.  If,  however,  I  fail 
in  suitable  language  to  express  my  gratitude  to  them  for 
all  the  kindness  they  have  shown  me,  what  shall  I  say, 
what  can  I  say  at  all  commensurate  with  those  feelings  ot 
gratitude  with  which  I  have  been  inspired  by  the  state 
whose  humble  representative  I  have  been  in  this  cham- 
ber ?  [Here  Mr.  C.'s  feelings  overpowered  him,  and  he 
proceeded  with  deep  sensibility  and  difficult  utterance.] 

"  I  emigrated  from  Virginia  to  the  State  of  Kentucky 
now  nearly  forty-five  years  ago ;  I  went  as  an  orphan  boy 
who  had  not  yet  attained  the  age  of  majority ;  who  had 
never  recognized  a  father's  smile,  nor  felt  his  warm 
caresses;  poor,  penniless,  without  the  favor  of  the  great, 
with  an  imperfect  and  neglected  education,  hardly  suffi- 
cient for  the  ordinary  business  and  common  pursuits  of 
life  ;  but  scarce  had  I  set  my  foot  upon  her  generous  soil 
when  I  was  embraced  with  parental  fondness,  caressed  as 
though  I  had  been  a  favorite  child,  and  patronized  with 
liberal  and  unbounded  munificence.  From  that  period 
the  highest  honors  of  the  state  have  been  freely  bestowed 
upon  me ;  and  when,  in  the  darkest  hour  of  calamity  and 
detraction,  I  seemed  to  be  assailed  by  all  the  rest  of  the 
world,  she  interposed  her  broad  and  impenetrable  shield, 
repelled  the  poisoned  shafts  that  were  aimed  for  my  de- 
struction, and  vindicated  my  good  name  from  every  malig- 
nant and  unfounded  aspersion.  I  return  with  indescrib- 
able pleasure,  to  linger  a  while  longer,  and  mingle  with 
the  warm-hearted  and  whole-souled  people  of  that  state ; 
and  when  the  last  scene  shall  forever  close  upon  me,  I  hope 


244  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

that  my  earthly  remains  will  be  laid  under  her  green  sod 
with  those  of  her  gallant  and  patriotic  sons." 

Kentucky  has  produced  a  multitude  of  political  orators 
scarcely  inferior  to  Clay.  Among  those  who,  in  the 
formative  period  of  our  history,  made  the  force  of  their 
intellect  and  knowledge  felt  by  the  mastery  of  language 
in  courts  of  justice,  on  the  floors  of  congress,  or  from  the 
stump,  were  George  !Ni  icholas,  born  1743,  died  1799  ;  John 
Breckenridge,  born  1756,  died  1806;  John  Rowan,  born 
1783,  died  1843;  William  T.  Barry,  born  1783,  died  1835; 
and  John  J.  Crittenden,  born  1786,  died  1863.  These  all 
occupied  high  positions  in  state  and  nation,  and  were  of 
the  mighty  thunderers  of  their  day.  Barry  and  Critten- 
den were  considered  tit  colleagues  of  Clay,  and  were  com- 
petitors with  him  at  the  bar.  Barry's  eloquence  is  de- 
scribed as  of  that  fiery  and  vehement  character  so  much 
applauded  by  our  ancestors.  Judge  Jesse  Bledsoe,  of 
Lexington,  was  another  orator  of  note. 

Coming  down  to  later  years,  we  find  frequent  mention, 
in  political  records,  of  the  commanding  eloquence  of  the 
Marshalls,  Thomas  F.  and  Humphrey ;  Richard  H.  Meni- 
fee, after  whom  Menifee  county  is  named ;  Joseph  Ilarfiil- 
ton  Daveiss,  the  eminent  lawyer  and  judge  who  spoke 
against  Burr  in  1837 ;  the  Breckenridges,  especially  John 
Cabell  Breckenridge,  Vice-President  and  U.  S.  Senator ; 
and  also  Benjamin  Hardin  and  General  John  Pope. 

An  orator  not  inferior  to  Clay  in  his  ability  to  sway  and 
fascinate  an  audience,  and  more  skillful  than  he  in  literary 
art,  was  Thomas  Corwin. 

Though  born  in  Kentucky  [July  29,  1794],  Corwin  was 
by  adoption  an  Ohio  man,  and  Ohio  people  will  long  con- 
tinue to  revere  his  name.  Though  he  himself  said,  with 
melancholy  self-depreciation,  near  the  end  of  his  life,  "  I 
am  but  a  tradition !"  it  was  not  so.  Such  a  man  does 
not  pass  quickly  into  oblivion.  The  remembrance  of 
Corwin*s  humor  preserves  liis  name  as  in  a  precious  balm. 
The  recollection  of  his  humanity  and  love  of  liberty  keeps 
his  fame  fresh  in  history.  This  great  and  good  man, 
whose  lips  nature  touched  with  the  living  tire  of  eloquence, 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  245 

began  his  public  career,  as  a  lawyer,  in  1817.  He  went  to 
Congress  in  1830,  and  was  chosen  governor  of  Ohio  in 
1840.  Subsequently  he  w^as  United  States  Senator,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  ancl  Minister  to  Mexico.  His 
speeches  are  now  but  little  read,  yet  they  possess  the  high- 
est order  of  excellence  as  to  style  and  substance.  A  most 
delightful  sketch  of  the  life  of  Corwin  has  been  written 
by  Hon.  A.  P.  Russell.^ 

Of  the  many  striking  incidents  related  by  Mr.  Russell, 
none  is  more  impressive  than  that  of  Corwin's  making  a 
speech  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  to  his  old  friends,  in  defense  of 
the  position  he  had  taken  in  Congress  against  the  prose- 
cution of  the  Mexican  War.  The  speech  was  not  re- 
ported, but  his  auditors  pronounced  it  the  greatest  orator- 
ical achievement  of  his  life.  Russell  says  :  ^'  The  audience 
dissolved  of  itself,  swarming  over  the  streets  and  side- 
walks, nearly  every  auditor  going  his  own  way,  alone. 
Schenk  and  Stevenson  walked  down  the  street  together, 
but  (]id  not  speak  a  word  for  a  block  or  two.  All  at  once 
Schenk  ejaculated  :  '^  What  a  speech  !"  "  Yes,"  responded 
Stevenson,  with  Kentucky  emphasis,  "  what  a  speech ! 
I  was  born  and  bred  in  a  land  of  orators*;  have  been  ac- 
customed all  my  life  to  hear  such  giants  as  Clay  and 
Menifee,  but,  blessed  be  Grod !  I  never  heard  a  speech  like 
that !" 

Mr.  Russell  tells  us  there  was  not  a  humorous  word  in  this 
speech — '•'  It  was  grave,  sober,  serious,  tragic."  The  same  can 
hardly  be  said  of  any  other  of  his  speeches,  not  even  of  that 
stern,  dignified,  and  stately  one  of  February  11,  1847,  in 
the  Senate,  which  contained  the  sentence  that  destroyed 
his  political  influence — the  thousand  times  repeated  sen- 

^  Addison  Peale  Russell,  of  "Wilmington,  Ohio,  born  and  bred  in  the 
Buckeye  State,  after  retiring  from  an  honorable  career  of  public  serv- 
ice to  his  state  and  nation,  has  devoted  himself  for  the  last  twenty 
years  or  more  to  reading  and  authorship.  His  reputation  is  estab- 
lished upon  enduring  foundations,  as  a  "man  of  letters,"  in  the  true 
sense.  His  published  works,  besides  the  *'  Sketch  of  Corwin,"  include 
"Half  Tints,"  "Library  Notes,"  "Characteristics,"  "A  Club  of  One," 
and  "In  a  Club  Corner,"  the  last  four  belonging  to  a  species  of  pure 
literature,  mi  generis,  and  altogether  delightful. 


246  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

tence,  "  If  I  were  a  Mexican,  I  would  tell  you,  *  Have  you 
not  room  in  your  own  country  to  bury  your  dead  men  ? 
If  you  come  into  mine,  we  will  greet  you  with  bloody 
hands,  and  welcome  you  to  hospitable  graves.'  " 

"  Tom  "  Corwin's  humor  was  of  that  high  order  which 
is  found  associated  with  pathos  and  poetic  sensibility. 
The  fact  that  he  deprecated  his  own  reputation  as  a 
laughter-causer,  proves  the  superior  delicacy  of  his  na- 
ture. The  mere  clown,  buffoon,  or  "  popular  humorist," 
experiences  no  reactive  compunctions,  feels  no  self-disgust 
or  humiliation  in  playing  the  part  of  the  harlequin.  Cor- 
win  stooped  to  conquer  by  exercising  his  wonderful 
faculty  of  mimicry  and  ludicrous  illustration,  much  as 
Lincoln  did  when  he  carried  a  point  in  statesmanship  by 
telling  an  apt  anecdote. 

The  long  list  of  Ohio's  distinguished  orators  is  graced 
by  the  name  of  Thomas  Ewing,  once  almost  as  popular 
as  Corwin.  He  was  born  in  1789,  in  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia. In  boyhood  he  came  to  Athens,  Ohio,  and  there 
and  afterward  at  Lancaster,  Ohio,  won  his  way,  by  hard 
work,  to  power  and  distinction.  Ewing  was  the  first 
graduate  of  Ohio  University,  the  oldest  college  west  of 
the  Alleghenies  and  north  of  the  Ohio  river.  Like  Cor- 
win, he  began  his  career  as  a  lawyer,  being  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1816.  He  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate 
in  1830.  He  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by 
Harrison,  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior  by  Taylor.  Ewing 
has  often  been  instanced  as  a  brilliant  example  of  the  class 
called  self-made  men.  His  oratory,  though  not  so  fervid 
as  that  of  Clay,  nor  so  entertaining  as  that  of  Corwin, 
was  sound,  practical,  and  persuasive.  General  James  H. 
Baker  said  of  Ewing,  that  "  He  was  stately  and  superb. 
His  speeches  were  as  dignified  as  his  person  was  erect  and 
noble.  He  was  like  a  Roman  Senator,  in  the  gravity  of 
his  discourse  and  the  decorum  of  his  style." 

Previous  to  the  years  in  which  the  slavery  question  be- 
came the  customary  theme  of  debate  in  Congress,  an 
Ohio  Senator — one  who  should  not  be  forgotten — threw 
down  the  gage  of  battle,  in  the  name  of  emancipation 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  247 

for  the  black  man,  and  read  to  Henry  Clay  a  higher  gos- 
pel of  liberty  than  had  hitherto  been  preached  in  public. 
That  courageous  man  was  Thomas  Morris,  born  in  the 
auspicious  year  1776,  whose  plain  eloquence  was  the  in- 
spiration of  men  like  Garrison  and  Chase.  He  died  in 
1830. 

Thomas  Lyon  Hamer,  born  1800,  died  1846,  a  famed 
Ohio  lawyer,  was  an  orator  of  peculiar  energy  and  direct- 
ness. Reminiscences  of  his  powerful  pleadings  float  in 
the  air  of  Southern  Ohio.  Judge  John  McLean,  born 
1785,  died  1861,  who  trained  his  vigorous  native  ability  in 
a  debating  society,  when  young,  was  distinguished  for 
solid  and  convincing  speech,  at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench. 
Hon.  Bellamy  Storer,  born  1796,  died  1875,  impressive  and 
stately  in  manner,  profound  in  attainment,  was  one  of  the 
most  potent,  intellectual,  and  moral  powers  of  an  event- 
ful generation.  Joshua  li.  Giddings,  born  1795,  died  1864, 
and  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  born  1800,  died  1864— what 
American  has  not  heard  of  their  powers  in  debate,  their 
intense  zeal  for  the  principles  they  championed,  and  their 
honorable  triumphs  in  the  lists  of  argument?  Samuel 
Galloway,  born  1811,  died  1872,  another  valiant  knight  in 
the  tournament  of  ideas,  knew  how  to  use  his  tongue  as 
a  lance.  He  was  a  great  lawyer,  with  that  command  of 
language  which  controls  juries;  he  had  wit  and  humor  to 
abet  knowledge  and  logic.  Salmon  P.  Chase,  born  1808, 
died  1873;  bold,  earnest,  aggressive,  yet  composed  and 
sedate  in  deportment  upon  the  platform  or  parliamentary 
floor,  was  an  orator  who,  like  Gladstone,  made  statistics 
eloquent.  John  Brough,  born  1811,  died  1865,  Ohio's 
"  war  governor,"  is  said  to  have  been,  in  his  earlier  years, 
"  a  torrent  of  eloquence."  Whitelaw  Reid  said  Brough's 
"  style  was  clear,  fluent,  and  logical,  while  at  times  he  was 
impassioned."  The  Hon.  Henry  Stanbery,  born  1814,  died 
1883,  possessed  perhaps  the  surest  and  strongest  element 
of  conviction  and  persuasion,  the  eloquence  of  perfect 
lucidity.  Many  other  eminent  Ohio  orators  might  be 
named,  as  Robert  C.  Schenk,  John  A.  Bingham,  Charles 
Anderson,  James  A.  Garfield,  Lewis  D.  Campbell,  Durbin 


248  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Ward — but  enougli  have  been  mentioned  for  the  illustra- 
tion of  our  subject. 

Coming  into  the  field  of  political  action  somewhat  later 
than  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  the  states  of  Indiana  and  Illi- 
nois, like  their  sister  commonwealths,  produced  each  a 
series  of  orators  of  more  than  local  distinction.  Indiana  has 
a  large  share  in  the  early  history  of  President  W.  H.  Har- 
rison, one  of  the  most  effective  public  speakers  of  his  time. 
The  name  of  Hon.  Richard  W.  Thompson  (born  1809), 
the  prominent  Whig  politician,  stands,  perhaps,  at  the 
top  of  the  list  of  the  Indiana  orators  of  the  ante-bellum 
period.  Other  exceptionally  eloquent  men  were  Hon. 
Joseph  Albert  Wright  (born  1810,  died  1867),  Hon. 
Tilgham  A.  Howard,  Hon.  Joseph  G.  Marshall,  and  the 
"brilliant  but  erratic "  Hon.  .Edward  A.  Hannegan. 
I^otable  in  the  history  of  their  state  and  nation,  for  com- 
manding powers  of  speech,  are  Hon.  J.  G.  Dunn,  Hon. 
Caleb  B.  Smith,  and  Hon.  Oliver  II.  Smith.  The  names 
of  Hon.  H.  S.  Lane,  Hon.  David  Turpie,  and  Hon.  D.  W. 
Voorhees  could  not  be  omitted  from  the  catalogue  of  In- 
diana orators.  Associated  with  the  war  period  is  the  great 
name  of  Governor  Oliver  P.  Morton,  a  very  forcible 
speaker;  and  of  the  no  less  famous  Democratic  leader, 
Hon.  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  (born  1819,  died  1885),  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States.  The. Hon.  Schuyler  Col- 
fax won  a  reputation  for  eloquent  speech,  not  only  on  the 
political  rostrum,  but  also  on  the  lecture  platform. 

Illinois  furnishes  an  array  of  illustrious  politicians  and 
lawyers,  many  of  whom  are  celebrated  for  oratorical  ability. 
The  intensely  exciting  political  discussions  wIi'k-Ii  pre- 
ceclcd  the  civil  war  brought  into  conspicuous  luoiniiionce 
two  j)owi'rful  debaters  whose  ''stuni])"  j^poeches  weiv  }»ub- 
lished  in  pamphlet  form  and  distiibutid  all  over  the 
United  States.  The  \\  (.i.l  ( ..mhais  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
versus  Abraham  Lin<  <»lii  w.mc  <lianiatic  encounters,  tour- 
naments of  argument,  i  nil  ^t-  ..f  wit.  Douglas,  the  "Little 
Giant,"  was  a  Ht:i!.  Hmm  w.ithy  of  the  steel  of  "Old  Abe 
the  Rail  Splitter."     But  the  latter  was  tlic  born  orntor. 

The  descriptions  of  Lincoln's  oratory  by  thotie  whu  ac- 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  249 

tually  heard  it  usually  dwell  upon  the  effect  rather  than 
the  style  of  the  speaker's  eloquence.  Gaunt,  ungainly, 
and  peculiar,  as  were  Lincoln's  form  and  features,  odd  and 
awkward  as  were  his  gestures,  we  are  told  that  audiences 
listening  to  his  w^ords  thought  but  little  of  his  personal 
appearance  or  manner,  but  were  interested  to  absorption 
by  his  ideas.  He  always  had  something  important  and 
forcible  to  say,  and  said  it  directly  and  simply.  His  elo- 
quence was  in  the  substance,  not  the  sound.  And  yet  the 
form  of  his  utterance  was  nearly  perfect.  The  Gettysburg 
oration  and  the  famous  inaugurals  were  "  born  great." 
They  are  literature.  They  may  be  printed  side  by  side 
with  the  choicest  passages  of  Webster  or  Burke,  and  not 
suffer  in  the  comparison. 

The  Lecture  Platform. 

In  this  and  the  preceding  chapter,  the  subject  of  pulpit 
eloquence  and  political  oratory  has  been  treated  very  dis- 
cursively, but,  perhaps,  with  sufficient  method  to  show  how 
large  a  part  popular  speaking  played  in  forming  and  con- 
trolling opinion  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  western  institutions.  It  remains  to  add  a  few 
sentences  about  another  species  of  oral  literature — the 
general  lecture. 

With  the  establishment  of  colleges,  and  schools  of  law 
and  medicine,  came,  necessarily,  courses  of  didactic  lec- 
tures. In  the  several  departments  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, Lexington,  Kentucky,  such  men  as  Holley,  Bledsoe, 
Caldwell,  Drake,  made  their  teaching  attractive  by  em- 
ploying the  arts  of  line  delivery.  Henry  Clay  himself 
was  at  one  time  a  professor  of  law  in  Lexington. 

When  the  Western  Museum  was  organized  in  Cincin- 
nati, just  after  the  War  of  1812,  a  chief  attraction  offered 
by  its  trustees  to  the  public  was  a  course  of  scientific  lec- 
tures. Mons.  Dorfeuille,  the  manager  of  the  museum, 
gave  many  lectures  on  birds,  minerals,  and  other  objects 
illustrative  of  natural  history.  Prof.  T.  J.  Matthews  de- 
livered an  address  before  the  museum  society,  confuting 
Captain  Symmes's  theory  of  Concentric  Spheres. 


250  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

In  the  autumn  of  1828  Dr.  John  Locke,  an  'eminent 
teacher,  gave  in  Cincinnati  a  course  of  lectures  on  natural 
philosophy.  By  request  he  gave  also  a  discourse  on  the 
utility  of  mechanics'  institutes,  which  led  to  the  incor- 
poration of  the  Ohio  Mechanics'  Institute,  February  9, 
1829.  In  the  Winter  of  1833-4,  Calvin  E.  Stowe  lectured 
before  the  Mechanics'  Institute  on  the  "  History  of  Letters," 
and  Judge  James  Hall  gave  an  address  on  the  "  Import- 
ance of  Forming  a  First  Class  Library  in  Cincinnati." 

The  Young  Men's  Mercantile  Library  Association  was 
e^ganized  in  1835,  and,  like  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  it 
employed  the  popular  lecture  as  a  means  of  interesting 
the  public  in  matters  of  polite  culture.  Under  the  aus- 
pices of  this  body,  many  of  the  most  able  public  lecturers 
of  the  country  appeared  before  Cincinnati  audiences. 
Among  the  more  distinguished  of  these  were  Robert  Dale 
Owen,  Horace  Greeley,  Alexander  Campbell,  Cassius  M. 
Clay,  Eev.  Henry  Giles,  Prof.  0.  M.  Mitchel,  Park  Benja- 
min, Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Otway  Curry,  John  G.  Saxe, 
E.  H.  Chapin,  E.  P.  Whipple,  Orville  Dewey,  Thomas 
Starr  King,  George  W.  Curtis,  Park  Godwin,  Bayard 
Taylor,  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  H.  W.  Bellows,  0.  W.  Holmes, 
George  P.  Marsh,  and  Wendell  Phillips.  In  1857,  Ed- 
ward Everett  delivered,  his  celebrated  oration  on  Wash- 
ington, before  the  association,  free  of  charge. 

When,  on  November  9,  1843,  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Cincinnati  Observatory  was  laid,  an  oration  on  astronomy 
.jvas  delivered  by  John  Quincy  Adams — the  last  speech 
of  importance  made  by  the  "  old  man  eloquent."  Many 
brilliant  lectures  were  given  in  the  West,  by  0.  M.  Mitchel, 
on  astronomy  and  other  scientific  themes.  Another  very 
distinguished  lecturer  on  physical  and  chemical  science 
was  Prof.  Daniel  Vaughan,  the  "  peripatetic  "  philosopher 
of  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  Herald  of  Truth,  for  February,  1848,  has  the  fol- 
lowing  editorial  item  : 

"  There  is  at  this  time  an  unusual  degree  of  intellectual 
activity  in  Cincinnati.  The  Young  Men's  Mercantile  Li- 
brary Association  have  a  course  of  very  able  lectures  iu 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators,  251 

progress  which  are  attended  by  a  large  portion  of  the  first 
minds  in  the  city.  Then  there  is  a  course  of  lectures  on 
early  American  eloquence,  by  Rev.  E.  L.  Magoon ;  on  con- 
stitutional history,  By  William  Green,  Esq.;  and  on  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  American  citizen,  by 
Eev.  C.  B.  Boynton :  which  aftbrd  a  rich  treat  to  the  in- 
tellectual and  moralman.  Then  we  have  a  debate  on 
phrenology  and  philosophy,  by  and  between  Dr.  IN".  L. 
Rice  and  Prof.  J.  R.  Buchanan,  which  call  out  large 
crowds  to  hear  great  principles  discussed,  such  as — 
whether  phrenology  teaches  a  system  of  fatalism,  and 
whether  philosophy  and  Christianity  are  consistent  with 
each  other.  Then  we  have  recently  had  a  course  of  lec- 
tures by  F.  W.  Thomas,  author  of  the  popular  novel, 
"  Clinton  Bradshaw,"  on  those  illuminated  Methodist  seers, 
Wesley,  Whitfield,  and  Somerfield,  which  attracted  so 
much  attention  as  to  induce  a  request  for  their  repetition. 
These  are  only  some  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  sub- 
stantial mental  doings  of  the  city  at  present.  There  is 
nothing  so  important  as  keeping  up  a  high  mental  ac- 
tivity, so  that  the  great  cause  of  truth  may  be  advanced, 
goodness  increased,  and  happiness  promoted.  This  is,  in- 
deed, the  only  true  mode  of  procuring  reform — get  the 
mind  right,  and  human  institutions  will  become  what  they 
should  be." 

Early  in  the  fifties,  Horace  Mann  came  to  Ohio  as  presi- 
ident  of  Antioch  College ;  and,  great  apostle  of  education 
and  culture  that  he  was,  he  spoke  in  many  cities  and  towns, 
to  crowded  audiences,  on  the  great  moral  and  intellectual 
questions,  not  of  the  hour,  but  of  all  time.  His  most  cele- 
brated discourse,  *'  To  Young  Men,"  took  strong  hold  on 
the  memory  and  the  conduct  of  its  numberless  hearers 
and  readers. 

The  Genius  of  the  West,  for  November,  1854,  contains 
the  following : 

"We  are  informed  that  nearly  every  town  in  the  West 
will  this  winter  have  one  or  more  courses  of  lectures. 
That  committees  may  have  an  ample  list  to  select  from, 


252  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

we  quote  from  the  New  York  Tribune  the  list  of  eastern 
lecturers : 

"  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Concord,  Mass.;  Rev.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  Brooklyn,  L.  I.;  Rev.  Edwin  H.  Chapin, 
New  York  city ;  Rev.  H.  Giles,  Rockport,  Me.;  John  G. 
Saxe,  Burlington,  Vt.;  Bayard  Taylor,  New  York  city; 
Edwin  P.  Whipple,  Boston,  Mass.;  Park  Benjamin,  Guil- 
ford, Ct.;  Wendell  Phillips,  Boston,  Mass.;  Geo.  W.  Cur- 
tis.  New  York  city ;  Rev.  T.  Starr  King,  Boston,  Mass.; 
William  Elder,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Parke  Godwin,  New 
York  city;  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  Medford,  Mass.;  Rt.  Rev. 
Alonzo  Potter,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr., 
Boston,  Mass.;  Rev.  Jose^jh  P.  Thompson,  New  York 
city;  William  H.  C.  Hosmer,  Avon,  N.  Y.;  Henry  D. 
Thoreau,  Concord,  Mass." 

Now,  from  the  Sandusky  Register,  we  quote  a  list  of 
western  lecturers : 

"Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  Louisville;  Hon.  Bellamy  Storer, 
Cincinnati ;  Judge  E.  Lane,  Sandusky ;  Prof.  Lorin  An- 
drews, Gambier;  Rev.  A.  A.  Livermore,  Cincinnati; 
Horace  Mann,  Yellow  Springs,  O.;  Cassius  M.  Clay,  Ky.; 
S.  D.  Harris,  Columbus;  Prof.  Asa  D.  Lord,  Columbus; 
D.  W.  Clark,  D.D.,  Cincinnati ;  Coates  Kinney,  Cincin- 
nati ;  James  W.  Taylor,  State  Librarian,  Columbus ;  Prof. 
O.  M.  Mitchel,  Cincinnati ;  General  S.  F.  Cary,  College 
Hill;  Jas.  A.  Briggs,  Cleveland;  Wm.  T.  Coggeshall,  Cin- 
cinnati ;  Prof.  St.  John,  Hudson ;  Prof.  Kirtland,  Cleve- 
land ;  Rev.  J.  W.  McClung,  Indianapolis ;  S.  S.  Cox,  Esq., 
Columbus ;  Prof.  Hamilton  Smith,  Cleveland ;  L.  A.  Hine, 
Loveland,  0.;  H.  Clay  Pate,  Cincinnati. 

"According  to  the  Tribune,  prices  for  the  eastern  list 
must  be  ^quoted'  at  from  $40  to  $75  for  a  single  lecture; 
and,  according  to  the  Register,  *  quotations '  for  the  west- 
ern list  will  range  from  $15  to  $25.  In  the  two  lists  there 
are  *  scope  and  verge'  for  the  gratification  of  every  taste 
as  well  as  for  the  capacity  of  every  purse." 

In  October,  1855,  the  Genius  published  another  list  of 
western  lecturers,  containing  the  names  of  Dr.  Edward 
Thompson,  Delaware,  0.;   Dr.  I.  J.  Allen,    College  Hill, 


Political  Oratory  and  Orators.  253 

0.;  Samuel  Galloway,  Columbus,  0.;  James  A.  Briggs, 
Cleveland,  0.;  Rev.  Sidney  Dyer,  Indianapolis ;  Rev.  S.  W. 
Fisher,  Cincinnati ;  Prof.  Thoms,  Cleveland ;  J.  H.  Baker, 
Chillicotlie,  0.;  Prof.  Jos.  R.  Buchanan,  Cincinnati ;  W.  H. 
Gibson,  Tiffin,  0.;  John  C.  Zachos,  Yellow  Springs,  0.; 
Prof.  C.  B.  Jocelyn,  Centerville,  Ind.;  D.  Carlyle  MacCloy, 
Piqua,  0.;  0.  J.  Victor,  Sandusky,  0.;  C.  N.  Olds,  Circle 
ville,  0.;  Rev.  D.  W.  Clark,  Cincinnati ;  Donald  MacLeod, 
Cincinnati ;  Alphonso  Wood,  College  Hill,  0. 


254  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER  VIII/ 

PLANTING    OF    LITERARY    INSTITUTIONS    AT    VINCENNES, 
INDIANA— LIBRARIES,  SCHOOLS,  AND  THE  PRESS. 

The  beginning  of  literary  culture  at  Vincennes,  and,  I 
may  say,  in  the  Indiana  Territory,  dates  from  the  organ- 
ization of  the  territory  in  the  year  1800.  Before  that, 
very  little,  if  any  thing,  was  done  in  the  way  of  encour- 
aging literature.  The  inhabitants  of  this  place  were  a 
mixture  of  Canadian  settlers  and  Creoles,  resulting  from 
the  intermarriage  of  the  Canadian  French  with  the  native 
Indian  races.  The  Canadian  settlers  were  generally  well 
educated,  but  devoted  all  their  time  and  attention  to  trad- 
ing and  making  money.  Some  of  these  Canadian  traders 
and  the  French  commandants  of  the  "  Old  Post"  have  left 
behind  them  writings  and  documents  which  fully  attest 
that  they  were  men  of  culture.  Such  were  Francois 
Morgan  de  Vincenne,  who  built  the  first  fort  here  in  the 
year  1702,  St.  Ange  Paul  Gamelin,  and  many  others  I 
could  mention.  But  they  did  nothing  toward  laying  the 
foundation  of  any  institution  or  organization  designed  to 
spread  knowledge  among  the  people. 

The  Catholic  priests  who  resided  here  and  ministered 
from  about  the  year  1709  until  the  present  time,  as  pastors 
of  St.  Francis  Xavier  church,  were  all  learned  and  edu- 
cated men,  and  did  all  they  could  to  educate  the  youth  of 
the  place.  But  their  efforts  were  poorly  seconded  by  the 
people.  Benedict  I.  Flaget,  who  was  the  pastor  here  in 
1792,  and  who  afterward  became  widely  known  as  bishop 
of  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  who 
moved  in  this  direction  with  success,  by  establishing  here 

'  For  this  chapter  I  am  indebted  to  Henry  S.  Cautborn,  Esq.,  of  Vin- 
cennes, Indiana. — W.  H.  V. 


Literary  Institutions  at  Vincennes,  255 

schools  free  for  both  boys  and  girls,  without  respect  to  re- 
ligious belief,  and  which  schools  so  inaugurated  by  him  in 
1835  have  been  continued  by  the  Catholic  Church  here 
ever  since  ;  and  these  parochial  free  schools  are  now  in  a 
flourishing  condition,  having  all  modern  facilities  for  edu- 
cational purposes,  and  rivaling  the  public  schools  in  rank, 
attendance,  and  in  every  way.  These  free  schools  so  es- 
tablished by  Bishop  Brute,  and  successfully  continued  by 
his  successors,  were  the  only  ones  available  to  the  public 
until  the  present  public  system  was  inaugurated  under  the 
present  constitution  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  about  the 
year  1854. 

Bishop  Brute  was  a  pious  and  saintly  man,  and  devoted 
his  entire  life  to  benefit  and  ameliorate  the  condition  of 
his  fellow-men.  After  establishing  the  free  schools  above 
referred  to,  he  was  preparing  to  found  in  this  place  a  free 
industrial  school  for  the  education  of  the  young  men  of 
the  place  in  the  useful  arts  and  trades.  This  was  cer- 
tainly a  novel  undertaking,  and  the  first  attempt,  at  least 
in  the  ^orth-west  Territory,  to  establish  such  a  school. 
He  had  about  completed  his  arrangements  for  the  founda- 
tion of  this  school,  when  his  useful  career  was  terminated 
by  his  death  in  the  year  1839.  His  successor  did  not  pros- 
ecute the  work  and  carry  out  his  intentions  in  this  matter, 
and,  consequently,  such  a  useful  school  was  never  actually 
established. 

Bishop  Brute  was  a  learned  man  and  also  a  hard  student. 
The  Catholic  Church  here,  when  he  came  as  bishop,  pos- 
sessed the  foundation  of  a  library,  containing  many  valu- 
able manuscripts  and  old  church  records  in  several  diflfer- 
ent  languages,  throwing  much  light  on  the  early  history 
of  Vincennes.  The  valuable  records  and  writings  in  the 
church  library  were  neglected  and  never  examined  by 
any  one,  so  far  as  the  public  knows,  until  he  came  here. 
He  diligently  examined  and  studied  these  manuscripts 
and  old  church  records,  and  commenced  the  publication  of 
a  series  of  articles  in  the  Western  Sun  newspaper  on  the 
early  history  of  the  church  and  town,  which  he  continued 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  on  June  26,  1839.     These 


256  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

communications  of  Bishop  Brute  are  the  source  from 
which  Judge  Law  derived  much  of  the  matter  contained 
in  a  celebrated  address  on  Vincennes,  and  they  threw  a 
flood  of  light  on  all  matters  connected  with  the  early  his- 
tory of  Vincennes.  It  was  from  these  articles  of  Bishop 
Brute,  published  in  the  Western  Sun  during  the  years 
1838  and  1839,  .that  the  citizens  of  Vincennes  were  first 
advised  how  the  town  itself  acquired  its  name. 

The  library  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  church  above  spoken 
of  is,  without  doubt,  the  oldest  foundation  in  the  entire 
North-west.  Its  foundation  commenced  with  that  of  the 
church  itself,  as  the  church  records  constitute  a  valuable 
part  of  it.  The  church  was  founded  about  the  same  time 
the  fort  was  built,  in  the  year  1702.  It  is  recorded  in  the 
Quebec  Annals  that  a  Jesuit  father,  as  a  preliminary  step 
in  the  matter  of  building  the  fort,  first  offered  up  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  the  mass  before  the  oflicers  and  soldiers  who 
came  to  build  the  fort  and  many  thousands  of  assembled 
savages.  This  was  in  accordance  with  French  usage  on 
commencing  any  important  work  or  undertaking. 

The  records  of  the  church,  as  preserved  in  the  library,  go 
back  only  to  the  year  1749.  The  book  in  which  they  are 
recorded  is  without  cover  or  title-page,  and  bears  evident 
marks  of  mutilation,  and  that  something  preceding  has 
been  torn  off.  The  first  entry  in  the  record,  as  it  appears 
at  present,  is  the  marriage,  on  June  21,  1749,  of  Julian 
Trattier,  of  Montreal,  Canada,  with  Josette  Marie,  a  Creole 
half-breed.  The  second  entry  is  the  baptism  of  an  Indian 
child,  named  John  Baptiste  Siapichagane,  on  the  25th 
June,  1749.  Both  of  these  entries  in  the  record  are  in 
beautiful  handwriting  in  the  Latin  language,  as  all  the 
church  records  are,  and  signed  by  Sebastian  Louis  Meurin, 
a  Jesuit  missionary,  who  was  pastor  of  the  church  here  at 
that  time.  These  church  records  are  the  foundation  or 
corner-stone  of  the  church  library,  which  therefore  dates, 
beyond  question,  to  June  21,  1749,  and  therefore  it  out- 
ranks, in  the  matter  of  antiquity,  any  similar  institution 
in  the  North-west.  This  library  has  from  time  to  time 
been  enlarged  and  enriched  by  additions  secured  through 


Literary  Institutions  at  Vincennes.  257 

the  four  deceased  bishops,  who  all  resided  here,  and  died 
and  were  buried  here.  It  was  also  added  to  by  donations 
from  the  many  learned  pastors  who  have  been  stationed 
here,  and  from  many  other  sources,  until  at  present  it  con- 
tains as  many  as  ten  thousand  rare  and  valuable  volumes 
in  four  or  five  different  languages,  and  many  of  them  in 
manuscript  form  and  found  nowhere  else.  The  library 
has  a  large  and  substantial  brick  building  erected  especially 
for  its  use.  The  bishops  of  the  diocese  who  resided  and 
died  here  were  all  natives  of  France,  and  some  of  them 
were  descended  from  rich,  influential,  and  noble  families, 
and  particularly  Bishop  De  La  Hailaudiere  and  Bishop  De 
St.  Palais.  They  all  made  many  trips  to  France  to  collect 
funds,  and  otherwise  to  aid  the  diocese  over  which  they 
presided ;  and  on  account  of  the  influence  and  standing 
of  their  families  in  France,  as  well  as  on  account  of  their 
own  merit  and  influence,  they  were  able  to  secure  many  of 
the  rare  and  valuable  books  now  found  in  the  church 
library. 

But,  notwithstanding  what  I  have  said,  it  may  be  taken 
as  undoubtedly  true  that  the  great  mass  of  the  population 
here  before  the  organization  of  the  territorial  government, 
and  for  many  years  afterward,  were  illiterate,  not  being 
able  either  to  read  or  write. 

On  the  7th  day  of  May,  1800,  Indiana  Territory  was 
created  by  act  of  Congress,  and  William  Henry  Harrison 
was  appointed  the  first  territorial  governor,  and  the  capi- 
tal of  the  territory  was  fixed  at  Yincennes.  The  place 
where  the  capital  was  thus  located  was  well  known  already 
throughout  the  country,  and  ranked  as  the  most  important 
place  in  the  territory,  which,  at  the  time,  embraced  the 
entire  North-west  Territory  outside  of  Ohio.  The  settle- 
ment of  Vineennes  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  fall  of 
the  year  1702.  It  had  been  visited  often  prior  to  that 
date  by  fur-traders  and  Jesuit  missionaries;  but,  in  the 
fall  of  1702,  Francois  Morgan  De  Yincenne  came  here 
from  Detroit  with  French  troops,  and  built  the  first  fort 
here.  This  was  one  of  that  chain  of  forts  by  which  the 
17 


258  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

French  government  designed  to  connect  their  Canadian 
possessions  on  the  north  with  their  southern  possessions 
on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  was  that  historic  fort  which 
was  afterward  known  as  Fort  Sackville,  and  which  was, 
on  February  24,  1779,  taken,  with  Virginia  troops,  by 
George  Rogers  Clark,  from  the  English  under  Hamilton, 
and  which  capture  is  one  of  the  important  events  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  North-west  Territory.  About  the  same  time 
the  fort  was  built,  Saint  Francis  Xavier  Church  was 
founded  here  by  Jesuit  missionaries,  and  it  has  continued 
in  an  almost  unbroken  succession  to  the  present  day.  The 
records  of  this  church,  still  preserved,  go  back  in  a  con- 
nected series,  as  I  have  stated,  to  the  year  1749.  The 
records  prior  to  that  date  have  been  destroyed,  and,  in  all 
probability,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  the  resident 
pastor  of  the  church  in  1734,  who  was  Father  Senat.  In 
1734  he  accompanied  De  Yincenne  on  the  unfortunate  ex- 
pedition against  the  Chickasaw  Indians,  as  the  spiritual 
adviser  of  the  troops.  The  French  met  with  a  severe  re- 
pulse in  an  engagement  with  the  Indians,  and  the  troops 
were  almost  all  killed,  and  both  Father  Senat  and  De  Yin- 
cenne were  captured  by  the  victorious  Indians,  and,  after 
being  cruelly  tortured,  were  put  to  death  in  the  most  in- 
human manner. 

The  population  of  Yincennes  at  the  time  the  territorial 
government  was  organized  was  composed  almost  exclu- 
sively of  Canadian  French  settlers  and  half-breed  Creoles. 
But  the  organization  of  the  territorial  government  and 
the  location  of  the  capital  here  greatly  added  to  the  ad- 
vancement and  prosperity  of  the  town,  and  its  population 
rapidly  increased.  Aspiring  and  ambitious  men  came 
quickly  in  great  numbers  from  all  the  old  states,  but  more 
especially  from  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Yirginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Kentucky. 

Governor  Harrison,  soon  after  his  appointment,  came 
to  this  place  with  his  family  and  located  here,  and  erected 
what  may  be  called,  considering  the  date,  a  princely  man- 
sion. It  is  still  standing,  in  a  good  state  of  preservation, 
as  one  of  the  few  remaining  monuments   of  territorial 


Literary  Institutions  at  Vincennes.  259 

days,  and  is  one  of  the  most  convenient  and  substantial 
brick  residences  of  Vincennes. 

With  the  advent  of  the  governor  and  the  sessions  of  the 
territorial  legislature  and  the  sessions  of  the  territorial 
courts,  some  of  the  men  who  afterward  acquired  fame  and 
distinction  as  jurists,  legislators,  and  educators  in  the 
ITorth-west  came  and  located  here,  and  here  began  their 
brilliant  career.  Among  these  I  mention  Alexander 
Buckner,  afterward  United  States  senator  from  Missouri ; 
Thomas  Randolph,  the  United  States  district  attorney  for 
the  territory ;  Zachary  Taylor,  afterward  President  of  the 
United  States,  whose  daughter,  who  afterward  became 
the  wife  of  Jefferson  Davis,  was  born  here ;  Thomas  F. 
Richardson,  of  the  United  States  army,  who  was  killed 
October  13,  1813,  by  Irvin  Wallace  in  a  duel;  Walter 
Taylor,  one  of  the  first  United  States  senators  from  Indi- 
ana; Benjamin  Parke,  afterward  delegate  in  Congress 
and  judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court ;  Judge 
Johnson,  Edward  A.  Hannegan,  who  married  here,  John 
Law,  John  Ewing,  Moses  Tabbs,  a  near  relative  of  Charles 
Carroll,  of  Carrolton,  Judge  Blackford,  George  R.  C.  Sul- 
livan, Thomas  Posey,  Jonathan  Doty,  John  Gibson,  Will- 
iam Prince,  John  Rice  Jones,  and  many  others  whose 
names  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  settlement  and 
civilization  of  the  great  states  that  have  since  been  carved 
oat  of  what  at  first  constituted  the  Indiana  Territory. 

In  1804  Elihu  Stout  came  here  from  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, and  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Western 
Sun  newspaper.  This  was  the  first  newspaper  printed  in 
the  Indiana  Territory,  and  its  publication  has  been  contin- 
ued, with  only  slight  interruptions,  to  the  present  time, 
and  it  is  now  one  of  the  most  influential  newspapers  in 
this  section.  Its  establishment  was  attended  with  great 
difficulty.  The  material  for  the  paper  was  transported 
from  Louisville,  Kentucky,  down  the  Ohio  river  and  up 
the  Wabash,  in  what  were  then  called  "  piroques."  For 
many  years  after,  the  supplies  for  the  paper  were  brought 
here  on  pack  horses  over  the  old  buffalo  trace.  The  first 
issue  of  the  paper  appeared  on  the  fourth  day  of  July, 


260  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

1804.  Mr.  Stout  was  elected  territorial  printer,  and  was 
continued  in  that  position  as  long  as  the  capital  remained 
here  and  for  some  years  after.  He  published  all  the  acts 
of  the  territorial  legislature  and  the  official  documents 
of  the  territorial  government,  and,  in  book  form,  two 
compilations  of  all  the  territorial  laws.  All  these  publica- 
tions are  in  existence  at  the  present  time.  A  file  of  each 
number  of  the  paper  was  carefully  preserved,  and  each 
volume,  containing  the  issues  of  a  year,  substantially 
bound.  These  files  of  the  paper  which  have  been  pre- 
served date  from  1806  to  1845,  when  Mr.  Stout  sold  the 
establishment,  on  being  appointed  postmaster  here.  Mr. 
Stout  was  my  grandfather,  and  from  him  I  have  in  my 
possession  the  files  of  the  paper.  The  issues  from  1804  to 
1806  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  latter  year.  The  old 
files  of  this  paper  contain  a  vast  fund  of  historic  matter, 
throwing  light  upon  public  questions  during  territorial 
days.  They  also  contain,  in  every  number,  able  com- 
munications, written  by  some  of  the  eminent  men  who 
lived  here  at  that  time,  upon  all  subjects  of  public  interest. 
It  was  the  only  medium  through  which  they  could  reach 
the  public.  Its  columns  were  free  and  open  to  all,  and 
discussions  "pro  and  con  of  all  questions  were  permitted 
and  can  be  found  in  its  columns.  At  that  time  Yincennes 
may  be  said  to  have  concentrated  in  its  population  all  the 
literary  culture  and  talent  of  the  Indiana  Territory. 

As  early  as  1806,  the  talented  and  aspiring  young  men 
who  had  settled  here  established  what  they  called  a 
"  Thespian  Society,"  and  gave  entertainments  as  often  as 
once  a  week  and  sometimes  oftener.  These  histrionic  ex- 
hibitions were  liberally  patronized  by  the  citizens  and 
were  well  attended,  and  were  very  entertaining,  instruct- 
ive, and  successful.  The  society  continued  to  exist  and 
flourish  until  several  years  after  the  admission  of  the  state 
into  the  Union,  and  with  a  waning  existence  until  as  late 
as  1880.  All  the  younger  members  of  the  bar,  the  sur- 
geons and  officers  of  the  army,  the  medical  profession,  and 
many  of  the  merchants  and  those  engaged  in  the  trades 
took  part  in  these  literary  performances.    A  programme 


Literary  Institutions  at  Vincennes.  261 

of  the  play  and  the  cast  of  characters  was  printed  by  the 
editor  of  the  Sun,  who  also  took  part  in  the  performances. 
I  have  files  of  many  of  these  printed  programmes. 

In  1804  congress  passed  an  act  setting  aside  an  entire 
township  of  land,  for  a  seminary  of  learning  in  the  In- 
diana Territory.  The  many  able  men  who  then  made 
Vincennes  their  home,  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage 
of  this  liberal  grant  on  the  part  of  congress.  In  1806 
they  procured  an  act  to  be  passed  by  the  territorial  legis- 
lature, locating  the  proposed  institution  here,  under  the 
name  and  style  of  the  "  Vincennes  University."  A  portion 
of  the  land  in  the  township  donated  by  congress  was  sold, 
and  with  the  proceeds  a  large  and  commodious  brick 
edifice  Avas  erected  for  the  university.  The  territorial  act 
named  the  board  of  trustees  to  manage  and  control 
the  university,  and  constituted  them  a  corporation  with 
perpetual  succession,  and  also  gave  them  the  power  to  fill 
any  vacancy  that  might  occur  in  the  board  from  any 
cause.  This  board  organized  by  electing  Governor  Har- 
rison president,  and  the  institution  at  once  started  on  its 
career  of  usefulness  with  the  brighest  prospects.  All 
branches  of  education,  including  a  classical  course,  were 
taught.  This  institution  is  now  in  a  flourishing  condi- 
tion, and  every  year  is  sending  out  graduates,  thoroughly 
educated,  and  fully  prepared  to  enter  on  the  battle  of  life. 
It  ranks  with  any  similar  institution  in  the  West,  but  it 
has  not  had  a  prosperous  and  continued  existence.  It 
was  hampered  and  suspended  in  its  work  in  consequence 
of  the  state  legislature  attempting  to  change  its  location 
to  Bloomington,  and  to  divert  the  endowment  of  land  do- 
nated by  congress  for  its  maintainance  and  support.  But 
after  a  long  and  expensive  litigation  with  varying  results, 
in  both  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana,  and  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  the  Vincennes  University  finally 
triumphed,  and  started  anew  on  its  career,  and  will  not,  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  be  again  'interfered  with.  It  is  worthy  of 
note,  that  in  this  litigation  the  state  courts,  in  all  their 
decisions,  were  adverse  to  the  Vincennes  University,  and 


262  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

its  ultimate  success  was  obtained  through  the  decisions 
of  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

In  consequence  of  the  immense  advantages  accruing  to 
Vincennes  as  the  capital  of  the  territory,  and  the  seat  of 
the  territorial  courts,  a  large  number  of  able  lawyers  from 
all  the  old  states  came  to  this  place,  and,  by  the  time  the' 
territorial  capital  was  removed  to  Corydon,  in  1812,  Vin- 
cennes possessed  the  most  gifted,  eloquent,  and  able  bar  in 
the  West.  Among  the  many  distinguished  lawyers  who 
settled  and  practiced  here,  I  name  the  following  :  General 
W.  Johnson,  afterward  circuit  judge  ;  John  Johnson,  one 
of  the  first  judges  of  thp  Supreme  Court;  Isaac  Blackford, 
also  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  obtained  dis- 
tinction by  his  many  and  able  decisions  on  the  bench, 
but  still  more  and  lasting  fame,  as  the  author  of  the 
eight  volumes  of  the  decisions  of  that  court  that  bear 
his  name ;  Thomas  Randolph,  a  member  of  the  distin- 
guished Virginia  family  of  that  name;  Jacob  Call,  after- 
ward a  member  of  congress,  and  judge  of  the  Circuit 
Court  when  he  died ;  David  Hart ;  Samuel  Judah,  at  one 
time  United  States  District  Attorney  ;  Charles  Dewey ; 
William  Prince ;  John  Rice  Jones  ;  Henry  Vanderburgh  ; 
Benjamin  Parke ;  James  Blake ;  George  R.  C.  Sullivan ; 
John  Law,  and  Alexander  Buckner.  They  organized 
and  maintained,  until  a  period  as  late  as  1830,  a  bar 
association.  Many  of  these  continued  to  reside  here 
until  their  death  ;  but  many  left  Vincennes  after  starting 
on  their  career,  and  sought  other  homes  in  the  North- 
west, and  acquired  fame  and  distinction  as  statesmen  or 
jurists. 

In  1808,  the  citizens  of  this  place,  realizing  its  historic 
importance,  and  desirous  of  preserving  and  perpetuating 
a  lasting  record  of  it,  organized  a  society  which  they 
named  the  "  Vincennes  Historical  and  Antiquarian  So- 
ciety." This  society  numbered  among  its  members  all 
the  able  and  cultured  residents  of  the  place.  Great  inter- 
est was  taken  in  this  organization  for  many  years,  and  its 
work  was  prosperous.  Regular  meetings  were  held,  and 
occasionally  lectures  upon  historic  subjects  connected  with 


Literary  Institutions  at  Vincennes.  263 

the  early  settlement  of  the  place  and  the  entire  !N'orth- 
west  were  delivered  under  the  auspices  of  this  society.  It 
was  on  such  an  occasion,  on  February  22, 1839,  that  Judge 
Law  delivered  his  celebrated  address  on  the  Antiquity  and 
Early  Settlement  of  Yincennes.  John  Ewing  and  many 
others  also  delivered  addresses  before  this  society.  All 
these  addresses  were  published  at  the  time  in  the  Western 
Sun  newspaper,  but  were  never  compiled  and  published 
in  book  form.  This  society  created  a  cabinet  of  all  kinds 
of  historic  relics,  and  during  its  active  and  healthy  exist- 
ence had  accumulated  quite  a  numerous  collection.  These 
relics  of  historic  value  were  kept  in  a  room  in  the  old 
"  Town  Hall,"  for  many  years  after  the  society  practically 
ceased  to  exist.  But,  upon  the  organization  of  the  pres- 
ent city  government  in  1856,  when  this  room  was  needed 
for  municipal  purposes,  these  valuable  and  interesting  cu- 
riosities were  rudely  and  carelessly  thrown  into  an  old 
garret.  Among  the  many  valuable  historic  treasures  of 
this  society  which  were  thus  carelessly  and  wantonly 
thrown  aside,  was  an  oil  painting  of  George  Rogers  Clark, 
painted  from  life.  It  had  been  presented  by  General 
Clark's  namesake,  George  Rogers  Clark  Sullivan,  who 
was  my  great-uncle  on  my  mother's  side.  This  historic 
and  valuable  painting  was  luckily  preserved  from  total 
destruction  by  one  of  our  old  citizens,  who  recognized  it 
and  knew  its  value,  and  the  same  is  now  deposited  in  the 
archives  of  the  Yincennes  University,  where  many  other 
relics  of  the  collection  of  this  society  are  preserved. 

In  the  year  1808,  the  "  Yincennes  Library"  was  founded, 
and  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  territorial  legislature. 
This  library  was  highly  favored  by  the  cultured  men  who 
then  resided  here,  and  they  all  liberally  contributed  to  it 
rare  and  valuable  works  upon  law,  philosophy,  medicine, 
history,  fiction,  and  general  literature.  With  these  con- 
tributions the  Yincennes  Library,  from  its  very  inception, 
possessed  a  valuable  catalogue  of  between  three  and  four 
thousand  volumes.  The  library  was  not  increased  as  to 
the  number  of  its  volumes  after  the  state  was  admitted  to 
the  Union.     It  was,  however,  a  very  prosperous  institu- 


264  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

from  its  foundation  for  many  years,  but  was  gradually 
permitted  to  expire  for  want  of  interest.  Symmes  Har- 
rison was,  for  a  number  of  years,  the  librarian,  and  he 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  library  as  long  as  he  resided 
here.  His  father  donated  to  it  many  volumes,  as  also  did 
David  Hart,  Moses  Tabbs,  John  Ewing,  Walter  Taylor, 
John  Rice  Jones,  Irvin  Wallace,  and  many  others.  It 
practically  went  out  of  existence  in  1860.  Many  of  the 
valuable  volumes  that  were  once  in  this  library  were  car- 
ried off  after  the  library  was  neglected,  and  can  not  be 
found.  The  volumes  that  remained  were  given  over  to 
the  care  and  keeping  of  the  Vincennes  University,  and 
are  being  cared  for  by  the  trustees  of  that  institution. 

In  this  connection  I  will  further  state  that,  in  1836,  the 
young  men  of  Vincennes  formed  a  library  association 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Youth's  Library  of  Vincennes." 
This  was  very  popular  for  many  years,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  volumes  of  standard  works  were  purchased.  But 
interest  in  it  waned,  and  it  passed  out  of  existence  in  a 
few  years. 

In  1850,  with  funds  derived  from  the  estate  of  McClure, 
a  wealthy  citizen  of  Posey  county,  Indiana,  who  by  his 
last  will  left  a  large  sum  of  money  to  found  libraries  in 
every  county  in  Indiana  for  the  exclusive  use  of  working- 
men,  the  workingmen  of  Vincennes  established  a  library 
association  under  the  name  of  the  "McClure  Working- 
men's  Library."  A  large  number  of  valuable  books  was 
purchased,  but  the  library  never  amounted  to  any  thing 
as  a  beneficial  institution.  It  lingered  along  in  a  sickly 
and  waning  condition,  but  the  workingmen,  who  alone 
were  entitled  to  the  use  of  its  books,  never  could  be  in- 
duced to  take  an  abiding  interest  in  it,  and  it  soon  met 
the  fate  of  several  predecessors. 

In  1852,  the  state  legislature  passed  an  act  appropriating 
money  to  found  a  library  in  each  civil  township  in  In- 
diana. A  large  sum  was  spent  in  the  purchase  of  books, 
w]ii(  li  wcTC  distributed  to  the  different  civil  townships  of  the 
state,  under  the  control  of  the  township  trustees.  But  they 
took  very  little  interest  in  the  township  library,  so  far  as 


Literary  Institutions  at  Vincennes.  265 

I  have  any  knowledge  upon  the  subject,  and  the  books 
very  soon  were  either  lost  or  destroyed.  This  attempt  to 
establish  libraries  throughout  the  state  resulted  in  signal 
failure ;  and  no  one  was  beneiited  by  the  attempt,  except, 
perhaps,  the  persons  who  sold  the  books,  and  they  only  to 
the  extent  of  the  profits  they  realized  from  their  sales. 

In  1809,  the  citizens  of  Vincennes  organized  the  first 
agricultural  society  ever  formed  in  the  West.  It  had  for 
its  object  the  stimulation  of  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
proposed  to  hold  fairs  and  award  premiums  for  the  best 
specimens  of  agricultural  products.  It  organized  by  elect- 
ing Symmes  Harrison  as  president,  and  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  1809  held  its  first  fair  and  distributed  premiums 
amounting  to  four  hundred  dollars.  It  continued  to  exist 
and  held  several  fairs  up  to  1817.  In  that  year  the  society 
called  a  public  meeting  to  take  measures  to  have  the  fair 
association  incorporated  by  an  act  of  legislature,  and  thus 
place  it  on  a  sure  and  firm  basis.  This  was  the  first  at- 
tempt that  I  know  of  being  made  in  the  West  to  have 
such  an  association  incoporated  by  law.  It  met  with  no 
success,  but  was  again  renewed  in  1835,  but  no  act  of 
incorporation  was  brought  about  until  1852,  when  the 
legislature  passed  the  general  law  incorporating  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture. 

In  1809,  Benjamin  Parke  formed  the  first  Bible  Society 
that  was  ever  organized  here,  or  perhaps  in  the  North- 
west. He  was  made  president  of  this  society,  which  was 
very  successful  as  long  as  he  was  connected  with  it.  But 
when  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the  District  Court  of  In- 
diana, he  removed  to  Salem,  Indiana,  and  the  society  was 
soon  neglected  and  ceased  to  exist  as  an  organization. 

The  United  States  troops,  who  were  stationed  here  from 
a  period  as  early  as  1790  to  a  date  as  late  as  1816,  were  the 
means  of  bringing  here  many  skillful  and  learned  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  connected  with  the  army.  Among 
those  thus  brought  here  were  Elias  MclS'amee,  Edward 
Skull,  who  killed  Parmenas  Becker,  then  sheriff*  of  the 
county,  in  a  duel,  in  October,  1813,  John  D.  Woolverton, 
afterward  receiver  of  public  moneys  here,  Jacob  Kuzken- 


266  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

dall,  and  many  others.  In  the  year  1807,  these  resident 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  Vincennes  organized  a  medical 
society.  This  was  the  first  medical  society  ever  formed 
in  the  Indiana  Territory.  It  continued  to  exist  and  was 
maintained  in  full  vigor  until  long  after  the  admission  of 
the  state  to  the  Union.  But,  like  so  many  other  worthy 
organizations  that  were  formed  here  in  territorial  days,  it 
gradually  ceased  to  be. 

In  1838,  St.  Gabriel  College  was  organized  here  by  the 
Eudists,  a  religious  order  of  the  Catholic  Church.  This 
college  started  on  its  career  under  very  favorable  auspices, 
and  acquired  a  large  and  compact  site  in  the  center  of 
Vincennes,  composed  of  four  of  the  squares  of  the  town. 
It  possessed  a  large  and  commodious  brick  building,  suit- 
able for  education  able  purposes,  which  had  been  con- 
structed and  used  by  the  Vincennes  University  before  the 
litigation  with  the  state  suspended  its  operations.  The 
attendance  of  students  was  large  from  the  start,  not  only 
from  Indiana,  but  from  many  states  in  the  South  and 
West.  All  branches  of  education  usually  taught  in  first- 
class  institutions  were  taught  in  this  college,  and  the 
training  was  thorough  and  excellent,  as  is  always  the  case 
with  institutions  of  learning  conducted  by  such  men  as 
were  employed  in  this  college.  It  was  a  very  successful 
institution  as  long  as  it  was  maintained,  but  it  was  aban- 
doned in  the  year  1845,  owing  to  unfortunate  difl:erences 
that  sprung  up  between  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  and  the 
Endists  who  founded  it. 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  267 


CHAPTER    IX. 

PIONEER  POETS  AND  STORY-WRITERS. 

"  For  who  shall  stay 
The  first  blind  motions  of  the  May  ? 
Who  shall  out-blot  the  morning  glow  ? 
Or  stem  the  full  heart's  overflow  ? 
Who?    There  will  rise,  till  Time  decay, 
More  poets  yet."    . 

— Austin  Dobmn. 

The  American-English  who  took  possession  of  the  Ohio 
Valley,  in  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were 
not  the  first  to  awaken  the  echoes  of  the  western  woods 
with  melody.  The  red  tribes  were  not  only  eloquent,  as 
the  rude  oratory  of  Logan  and  Tecumseh  testifies,  but 
also  poetical;  they  sang  hymns  of  harvest,  lays  of  love 
and  war,  death-songs,  and  religious  incantations.  The 
Indian  names  bequeathed  to  states,  mountains,  rivers,  and 
lakes  furnish  a  vocabulary  rich  in  poetical  qualities. 

The  semi-barbarous  French  runners  of  the  wilderness, 
and  rowers  on  la  belle  riviere  and  its  tributaries,  are 
known  to  have  been  of  a  musical  turn,  and  to  have  cheered 
the  solitude  with  amorous  ditties,  and  timed  their  oars  to 
singing.^ 


^  Schoolcraft,  in  his  "  Travels,"  describes  the  chanson  de  voyageur  as  a 
"  species  of  merry  chant,  which  no  one  can  listen  to  without  feeling  the 
mercury  of  his  spirit  rise."  Isaac  Weld,  an  Irish  gentlemen,  who  trav- 
eled in  America  in  1795-6-7,  says  of  the  Canadian  boatmen:  "They 
have  one  very  favorite  duet  amongst  them,  called  the  '  rowing  duet,* 
which  as  they  sing  they  mark  time  to  with  each  stroke  of  the  oar ;  in- 
deed, when  rowing  in  smooth  water,  they  mark  the  time  of  most  of  the 
airs  they  sing  in  the  same  manner."  Bradbury,  an  English  traveler, 
writing  in  1809,  tells  us  the  songs  "  were  responsive  betwixt  the  oarsmen 
at  the  bow  and  those  at  the  stern ;"  and  he  quotes  several  stanzas  of 


268  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

The  Saxon  wagoner  of  the  Alleghanies,  driving  his  team 
to  Pittsburg,  roared  rough  songs  to  the  mountains.  The 
jolly  crews  that  poled  arks  on  the  Ohio  were  especially 
addicted  to  vocal  solo  and  chorus  as  well  as  to  the  "  plink, 
plank,  plunk"  of  the  violin  which  lead  the  dance  on 
deck.  They  sang  many  an  ancient  ballad,  with  interpola- 
tions befitting  new  scenery  and  events,  and  extemporized 
original  lines  to  accompany  the  rythmic  labor  of  the  oar: 

"  Hard  upon  the  beech  oar ! 
She  moves  too  slow ! 
All  the  way  to  Shawnee  Town 
Long  while  ago ! " 

The  favorite  river  lyrics  appear  to  have  been  madrigals 
of  love  or  rousing  peans  in  praise  of  Monongahela  whisky. 
By  and  by  the  element  of  negro  minstrelsy,  coming  from 
"Ole  Virginia"  and  Kentucky,  found  a  welcome  on  the 
river-craft,  where  it  has  ever  since  held  place.  Among 
the  earliest  original  verses  of  the  West  were  sundry 
African  melodies  celebrating  the  'coon  hunt  and  the  vicis- 
situdes of  river  navigation. 

The  song-book,  patriotic,  sentimental,  and  comic,  is  al- 
ways in  demand,  even  in  the  rudest  society,  and  it  was  a 
species  of  literary  manual  not  slow  to  migrate  with  the 
pioneer.  Not  until  1832  did  the  first  publication  in  this 
line  issue  from  a  Cincinnati  press.  This  was  "  The  Eolian 
Songster,"  compiled  and  published  by  U.  P.  James,  a  man 
of  taste,  who  had  in  view  the  elevation  as  well  as  the 
supply  of  the  popular  demand.  **  The  Eolian  Songster  " 
contains,  besides  many  of  the  choicest  songs  of  Burns, 
Moore,  and  other  modern  poets,  a  careful  selection  of  the 
older  lyrics,  including  Jonson's  "  Drink  to  Me  Only  With 

one  of  the  favorite  songs,  "  to  show  their  frivolity."    Here  is  a  sample 
stanza: 

Derriere  chdz-nous,  11  y  a  un  etang, 

Ye,  ye  ment. 
Trois  canards  s'en  vont  baignans, 
Tons  du  16ng  de  la  riviere, 
Leg^T^ment  ma  bergdre, 
Lieg^r^ment,  ye  ment. 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  269 

Thine  Eyes."  A  local  and  native  tone  is  given  to  the 
collection  by  its  including  several  new  pieces,  as  "  The 
Kentucky  Hunters  "  and  "  Perry's  Victory." 

Song-writing  was  an  art  much  striven  after  by  the 
American  verse-makers  of  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  attract- 
ive songs  being  then  in  much  demand  on  the  stage.  The 
theater,  indeed,  was  an  active  stimulator  of  literary  effort 
in  various  departments,  and  one  is  struck,  in  reading  the 
newspapers  of  the  day,  by  frequent  reference  to  original 
poetic  addresses  delivered  on  notable  occasions  by  the  au- 
thors from  behind  the  footlights.  Forty  poetical  addresses 
were  presented  to  the  manager  of  the  Kew  Orleans  the- 
ater for  a  premium  offered  in  January,  1824.  The  poets 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  contributed  their  full  quota  of  popu- 
lar songs  to  platform  and  parlor,  and  not  a  few  of  these 
still  live  wedded  to  familiar  music.  The  pioneer  balladists 
who  sang  the  century  into  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  were  the 
harbingers  of  Louisville's  unique  troubadour,  Will  Shake- 
speare Hays,  of  whose  songs,  it  is  said,  six  million  copies 
have  sold  in  the  United  States  and  England. 

An  exhaustive  history  of  the  numerous  poets  and  poet- 
asters of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  of  their  offerings  to  litera- 
ture in  the  name  of  the  muses,  would  fill  a  large  volume. 
"Whoever  examines  the  files  of  old  western  newspapers 
will  be  astonished  at  the  immense  quantity  of  verse, 
original  and  selected,  to  be  found  in  the  dingy  columns. 
The  poet's  corner  is  sometimes  multiplied  by  four,  and  be- 
comes a  rectangle.  The  ''  Western  Spy  "  published  poems 
under  the  heading,  "  Seat  of  the  Muses,"  a  caption  after- 
ward changed  to  the.  not  less  classic  title,  "The  Par- 
nassiad."  The*  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  "  Literary  Ga- 
zette "  (1824),  in  his  notes  to  correspondents,  declining 
offers  of  poetry  from  Prof.  Rafinesque,  of  Transylvania 
University,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  says,  apologetically, 
"  Poetry  is  in  so  flourishing  a  state  on  our  side  of  the 
river  that  the  limits  allotted  to  that  department  are  pre- 
occupied." That  the  art  was  in  an  equally  flourishing 
condition  on  Rafinesque's  side  of  the  river  is  abundantly 
proven  by  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Collins,  who,  in  his  his- 


270  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

tory  of  Kentucky,  devotes  sixty  large  pages  to  selections 
from  representative  writers  of  verse,  Lorn  or  bred  in  that 
state. 

The  wilderness  swarmed  with  migratory  poets;  they 
came  in  flocks  like  the  birds;  they  chirruped  from  log- 
cabins,  caroled  from  floating  barges,  chanted  from  new 
garrets  in  fresh-sprung  villages.  It  has  been  discovered, 
in  Louisville,  that  the  restless  John  Filson  set  the  dan- 
gerous example  of  verse-making  at  Beargrass  as  long  ago 
as  June,  1788.  His  only  and  therefore  worst  poem  is  in 
heroic  rhymed  couplets  and  bids 

"Adieu  to  every  joy  which  time  evades, 
Adieu  to  faithful  swains  and  beauteous  maids, 
,     Adieu  Amanda  whom  my  soul  ensnares, 
Adieu  till  fate  this  mortal  wound  repairs, 
Adieu  my  peace,  the  busy  world  farewell, 
Adieu  to  all  but  plains  of  Asphodel." 

Authorities  all  agree  that  the  first  person  who  appeared 
in  the  character  of  poet  in  the  territory  north-west  of  the 
Ohio,  was  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  Jr.,  son  of  Colonel  R. 
J.  Meigs,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Both  father  and  son 
came  to  Marietta,  with  tlie  original  settlers,  in  April,  1788. 
The  latter,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  studied  law,  rose 
rapidly  from  honor  to  honor,  becoming  supreme  judge. 
United  States  senator,  governor  of  Ohio,  and  postmaster 
general.  Always  fond  of  intellectual  pursuits,  he  was  a 
life-long  patron  of  literary  men  and  institutions. 

Young  Meigs,  on  July  4,  1789,  delivered  at  Marietta  an 
oration  which  closed  with  an  **  ornament  of  rhyme,"  de- 
scriptive of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  prophetic  of  its  coming 
glory.  From  this  artificial  but  certainly  dignified  and 
respectable  "  ode,"  stamped  with  the  conventional  mark 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  few  couplets  are  here  given 
by  way  of  sample : 

"  Here  Hwift  Muskingum  rolls  his  rapid  waves ; 
There  fruitful  valleys  fair  Ohio  laves ; 
On  ito  smooth  surface  gentle  zephyrs  play, 
The  sunbeams  tremble  with  a  placid  ray. 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  271 

What  future  harvests  on  his  bosom  glide, 
And  loads  of  commerce  swell  the  '  downward  tide,' 
Where  Mississippi  joins  in  length'ning  sweep. 
And  rolls  majestic  to  the  Atlantic  deep." 

American  literature,  in  the  year  1789,  or  in  1800,  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  celebrated  its  Fourth  of  July.  It 
was  far  from  independent  of  the  mother  country.  And 
yet,  even  in  those  early  days,  American  books  were  hav- 
ing an  influence  in  England,  and  English  authors  were 
ambitious  to  borrow  the  ears  of  an  American  audience. 
Lord  Byron  was  not  indifferent  to  the  plaudits  of  readers  in 
the  backwoods  of  the  ]N"ew  World.  He  wrote  in  his  diary, 
December  5,  1813,  "  Dallas'  nephew — son  to  the  American 
Attorney  General — is  arrived  in  this  country,  and  tells 
Dallas  that  my  rhymes  are  very  popular  in  the  United 
States.  These  are  the  first  tidings  that  have  ever  sounded 
like  fame  to  my  ears — to  be  redde  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ohio." 

The  general  literary  influences  that  wrought  upon  the 
writers  of  i^ew  York  and  ^N'ew  England  also  inspired  or 
constrained  the  Western  muse,  though  in  less  degree. 
The  world  of  letters  turns  eastward,  but  it  does  turn,  and 
in  succession  every  meridian  receives  the  intellectual  sun- 
light. 

The  loud  music  of  Scott's  '*  Marmion  "  and  of  Southey's 
"Thalaba"  swelled  across  the  sea  before  the  nobler  and 
sweeter  strains  of  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  were  ap- 
preciated. 

The  "  Lake  Poets  "  and  their  contemporaries,  scourged  or 
soothed  in  Byron's  "  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Review- 
ers," were  known  in  the  West  when  the  immigrant  poets 
began  to  thrum  their  imitative  harps. 

From  the  "Atlantick  country  "  came  the  melody  of  Per- 
civars  "  Clio,"  the  most  celebrated  poetry  that  had  yet 
been  produced  in  America.  "  Percival  is  deservedly  the 
first  of  American  bards,"  wrote  the  editor  of  the  Cincin- 
nati "  Literary  Gazette,"  in  1824.  The  pioneer  writers 
usually  called  a  poet  hard,  and  a  village  an  emporium. 


272  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Pioneer  poetry  often  went  on  stilts,  and  borrowed  stilts 
at  that.  The  style  was  either  painfully  labored  and 
pedantic  or  ludicrously  exclamatory  and  rhapsodical. 
The  self-inspired  geniuses  felt  it  their  duty  to  be  extrava- 
gantly natural  and  "  impassioned."  Bards  of  classical  am- 
bition frequently  sent  "  odes "  to  the  backwoods  news- 
papers, and  sometimes  furnished  stanzas  in  Latin.  They 
wrote  under  such  pseudonyms  as  "  Juvenis,"  *'  Favonius," 
"  Puero,"  "  Momus,"  and  "  Umbra."  Others  worked  a 
vein  severely  didactic  and  moral.  Much  of  the  verse 
measured  out  on  the  Ohio  side  of  the  Ohio  was,  like  the 
speech  of  Chaucer's  clerk,  "  sounding  in  moral  virtue." 

The  best  of  the  early  poets  of  the  Ohio  Valley  wrote 
from  a  sincere  impulse,  and  were  loyal  to  their  environ- 
ments, drawing  their  themes  from  indigenous  subjects — 
the  woods,  the  streams,  the  ancient  mounds,  and  whatever 
was  most  novel  and  picturesque  in  the  immigrant  journey 
over  the  mountains,  or  in  the  scenes  and  incidents  of 
frontier  life.  They  were  moved  to  sing  of  the  boatman 
poling  his  raft  on  the  Beautiful  river;  the  hunter  roaming 
the  dark  forest,  clad  in  deer-skin  and  carrying  his  rifle 
and  powder-horn;  the  "Longknives"  sallying  from  the 
threatened  station  to  repel  the  stealthy,  savage  foe. 

The  homely  verse  dwelt  on  the  close-knit  ties  of  the 
settler's  family  in  the  hospitable  log  cabin,  with  its  latch- 
string  out.  The  love  song  adapted  its  amorous  imagery 
to  the  wild  scenery  and  primitive  customs  of  the  "  clear- 
ing." Ever  the  Western  pen  was  quick  to  indite  patriotic 
strains.     To  the  pioneer  Liberty  was  a  Tenth  Muse. 

As  literature,  few  of  the  innumerable  verses  written  by 
the  backwoods  rhymers  deserve  to  be  remembered.  As 
history,  many  a  rude  stanza  is  more  valuable  than  much 
that  is  found  in  the  pages  of  the  professed  annalists. 
Writing  had  not  become  a  vocation,  or  so  much  as  an 
avocation.  The  poets,  like  the  farmers,  traders,  mechan- 
ics, were  busy  with  life  and  its  urgent  first  necessities. 
They  had  just  drawn  themselves  away  from  loved  homes 
in  the  East,  and  were  fastening  the  lines  of  hope  to  a  new 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story -Writers.  273                            j 

mode  of  life  in  the  West.     The  energy  of  body  and  mind  j 

was  absorbed  in  the  act  of  transplanting.  \ 

The   general   feeling    is   well   expressed    in   Laura    M.  j 

Thurston's  lines,  "  On  Crossing  the  AUeghanies,"  written  1 

near  the  beginning  of  the  century  :  i 

"  The  broad,  the  bright,  the  glorious  West  \ 

Is  spread  before  me  now  !  i 

Where  the  gray  mists  of  morning  rest  '] 

Beneath  yon  mountain's  brow  !  h 

The  bound  is  past — the  goal  is  won —  ! 

The  region  of  the  setting  sun  \ 

Is  open  to  my  view.  1 

Land  of  the  valiant  and  the  free — 

My  own  Green  Mountain  land — to  thee,  .\ 

And  thine,  a  long  adieu !  .      \ 

"  I  hail  thee.  Valley  of  the  West,  I 

For  what  thou  yet  shalt  be !  j 

I  hail  thee  for  the  hopes  that  rest  \ 

Upon  thy  destiny !  "  , 


One   of  the   first   rhythmic   compositions   penned   and  \ 

printed   concerning    Kentucky   is   a   poem    called   "  The  s 

Mountain  Muse,"  being  a  metrical  account  of  Boone's  ad-  \ 

ventures,  founded  on  Filson's  history.     The  "Mountain  j 
Muse  "  was  written  by  J).  Bryan,  a  Virginia  senator,  who 
published  his  poem  at  Harrisonburg,  Ya.,  in  1813. 

The  first  "  anthology"  of  Western  poetry  was  collected  \ 

by  W.  D.  Gallagher,  and  published  by  (J.  P.  James,  Gin-  \ 

cinnati,  in  1841.     The  volume  is  called  "  Selections  from  \ 

the  Poetical  Literature  of  the  "West,"  and  bears  on  the  I 

title  page  these  appropriate  lines  from  Southey :  \ 

"  Here  is  a  wreath, 

With  many  an  unripe  blossom  garlanded,  '' 

And  many  a  weed,  yet  mingled  with  some  flowers  } 

That  will  not  wither."  \ 

The  one  hundred  and  ten  pieces  contained  in  Mr.  Gal-  \ 

lagher's  collection  represent  thirty-eight  writers,^  seven  ot  ■ 
them  women. 


^  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  John  M.  Harney,  John  B.  Dillon,  George  D. 

18 


274  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  preface  states  that  "  much  the  greater  number  of 
the  persons  selected  from  are  either  western  born  or  west- 
ern educated,  or  both ;  and  all  of  them  who  are  now  liv- 
ing, with  a  single  exception,  are  citizens  of  this  section  of 
the  Union."  The  exception  was  Ephraim  Peabody. 
Commenting  on  the  productions  which  make  up  his 
volume,  the  editor  says  :  "  For  the  most  part,  they  have 
been  the  mere  momentary  outgushings  of  irrepressible 
feeling  proceeding  from  the  hearts  of  those  who  were 
daily  and  hourly  subjected  to  the  perplexities  and  toils  of 
business,  and  the  cares  and  anxieties  inseparable  from  the 
procuring  of  one's  daily  bread  by  active  occupation.  As 
such  let  them  be  judged." 

Three  at  least  of  the  writers  who  figure  in  the  "  Selec- 
tions" still  live,  Mrs.  R.  S.  Nichols,  Hon.  C.  D.  Drake,  and 
Mr.  Gallagher  himself.  All  but  eight  of  the  names  were 
included  in  W.  T.  Coggeshall's  "  Poets  and  Poetry  of  the 
West,"  a  royal  octavo  volume  of  688  pages,  published  in 
1860.  ' 

Coggeshall's  work  contains  selections  from  one  hundred 
and  fifty-two  writers,  with  biographical  and  critical  no- 
tices. Xinety-seven  men  are  represented  and  fifty-five 
women.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  thefee  resided  in 
the  Ohio  Valley;  sixty-nine  were  western  born,  thirty- 
nine  belonging  to  Ohio,  fifteen  to  Kentucky,  and  thirteen 
to  Indiana.  Twenty  of  these  persons  are  known  to  be 
living  now,  April,  1891. 

The  poets.  Prentice,  Gallagher,  Alice  Gary  and  Amelia 
Welby,  are  the  subjects  of  special  chapters  in  this  volume. 
Several  other  of  the  early  singers  of  the  Ohio  Valley  re- 
ceive more  or  less  extended  notice  in  the  chapter  on  "  Pe- 

Prentice,  Frederick  W.  Thomas,  Nathaniel  Wright,  James  Hall,  Otway 
Curry,  Thomas  H.  Shreve,  James  H.  Perkins,  Charles  A.  Jones,  Charles 
D.  Drake,  George  B.  Wallis,  Albert  Pike,  Micah  P.  Flint,  Amelia  B. 
Welby,  Anne  P.  Dinnies,  Laura  M.  Thurston,  Sarah  J.  Howe,  Ephraim 
Peabody,  William  Wallace,  James  Freeman  Clarke,  James  W.  Ward, 
James  B.  Marshall,  Rebecca  S.  Nichols,  Harvey  D.  Little,  Lewis  Ringe, 
Lewis  J.  Cist,  Edwin  R.  Campbell,  Lewis  F.  Thomas,  Wm.  B.  Fairchild, 
Hugh  Peters,  Julia  L.  Dumont,  Caroline  Lee  Hentz,  G.  G.  Foster,  Pey- 
ton 8.  Symmes,  William  Newton,  James  G.  Drake. 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers,  275 

riodical  Literature,"  or  are  mentioned  incidentally  in  the 
biographical  sketches  of  Prentice,  Gallagher,  Hall,  Mans- 
field and  Flint.  It  is  proposed,  in  this  place,  to  present 
briefly  the  leading  facts  in  the  life  and  literary  work  of 
noteworthy  poets  not  considered  elsewhere  in  the  vol- 
ume. 

Jonathan  Meigs  in  Ohio,  and  Daniel  Bryan  in  Virginia, 
are  not  singular  examples  of  the  politician  turned  poet. 
A  glance  through  Coggeshall's  big  book  of  poets  sur- 
prises the  inquisitive  reader  with  the  names  of  several 
characters  well  known  to  history,  but  seldom  associated 
in  the  general  mind  with  the  idea  of  poetry.  Such  are 
the  names  of  Charles  Hammond  and  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
men  who  endeavored  to  become  poets  before  they  suc- 
ceeded in  becoming  statesmen.  !N^ot  only  did  lawyers, 
legislators,  and  political  journalists  "  drop  into  poetry," 
like  Silas  Wegg ;  the  business  men  of  pioneer  times  also 
strung  strings  of  rhyme.  The  very  first  book  of  home- 
made verse  printed  in  the  West  was  a  pamphlet  of  ninety- 
two  pages,  by  a  Cincinnati  banker,  Gorham  A.  Worth. 
The  title  is,  "American  Bards;  A  Modern  Poem,  in  Three 
Parts."  It  came  out  in  1819,  and  had  the  honor  to  be  re- 
published in  Philadelphia — an  honor  not  justified  by  the 
merit  of  the  book,  the  value  of  which  consists  wholly  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  first,  and  that  it  is  rare. 

The  "  Muse  of  Hesperia,"  a  prize  poem,  produced  by 
another  business  man,  Thomas  Peirce,  and  read  before  the 
Philomathean  Society  of  Cincinnati  College,  in  1822,  ad- 
vises the  poets  to  defy  all  conventional  rules  of  composi- 
tion, and  to  scorn  all  the  critics. 

"  Nay,  copy  not  the  noblest  lays 
Of  ancient  or  of  modern  days. 

The  genuine  bard 
Dashes  all  rules  of  art  aside, 
And,  taking  nature  for  his  guide, 
Reaps,  as  he  roams  creation  wide, 
A  rich  reward." 

This  anarchic  literary  counsel  did  not  avail  to  develop 


276  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

any  sudden-expanding  genius.  Though  the 
bard,"  roaming  "  creation  wide,"  strove  wildly  to  be  nat- 
ural and  original  and  sublime,  he  found  himself  condi- 
tioned in  the  West  as  in  the  East  by  his  "  means,  culture 
and  limits,"  to  use  a  compact  phrase  of  Emerson's. 
Neither  "going  down  East,"  nor  "coming  out  West," 
makes  the  poet. 

"  The  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land,"  is  not  con- 
fined to  special  climates,  nor  geographical  divisions,  nor  to 
the  woods,  nor  to  the  city.  Outer  influences,  scenery,  so- 
ciety, may  do  something  to  stimulate  or  modify  the  mind's 
action ;  the  spirit  of  the  age  does  more ;  but,  withal,  poets 
are  poets.  They  seek  congenial  surroundings  as  bees  seek 
gardens;  yet  gardens  do  not  cause  bees. 

Thomas  Peirce,  a  verse-maker  of  considerable  skill, 
originality  and  humor,  born  in  Chester  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, August  4,  1786,  was,  in  early  life,  farmer,  mechanic 
and  teacher.  He  came  to  Cincinnati  in  1813,  and  engaged 
in  commercial  affairs.  But  he  also  took  interest  in  lite- 
rary concerns,  and  was  a  prominent  member  of  a  society 
of  which  Lemuel  D.  Howells,  Robert  T.  Lytle,  William 
Henry  Harrison,  and  Daniel  Drake  were  members.  Peirce 
was  a  contributor  to  the  Western  Spy  and  to  the  Literary 
Gazette,  in  which  papers  appeared  what  he  called  his 
"  Odes,"  a  series  of  mildly  satirical  pieces  criticising  per- 
sons and  events.  These  were  reprinted,  in  1822,  in  a  di- 
minutive volume,  with  the  title,  "  Horace  in  Cincinnati." 
Mr.  Peirce  died  in  1850. 

A  poet  of  great  promise  and  somewhat  brilliant  per- 
formance was  John  M.  Harney^  (1789-1825),  whose  literary 
work  was  done  in  Bardstown,  Kentucky.  He  published, 
in  1816,  a  long  poem,  "  Crystalina,  a  Fairy  Tale,"  which 

*  John  M.  Harney  should  not  be  confounded  with  the  poet,  William 
Wallace  Harney,  born  at  Bloomington,  Indiana,  June  20,  1831,  and 
known  to  admirers  of  western  verse  from  his  poems,  "  The  Stab,"  "  The 
Buried  Hope,"  "The  Old  Mill,"  "The  Suicide,"  "Jimmy's  Wooing," 
"The  Reapers,"  and  other  pieces  of  true  artistic  work.  Harney's 
poetry  has  the  "gleam"  in  it.  Mr.  Harney's  present  home  is  in 
Florida. 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.    "  277 

was  extravagantly  praised  by  H.  W.  Griswold  in  his 
"  Poets  of  America,"  and  by  John  Neal  in  the  Portico. 
But  the  only  bit  of  his  work  which  long  held  its  place  in 
popular  estimation  is  the  trifle  often  copied  into  newspa- 
pers and  books,  called  "  Echo  and  the  Lover." 

Mrs.  Julia  L.  Dumont  was  the  first  woman  who  achieved 
reputation  as  a  writer  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  A  daughter  of 
one  of  the  original  settlers  of  Marietta,  she  was  born  on 
the  banks  of  the  Muskingum  in  1794,  nearly  a  decade  be- 
fore Ohio  was  admitted  to  the  Union.  In  1812  she  was 
married,  and  in  1814  removed  with  her  husband  to  Vevay, 
Indiana,  where  for  many  years  she  was  a  distinguished 
teacher.  She  was  the  preceptress  of  Dr.  Edward  Eggles- 
ton,  whose  grateful  pen  has  honored  her  by  merited  praise, 
Mrs.  Dumont  died  in  1857. 

Mrs.  Dumont  wrote  much  for  the  press,  in  prose  and 
verse,  and  was  greatly  admired  by  her  contemporaries. 
A  volume  of  hers,  entitled  "  Sketches,  from  Common 
Paths,"  was  published  by  the  Appletons  in  1856.  Her 
poems  were  never  collected  in  book  form.  They  reveal  a 
pure  and  generous  nature,  saturated  with  philanthropy, 
patriotism,  and  womanly  tenderness.  Perhaps  her  best 
poem  is  one  entitled  "  The  Future  Life." 

John  Finley  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1797,  and  he  died 
in  Indiana  in  1866.  He  may  be  described  as  the  father  of 
western  humorous  poetry.  Besides  him,  only  a  very  few 
of  the  early  "  bards "  attempted  the  facetious.  Among 
the  few  were  Peirce,  Harney,  and  Shreve.  Finley  came 
to  Ohio  in  his  young  manhood ;  was  married  at  Yellow 
Springs  in  1826;  went  to  Indiana,  and  became  editor, 
state  legislator,  and  finally  mayor  of  the  city  of  Rich- 
mond. Thus  his  occupations  were  of  a  practical  sort, 
leaving  scant  time  for  the  side-play  of  rhyme.  The  happy 
verses  which  have  kept  his  name  alive  for  ninety  years 
were  quite  accidental  and  incidental,  being  part  of  a  New 
Year's  Address,  written  in  1830  for  the  Indianapolis  Jour- 
nal, a  newspaper  since  distinguished  for  the  encourage- 
ment it  gives  to  western  poets.  The  lines  referred  to  are 
those  entitled  '*  The  Hoosier's  Nest,"  a  bit  of  realistic  de- 


278  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

scription,  picturing  very  vividly  the  interior  of  an  Indiana 
log-cabin,  and  the  rude  hospitality  of  a  backwoods  family 
entertaining  a  stranger.  Finley  was  a  born  humorist,  and 
nearly  every  thing  he  wrote  is  piquant  and  amusing.  His 
lines  "To  My  Old  Coat,''  "A  Wife  Wanted,"  and  the 
graphic  piece  in  Irish  dialect,  "  Bachelor's  Hall,"  still  hold 
their  place  as  general  favorites.  The  last-named  went  the 
rounds  of  newspaperdom  credited  to  Tom  Moore. 

More  than  half  a  century  ago,  the  name  of  Otway  Curry 
was  familiar  to  readers  of  verse  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  the  new-risen  western  star  of  poetry  was  con- 
sidered a  remarkable  phenomenon,  even  worthy  to  be 
ranked  with  Poe.  The  merit  of  his  work  is  striking,  and 
there  is  reason  to  regret  that  the  collection  of  his  poetry 
promised  by  a  prospectus,  some  years  ago,  has  not  been 
published.  Curry  possessed  subtile  genius,  and  though 
his  thought  is  not  always  clear  nor  his  art  satisfactory,  al- 
most every  thing  he  wrote  is  pleasing,  melodious,  and 
warm,  if  not  luminous  with  sincere  "inspiration."  Such 
poems  as  "  Kingdom  Come,"  "  The  Armies  of  the  Eve," 
"  The  Better  Land,"  "  The  Lost  Pleiad,"  "  Chasadine," 
"  A'aven,"  "  To  a  Midnight  Phantom,"  belong,  in  their  con- 
ception and  form,  to  the  aristocracy  of  letters.  There  is 
something  in  their  very  titles  suggestive  of  habitual  medi- 
tation on  high  themes,  and  of  a  life  devoted  to  the  soli- 
tude of  the  ideal  world. 

Otway  Curry  was  born  in  Highland  county,  Ohio,  in 
1804,  and  he  died  in  1855.  He  was  farmer,  lawyer,  editor, 
legislator,  as  well  as  poet,  and  his  general  services  in  the 
cause  of  intellectual  and  moral  progress  in  the  West 
should  not  be  forgotten.  He  was  a  bosom  friend  of  W. 
D.  Gallagher,  and  the  latter  relates  that  when  the  two 
were  youths  together  in  the  town  of  Cincinnati,  they  used, 
on  summer  evenings,  to  sit  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio,  near 
the  foot  of  Broadway,  Curry  playing  the  flute  for  his 
friend's  pleasure.  The  high  esteem  and  affection  in  which 
Otway  Curry  was  held  are  manifested  in  a  generous  trib- 
ute from  the  pen  of  a  contemporary,  who,  in  1855,  wrote 
of  the  deceased  poet : 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  279 

"  Ohio  ne'er  has  lost  a  son 

More  worthy  her  regret 
The  West  has  comets  yet  of  song, — 

Her  planet,  though,  has  set. 
Our  country  weakens  with  the  want 

Of  good,  true  men  like  him, 
To  guard  her  tree  of  liberty, 

Like  Eden's  cherubim." 

Harvey  D.  Little  (born  1803,  died  1833),  who  spent  the 
chief  part  of  his  short  career  in  Central  Ohio,  a  printer 
and  editor,  was  endowed  with  two  excellent  qualities  of 
the  real  poet,  a  vivid  imagination,  and  the  sense  of  rhythm, 
as  his  tine,  spontaneous  lyrics,  "  Palmyra,"  and  "  On  Ju- 
dah's  Hills,"  sufficiently  prove. 

Very  energetic  and  taking  in  their  way  are  the  dashing 
melodies  of  Captain  Greorge  Washington  Cutter,  a  na- 
tive of  Kentucky,  who  served  in  the  Mexican  "War  as 
captain  of  the  Kenton  Hangers,  became  a  lawyer  and 
legislator  in  Indiana,  and  afterward  lived  in  Cincinnati 
and  Washington  City.  He  married  Mrs.  Alexander  Drake, 
the  celebrated  western  actress.  Three  volumes  of  Cutter's 
verse  were  printed,  "  Buena  Vista  and  Other  Poems,"  in 
1848,  and  two  others  in  1857.  Several  of  Cutter's  eloquent 
and  fervid  patriotic  pieces  made  a  strong  impression,  and 
passages  from  them  are  still  quoted  and  sung.  ''  E  Plu- 
ribus  Unum,"  beginning  with  the  lines, 

"  Though  many  and  bright  are  the  stars  that  appear, 
In  that  flag,  by  our  country  unfurled," 

is  a  stirring  anthem  not  likely  soon  to  perish  from  mem- 
ory. But  the  acknowledged  masterpiece  of  this  tumultu- 
ous singer  is  the  "  Song  of  Steam,"  ^  a  metrical  shout  and 


^  It  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Alexander  Williamson,  of  Cov- 
ington, Kentucky,  that  the  "  Song  of  Steam  "  was  written  in  Covington, 
before  its  author  went  to  Mexico,  and  that  it  was  suggested  by  the  pow- 
erful operation  and  noise  of  steam-propelled  machinery.  Mr.  William- 
son says:  "  One  morning  he  (Cutter)  was  down  in  the  neighborhood  of 
what  was  then  called  *  Factory  Row,'  where  John  T.  Lewis  had  his  cot- 
ton factory ;  and  he  looked  at  the  immense  wheels  and  cogs  and  shafts 
and  pulleys,  and  listened  to  the  noise  and  the  whirr  and  the  rumble  of 


280  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

exultation,  befitting  the  advent  of  an  age  of  material 
forces.  The  "  Song  of  Lightning  '*  is  its  companion  lyric. 
Another  Kentucky  poet,  of  very  different  style  from 
that  of  Cutter — Fortunatus  Cosby — was  born  on  Harrod's 
creek,  in  May,  1802,  and  died  at  Louisville  sometime  in 
the  fifties.  His  monument  may  be  seen  in  Cave  Hill  Cem- 
etery, not  far  from  those  of  Prentice  and  Amelia  Welby. 
He  was  a  college-bred  gentleman  of  quiet  tastes  and  care- 
ful cujture — one  of  the  group  of  scholarly  writers  whom 
Prentice  drew  around  him.     His  "  Fireside  Fancies  " 

"  By  the  dim  and  fitful  firelight,"^ 

will  be  read  and  remembered  by  many  a  reader  in  years 
to  come. 

William  Ross  Wallace,  also  a  Kentuckian,  born  in  1819, 
was  educated  in  Indiana,  and,  removing  to  ^ew  York 
City,  became  a  successful  professional  writer  for  news- 
papers. His  poetical  talents  were  recognized  and  flattered 
by  Bryant  and  Poe,  who  prophesied  wonderful  successes 
for  his  muse.  But  the  star  of  his  fame  has  already  set, 
though  one  can  understand,  when  reading  his  vigorous 
and  well-wrought  verses,  why  his  contemporaries  praised 
him,  and  we  wonder,  as  in  many  other  similar  cases,  why 
compositions  so  much  above  mediocrity  should  be  forgot- 
ten 80  soon. 

Mrs.  Frances  Dana  Gage,  familiarly  known  by  her 
pseudonym  of  '*Aunt  Fanny,"  a  "womanly  woman," 
highly  appreciated  by  the  common  people,  was,  in  the  day 
of  her  literary  activity,  perhaps  the  most  popular  writer 
of  keen  practical  prose,  and  homely  didactic  verse,  in  the 
western  country.  She  became  identified  with  the  cause 
of  "  woman's  rights,"  and  other  reforms,  and  was  a  grace- 
ful and  effective  public  lecturer.  Her  fluent,  lucid  lyrics 
of   home  aud  heart,  "The  Sounds  of  Industry,"  "The 

the  maoliinery.  And  from  there  he  wandered  off  to  the  McNickle 
rolling-mill,  where  they  had  an  enormous  trip-hammer,  and  the  power 
of  Bteam  so  imprensed  him  that  he  went  home  and  wrote  the  poem; 
and  a  magnificent  thing  it  is." 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  281 

Housekeeper's  Soliloquy,  "  My  Fiftieth  Birthday,"  "  Life's 
Lessons,"  and  the  delightful  "  Home  Picture,"  which  last 
tells  about  *'  Ben  Fisher  "  and  his  '^  good  wife  Kate,"  and 
the  children,  and  the  farm,  and  the  poultry,  were  clipped 
from  newspapers  and  pasted  in  the  scrap-hooks  of  count- 
less housekeepers  who  found  in  these  simple  rhymes  a 
photograph  of  their  own  domestic  experience.  Mrs. 
Gage  was  the  daughter  of  a  pioneer,  Joseph  Barker,  one 
of  the  founders  of  Ohio,  who  came  to  Marietta  with  Put- 
nam in  1788.  She  was  born  in  1808;  married  James  L. 
Gage  in  1828 ;  lived  at  McConnellsville,  Ohio,  for  twenty- 
five  years,  and  removed  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  in  1853. 
A  volume  of  her  poems  was  brought  out  by  a  Philadel- 
phia publisher  in  1867. 

I  venture  to  class  with  the  pioneer  poets  of  the  Ohio  Val- 
ley two  honored  women,  both  now  residing  in  Indian- 
apolis, both  active  members  of  the  Western  Association 
of  Writers — Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Bolton  and  Mrs.  Rebecca  S. 
Nichols. 

Mrs.  Bolton,  whose  father,  a  Barritt,  and  mother,  a 
Pendleton,  w^ere  of  Virginia  origin,  w^as  born  in  Newport, 
Kentucky,  in  December,  1814.  The  family  moved  to 
Jennings  county,  Indiana,  thence  to  Madison,  where  Sarah, 
in  1831,  was  married  to  Nathaniel  Bolton.  The  Boltons 
made  their  home  in  Indianapolis.  From  1855  to  1858  Mr. 
Bolton  was  United  States  consul  to  Geneva,  Switzerland, 
and  his  wife  accompanied  him  to  Europe.  Mrs.  Bolton's 
first  poem  appeared  in  the  Madison  "  Banner."  She  wTote 
for  the  Columbian  and  Great  West,  the  Ladies'  Repository, 
the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  and  the  New  York  Home 
Journal.  Her  poems,  like  those  of  Mrs.  Gage,  appeal 
directly  to  the  common  sentiment  and  emotion  of  the 
people,  and  inculcate  the  highest  public  and  private  vir- 
tue. Among  her  lyrics  are  "  Hope  on,  Hope  Ever," 
"  Call  the  Roll,"  and  "  Paddle  Yoar  Own  Canoe,"  melodi- 
ous sermons  the  lesson  of  which  has  quickened  the 
worthy  ambition  of  half  the  school-boys  and  girls  in  the 
Ohio  Valley. 

Mrs.  Rebecca  S.  Nichols  w^as  born  at  Greenwich,  New 


282  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Jersey,  August,  1820.  Her  maiden  name  was  Keed.  She 
removed,  with  her  parents,  to  Louisville,  where,  in  1838, 
she  was  married  to  Willard  P.  Nichols.  She  has  resided  in 
St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Philadelphia,  and  Indianapolis. 
She  published  her  first  poems  in  the  Louisville  News  Let- 
ter and  the  Louisville  Journal.  She  became  a  contributor 
to  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  the  Cincinnati  Herald,  the 
Knickerbocker,  and  Graham's  Magazine.  In  St.  Louis 
she  helped  edit  a  daily  paper  called  the  Pennant,  and  in 
Cincinnati  she  conducted  a  literary  periodical  named  The 
Guest.  Her  pieces  have  appeared  under  the  pseudonyms 
"Ellen"  and  "Kate  Cleveland."  Mrs.  Nichols  enjoyed 
the  friendship  and  encouragement  of  Otway  Curry,  W.  D. 
Gallagher,  George  D.  Prentice,  and  the  generous  patron- 
age of  Nicholas  Longworth,  who  brought  out  her  poems 
in  a  sumptuous  volume  in  1851.  Her  first  publication  in 
book  form  was  named  "  Bernice,  or  the  Curse  of  Mina,  and 
Other  Poems,"  1844 ;  the  second,  "  Songs  of  the  Heart 
and  the  Hearth-Stone."  No  truer  estimate  of  Mrs.  Nich- 
ols can  be  stated  in  brief  than  that  expressed  in  Cogges- 
shall's  "Poets,"  by  her  biographer,  Sullivan  D.  Harris, 
who  says :  "  The  strongest  and  brightest  phase  of  her  char- 
acter is  that  of  a  Christian  mother,  and  the  wail  of  be- 
reaved maternity  is  the  most  touching  utterance  of  her 
pen." 

There  lives  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  a  poet  and  general 
writer,  born  in  the  first  year  of  the  century,  June  11, 1800, 
in  Conway,  Massachusetts.  After  graduating  at  Williams 
College,  he  removed  to  Ohio,  and  became  a  lawyer  and 
state  legislator.  His  efiScacious  labors  in  the  promotion 
of  educational  and  philanthropic  institutions  place  him 
among  the  foremost  benefactors  of  the  people.  This  noble 
patriarch,  Hon.  Harvey  Rice,  LL.D.,  a  true  apostle  of 
"  sweetness  and  light,"  is  the  author  of  "  Letters  from  the 
Pacific  Slope,"  "  Incidents  of  Pioneer  Life  in  the  Early 
Settlement  of  the  Connecticut  Western  Reserve,"  and  a 
volume  of  essays  entitled  "  Nature  and  Culture."  In  his 
early  manhood,  Mr.  Rice  contributed  many  poems  to  the 
periodicals,  and,  in  1859,  a  collection  of  these  was  pub- 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story -Writers,  283 

lished  in  a  volume  called  *'  Mount  Vernon,  and  Other 
Poems."  This  passed  through  several  editions,  and  is  still 
in  demand.  A  second  volume,  "  Select  Poems,"  was  is- 
sued in  1878.  Perhaps  the  hest  known  poem  of  Mr.  Rice 
is  the  lyric,  "Unwritten  Music,"  which  has  a  good  deal  of 
written  music.  But  the  piece  entitled  "  The  Moral  Hero  " 
gives  the  key-note  of  the  author's  character,  and  the  in- 
junction in  its  closing  lines  was  never  more  fully  obeyed 
than  by  him  who  penned  them : 

"  Where  duty  calls,  engage ; 
And  ever  striving,  be 
The  moral  hero  of  the  age." 

In  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Rice  in  the  ninety-first  year 
of  his  age,  he  says :  "  I  am  somewhat  advanced  in  years, 
it  is  true,  but  still  keep  at  work  in  my  way,  and  mean  to 
continue  work  until  I  fall  in  the  harness." 

This  summary  may  close  with  a  short  account  of  three 
poets,  who,  though  they  came  into  the  world  somewhat 
later  than  most  of  those  just  mentioned,  and  who,  though 
they  died  young,  lived  long  enough  to  win  enduring 
laurels.  Theodore  O'Hara,  William  H.  Lytle,  and  For- 
ceythe  Willson  may  be  classed  together  as  choice  souls 
born  possessed  of  the  "  vision  and  the  faculty  divine,"  and 
as  patriotic  spirits  who  each,  without  conscious  effort, 
gained  the  world's  recognition  by  composing  lyrics  of  war. 
O'Hara  and  Lytle  were,  like  Captain  Cutter,  officers  in  the 
Mexican  War,  engaging  in  those  picturesque  and  romantic 
campaigns,  the  national  glory  of  which  was  eclipsed  by 
the  brilliancy  and  gallantry  of  personal  deeds.  Battles 
such  as  that  of  Buena  Yista,  and  marches  like  that  to 
Mexico  City,  furnish  inspiring  themes  for  song. 

Theodore  O'Hara  was  born  in  Danville,  Kentucky,  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1820.  He  served  through  the  war  with  Mexico, 
and  came  out  of  it  a  brevet  major.  He  practiced  law,  ed- 
ited newspapers,  and  led  a  somewhat  wandering  life  until 
the  civil  war,  when  he  again  became  a  soldier,  on  the  Con- 
federate side,  and  served  to  the  end  of  the  conflict.  He 
died   of  fever,  June   7,  1867.     In   the   words  of  his  hi- 


284  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

ographer,  Robert  Burns  Wilson,*  O'Hara  "  builded  for  him- 
self an  enduring  fame  as  a  poet  upon  four  lines."  These 
four  lines  occur  in  the  poem  entitled  "  The  Bivouac  of 
the  Dead,"  written  to  commemorate  the  Kentucky  soldiers 
who  fell  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  to  whom  a  monument  is 
erected  in  the  cenietery  at  Frankfort.  Few  are  the  read- 
ers who  need  to  be  told  that  the  verses  referred  to  are : 

"  On  fame's  eternal  camping-ground 
Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 
But  glory  guards,  with  solemn  round, 
The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 

William  Haines  Lytle  was  born  in  Cincinnati,  Novem- 
ber 2, 1826.  He  served  in  the  Mexican  war  as  captain ; 
became  a  member  of  the  Ohio  legislature ;  ran  for  lieu- 
tenant-governor in  1857 ;  was  major-general  of  the  Ohio 
militia ;  commanded  the  Fourth  Ohio  Regiment  in  Gen- 
eral 0.  M.  Mitchel's  brigade  in  the  civil  war;  was  killed 
in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  September  20,  1863.  Illus- 
trious in  arms,  this  well-loved  Ohio  hero  is  also  admired 
in  the  field  of  letters.  His  best  poem,  "Anthony  and 
Cleopatra,"  *  seems  to  be  booked  for  immortality.  Period- 
ically, it  goes  the  rounds  of  the  newspaper  press  as  an 
"  old  favorite,"  having  about  it  that  indescribable  quality 

*  See  Century  Magazine  for  May,  1890. 

'"Anthony  and  Cleopatra"  was  written  at  the  Lytle  Homestead,  Law- 
rence street,  Cincinnati,  in  July,  1858.  The  author  dashed  it  off  in  a 
glow  of  poetic  excitement,  and  left  the  manuscript  lying  upon  the 
writing-table,  in  his  private  room,  where  it  was  found  by  his  friend, 
Wm.  W.  Fosdick,  the  poet.  "  Who  wrote  that,  Lytle  ?  "  inquired  Fos- 
dick.  "  Why,  I  did,"  answered  Lytle,  "  How  do  you  like  it?  "  Fosdick 
expressed  admiration  for  the  poem,  and,  taking  the  liberty  of  a  literary 
comrade,  he  carried  the  manuscript  away,  and  sent  it  to  the  editor  of 
the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  with  the  following  note :  *•  Eds.  Com.:— The 
following  lines  from  our  gifted  and  gallant  townsman,  General  Wm.  H. 
Lytle,  we  think,  constitute  one  of  the  most  masterly  lyrics  which  has 
ever  adorned  American  poetry ;  and  we  predict  a  popularity  and  per- 
petuity for  it  unsurpassed  by  any  Western  production.— W.  W.  F." 
The  poem  appeared  in  the  "  Commercial,"  on  July  29,  1858.  These 
facts  are  verified  by  the  poet's  sister,  Mrs.  Josephine  R.  Foster,  who 
posseflBes  a  copy  of  "Anthony  and  Cleopatra"  in  the  handwriting  of  its 
author. 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Wi^iters.  285 

of  sustained  excellence  which  marks  it  as  permanently 
acceptable  to  the  muse.  Both  the  imagination  and  the 
ear  of  the  critic  must  grant  that  there  is  melody,  verve, 
dramatic  vividness,  and  bold  imagery  in  every  stanza  of 
the  six  which  make  up  this  line  lyric  which  reaches  its 
climax  in  the  words: 

"And  for  thee,  star-eyed  Egyptian  I 

Glorious  sorceress  of  the  Nile, 
Light  the  path  of  Stygean  horrors 

With  the  splendor  of  thy  smile  ; 
Give  the  Csesar  crowns  and  arches. 

Let  his  brow  the  laurel  twine, 
I  can  scorn  the  Senate's  triumphs, 

Triumphing  in  love  like  thine." 

Byron  Forceythe  VYillson  was  born  in  I^ew  York,  April 
10,  1837;  came  west  with  his  father's  family  in  1846; 
lived  in  Maysville  and  Covington,  Kentucky,  for  seven 
years,  and  in  ^ew  Albany,  Indiana,  from  1852  to  1863 ; 
removed  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  the  autumn  of 
1863,  and  remained  there  for  three  years  ;  died  in  Alfred, 
New  York,  February  2, 1867.  He  spent  a  year  at  Antioch 
College,  Ohio,  while  Horace  Mann  was  president,  and  then 
went  to  Harvard,  but,  having  symptoms  of  consumption, 
he  left  college  in  his  Sophomore  year.  Willson  was  an 
occasional  contributor  to  the  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  and  an 
interesting  sketch  of  his  life  and  writings,  by  his  friend, 
John  James  Piatt,  was  published  in  that  magazine  in 
1867. 

Willson's  reputation  was  achieved  by  the  publication, 
in  the  Louisville  Journal,  of  January  1, 1863,  of  the  strik- 
ing and  pathetic  narrative  poem,  "  The  Old  Sergeant," 
which,  while  realistic  in  the  extreme,  relating  facts  just  as 
they  occurred  and  giving  actual  names  of  persons  and 
places,  is  yet  so  idealized  and  subjective  that  its  hero  be- 
comes a  vivid  type  of  the  brave  soldier-martyr  of  every 
country,   and   its    patriotism    breathes    a    universal    air. 

"  The  Old  Sergeant "  was  made  popular  by  public 
readers  and  reciters  who,  in  the  war  time  and  after,  de- 
livered it  through  the  length  and  breath  of  the  northern 


286  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

states.  A  small  volume  entitled  "  The  Old  Sergeant  and 
Other  Poems"  was  published  by  Tichnor  &  Fields,  in 
1867,  the  year  of  the  author's  death,  and  the  book  is  his 
monument.  The  lover  of  poetry  who,  from  purpose  or 
chance,  takes  time  to  peruse  Willson's  poems,  linds  on 
every  page  tokens  of  delicate  genius  and  promise  of  rare 
fruit  in  the  flower  that  death  cut  off  untimely. 

WRITERS    OF    FICTION. 

With  the  bards  came  the  romancers.  The  most  delight- 
ful portion  of  the  early  literature  of  the  West  is  semi-his- 
torical, semi-fictitious.  Journals  of  exploration  in  un- 
known regions  are  usually  marvelous.  Imaginative  trav- 
elers, designing  to  print  a  book,  do  not  neglect  to  grace 
their  pages  with  interesting  rumors  of  facts  they  can  not 
investigate.  The  story-tellers  proper,  never  wearied  in 
describing  the  perils  and  privations  of  border  life — tales 
founded  on  fact.     Volumes  were  written 

"  Of  Boone  and  Kenton  and  the  pioneers 
Of  Pontiac  and  Ellenipsico, 
Of  Logan,  the  heart-broken  chief,  of  bold 
Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet." 

Among  the  desperate  heroes  depicted  in  border  story 
are  Girty,  the  renegade,  and  Big  Harpe,  the  robber,  who 
was  stabbed  to  death  at  the  foot  of  the  Lonesome  Post 
Oak,  near  Hopkinsville,  Kentucky. 

The  many-named  Ohio,  flowing  through  wilderness  and 
mystery  from  Fort  Pitt  to  the  far  Mississippi,  was  to  the 
settlers  the  very  river  of  romance.  The  history  of  navi- 
gation on  this  great  stream,  from  the  day  of  pirogues  to 
the  day  of  steamboats,  is  a  tissue  of  that  truth  which  is 
stranger  than  fiction.  Mike  Fink,  the  "  Last  of  the  Boat- 
men," and  'Colonel  "  Plug,"  the  river  boat  wrecker,  were 
types  of  a  character  and  class  that  seem  as  far  away  as 
Robin  Hood.  Mike  Shuck,  the  Missouri  trapper,  was 
another  worthy  of  a  different  sort.  These  and  other 
unique  figures  furnished  material  for  western  tale-tellers 
before  such  writers  as  Emerson  Bennett  and  "  Ned  Bunt- 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  287 

line  "  came  to  the  Ohio  Valley.  Benjamin  Drake,  Morgan 
iNTeville,  Mrs.  Julia  Dumont,  Mrs.  Lee  Hentz,  Wm.  D. 
Gallagher,  Otway  Curry,  and  many  others  produced 
stories  of  considerable  interest.  Judge  James  Hall's  ficti- 
tious writings  have  a  permanent  value  as  correct  historical 
pictures  of  Indian  life  and  of  the  customs  in  the  old 
French  settlements  of  Southern  Illinois.  Timothy  Flint, 
who  was  an  author  by  profession,  and  a  good  one,  wrote 
several  novels  that  are  racy  and  readable  to  this  day. 
The  best  of  these  undoubtedly  is  "  Francis  Berrian ;  or 
The  Mexican  Patriot,"  published  at  Boston,  by  Cummings, 
Hilliard  &  Co.,  in  1826. 

The  writers  and  books  that  we  are  now  to  consider  are 
such  as  seem  most  worthy  of  mention  in  their  class,  and 
are  not  treated  of  in  other  chapters  of  this  volume. 

The  first  novel  produced  in  the  West  was  the  political 
satire,  "  Modern  Chivalry,  or  the  Adventures  of  Captain 
Farrago  and  Teague  O'Regan,  his  Servant,"  by  Judge  H. 
H.  Brackenridge,  of  Pittsburg.^  The  first  part  of  this 
now  rare  book  was  issued  from  the  office  of  the  Pittsburg 
Gazette,  in  1793.  Duyckink's  Cyclopoedia  gives  long  ex- 
tracts from  the  story,  and  says :  "  In  the  West,  Modern 
Chivalry  is,  or  deserves  to  be,  regarded  as  a  kind  of  abor- 
iginal classic."  Xot  many  readers,  in  these  days,  will 
have  patience  to  follow  the  satirical  captain  and  his  blun- 
dering Irish  servant  through  their  round  of  rough  adven- 
ventures  and  critical  conversations.  The  scene  of  the 
story  is  Pennsylvania,  the  period  that  of  the  Whisky  Re- 
bellion, and  the  author  gives  graphic  descriptions  of  some 
scenes  which  he  had  himself  observed  in  the  turbulent 
times  just  after  the  revolution.  The  humors  of  the  popu- 
lar election,  the  absurdity  of  the  duel,  the  savage  fun  of 
tar-and-feather  justice,  false  learning  and  affected  man- 


^  Hugh  Henry  Brackenridge  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1748 ;  came  to 
America  in  1753  ;  graduated  at  Princeton,  1771 ;  went  to  Philadelphia  in 
1776,  and  became  editor  of  the  United  States  Magazine ;  removed  to 
Pittsburg  in  1781,  and  was  made  supreme  judge;  died  in  1816.  He  was 
author  of  several  books. 


288  Litei^ary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

nere,  are  well  shown  up  in  this  century-old  piece  of  Scotch 
wit  and  wisdom. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  was  on  the  throne  of  fiction  when  am- 
bitious authorship  began  to  sharpen  the  goose-quill  pen 
west  of  the  AUeghenies.  Brackenridge,  an  imitator  of  his 
great  countryman,  was  one  of  the  very  earliest  writers  of 
fiction  in  America.  The  smoke  of  the  war  of  1812  had 
lifted  before  Cooper  and  Irving  were  recognized  as  literary 
stars.  The  "  Sketch  Book  "  did  not  appear  until  1819 — 
the  "  Spy  "  until  1821. 

Those  who,  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  attempted  story-writing 
within  the  first  half  of  the  century,  usually  published 
their  efforts  in  the  literary  periodicals  and  family  newspa- 
pers. Occasionally  they  put  forth  a  book.  The  Cincin- 
nati Literary  Gazette,  in  1824,  printed  several  short 
sketches  or  stories  written  by  Benjamin  Drake,  under  the 
general  caption  of  "Leaves  from  the  Port  Folio  of  a 
Young  Backwoodsman."  The  Western  Souvenir,  the 
first  "  annual "  of  the  West,  a  dainty  volume  of  324  pages, 
bound  in  satin,  was  issued  in  Cincinnati  in  1829.  It  con- 
tains a  number  of  readable  stories,  of  which  may  be 
named  "  Oolemba  in  Cincinnati,"  by  Timothy  Flint ;  "A 
Tale  of  the  Greek  Revolution,"  by  Lewis  R.  :N'oble ;  "  The 
French  Village,"  "  The  Bachelor's  Elysium,"  "  The  Forest 
Chief,"  "  The  Billiard  Table,"  "  The  Indian  Hater,"  "  The 
Massacre,"  "  Pete  Featherton,"  by  James  Hall;  "  The  De- 
scendants of  Pangus,"  by  S.  S.  Boyd ;  and,  best  of  all, 
"  The  Last  of  the  Boatmen,"  by  Morgan  Neville.  Several 
of  these  stories  have  a  genuine  local  flavor — if  not  strictly 
indigenous  products,  they  were  at  least  cultivated  in  west- 
ern soil.  "  The  Last  of  the  Boatmen  "  is  a  study  from 
life.  "  Pete  Featherton  "  is  a  charming  Kentucky  legend, 
illustrating  the  superstition  that  a  gun  is  subject  to  evil 
spirits  and  may  be  bewitched  with  the  devil's  aid. 

The  Cincinnati  Mirror,  1831-6,  was  the  repository  of 
many  original  tales.  Mrs.  Dumont  wrote  for  it  "The 
Brothers,"  "  Gertrude  Beverly,"  and  "Ashton  Grey,"  the 
last  a  fifty-dollar  prize  story.  Thomas  H.  Shreve  contrib- 
uted the  novelettes,  "  Ellen  Landon,"  "  The  Old  and  the 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  289 

Young  Bachelor,"  "  The  Ambitious  Man,"  "  Coquetry," 
and  "  Haarlem  House."  In  the  Mirror  appeared  "  Hospi- 
tality, a  Western  Tale,"  by  Mrs.  Anna  Dinnies ;  "  Origin 
of  the  White  Indians,"  by  Mrs.  H.  S.  Haynes  ;  "  Mahweeta, 
an  Indian  Story,"  by  I.  ]N'.  McJilton ;  and  '*  Charles  Mor- 
sell,  or  the  Elopement,"  by  J.  A.  McClung,  author  of  the 
novel  "  Camden,"  and  "  Western  Sketches."  Two  stories, 
"  The  Broken-Hearted,"  and  "  The  Bereaved  Sister,"  by 
George  D.  Prentice,  were  reprinted  in  the  Mirror,  though 
not  produced  in  the  West.  The  editor  of  the  paper,  W. 
D.  Gallagher,  used  its  columns  to  utter  "  Cause  and  Effect," 
a  story  of  forgery,  and  "  The  Heiress  of  Rock  Hollow," 
an  amusing  study  of  Dutch  life,  after  the  manner  of  Ir- 
ving. Gallagher  wrote  other  works  of  imagination,  his 
most  ambitious  novel  being  "  The  Dutchman's  Daughter," 
which  ran  through  half  a  dozen  numbers  of  the  Hesper- 
ian, in  1840. 

"  The  Doomed  Wyandot,"  and  "  The  Wolf  Hunter," 
sketches  based  upon  fact,  were  contributed  by  Otway 
Curry  to  the  Hesperian.  In  the  same  magazine  appeared 
a  novel  entitled  "  The  Coquette,"  by  Miss  E.  IST.  Dupuy, 
author  of  "  The  Conspirators,"  of  which  last  24,000  copies 
were  sold.  Miss  Dupu}'  also  wrote  "  Emma  Walton," 
"  Celeste,"  "  Florence,  or  the  Fatal  Vow,"  and  other  popu- 
lar tales.     She  lived  in  Augusta,  Ky. 

Hall's  Western  Monthly  Magazine,  1833-7,  made  itself 
the  literary  organ  of  its  period,  especially  in  poetry  and 
fiction.  The  editor  published  several  of  his  own  stories 
in  it,  and  gave  prominence  to  sketches  and  tales  by  Mrs. 
Caroline  Lee  Hentz,  and  Miss  Harriet  Beecher.^  Rev. 
James  H.  Perkins,  the  author  of  "  Western  Annals,"  who 
was  not  only  an  accurate  historian  and  good  poet,  but  a 
graceful  story-teller,  contributed  to  Hall's  Magazine  and 
The  Western  Messenger  a  number  of  vigorous  tales,  a  few 
of  which  msiy  be  found  in  W.  H.  Channing's  "  Memoir 
and  Writings  of  James  H.  Perkins."     Among  the  titles 

1  See  Chapter  XII. 
19 


I 
290  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

are  "  Dora  McCrae,"  "  The  Hypochondriac,"  "  The  Judge's 
Hunt,"  "  The  Murderer's  Daughter,"  "  The  Lost  Child," 
and  "  The  Hole  in  My  Pocket,"  the  last  a  decided  "  hit," 
and  not  unlike  in  style  to  the  prudential  writings  of  Poor 
Richard. 

Highly  esteemed  by  the  readers  and  critics  of  fifty  years 
ago,  were  the  novels  of  Frederick  W.  Thomas,  son  of  E. 
S.  Thomas,  author  of  "  Keminiscences  of  the  Last  Sixty- 
five  Years."  F.  W.  Thomas  was  born  in  South  Carolina 
in  1811.  With  his  father's  family  he  came  to  Cincinnati 
in  1829.  His  brother  Lewis  and  his  sister  Martha  are 
recognized  as  talented  writers.  A  younger  brother,  Cal- 
vin W.  Thomas,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Cincinnati,  also 
has  a  literary  turn,  and  takes  much  interest  in  matters  of 
general  culture.  The  novels  of  F.  W.  Thomas  are  among 
the  first,  hailing  from  the  West,  that  were  given  origin- 
ally to  the  public  in  book  form.  "  Clinton  Bradshaw," 
the  adventures  of  a  lawyer,  at  the  bar  and  in  politics,  was 
published  in  1835,  at  Philadelphia,  and  republished,  in 
1848,  at  Cincinnati.  In  1836  appeared  "  East  and  West," 
a  lively  story,  introducing  scenery  and  incidents,  vividly 
colored,  from  real  life.  *'  Howard  Pinckney,"  also  a  de- 
lineation of  society  as  it  was,  came  out  in  1837.  Mr. 
Thomas  deserves  mention,  also,  for  the  reputation  he 
achieved  as  orator  and  poet.  His  descriptive  and  narra- 
tive poem,  "  The  Emigrant,  or  Eeflections  when  Descend- 
ing the  Ohio,"  dedicated  to  Charles  Hammond,  and  pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form  in  1833,  was  popular,  and  is  still 
quoted.  More  admired  was  the  versatile  author's  love- 
lyric,  "'Tis  Said  that  Absence  Conquers  Love,"  a  song 
familiar  to  the  beaux  and  belles  of  a  generation  not  yet 
all  gone. 

Benjamin  Drake's  "  Tales  and  Sketches  of  the  Queen 
City,"  a  volume  long  out  of  print,  was  published  in  1839. 
The  student  of  pioneer  life  will  find  much  to  entertain 
him  in  the  thirteen  sketches  that  make  up  the  contents  of 
this  simple  volume,  namely,  "  The  Queen  City,"  "  The 
Novice  of  Cahokia,"  "  Putting  a  Black-leg  on  Shore," 
**  The  Baptism,"  "  The  Yankee  Colporteur,"  "  The  Grave 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  291 

of  Rosalie,"  "  The  Burial  by  Moonlight,"  "A  Kentucky 
Election,"  "A  Visit  to  the  Blue  Licks,"  "Trying  on  a 
Shoe,"  "  The  Battle  of  Brindle  and  the  Buckeyes,"  "  The 
Buried  Canoe,"  and  "  The  Flag  Bearer." 

The  decade  beginning  about  the  year  1845  was  prolific  of 
light  and  sensational  fiction,  the  general  demand  for  which, 
in  the  West,  was  largely  supplied  by  ephemeral  magazines 
and  semi-literary  weekly  newspapers.  The  Louisville 
Journal,  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  and  Great  West, 
afterward  Columbian  and  Great  West,  devoted  hundreds 
of  columns  to  exciting  tales  and  romances — serials  con- 
tinued from  week  to  week  for  months.  This  was  the 
golden,  or  at  least  the  gilded,  age  of  what  came  to  be 
called  "  Yaller  Kivers,"  the  seed-time  and  the  early  har- 
vest day  of  the  "  Blood  and  Thunder "  novelists,  chief 
among  whom  were  Emerson  Bennett  and  E.  C.  Z.  Judson. 
Both  these,  though  eastern  men,  made  western  experience 
a  stirring  episode  in  their  lives.  The  phase  of  intellectual 
development  which  they  represent  is  curious,  and  their 
literary  adventures  in  the  Ohio  Valley  are  not  without 
interest. 

Emerson  Bennett  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Massachusetts, 
March  16,  1822.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  ran  away 
from  his  country  home,  and  led  a  wandering  life,  "  seeing 
the  world "  and  seeking  adventures.  In  1840  he  settled 
in  Kew  York  city,  where  he  tried  his  genius  by  various 
attempts  in  art  and  poetry.  He  published  a  versified 
story  called  "  The  Brigand,"  which  was  ridiculed  by  re- 
viewers. In  the  winter  of  1843  he  went  to  Philadelphia, 
and  became  a  contributor  to  the  Dollar  N'ewspaper.  That 
paper  having  oftered  a  prize  for  the  best  story  forwarded 
to  the  editor  within  a  given  time,  Bennett  entered  the 
competitive  field,  and  produced  his  first  novelette,  a  ro- 
mance named  "  The  Unknown  Countess,"  which  did  not 
win  the  premium. 

While  in  Philadelphia,  the  young  romancer  fell  in  love. 
A  quarrel  with  his  sweetheart  caused  Bennett  to  leave  tne 
Quaker  City.  He  journeyed  to  Baltimore,  and  thence  to 
Pittsburg  and  on  down  the  Ohio,  arriving  at  Cincinnati  in 


292  Literary  Culture  .in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

the  spring  of  1844.  For  temporary  subsisteilce,  he  re- 
sorted to  selling  a  patent  stamp  for  marking  linen.  His 
mode  of  life  was  Bohemian ;  he  slept  in  the  cheapest 
lodgings,  and  did  not  disdain  the  luxury  of  free  luncheon 
and  a  glass  of  beer.  One  day,  in  his  wanderings,  he 
chanced  upon  the  office  of  the  Western  Literary  Journal, 
a  magazine  edited  by  E.  C.  Z.  Judson.  Bennett  offered  for 
publication  what  he  describes  as  a  "  hastily  written  sketch, 
literally  written  for  bread,"  but  it  was  rejected.  The 
management,  however,  favored  him  with  an  agency  to 
take  subscribers  for  the  Journal.  L.  A.  Hine  was  at  that 
time  connected  with  the  journal,  and  he  took  a  very  warm 
interest  in  young  Bennett,  who  frankly  told  to  this  new 
friend  the  story  of  his  fortunes  and  misfortunes. 

Bennett  made  a  tour  through  Ohio,  soliciting  subscribers 
for  the  Literary  Journal,  and  returned  to  the  city  after  a 
lapse  of  several  months.  While  sitting  in  a  restaurant  one 
day,  he  heard  a  stranger  mention  the  title  of  his  story, 
"  The  Unknown  Countess,"  contributed  to  the  Dollar 
Newspaper  in  Philadelphia.  The  tale,  printed  after  long 
delay,  had  been  copied  into  the  Cincinnati  Commercial, 
then  edited  by  L.  G.  Curtiss.  Elated  at  the  discovery  of 
these  facts,  Bennett  sought  Mr.  Hine,  who  immediately 
went  with  him  to  the  Commercial  office  and  introduced 
him  to  Curtiss.  An  interview  led  to  an  offer  by  the  news- 
paper to  pay  Bennett  a  small  sum  for  an  original  western 
story.  The  offer  was  gladly  accepted,  and  the  composition 
of  a  "thrilling"  romance  was  at  once  begun.  Some  of 
the  chapters  were  written  in  the  Commercial  office,  in  hot 
haste^  to  meet  the  importunate  demand  for  "  copy."  In 
1846,  Bennett  wrote  for  the  Commercial  a  novel  called 
**  The  League  of  the  Miami,"  and  a  year  or  two  after  he 
wrpte  the  "  Bandits  of  the  Osage."  The  latter  was  pub- 
Ibhed  in  book  form  by  Robinson  &  Jones,  and  five  thou- 
sand copies  were  sold.  This  success  was  followed  by 
other  ventures  and  successes.  Several  of  Bennett's  novels 
were  published  by  U.  P.  James.  Among  these  were 
"  Prairie  Flower"  and  "  Leni  Leoti,"  each  of  which  had  a 
circulation  of  about  a  hundred  thousand  copies !     I  was 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  293 

told  recently,  in  Lancaster,  Ohio,  that  Bennett's  "  Forest 
Rose,"  the  scene  of  which  centers  in  a  cave  near  that  city, 
is  issued,  in  occasional  small  editions,  from  a  newspaper 
office,  to  supply  the  local  demand. 

In  1846,  in  partnership  with  one  J.  H.  Green,  otherwise 
identified  as  "  the  reformed  gambler,"  Bennett  conducted, 
for  nine  months,  a  small  literary  paper,  the  Casket,  pub- 
lished at  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana.  To  this  paper  the  Gary 
sisters  contributed,  as  did  also  Goates  Kinney,  under  a 
pseudonym. 

Bennett  wrote  stories  and  poems  for  Hine's  Journal  and 
Review,  and  for  the  Herald  of  Truth.  He  became  one 
of  the  editors  of  the  Columbian  and  Great  West.  He  re- 
turned to  the  East  in  1850.  At  present  he  resides  in 
Philadelphia,  and  is  busily  engaged  in  producing  charac- 
teristic stories,  scores  of  which  have  appeared  in  print. 
In  a  letter  dated  August  9,  1881,  he  writes :  "  Of  course  I 
am  hurried  with  literary  work — have  always  been  hur- 
ried, ever  since  I  entered  this  field  of  labor  between  thirty- 
five  and  forty  years  ago."  Criticism  can  not  assign  to 
Bennett  a  very  high  rank  in  authorship,  yet  let  it  be  ad- 
mitted, in  justice  to  him,  that  he  has  shown  a  surprising 
power  of  interesting  the  "lower  million,"  and  that  with- 
out abandoning  pure  moral  standards.  There  are  grave 
and  respectable  ladies  and  gentlemen,  not  of  the  "  lower 
million,"  who,  if  put  to  the  confessional,  must  own  that 
there  was  a  time  when,  lured  by  the  "  Prairie  Flower,"  or 
"  The  Forest  Rose,"  or  "  Kate  Clarendon,"  or  the  "Artist's 
Bride,"  or  the  "  Outlaw's  Daughter,"  they  followed  the 
complicated  plot,  sympathizing  in  the  romantic  adventures 
of  brave  young  heroes,  lovely  orphan  heiresses,  impossible 
Indians,  mixed  up  with  love  and  prairie-fire,  and  the 
sharp  crack  of  a  rifle,  with  robbers  and  panthers,  in 
woods  and  caverns,  by  land  and  w^ater,  in  city  or  solitude, 
to  the  breathless  end  of  the  last  chapter,  in  which  the 
villain  is  slain,  and  the  lost  bride  is  restored  to  her  happy 
lover. 

The  sojourn  of  Judson,  "  ^N'ed  Buntline,"  in  the  West, 
was  not  so  protracted  as  that  of  Bennett,  but  it  occurred 


294  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

in  the  same  period.  Edward  Z.  C.  Judson  was  born  in 
New  York  in  1823.  He  ran  away  from  home  at  the  age 
of  twelve,  and  joined  the  navy.  He  fought  seven  duels 
with  midshipmen,  thus  persuading  them  to  admit  him  to 
a  social  equality  with  them.  Such  a  bloody  beginning 
corresponds  well  with  the  later  exploits  of  the  man,  who, 
a  colonel  in  the  civil  war,  had  the  honor  of  receiving 
twenty  wounds !  The  young  seaman's  naval  experience 
perhaps  furnished  the  basis  for  his  first  story,  "  The  Cap- 
tain's Pig,"  which  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine  accepted 
and  published,  in  1838.  This  and  other  contributions  to 
the  same  periodical  gave  Judson  a  start  in  literature. 
Sometime  in  1844,  he  came  to  Cincinnati,  and  in  ]S"ovem- 
ber  of  that  year  joined  Lucius  A.  Hine  and  Hudson  A. 
Kidd  in  establishing  the  Western  Literary  Journal  and 
Monthly  Review.  The  first  two  numbers  were  issued 
from  Cincinnati;  the  third  and  subsequent  numbers  were 
published  at  Nashville,  and  the  word  South-western  was 
substituted  for  Western  in  the  title.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  Judson  began  the  publication,  at  Paducah,  Ken- 
tacky,  of  the  celebrated  story-paper  called  "Ned  Bunt- 
line's  Own."  While  in  Nashville  he  was  involved  in  a 
social  scandal,  ending  in  his  killing  a  man  who,  in  a 
jealous  rage,  had  shot  at  him.  Judson  seems  to  have 
been  mobbed,  and,  jumping  from  the  second-story  window 
of  a  hotel,  was  much  bruised,  and  was  hastened  to  a 
steamer,  which  carried  him  to  Pittsburg,  where  his 
family  resided. 

The  following  letter  from  Colonel  Judson  gives  some 
interesting  personal  facts : 

"Headquarters  "Ned  Buntline," 
"Eagle's  Nest,  Stamford,  N.  Y.,  April  10,  1885. 
"Dear  Sir: — Your  very  kind  note  of  information  and 
inquiry  received.  After  resigning  from  the  U.  S.  Navy, 
encouraged  by  successful  contribution  to  the  Knicker- 
bocker Magazine  in  New  York,  I  turned  to  literature  as  a 
means  of  support.  In  1844  and  '45,  I  spent  a  portion  of 
my  time  in  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  for  a  year 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers.  295 

or  more  edited  the  magazine  you  speak  of.  It  was  not  a 
financial  success,  though  it  had  some  excellent  contribu- 
tors— W.  D.  Gallagher,  Cist,  I  think,  and  Albert  Pike. 
My  associations  with  Gallagher,  Amelia  B.  Welby,  Geo. 
D.  Prentice,  and  Tom  Shreve  are  among  the  most  delight- 
ful of  my  memories. 

"  I  have  little  to  write  about  myself.  I  detest  auto- 
biography. If  a  man  has  lived  to  merit  it,  his  life  will 
live  after  him,  and  be  written  by  those  who  appreciated 
him.  The  early  struggles  of  a  literary  man  are  only  in- 
teresting to  himself,  and  success  only  wipes  away  their 
bitter  memories. 

"  In  my  own  case  I  found  that  to  make\a  living  I  must  write 
"  trash  "  for  the  masses,  for  he  who  endeavors  to  write  for 
the  critical  few,  and  do  his  genius  justice,  will  go  hungry 
if  he  has  no  other  means  of  support.     Is  it  not  so  ? 
"Yours  ever  truly, 

'^E.  Z.  C.  JUDSON." 

Another  letter  from  Judson,  dated  May  4,  1885, 
says  :  "  Emerson  Bennett  wrote  his  first  sketch  for  me, 
and,  with  many  corrections,  it  was  put  in  print.  Hudson 
A.  Kidd  was  a  nephew  of  General  Zollicoffer,  of  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  with  more  ambition  than  talent.  I  have 
an  idea  "  The  Mysteries  and  Miseries  of  New  York  "  was 
my  most  successful  book.  In  four  editions  100,000  copies 
were  sold,  and  it  had  to  be  stereotyped  here ;  was  repub- 
lished in  England,  France,  and  Denmark.  Authorship 
has  given  me  a  comfortable  living  and  a  good  home  for 
my  old  age." 

According  to  Appleton's  Cyclopedia  of  Biography, 
Judson's  income  was  said  to  be  $120,000  a  year. 

Judson  died  in  the  summer  of  1886,  and  of  many 
obituary  notices  of  him,  none  is  more  appreciative  than 
that  which  appeared  in  the  Chicago  Current,  sentences 
from  which  I  quote  : 

"  So  '  Ned  Buntline  '  is  dead  !  Lives  there  a  boy  with 
soul  so- dead — or  lives  there  any  man  who  was  once  a  boy 


296  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

with  soul  80  dead — that  this  announcement  will  not  afflict 
him  ?  These  wonderful  stringers-of-it-out — when  they 
die,  do  we  not  owe  them  a  death-notice  like  unto  that 
which  we  give  to  the  great  dead  ?  Reader,  has  not  your 
heart  beaten  fast  to  the  imaginings  of  this  wonderful 
writer,  whose  heart  now  throbs  no  more?  Can  we  not  all 
look  back  into  the  early  years  of  life,  when  the  lad  sat 
bent  over  the  dining-table,  Ned  Buntline  in  hand,  push- 
ing the  book  under  the  evening  lamp,  eyes  starting  from 
sockets,  and  ears  hearing  the  sounds  of  the  tavern-keeper 
and  his  son,  while  those  worthies  were  digging  the  grave 
in  the  garden  where  the  guest  (whom  they  thought  asleep 
upstairs  within  doors)  was  to  be  buried?  How  hard  it 
was  for  that  lad  to  breathe  while  the  tavern-keeper 
stealthily  approached  the  bed  and  killed  his  own  kinsman 
in  mistake  for  the  wayfarer!  Truly,  it  was  a  night  of 
horror!     We  all  shall  never  forget  it !  " 

The  sensational  novel,'* New  York:  Its  Upper  Ten  and 
Lower  Million,"  by  George  Lippard,  though  not  written 
in  the  West,  was  published  in  Cincinnati  about  the  year 
1854. 

William  W.  Fosdick's  romantic  story,  "  Malmiztic,  the 
Toltec,  and  the  Cavaliers  of  the  Cross,"  the  fruit  of  the 
author's  travels  in  Mexico,  was  published  in  1851. 
Though  criticized  justly  for  cumbersome  eloquence  of 
style  and  excessive  ornamentation,  the  novel  is  conceded 
to  have  great  merit  as  a  work  of  imagination,  and  much 
truth  in  its  historical  and  descriptive  passages.  It  was  a 
worthy  forerunner  of  Wallace's  "  Fair  God."  Fosdick's 
performance  was  extravagantly  praised  in  some  quarters 
and  unmercifully  ridiculed  in  other.  The  genial  poet's 
familiar  friends  and  boon  companions  would  sometimes 
rally  him  with  the  exclamation,  "  Malmiztic,  the  Toltec, 
by  Fostec,  the  Aztec."  Notwithstanding  its  defects,  the 
book  was  written  in  the  spirit  of  true  art,  and  was  an  ex- 
periment in  the  upward  direction. 

The  several  stories  and  novels  written  by  Alice  Gary, 
"  Clovernook,"  1851;  "Hagar,  a  Story  of  To-day ,."  1852; 


Pioneer  Poets  and  Story-  Writers,  297 

"Clovernook  Children,"  1854;  "Married,  not  Mated," 
1856 ;  and  '^  The  Bishop's  Son,"  1867,  are  drawn  with  a 
skill  so  clever  that  they  attracted  praise  from  the  most 
cultivated  readers  of  America  and  England. 

Mrs.  Catherine  Warfield's  "  The  Household  of  Bouverie," 
published  in  1860,  a  romance  of  remarkable  power, 
showed  the  reading  world  that  Kentucky  had  a  novelist 
whose  talents  were  of  a  noble  order,  and  near  akin  to 
genius. 

Mention  is  made,  on  a  preceding  page,  of  Mrs.  Stowe's 
literary  work  in  Cincinnati.  Coming  to  Walnut  Hills  be- 
fore her  iharriage,  Harriet  Beecher  exercised  her  awaken- 
ing genius  by  writing  sketches  and  stories  for  Western 
magazines.  She  was  an  active  member  of  the  "  Semi- 
Colon  Club,"  of  the  Queen  City,  and  dedicated  her  first 
volume,  "  The  Mayflower,"  to  that  society.  A  residence 
of  eighteen  years  in  Cincinnati,  when  the  slavery  excite- 
ment was  at  white  heat,  gave  her  much  of  the  material 
out  of  which  was  afterward  shaped  her  masterwork.  She 
visited  Kentucky  in  1833,  and,  as  her  autobiography  dis- 
tinctly says,  she  witnessed  there,  and  in  her  own  house, 
scenes  and  incidents  that  were  embodied  in  the  story  of 
"  Uncle  Tom."  That  famous  novel,  which  Mrs.  Cone 
happily  characterizes  as  a  "  shot  heard  round  the  world," 
was  published,  in  book  form,  in  1852,  after  its  appearance 
as  a  serial  in  Dr.  Gamaliel  Bailey's  National  Era^  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  Though  no  part  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  " 
was  actually  written  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  the  novel  is,  in  a 
true  sense,  a  Western  product. 

NOTE. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  I  have  met  with  many  other  works  of 
fiction  produced  in  the  Ohio  Valley  before  the  year  1860.  The  follow- 
ing titles  may  be  interesting : 

"  Carrero ;  or,  The  Prime  Minister."     1842.    Edmund  Flagg. 

"  Francis  of  Valois."     1843.     Edmund  Flagg. 

"  Mrs.  Ben  Darby ;  or,  The  Weal  and  Woe  of  Social  Life."  Cincin- 
nati, 1853.     Mrs.  Maria  Collins. 

"Drayton  ;  an  American  Tale."     1851.    Thomas  H.  Shreve. 

"  Life's  Lesson  ;  a  Novel."    1855.     Martha  M.  Thomas. 


298  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"Zoe;  or,  The  Quadroon's  Triumph."  Cincinnati,  1856.  Mrs,  E.  D. 
Livermore. 

"  The  Old  Corner  Cupboard."    Cincinnati,  1856.    Susan  B.  Jewett. 

"Emma  Bartlett;  or,  Prejudice  and  Fanaticism."  Cincinnati,  1856. 
Anonymous. 

"  Mabel ;  or,  Heart  Histories."    Columbus,  1859.    Rosella  Rice. 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  299 


CHAPTER  X. 

DR.  DANIEL  DRAKE,  THE   FRANKLIN  OF  CINCINNATI. 

A  year  and  a  half  before  Rufus  Putnam,  with  his  col- 
ony of  Ohio's  founders,  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mus- 
kingum ;  three  years  before  the  founders  of  Cincinnati 
landed  at  Yeatman's  Cove,  Daniel  Drake  was  born,  Octo- 
ber 20,  1785.  He  was  a  toddling  baby,  in  his  fourth  year, 
when  George  Washington  rode  from  Mount  Yernon  to 
!N'ew  York,  the  ^N'ational  Capital,  to  be  inaugurated  Presi- 
dent, on  the  balcony  of  Federal  Hall. 

Drake  was  born  in  I^ew  Jersey.  His  parents  were  poor, 
and  while  Daniel  was  an  infant  they  moved  West,  hoping 
to  better  their  fortunes,  and  located  in  the  woods  near 
Maysville,  Kentucky.  The  family  made  their  temporary 
abode  in  a  reconstructed  sheep-cote.  This  was  changed 
for  a  cabin,  built  on  a  hillside  in  such  a  way  that  under 
one  end  of  it  sheep  were  sheltered  and  protected  from  the 
wolves.  Sometimes  the  young  lambs  were  carried  into 
the  cabin  and  warmed,  like  the  children,  before  the  blazing 
logs  of  the  big  fire-place.  The  small  farm  which  Isaac 
Drake  tilled  was  an  island  of  "  clearing  "  in  a  sea  of  for- 
est. The  family  lived  primitively,  frugally,  close  to  mother 
earth  and  her  wholesome  realities.  The  seasons'  changing 
altered  the  tasks.  Out  of  doors  the  boy  Daniel  learned 
to  use  the  ax,  the  plow,  the  hoe ;  he  learned  to  take  care 
of  domestic  animals,  to  yoke  oxen,  to  harness  and  drive 
horses.  The  backwoods  farmer  depended  upon  no  "  mid- 
dle men  "  to  supply  his  wants.  Food  he  dug  from  the 
ground,  or  shot  in  the  woods,  or  caught  with  a  hook  in 
the  stream.  Butter,  cheese,  soap,  candles,  were  manufac- 
tured by  the  housewife.  Shoes  were  cobbled  at  home  on 
a  home-made  last.  Wool  was  carded  and  spun  and  woven 
into  garments  at  home.     The  bark  of  the  butternut  fur- 


800  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

nished  dyestuff ;  oak-bark  and  copperas  aftbrded  ink  ;  the 
pen  was  a  goose-quill,  and  the  blots  on  the  paper  were  ab- 
sorbed by  a  sprinkling  of  sand.  Young  Drake  learned 
not  only — 

"  To  plow  and  to  sow,  to  reap  and  to  mow, 
And  be  a  farmer's  boy  ;" 

he  did  "  chores  "  at  the  house  and  the  barn,  the  yard  and 
the  garden.  He  could  weave  and  churn,  or  help  his 
mother  make  soap,  cheese,  and  "  root-beer."  Like  Lin- 
coln, he  spent  most  of  his  boyhood  out-of-doors,  and  was 
educated  by  "  sight,  scent,  and  hearing."  Perhaps  he  was 
born  under  the  influence  of  some  scientific  star,  for  it  came 
natural  to  him  to  observe  and  note  physical  facts  and  phe- 
nomena. What  his  quick  senses  perceived  his  memor}^  held 
in  firm  grasp  and  his  reason  and  imagination  digested. 
"Whatever  he  had  once  seen  or  heard  he  never  forgot.  Shut 
oflT  from  access  to  books,  he  was  drawn  to  study  objects 
and  to  reach  general  conclusions  by  a  slow  process,  but  he 
escaped  the  disadvantages  that  often  accompany  the  arti- 
ficiality of  early  reading.  Words  did  not  betray  him  by 
passing  for  things. 

The  "tongues  in  trees"  and  "  books  in  running  brooks," 
were  not  his  only  teachers.  The  Bible  and  ^sop's  Fables 
and  the  Life  of  Franklin  were  in  his  father's  cabin ;  he 
read  the  history  of  Montellion  in  the  line  of  romance,  and 
Darwin's  Botanic  Garden  in  the  line  of  poetry. 

Several  school-masters,  in  brief  turns,  helped  the  lad 
from  Dillworth's  spelling-book  to  the  middle  of  arithmetic. 
One  of  these  pioneer  pedagogues  kept  school  within  the 
walls  of  a  still-house.  Daniel's  last  and  best  teacher — 
Master  Smith — gave  him  some  insight  into  the  elements 
of  natural  science  by  way  of  preparing  him  to  study 
medicine.  This  was  in  1800,  when  the  youth  was  only 
fifteen.  Fifty  years  afterward  he  wrote  to  his  grandchil- 
dren :  "  My  greatest  acquisition  was  some  knowledge  of 
surveying.  Of  grammar  I  knew  nothing,  and,  unfor- 
tunately, there  was  no  one  within  my  reach  who  could 
teach  it." 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  301 

When  the  pioneers  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  on 
in  the  world,  they  hailed  an  Ohio  river  boat  and  got  on 
board.  Every  type  of  men,  and  all  sorts  of  knowledge, 
rode  on  the  barges  that  floated  down  or  were  poled  up  the 
great  rivers.  It  was  on  the  deck  of  a  boat  that  Isaac 
Drake  fell  into  conversation  with  one  Dr.  William  Goforth, 
of  Cincinnati.  The  conversation  resulted  in  the  deter- 
mination that  Daniel  should  go  to  the  city  and  study 
medicine. 

Cheered  by  the  good  wishes  of  friends  and  neighbors, 
and  warned  to  shun  the  evil  allurements  of  gay  Fort 
Washington,  in  the  town  of  "  Cin,"  or  Sin,  as  the  Queen 
City  was  called  dubiously,  the  excited  boy,  accompanied 
by  his  father  and  a  Mr.  Johnson,  made  the  journey  on 
horseback,  from  Maysville,  in  three  days.  The  following 
description  of  Doctor  Goforth's  residence  and  its  vicinity 
was  given  by  Daniel  Drake  in  1852  : 

"  East  of  the  fort,  on  the  upper  plain,  the  trunks  of 
trees  w^ere  still  lying  on  the  ground.  A  single  house  had 
been  built  by  Dr.  Allison,  where  the  Lytle  house  ^  now 
stands,  and  a  field  of  several  acres  stretched  off  to  the 
east  and  north.  On  my  arrival  this  was  the  residence  of 
my  preceptor.  The  dry  corn  stalks  of  early  winter  were 
still  standing  near  the  door.  But  Dr.  Allison  had  planted 
peach  trees,  and  it  was  known  throughout  the  village  as 
Peach  Grove.  The  field  extended  to  the  bank  of  Deer 
creek.  Thence  all  was  deep  wood.  Where  the  munifi- 
cent expenditures  of  I^icholas  Longworth,  Esq.,^  have  col- 
lected the  beautiful  exotics  of  all  climates — on  the  very 
spot  where  the  people  now  go  to  watch  the  unfolding  of 
the  night-blooming  cereus — grew  the  redbud,  crab-apple, 
and  gigantic  tulip-tree,  or  yellow  poplar,  with  wild  birds 

^  The  Lytle  mansion,  built  in  1809  by  General  Wm.  Lytle,  still  stands 
(No.  66  Lawrence  street),  and  is  one  of  the  landmarks  of  early  Cincin- 
nati. It  was  the  home  of  General  Robert  Lytle,  and  of  his  distinguished 
son.  General  W.  H.  Lytle,  the  poet ;  and  is  now  occupied  by  a  daughter 
of  General  Robert  Lytle,  Mrs.  Josephine  Foster.  Adjoining  the  Lytle 
lot  is  the  old  Washington  McLean  homestead,  where  General  Grant  was 
entertained  in  1877.     This  is  now  a  conservatory  of  music. 

'  Now  the  David  Sinton  residence,  on  Pike  street. 


302  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

above  and  native  flowers  below.  "Where  the  catawba  and 
Herbemont  now  swing  down  their  heavy  clusters,  the 
climbing  water-vine  hung  its  small  sour  bunches  from  the 
limbs  of  high  trees.  The  adjoining  valley  of  Deer  creek, 
down  which,  by  a  series  of  locks,  the  canal  from  Lake 
Erie  mingles  its  waters  with  the  Ohio,  was  then  a  recepta- 
cle for  drift-wood  from  the  backwater  of  that  river  when 
high.  The  boys  ascended  the  little  estuary  in  canoes, 
during  June  floods,  and  pulled  flowers  from  the  lower 
limbs  of  the  trees,  or  threw  clubs  at  the  turtles  as  they 
sunned  themselves  on  the  floating  logs.  In  the  whole 
valley  there  was  but  a  single  house,  and  that  was  a  dis- 
tillery !  The  narrow  road  which  led  to  it  from  the  gar- 
rison— and,  I  am  sorry  to  add,  from  the  village,  also — was 
well  trodden." 

Dr.  Drake  has  left  us  a  piquant  short  history  of  his  ec- 
centric preceptor,  Dr.  Goforth.  Mobbed,  with  other  stu- 
dents, in  New  York  city,  for  the  alleged  offense  of  dissect- 
ing human  subjects,  Goforth  left  the  East  and  came  to  Cin- 
cinnati in  1800.  He  was  the  first,  it  is  claimed,  to  practice 
vaccination  in  the  West,  and  Drake  was  the  first  person  he 
vaccinated.  Violently  opposed  to  bleeding,  he  would  not 
80  much  as  allow  his  pupils  to  read  books  advocating  the 
use  of  the  lancet.  Inventive,  but  visionary,  he  devised  a 
wonderful  plan  to  clarify  ginseng  for  the  Chinese  market. 
One  of  his  schemes,  on  which  much  time  and  money  were 
spent,  was  to  extract  silver  and  gold  from  the  earths  of 
the  Ohio  Valley;  and  he  had  emissaries  who  sought  in 
the  woods  for  the  precious  ores,  aided  by  the  potent  di- 
vining rod.  At  least  one  of  his  wizards  professed  to  use 
a  magic-glass,  through  which  he  could  peer  into  the  very 
caverns  of  the  gnomes,  a  thousand  .feet  below  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  The  versatile  doctor  had  a  propensity  for 
Natural  history,  and  he  obtained  from  Big  Bone  Lick,  at 
enormous  expense  and  trouble,  the  skeleton  of  a  mam- 
moth, which  he  intrusted  to  an  English  impostor,  one 
Thomas  Ashe,  who  ran  away  with  the  gigantic  specimen 
and  sold  it  for  his  own  benefit. 

When   the  War  of  1812  broke  out,  Goforth  went  to 


Dr,  Daniel  Drake,  303 

Louisiana,  as  army  surgeon.     In  1814  he  returned,  with 
his  family,  on  a  flat-boat,  being  eight  months  on  the  way 
from  Kew  Orleans  to  Cincinnati.    He  died  inj^817.    Scru-    i 
filllous  in  dress^Jiewore  elegant  gloves,  powdered  his  hair,    M. 
aiid,^rried  agoId^Headed  cane.     His  manner  was  digni^ 
fied,  if  not  pompous ;  but  he  was  the  soul  of  kindness  and 
courtesy,  and  was  loved  and  esteemed  by  every  body. 

Such  was  young  Drake's  instructor  in  the  rudiments  of 
medical  science.  Teacher  and  pupil  agreed  so  well  that 
they  formed  a  partnership.  The  junior  member  of  the 
firm  was  honored  with  a  diploma  from  the  senior,  who 
seems  to  have  taken  upon  himself  the  function  of  a  med- 
ical college.  But  Drake  was  desirous  of  fuller  informa- 
tion, and  ambitious  of  higher  honors.  The  fame  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  had  reached 
his  ears.  To  that  excellent  medical  school  he  went  in 
J^ovember,  1805.  "Writing  home  he  said  :  "  I  learn  all  T 
can,  I  try  not  to  lose  a  single  moment,  seeing  I  have  to 
pay  so  dear  for  leave  to  stay  in  the  city  a  few  months." 
Again  he  wrote  :  ''  I  sleep  only  six  hours  in  the  twenty- 
four,  and,  when  awake,  try  never  to  lose  a  moment.  I 
had  not  money  enough  to  take  a  ticket  at  the  Hospital 
Library,  and  therefore  had  to  borrow  books." 

lieturning  to  the  West,  Dr.  Drake  located  for  a  time  at 
Mayslick,  Kentucky,  and  then  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
where  he  settled,  and  soon  had  a  good  practice.  He 
presently  joined  a  young  men's  debating  club,  where  he 
"  ventilated  his  intellectual  fires  "  in  discussion  with  the 
rising  men  of  the  village,  among  whom  may  be  named 
John  McLean,  afterward  supreme  judge ;  Joseph  G.  Tot- 
ten,  who  became  chief  engineer  in  the  army ;  and  Thomas 
S.  Jesup,  the  quartermaster-general. 

In  the  autumn  of  1807,  the  young  doctor  was  married 
to  Miss  Harriet  Sisson,  niece  and  adopted  daughter  of 
Colonel  Jared  Mansfield,  of  "  Ludlow  Station."  Mans- 
field was  surveyor-general  for  the  North-western  Terri- 
tory. His  son,  E.  D.  Mansfield,  became  very  intimate 
with  Drake,  and  in  1855  wrote  his  "  Life." 

Daniel  Drake,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  established  in 


804  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

his  profession  and  contented  in  his  domestic  relations,  be- 
gan the  long  series  of  practical  and  varied  labors  which 
preserve  his  name  from  forgetfulness,  and  which  will  be 
more  appreciated  in  the  future  than  they  have  been  hith- 
erto. So  many  good  works  did  he  undertake,  so  much 
did  he  accomplish,  so  effectually  did  he  stimulate  exertion 
in  others,  both  friends  and  enemies,  that  I  think  he  may 
be  called  with  propriety  the  Franklin  of  Cincinnati.  Much 
of  what  he  did  for  this  western  metropolis  reminds  us  of 
the  philosopher  who  aided  in  founding  the  early  institu- 
tions of  Philadelphia. 

In  1810,  Dr.  Drake  published  the  first  essay  in  medical 
literature  that  appeared  in  Cincinnati.  This  was  a  pam- 
phlet of  sixty  pages,  bearing  the  title,  "  [NTotices  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Its  Topography,  Climate  and  Diseases."  It  was 
printed  at  the  office  of  Rev.  John  W.  Browne,  and  the 
type  was  set  by  Sacket  Reynolds.  From  this  rare  pam- 
phlet we  learn  that,  in  1809,  the  number  of  houses  in 
Cincinnati  was  360,  the  population  2,320  souls,  "  of  which 
number  1,127  are  males,  1,013  females,  and  80  are  ne- 
groes.'* *'  The  number  of  persons  over  forty-five  years  of 
age  is  184."  "  The  dress  of  our  inhabitants  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  Middle  States." 

The  call  for  copies  of  Drake's  "  N'otices  "  induced  the 
author  to  enlarge  his  design  and  make  a  more  complete 
handbook.  In  1815  appeared  the  "  ISTatural  and  Statistical 
View,  or  Picture  of  Cincinnati."  This,  in  some  features, 
was  patterned  after  the  "Picture  of  Philadelphia,"  an 
eastern  publication  issued  some  years  previously.  The 
"Picture  of  Cincinnati"  is  a  sturdy  little  book,  and  has 
held  its  own  for  more  than  three-score  years  and  ten,  and 
is  instinct  with  life  and  vigor  yet.  Like  Flint's  "Ten 
Years  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  it  was  written  without 
the  help  of  other  books.  The  author,  unaided,  gathered 
his  facts  at  first  hand.  Here  is  one  man  against  the 
wilderness — a  man  without  much  scientific  reading  or 
method,  and  very  mistrustful  of  his  grammar,  but  with 
most  inquisitive  eyes,  ears,  nose,  mouth  and  fingers.  He 
starts  his  investigation  at  his  own  door,  and  pursues  it  in 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  305 

all  his  walks,  rides,  conversation  and  letters.  With  what 
avidity  he  gathers,  assorts,  arranges,  and  interprets  his 
material !  How  completely  and  vividly  he  observes  and 
reports  I  In  this  book  are  bits  of  clear  description  that 
must  have  been  written  on  the  spot — spontaneographs. 
Drake's  statements  are  invariably  simple  and  earnest. 
His  botany  is  tonic — it  tastes  of  ginseng,  snake-root  and 
cherry-bark.  As  his  particulars  accumulate  and  his  views 
enlarge,  he  suggests  a  general  law  or  an  ingenious  theory. 
He  struggled  with  the  problem  of  the  weather  and  of  the 
hurricane.  ^JBJe^speculated  on  the  nature  of  the  "  miasma  " 
^-efLthjSj.'.bot^<^i^  lands."  He  compared  the  Miami  country 
with  the  Atlantic  country.  JSTo  one  can  read  his  brave 
pioneer  book  without  admiring  the  original  force  and  sa- 
gacity of  its  composer. 

The  "Picture  of  Cincinnati"  is  the  Old  Testament  of 
Cincinnati  in  regard  to  local  history.  In  it  the  vigilant 
annalist  traced  the  progress  of  his  town  from  its  founding 
to  the  hour  of  his  writing.  The  newness  of  the  settle- 
ment, in  1815,  is  indicated  by  Drake's  telling  that  "  veni- 
son is  brought  from  the  woods  during  the  proper  season, 
and  bear  meat  is  now  and  then  offered." 

Dr.  Drake  was,  conjointly  with  Rev.  Joshua  L.  Wilson, 
a  founder  of  Lancaster  Seminary,  the  first  large  school  of 
Cincinnati.  Dr.  Wilson  proposed  the  establishment  of  the 
school.  Drake  was  the  secretary  of  the  organizing  board. 
The  school  went  into  operation  in  1814,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Jacob  Burnet.  The  next  year  it  was  chartered 
as  Cincinnati  College. 

Th^  r!in«->.ipr>flti  Circulating  Library  Society  was  created 
by  the  exertions  of  Dr.  Drake.  The  library  was  opened 
in  1814,  in  the  College  building.  In  1816  the  directors 
Were  iDaniel  Drake  (who  was  president),  Jesse  Embree, 
Thomas  Peirce,  Peyton  S.  Symmes,  David  Wade  and 
Micajah  T.  Williams.     The  librarian  wag  David  Cathcart. 

Thejj±>raix£iiiitadn_eii  fciu^^    hundred  volumes.  About 
the^year  1830  the  books  were  packed   away  in  the  cel-_ 
lar  ofjthe  book-store  of  Williamson  &  Strong,  on  Main 
20 


806  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

jtreet.  Here  they  lay  for  several  years  gathering  mold, 
until  Rev.  James  H.  Perkins  took  the  liberty  to  overhaul 
the  boxes  and  bring  their  contents  to  light.  Many  of  the 
books  were  ruined.  The  treasured  volume  of  "  Wilson's 
Ornithology"  fell  to  pieces  when  handled.  Such  of  the 
books  as  were  worth  saving  were  placed  upon  the  shelves 
of  the  ^brary  of  the  Ohio  Mechanics'  Institute^where 
fiomej2f-iih*^^  mf^y^ow  be  seen. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  Young  Men's  Debating  Society, 
of  which  Drake  was  a  member.  That  society  arose  about 
1806.  A  much  more  ambitious  association  w^as  started  in 
1813,  called  the  School  of  Literature  and  the  Arts.  The 
first  president  of  this  vigorous  and  confident  organization 
was  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  United  States  surveyor-gen- 
eral, a  gentleman  of  many  accomplishments.  Before  the 
"  school "  had  been  in  operation  a  year,  Mr.  Meigs  was 
appointed  commissioner  of  the  general  land-office,  and  he 
removed  to  "Washington.  Dr.  Daniel  Drake  succeeded  to 
the  presidency  of  the  "  school,"  and  delivered  an  elabo- 
rate anniversary  address  IN'ovember  23, 1814.  The  address 
was  "published  by  order"— a  small  pamphlet  of  twelve 
pages,  rudely  printed  on  dingy,  coarse  paper. 

It  appears  from  the  Anniversary  Address  that  during  the 
year  no  fewer  than  twenty-three  essays  and  addresses  were 
delivered  in  the  meetings  of  this  backwoods  "  School  of 
Literature  and  the  Arts."  Most  of  the  subjects  treated 
pertain  more  to  natural  and  physical  science  than  to  lit- 
erature or  art.  The  first  paper  read  was  on  "Edu- 
cation," the  thirteenth  on  "  Common  Sense,"  and  the  sev- 
enteenth on  "  Enthusiasm,"  three  forces  on  which  the 
pioneers  put  much  reliance. 

Our  grandfathers  rhymed,  as  our  grandsons  will  do. 
The  address  assures  posterity  that,  in  the  School  of 
Literature  and  Arts,  the  "  exercise  of  poetical  recitation 
has  been  strictly  performed,  and  our  album  of  poetry  al- 
ready exhibits  specimens  indicative  of  a  cultivated  taste." 
With  characteristic  good  sense  and  clear  perception  of 
his  "  environment  ".Dr.  Drake  added  that  "  literary  excel- 
lence in  Paris,  London,  or  Edinburgh  is  incomparable  with 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  307 

the  same  thing  in  Philadelphia,  ISTew  York,  or  Boston,  while 
each  of  these  in  turn  has  a  standard  of  merit,  which  may- 
be contrasted,  but  can  not  be  compared,  with  that  of 
Lexington  or  Cincinnati.  Still,  comparative  superiority 
in  Europe,  the  Atlantic  States,  or  the  backwoods  is 
equally  gratifying,  and  gives  to  him  who  possesses  it  the 
same  influence  over  the  community  to  which  he  belongs." 
Discussing  the  prospects  of  "  backwoods  "  literature,  he 
says,  suggestively :  "  !N"ew  countries,  it  is  true,  can  not  af- 
ford the  elegancies  and  refinements  of  learning,  but  they 
are  not  so  unpropitious  to  the  growth  of  intellect  as  we 
generally  suppose.  The  facilities  for  improvement  which 
they  furnish  differ  from  those  in  an  old  country  more  in 
kind  than  in  degree.  In  new  countries  the  empire  of 
prejudice  is  ^comparatively  insignificant;  and  the  mind, 
not  depressed  by  the  dogmas  of  licensed  authority  nor 
fettered  by  the  chains  of  inexorable  custom,  is  left  free  to 
expand  according  to  its  original  constitution." 

In  the  autumn  of  1815,  Dr.  Drake  went  to  Philadelphia 
and  completed  his  course  of  medical  studies,  receiving  the 
degree  Doctor  of  Medicine,  the  first  conferred  upon  an 
Ohio  student.  While  in  the  city  of  Ben  Franklin,  with 
its  opportunities  and  associations,  the  hungry-minded 
young  student  from  the  Buckeye  State  availed  himself 
of  more  lectures  than  his  professors  gave,  and  other 
acquaintances  than  his  immediate  purpose  required. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Casper  Wistar,  president  of 
the  American  Philosophical  Society,  he  attended  the  meet- 
ings of  that  learned  body  which  Franklin  founded  in  1744. 
He  was  invited  also  to  select  gatherings  of  literary  men 
and  woman  who  came  together  informally  at  Dr.  Wistar's 
house  and  held  what  they  called  "  Wistar  parties."  This 
Philadelphia  idea  Drake  carried  home  with  him,  and 
when,  in  after  years,  he  lived  in  his  own  elegant  house  on 
Vine  street,  he  held  levees  there  similar  to  those  he  wit- 
nessed in  the  Quaker  City. 

Having  obtained  his  diploma  he  returned  to  Cincinnati, 
May,  1816.  In  addition  to  his  professional  duties  and  his 
general  activity  as  a  public-spirited  citizen,  this  energetic 


808  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

man  embarked  in  several  business  ventures,  most  of  which 
proved  disastrous.  Under  the  firm  name,  D.  Drake  &  Co., 
»  he  and  his  brother  Benjamin  dealt  in  drugs  and  medi- 
cines. Later,  in  connection  with  his  father,  who  removed 
to  Cincinnati,  he  started  a  general  store  of  dry  goods, 
groceries,  and  hardware,  putting  out  the  sign,  Isaac  Drake 
&  Co.  A  novel  commodity  was  vended  at  Isaac  Drake  & 
Co.'s,  namely,  soda-water,  the  first  that  ever  sparkled  from 
a  fountain  in  the  West.  But  drugs,  dry  goods,  groceries, 
hardware,  and  soda-water  all  deceived  expectation,  and 
the  Drakes  lost  money. 

^T^r  more  serious  trouble  had  come  upon  Dr.  Drake 
personally.  Two  children  were  taken  from  \\^m  \j  dpath^ 
f\f\\  and  his  wife's  Jiftalth  and  his  own  were  impaired^  Such 
private  afflictions,  though  littleTS^said  oi  thenTto  the 
world,  are  really  to  the  individual  the  great  events  of  ex- 
perience.    Who  forgets  the  grave  of  his  child  ? 

The  book  of  a  man's  life  is  divided  into  natural  chap- 
ters. Dr.  Drake  turned  a  new  leaf  and  began  a  second 
series  of  enterprises  in  the  year  1817,  being  then  thirty- 
two  years  old.  To  his  friend,  Colonel  Mansfield,  he  wrote : 
**  I  am  now  going  to  astonish  you — so  cling  hold  to  every 
support  within  your  reach — I  am  a  professor.'^  The  "  Pict- 
tures  of  Cincinnati "  had  secured  its  author  reputation 
and  an  appointment.  He  was  called  to  the  chair  of 
Materia  Medica  in  the  newly-formed  College  of  Medicine 
of  Transylvania  University,  Lexington,  Kentucky.  This 
was  the  first  medical  college  in  the  West.  From  the 
time  Dr.  Drake  began  to  lecture  in  Lexington  to  the 
close  of  his  life,  thirty-two  years  later,  his  name  was 
identified  with  the  history  of  medical  institutions,  as 
founder,  instructor,  editor,  and  author.  By  hris  exertions 
the^ Medical  College  of  Ohio  was  oroatod  :  by  his  porsonftl- 
persuasion  in  the  House  of  Reprise  ni  at  i\  is,  ilu-  C  incinnati 
Commercial  Hospital  was  established ;  he  instituted  an  eye 
infirmary  in  the  city ;  he  organized  a  medical  department 
in  the  Miami  University,  and  one  in  Cincinnati  College. 
He  conducted,  for  many  years,  the  Western  Medical  and 
Physical  Journal;  he  published  a  volume  of  essays  on 


I)i\  Daniel  Drake.  309 

"  Medical  Education,"  and,  as  the  crowning  achievement 
of  his  professional  life,  he  gave  to  the  world,  after  thirty 
years  of  preparation,  his  ^reat  Aynrk  nn  th^  "  Dis^jsej  _  of 
the^Interigr  Valley  of  [N'orth  America."  To  collect  the 
material  for  this  treatise,  the  author  traveled  from  Lake 
Superior  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  Alleghenies 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Like  the  "  Picture  of  Cincin- 
nati," it  is  a  purely  original  book.  AUibone's  Dictionary 
mentioned  it  as  "  probably  the  most  important  and  valu-  K-A.^^^-^ 
able  work  ever"  written  in  the  United  States." 

The  detail  of  Dr.  Drake's  professional  quarrels,  con- 
tests, victories,  and  discomfitures  belongs  to  the  history  of 
medicine  rather  than  that  of  literature.  He  has  told  the 
story  of  his  hard-fought  battles  with  much  wit  and  candor. 
It  was  a  peculiarly  dramatic  and  grimly  humorous  inci- 
dent in  his  experience  to  be  dismissed,  by  a  formal  vote, 
from  directorship  in  the  college  he  had  founded.  John  P. 
Foote,  discussing  Drake's  "belligerent  propensities,"  re- 
marks that  the  early  history  of  the  Medical  College  of 
Ohio  may,  not  inaptly,  be  styled  a  "  History  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War."  More  than  thirty-five  years  have  gone  by 
since  Foote  wrote,  and  now  Dr.  Drake's  name  is  honored 
by  all  sections  of  the  noble  profession  to  which  he  be- 
longed, and  in  which  he  did  his  duty  as  he  saw  it,  fight- 
ing admirably.  His  praises  are  now  the  theme  of  gradua- 
ting speeches,  and  his  portrait  decorates  programmes  and 
diplomas.  The  distinguished  Dr.  Gross,  in  a  "  Discourse 
on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Daniel  Drake,"  delivered  in 
Louisville,  in  1853,  said :  "  Of  all  the  medical  teachers 
whom  I  have  ever  heard,  he  was  the  most  forcible  and  elo- 
quent. His  voice  was  remarkably  clear  and  distinct,  and 
so  powerful  that,  when  the  windows  of  his  lecture-room 
were  open,  it  could  be  heard  at  a  great  distance.  He 
sometimes  read  his  discourse,  but  generally  he  ascended 
the  rostrum  without  note  or  scrip." 

Ijrjrake  was  a  kniglit-errant  in  his  profession.  From 
Lexington  he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  thence  to  Lexington 
again,  thence  to  Cincinnati,  thence  to  Philadelphia,  thence 
to  Cincinnati,  thence  to  Louisville,  and  finally  to  Cincin- 


810  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

nati.  He  belongs,  therefore,  to  the  whole  Ohio  Valley ; 
and  more,  his  labors  and  his  influence  spread  through 
many  states.  His  reputation  became  national,  and  even 
international.  In  the  Central  West  he  was  regarded  as 
the  great  doctor.  Many  strangers  consulted  him  by  letter. 
Lamont  tells  us  that  Abraham  Lincoln  wrote  to  Dr. 
Drake,  from  his  home  in  Illinois,  soliciting  advice  in  re- 
gard to  the  mental  malady  caused  by  the  "  rail-splitter's  " 
love-distraction. 

But  it  is  with  Drake  as  a  man  of  general  culture,  and  a 
promoter  of  intellectual  interests,  outside  of  his  special 
vocation,  that  our  present  study  is  mainly  concerned. 
Mention  has  been  made  of  the  part  he  took  in  organizing 
the  Circulating  Library,  the  School  of  Literature  and 
Arts,  and  the  Lancastrian  Seminary.  Another  enterprise 
undertaken  just  after  the  war  of  1812-15,  was  the  forma- 
tion of  a  museum  society,  for  the  collection  of  objects  in 
natural  history.  The  father  of  this  institution  was  Dr. 
Daniel  Drake.  The  gathering  of  specimens  was  begun  in 
1818,  but  the  museum  was  not  formally  opened  until  June 
10,  1820.  Dr.  Drake,  who  was  secretary  of  the  society, 
delivered  an  address,  at  the  opening,  on  the  "  Zoology, 
Geology,  and  Antiquities  of  the  West." 

I  have  an  interesting  autograph  stating  the  "  conditions 
on  which  the  managers  of  the  Western  Museum  Society 
are  willing  to  place  the  museum  in  the  edifice  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati College."  The  article  was  agreed  to  by  the 
trustees  of  the  college,  March  25,  1819,  and  it  reads  as 
follows : 

"Whereas,  it  has  been  represented  to  this  board  that 
the  trustees  of  the  Cincinnati  College  are  desirous  of  hav- 
ing the  collections  of  this  society  placed  in  the  college  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  the  students  of  that  institution, 
therefore  be  it  resolved, 

"  That  the  museum  of  the  society  shall  be  disposed  of 
under  the  following  conditions: 

"  1.  A  proper  room  or  rooms  shall  be  appropriated  by 
the  trustees  of  the  college,  for  which  no  rent  shall  be  de- 
manded. 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  311 

"  2.  The  managers  of  the  society  shall  continue  to  di- 
rect all  its  concerns. 

"  3.  The  members  of  the  society,  with  such  persons  as  by 
the  by-laws  of  the  society  they  may  be  entitled  to  intro- 
duce, shall  be  admitted  into  the  museum  at  such  times  as 
may  be  prescribed  by  the  managers. 

"  4.  The  pupils  of  the  college  shall  have  admission  to 
the  museum  under  the  superintendence  and  responsibility 
of  the  president  of  the  college,  to  whom,  when  the  man- 
agers of  the  society  do  not  direct  otherwise,  shall  be  con- 
fided the  keeping  of  the  room. 

"  5.  Articles  of  the  museum  may  be  used  by  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  college  in  the  illustration  of  their  lectures. 

"  6.  Such  articles  as  may  be  prescribed  and  designated 
by  the  donors,  for  the  cabinet  of  the  college,  shall  be  con- 
sidered its  property,  and  labeled  as  such  when  placed  in 
the  museum. 

"  7.  This  museum  shall  not  be  removed  by  either  party 
without  giving  six  months'  previous  notice." 

This  document  is  signed  by  "  Daniel  Drake,  Secretary," 
in  a  bold,  free  hand. 

The  society  was  a  joint  stock  company,  with  shares  of 
fifty  dollars  each.  The  first  board  of  managers  were 
Elijah  Slack,  William  Steele,  Jesse  Embree,  Peyton  S. 
Symmes,  and  Daniel  Drake.  The  naturalist,  Audubon, 
was  one  of  the  artists  and  curators  of  the  society  in  1820. 
The  board,  in  an  appendix  to  Dr.  Drake's  printed  address, 
solicited  their  "  fellow-citizens  of  the  backwoods  gen- 
erally" to  contribute  to  the  museum. 

Dr.  Robert  Best,  afterward  professor  at  Transylvania, 
was  appointed  by  the  society,  with  assistants,  to  collect 
specimens  in  archaeology  and  natural  history  from  the 
region  of  the  great  lakes. 

The  collections  seem  to  have  been  deposited  at  first  in 
Cincinnati  College,  but  they  were  soon  removed  to  a  build- 
ing on  the  north-west  corner  of  Second  and  Main  streets, 
and  placed  in  custody  of  Mons.  J.  Dorfeuille,  of  Louisi- 
ana, who  became  manager  and  afterward  proprietor  of  the 
Western  Museum.     The  original  character  of  the  museum 


312  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

was  strictly  useful ;  the  founders  aimed  to  diffuse  knowl- 
edge and  promote  scientific  inquiry.  Mr.  Dorfueille  gave 
didactic  lectures  on  ornithology  and  on  the  faculties  of  the 
human  mind.  The  learned  and  amiable  proprietor  dis- 
covered that  people  must  be  amused  as  well  as  instructed, 
and  by  degrees  he  added  the  usual  stock  of  "  curiosities  " 
and  monstrosities  to  his  scientific  attractions.  Foote's 
Literary  Gazette,  for  March  13,  1834,  contains  an  original 
poem  of  ten  eight-line  stanzas,  inspired  by  the  marvels  of 
the  Western  Museum : 

"  Wend  hither,  ye  members  of  polished  society — 

Ye  who  the  bright  phantoms  of  pleasure  pursue — 
To  see  of  strange  objects  the  endless  variety, 

Monsieur  Dorfeuille  will  expose  to  your  view. 
For  this  fine  collection,  which  courts  your  inspection, 

Was  brought  to  perfection  by  his  skill  and  lore, 
When  those  who  projected,  and  should  have  protected 

Its  interests,  neglected  to  care  for  it  more. 

Here  are  pictures,  I  doubt  not,  as  old  as  Methusalem, 

But  done  at  what  place  I  can't  say,  nor  by  whom ; 
Some  of  which  represent  certain  saints  of  Jerusalem, 

And  others,  again,  monks  of  Venice  and  Rome; 
Old  black  letter-pages  of  far-distant  ages. 

Which  puzzle  the  sages  to  read  and  translate. 
And  manuscripts  musty,  coins  clumsy  and  rusty, 

Of  which  Time,  untrusty,  has  not  kept  the  date. 

Lo,  here  is  a  cabinet  of  great  curiosities, 
Procured  from  the  Redmen,  who  once  were  our  foes; 

Unperiahing  tokens  of  dire  animosities- 
Darts,  tomahawks,  war-cudgels,  arrows,  and  bows. 

And  bone-liooks  for  fishes  and  old  earthern  dishes, 
To  please  him  who  wishes  o'er  such  things  to  pore ; 

Huperb  wampum  sashes,  and  mica-slate  glasses. 
Which  doubtless  the  lasses  much  valued  of  yore." 

An  advertisement  in  the  Mirror,  in  June,  1834,  after 
enumerating  the  special  attractions  of  the  museum,  a 
**  Beautiful  moss-covered  Fountain,"  the  "  Phsenakisto- 
Bcope,"  the  "  Enormous  Elk,"  closes  thus : 

Come  hither,  come  hither,  by  night  or  by  day, 
There's  plenty  to  look  at  and  little  to  pay; 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  313 

You  may  stroll  through  the  rooms  and  at  every  turn 

There's  something  to  please  you  and  something  to  learn. 

If  weary  and  heated,  rest  here  at  your  ease, 

There's  a  fountain  to  cool  you  and  music  to  please ; 

And  further,  a  secret  I  still  have  to  tell, 

You  may  ramble  up-stairs,  and  on  earth  be  in . 

It  is  but  natural  that,  favored  by  puffs  so  bappy  as  this, 
Mr.  Dorfeuille  advertised  freely,  and  that  in  his  generosity 
he  announced  that  "  the  clergy  of  all  denominations  are 
admitted  gratuitously."  Rev.  Timothy  Flint,  possibly 
availing  himself  of  his  clerical  privilege,  or  perhaps  of  his 
editorial  perquisite,  being  proprietor  of  tlie  Western 
Monthly  Review,  often  stepped  down  to  the  corner  from 
his  son's  book-store,  160  Main  street,  to  survey  the  wonders 
of  Dorfeuille's  Museum.  The  kindly  editor  writes  in  his 
magazine  for  May,  1827 :  "  To  see  such  numerous  and 
magnificent  collections  from  the  several  kingdoms  of  na- 
ture, so  happily  arranged  in  such  large  and  commodious 
apartments,  in  a  city  little  more  than  thirty  years  old,  is  a 
circumstance  that  excites  surprise.  Taking  into  view  the 
recent  origin  of  the  city,  they  struck  us  with  more  effect 
than  any  Ave  had  seen  in  the  United  States." 

A  morbid  taste  for  the  unnatural  always  brings  the  sup- 
ply it  craves.  There  was  a  chamber  of  ''  horrors  "  in  the 
museum,  in  which  were  displayed,  bloody  knives  and 
hatchets  that  murderers  had  used,  and  ropes  that  had 
strangled  the  murderers,  and  wax  figures  of  criminals  in 
the  very  act  of  taking  innocent  life.  The  supreme  at- 
traction of  the  dreadful  room  was  the  *'  Head  of  Hoover," 
the  actual  head  of  a  murderer,  swollen  and  distorted,  in  a 
huge  glass  jar  of  alcohol. 

Mrs.  Trollope,  serving  up  Cincinnati  with  her  usual 
piquant  sour  sauce,  says  Mr.  Dorfeuille  "  is  a  man  of  taste 
and  science,  but  a  collection  formed  strictly  after  their  dic- 
tates would,  by  no  means,  satisfy  the  Western  metropolis. 
The  people  have  a  most  extravagant  passion  for  wax  fig- 
ures, and  the  museums  vie  with  each  other  in  displaying 
specimens  in  this  barbarous  branch  of  art.  As  Mr.  Dor- 
feuille can  not  trust  to  his  science  for  attracting  the  citi- 


314  Literal^  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

zens,  he  has  put  his  ingenuity  into  requisition,  and  this 
has  proved  to  him  the  surer  aid  of  the  two.  He  has  con- 
structed a  pandemonium  in  an  upperstory  of  his  museum, 
in  which  he  has  congregated  all  the  images  of  horror  that 
his  fertile  fancy  could  devise  ;  dwarfs  that,  by  machinery, 
grow  into  giants  before  the  eyes  of  the  spectator ;  imps 
of  ebony,  with  eyes  of  flame ;  monstrous  reptiles  devour- 
ing youth  and  beauty  ;  lakes  of  fire  and  mountains  of  ice  ; 
in  short,  wax,  paint,  and  springs  have  done  wonders.  To 
give  the  scheme  some  more  effect,  he  makes  it  visible  only 
through  a  grate  of  massive  iron  bars,  among  which  'are 
arranged  wires  connected  with  an  electrical  machine  in  a 
neighboring  chamber.  Should  any  daring  hand  or  foot 
obtrude  itself  within  the  bars,  it  receives  a  smart  shock 
that  often  passes  through  many  of  the  crowd,  and  the 
cause  being  unknown,  the  effect  is  exceedingly  comic  ; 
terror,  astonishment,  curiosity,  all  are  set  in  action,  and  all 
contribute  to  make  ' Dorfeuille's  Hell'  one  of  the  most 
amusing  exhibitions  possible." 

"  Dorfeuille's  Hell,"  or,  as  it  came  to  be  more  mildly 
called,  the  "  Infernal  Regions,"  was  designed  and  con- 
structed by  the  afterwards  famous  artist,  Hiram  Powers. 
The  hand  whose  cunning  fashioned  the  statue  of  the  Greek 
Slave,  overcame  the  primary  difficulties  of  the  plastic  art 
by  shaping  the  hideous  figures  of  the  Western  Museum 
somewhat  as  Wilhelm  Meister's  apprenticeship  began  with 
the  acting  puppets  of  his  child's  theater. 

Powers  was  a  very  ingenious  mechanic,  and  in  the  days 
when  he  was  learning  to  use  the  clay  and  the  sculptor's 
chisel  in  his  little  studio  on  Sixth  street,  he  was  often 
hired  to  come  to  the  shop  of  his  next-door  neighbor,  Mr. 
Lunian  Watson,  clock-maker,  to  design  or  complete  some 
peculiarly  difficult  piece  of  work,  such  as  a  musical  organ. 

Powers  was  assisted  in  the  creation  of  "  Inferno "  by 
Hervieu,  the  PVench  artist,  who  accompanied  Mrs.  Trol- 
lopc  to  this  country,  and  who  decorated  the  panels  of  the 
Bazaar  with  classical  designs. 

He  it  was,  also,  who  painted  an  immense  canvas  repre- 
senting the  **  Landing  of  Lafayette  in  Cincinnati." 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  315 

A  vivid  description  of  the  "  Infernal  Regions  "  may  be 
found  in  Hall's  Western  Magazine  for  April,  1835.  The 
diabolical  exhibition  was  very  popular,  and  it  must  have 
been  kept  up  during  a  period  of  at  least  twenty  years,  for 
I  well  remember  going  with  my  father  to  witness  it.  I  was 
a  small  boy,  and  I  recall  even  yet  the  feeling  of  terror 
with  which  I  beheld  the  glaring  eyes  of  the  frightful  fe- 
male named  Sin,  who  sat  hard  by  the  infernal  gates,  and 
who  jumped  at  me  with  a  horrid  cry.  The  King  of  Ter- 
rors himself  I  recollect  as  a  decidedly  good-natured, 
though  long-horned  old  gentleman,  and  I  did  not  under- 
stand why  all  the  visitors  laughed  so  impolitely  when  he 
assured  them  he  was  very  glad  to  see  them  in  that  place. 

Dorfeuille  finally  transported  the  "Infernal  Regions" 
to  IN'ew  York  city.  There  the  good  Frenchman  died,  and 
his  moral  exhibition  was  closed  on  earth. 

The  Western  Museum  was  rivaled  by  "  Letton's,"  a 
similar  institution,  located  many  years  in  a  building  still 
standing  on  the  north-west  corner  of  Fourth  and  Main 
streets,  Cincinnati. 

Dr.  Drake  with  ardent  spirit  opposed  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits.  Among  his  works  is  a  monogram  of  sixty-six 
pages,  entitled  "A  Discourse  on  Intemperance ;  delivered 
at  Cincinnati,  March  1,  1828,  before  the  Agricultural  So- 
ciety of  Hamilton  County,  and  subsequently  pronounced 
by  request,  to  a  popular  audience."  It  is  dedicated  to 
Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.D.  The  discourse  discusses  the 
whole  subject  of  "rum"  in  its  scientific,  political  and 
moral  aspects.  The  doctor  was  a  Prohibitionist ;  he  would 
suppress  the  sale  of  intoxicants,  and  not  make  the  liquor 
trafiic  a  source  of  revenue.  The  drunkard  should  be  sub- 
ject to  legal  disabilities,  he  should  neither  hold  oflice,  nor 
serve  on  a  jury,  nor  be  eligible  as  a  witness  in  court.  His 
property  should  be  put  in  the  hands  of  trustees. 

Mr.  Mansfield,  in  his  "  Life  of  Drake,"  relates  a  funny 
incident  that  happened  on  the  occasion  of  the  delivery  of 
the  speech  on  intemperance  to  a  general  audience.  A 
large  crowd  assembled  at  the  court-house  at  3  o'clock  of  a 
hot  afternoon  in  September,  to  hear  the  popular  speaker 


1 


316  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

advocate  an  unpopular  cause.  Many  purple-nosed  heroes 
were  present,  and  listened  with  good-natured  disapproval 
to  the  condemnation  dealt  out  to  them  and  their  vice. 
The  discussion  was  not  only  exhaustive,  but  exhausting, 
being  very  long  and  rather  dry,  on  which  account  a  rubi- 
cund listener  cried  out,  "  Let's  adjourn  awhile  and  take  a 
drink  I"  An  intermission  was  actually  taken,  during 
which  the  thirsty  regaled  themselves  at  the  bar  of  McFar- 
land's  tavern,  near  by,  after  which  the  meeting  came  to 
order  again,  and  the  speech  was  concluded. 

In  1825  Dr.  Drake's  wife  died.  This  calamity  over- 
whelmed him.  Three  children,  a  son  and  two  daughters, 
left  motherless  to  his  care,  he  brought  up  with  the  utmost 
solicitude  and  aftection.  Chiefly  on  account  of  his  daugh- 
ters, when  they  grew  old  enough  to  see  society,  he  brought 
about  a  series  of  social  and  literary  receptions  at  his 
house,  which  stood  on  the  lot  now  covered  by  "The 
Albany,"  on  Vine  street.  E.  D.  Mansfield  has  recorded, 
with  glowing  personal  interest,  his.  recollections  of  these 
"  Vine  Street  Reunions."  "  We  used  to  assemble  early — 
about  half-past  seven,  and  when  fully  collected,  the  doc- 
tor, who  was  the  acknowledged  chairman,  rung  his  little 
bell  for  general  attention.  This  caused  no  constraint,  but 
simply  brought  us  to  a  common  point,  which  was  to  be 
the  topic  of  the  evening.  Sometimes  this  was  appointed 
beforehand,  sometimes  it  arose  out  of  what  was  said  or 
proposed  on  the  occasion.  Some  evenings  compositions 
were  read  on  topics  selected  at  the  meeting.  On  other 
evenings  nothing  was  read,  and  the  time  was  passed  in  a 
general  discussion  of  some  interesting  question.  Occa- 
sionally a  piece  of  poetry  or  a  story  came  in  to  diversify 
and  enliven  the  conversation.  These,  however,  were 
rather  interludes  than  parts  of  the  general  plan,  whose 
main  object  was  the  discussion  of  questions  belonging  to 
society,  literature,  education  and  religion." 

These  pleasant  meetings  must  have  occurred  about  the 
same  time  as  those  of  the  "  Semicolon  Club,"  which  were 
held,  usually,  at  the  houses  of  Sam.  E.  Foote,  Wm.  Green 
and  Chas.  Stetson,  from  1832  to  1837.    Among  the  lead- 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  317 

ing  participants  in  both  the  companies  were  General 
Edward  King,  Judge  Jas.  Hall,  Prof.  Calvin  Stowe  and 
Mrs.  Stowe,  and  Mrs.  Caroline  Lee  Hentz. 

When  the  Western  Literary  Institute  and  College  of 
Professional  Teachers  was  established  in  1833,  Dr.  Drake 
took  a  leading  part  its  great  work.  Many  of  his  addresses 
are  preserved  in  the  published  "  Transactions "  of  the 
college.  Drake's  readiness  of  tongue  and  pen,  and  his  so- 
cial accomplishments,  fitted  him  for  the  sprightly  and 
genial  oratory  of  "  occasions."  At  festivals,  anniversaries, 
dedications,  he  was  a  central  figure.  A  celebration  in 
which  he  took  a  prominent  part  was  held  on  December 
26,  1833,  the  forty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Cincinnati.  The  presiding  ofi&cers  were  :  President,  Ma- 
jor Daniel  Gano ;  vice-presidents,  "Wm.  R.  Morris,  Henry 
E.  Spencer,  and  Moses  Lyon.  Rev.  J.  B.  Finley  and  Rev. 
Wm.  Burke  officiated  as  chaplains.  The  character  of  the 
celebration  was  purely  western ;  those  who  planned  it 
were  native  citizens.  One  hundred  and  sixty  invited 
guests  sat  down  at  the  table  ''  in  the  Cincinnati  Commer- 
cial Exchange,  on  the  river  bank,  near  where  the  first 
cabin  was  erected  in  1788." 

The  unique  feature  of  the  ceremonies  was  the  Buckeye 
dinner,  with  accompanying  speeches,  poems,  and  songs. 
The  banquet  itself  was  such  as  would  delight  Mark  Twain, 
so  abundant  and  American  it  was.  Field,  forest,  and 
river  contributed  fruit,  game,  and  fish  to  the  bounteous 
board.  A  pair  of  fat  racoons  was  served  up  smoking. 
The  favorite  potation  of  the  feast  was  called  "  sangaree," 
a  sort  of  innocent  punch,  which  was  dipped  lavishly  from 
four  huge  bowls  carved  from  Buckeye  wood.  There  was 
also  plenty  of  wine  furnished  by  Nicholas  Longworth 
from  his  vintage  of  Catawba  gathered  on  the  hills  of  the 
Beautiful  River.  The  formal  exercises  of  the  day  con- 
sisted of  an  oration  by  Mr.  Joseph  Longworth,  a  poetical 
address  by  Peyton  S.  Symmes,  and  an  ode  by  Charles  D. 
Drake,  the  doctor's  son,  now  Judge  Drake,  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  In  response  to  the  toast,  "The  Emigrants, 
whether  from   sister   states   or  foreign   climes,"   Edward 


318  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

King  presented  a  poem  bj  Mrs.  Lee  Hentz,  in  which  the 
fair  has  bleu  praised  the  "  sires  "  who — 

"  First  raised  this  city's  heavenward  spires, 
And  based  upon  the  unblessed  sod 
The  temples  of  the  living  God. 
The  germs  of  science,  genius,  taste, 
They  laid  in  the  uncultured  waste, 
And  hallowed  with  the  Christian's  prayer, 
The  wild  beasts'  then  untrodden  lair." 

There  was  also  an  after-dinner  speech  by  the  veteran 
General  Harrison,  the  hero  by  popular  favor  soon  to  be- 
come President  of  the  United  States. 

But  the  speech  of  the  occasion  was  called  out  by  the  fifth 
regular  toast,  to  "  The  Author  of  the  Picture  of  Cincin- 
nati." The  doctor  discoursed  on  the  Buckeye  Tree. 
Happily  the  address  has  been  preserved  in  print,  and  one 
risks  little  in  prophesying  that  it  will  hold  a  permanent 
place  in  our  literature  on  account  of  both  its  subject  and 
its  style.     The  speaker  said : 

"  Being  born  in  the  East,  I  am  not  quite  a  native  of  the 
Valley  of  the  Ohio,  and,  therefore,  am  not  a  Buckeye  by 
birth.  Still,  I  might  claim  to  be  a  greater  Buckeye  than 
most  of  you  who  were  born  in  the  city,  fop  my  Buckeye- 
ism  belongs  to  the  country,  a  better  soil  for  rearing  Buck- 
eyes than  the  town. 

"  My  first  remembrances  are  of  a  Buckeye  cabin  in  the 
depths  of  a  cane-brake  on  one  of  the  tributary  brooks  of 
the  Licking  river ;  for  whose  waters,  as  they  flow  into  the 
Ohio  opposite  our  city,  I  feel  some  degree  of  affection. 
At  the  date  of  these  recollections  the  spot  where  we  are 
now  assembled  was  a  beech  and  buckeye  grove,  no  doubt 
altogether  unconscious  of  its  approaching  fate.  Thus  I 
am  a  Buckeye  by  engrafting,  or  rather  by  inoculation,  be- 
ing only  in  the  bud  when  I  began  to  draw  my  nourish- 
ment from  the  depths  of  a  buckeye  bowl.     .     .     . 

"  We  are  now  assembled  on  a  spot  which  is  surrounded 
by  vast  warehouses,  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  earthen 
and  iron  domestic  utensils  of  China,  Birmingham,  Shef- 
field, and  I  should  add,  the  great  western  manufacturing 


Dr.  Daniel  Drake.  319 

town  at  the  head  of  our  noble  river.  The  poorest  and  the 
obscurest  family  in  the  land  may  be,  and  is,  in  fact,  ade- 
quately supplied.  How  different  was  the  condition  of  the 
early  emigrants !  A  journey  of  a  thousand  miles  over 
wild  and  rugged  mountains,  permitted  the  adventurous 
pioneer  to  bring  with  him  little  more  than  the  Indian  or 
the  Arab  carried  from  place  to  place — his  wife  and  children. 
Elegances  were  unknown,  even  articles  of  pressing  neces- 
sity were  few  in  number,  and  when  lost  or  broken  could 
not  be  replaced.  In  that  period  of  trying  deprivation,  to 
what  quarter  did  the  first  settlers  turn  their  inquiring  and 
anxious  eyes?  To  the  buckeye  !  Yes,. gentlemen,  to  the 
buckeye  tree ;  and  it  proved  a  friend  indeed,  because,  in 
the  simple  and  expressive  language  of  those  early  times, 
it  was  a  friend  in  need.  Hats  were  manufactured  of  its 
fibers,  the  tray  for  the  delicious  '  pone  '  and  'johnny-cake,' 
the  venison  trencher,  the  noggin,  the  spoon,  and  the  huge, 
white  family  bowl  for  mush  and  milk,  were  carved  from 
its  willing  trunk  ;  and  the  finest  '  boughten '  vessels  could 
not  have  imparted  a  more  delicious  flavor,  or  left  an  im- 
pression so  enduring.  He  who  has  ever  been  concerned 
in  the  petty  brawls,  the  frolic  and  the  fun  of  a  family  of 
young  Buckeyes  around  the  great  wooden  bowl,  overflow- 
ing with  the  '  milk  of  human  kindness,'  will  carry  the 
sweet  remembrance  to  the  grave. 

"  Thus  beyond  all  the  trees  of  the  land  the  buckeye  was 
associated  with  the  family  circle — penetrating  its  privacy, 
facilitating  its  operations,  and  augmenting  its  enjoyments. 
Unlike  many  of  its  loftier  associates,  it  did  not  bow  its 
head  and  wave  its  arms  at  a  haughty  distance,  but  it 
might  be  said  to  have  held  out  the  right  hand  of  fellowship ; 
for  of  all  the  trees  of  our  forest  it  is  the  only  one  with 
five  leaflets  arranged  on  one  stem — an  expressive  symbol 
of  the  human  hand." 

Another  pioneer  celebration  which  took  place  December 
26,  1838,  the  semi-centennial  of  the  settlement  of  the 
Queen  City,  Dr.  Drake  was  the  orator. 

So  enthusiastic  was  this  energetic  and  original  student 
of  realities;  so  much  in  love  with  the  men  and  institu- 


320  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

tions  among  which  he  lived,  that  he  proposed  to  write 
the  history  of  the  West.  A  volume  was  promised  in 
1839,  but  professional  duties  prevented  its  completion. 
What  the  character  of  such  a  book  would  have  been  we 
may  infer  from  reading  Drake's  "  Discourse  on  the  His- 
tory, Character,  and  prospects  of  the  West,"  delivered  to 
the  Union  Literary  Society  of  Miami  University,  Oxford, 
Ohio,  September  23,  1834.  The  sections  of  this  discourse 
which  interest  us  most  are  those  relating  to  the  litera- 
ture of  the  early  West.  The  pamphlet  from  which 
I  quote  is  so  rare  that  few  readers  will  see  it,  and  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  therefore  given,  no  less  for  the  inter- 
esting facts  they  contain  than  for  the  testimony  they  bear 
to  the  good  sense  and  generous  sympathy  of  the  author. 
The  orator  said :  "  Many  of  our  writers  have  received  but 
little  education,  and  are  far  more  anxious  about  results 
than  the  polish  of  the  machinery  by  which  they  are  to 
be  effected.  They  write  for  a  people  whose  literary  at- 
tainments are  limited  and  imperfect ;  whose  taste  is  for 
the  strong  rather  than  the  elegant,  and  who  are  not  dis- 
posed or  prepared  to  criticise  any  mode  of  expression 
that  is  striking  or  original,  whatever  may  be  the  deformi- 
ties of  its  drapery — consequently  but  little  solicitude  is 
felt  by  our  authors  about  classic  propriety.  Moreover,  the 
emigration  into  the  valley  being  from  every  civilized  coun- 
try, new  and  strange  forms  of  expression  are  continually 
thrown  into  the  great  reservoir  of  spoken  language,  whence 
they  are  often  taken  up  by  the  pen,  transferred  to  our  lit- 
erature, and  widely  disseminated.  For  many  years  to 
come  these  causes  will  prevent  attainment  either  of  regu- 
larity or  elegance  ;  but  gradually  the  heterogeneous  rudi- 
ments will  conform  to  a  common  standard,  and  finally 
shoot  into  a  compound  of  rich  and  varied  elements ;  in- 
ferior in  refinement,  but  superior  in  force,  variety,  and 
freshness  to  the  language  of  the  mother  country.  .  .  . 
The  literature  of  a  yonng  and  a  free  people  will,  of 
course,  be  declamatory,  and  such,  so  far  as  it  is  yet  de- 
veloped, is  the  character  of  our  own.  Deeper  learning 
will  no  doubt  abate  its  verbosity  and  intumescence ;  but 


Dr,  Daniel  Drake,  321 

our  natural  scenery  and  our  liberal  political  and  social  in- 
stitutions must  long  continue  its  character  of  floridness. 
And  what  is  there  in  this  that  should  excite  regret  in 
ourselves  or  raise  derision  in  others?  Ought  not  the  lit- 
erature of  a  free  people  to  be  declamatory  ?  Should  it  not 
exhort  and  animate?  If  cold,  literal,  and  passionless,  how 
could  it  act  as  the  handmaid  of  improvement  ?  In  abso- 
lute government  all  the  political,  social,  and  literary  insti- 
tutions are  supported  by  the  monarch — here  they  are  orig- 
inated and  sustained  by  public  sentiment.  In  despotisms 
it  is  of  little  use  to  awaken  the  feelings  or  warm  the  im- 
agination of  the  people — here  an  excited  state  of  both  is 
indispensable  to  those  popular  movements  by  which  so- 
ciety is  to  be  advanced.  Would  you  arouse  men  to 
voluntary  action  on  great  public  objects,  you  must  make 
their  fancy  and  feelings  glow  under  your  presentations ; 
you  must  not  merely  forward  their  reason,  but  their  de- 
sires and  will;  the  utility  and  loveliness  of  every  object 
must  be  displayed  to  their  admiration ;  the  temperature 
of  the  heart  must  be  raised  and  its  cold  selfishness  melted 
away,  as  the  snows  which  buried  up  the  fields  when  acted 
on  by  an  April  sun  ;  then,  like  the  budding  herb  which 
shoots  up  from  the  soil,  good  and  great  acts  of  patriotism 
will  appear.  Whenever  the  literature  of  a  new  country 
loses  its  metaphorical  and  declamatory  character  the  in- 
stitutions which  depend  upon  public  sentiment  will  lan- 
guish and  decline,  as  the  struggling  boat  is  carried  back 
by  the  impetuous  waves  of  the  Mississippi  as  soon  as  the 
propelling  power  relaxes.  In  this  region  low-pressure 
engines  are  found  not  to  answer — high  steam  succeeds 
much  better ;  and  although  an  orator  may  now  and  then 
explode  and  go  off  in  vapor,  the  majority  make  more  pro- 
ductive voyages  than  could  be  performed  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  temperate  heat." 

Dr.  Drake  wrote  many   pamphlets,  a  complete  set   of 
which  comprised  in  four  volumes  may  be  found  in  the  Con- 
gressional Library  at  Washington.     They  relate  largely 
to  medicine,  though  some  are  literary,  others  economic. 
21 


822  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

One  of  his  practical  writings  is  on  the  desirability  of 
constructing  a  railroad  from  the  Ohio  river  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia. 

In  the  years  1847-8-9,  Dr.  Drake  wrote,  from  Louisville, 
a  series  of  reminiscential  letters,  addressed  to  his  children.^ 
These  letters  were  collected  into  a  volume,  edited  with 
notes  and  a  biographical  sketch  by  Judge  Drake,  and  pub- 
lished by  Robert  Clarke  &  Co.,  under  the  general  title, 
"  Pioneer  Life  in  Kentucky."  Of  these  letters  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  said : 

"  The  letters  of  Dr.  Drake  are  not  merely  personal 
reminiscences,  but  faithful  pictures  of  local  manners  and 
customs.  We  can  not  advise  any  to  turn  to  them  for  the 
realization  of  romantic  ideas  of  the  pioneers,  but  they 
are  very  interesting  reading  and  very  instructive.  They 
form  part  of  our  own  history,  which  daily  grows  more  re- 
markable and  precious ;  and  we  most  heartily  commend 
the  volume,  not  only  to  collectors  of  such  material,  but  to- 
the  average  reader,  as  something  very  apt  for  his  entertain- 
ment and  then  for  his  use." 

Daniel  Drake  died  at  his  home,  in  Cincinnati,  Fri- 
day, November  5,  1852.  One  who  knew  him  intimately 
writes  these  words :  "  The  mere  facts  of  Dr.  Drake's  pub- 
lic life  give  no  just  idea  of  his  grand  character.  He  was 
the  greatest,  most  leonine  yet  the  sweetest  and  most  lov- 
ing-hearted man  I  have  ever  known." 

*  Drake's  only  son,  Judge  Charles  D.  Drake,  now  in  his  eightieth  year, 
is  residing  in  Washington.  The  eldest  daughter  became  the  wife  of 
Hon.  A.  H.  McGufTey.  The  second  daughter,  Harriet,  married  James 
P.  Campbell,  of  Chillicothe.    She  is  not  living. 


Timothy  Flint.  323 


CHAPTER   XI. 

TIMOTHY  FLINT,  MISSIONARY,  GEOGRAPHER,  EDITOR,  NOV- 
ELIST, AND  POET. 

In  the  cemetery  of  Harmony  Grove,  Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, there  is  a  monument  bearing  the  following  epitaph, 
written  by  Rev.  James  Flint,  D.D.,  in  loving  memory  of 
his  cousin  and  friend,  Timothy  Flint : 

"He  painted  on  his  glowing  page 

The  peerless  valley  of  the  West ; 
That  shall,  in  every  coming  age, 

His  geniu's  and  his  toils  attest. 
But  wouldst  thou,  gentle  pilgrim,  know 

What  worth,  what  love  endeared  the  man? 
This  the  lone  hearts  that  miss  him,  show 

Better  than  storied  marble  can." 

Thomas  Flint  and  his  brother  William  emigrated  from 
Wales  to  JSTew  England  probably  before  1640.  Flint 
street,  Salem,  is  on  ground  once  belonging  to  their  farm 
land.  Timothy  Flint  was  a  descendant,  in  the  sixth  gen- 
eration, from  Thomas.  He  was  born  at  ^orth  Eeading, 
Massachusetts,  July  11,  1780,  and  died  at  the  same  town, 
in  the  house  of  his  brother  Peter,  August  16,  1840.  One 
of  his  uncles,  Hezekiah  Flint,  came  to  Ohio  in  1788,  in 
the  company  of  pioneers  led  by  Rufus  Putnam  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Muskingum.  Hezekiah  Flint  and  family 
removed  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  died  in  1811.  His  son, 
named  also  Hezekiah,  was  a  leading  citizen  of  Cincinnati, 
whose  death  occurred  in  1843,  and  whose  portrait  now 
hangs  on  the  wall  of  the  Mercantile  Library.  He  was  the 
grandfather  of  the  late  IN'athan  F.  Baker,  a  scluptor  of  much 
ability  known  by  his  statue  of  "  Egeria,"  in  Spring  Grove 
Cemetery,  and   his   "  Cincinnatus,"  in  front   of  25  West 


324  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Fourth  street.  He  was  a  pupil  of  Powers.  Mr.  Baker 
died  in  February,  1891. 

Timothy  Flint  was  not  quite  eight  years  old  when  his 
uncle  accompanied  Putnam  and  the  other  colonists  to  Ma- 
rietta.* Putnam  started  from  Salem.  The  house  of  his 
father,  Israel  Putnam,  "  Old  Put,"  is  still  standing  near 
the  old  town,  and  is  still  occupied  by  Putnams.  Flint 
distinctly  remembered,  as  he  tells  us  in  the  "  Indian  Wars 
of  the  West,"  the  "  wagon  that  carried  out  a  number  of 
adventurers  from  the  counties  of  Essex  and  Middlesex,  in 
Massachusetts,  on  the  second  emigration  to  the  woods  of 
Ohio."  The  wagon  had  a  black  cover,  on  which  were 
painted  in  large  white  capital  letters  the  words,  "  To  Ma- 
rietta, on  the  Ohio."  It  was  Flint's  impression  that  about 
twenty  persons  accompanied  this  wagon  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler. 

A  ray  of  light  is  thrown  upon  the  days  and  ways  of  yore 
by  Flint's  gossiping  remark  that  "  Dr.  Cutler,  at  the  time 
of  his  being  engaged  in  the  speculation  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany's purchase,  had  a  feud — it  is  not  remembered  whether 
literary,  political,  or  religious — with  the  late  learned  and 
eccentric  Dr.  Bentley,  of  Salem.  Dr.  Bentley  was  then 
chief  contributor  to  a  paper  which  he  afterward  edited. 
The  writer  [Flint]  still  remembers  and  can  repeat  doggerel 
verses  by  Dr.  Bentley  upon  the  departure  of  Dr.  Cutler 
on  his  first  trip  to  explore  his  purchase  on  the  Ohio." 

Temple  Cutler,  Manasseh's  youngest  son,  has  written  a 
charmingly  clear  account  of  the  departure  of  the  Ohio- 
bound  adventurers  from  old  Ipswich.  He  says :  "  The 
little  band  of  pioneers  assembled  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Cut- 
li  I ,  in  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  on  the  3d  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1787,  and  there  took  an  early  breakfast.  About  the 
dawn  of  day  they  paraded  in  front  of  the  house;  and  after 
a  short  address  from  him,  full  of  good  advice  and  hearty 
wishes  for  their  happiness  and  prosperity,  the  men  (one 
of  whom  was  his  son  Jarvis,  aged  nineteen)  went  forward, 

*  The  deflcription  of  Flint's  journey  down  the  Ohio  is  taken,  with 
gome  modification,  from  the  author's  "  Footprints  of  the  Pioneers." 


Timothy  Flint.  825 

cheered  heartily  by  the  hy-standers.  Dr.  Cutler  accom- 
panied them  to  Dan  vers,  when  he  placed  them  under  com- 
mand of  Major  Hatfield  White  and  Captain  Ezra  Putnam. 
He  had  prepared  a  large  and  well-built  wagon '  for  their 
use,  which  preceded  them  with  their  baggage.  This 
w^agon,  as  a  protection  from  cold  and  storm,  was  covered 
with  black  canvas,  and  on  the  sides  was  an  inscription 
in  white  letters,  I  think,  in  these  words,  ''For  the  Ohio  at 
the  Muskingum,^  which  Dr.  Cutler  painted  with  his  own 
hand. 

''Although  I  was  then  but  six  years  old,  I  have  a  vivid 
recollection  of  all  these  circumstances,  having  seen  the 
preparations  and  heard  the  conversation  relating  to  this 
undertaking.  I  think  the  weather  was  pleasant  and  the 
sun  rose  clear;  I  know  I  almost  wished  I  could  be  of  the 
party  then  starting,  for  I  was  told  we  were  all  to  go  as 
soon  as  preparation  was  made  for  our  reception." 

The  departure  of  the  emigrant  wagon,  the  leave-taking, 
and  the  general  talk  about  the  backwoods,  kindled  the 
imagination  of  young  Flint.  Doubtless  he  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  join  the  expedition  and  follow^  the  black  vehicle 
across  the  mountains.  Most  wonderful  reports  were 
spread  abroad  in  !N'ew  England  concerning  the  inland 
country  far  toward  the  Mississippi.  Romancing  travelers 
tojd,  with  mock  gravity,  that  watermelons  as  big  as 
houses  grew  in  the  clearings  of  the  West;  that  the  flax 
plant  in  the  Ohio  Valley  bore  woven  cloth  on  its  branches; 
that  honey  trees  were  numerous  along  the  Miami  river; 
and  that  springs  of  brandy  and  rum  gushed  from  the 
fortunate  hills  of  Kentucky.  But  these  blessings  and  de- 
lights were  not  unmixed  with  evil.  Stories  were  invented 
which  added  ten-fold  horror  to  the  usual  dangers  of  the 
hunt  and  the  Indian  fight ;  stories  of  storm,  and  disease, 
and  starvation,  and  of  the  frightful  hoop-snake,  which, 
like  a  rapid  wheel,  span  through  the  swamps  and  brakes 
upon  its  victims,  its  tail  armed  with  a  sting  so  venomous 
that  a  tree  pierced  ever  so  slightly  by  it  instantly  withered 
and  died.  The  hoop-snake  was  scarcely  more  appalling 
to  the  imagination  than  the  whip-snake,  which  drove  cat- 


826  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

tie  to  frenzy  and  death  by  lashing  them  with  its  tail ;  or 
the  hissing  serpent,  which  exhaled  a  subtile  gas  laden 
with  mortal  disease. 

We  do  not  know  the  particulars  of  Flint's  boyhood. 
With  his  cousin,  James,  he  attended  Harvard  College, 
graduating  in  1800.  Two  years  later  he^  became  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  at  Lunenburg,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  remained  for  twelve  years.  Before  leaving  col- 
lege he  gained  some  skill  in  composition.  While  at 
Lunenburg,  he  wrote  and  published  several  essays,  ad- 
dresses, and  sermons,  one  of  which  was  issued  in  a  small 
volume  with  the  title  "Arguments,  lN"atural,  Moral,  and 
Religious,  for  the  Immorality  of  the  Soul,"  Beginning 
his  ministerial  labors  at  the  very  time  when  a  violent 
theological  war  w^as  raging  in  Massachusetts  between  the 
forces  of  the  old  Calvanistic  and  the  newer  liberal  ortho- 
doxy, and  also  .between  the  Trinitarians  and  the  Uni- 
tarians, Flint  became  somewhat  involved  in  the  discus- 
sions of  the  day.  He  cared  less  for  form  and  dogma  than 
some  of  his  brethren  did,  and  was  more  than  suspected  of 
Arminianism.  On  theological  questions  he  differed  from 
his  kinsman.  Rev.  James  Flint,  though  on  all  other  sub- 
jects they  were  as  one.  It  was  the  spirit  of  controversial 
rancor  that  caused  the  peacefully-disposed  Timothy  to 
request  a  dismissal  from  his  charge  at  Lunenburg.  More- 
over, his  health  was  poor,  and  he  was  advised  by  Dr. 
James  Flint  and  by  Joseph  Peabody,  a  wealthy  merchant 
of  Salem,  to  go  forth  as  a  missionary  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel in  the  Western  wilderness.  It  seems  that  Peabody,  to 
whom  he  dedicated  one  of  his  books,  used  a  full  purse 
very  liberally  to  forward  the  good  cause,  sending  remit- 
tances as  often  as  they  were  needed. 

The  second  war  with  England*  had  just  closed,  and  the 
tide  of  migration  was  setting  strongly  toward  the  West, 
when,  on  October  14,  1815,  Timothy  Flint,  with  his  wife 
and  four  or  five  children,  took  passage  in  a  heavy  travel- 
ing coach,  bound  for  Pittsburg.  They  started  as  he  had 
seen  the  emigrant  wagon  nearly  thirty  years  before,  from 
the  ancient  city  of  Salem.     Many  tears  were  shed  as  the 


Timothy  Flint  327 

family  bade  their  friends  good-bye,  for,  at  that  time, 
though  many  went  West,  few  came  back.  To  the 
imagination  the  Alleghanies  seemed  a  "barrier  almost  as 
impassable  as  the  grave  "  to  whomever  had  once  crossed 
over. 

The  slow  coach  jostled  on  by  the  usual  route,  and  near 
the  end  of  the  month  began  to  toil  over  the  mountains. 
The  tavern  signs,  as  if  adapting  themselves  to  the  wild 
regions  in  which  they  hung,  bore  pictures  of  wolves  and 
and  bears  as  emblems.  High  above  the  Alleghany  sum- 
mits the  bald  eagle  soared.  The  road  was  difficult  and 
dangerous.  Frequently  it  became  necessary  to  lift  the 
carriage  across  gullies  washed  out  by  recent  rains.  Hun- 
dreds of  "  Pittsburg  wagons  "  were  seen  on  the  way  to  or 
from  Philadelphia.  Many  of  these  had  broken  wheels 
and  axles.  Places  were  pointed  out  where  teams  had 
plunged  down  the  precipice  to  destruction.  The  moun- 
tain teamsters  seemed  to  the  travelers  like  a  new  species 
of  man.  They  were  "  unique  in  their  appearance,  lan- 
guage, and  habits."  Flint  describes  them  as  being  "  more 
rude,  profane,  and  selfish  than  either  sailors,  boatmen,  or 
hunters."     He  says: 

"  We  found  them  addicted  to  drunkenness,  and  very 
little  disposed  to  help  one  another.  We  were  told  that 
there  were  honorable  exceptions,  and  even  associations, 
who,  like  the  sacred  band  of  Thebes,  took  a  kind  of  oath 
to  stand  by  and  befriend  each  other."  The  amiable  mis- 
sionary adds,  with  a  touch  of  pious  humor,  that  he  often 
dropped  among  them,  as  if  by  accident,  that  impressive 
tract,  "  The  Swearer's  Prayer." 

Among  the  traveling  acquaintances  of  the  Flints  were  a 
young  Connecticut  printer,  with  his  pretty  bride,  going  to 
Kentucky  to  start  a  "  Gazette,"  and  a  burly  Lutheran 
preacher  bound  for  the  Big  Miami,  who,  with  pipe  in.  his 
mouth,  rode  comfortably  on  his  horse,  while  his  wife  and 
young  ones  trudged  beside  their  wagon. 

When  Flint's  carriage  approached  the  last  range  of  the 
Alleghanies,  the  passengers,  gazing  out,  saw  a  great  drove 
of  cattle  and  swine,  which  animals  looked  shaggy  like 


328  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

wolves,  and  the  chief  drover  was  a  being  as  wild  looking 
as  Crusoe's  man  Friday.  The  droves  were  destined  for 
the  Philadelphia  market,  and  had  been  driven  from  the 
valley  of  Mad  river,  in  Ohio,  a  name  which  suggested  to 
our  excited  travelers  the  idea  of  a  savage  land. 

The  long  journey  on  slow  wheels  was  at  last  ended,  but 
not  without  the  usual  disaster  of  an  upset.  Just  as  the 
coach  was  about  to  enter  Pittsburg,  another  carriage, 
coming  rapidly  out  of  town,  collided  with  it,  and  the  next 
moment  the  Flint  family  were  struggling  and  shouting 
under  a  confusion  of  boxes,  bundles  and  trunks,  from 
which  predicament  they  were  released  uninjured.  Right- 
ing the  vehicle,  they  got  in  again,  and  were  soon  lodged 
in  a  hotel,  where  the  charges  were  double  the  amount 
asked  for  the  same  accommodations  in  Boston. 

Flint's  remarks  on  Pittsburg  are  disparaging.  His  opin- 
ion was  that  Wheeling,  Cincinnati,  and  Louisville  would 
soon  take  the  trade  and  wealth  away  from  the  town  of  "  sin 
and  sea  coal."  The  opening  of  the  ITational  road  and  the 
multiplication  of  steamboats  threatened  to  hasten  the 
"  decay  of  Pittsburg."  Flint  thought  the  decline  of  Pitts- 
burg w^as  not  to  be  regretted,  for  *'  she  used  to  fatten  on 
the  spoils  of  the  poor  emigrants  that  swarmed  to  this 
place." 

The  first  steamboat  that  navigated  the  Ohio  river,  the 
Orleans,  w^as  built  at  Pittsburg  in  1811,  only  four  years 
after  Fulton's  Clermont  made  her  trial  trip  on  East 
river.  The  Orleans  made  her  first  trip  from  Pittsburg  to 
New  Orleans  in  the  winter  of  1812.  It  w^as  several  years, 
however,  before  steamboats  came  into  such  general  use  on 
western  waters  as  to  exclude  the  earlier  modes  of  naviga- 
tion. Flint  did  not  seem  to  think  of  waiting  to  take 
passage  on  a  steamboat.  Early  in  November,  he  em- 
barked on  a  small  flatboat  owned  l.y  a  ^'ankee  trader, 
and  loaded  with  "  factory  cottons "  and  cutlery.  The 
smiling  river  Beautiful  proved  not  so  placid  as  she 
looked. 

The  frail  flatboat,  instead  of  floating  gently  along,  as 
its  owner  and  its  passengers  had  expected,  was  whirled 


Timothy  Flint.  329- 

and  tossed  about  in  a  manner  altogether  alarming  to  all 
on  board,  ^ow  the  helpless  craft  was  carried  swiftly 
through  a  chute;  now  it  stuck  on  a  bar;  and  now  it  was 
dashed  upon  the  rocks  of  "Dead  Man's  Riffle"  and  al- 
most capsized,  while  the  children  shrieked,  and  the  mer- 
chandise of  cotton  stuffs  and  hardware  fell  upon  and 
buried  poor  Mrs.  Flint.  The  scared  Yankee  trader  and 
his  reverend  first  mate  forgot,  in  their  confusion,  to  resort 
to  their  oars,  but  tried  to  save  themselves  by  consulting 
the  "  Navigator,"  a  guide-book  descriptive  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  Mississippi. 

The  reader  will  not  wonder  that,  when  they  reached 
the  village  of  Beaver,  the  family  forsook  the  risky  flat- 
boat  and  bought  a  pirogue,  or  large  skiff,  in  which  they 
continued  their  voyage.  By  the  time  they  reached 
Wheeling  they  all  were  taken  down  with  influenza,  and 
were  obliged  to  take  lodgings  at  a  house  filled  with  other 
invalids.  Sick,  neglected,  in  a  strange  place,  they  helped 
one  another  as  well  as  they  could,  but  were  so  sensitive 
that  their  eyes  filled  with  tears  at  the  mere  mention  of 
Salem. 

As  soon  as  they  had  sufiiciently  recovered  their  strength, 
the  Flints  resumed  their  journey,  going  from  Wheeling  to 
Marietta  in  one  of  those  long,  slender,  and  graceful  ves- 
sels of  the  period,  called  distinctively  a  keelboat.  The 
peculiar  species  of  boat  known  as  the  barge,  or  bargee,, 
had  almost  passed  into  disuse,  and  was  rarely  to  be  seen 
at  thertime  of  Flint's  trip.  The  length  of  such  boats  was 
from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  feet,  the  breadth  from 
fifteen  to  twenty. 

"  The  receptacle  for  the  freight  was  a  large  covered 
coffer,  called  the  cargo-box,  which  occupied  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  hulk.  Near  the  stern  was  an  apology  for  a 
cabin,  a  straitened  apartment  six  or  eight  feet  in  length, 
in  which  the  captain  and  patron^  or  steersman,  were  gen- 
erally quartered  for  the  night.  The  roof  of  the  ^  cabin  ' 
was  slightly  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  deck,  and  on 
this  eminence  the  helmsman  was  stationed.  The  barge 
was  commonly  provided  with  two  masts." 


830  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

Flint's  "  Recollections  "  furnish  an  exact  and  vivacious 
account  of  how  navigation  was  conducted  on  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi.  He  says:  "You  hear  the  boatmen  ex- 
tolling their  powers  in  pushing  a  pole,  and  you  learn  the 
received  opinion  that  a  *Kentuck'  is  the  best  man  at  a 
pole,  and  a  Frenchman  at  the  oar.  A  firm  push  of  the 
iron-pointed  pole  on  a  fixed  log  is  termed  a  *•  reverend 
set/  You  are  told,  when  you  embark,  to  bring  your  plun- 
der aboard,  and  you  hear  about  moving  'fernent'  the 
stream ;  and  you  gradually  become  acquainted  with  a  co- 
pious vocabulary  of  this  sort.  The  manners  of  the  boat- 
men are  as  strange  as  their  language.  Their  peculiar  way 
of  life  has  given  origin,  not  only  to  an  appropriate  dialect, 
but  to  new  modes  of  enjoyment,  riot  and  fighting.  Al- 
most every  boat  while  it  lies  in  harbor  has  one  or  more 
fiddles  continually  scraping  aboard,  to  which  you  often 
see  the  boatmen  dancing.  There  is  no  wonder  that  the 
way  of  life  which  the  boatmen  lead,  in  turn  extremely  in- 
dolent and  extremely  laborious,  for  days  together  requiring 
little  or  no  efibrt  and  attended  with  no  danger,  and  then 
on  a  sudden  laborious  and  hazardous  beyond  Atlantic 
navigation,  generally  plentiful  as  it  respects  food  and  al- 
ways so  as  it  regards  whisky,  should  prove  irresistible  to 
the  young  people  who  live  near  the  banks  of  the  river. 
The  boats  fioat  by  their  dwellings  on  beautiful  spring 
mornings,  when  the  verdant  forest,  the  mild,  delicious 
temperature  of  the  air,  the  delightful  azure  of  the  sky  of 
this  country,  the  fine  bottom  on  the  one  hand  and  the  ro- 
mantic bluff  on  the  other,  the  broad  and  smooth  stream 
rolling  calmly  down  the  forest  and  floating  the  boat  gently 
forward — all  these  circumstances  harmonize  in  the  excited 
youthful  imagination.  The  boatmen  are  dancing  to  the 
violin  on  the  deck  of  their  boat.  They  scatter  their  wit 
among  the  girls  on  the  shore  who  come  down  to  the 
water's  edge  to  see  the  pageant  pass.  The  boat  glides  on 
until  it  disappears  behind  a  point  of  wood.  At  this  mo- 
ment, perhaps,  the  bugle  with  which  all  the  boatmen  are 
provided  strikes  up  its  note  in  the  distance  over  the  waters. 
These  scenes  and  these  notes  echoing  from  the  bluffs  of 


Timothy  Flint  331 

the  beautiful  Ohio  have  a  charm  for  the  imagination ;  al- 
though I  have  heard  a  thousand  times  repeated,  is  even 
to  me  always  new  and  always  delightful." 

This  vivid  and  enthusiastic  description  recalls  the  melo- 
dious lines  of  Wm.  O.  Butler  on  "  The  Boat-horn,"  con- 
tributed to  the  Western  Review,  Lexington,  Ky.,  in  1821 : 

"  0,  boatman !  wind  that  horn  again, 

For  never  did  the  listening  air, 
Upon  its  lambent  bosom  bear 

So  wild,  so  soft,  so  sweet  a  strain ! 
What,  though  thy  notes  are  sad  and  few, 

By  every  simple  boatman  blown, 
Yet  is  each  pulse  to  nature  true, 

And  melody  in  every  tone. 
How  oft  in  boyhood's  joyous  days. 

Unmindful  of  the  lapsing  hours, 
I  've  loitered  on  my  homeward  way 

By  wild  Ohio's  bank  of  flowers  ; 
While  some  lone  boatman  from  the  deck 

Poured  his  soft  numbers  to  the  tide, 
As  if  to  charm  from  storm  and  wreck 

The  boat  where  all  his  fortunes  ride  ! 
Delighted  Nature  drank  the  sound. 

Enchanted  'echo  bore  it  round 
In  whispers  soft  and  softer  still. 

From  hill  to  plain,and  plain  to  hill, 
Till  e'en  the  thoughtless,  frolic  boy, 
•     Elate  with  hope  and  wild  with  joy, 
Who  gamboled  by  the  river  side. 

And  sported  with  the  fretting  tide. 
Feels  something  new  pervade  his  breast, 

Change  his  light  step,  repress  his  jest, 
Bends  o'er  the  flood  his  eager  ear 

To  catch  the  sounds  far  off,  yet  dear — 
Drinks  the  sweet  draft,  but  knows  not  why 

The  tear  of  rapture  fills  his  eye." 

By  the  middle  of  ^N'ovember  the  convalescents  were  once 
again  afloat,  and,  though  the  autumn  season  was  so  far  ad- 
vanced, the  weather  was  mild  and  delightful.  The  chil- 
dren, standing  on  deck,  gazed  with  pleasure  on  the  pass- 
ing scene.  A  flock  of  wild  geese  now  and  then  sailed 
by,  and  sandhill  cranes  and  pelicans  could  be  seen  stalk- 
ing upon  the  white  sandbars.     The  novelty  of  the  varied 


882  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

vegetation  along  the  fertile  shores  afforded  a  theme  for 
observation  and  astonishment.  There  were  wild  grape- 
vines almost  as  thick  as  the  body  of  a  man.  There  were 
persimmon  trees  and  clumps  of  pawpaw  bushes.  Cling- 
ing to  the  white  bark  of  the  sycamore  were  bunches  of 
green  mistletoe  gemmed  with  pearl-like  berries.  Most 
impressive  of  all  vegetable  wonders  were  the  gigantic  syc- 
amores stretching  their  weird,  snowy  arms  far  out  over 
the  water,  far  up  into  the  sky. 

Some  of  these  magnificent  trees  were  so  large  that  in 
reading  of  them  we  are  reminded  of  the  Sequoia  of  the 
Sierras,  or  the  giant  trees  of  Australia.  Flint  mentions  a 
sycamore  near  Marietta  which  measured  fifteen  and  a  half 
feet  in  diameter,  and  another  on  the  Big  Miami  that  wa& 
still  larger.  Judge  Tucker,  of  Missouri,  caused  a  section 
to  be  cut  from  the  trunk  of  a  hollow  sycamore  which  he 
covered  with  a  roof  and  fitted  up  with  a  stove  and  other 
furniture,  and  used  for  the  purposes  of  a  law  office.  It 
was  commodious  and  comfortable. 

Flint's  admiration  of  these  big  trees  will  recall  to  some 
readers  the  entries  which  Dr.  Cutler  made  in  his  diary  de- 
scriptive of  the  immense  trees  which  he  observed  at  Ma- 
rietta in  1788.  One  of  them,  a  black  walnut,  near  the 
Muskingum,  was  twenty-two  feet  in  girth ;  and  another,  a 
sycamore,  was  forty  feet  around.  The  sycamore  had 
fallen,  the  trunk  was  hollow  and  burnt  to  a  thin  shell. 
Cutler  says  :  "  Six  horsemen  could  ride  in  abreast,  and  pa- 
rade in  the  tree  at  the  same  time." 

At  Marietta  the  Salemites  found  themselves  among  old 
friends.  The  genial  pater  familias,  writing  home,  said : 
"You  can  imagine  the  rapidity  of  discourse,  the  attempt 
of  two  or  three  to  narrate  their  adventures  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  many  pleasant  circumstances  attending  the 
renewal  of  a  long-suspended  intercourse  with  congenial 
society."  Flint  had  letters  to  General  Putnam,  the  patri- 
arch of  the  colony,  whom  he  found  in  the  midst  of  rural 
plenty  in  a  commodious  house  surrounded  by  fruit  trees 
of  his  own  planting. 

At  the  end  of  November  the  sojourner  purchased  a  flat- 


Timothy  Flint.  333 

boat  of  forty  tons  burden,  and  departed  from  Marietta, 
with  several  passengers,  besides  his  own  family  and  an- 
other family  consisting  of  a  "  line,  healthy-looking  Ken- 
tuckian,  with  a  young  and  pretty  wife,  two  or  three  negro 
servants,  and  two  small  children."  This  Kentuckian  had 
been  for  years  a  boatman  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi ;  he 
had  served  in  the  war  on  the  Canadian  frontier,  and  was, 
upon  the  whole,  a  capital  fellow,  though  he  scandalized 
his  clerical  captain  by  terriiic  swearing,  and  nettled  the 
'New  England  children  by  telling  exaggerated  stories  about 
Yankees  who  sold  "  pit-coal  indigo  and  wooden  nutmegs." 
The  aggravating  Kentuckian  usually  followed  his  anec- 
dotes by  a  song,  with  the  chorus : 

"  They  will  put  pine-tops  in  their  whisky, 
And  then  they  will  call  it  gin." 

In  accordance  with  plans  formed  before  leaving  Salem, 
the  Flints  stopped  at  Cincinnati  to  spend  the  winter  with 
relatives  there.  Having  secured  a  house  for  his  family, 
the  missionary  took  occasion  to  familiarize  himself  with 
the  town  and  the  adjacent  country.  Tjie..aQ^ty  in  .and^l 
about  Cincinnati  seemed  to  him  to  be  copied  after  the  ; 
^ew  England  pattern.  In  one  of  his  letters  he  remarks  j 
that  the  people  "have  the  same  desire  for  keeping  up 
schools,  for  cultivating  psalmody,  for  settling  ministers 
and  attending  upon  religious  worship;  and  unfortunately 
the  same  disposition  to  dogmatize,  to  settle,  not  only  their 
own  faith,  but  that  of  their  neighbor,  and  to  stand  reso- 
lutely, and  dispute  fiercely,  for  the  slightest  shade  of  d\f^ 
ference  of  religious  opinion."  He  noted  that  the  ladies 
had  formed  a  Bible  and  charitable  society,  and  that  the 
town  had  a  character  for  seriousness,  good  order,  and 
public  spirit.  Apologizing  for  the  "  bad  taste  visible  in 
the  literary  productions  of  the  region  and  time,"  he 
ascribes  it  to  the  forwardness  of  incompetent  writers  and 
speakers,  and  to  an  "  unwarrantable  disdain  "  that  kept 
really  refined  and  educated  persons  from  displaying  their 
powers  in  the  newspapers,  the  pulpit,  the  bar,  and  the 
legislature. 


334  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

At  the  residence  of  General  Harrison,  Korth  Bend, 
Flint  was  received  with  great  hospitality  and  politeness. 
The  general  kept  an  open  table,  which  was  loaded  with 
plenty  and  free  to  all  guests,  like  an  old  English  board. 
The  house  was  freely  proffered  for  the  convenience  of 
public  worship.  Harrison's  manner  was  ardent  and  viva- 
cious. "He  has,"  wrote  his  guest,  "a  copious  fund  of 
that  eloquence  which  is  fitted  for  the  camp  and  for  gain- 
ing partisans." 

Another  distinguished  citizen  that  Flint  became  ac- 
quainted with  at  Cincinnati  was  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  who  is 
spoken  of  as  a  "  scientific  physician,  a  respectable  scholar 
and  natural  historian." 

In  March,  1816,  Flint  set  off  on  horseback  for  a  tour 
through  Indiana  and  Kentucky,  for  the  purpose  of  view- 
ing the  country  and  preaching  to  the  people.  Just  west 
of  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  he  was  surprised  to.  fall  in 
company  with  a  huge  bear,  which,  to  his  relief,  liked  him 
»o  better  than  he  liked  it,  and  sullenly  trotted  away. 
The  stroke  of  the  woodman's  ax  and  the  crash  of  falling 
trees  were  familiar  •  sounds  in  the  forest.  Newly-built 
cabins  were  seen  here  and  there  in  the  clearings.  The 
singing  red-bird  and  the  gay,  green  paroquet  flew  like 
winged  colors  in  the  spring  sunshine. 

The  traveler  visited  the  old  French  village  of  Vin- 
cennes,  and  then  went  to  Yevay  just  in  time  to  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  inhabitants  called  to  decide  on  the  loca- 
tion of  a  town-house,  a  market,  and  streets  First,  Second 
and  Third. 

Flint  crossed  the  Ohio  at  Carrollton,  and  pursued  his 
Journey  up  the  valley  of  the  Kentucky,  having  for  a 
traveling  companion  an  educated  young  Suabian,  who 
converged  agreeably  about  Europe  and  America.  The 
large  size  and  fine  appearance  of  the  Kentucky  people 
impressed  the  visitor,  as  did  also  the  general  prosperity, 
opulence  and  elegance  of  the  towns.  The  contrast  be- 
tween southern  life  and  northern  was  striking,  especially 
in  those  matters  which  were  affected  by  slavery.  Flint 
observed  that  hundreds  of  princely-looking  young  men 


Timothy  Flint.  335 

were  living  in  indolent  luxury.  He  was  delighted  with 
the  hospitality  with  which  he  was  received,  and  amused 
by  frequent  proposals  to  "  swap  horses." 

A  prejudice  prevailed  against  Yankees,  but  every  Ken- 
tuckian  was  enthusiastically  devoted  to  his  own  state. 
The  supreme  excellence  of  the  grand  old  commonwealth 
was  illustrated  by  a  story  of  a  Methodist  preacher,  who,  en- 
deavoring to  picture  to  his  hearers  the  perfections  of  the 
world  to  come,  capped  the  climax  by  saying :  "  In  short, 
my  brethren,  to  say  all  in  one  w^ord,  heaven  is  a  Ken  tuck 
of  a  place !" 

The.  Yankee  minister  delivered  his  message  in  many 
villages,  the  people  assembling  on  a  half-hour  notice  of 
the  court-house  bell,  for  "  a  preaching "  was  generally 
held  at  the  court-house,  there  being  few  churches.  The 
place  of  holding  the  service  at  Frankfort  was  in  the 
capitol  building,  where  a  large  and  gaily-dressed  audience 
assembled. 

Flint  had  letters  of  introduction  to  the  governor,  but 
his  excellency  was  not  in  town.  After  two  days'  stop  at 
Frankfort,  the  itinerant  took  the  road  to  Lexington,  the 
^'Athens  of  the  West."  This  was  decidedly  the  literary 
center  of  the  state.  The  fashion  in  good  society  was  to 
read  the  latest  books  and  to  discuss  all  subjects,  "  profane 
and  sacred."  Dr.  Blythe  was  at  that  time  president  of 
Transylvania  University.  The  college  classes  were  en- 
gaged in  the  same  studies  as  were  pursued  in  the  eastern 
colleges. 

Henry  Clay  had  just  returned  from  Ghent,  and  was  so 
much  fatigued  by  company  that  Flint,  with  a  nice  sense 
of  propriety,  forebore  to  seek  an  interview.  But  he 
wrote  thus  of  the  great  statesman  :  "  It  seems  to  be  gen- 
erally conceded  that,  as  an  orator,  he  received  his  diploma 
from  nature.  In  the  depth  and  sweetness  of  his  voice,  it 
is  said  he  has  no  compeers  ;  and,  in  the  gracefulness  of 
his  enunciation  and  manner,  few  equals.  Although  he 
was  not  publicly  educated,  yet  it  is  far  from  being  true 
that  he  is  not  a  scholar,  and  that  he  is  not  possessed  of 
classical  taste  and  discernment." 


336  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Flint  lingered  about  Lexington  until  the  middle  of 
March,  when  the  unfolding  of  the  gooseberry  leaves  and 
the  flowering  of  peach  trees  warned  him  it  was  time  to 
make  ready  to  continue  his  journey  down  the  Ohio. 
Bidding  adieu  to  the  Athenians,  he  mounted  his  steed 
and  returned,  by  way  of  Georgetown,  ^N'orth  Bend,  and 
Oeneral  Harrison's,  to  Cincinnati. 

There  being  but  one  steamboat,  and  that  an  unsafe  one, 
at  the  Cincinnati  wharf,  Flint  bought  and  fitted  up  a 
keel-boat  about  ninety  feet  long  and  of  seventeen  tons 
burden.  The  affectionate  family  had  become  so  much  at- 
tached to  their  Cincinnati  friends  that  parting  was  an 
anguish  similar  to  their  Salem  leave-taking.  Their 
friends,  who  had  secretly  made  many  provisions  for  the 
<jorafort  and  convenience  of  the  voyage,  went  down  to  the 
river  shore,  where  the  last  good-byes  were  exchanged. 

The  family  and  some  lady  passengers  being  safely 
aboard,  the  "patron,"  or  helmsman,  pushed  the  keel  from 
the  bank,  and  away  it  floated  on  the  sultry  afternoon  of 
April  12, 1816.  If  the  hills  and  woods  had  been  charm- 
ing in  November,  what  were  they  now  in  the  glorious 
bloom  and  verdure  of  a  forward  spring?  The  chronicle 
«ay8:  "Nothing  could  exceed  the  grandeur  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom  on  the  banks  of  the  broad  and  beautiful 
Ohio."  The  river  was  at  flood  height,  and  the  strong 
current  bore  the  boat  swiftly  on.  But  a  transformation 
scene  was  soon  witnessed. 

After  a  lapse  of  two  hours  of  ravishing  enjoyment  to 
the  travelers,  a  thunder-storm  gathered  and  burst  furi- 
ously on  the  river.  The  ladies  screamed,  their  gallant 
guardian  busied  himself  dipping  water  from  the  boat's 
hold,  the  grim  "  patron,"  like  another  Palinurus,  stood 
hopefully  at  the  helm,  undisturbed  by  the  drenching  rain, 
the  buffeting  wind,  and  the  rolling  thunder.  The  storm 
spent  its  rage,  the  sun  shone  out,  the  ladies  recovered 
from  fright,  and  the  slender  barque  floated  onward  until 
evening,  when  the  mansion  of  General  Harrison  was  de- 
scried on  its  high  hill.  The  boat  was  made  fast  to  the 
shore   and  the  passengers  climbed  the  steeps  and  were 


Timothy  Flint.  337 

made  welcome  by  the  urbane  hero  of  Tippecanoe  and  his 
lovely  wife. 

That  night  and  the  next  day  and  night  were  spent 
pleasantly  at  Harrison's  in  talking  with  the  general  and 
listening  to  his  children  say  lessons  in  geometry.  The 
next  day  the  voyagers  went  to  Lawrenceburg,  where  they 
left  their  lady  passengers.  At  this  place  Flint's  daughter 
fell  into  the  river,  and  was  rescued  from  drowning  by  a 
^'providential"  stranger. 

The  last  settlenient  they  stopped  at  was  Shawneetown, 
^' an  unpleasant  looking  village  that  had  just  emerged 
from  an  inundation."  Here  they  made  final  arrangements 
for  ascending  the  Mississippi,  and  engaged  a  complement 
of  boatmen,  perhaps  ten  or  twelve. 

On  the  28th  of  April,  their  boat  drifted  from  the  com- 
paratively clear  waters  of  the  Ohio  to  the  turbid,  milk- 
white  surface  of  the  Mississippi,  which  seemed  the 
^' '  ultima  thule ' — a  limit  almost  to  the  range  of  thought." 

The  few  houses  of  Cairo  were  under  water,  and  the  in- 
habitants were  quartered  promiscuously  in  a  large  flat- 
boat,  provided  with  liquor  shops  for  the  cheap  accom- 
modation of  the  men  and  women  who  desired  to  get 
drunk. 

The  gloomy  feelings  caused  by  the  view  of  Cairo,  and 
its  debauched  and  miserable  people,  were  dispelled  as  soon 
as  the  boat  began  to  ascend  the  Mississippi.  Neither  the 
oar  nor  the  pole  could  be  used  to  advantage  in  propelling 
the  craft  against  the  sweeping  current  of  the  deep  and 
muddy  stream.  Two  new  methods  of  locomotion  were 
employed,  viz.,  towing  and  "  bush-whacking." 

Tow-lines,  or  "  cordelles,"  of  great  length  were  carried 
by  every  boat.  One  of  these  long  ropes  was  used  after 
the  manner  of  the  cable  of  a  canal-boat,  to  pull  the  vessel 
up  stream,  not  by  horse  power,  but  by  the  muscle  of  men. 
The  "  hands  "  would  toil  along  the  bank  tugging  at  the 
cordelle.  When  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  a  tributary, 
they  either  swam  across,  holding  fast  to  the  line,  or  used 
a  yawl  to  carry  the  rope  across.  When  they  were  im- 
22 


888  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

peded  by  a  bluff,  it  was  necessary  to  "  warp  "  or  cross  tha 
river  to  the  low  ground  on  the  other  side.  The  margin 
was  80  obstructed  in  many  places  that  towing  became 
impracticable.  If  such  was  the  case,  one  end  of  the  cor- 
delle  was  made  fast  to  some  tree  or  "  snag  "  far  up  stream, 
and  the  men  standing  on  the  deck  would  pull  or  with  a 
windlass  draw  the  boat  toward  the  fixed  point,  while  an- 
other line  was  carried  still  farther  up  stream  and 
fastened. 

The  operation  called  "  bush-whacking  "  was  very  sim- 
ple, the  whole  art  consisting  in  grasping  the  branches  of 
trees  and  bushes  that  lined  the  water's  edge,  and  pulling 
80  as  to  force  the  boat  forward  while  the  "bush-whacker" 
trod  from  bow  to  stern  on  the  long  deck.  The  novelty  of 
the  up-river  navigation,  the  charm  of  the  scenery,  the  de- 
lightful air,  the  cheering  sunshine,  and  the  majestic  view 
of  the  Father  of  Waters,  pouring  his  flood  betwixt  wonder- 
ful shores,  filled  the  enthusiastic  and  poetical  Flint  family 
with  ecstacy.  They  were  rapt  and  seemed  to  float  as  in  a 
delicious  dream. 

The  cotton-wood  trees  that  waved  in  strange  loveliness, 
the  fluttering  green  paroquets  that  seemed  to  the  children 
like  flocks  from  paradise,  the  innumerable  wild  ducks  and 
other  game  birds  that  rose  in  airy  flights  from  the  reeds, 
the  herds  of  deer  now  and  then  seen  bounding  through 
the  distant  thickets — all  united  to  captivate  the  senses 
and  to  excite  the  fancy.  The  pungent  odor  of  the  willow 
flowers,  which  the  voyagers  crushed  in  their  palms  as 
they  grasped  the  overhanging  boughs  to  aid  the  north- 
ward motion  of  their  boat,  raised  in  their  minds  mytho- 
logical ideas  of  "  nectar  and  ambrosia."  Ten  years  after 
this  delectable  experience,  Timothy  Flint  recalled  it  in 
these  words :  "  Perhaps  the  first  half-day  that  we  passed 
in  ascending  the  river,  under  every  favorable  omen,  was 
the  happiest  period  that  we  ever  experienced  as  it  regards 
mere  physical  enjoyment." 

This  exultant  sensuous  pleasure  was  followed  by  a 
natural  reaction.  The  incessant,  anxious,  severe,  and  dan- 
gerous toil  of  struggling  against  the  boiling  current  of  the 


Timothy  Flint  339 

Mississippi,  beset  with  snags,  sawyers,  wreck-heaps,  and 
rocks,  exhausted  the  physical  energies  and  depressed  the 
spirits.  Besides,  every  thing  was  rude,  wild,  savage,  un- 
touched by  civilization.  The  boat  crept  up  the  stream, 
or  was  forced  up  painfully,  about  twelve  miles  a  day. 
At  night  all  hands  encamped,  at  some  favorable  spot  on 
shore,  built  their  camp-fires,  cooked  supper,  and  prepared 
couches  for  the  night's  welcome  repose.  Rations  of  whisky 
were  distributed  among  the  boatmen,  who  then  sat  down 
under  some  huge  tree  and  told  tales  of  their  adventures. 

Some  had  been  hunters  on  the  Missouri ;  some  had  ex- 
plored the  Mississippi  above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony; 
others  knew  the  region  of  the  great  lakes  and  Canada ; 
others  had  wandered  far  south,  on  the  Red  river  and  on 
the  lagoons  near  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They  had  stories 
to  tell  of  river  and  forest,  of  war  and  the  hunt,  of  Span- 
iard and  Frenchman.  ^'  Sometimes,"  says  Flint,  "  we  had 
details  of  their  dusky  loves,  that  no  feature  of  romance 
might  be  wanting." 

The  rough  boatmen  who,  after  emboldening  themselves 
with  strong  drink,  regaled  their  gentle  auditors  with 
stories  of  personal  deeds  as  wonderful  as  the  labors  of 
Hercules,  were  not  the  only  nondescript  characters  that 
haunted  river  and  shore.  Shawnee  Indians,  of  panther- 
like aspect,  prowled  about  the  night  encampment  to  the 
terror  of  Mrs.  Flint  and  her  daughter.  Over-familiar 
desperadoes,  in  outlandish  attire,  armed  with  dirks,  and 
smelling  desperately  of  bad  liquors,  invaded  the  camp,  and 
exchanged  slang  and  profanity  with  the  boatmen.  IN'ot 
unfrequently  some  lawless  wretch,  minus  one  eye,  was 
pointed  out  to  Flint  as  a  victim  of  the  "gouger's"  thumb. 
But  the  apprehensive  clergyman  was  assured  that  no 
"  gentleman  "  was  in  danger  of  being  gouged. 

The  keel-boat,  after  many  hairbreadth  escapes  from 
wreck  and  foundering,  at  length  reached  the  village  of 
Ste.  Genevieve,  a  place  older  than  Philadelphia.  It  was 
a  pleasant  town,  the  seat  of  government,  and  had  a  weekly 
newspaper.  The  houses  were  built  of  mud  and  white- 
washed.    The  French  language  and  the  Catholic  religion 


840  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

held  sway  there.  The  housetops  and  the  gate-posts  were 
surmounted  by  wooden  crosses.  The  family  landed  at 
Ste.  Genevieve  and  were  entertained  hospitably  by  the 
amiable  and  courteous  people. 

From  Ste.  Genevieve  the  Flints  proceeded  to  St.  Louis, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  24th  of  May,  1816.  From  St. 
Louis  as  a  center  of  operations,  Flint  made  many  jour- 
neys in  the  capacity  of  missionary,  to  the  various  French 
and  American  settlements  in  Missouri  and  Illinois.  Among 
the  places  visited  were  Florissant,  Bellefontaine,  Bon- 
horame,  and  Carondelet.  He  was  accompanied  in  some 
of  his  excursions  by  a  brother  missionary  from  Connecti- 
cut, whose  name  is  not  given.  Flint  was  the  first  Protest- 
ant clergyman  who  administered  the  ordinance  of  com- 
munion in  St.  Louis. 

After  four  months  of  sojourn  at  St.  Louis,  Flint  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  St.  Charles,  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Missouri,  forty  miles  above  its  mouth.  Here,  on 
the  10th  day  of  September,  the  family  arrived,  and  took 
apartments  in  the  house  of  Madame  Duquette,  a  French 
widow,  with  whom  they  resided  pleasantly  for  two  years. 
He  afterward  settled  on  a  small  farm  below  St.  Charles, 
on  the  prairie  called  "  The  Mamelle."  The  whole  period 
of  residence  in  Missouri  was  about  five  years.  These 
were  years  of  indefatigable  labor,  of  privation,  sickness, 
and  hardship,  relieved,  however,  by  much  that  was  exhila- 
rating and  profitable  to  the  soul.  The  devout  and  earnest 
preacher  found  much  to  distress  him  in  his  efibrts  to 
propagate  the  spirit,  rather  than  the  letter  of  the  benign 
religion  of  "  love  to  God  and  love  to  man."  He  discovered 
to  his  disappointment  that  the  professed  followers  of 
Christ  were  in  rivalry  and  at  bitter  war  about  mere  forms 
and  dogmas,  even  as  were  **  the  doctors  and  the  schools  of 
Andover  and  Princeton."  He  deplored  the  absence  of  the 
"  religion  of  the  heart "  from  the  sectarians  of  the  fron- 
tier, and  exclaimed :  "  Happy,  and  thrice  happy,  in  my 
judgment,  if  men  laid  less  stress  upon  knowledge  and 
more  upon  experimental  acquaintance  with  the  power  of 
religion."     He  tells  his  cousin,  in  faihiliar  confidence :  "  I 


Timothy  Flint  341 

ooiild  easily  fill  a  volume  with  the  details  of  trials,  per- 
plexities, and  suiFerings.  1  have  labored  much,  not  in  the 
vain  hope  of  obtaining  either  much  compensation  or  much 
fame.  Should  I  describe  all  that  I  was  called  to  endure 
from  sickness,  opposition,  and  privation,  and  from  causes 
unnecessary  to  be  named,  the  most  sober  account  would 
seem  like  the  fiction  of  romance."  In  the  same  letter 
he  w^rites  with  touching  fervor  :  "  I  had  my  hours  when 
debility,  and  concern  for  my  family,  and  trials  and  oppo- 
sition all  vanished,  and  I  saw  nothing  but  God  and 
eternity." 

We  will  not  follow  this  devoted  family  through  the 
years  of  vicissitude  on  the  Mis^^ouri.  Timothy  Flint 
ground  all  his  observations  and  experience  into  that  bril- 
liant paint  with  which  he  afterward  depicted  western  life 
in  his  writings.  He  saw  thousands  of  Indians,  of  various 
tribes,  and  he  has  given  from  the  life,  the  most  exact  and 
graphic  description  of  these  strange  people  that  can  be 
found  in  literature,  his  delineations  being  far  more  realis- 
tic than  those  of  Cooper.  At  St.  Louis  he  was  formally 
introduced  to  the  Cherokee  chief,  Richard  Justice,  with 
his  wnves  and  thirty  children.  He  was  also  acquainted 
w^ith  the  celebrated  Spaniard,  Manuel  Lisa,  the  king  of 
fur  traders,  of  whom  much  is  said  in  Irving's  '*Astoria." 

Having  received  an  urgent  call  to  the  Lower  Mississippi 
region,  and  half  hoping  to  overtake  fleeting  health  by  a 
change  of  climate,  the  Flints  again  took  boat  and  started 
for  Post  Arkansas,  May  5,  1819.  This  destination  was 
reached  after  a  tedious  and  miserable  voyage  of  many 
days.  The  post,  situated  far  up  the  Arkansas,  was  the 
seat  of  government  of  the  territory,  then  newly  formed, 
with  a  population  of  about  ten  thousand.  A  dreadful 
summer  was  spent  there;  what  with  mosquitoes,  Span- 
iards, Indians,  French,  swamps,  alligators  and  ague,  the 
zealous  missionary  well  nigh  lost  his  customary  equinim- 
ity.  Every  Sabbath  he  preached  in  the  court-house  to  a 
congregation  which  he  addressed  in  the  French  language. 
Most  of  his  auditors  came  costumed  for  the  ball-room,  to 
which  they  went  as  soon  as  the  service  ended.     There  was 


842  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

a  billiard-room  near  by  the  court-house,  and  many  gentle- 
men bestowed  their  attention,  alternately,  upon  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  and  the  pleasure  of  the  cue.  It  was  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  the  preacher  thought  preaching,  un- 
der these  circumstances,  a  "  heart-wearing  agony." 

When  the  summer  heats  prevailed,  the  whole  family, 
excepting  the  father,  were  taken  down  with  fever.  As 
soon  as  they  were  able  to  move,  they  took  boat,  floating 
down  the  Arkansas  to  the  Mississippi  in  twelve  days. 
Without  the  assistance  of  a  single  boatman,  Flint  and  his 
sons  undertook  the  enormous  task  of  navigating  a  flat- 
boat  against  the  current  of  the  Mississippi  toward  their 
former  home  at  St.  Charles,  four  hundred  miles  to  the 
north.  And  now  we  have  come,  in  the  devious  course  of 
our  narrative,  to  the  saddest  and  most  desolate  episode  in 
the  history  of  this  much-suflTering  family.  Let  us  read  it 
in  the  simple  and  exquisitelv  pathetic  words  of  Flint  him- 
self: 

"  We  arrived  opposite  to  the  second  Chickasaw  Bluff 
on  the  26th  of  November.  The  country  on  the  shore  re- 
ceives and  deserves  the  emphatic  name  of  '  wilderness.' 
At  10  in  the  morning  we  perceived  indications  of  a  severe 
approaching  storm.  The  air  was  oppressively  sultry. 
Brassy  clouds  were  visible  upon  all  quarters  of  the  sky. 
Distant  thunder  was  heard.  We  were  upon  a  wide  sand- 
bar, far  from  any  house.  Opposite  to  us  was  a  vast 
cypress  swamp.  At  this  period,  and  in  this  place,  Mrs. 
F.  was  taken  in  travail.  My  children,  wrapped  in  blan- 
kets, laid  themselves  down  on  the  sand-bar.  I  secured  the 
boat  in  every  way  possible  against  the  danger  of  being 
driven  by  the  storm  into  the  river.  At  11  the  storm 
burst  upon  us  in  all  its  fury.  Mrs.  F.  had  been  salivated 
during  her  fever,  and  had  not  yet  been  able  to  leave  her 
couch.  I  was  alone  with  her  in  this  dreadful  situation. 
Hail  and  wind  and  thunder  and  rain  in  torrents  poured 
upon  us.  I  was  in  terror  lest  the  wind  would  drive  my 
boat,  notwithstanding  all  her  fastenings,  into  the  river. 
No  imagination  can  reach  what  I  endured.  The  only  al- 
leviating circumstance  was  her  perfect  tranquillity.     She 


rimothy  Flint.  343 

knew  that  the  hour  of  sorro\y,  and  expected  that  of  death 
was  come.  She  was  so  perfectly  calm,  spoke  with  such 
tranquil  assurance  about  the  future  and  about  the  dear 
ones  that  were  at  this  moment  '  biding  the  pelting  of  the 
pitiless  storm '  on  the  sand-bar,  that  I  became  calm  my- 
self. A  little  after  12  the  wind  burst  in  the  roof  of  my 
boat,  and  let  in  the  glare  of  the  lightning  and  the  torrents 
of  rain  upon  my  poor  wife.  I  could  really  have  expostu- 
lated with  the  elements  in  the  language  of  poor  old  Lear. 
I  had  wrapped  my  wife  in  blankets,  ready  to  be  carried 
to  the  shelter  of  the  forest  in  case  of  the  driving  of  my 
boat  into  the  river.  About  4  the  fury  of  the  storm  began 
to  subside.  At  5  the  sun  in  his  descending  glory  burst 
from  the  dark  masses  of  the  receding  clouds. 

"At  11  in  the  evening  Mrs.  F.  was  safely  delivered  of  a 
female  infant,  and,  notwithstanding  all,  did  well;  the 
babe,  from  preceding  circumstances,  was  feeble  and  sickly, 
and  I  saw  could  not  survive.  At  midnight  we  had  raised 
a  blazing  fire.  The  children  came  into  the  boat,  supper 
was  prepared,  and  we  surely  must  have  been  ungrateful  not 
to  have  sung  a  hymn  of  deliverance.  •  There  can  be  but 
one  trial  more  for  me  that  can  surpass  the  agony  of  that 
day,  and  there  can  never  be  on  this  earth  a  happier  period 
than  those  midnight  hours.  The  babe  staid  with  us  but 
two  days  and  a  half  and  expired.  The  children,  poor 
things,  laid  it  deeply  to  heart,  and  raised  a  loud  lament. 
We  were,  as  I  have  remarked,  far  away  from  all  human 
aid  and  sympathy,  and  left  alone  with  God.  We  depos- 
ited the  body  of  our  lost  babe — laid  in  a  small  trunk  for  a 
coffin,  in  a  grave  amid  the  rushes,  there  to  await  the  res- 
urrection of  the  dead.  The  grave  is  on  a  high  bank 
opposite  to  the  second  Chickasaw  Bluff,  and  I  have  since 
passed  the  rude  memorial  which  we  raised  on  the  spot ; 
and  I  passed  it  carrying  to  you  my  miserable  and  ex- 
hausted frame,  with  little  hope  of  its  renovation,  and  in 
the  hourly  expectation  of  depositing  my  bones  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi.  But  enough  and  too  much  of 
all  this." 

With  aching  hearts  the  Flint  family  took  leave  of  the 


344  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

little  grave  and  resumed  their  boat.  Fortunately  obtain- 
ing the  assistance  of  two  hands,  they  proceeded  as  far 
north  as  New  Madrid,  where  they  arrived  about  the  mid- 
dle of  December,  1819.  Feeble  from  sickness  and  dejected 
by  grief,  they  were  induced  to  spend  the  winter  at  the  vil- 
lage. They  were  kindly  received  in  the  family  of  an  ex- 
cellent old  lady,  Mrs.  Gray,  a  woman  of  seventy  winters, 
who  had  witnessed  the  progress  of  the  settlement  of  New 
Madrid  from  its  beginning.  Mrs.  Gray  possessed  a  library, 
was  a  classic  scholar,  who  read  Plato,  and  was  familiar 
with  the  history  of  the  ancients.  Her  daughter  was  also 
an  accomplished  woman,  who  had  "  lived  in  the  great 
world  in  Natchez  and  New  Orleans,  in  the  family  of  Mr. 
Derbigny,  and  in  the  families  of  two  of  the  greater  com- 
mandants, and  spoke  and  read  French  as  well  as  English." 

These  agreeable  ladies  communicated  to  Mr.  Flint  a 
very  clear  and  complete  account  of  the  great  earthquake, 
the  devastation  of  which  they  had  witnessed.  Flint  re- 
corded the  facts,  and  his  description  is  the  best  one  extant 
of  the  noted  convulsions,  which  had  not  entirely  ceased 
at  the  date  of  his  visit  to  New  Madrid.  He  says  impress- 
ively :  "  In  the  midst  of  some  of  our  conversations,  pro- 
longed over  the  winter  lire,  we  were  not  unfrequently  in- 
terrupted for  a  moment  by  the  distant  and  hollow  thunder 
of  the  approaching  earthquake.  An  awe,  a  slight  pale- 
ness passed  over  every  countenance.  The  narrative  was 
suspended  for  a  moment,  and  resumed." 

When  the  winter  was  spent  the  Flints  removed  to  Cape 
Girardeau,  where  they  remained  for  more  than  a  year, 
among  rough  and  uncongenial  people,  to  whom  they 
formed  no  attachments,  and  from  whom  they  received 
nothing  valuable  except  the  proverbial  staple — experience. 
Flint*8  sense  of  propriety  was  shocked  by  the  prevalence 
of  80-called  relie^ious  "  spasms,  cries,  fallings,  and  faint- 
ings,"  at  places  of  public  worship,  and  he  could  hardly 
tolerate  a  species  of  worship  called  the  "  holy  laugh,''  in 
which  certain  highly  excited  converts  were  wont  to  in- 
dulge. 

In  the  autumn  of  1820  the  family  were  glad  to  return 


Timothy  Flint.  345 

to  the  little  farm  on  the  "  Mamelle,"  or  the  "  Point,"  be- 
low St.  Charles.  No  sooner  had  they  arrived  than  five  of 
the  family,  including  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Flint,  were  prostrated 
with  a  bilious  fever.  They  were  utterly  helpless,  and  were 
quartered  in  different  houses  by  benevolent  neighbors. 
The  fever  lasted  fort}^  <^^ays,  and  was  followed  by  months 
of  fever  and  ague.  Flint  endured  seventy-seven  shakes 
from  this  pleasant  visitor,  who  walketh  invisible  by  noon- 
day. Saturated  with  Peruvian  bark,  calomel,  and  despond- 
ency, they  now  turned  their  thoughts  toward  their  Xew 
England  home.  It  was  decided  to  descend  the  Mississippi 
to  !N'ew  Orleans,  and  thence  to  embark  by  ship  for  Salem. 
Accordingly,  Flint,  joining  with  Mr.  Postell,  of  St. 
Charles,  built  a  flat-boat,  the  family  took  passage  October 
4,  1822,  and  were  carried  to  the  great  metropolis  of  the 
South  as  rapidly  as  the  current  could  bear  them. 

Upon  arriving  in  J^ew  Orleans,  Flint  and  his  family  had 
improved  in  health,  and  he  was  induced  to  relinquish  the 
purpose  of  going  home,  and  to  take  charge  of  a  seminary 
at  Covington,  and  to  preach  for  a  season  at  that  place  and 
the  neighboring  village  of  Madisonville.  Crossing  Lake 
Pontchartrain  in  March,  1823,  he  took  up  his  rcvsidence  in 
Covington,  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  double 
duty  as  teacher  and  preacher.  Health  failed,  as  usual,  and 
he  returned  to  Xew  Orleans  in  the  autumn.  During  the 
winter  he  delivered  a  course  of  popular  lectures  in  that  city. 
About  this  time  the  Kev.  Mr.  Hall,  principal  of  the  Seminary 
of  Rapide,  at  Alexandria,  La.,  died,  and  Flint  was  impor- 
tuned to  occupy  the  vacant  position.  Consenting,  he 
went  with  his  wife  and  children,  by  boat,  to  the  new  des- 
tination, on  the  west  bank  of  Red  river,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  above  the  mouth.  The  Seminary  or  College  of 
Rapide  was  conducted  in  a  large,  ugly  building,  upon 
which  much  money  had  been  spent.  The  school  was  nu- 
merous, many  students  boarding  with  the  principal.  The 
town  of  Alexandria  was  new,  and  the  state  of  literary  cul- 
ture very  low.  There  were  doctors,  lawyers,  and  editors 
enough,  and  as  many  as  three  ''  Presbyterian  ministers 
had  already  laid  their  ashes"  in  the  village  graveyard. 


846  Literaty  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Flint  did  not  take  ^his  state  of  mortuary  facts  as  a  per- 
sonal suggestion,  but  went  about  his  labors — serene  op- 
timist that  he  was — and  sucked  all  the  honey  he  could 
draw  from  the  weeds  of  tribulation  and  sacrifice.  The 
Alexandrians  were  amiable.  (Timothy  seems  never  to 
have  encountered  other  than  amiable  people  in  his  wan- 
derings; French,  Spanish,  Dutch,  German,  English,  half- 
breeds,  full-blood  savages — all  were  amiable  to  him.  With 
equal  hospitality  of  heart  he  met  Yankee  traders  and 
Kentucky  boatmen,  Canadian  voyageurs  and  Texas  rang- 
ers.) The  Creole  planters  on  the  Eed  river  lived  in  lux- 
urious elegance.  All  the  work  was  done  by  black  slaves, 
and  the  indolent  gentlemen  and  ladies  had  no  care  except 
to  plan  easy  pleasures.  The  women,  beautiful  and  fasci- 
nating, intoxicated  themselves  by  reading  romance.  The 
men  were  infatuated  with  the  sport  called  "fire-hunting" 
— shooting  deer  by  the  glare  of  a  flambeau  in  the  dark 
woods,  after  the  game  had  been  started  by  dogs  wearing 
bells. 

Both  out-of-door  rides  with  hunters  and  in-door  novel 
reading  with  the  Creole  mesdames  failed  to  invigorate  the 
health  of  the  genial  missionary.  In  the  forlorn  hope  of 
becoming  robust  by  "  roughing  it"  in  the  saddle,  he  made 
a  tour,  in  company  with  Judge  Ballard,  to  "  Cantonment 
Jessup,"  a  military  post  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  Sabine 
river,  the  station  farthest  to  the  south-west  of  any  then  in 
the  United  States.  The  post  was  commanded  by  Colonel 
Many.  The  journey  was  full  of  incident,  and  furnished 
much  of  the  material  for  the  novel,  "  Francis  Berrian," 
but  the  exertion  was  too  great  for  poor  Flint's  exhausted 
body.  By  the  time  he  returned  as  far  as  Natchitoches,  he 
was  unable  to  sit  upon  his  horse,  so  he  took  steamboat 
and  descended  the  Red  river  to  Alexandria.  The  strong 
probability  that,  unless  he  left  the  place,  he  might  soon  add 
a  fourth  to  the  three  graves  of  Presbyterian  preachers,  led 
his  family  and  physician  to  insist  that  he  should  make  all 
possible  haste  to  depart  for  his  New  England  home,  twenty- 
five  hundred  miles  to  the  north-east.  Accordingly,  on 
an  April  day,  in  1825,  he  bade  his  pupils  farewell  in  the 


Timothy  Flint.  347 

court-yard,  parted  from  wife  and  daughter  at  the  steps, 
and  was  conducted  by  his  sons  down  to  the  steamboat. 
After  kissing  his  little  boy,  a  four-year-old  lad,  with  a 
military  hat  and  a  tin  sword,  the  sick  man  entered  the 
steamer,  took  his  berth,  heard  the  parting  gun  boom  the 
signal  for  departure,  and  was  on  his  way  to  Natchez.  At 
^Natchez  he  took  passage  on  the  fine  steamer  Grecian,  for 
Louisville.  His  journal  records  that:  "On  the  11th,  we 
passed  the  place  where  our  babe  lies  buried,  and  at  mid- 
night, on  the  14th,  we  arrived  at  Louisville."  Thence,  on 
board  the  steamer  Pike,  he  proceeded  to  Cincinnati,  where 
he  stopped  two  days  with  friends,  and  received  "  medi- 
cine and  counsel"  from  Dr.  Drake.  From  Cincinnati  he 
went  by  boat  to  Wheeling,  and  there  took  stage-coach  for 
Baltimore,  over  the  National  road. 

Treating  of  this  celebrated  old  route  of  travel,  he  said : 
*'We  have  fine  taverns  and  good  entertainment  all  the  way 
over  the  mountains.  We  were  driven  down  the  most  con- 
siderable of  them,  a  distance  of  between  four  and  1^yq> 
miles,  at  a  furious  rate,  and  at  midnight,  and  just  on  the 
verge  of  precipices  that  it  would  be  fearful  to  look  down 
upon  at  mid-day."  The  longest  journey  has  an  end;  the 
wanderer  reached  Salem,  more  dead  than  alive.  A  few 
weeks'  rest,  and  a  summer  jaunt  up  the  Hudson,  with  his 
most  congenial  companion,  cousin  James,  gave  him  a 
fresh  lease  of  life  and  hope.  He  was  persuaded  by  his 
friends,  Peabody  and  Dr.  Flint,  to  write  for  publication  an 
account  of  his  travels  and  observations.  This  he  was 
easily  induced  to  undertake.  The  work  of  preparing  the 
manuscript  was  commenced  at  Salem,  and  completed  at 
Cincinnati,  on  September  25,  1825. 

Flint's  "  Recollections  of  the  Last  Ten  Years  in  the- 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi  "  was  published  in  Boston  by 
Cummings,  Hillard  &  Co.,  in  the  spring  of  1826.  The  vol- 
ume gives,  with  much  detail,  the  full  history  of  the  events 
slightly  sketched  in  the  foregoing  pages.  In  the  synopsis 
free  use  has  been  made  of  Flint's  phrasing,  and  direct 
quotations  have  been  given,  for  the  double  purpose  of  pre- 
serving important  facts  and  illustrating  the  style  of  the 


348  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

volume.  Never  was  a  more  delightful  book  of  the  kind 
written.  A  more  original  book  it  would  be  impossible  to 
conceive  of.  In  fact,  it  seems  not  to  be  a  book,  but  a  fa- 
miliar talk — a  picture  from  nature ;  a  man  revealing  him- 
self to  the  sympathetic  world  with  unconscious  and  com- 
plete candor,  confidence  and  enthusiasm.  He  tells  the 
reader  that  he  has  not  consulted  a  book  on  his  subject 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  composition. 

Flint's  "Recollections"  met  with  immediate  success, 
and  was  reprinted  in  London,  and  translated  into  French 
in  Paris,  though  it  never  has  been  reproduced  in  the 
United  States.  The  popularity  of  the  work  decided  the 
author  to  make  literature  his  vocation. 

In  the  autumn  of  1825,  Flint's  wife  and  four  children 
joined  him  at  Cincinnati,  where  the  family  remained  for 
the  next  seven  or  eight  years. 

One  of  his  sons,  E.  H.  Flint,  opened  a  bookstore  on  the 
corner  of  Fifth  and  Walnut  streets,  which  was  removed 
to  160  Main  street,  "  nearly  opposite  the  Presbyterian 
Church."  An  elder  son,  Micah  P.  Flint,  who  had  studied 
law,  and  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Alexandria,  won 
a  fair  reputation  as  a  poet.  Several  of  his  maiden  eftbrts 
in  verse  were  printed  in  his  father's  "  Recollections,"  and 
were  afterward,  in  1826,  issued  in  a  thin  volume,  under 
the  title,  "  The  Hunter,  and  Other  Poems."  Micah  Flint 
died  in  1830,  aged  twenty- three. 

In  July,  1826,  Timothy  Flint  took  out  the  copyright  of 
hie  second  book,  the  lively  and  entertaining  novel,  "  Fran- 
cis Berrian,  or  the  Mexican  Patriot,"  issued  in  two  vol- 
umes, from  Boston.  This  is  dedicated  to  Judge  Henry 
8.  Ballard,  the  gentleman  with  whom  the  author  made 
the  tour  to  the  Sabine  country.  It  is  a  romantic  story, 
founded  on  the  fortunes  of  Iturbide,  in  the  Mexican 
revolution.  The  hero,  Berrian,  is  a  dashing  Yankee, 
who  has  many  startling  adventures  with  Comanche  In- 
dians, Spanish  hidalgos,  and  lovely  seDoras.  Literary 
judges  praise  the  scenic  descriptions  of  this  novel  very 
highly,  but  criticise  its  dramatic  qualities  and  character 
painting.    It  is  certainly  not  a  tale  of  the  Henry  James 


Timothy  Flint.  349 

type ;  the  autlior  lias  more  '•  to  tell "  than  "  to  say." 
Mrs.  Trollope  placed  Flint  first  among  the  American 
writers  of  his  time.  She  says  :  "  Several  American  nov- 
els were  hrought  me.  Mr.  Flint's  '  Francis  Berrian '  is 
excellent ;  a  little  wild  and  romantic,  hut  containing 
scenes  of  first-rate  interest  and  pathos."  On  another 
page  she  says  :  "  Mr.  Flint's  '  Francis  Berrian  '  is  delight- 
ful. There  is  a  vigor  and  freshness  in  his  writing  that 
is  exactly  in  accordance  with  what  one  looks  for  in  the 
literature  of  a  new  country ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  it  is 
exactly  what  is  most  wanting  in  that  of.  America." 

''  Francis  Berrian  "  has  long  been  out  of  print,  and  has 
become  exceedingly  rare.  Mr.  U.  P.  James,  the  western 
publisher  and  book-dealer,  when  asked  about  the  volume, 
said :  "  It  always  sells  for  a  high  price,  but  it  is  long  since 
I  saw  a  copy." 

It  is  incorrectly  stated  in  "AUibone's  Dictionary," 
^^  Duyckink's  American  Literature,"  and  similar  works, 
that  Timothy  Flint  began  the  publication  of  "  The  West- 
ern Magazine  and  Review  "  in  1834.  The  fact  is  that  the 
:first  number  of  this  pioneer  literary  journal  was  issued  in 
May,  1827.^  The  "  Geography  and  History  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  "  appeared  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year 
in  two  large  volumes  from  the  press  of  E.  H.  Flint.  This 
useful  work  rapidly  passed  through  numerous  large  edi- 
tions. Many  passages  from  the  "Recollections"  are  in- 
corporated in  it.  The  peculiar  criticism  was  made  on  this 
book  that  it  is  too  interesting  to  be  useful ! — the  reader 
searching  for  geographical  or  historical  facts  in  its  pages 
is  carried  away  from  his  object  by  the  absorbing  narrative 
or  brilliant  description. 

Citizens  of  Cincinnati  can  hardly  fail  to  take  an  inter- 
est in  Flint's  account,  published  in  the  Review,  February, 
1830,  of  the  locally  celebrated  historical  picture,  "  Gen- 
Lafayette's  Landing  and  Reception  at  Cincinnati,"  painted 
by  August  Jean  Hervieu  in  1829. 

Hervieu  was  a  French  artist,  born   near  Paris  in  1794. 


1  See  Chapter  III,  page  70. 


350  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

His  father,  who  held  the  rank  of  colonel  in  IN'apoleou's 
army,  was  taken  prisoner  at  Moscow,  and  he  died  in  cap- 
tivity. Jean  was  a  pupil  of  M.  Gitodet  and  of  M.  Gros. 
Becoming  involved  in  political  disturbances,  he  was  tried 
by  the  government  and  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of 
15,000  francs  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  fivQ  years.  But  he 
escaped  to  England,  where,  under  the  patronage  of  Sir 
Thomas  Lawrence,  of  the  Royal  Academy,  he  practiced 
his  art  at  Somerset  House,  London.  A  study  of  his  rep- 
resenting the  battle  of  Thermopylae,  which  he  sent  to 
France,  procured  for  him  a  medal  and  a  membership  in 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Lisle.  In  the  year  1829  Hervieu 
sailed  for  N"ew  Orleans,  on  the  same  vessel  that  brought 
Miss  Frances  Wright,  on  her  second  trip  to  America,  from 
he*r  French  home  in  the  house  of  Lafayette.  Miss  Wright 
lingered  in  the  South,  but  the  artist  proceeded  at  once  to 
the  "  Paris  of  America,"  though  the  city  was  then  de- 
scribed by  the  less  pleasing  name  of  "  Porkopolis." 

The  man  of  pigments  was  most  cordially  received  by 
the  virtuosi  of  Cincinnati,  and,  within  a  very  short  time 
after  his  arrival,  he  began  to  paint  what  his  friend  Mrs. 
TroUope  calls  "  a  noble  historical  picture  of  the  landing  of 
General  Lafayette  at  Cincinnati."  The  painting  is  thus 
described  by  Mr.  Flint : 

"  Its  dimensions  are  sixteen  feet  by  twelve.  The  popu- 
lar group  is  composed  of  Lafayette  and  the  superior  offi- 
cers who  crossed  the  river  with  him,  and  w^ho  are  ad- 
vancing to  meet  Mr.  Morrow,  governor  of  Ohio.  Amia- 
bility sits  embodied  in  the  countenance  of  this  man,  who 
is  aftectionately  grasping  his  hand.  Among  the  persons 
of  his  suite  are  Generals  Harrison,  Lytle,  and  Desha,  gov- 
ernor of  Kentucky.  Near  them  are  the  Hon.  Judge 
Burnet  and  Messrs.  Greene  and  Fletcher,  Esqrs.,  persons 
deputed  by  the  city  to  tender  its  welcome.  By  them  is 
Major  Larrabee,  an  officer  who  distinguished  himself  at 
Tippecanoe,  and  who  lost  an  arm  in  the  service.  Near 
him  are  the  late  lamented  Mr.  Madeira  and  J.  Lytle, 
captain  of  the  Hussars.  A  little  below,  in  the  second 
group,   are  the   governor's  two   aides-de-camp,   Colonels 


rimothy  Flint.  351 

Pendleton  and  King,  and  with  them  Major  Ruffin,  the 
sheriff.  The  young  gentleman  in  the  military  costume  of 
West  Point,  was  introduced  with  a  view  to  perpetuate  the 
recollections  of  the  nation's  guest,  who  could  never  forget 
the  reception  given  him  by  the  pupils  of  that  military 
school.  In  the  same  group  are  Messrs.  Foster,  Dorfeuille, 
Foote,  P.  Symmes,  a  man  of  letters ;  Rev.  Oliver  Spencer, 
and  Dr.  Drake.  Two  veterans  of  the  Revolution,  the  first 
the  late  Mr.  Wyeth,  formerly  mentioned  in  this  journal  as 
one  who  aided  in  throwing  the  tea  overboard  in  Boston 
harbor,  venerable  by  his  age,  his  mild  countenance,  his 
gray  hairs,  and  the  recollections  associated  with  his  per- 
son ;  and  the  other  an  old  negro  servant  in  livery,  who 
belonged  to  the  suite  of  General  Washington,  are  strik- 
ing figures  in  the  crowd.  This  group  terminates  with  H. 
Powers,  a  young  sculptor  of  the  city,  of  the  highest  prom- 
ise. He  has  given  a  strikingly  faithful  bust  of  the  painter, 
and  the  latter  has  signalized  his  gratitude,  and  friendship, 
and  respect  for  his  talent  by  giving  the  sculptor  a  con- 
spicuous place  in  his  painting.  The  circumstance,  along 
with  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Flint  and  Rev.  Mr.  Pierpont, 
who  were  not  actually  present  at  the  landing,  may,  per- 
haps, suggest  the  objection  of  anachronism,  and  violation 
of  historical  fidelity.  The  most  formidable  difficulty  of 
the  artist  was  this  cramping  limitation  to  fact.  One  of 
the  gentlemen,  by  his  recent  visit  to  this  city,  in  which 
he  received  such  a  cordial  welcome,  had  in  some  sense 
identified  himself  with  us ;  and  as  he  is  well  and  generally 
known  in  the  Atlantic  country,  where  this  picture  will  be 
seen,  it  seems  to  us  a  fitting  compliment  to  him.  We  im- 
agine, that  any  objection  in  regard  to  the  presence  of  the 
other  two,  will  be  generally  put  to  the  account  of  hyper- 
criticism.  We  allow  unlimited  range  to  poetry.  Surely 
the  sister  art  may  have  some  indulgence  to  episode ; 
especially  if  any  connection  exists  between  it  and  the 
leading  idea. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  picture.  Among  the  hundred 
astonishing  incidents  that  occurred  to  Lafayette  in  his 
journey  through  our  Union,  it  happened  that  the  same 


852  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

woman  mingled  with  the  multitude  in  this  welcome,  who 
gave  the  nation's  guest,  as  he  came  out  of  the  prison  of 
Olmutz,  a  three-franc  piece  and  a  cup  of  milk.  Here  was 
the  good  German  women  no  longer  in  Germany,  but  at 
the  landing  in  Cincinnati.  General  Lafayette  every-where 
showed  that  such  touching  remembrances  never  escaped 
him.  The  artist  has  happily  seized  upon  the  circum- 
stances, and  has  made  the  eagerness  of  the  good  woman 
conspicuous  by  presenting  her  in  her  German  costume. 

"  The  lines  are  formed  by  companies  of  infantry  from 
the  city.  They  were  commanded  by  three  Colonels,  Mc- 
Farland,  Borden,  and  Ferris.  JN'ear  them  are  Daniel  Gano 
and  Davis  B.  Lawler,  Esqrs.  More  to  the  left  of  the 
painting  is  the  marshal  of  the  day.  Colonel  Carr,  and  his 
aid,  W.  D.  Jones.  The  group  in  this  direction  terminates 
with  the  fancy  figures  of  which  we  have  spoken,  together 
with  a  number  of  young  girls  running  with  flowers 
toward  the  person  who  is  the  center  of  all  thoughts  for 
that  day." 

This  picture  was  long  on  exhibition  in  the  art  gallery 
of  Mrs.  Trollope's  Bazaar,  where  it  attracted  universal 
attention.  According  to  a  writer  in  the  Cincinnati  En- 
quirer, it  was  "  finally  taken  to  Liverpool,  and  locked  up 
in  the  English  Custom-house  until  the  tariff  should  be 
paid.  There  it  remained  until  a  Cincinnati  book-seller 
wrote  to  the  custom-house  officials,  who  answered  that 
they,  were  unable  to  find  it."  Flint's  allusion  to  "  H. 
Powers "  and  the  mutual  admiration  existing  between 
him  and  Hervieu  recalls  that  the  latter  lent  his  brush  to 
enhance  the  lurid  horrors  of  the  "  Infernal  Regions,"  the 
waxen  demons  of  which  were  created  by  Powers,  as  I 
have  narrated  in  the  chapter  on  Daniel  Drake.  Hervieu 
painted  an  excellent  portrait  of  Robert  Owen,  which  is 
«till  preserved  in  the  rooms  of  the  Ohio  Historical  So- 
ciety. It  is  related  in  Mrs.  Trollope's  satirical  pages  that 
a  German  gentleman  who  had  projected  a  chartered  acad- 
emy of  fine  arts  in  Cincinnati,  engaged  Hervieu  to  join  in 
conducting  a  drawing  school,  agreeing  to  pay  him  a  sal- 
ary of  $500  a  year.     The  Frenchman  conceived  that  good 


Timothy  Flint.  353 

order  and  regular  hours  were  necessary  to  the  success  of 
the  boys  and  girls  who  sought  instruction,  and  he  there- 
fore drew  up  a  set  of  rules.  Mrs.  Trollope  tells  us  that 
"  when  he  showed  them  to  his  colleague,  he  shook  his 
head  and  said,  *  Yqyj  goot,  ver}^  goot  in  Europe,  but 
America  boys  and  gals  vill  not  bear  it ;  dey  will  do  just 
vat  dey  please;  suur,  dey  vill  all  go  avay  next  day.'  ^And 
you  will  not  enforce  these  regulations,  si  necessairh,  mon- 
sieur!' 'O  lor!  not  for  de  vorld.'  'Uh  6ien,  monsieur,  I 
must  leave  the  young  republicans  to  your  management.' " 

In  this  connection  it  will  be  fitting  to  tell  something 
about  Mrs.  Trollope  and  her  doings  in  Cincinnati.  The 
iirst  volume  of  her  notorious  book,  "  Domestic  Manners 
of  the  Americans,"  is  devoted  almost  wholly  to  the  rela- 
tion of  her  experience  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  She  arrived  at 
Cincinnati,  from  l^ew  Orleans,  February  10,  1828,  and 
spent  tAvo  years  in  the  town,  leaving  in  the  beginning  of 
March,  1830.  Her  descriptions  of  the  persons,  places,  and 
events  she  saw  have  been  censured  far  more  than  they 
deserve,  and  she  herself  has  been  abused  in  print,  more 
severely  and  less  justly,  than  she  ever  abused  the  Ameri- 
cans. Mrs.  Trollope  came  to  America  accompanied  by  a  son 
and  two  daughters,  with  the  intention  of  locating  in  busi- 
ness her  son  Henry  ;  and,  hearing  that  Cincinnati  was  the 
most  promising  place  for  a  young  man  to  settle  in,  she 
sought  that  city,  designing  to  "  fix  our  son  there,"  as  she 
expressed  it,  and  to  "  continue  with  him  till  he  should 
feel  himself  sufiiciently  established." 

Thomas  Adolphus  Trollope,  who,  accompanying  his 
father,  paid  a  visit  to  Cincinnati  in  1880,  gives  remi- 
niscences of  the  sojourn  in  his  book, ''  What  I  Remember," 
published  in  1888.     He  says  : 

"We  found  my  mother  and  two  sisters  and  brother 
Henry  well,  and  established  in  a  roomy,  bright-looking 
house,  built  of  wood,  and  all  white  with  the  exception  of 
the  green  Venetian  blinds.  It  stood  in  its  own  "  grounds," 
but  these  grounds  consisted  of  a  large  field,  uncultivated 
save  for  a  few  potatoes  in  one  corner  of  it ;  and  the  whole 
23 


354  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

appearance  of  the  place  was  made  unkempt-looking — not 
squalid,  because  every  thing  was  too  new  and  clean-look- 
for  that — by  uncompleted  essays  toward  the  making  of  a 
road  from  the  entrance  gate  to  the  house,  and  by  frag- 
ments of  boarding  and  timber,  which  it  had  apparently 
been  worth  no  one's  while  to  collect  after  the  building  of 
the  house  was  completed.  With  all  this  there  was  an  air 
of  roominess  and  brightness  which  seemed  to  me  very 
pleasant.  The  house  was  some  five  or  ten  minute's  walk 
from  what  might  be  considered  the  commencement  of  the 
town,  but  it  is  no  doubt  by  this  time,  if  it  still  stands  at 
all,  more  nearly  in  the  center  of  it. 

"  My  father  and  I  remained  between  five  and  six  months 
at  Cincinnati,  and  my  remembrances  of  the  time  are 
pleasant  ones.  In  the  way  of  amusement,  to  the  best  of 
my  recollection,  there  was  not  much  besides  rambling  over 
the  country  with  my  brother,  the  old  companion  of  those 
London  rambles  which  seemed  to  me  then  almost  as  far 
off  in  the  dim  past  as  they  do  now.  But  we  were  free, 
tied  to  no  bounds,  and  very  slightly  to  any  hours.  And  I 
enjoyed  those  rambles  immensely.  I  do  not  remember 
that  the  country  about  Cincinnati  struck  me  as  especially 
interesting  or  beautiful,  and  the  Ohio,  la  belle  rivikre,  dis- 
tinctly disappointed  me.  But  it  was  a  new  world,  and 
every  object,  whether  animate  or  inanimate,  was  for  us  full 
of  interest." 

The  house  occupied  by  the  Trollopes  was  one  owned 
by  Daniel  Gano,  and  was  called  Gano  Lodge,  situated 
near  Howard's  woods. 

If  one  may  rely  upon  the  recollection  of  the  famous  old 
musician,  Jose  Tosso,  the  young  man  Henry  was  not  easy 
to  "  fix."  Tosso  remembered  him  as  a  gay  fellow  who 
spoke  seven  languages,  was  the  "  Invisible  Lady  "  in  Dor- 
feuille*8  "Museum,"  and  played  the  part  of  Falstaff  in 
"The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor"  under  the  influence  of 
too  much  wine,  and  with  a  small  feather-bed  to  magnify 
his  rotundity. 

"  One  night,"  related  Tosso,  "  Mrs.  Trollope  gave  a  party 
to  about  a  hundred  guests,  and  a  handsome  one  it  was. 


Timothy  Flint  355 

First  we  had  *  Les  Deux  Amis '  in  French,  and  then  '  The 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor.'  The  'Deux  Amis'  went  ojff 
very  well.  Mrs.  TroUope  spoke  excellent  French.  So 
did  Dr.  Price,  Mr.  Morgan  ^Neville,  Mrs.  Ameling,  and 
Henry  Trollope.  But  when  the  '  Merry  Wives  '  came  on, 
Falstaff's  good,  round  belly  was  found  to  be  lined  with 
sack  instead  of  capon,  and  the  play  was  incredibly  funny, 
for  he  was  very  drunk,  and  had  a  small  feather-bed  tucked 
under  his  waistcoat.  'How  was  the  music?'  Fine.  I 
played  first  violin ;  Morgan  Seville,  second  fiddle,  and 
John  Douglass,  'cello.  After  the  play  came  supper,  and 
then  the  dancing  till  daylight."  ^ 

Probably  it  was  to  utilize  the  energy  of  this  jolly  roys- 
terer  that  their  mother  invested  and  lost  her  money  by 
erecting  and  furnishing  what  she  called  the  "  Bazaar,"  but 
which  came  to  be  known,  in  the  contemptuous  phrase  of 
popular  judgment,  as  "  Trollope's  Folly."  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  romance,  poetry,  and  pathos  associated  with  this 
same  quaint  and  curious  arabesque,  Egyptesque,  oriental, 
Gothic,  bizarre  Bazaar.  Marvelous  it  rose,  hard  by  the 
Beautiful  Kiver,  with  balconies  looking  out  toward  the 
Kentucky  hills.  Surprising  it  stood,  on  the  very  slope 
where  the  palisades  of  old  Fort  Washington  used  to  stand. 
It  was  a  large  building,  with  an  elegant  front  of  native 
limestone,  with  a  spacious  and  stylish  coffee-house  and 
bar  in  the  basement,  and  a  ball-room  in  the  third  story. 
The  second  story  was  devoted  to  the  sale  of  useful  and 
fanciful  articles  of  dress,  furniture*,  and  ornaments.  There 
were  to  be  had  jewelry,  pottery,  statuettes,  pictures,  laces, 
and  a  hundred  articles  of  taste  and  virtu^  imported  from 
the  Old  World.  The  room  was  sixty  feet  long,  adorned 
by  two  rows  of  white  columns,  and  at  the  rear  was  a  de- 
lightful recess  or  saloon,  in  which  customers  were  served 
with  oysters,  ices,  and  sherbets.  The  ceilings  and  panels 
of  the  Bazaar  were  frescoed  with  classic  designs  by  the 
versatile  and  obliging  Hervieu.  The  spacious  and  mag- 
nificent ball-room  was  the  pride  of  the  Queen  City.     Long 

^  From  an  interview  with  Tosso,  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Gazette. 


856  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

after  Mrs.  Trollope  sailed  homeward  across  the  sea,  with 
the  unmanageable  boys  who  were  destined  to  become  an-* 
thors,  the  beaux  and  belles  of  Cincinnati  continued  to  re- 
sort to  the  gay  dances  held  at  "  Trollope's  Folly."  There 
twinkled  and  flared,  so  tradition  says,  the  first  gas-lights 
that  ever  shone  within  a  Cincinnati  edifice.  There  the 
magic  violin  of  Jose  Tosso  dignified  the  quadrille  without 
degrading  musical  art.  The  lights  are  out ;  the  dancers 
have  danced  their  last  dance.  The  old  musician  has  gone 
to  sleep,  and  the  violin  is  mute.  Another  building,  the 
Lorraine,  usurps  the  spot  where  stood  the  house  of  pleas- 
ure in  which  waltzed  and  whispered  the  dancers  of  sixty 
years  ago,  and  Trollope's  Folly  has  become  only  a  name 
and  a  dream. 

Here  let  be  recorded  a  few  sentences  to  the  loving  mem- 
ory of  old  Jose  Tosso,  "  maitre  de  musique'^  courtly  gen- 
tleman, and  hero  of  much  romance.  Though  he  wrote 
no  book,  he  himself  was  a  living  poem  and  novel.  The 
son  of  an  Italian  father  and  a  French  mother,  he  was 
born  in  the  city  of  Mexico  in  1802.  He  died  in  Coving- 
ton, Ky.,  in  1887.  After  receiving  a  fine  musical  educa- 
tion in  the  Paris  Conservatoire,  he  returned  to  America  in 
1816.  He  married  a  "  black-eyed  girl "  at  Louisville,  and 
came  to  Cincinnati  to  live  in  the  year  1827.  '^  The  Cin- 
cinnati Chronicle  and  Literary  Gazette"  of  April  24,1830, 
contains  a  long  advertisement  announcing  the  opening  of 
an  Academy  of  Music  and  Dancing  in  the  Ball-room  of 
the  Bazaar,  by  Messrs.  Tosso  and  Pius,  in  which  we  read 
that  "  Mr.  Tosso  trusts  that  his  residence  of  three  years  in 
this  city  has  acquired  for  him  the  good  feelings  and  confi- 
dence of  its  citizens.  As  Mr.  Pius  has  but  lately  arrived 
in  Cincinnati,  he  begs  leave  to  publish  one  or  two  certifi- 
cates, and  offer  for  reference  Colonel  Piatt,  Mr.  Carneal, 
Mr.  McCandless,  and  Mr.  Neville."  Mr.  Tosso  certainly 
possessed  the  *'good  feeling  ami  (<>nfidence"  of  every 
body,  from  the  Marquis  Do  La  Fayette  down  to  the  hum- 
blest "supe"  of  the  C..liiiiil»ia  Street  Theater,  where  Tosso 
led  the  orchestra.     Who  has  not  heard  of  his  most  divert- 


Timothy  Flint.  357 

ing  musical  monologue  and  medley,  "  The  Arkansaw 
Traveler?" 

Before  dismissing  Frances  Trollope  from  our  narrative, 
let  us  read  the  generous  and  peculiar  tribute  she  pays  to 
the  man  who  is  the  chief  subject  of  this  rambling  sketch. 
She  wrote  as  follows  :  "  The  most  agreeable  acquaintance 
I  made  in  Cincinnati,  and  indeed  one  of  the  most  talented 
men  I  ever  met,  was  Mr.  Flint,  the  author  of  several  ex- 
tremely clever  volumes,  and  the  editor  of  the  Western 
Monthly  Review.  His  conversational  powers  are  of  the 
highest  order ;  he  is  the  only  person  I  remember  to  have 
known  with  first-rate  powers  of  satire,  and  even  of  sar- 
casm, whose  kindness  of  nature  and  of  manner  remained 
perfectly  uifinjured.  In  some  of  his  critical  notices  there 
is  a  strength  and  keenness  second  to  nothing  of  the  kind 
I  have  ever  read.  He  is  a  warm  patriot,  and  so  true- 
hearted  an  American  that  we  could  not  always  be  of  the 
same  opinion  on  all  the  subjects  we  discussed ;  but  whether 
it  were  the  force  and  brilliancy  of  his  language,  his  gen- 
uine and  manly  sincerity  of  feeling,  or  his  bland  and  gen- 
tleman-like manner  that  beguiled  me  I  know  not,  but 
certainly  he  is  the  only  American  I  ever  listened  to  whose 
unqualified  praise  of  his  country  did  not  appear  to  me 
somewhat  overstrained  and  ridiculous." 

Flint,  having  entered  upon  a  literary  career,  produced 
many  books — too  many — and  all  within  a  period  of  eight 
years.  Mr.  Gallagher,  who  knew  him  well  and  admired 
him,  said :  "  He  writes  as  he  talks — rapidly,  eloquently, 
poetically,  carelessly."  About  three-fourths  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  Western  Review  were  supplied  by  him.  Yet 
he  found  time,  or  rather  managed  without  the  aid  of  time, 
to  complete  and  publish  three  novels  within  three  years. 
These  were  "Arthur  Clenning,"  "  George  Mason,  the 
Young  Backwoodsman,"  and  "  The  Shoshone  Valley." 
The  Review  was  discontinued  in  1830,  and  the  editor  pro- 
posed to  publish  in  its  stead  a  quarterly,  which  should 
comprise  two  volumes  annually,  of  at  least  a  thousand 
pages  each.  This  promised  quarterly  never  appeared,  but 
the  demand  for  a  literary  journal  was  soon  supplied  by 


858  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

James  Hall,  who,  in  January,  1833,  started  the  Western 
Monthly  Magazine  in  Cincinnati. 

Flint,  whose  novels  were  histories  and  whose  histories 
were  novels,  easily  turned  his  attention  from  the  tribes  of 
the  Shoshone  Valley  to  the  tribes  of  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley, and  wrote  his  pleasant  short  history  of  the  ''  Indian 
Wars  of  the  West."  In  the  same  year,  1833,  was  pub- 
lished his  "Lectures  upon  IN'atural  History,  Geology, 
Chemistry,  the  Application  of  Steam  and  Interesting  Dis- 
coveries in  the  Arts."  This  curious  book,  an  omnium 
gatherum  from  many  sources,  but  chiefly  from  Aime  Mar- 
tin's "  Lettres  k  Sophie,"  and  other  French  authorities, 
was  intended  to  supply  young  men  and  women  with  a 
general  education  supplementary  to  their  schoiol  training. 
It  touches  upon  every  subject  from  the  starry  heavens  to 
Prussian  blue,  from  the  deluge  to  vaccination,  from  agri- 
culture to  the  selection  of  books  and  the  ritual  of  wor- 
ship. 

At  the  time  in  which  this  volume  came  out,  the  author 
was  every-where  recognized  as  a  leading  writer,  and  he 
was  enjoying  the  praise  and  -suffering  the  detraction  inci- 
dent to  reputation.  Though  a  popular  favorite  with  read- 
ers, he  was  frequently  criticised  with  severity  by  reviewers 
for  his  unhappy  choice  of  topics,  and  for  his  obvious 
faults  of  style.  But  his  literary  standing  was  so  good 
that  when,  in  1833,  Charles  Fenno  Hoffman  retired  from 
the  editorship  of  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine,  Flint  was 
solicited  to  take  the  place.  The  Knickerbocker  was  orig- 
inated in  1832  in  New  York.  Flint  assumed  editorial 
charge  October,  1833,  having  previously  contributed  to 
the  new  magazine  articles  on  "  Phrenology"  and  on  "  Ob- 
stacles to  American  Literature."  The  salutatory  remarks 
in  which  he  presents  his  literary  views  to  the  public  con- 
tain some  suggestive  sentences.     He  says : 

"In  proffering  the  customary  editorial  courtesies  to 
brother  editors,  and  in  bearing  my  earnest  testimony 
against  the  correctness  of  a  prevalent  opinion  in  the 
editorial  creed,  begotten  in  ignorance  and  born  in  politics, 
that  malignity  is  inspiration,  untiring  volubility  eloquence, 


Timothy  Flint.  359 

abuse  wit,  and  victory  the  last  word,  I  distinctly  affirm 
that  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  ever  in  my  life  been 
the  intentional  aggressor  in  assailing  the  writings  or  dis- 
turbing the  feelings  of  any  writer  before  the  public.  My 
sympathies,  on  the  contrary,  have  all  been  with  those  ill- 
fated  and  ill-paid  beings  whose  hard  destiny  it  is  to  grind 
and  make  sport  for  the  Phillistines." 

.  Flint's  constitution,  always  feeble,  gave  way  under  the 
strain  of  added  cares.  In  order  to  save  his  shattered  life, 
he  gave  up  his  editorial  task,  and  went  back  to  his  former 
sub-tropical  home,  with  his  Creole  friends,  at  Alexandria, 
away  down  on  the  Red  river,  in  Louisiana.  Though  a 
confirmed  invalid,  he  did  not  intermit  his  customary  em- 
ployments. Aided  by  his  daughter,  he  continued  to  write 
for  the  press.  He  translated  and  published  two  French 
books,  "  The  Art  of  Happiness,"  by  Droz,  and  "  Celibacy 
Yanqaished,  or  the  Old  Bachelor  Reclaimed."  These 
were  followed  by  a  little  volume,  over  whose  charmed 
pages  thousands  of  western  boys  have  pored,  as  they  sat 
by  the  winter  fire,  "  The  First  "White  Man  of  the  West,  or 
the  Life  and  Exploits  of  Colonel  Daniel  Boone." 

The  book  has  much  of  the  freshness  and  fascinating 
realism,  much  of  the  unliterary  familiarity  and  colloquial 
directness,  which  made  the  "  Recollections  "  so  popular. 

Almost  the  last  product  of  Timothy  Flint's  prolific  pen 
was  a  series  of  articles  on  American  literature,  contrib- 
uted in  1835  to  the  London  Athenaeum. 

Scant  is  the  record  of  Flint's  life  in  his  last  few  and 
evil  years.  Meekly  he  bore  the  pain  of  disease,  and  pa- 
tiently he  suffered  woe  which  bodily  weakness  entails. 
Life  is  sweet ;  love  fights  against  death.  The  very  sun- 
shine and  the  balmy  air  of  flowery  Louisiana  were  steal- 
ing away  the  little  remaining  vigor  of  the  invalid.  He 
was  now  an  old  man.  "Let  me  go  once  more  to  the 
1^0 rth  ;  let  me  go  to  Salem."  Wife  and  daughter  re- 
mained at  Alexandria ;  the  father,  accompanied  by  his 
youngest  son,  James,  took  passage  on  a  steamboat  and 
started  on  his  last  earthly  journey.  It  was  at  the  begin- 
ning  of    the  month   of  May,  1840.     Down   to   the  Red 


860  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

river's  mouth,  up  the  Mississippi  to  Natchez,  the  passen- 
gers are  carried  in  safety.  They  take  temporary  lodging 
at  Natchez  in  the  Steamboat  Hotel,  kept  by  a  Mr.  Alex- 
ander. At  one  o'clock  on  the  sultry  afternoon  of  Thurs- 
day, May  7,  a  furious  tornado  sweeps  along  the  river, 
whirls  the  shipping  to  destruction,  tears  the  city.  "  Never, 
never,  never  was  there  such  desolation  and  ruin,"  was  the 
word  of  the  Natchez  Courier  next  day.  The  loss  of 
property  was  immense,  and  not  fewer  than  four  hundred 
people  were  killed.  From  the  ruins  of  the  Steamboat 
Hotel  many  dead  bodies  were  dug,  and  the  living  body  of 
the  landlord's  wife,  with  two  lifeless  children  in  her  arms. 
The  Natchez  Free  Trader  mentioned  that  among  those 
who  were  taken  out  alive  were  "  Timothy  Flint,  the 
historian  and  geoprapher,  and  his  son,  from  Natchi- 
toches, La." 

Imagine  the  state  of  body  and  mind  in  which  the  help- 
less father  and  anxious  son  continued  their  melancholy 
way  on  and  on  and  on,  to  Cincinnati,  to  Wheeling,  to 
Philadelphia,  to  Boston,  to  dear  old  Heading,  the  birth- 
place of  the  man  who  now,  at  the  age  of  three  score,  had 
come  home,  to  die  in  his  brother  Peter's  house. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Reading,  Flint  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  wife,  bidding  her  farewell,  and  saying  that  before  she 
received  the  message  he  would  be  no  more.  The  mourn- 
ful tidings  came  to  the  broken-down  woman  in  her  lonely 
southern  home,  and  smote  out  her  sad  life.  Thus  the 
wife  and  mother,  the  silent  partner  so  little  heard  of  in 
the  bustling  career  of  her  husband,  went  on  ahead  to  pre- 
pare the  way.  The  papers  said  nothing  of  her  but  that 
she  died.  But  when,  a  short  time  afterward,  the  man 
whom  she  and  her  children  and  the  general  public  knew 
and  loved  had  breathed  his  last — August  16,  1840 — and 
was  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  Harmony  Grove,  Salem,  the 
press  teemed  with  eulogies. 


Judge  James  Hall.  361 


CHAPTER    XII. 

JUDGE  JAMES  HALL,  SOLDIER,  JURIST,  AUTHOR,  EDITOR. 

James  Hall,  Soldier,  jurist,  author,  banker,  came  of  lit- 
erary stock.  His  maternal  grandfather.  Rev.  John  Ewing, 
D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadel- 
phia; provost  of  Pennsylvania  University,  and  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  was  a  man 
of  learning,  who  wrote  ably  on  theology  and  science,  and 
w^ho  possessed  the  faculty  of  rendering  abtruse  subjects 
familiar  and  agreeable. 

Dr.  Ewing's  daughter,  Sarah,  who  was  carefully  edu- 
cated by  her  father,  was  one  of  the  few  American  women 
who,  in  the  last  century,  achieved  a  considerable  reputa- 
tion in  authorship.  This  charming  woman  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  October  30,  1761,  and  her  childhood  and 
youth  were  passed  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  She 
was  married,  in  1782,  to  John  Hall,  a  patriot  soldier,  son 
of  a  wealthy  planter  of  Maryland.  When  the  Port  Folia, 
was  established,  in  1800,  by  Mr.  Dennie,  at  Philadelphia, 
Mrs.  Hall  became  one  of  its  most  popular  contributors, 
writing  many  graceful,  piquant,  and  sensible  essays  for  its 
pages.  Through  her  father  and  other  influential  friends, 
she  became  acquainted  with  eminent  writers  in  the  United 
States  and  England. 

The  cares  of  a  large  family  interfered  much  with  her  lit- 
erary undertakings,  but  she  found  leisure  to  write  many 
charming  letters,  and  to  pursue  polite  studies.  ^Not  until 
she  had  passed  the  age  of  fifty  did  she  publish  a  volume. 
It  was  a  duodecimo  of  365  pages,  entitled  "  Conversations 
on  the  Bible,"  and  passed  through  several  editions,  and 
had  the  distinction  of  being  republished  in  London.  The 
book,  written  in  a  cheerful  spirit  of  piety,  without  aus- 
terity or  cant,  won  favorable  attention  from  critics.     To  a 


862  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Scotch  lady  who  wrote  with  friendly  interest,  inquiring 
about  Mrs.  Hall's  literary  career,  the  latter  replied :  "Your 
flattering  inquiry  about  my  'literary  career'  may  be  an- 
swered in  a  word — literature  has  no  career  in  America. 
It  is  like  wine,  which,  we  are  told,  must  cross  the  ocean 
to  make  it  good." 

Four  of  Mrs.  Hall's  sons  were  writers.  The  eldest  of 
these,  John  Ewing  Hall,  was  chosen  professor  of  Belles 
Lettres  in  the  University  of  Maryland,  and  he  afterward 
published  the  American  Law  Journal.  From  1816  to 
1827,  he  edited  the  Port  Folio,  with  considerable  assist- 
ance from  his  mother  and  his  brothers,  James  and  Har- 
rison. The  Hall  family  had  met  with  a  serious  reverse  of 
fortune  in  1805,  and  years  of  heroic  struggle  were  required 
in  order  to  retrieve  the  loss.  The  father  was  called  to  the 
position  of  secretary  of  the  land  office,  and  afterward  was 
appointed  United  States  marshal  for  the  District  of  Penn- 
sylvania. John  Hall  died  in  1826,  and  his  widow  survived 
him  but  four  years. 

A  small  volume  of  "  Selections  from  the  Writings  of 
Mrs.  Sarah  Hall,"  with  a  memoir  and  portrait,  was  pub- 
lished in  Philadelphia  in  1833,  which  well  exhibits  the 
versatility  and  general  worth  of  the  writer.  Perhaps  the 
most  interesting  part  of  the  book  is  a  delightful  sketch, 
called  "  Reminiscences  of  Philadelphia,"  referring  to  the 
manners  and  customs  of  pre-Revolutionary  days. 

James  Hall,  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Hall,  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  August  19,  1793,  and  he  died  in  Cincinnati, 
July  4,  1868.  He  was  not  sent  to  school  until  his  twelfth 
year,  but  his  mother  taught  him  to  read  in  his  infancy, 
and  he  soon  became  extravagantly  fond  of  books.  When 
at  length  he  was  placed  in  the  academy  near  Philadelphia, 
he  found  his  studies  repulsive,  his  school  a  prison,  and  his 
teachers  tyrannous.  The  bitter  men^ories  which  he  has 
recorded  of  that  dreadful  "academy"  recall  Cowper's 
malediction  on  the  English  schools  of  his  time.  Hall 
says:  "Kindness,  amiability,  politeness,  forbearance,  jus- 
tice had  never  been  inculcated  at  this  school,  either  by 
precept  or  example,  and  the  opposite  vices  took  root  in 


Judge  James  Hall,  363 

the  vacant  soil.  ...  I  imbibed  a  deep-seated  disgust 
against  schools,  and  schoolmasters,  and  school  learning; 
and  against  grammars,  dictionaries,  slates,  copy-books, 
ten-plate  stoves,  switches,  cobwebs,  and  all  other  matters 
and  things  belonging  or  in  any  way  appertaining  to  a 
school-house."  This  abhorrence  to  school  did  not  destroy, 
but  rather  it  intensified,  his  pleasure  in  general  reading, 
and  especially  in  poetical  and  romantic  literature.  A  re- 
spectable knowledge  of  Latin  and  French  he  acquired  in 
the  hated  school,  and  at  home  his  mother  directed  his 
studies.  Perhaps  sympathizing  with  the  boy's  feelings, 
his  parents  removed  him  from  the  "academy,"  and  placed 
him  in  a  merchant's  counting-house,  where  for  two  years 
he  practiced  the  useful  art  of  distinguishing  the  words 
debit  and  credit.  The  beginning  and  the  ending  of  his 
active  life  were  devoted  to  commercial  affairs. 

While  yet  in  his  teens,  the  youth  began  to  study  law. 
The  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1812  naturally  excited 
this  son  of  a  soldier  to  think  of  military  fame.  He  joined 
the  Washington  Guards,  the  first  company  organized  for 
the  service  in  Philadelphia,  and  commanded  by  Captain 
Andy  Ragnet,  who  was  afterward  distinguished  as  a 
writer  of  several  works  on  the  currency,  free  trade,  etc., 
and  minister  to  Brazil.  The  company  was  made  up  largely 
of  stylish  young  fellows  from  the  "best  families,"  for 
Vv'hich  reason  they  were  known  as  "  The  Dandies,"  and 
they  received  many  donations  of  delicate  food,  flowers, 
and  smiles  from  the  ladies  of  the  city.  Early  in  1813, 
"The  Dandies"  encamped  on  the  bank  of  the  Delaware, 
near  Wilmington,  where,  for  some  months,  they  watched 
a  British  fleet  and  enjoyed  all  the  holiday  pleasures  com- 
patible with  the  discipline  of  a  "  tented  field." 

In  the  autumn  of  1813,  Hall  received  a  commission  as 
lieutenant  in  the  Second  Regiment  of  Artillery  in  the 
army,  then  commanded  by  Colonel  Winfield  Scott ;  and 
stationed  at  Fort  Mifflin.  The  next  spring.  Lieutenant  Hall 
marched  to  Buffalo  with  a  company  commanded  by  Captain 
Thomas  Biddle,  and  joined  the  army  of  General  Brown. 

The  American  army  crossed  over  into  Canada  on  the  3d 


364  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

of  July,  1814,  and  fought  the  battle  of  Chippewa,  July  5th, 
Lundy*8  Lane,  July  25th,  and  Fort  Erie,  August  15th. 
Hall  was  in  all  three  of  these  engagement,  and  conducted 
himself  with  such  bravery  that  he  was  complimented  by 
his  superior  officers. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Lieutenant  Hall,  who  was  re- 
tained in  the  regular  array,  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  artil- 
lery officers  who  were  appointed  to  accompany  Commodore 
Decatur  on  the  expedition  against  Algiers.  He  sailed  in 
September,  1815,  in  the  brig  Enterprise,  Lawrence  Kearney 
commanding.  The  cruise  to  the  Mediterranean  and  back 
occupied  less  than  half  a  year,  and  was  full  of  interest  to 
the  young  officer.  One  day  the  vessel  on  which  he  voy- 
aged hailed  a  returning  American  ship  in  mid-ocean,  and 
the  question  was  asked :  "  What's  the  news  ?"  "  Napoleon 
has  gone  to  hell,"  was  the  reply,  and  this  one  brief  but 
comprehensive  particular  was  all  that  the  passing  bark 
could  communicate  concerning  the  loser  of  Waterloo. 

On  his  return  from  Algiers,  Hall,  then  a  captain,  was 
stationed  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  until  1817,  when  he 
was  ordered  to  Pittsburg.  Here,  while  upon  duty  in  the 
Ordnance  Department,  he  resumed  his  law  studies.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1818,  and  resigned  his  position 
in  the  army. 

The  vigorous,  active,  enthusiastic  young  gentleman  was 
now  twenty-five  years  old,  buoyant  with  hope,  overflow- 
ing with  energy  and  ambition.  His  enjoyment  of  reading 
and  observation  had  developed  the  kindred  pleasure  of 
writing.  The  Port  Folio,  his  brother's  magazine,  afforded 
him  a  convenient  medium  through  which  to  convey  his 
words  to  the  "  gentle  reader,"  and  he  wrote  much  for  its 
pages.  At  Pittsburg  he  became  intimate  with  Morgan 
Neville,  then  connected  editorially  with  the  Pittsburg 
Gazette.  To  this,  the  oldest  newspaper  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  (founded  in  1786),  he  became  a  contributor.  The 
articles  he  wrote  were  of  a  practical  kind,  urging  the 
state  to  construct  roads  and  canals. 

We  may  date  the  beginning  of  his  carreer  as  author 
in  the  year  1820.  He  launched  upon  the  stream  of  literature, 


Judge  James  Hall.  365 

and  on  the  bewitching  Ohio  river  at  the  same  time. 
Smitten  with  the  desire  to  go  West  and  "  explore  the 
country,"  he  took  passage  on  a  keel-boat  for  Shawnee- 
town,  Illinois.  The  boat  was  of  about  forty-five  tons 
burden,  loaded  with  merchandise,  and  navigated  by  eight 
or  ten  roystering  boatmen,  stalwart,  mischievous,  and 
merry.  The  traveler's  senses  were  alive  to  every  impres- 
sion ;  his  curiosity  was  alert,  and  his  sentimental  tendency 
had  full  scope.  The  majestic  river,  the  embracing  hills, 
the  forests  clad  in  the  verdure  of  spring,  gay  with  blos- 
soms and  musical  with  birds,  the  islands,  especially  that 
romantic  one  named  Blennerhasset,  all  combined  to  de- 
light his  eyes,  kindle  his  imagination,  and  incite  to  the 
study  of  natural  phenomena.  Nor  was  the  human  inter- 
est of  the  journey  less  varied,  novel,  and  absorbing.  The 
new  villages  and  the  farmers'  cabins  on  the  river  banks 
afforded  busy  scenes  of  activity  in  contrast  to  the  solitude 
of  the  general  landscape.  Captain  Hall  carried  a  fowling- 
piece,  and  whenever  his  floating  lodging-house  stopped  on 
the  border  of  Ohio,  Virginia,  or  Kentucky,  he  sprang 
ashore,  ranged  the  woods,  shooting  squirrels,  and  made 
social  calls  at  the  settlers'  houses,  to  drink  milk,  look  at 
the  girls,  and  learn  the  folk-lore  of  the  backwoods  by 
talking  freely  with  the  hospitable  pioneers.  At  Cincin- 
nati our  young  gentleman  economized  the  few  hours  in 
port,  not  so  much  in  collecting  statistics  of  the  bustling 
young  city,  as  in  the  more  important  and  pleasing  pursuit 
of  personal  improvement  in  the  company  of  a  lady  friend 
of  his  '^  dancing  days." 

The  deck  of  the  keel-boat  was  a  stage  on  which  inter- 
esting scenes  were  presented.  The  person,  dress,  and  con- 
versation of  the  boatmen  were  peculiar.  Hall  was  par- 
ticularly struck  with  the  boat-songs,  which  he  describes  as 
*' poetry  dressed  in  rags  and  going  on  crutches."  These 
rude  melodies  were  usually  of  an  amatory  character, 
couched  in  the  dialect  of  the  river,  and  tinged  with  colors 
local  and  personal.  Dance  alternated  with  song,  as  the 
boat  drifted  down  the  lazy  stream;  the  whisky-jug  helped 
to  put  "  life   and   metal "   in   the   dancers'   heels ;  and  a 


366  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

vagabond  musician,  rejoicing  in  the  familiar  name  of  "  Old 
Pap,'*  paid  for  his  passage  and  his  potations  by  playing 
many  a  merry  tune  on  "  Katy,"  his  beloved  violin. 

This  trip  from  Pittsburg  to  Shawneetown  furnished  Mr. 
Hall  material  for  a  series  of  letters,  which  were  published 
in  the  Port  Folio.  Some  years  afterward  these  letters 
were  collected  in  a  volume,  and  sent  to  London  for  pub- 
lication under  the  title,  "Letters  from  the  West  by  a 
Young  Gentleman  from  Illinois."  The  friend  to  whom 
the  manuscript  was  intrusted  died  in  Europe,  but  the  book 
was  duly  issued  in  1828,  from  the  house  of  Henry  Colburn, 
London.  The  title,  however,  was  expanded,  without  the 
knowledge  or  permission  of  the  author,  into  the  follow- 
ing :  "  Letters  from  the  West,  containing  sketches  of 
scenery,  manners,  and  customs,  and  anecdotes  connected 
with  the  first  settlements  of  the  western  section  of  the 
United  States,  by  Hon.  Judge  Hall."  The  explanation  of 
this  change  of  title  is  given  by  Colonel  J.  F.  Meline,  a 
friend  of  Hall's,  in  the  following  paragraph,  fromthe  Cin- 
cinnati Commercial  of  October  16,  1868 : 

"  Having  been  promoted  to  the  bench,  in  the  interval 
between  the  writing  and  publication  of  the  letters, 
some  officious  friend  had,  it  is  supposed,  indicated  the 
author's  official  dignity  in  the  kind  purpose  of  placing  his 
work  before  the  publisher  under  the  most  imposing  cir- 
cumstances. Thus,  by  an  unauthorized  act  and  without 
his  knowledge  or  consent,  the  author  was  made  responsi- 
ble, under  his  real  name  and  in  his  judicial  character,  for 
pleasantries  which,  however  witty  or  agreeable,  were  by 
no  means  suited  to  the  grave  character  of  the  avowed 
author. 

"  The  book  which  would  almost  certainly  have  a  suc- 
cess, was  thus  made  ridiculous.  Several  of  the  English 
reviews  noticed  it  at  length,  in  the  bitter  and  jealous 
spirit  which  then  dictated  all  their  criticism  of  American 
literature." 

The  journey  in  the  keel-boat  took  place  in  April,  1820. 
At  that  time  Shawneetown  was  the  principal  village  in 
Illinois,  which  stat^  had  just  been  admitted  into  the  Union. 


Judge  James  Hall.  367 

The  white  population  of  Illinois  was  about  sixty  thou- 
sand, confined  to  the  southern  third  of  the  state,  on  the 
borders  of  the  Mississippi,  Ohio,  and  Wabash.  Indians 
were  still  numerous  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  state. 

Hall,  in  the  preface  of  "  Legends  of  the  West,"  frankly 
tells  the  reader  that  he  *^  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
legal  profession,  at  an  early  age,  with  about  the  usual 
stock  of  dreamy  reminiscences  of  Coke  and  Blackstone, 
Kent  and  Chitty,  but  with  a  somewhat  richer  store  than 
ordinary  of  history,  poetry  and  romance."  He  adds  :  "  It 
was  the  search  of  adventure,  rather  than  of  actions  at 
law,  that  enticed  him  to  the  wilderness.  The  legends  of 
the  West,  scattered  in  fragments  over  the  land,  were 
more  alluring  than  imaginary  clients  or  prospective  fees." 

The  duties  of  a  legal  practitioner  in  the  backwoods  af- 
forded ample  opportunity  for  pursuing  the  very  studies 
and  adventures  that  Hall  was  in  search  of.  He  spent 
four  years  in  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney,  traveling 
the  round  of  ten  counties,  and  four  more  as  judge  for  the 
same  circuit.  The  scene  and  character  of  his  labors  are 
vividly  described  in  his  own  language  :  '''•  The  lawyers  not 
only  rode  large  circuits,  embracing  nine  or  ten  counties 
each,  but  those  circuits  were  so  arranged  to  follow  each 
other  in  succession  that  the  bar  could  pass  from  one  to 
another  through  several  of  them,  and  an  industrious 
practitioner  passed  half  of  his  time  on  horseback.  The 
counties  were  extensive,  and  the  county  seats  being  widely 
separated,  the  journeys  were  long  and  toilsome.  There 
were  no  hotels,  few  roads  and  fewer  bridges. 

"  The  traveler  often  passed  from  county  to  county  by 
some  bridle-paths  leading  from  one  settlement  to  another, 
crossed  streams  where  '  fords  there  were  none,'  and  when 
the  channels  were  filled  with  heavy  rains,  found  both  dif- 
ficulty and  danger  getting  over.  Sometimes  the  close  of 
the  day  found  him  far  from  the  shelter  of  a  human  habi- 
tation, and  then,  like  the  hunter,  he  must  light  his  fire 
and  encamp  under  a  spreading  tree,  and  the  want  of  an 
inn  obliged  him  to  camp  out.  The  more  usual  resting 
place  was  at  the  log  house  of  a  farmer,  where  a  cordial 


368  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

•welcome  and  a  board  spread  bountifully  with  the  products 
of  the  field  and  the  forest  awaited  him. 

"The  seats  of  justice  were  small  villages,  mostly  mere 
hamlets,  composed  of  log-houses,  into  which  the  judge 
and  bar  were  crowded,  with  the  grand  and  petit  jurors, 
litigants,  witnesses,  and,  in  short,  the  whole  body  of  the 
county — for  in  new  counties  every  body  goes  to  court. 
Here  was  no  respect  to  persons ;  they  ate  together,  slept 
together,  congregated  together  in  the  crowded  court- 
house, and  assembled  together  around  the  stump  to  hear 
the  bursts  of  patriotic  eloquence  from  the  candidates  for 
office. 

"  Such  were  the  scenes,  and  such  the  population  among 
which  the  author  spent  twelve  years  in  the  exercise  of  a 
profession  which,  above  all  others,  opens  to  its  members 
familiar  views  of  the  whole  organization  of  society  and 
of  much  of  all  that  passes  in  the  business  and  bosoms  of 
men.  Traveling  continually  on  horseback,  over  broad 
and  beautiful  prairies,  and  through  forests  shaded  and 
tangled  with  all  the  luxuriance  and  majesty  of  their  prim- 
itive state,  encountering  the  hunter  in  his  solitary  ram- 
ble, or  sitting  with  him  by  his  fireside,  breaking  his  bread 
and  partaking  of  his  convivial  cup — living  with  them,  in 
short,  from  day  to  day,  and  from  week  to  week,  as  their 
fellow-citizen,  their  counselor  and  their  guest — his  oppor- 
tunities for  becoming  well  acquainted  with  the  haunts  and 
homes  of  the  backwoodsman  were  quite  as  favorable  as 
could  be  well  imagined." 

The  practice  of  law  and  the  discharge  of  judicial  duties 
in  Illinois  at  the  period  here  considered  called  for  firm- 
ness and  courage  in  the  legal  fraternity.  Counterfeiters, 
horse-thieves,  robbers,  and  other  desperate  characters  in- 
fested the  frontier  settlements.  Courts  were  set  at  defi- 
ance. Timid  prosecutors  and  judges  were  threatened  by 
desperadoes.  Hall  was  not  of  the  fearful  kind,  yet  he 
had  his  full  share  of  adventures.  On  one  occasion  he  dis- 
covered the  secret  meeting-place  of  a  gang  of  outlaws,  in 
a  concealed  cabin  several  miles  from  Shawnee  Town. 
Collecting  a  small  party  of  reliable  men,  including  in  the 


Judge  James  Hall.  369 

number  the  sherifi,  he  led  the  way  one  night  to  the  ren- 
dezvous of  the  dangerous  fellows.  The  posse  rode  to 
within  a  few  rods  of  the  cabin,  alighted,  tied  their  horses 
to  trees,  and  crept  noiselessly  toward  their  intended  cap- 
tives. Then,  after  stationing  his  companions  on  guard. 
Hall  entered  the  thieves'  den  alone.  The  surprised  crim- 
inals were  engaged  in  various  ways,  each  with  his  arms 
beside  him,  gun,  dirk  and  pistol.  Startled  by  the  intru- 
sion of  a  stranger,  they  all  sprang  to  their  feet,  snatching 
up  weapons.  "  Don't  shoot,  my  friends,"  said  the  visitor, 
quietly,  "  but  listen  to  me."  One  of  the  gang,  recogniz- 
ing the  representative  of  law,  exclaimed :  ''  Why,  is  it 
you,  'Squire  Hall  ?"  (They  called  him  Captain  Hall,  or 
Oolonel  Hall,  or  'Squire  Hall,  indiscriminately — it  was  be- 
fore he  was  judge.)  "  Yes," — calling  the  man  by  name, 
for  he  knew  the  rascals — ''  and  I  just  want  to  say  a  few 
words  peaceably  to  you  fellows."  So  he  went  on  and  told 
them  how  their  hiding-place  had  been  discovered,  and 
that  the  sheriff*  with  his  posse  was  outside,  and  advised 
them  to  surrender  at  discretion  and  be  treated  as  prisoners 
of  war,  and  not  venture  to  fight  against  odds  and  be 
beaten  first  and  taken  afterward.  The  result  of  it  all  was 
that  the  whole  gang  was  captured  without  a  struggle. 

Judge  Hall  seldom  spoke  of  his  own  achievements,  mil- 
itary or  civil,  but  he  was  fond  of  a  personal  anecdote,  and 
he  used  sometimes  to  tell  his  family  the  following  story  of 
a  whimsical  adventure  that  befel  him  while  he  was  once 
acting  as  a  prosecuting  lawyer  at  Yandalia :  One  day,  on 
coming  out  of  the  court-house,  a  man  stepped  up  to  him, 
and,  calling  him  by  name,  asked  him  to  walk  over  to  a 
grove  one  or  two  hundred  yards  distant,  because  he 
wanted  to  have  a  little  private  conversation  with  him. 
The  judge  was  accustomed  to  tell,  with  a  twinkle  of  the 
eye,  how  he  followed  the  fellow  with  some  internal  trepi- 
dation, for,  said  he,  "  I  did  not  know  whether  he  intended 
to  shoot  me  or  only  to  horsewhip  me,  for  I  had  shown  no 
mercy  to  his  sort  while  I  was  state's  attorney,  and  I  was  a 
little  fellow,  you  know,  and  he  a  great,  stalwart  back- 
24 


370  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

woodsman ;  but  I  knew  the  only  way  was  to  put  on  a 
bold  face."  The  man  was  under  indictment  for  some 
crime,  and  his  purpose  in  holding  a  conference  with  the 
renowned  prosecutor  was  to  try  to  induce  him  to  under- 
take to  defend  him.  He  offered  Hall  a  large  fee,  declar- 
ing that  no  other  lawyer  could  save  him  from  the  peni- 
tentiary. ''You  say/'  answered  the  other,  "that  I  can 
get  you  off,  and  no  other  man  can ;  well,  now,  I  will 
make  a  bargain  with  you.  I  will  not  help  you  for  money, 
but  if  you  will  comply  with  my  conditions,  I  will  defend 
you.  First,  you  must  promise  to  change  your  whole 
course  of  living — give  up  your  violent  and  lawless  prac- 
tices, leave  the  state  and  persuade  your  associates  to  do  the 
same.  Why  not  become  an  honest  man  and  take  a  fresh 
start  in  the  world  ?  Promise  that  you  will  quit  this  mean 
business  of  preying  upon  your  fellow-creatures;  go  to 
farming,  or  cattle-raising,  or  some  other  decent  occupa- 
tion, and  I  will  undertake  to  get  you  off."  The  man 
promised;  he  was  cleared  by  Hall's  intercession  ;  lie  kept 
his  bargain  and  reformed. 

Hall  went  to  Illinois  in  the  summer  of  1820.  Three 
years  afterward,  February  2,  1823,  he  married  his  first 
wife,  Mary  Harrison  Posey,  at  the  house  of  her  father, 
Captain  John  Posey,  in  Henderson  county,  Kentucky. 
The  Posey  family  is  of  old  and  highly  respected  Virginia 
stock.  Mrs.  Hall's  grandfather,  Thomas  Posey,  was  a 
brave  and  efficient  officer  in  the  revolutionary  army,  who 
retired  from  the  service  with  the  rank  of  major-general. 
Removing  to  Kentucky,  he  was  elected  to  the  state  sen- 
ate and  chosen  speaker  of  that  body.  Subsequently  he 
was  appointed  governor  and  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Territory  of  Indiana,  to  succeed  General  Harrison.  A 
sketch  of  his  life  was  prepared  by  Judge  Hall  for  Sparks's 
American  Biography,  second  series. 

Mrs.  Hall's  father,  Captain  John  Posey,  was  a  soldier 
and  a  man  of  gentle  breeding.  Her  mother  and  grand- 
mother were  both  reigning  belles  in  their  young  woman- 
hood.     The  latter  was  a  relative  of  Washington,  who 


Judge  James  Hall,  371 

spoke  of  her  as  his  "  charming  cousin,  the  beautiful  Miss 
Thornton." 

Mrs.  Mary  Harrison  Hall  was  a  most  beautiful,  accom- 
plished, and  lovable  woman.  She  died  August  18,  1832. 
Of  the  five  children  whom  she  bore  to  her  husband  only 
one  is  now  living,  the  oldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Hall 
Foote,  wife  of  Charles  B.  Foote,  president  of  the  Com- 
mercial Bank,  Cincinnati. 

Returning  to  the  story  of  Hall's  public  life  and  services 
in  Illinois,  we  observe  that  he  availed  himself  of  his  ad- 
vantages and  recorded  what  he  saw  and  heard.  He  took 
notes,  not  from  books,  but  from  men  and  things.  The 
articles  and  books  he  made  are  like  realistic  pictures, 
such  as  painters  compose  from  studies  taken  in  the  fields 
and  woods. 

The  Illinois  Emigrant,  the  second  newspaper  in  the 
state,  was  started  at  Shawneetown  in  the  fall  of  1818,  by 
Henry  Eddy  and  S.  H.  Kimmel.  Judge  Hall  succeeded 
Kimmel  as  editor,  and  changed  the  name  of  the  paper  to 
Illinois  Gazette.  His  ofiice  as  judge  having  been  abol- 
ished by  a  change  in  the  judicial  system  of  the  state,  he 
was  elected  treasurer  of  Elinois,  and  removed  to  the  cap- 
ital, Vandalia.  Here  he  edited  the  Illinois  Intelligencer, 
and  here  he  started  the  Illinois  Magazine.  In  addition  to 
his  legal  and  editorial  duties,  he  wrote  occasional  letters 
for  the  Port  Folio,  and  essays,  tales,  and  poems,  under  the 
pseudonym  of  "  Orlando,"  for  Timothy  Flint's  Western 
Review,  published  at  Cincinnati  from  1828  to  1830.  In 
1829  he  prepared  and  issued  the  Western  Souvenir. 

The  native  or  naturalized  early  writers  in  the  West 
reached  their  audience  mainly  through  the  medium  of 
newspapers  and  magazines.  But  that  strong  propensity 
to  make  books,  which  Solomon  includes  among  the  hu- 
man vanities,  stirred  in  the  breast  of  the  backwoodsman, 
even  as  in  the  bosom  of  his  "Atlantick  "  countryman,  or  his 
cousin  "  over  the  water."  Publishers  in  eastern  cities  issued 
annual  "  Souvenirs,"  antetypes  of  our  modern  "  gift  books" 
— fancy  volumes,  with  gilt  covers,  and  pictures — to  which 
the  leading  authors  contributed  essays,  tales,  and  poems. 


372  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

In  due  time,  or  perhaps  a  little  before  the  time  was  due 
for  such  experiments  in  the  West,  Judge  James  Hall  pro- 
jected and  published  the  first  literary  annual  of  the  Ohio 
Valley.  It  came  from  the  press  of  I^.  &  G.  Guilford,  Cin- 
cinnati, as  a  Christmas  and  !N"ew  Year's  gift.  The  book 
is  a  small  octavo  of  324  pages,  bound  in  satin  cloth,  and 
"embellished"  with  six  steel  engravings  from  original 
paintings  by  Hervieu  and  others. 

The  subjects  of  the  pictures  are  "  The  Peasant  Girl," 
"View  of  Cincinnati,"  "  View  of  Pittsburg,"  "  The  Shaw- 
anoe  Warrior,"  **  View  of  Frankfort,"  '^  The  Deserted 
Children."  The  editor,  Judge  Hall,  says  in  his  preface : 
"The  following  work  appears  before  the  publick  under 
the  embarrassing  character  of  being  a  first  attempt  to 
imitate  the  beautiful  productions  of  art  and  genius,  which 
have  reflected  so  much  honor  upon  the  talents  of  our 
worthy  countryman  in  some  of  the  Atlantick  States. 
.  .  .  It  is  written  and  published  in  the  western  coun- 
try, by  western  men,  and  is  chiefly  confined  to  subjects 
connected  with  the  history  and  character  of  the  country 
which  gives  it  birth." 

The  editor  introduces  his  volume  to  its  readers  with  the 
subjoined  parody  as  prelude  : 

"THE  NEW  SOUVENIR. 

"  Oh !  a  new  Souvenir  is  come  out  of  the  West, 
Through  all  the  wide  borders  it  flies  with  a  zest; 
For,  save  this  fair  volume,  we  souvenir  had  none — 
It  comes  unpreceded,  it  comes  all  alone ; 
80  glossy  in  silk,  and  so  neat  in  brevier, 
There  never  was  book  like  our  new  Souvenir ! 

"  It  stays  not  for  critic,  and  stops  not  for  puflf, 
Nor  dreads  that  reviewers  may  call  it '  poor  stuff!* 
For  ere  the  dull  praiser  can  rail  or  can  rate, 
The  ladies  have  smiled,  and  the  critic  comes  late. 
And  the  poets  who  laugh  and  the  authors  who  sneer, 
Would  be  glad  of  a  place  in  our  new  Souvenir. 

"  So  boldly  it  enters  each  parlor  and  hall, 
'Mong  Keepsakes,  Atlantics,  Memorials  and  all, 
That  authors  start  up,  each  with  hand  on  his  pen. 
To  demand  whence  it  comes,  with  the  wherefore,  and  when ; 


Judge  James  Hall.  373 

*  Oh  come  ye  in  peace,  or  in  war  come  ye  here, 
Or  what  is  the  aim  of  your  new  Souvenir  ? ' 

"  We  've  long  seen  your  volumes  o'erspreading  the  land, 
While  the  West  country  people  strolled  rifle  in  hand  ; 
And  now  we  have  come,  with  these  hard  palms  of  ours, 
To  rival  your  poets  in  parlors  and  bowers. 
There  are  maids  in  the  West,  bright,  witty,  and  fair, 
Who  will  gladly  accept  of  our  new  Souvenir. 

"  One  hand  to  the  paper,  one  touch  to  the  pen, 
We  have  rallied  around  us  the  best  of  our  men : — 
Away  with  the  moccasin,  rifle  and  brand  ! 
AVe  have  song,  picture,  silk  and  gold-leaf  at  command — 
'T  is  done  ! — Here  we  go  with  the  fleet  foot  of  deer — 
They  '11  have  keen  pens  that  battle  our  new  Souvenir." 

The  contributors  to  the  Western  Souvenir,  besides  Hall, 
who  supplied  nearly  half  the  articles,  were  Timothy  Flint, 
ITathan  Guilford,  ^N'athaniel  "Wright,  Moses  Brooks,  Dr. 
Harney,  Otway  Curry,  Harvey  D.  Little,  Louis  H.  I^oble, 
Caleb  Stark,  S.  S.  Boyd,  Ephraim  Robins,  John  P.  Foote, 
John  B.  Dillon,  M.  P.  Flint,  Benjamin  Drake,  and  Mor- 
gan J^eville. 

The  venture  was  not  a  financial  success,  nor  are  its  lit- 
erary merits  of  a  very  high  order.  Hall's  own  stories  and 
poems  are  bright  and  lively.  The  gem  of  the  casket 
is  a  sketch  by  Morgan  IS^eville,  a  study  of  real  life  on 
the  Ohio  river,  entitled,  "Mike  Fink,  the  Last  of  the 
Boatmen."  This  is  an  admirable  piece  of  work  in  its 
way,  and  it  won  for  its  author  immediate  recognition  and 
universal  praise. 

Morgan  ^N'eville  was  highly  admired  and  esteemed  by 
his  contemporaries.  He  was  a  son  of  the  distinguished 
Major  Presby  Neville,  aid-de-camp  of  La  Fayette,  and  a 
grandson  of  General  John  Neville.  His  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  General  Morgan.  Morgan  Neville  was  born 
in  Pittsburg,  December  25, 1783.  At  an  early  age  he  was 
sent  to  an  academy,  where  he  was  taught  Greek,  Latin, 
and  mathematics  by  Mr.  Mountain  and  Rev.  John  Taylor. 
H.  M.  Brackenridge,  in  his  "  Recollections  of  Persons  and 
Places  in  the  West,"  writing  of  his  school-fellows,  says : 


874  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"  I  will  name  Morgan  Neville,  William  Robinson,  William 
0*Hara,  and  Chas.  Wilkins,  of  the  first  class.  The  first 
of  these  was  the  first  of  the  first.  The  stories  of  the  *  Last 
of  the  Boatmen,'  '  Chevalier  Dubac,'  etc.,  are  sufficient  to 
stamp  him  as  a  man  of  genius.  But  his  accomplishments 
in  every  thing  which  can  form  a  perfect  gentleman  leave 
him  no  superior  in  this  country,  and  few  equals.  It  is 
wonderful  that  such  a  man  should  not  be  sought  and  ten- 
dered the  highest  official  stations  in  this  pure  government 
of  wisdom  and  virtue,  where  the  beau  ideal  of  Fenelon 
might  be  expected  to  be  realized ! " 

Neville  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1808.  Among  his 
legal  associates  were  Walter  Forward,  Alexander  John- 
ston, Neville  Craig,  and  Charles  Shaler,  all  men  of  power 
and  distinction  in  their  day.  Forward  held  several  im- 
portant national  offices,  the  highest  of  which  was  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury. 

From  October,  1819,  to  October,  1822,  Neville  was 
sheriff  of  Alleghany  county,  Pennsylvania.  In  1 811,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Nancy  Baker.  He  removed  from 
Pittsburg  to  Cincinnati  about  1824,  and  became  connected 
with  an  insurance  company  as  secretary.  In  1826,  he 
edited  the  Cincinnati  Commercial  Register,  the  first  daily 
newspaper,  I  believe,  west  of  Philadelphia.  It  survived 
but  half  a  year.  He  wrote  a  good  deal  for  the  Western 
press,  and  took  an  active  part  in  forwarding  the  educa- 
tional and  literary  interests  of  the  Queen  City. 

When  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  afterward  Louis  Philippe, 
visited  Pittsburg  in  1796,  he  formed  a  warm  attachment 
for  Neville,  then  a  lad  of  thirteen,  and  long  afterward  the 
Prince  expressed  regret  on  hearing  of  his  friend's  death. 
Morgan  Neville,  like  his  father,  was  devoted  to  the  French, 
and  entertained  many  distinguished  visitors  from  France 
at  his  hospitable  home.  His  private  library,  which  sold 
for  only  $300,  was  the  foundation  of  the  library  of  the 
Ohio  Mechanics'  Institute.  Some  of  the  books  of  the 
Neville  collection,  as  it  was  called,  are  yet  to  be  found  in 
a  fair  state  of  preservation.  They  may  be  distinguished  by 
labels  on  which,  together  with  his  name,  the  number  of 


Judge  James  Hall.  375 

the  volume,  and  an  elegantly  engraved  pictorial  design, 
the  following  motto  from  Horace  is  printed : 

"  Nocturna  versate  manu,  versate  diurna." 

It  was  related  by  Jose  Tosso,  the  violinist,  who  was  one 
of  the  aids  of  La  Fayette,  and  came  with  him  from  Louis- 
ville to  Cincinnati,  that  the  first  inquiry  of  the  venerable 
Marquis  on  arriving  at  the  Cincinnati  Hotel  was  for  Mor- 
gan I^eville,  whose  father  had  been  on  his  staff  in  the 
revolutionary  war.  Let  me  quote  Tosso's  words  as  given 
to  a  reporter  of  the  Commercial  Gazette  : 

"  N'eville  w^as  ill  with  ague  at  his  house,  which  stood 
where  now  is  Chatfield  &  Woods'  paper  warehouse." 

"  I  will  go  to  him  at  once,"  the  general  said.  He  was 
shown  the  way,  and  after  a  little  talk,  he  asked: 

"  '  Well,  J^eville,  what  are  your  circumstances  ? ' 

." '  ISTot  good,  general,'  was  the  reply.  '  I  spent  every 
thing  I  had  to  pay  my  father's  debts.'  The  general  then 
rang  for  pen  and  ink,  and  wrote  an  order  on  the  United 
States  Bank  for  stock  to  the  amount  of  §4,000  in  favor  of 
Morgan  Neville,  and  put  it  under  the  pillow.  Neville 
was  too  proud  to  ever  use  a  cent  of  it.  His  family,  how- 
ever, inherited  it,  and  also  received  a  pension  from  Louis 
Philippe." 
•   Morgan  Neville  died  March  1,  1840. 

The  first  number  of  the  Hlinois  Magazine  was  issued  in 
October,  1830,  and  the  periodical,  a  monthly,  was  contin- 
ued two  years.  This  was  the  pioneer  magazine  of  Illinois, 
and  the  editor,  James  Hall,  wrote  the  most  of  it,  doing  a 
work  in  Shawneetown  similar  to  that  Gibbs  Hunt  did  at 
Lexington,  and  Timothy  Flint  at  Cincinnati  with  their 
*'  Reviews."  The  contents  were  largely  historical,  relating 
to  the  early  setttlement  of  the  West.  In  a  series  of  arti- 
cles headed,  "  Indian  Relations,"  written  in  a  noble  and 
magnanimous  spirit,  and  filled  with  facts  and  persuasive 
arguments.  Judge  Hall  arraigned  the  government  and  the 
people  for  injustice  to  the  red  race,  anticipating  the  plea 
so  strongly  made  in  these  latter  days  by  Mrs.  Helen  Jack- 
son in  "  Ramona."     The  magazine  gave  much  prominence 


876  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

to  the  subject  of  education,  and  kept  pace  with  the  prog- 
ress  of  literature.  Under  the  caption,  "  March  of  Mind," 
the  editor  stated  that  within  the  last  three  months  of  the 
year  1831  eighty-five  thousand  volumes,  mainly  school- 
books,  had  been  issued  from  the  press  of  Cincinnati. 

Several  original  stories  appeared  in  the  Illinois  Maga- 
zine, and  plenty  of  original  verse.  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
James  H.  Perkins,  and  Otway  Curry  were  contributors. 
Mrs.  Anna  Peyre  Dinneis,  a  once  quite  popular  writer  in 
the  West,  gained  her  reputation  by  poems  published  in 
the  Illinois  Magazine,  under  the  signature,  "  Moina.'* 
Hugh  Peters,,  a  young  lawyer  of  great  literary  promise 
and  much  admired  by  his  contemporaries,  wrote  his  best 
pieces  for  Hall's  publication.  His  poem,  "  Connecticut," 
enjoyed  a  school  reader  immortality. 

Late  in  the  year  1832  Judge  Hall  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
where  he  soon  after  began  the  publication  of  "  The  West- 
ern Monthly  Magazine,  a  Continuation  of  the  Illinois 
Monthly  Magazine."  The  first  number  was  issued  in  Jan- 
uary, 1833.  Its  aims  were  like  those  of  its  predecessor, 
though  the  scope  was  wider,  and  the  contributors  were 
numerous.  Introducing  his  periodical  to  the  public,  the 
editor  wrote :  "  Although  devoted  chiefly  to  elegant 
literature,  it  has  always  been  our  wish  and  endeavor  to 
render  it  useful,  by  making  it  the  medium  for  disseminat- 
ing valuable  information  and  pure  moral  principles." 
Matters  historical  and  statistical  received  much  attention. 
The  editor  furnished  "Notes  on  Illinois,"  Kev.  J.  M. 
Peck  supplied  pioneer  reminiscences,  Jno.  H.  James,  of 
Urbana,  Ohio,  contributed  many  chapters  of  his  valuable 
"History  of  Ohio,"  and  E.  B.  Mansfield  wrote  various 
articles  on  the  material  economies  of  the  West.  Scientific 
and  literary  topics  were  discussed  somewhat  ponderously, 
and  a  number  of  heavy  essays,  original  and  selected,  ap- 
peared on  "Phrenology,"  "British  Statesmen,"  "Amer- 
ican Literature."  The  editor,  in  a  "message"  to  his 
readers  in  February,  1835,  says :  "  To  show  that  we  have 
not  been  wanting  in  exertion  to  give  variety  to  our  pages 
and  to  cause  the  whole  West,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  be 


Judge  James  Hall.  377 

presented  in  our  pages,  we  will  state  the  fact  that  the 
articles  contained  in  the  last  volume  were  written  by 
thirty-seven  different  individuals,  who  are  known  to  us, 
besides  several  who  are  anonymous.  Of  these,  four  reside 
in  Kentucky,  two  in  Indiana,  four  in  Illinois,  one  in  Mis- 
souri, one  in  Tennessee,  two  in  Alabama,  one  in  Michigan, 
one  in  Mississippi,  one  in  Pennsylvania,  one  in  New  York, 
one  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  remainder  in  Ohio.  Of 
these,  six  are  ladies ;  and  it  is  due  to  them  to  say,  that 
some  of  the  most  vigorous  and  popular  articles  which 
have  adorned  our  periodical  have  been  the  production  of 
highly-gifted  females."  Prominent  among  the  "  thirty- 
seven  "  contributors  were  Rev.  Jas.  11.  Perkins,  Morgan 
Neville,  Benjamin  Drake,  Charles  D.  Drake,  Otway  Curry, 
W.  D.  Gallagher,  and  Joseph  Reese  Fry.  Of  the  "gifted 
females,"  at  least  three  made  names  for  themselves.  Miss 
Hannah  H.  Gould,  of  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  whose 
first  volume,  which  appeared  in  1832,  was  warmly  praised 
by  Judge  Hall,  contributed  to  the  Western  Monthly  Mag- 
azine many  of  her  most  popular  poems,  including  "  The 
"Winter  King,"  "  The  Bed  upon  the  Beech,"  and  '^  The 
Pioneers."  It  may  be  said  that  Hall  brought  this  writer 
out. 

Mrs.  Caroline  Lee  Hentz,  who,  with  her  husband,  car- 
ried on  a  private  school  in  Cincinnati,  wrote  many  stories 
and  poems  for  the  magazine.  Her  name  was  very  familiar 
to  readers  of  fiction.  According  to  Allibone,  ninety-three 
thousand  volumes  of  her  novels  were  sold  within  three 
years.  She  was  a  daughter  of  General  John  Whiting,  of 
the  United  States  army,  and  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Mas- 
sachusetts. Before  she  was  thirteen,  she  composed  a 
novel  and  a  tragedy  in  ^yq  acts.  She  was  married  to 
Prof.  N.  M.  Hentz,  and  lived  at  Chapel  Hill,  North  Caro- 
lina, before  coming  to  Cincinnati.  She  removed  from 
Ohio  with  her  husband  to  Alabama,  living  first  near  Flor- 
ence, and  then  at  Tuscaloosa.  Among  her  books  are  : 
"Aunt  Patty's  Scrap  Bag,"  "The  Mob  Cap,"  "Aunt 
Mercy,"   "The  Blind   Girl,"   "The   Peddler,"  "Lowell's 


378  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Folly,"  and  "Ernest  Linwood."  She  wrote  a  tragedy/ 
"  De  Lara,  or  the  Moorish  Bride,"  for  which  a  gold  medal 
and  a  prize  of  $500  were  awarded  her  by  a  Boston 
theatrical  manager.  She  also  produced  a  tragedy  called 
"  Constance  of  Werdenberg,"  and  another,  "  Lamorah,  or 
the  Western  Wild,"  which  was  written  in  Cincinnati,  and 
represented  there  on  the  stage,  and  afterward  printed  in  a 
newspaper.  The  scene  of  the  play  was  laid  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio,  and  the  principal  character,  Lamorah,  was  a 
sentimental  squaw  most  wretchedly  in  love. 

The  third  famous  lady  contributor  to  Hall's  Magazine 
was  Harriet  Beecher.  She  was  born  in  Litchfield,  Con- 
necticut, in  1812,  and,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  she  became  the 
assistant  of  her  sister,  Catherine,  in  a  girls'  school  at 
Hartford.  She  removed  to  Cincinnati  with  her  father's 
family,  and  not  long  afterward,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four, 
she  was  married  to  Prof.  Calvin  Stowe,  at  Lane  Semi- 
nary. Mrs.  Stowe's  literary  career  really  began  in  Cin- 
cinnati. E.  D.  Mansfield  mentions  in  his  "  Memories  "  that 
he  had  heard  her  read  her  first  public  composition  at  Miss 
Pierce's  school,  Litchfield,  and  that  a  few  years  afterward  he 
published  her  first  printed  story  in  the  Cincinnati  Chronicle. 
In  April,  1834,  she  contributed  to  the  Western  Monthly 
Magazine  a  "!N'ew  England  Sketch,"  for  which  she  re- 
ceived a  prize  of  fifty  dollars.  She  wrote  the  delightful 
study,  "Aunt  Mary,"  for  the  same  periodical.  Her  first 
volume,  "  The  May  Flower,"  published  in  1849,  was  dedi- 


*Thi8  tragedy  was  printed  at  Tuscaloosa  in  1843.  The  preface  says: 
*'  Mr.  Pelby,  of  Boston,  offered  five  Imndred  dollars  for  the  best  original 
tragedy,  which  was  awarded  to  Mrs.  Caroline  Lee  Hentz.  Owing  to 
pecuniary  embarrassment,  he  felt  unable  to  pay  the  whole  amount  of 
the  award,  and  honorably  returned  to  her  the  copyright."  Mr.  Robert 
Clarke,  of  Cincinnati,  possesses  a  copy  of  "  De  Lara,"  on  the  fiy-leaf  of 
which  is  inacribed  the  following  "  Notice :" 

"  This  being  the  sole  property  of 

Edwin  E.  Anderson, 
and  supposed  to  be  the  only  copy  extant  of  this  original  play  in  the 
United  States,  the  purloining  of  which  will  be  punished  to  the  utmost 
extent  of  the  law. 

Howard  Atubneum,  Boston,  Mass.,  April  4,  *58." 


Judge  James  Hall.  379 

cated  to  the  "  Semi-colon  Club,"  a  Queen  City  literary 
society,  of  which  she  was  a  member. 

Judge  Hall  supplied  the  magazine  with  many  stories, 
poems,  critical  sketches,  and  reviews.  His  life  of  General 
Harrison  was  printed  as  a  serial.  Much  of  tlie  material 
of  his  several  volumes  first  appeared  in  the  periodical. 
A  sharp  and  aggressive  critic,  he  wrote  humorous  and 
sarcastic  reviews  of  various  contemporary  writings  and 
writers.  He  compared  the  works  of  Wilson  and  Audu- 
bon, to  the  disparagement  of  the  latter.  He  very  wit- 
tily ridiculed  Flint's  "Lectures  on  IN'atural  History," 
and  Caleb  Atwater's  antiquarian  discussions.  Mann  But- 
ler's "History  of  Kentucky"  was  handled  so  severely  by 
Hall  as  to  call  out  a  rejoinder  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet. 

The  most  heated  controversy  in  which  he  engaged  was 
precipitated  in  1835,  when,  like  a  lone  knight  champion- 
ing an  unpopular  cause,  he  boldly  struck  the  sounding 
shield  of  the  doughty  crusader,  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher. 
Beecher  had  made  Lane  Seminary  a  militant  post  of  of- 
fensive warfare  against  Catholicism  and  slavery.  His 
little  book,  "A  Plea  for  the  TVest,"  was  an  argument 
against  foreign  migration,  especially  the  migration  of  ig- 
norant foreigners,  to  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  publi- 
cation of  it  excited  much  feeling,  and  was  thought  to 
have  unjustly  inflamed  public  opinion  against  the  Church 
of  Rome. 

Hall  took  up  the  gauntlet  in  behalf  of  the  Catholics, 
believing  them  to  be  misrepresented  and  abused.  He  re- 
viewed Beecher's  discourse  at  considerable  length  and 
with  caustic  severity,  calling  it  a  "  plea  for  Lane  Seminary 
and  against  the  Catholics."  In  May,  1835,  a  long  article 
appeared  in  the  magazine  devoted  to  "  The  Catholic  Ques- 
tion," in  extenso.  Other  writers  engaged  in  the  contro- 
versy, especially  Eli  Taylor,  the  editor  of  the  Journal,  an 
anti-Catholic  and  anti-slavery  newspaper,  and  former  pub- 
lisher of  Hall's  Magazine.  Many  patrons  withdrew  their 
names  from  Hall's  subscription  list.  Some  accused  the 
editor  of  disloyalty  to  his  own  sect ;  some  forsook  him  be- 
cause  he   had  condemned  the  "  heresy  of  abolition,"  he 


380  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

favoring  gradual  emancipation  instead  of  the  Garrisonian 
method. 

Financial  disputes  with  Eli  Taylor  caused  a  change  to 
be  made  in  the  publication  of  the  magazine,  which,  in 
January,  1835,  was  transferred  to  Flash,  liyder  &  Co.  In 
June,  having  made  engagements  to  enter  other  business, 
Judge  Hall  withdrew  from  the  editorship  of  the  magazine, 
which  devolved  upon  James  Reese  Fry.  At  the  close  of 
the  year.  Hall  sold  out  to  James  B.  Marshall,  who  merged 
it  in  his  Literary  Journal  and  Review,  at  Louisville,  in 
February,  1837.  The  joint  subscription  lists  numbered 
only  a  thousand  names.  To  these  a  new  periodical,  called 
the  Monthly  Magazine  and  Review,  edited  by  Wm.  D. 
Gallagher,  was  sent  for  five  months  only,  and  the  languish- 
ing publication  perished  June,  1837. 

Before  his  removal  to  Cincinnati,  Judge  Hall  had  pub- 
lished three  books,  in  addition  to  his  volumes  of  the  Illinois 
Magazine.  The  first  of  these  was  the  "  Letters  from  the 
West,"  already  spoken  of.  The  second  was  a  collection 
of  short  stories,  "  Legends  of  the  West,"  issued  from  a 
Philadelphia  press  in  1832.  The  titles  of  the  stories  are, 
**  The  Backwoodsman,"  "  The  Divining  Rod,"  "  The  Sev- 
enth Son,"  "  The  Missionaries,"  "A  Leg'end  of  Caron- 
delet,"  "  The  Intestate,"  "  Michael  de  Coucy,"  "  The  Em- 
igrants," "The  Barrack-Master's  Daughter."  In  1832 
appeared  "  The  Soldier's  Bride  and  Other  Tales."  This 
was  followed,  in  1833,  by  "  The  Harpe's  Head  ;  a  Legend 
of  Kentucky."  The  next  year  the  diligent  author  put 
out  "  Sketches  of  the  West,"  in  two  volumes,  and  "  Tales 
of  the  Border."  "  Statistics  of  the  West,"  "  Notes  on  the 
Western  States,"  and  the  "  Life  of  General  William  Henry 
Harrison,"  were  issued  while  the  author  was  still  connected 
with  the  magazine. 

Before  he  relinquished  the  editorial  chair  Judge  Hall 
was  appointed  cashier  of  the  Commercial  Bank,  Cincin- 
nati. The  charter  of  the  bank  expired  in  1843,  but  the 
institution  was  reorganized  under  the  same  name,  with 
Hall  as  president,  which  position  he  held  until  his  death. 
For  a  period  of  more  than  thirty  years,  therefore,  he  was 


Judge  James  Hall.  381 

engaged  in  absorbing  mercantile  duties.  The  exactions 
of  business  did  not  cause  him  to  abandon  literary  pur- 
suits. His  most  laborious  task  as  a  writer  was  undertaken 
after  he  assumed  the  duties  of  a  bank  cashier. 

This  was  the  composition  of  an  elaborate  "  History  of 
the  Indian  Tribes,"  in  three  huge  folios,  embellished  by 
one  hundred  and  twenty  authentic  portraits  from  the  In- 
dian gallery  at  Washington.  This  splendid  work  was  re- 
published in  London.  The  original  price  was  $120  per 
set,  but  the'  fe"yv^  copies  now  attainable  are  held  at  a  much 
higher  rate.  The  projector  and  chief  proprietor  of  the 
publication  was  Colonel  Thomas  L.  McKenny,  of  the  In- 
dian Department.  He  superintended  the  illustration,  but 
the  letter-press  was  written  by  James  Hall,  and  consumed 
the  leisure  of  eight  years. 

The  long  list  of  Judge  Hall's  published  writings  is  com- 
plete when  w^e  add  to  those  already  named  "  The  Wilder- 
ness and  the  War-path,  1845  ;  "  "Anniversary  Address  Be- 
fore the  Mercantile  Library  Association  of  Cincinnati, 
1846;"  the  "Life  of  Thomas  Posey,"  contributed  to 
"  Sparks's  American  Biography ; "  and  the  "  Romance  of 
Western  History."  In  view  of  the  useful  and  varied 
labors  of  Judge  Hall,  we  may  w^ell  agree  with  the  as- 
sertion in  Allibone's  Dictionary  of  Authors,  that  "  few 
men  have  done  so  much  for  the  cause  of  Western  civiliza- 
tion and  the  intellectual  improvement  of  the  country  at 
large." 

The  salt  and  substance  of  Judge  Hall's  writings,  exclu- 
sive of  what  is  found  in  the  "  History  of  Indian  Tribes," 
may  be  read  in  two  volumes,  the  "  Legends  of  the  West " 
and  the  "  Romance  of  Western  History."  The  first  con- 
tains cullings  from  the  author's  best  tales,  among  which 
is  "  Harpe's  Head ; "  and  the  second,  though  called 
"  Romance,"  presents  a  vast  array  of  historical  facts  and 
very  little  fiction.  It  is,  indeed.  Hall's  most  valuable  con- 
tribution to  literature,  being  a  clear,  vivid,  authentic,  real- 
istic survey  of  pioneer  life,  more  interesting  to  the  reader 
of  to-day,  because  of  its  literal  truth,  than  the  author's 
novels,  for  they  are  now  sought  for  the  facts  they  contain, 


382  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

and  not  for  their  literary  art  or  other  merit  as  works  of 
imagination.  Doubtless,  Judge  Hall  realized  this  him- 
self, for  he  said  in  the  brief  preface  to  "  Legends  of  the 
West "  that  the  sole  intention  of  his  tales  was  "  to  convey 
accurate  descriptions  of  the  scenery  and  population  of  the 
country  "  in  which  he  resided. 

Judge  Hall's  volumes  graphically  depict  the  state  of 
things  in  Virginia  and  Kentucky  at  a  period  just  after  the 
revolutionary  war.  We  see  in  them  the  pioneer  and  the 
emigrant  moving  westward  into  the  wilderness.  The 
Long-knives  encounter  the  red  men;  the  "station"  rises 
in  the  forest ;  the  deer  speeds  away  before  the  hunter ;  the 
paroquets  flutter  their  green  wings  above  the  canebrake 
along  the  Ohio.  Behold  the  train  of  pack-horses  winding 
along  the  mountain  road  ;  see  the  piroque  and  the  flat- 
boat  bearing  adventurers  from  Fort  Pitt  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Coming  down  to  a  later  day,  we  are  intro- 
duced to  the  indolent  French  settlers  at  their  picturesque, 
semi-Indian  villages,  Yincennes  and  Kaskaskia. 

We  explore  Southern  Illinois,  and  listen  to  stories  of 
Missouri  trappers,  and  of  the  freebooters  that  rob  by  river 
and  on  land  and  hide  in  caves.  Then  the  novels  take  us 
to  hunt  the  raccoon  and  the  wild-cat  in  the  Kentucky 
woods.  "  Hank  Short,  the  snake-killer,"  amuses  us  with 
his  extraordinary  feats;  and  we  are  horrified  at  the 
ghastly  vision  of  Micajah  Harpe's  gory  head  severed  from 
his  body  and  stuck  in  the  forks  of  a  tree. 

Judge  Hall  goes  with  us  to  the  hospitable  manor-house 
of  the  Virginia  planter,  introduces  fine  young  officers,  and 
beautiful  young  ladies  who  journey  through  the  forests, 
and  are  captured  by  Indians.  He  takes  us  to  the  back- 
woods cabin,  entertains  us  with  feasts  and  weddings,  ac- 
quaints us  with  the  barbecue  and  the  camp-meeting. 

The  style  of  his  composition  is  correct,  dignified,  and 
graceful ;  enlivened  by  humor  and  made  piquant  by  satiric 
touches.  Hall  never  loses  enthusiasm  nor  vivacity,  and, 
though  his  narrative  is  sometimes  tedious,  it  is  never  dull, 
a  remark  that  applies  as  well  to  Cooper  and  to  Irving. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  literary  career,  James  Hall 


Judge  James  Hall,  383 

found  exquisite  pleasure  in  the  works  of  the  great  poets, 
and,  like  many  another  young  man  of  sensibility  and  lively 
passions,  he  wrote  in  verse.  The  "  Western  Souvenir  "  con- 
tains a  score  of  metrical  pieces  from  his  hand  to  half  a 
dozen  of  which  he  attached  tlie  nom  de  plume  "  Orlando." 

Judge  Hall's  wife  died  in  1832,  leaving  a  family  of 
^Ye  children.  -He  was  married  September  3,  1839,  to  his 
second  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Louisa  Alexander,  nee  Anderson, 
a  sister  of  Governor  Charles  Anderson  and  of  the  late 
Larz  Anderson,  of  Cincinnati.  Mrs.  Hall,  who  is  now 
deceased,  was  born  near  Louisville,  Kentucky,  '*  Soldier's 
Retreat,"  the  residence  of  her  father.  Major  Richard 
Clough  Anderson  (aid  to  General  LaFayette).  She  was  a 
young  widow  when  Judge  Hall  made  her  acquaintance. 
The  wedding  took  place  at  Chillicothe,  in  the  historically 
famous  mansion  of  General  Duncan  McArthur,  at  Fruit 
Hill,'  afterward  the  residence  of  Governor  Allen. 

The  issue  of  this  union  was  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

The  oldest  son,  William  Anderson  Hall,  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Phoenix  and  Merchants'  Mutual  Fire  In- 
surance Company,  inherits,  in  generous  measure,  the  lit- 
erary aptitude  from  both  parents,  and,  had  he  devoted 
his  energies  to  letters  instead  of  business,  he  would  have 
added  another  to  the  long  line  of  authors  of  his  name  and 
kindred.  As  it  is,  he  has  written,  as  a  pastime,  much  that 
is  worthy  of  a  more  permanent  repository  than  the  news- 
paper columns,  in  which  it  has  appeared  from  time  to 
time,  under  the  signature  of  "  Timothy  Timid." 

In  1872,  Mr.  Wm.  Hall  wrote  from  Europe  a  series  of  de- 
lightful letters,  which  were  published  in  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial,  w^ith  the  general  title,  "Timothy's  Tour." 
He  was  the  Philadelphia  correspondent  of  the  Enquirer  in 
1876,  and  furnished  that  newspaper  capital  reports  of  the 
Centennial.  There  appeared  from  his  sprightly  pen,  in 
1886,  a  charming  short  story,  "A  Romance  of  Vesuvius." 

James  Harrison  Hall,  younger  brother  of  William,  is 
now  in  the  fire  insurance  business  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  He 
is  a  graduate  of  West  Point  Military  Academy. 


384  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Maria  Louisa  Hall  married  Thomas  II.  Wright,  and 
lives  in  Cincinnati. 

Kate  Longworth  Hall,  the  youngest  child  of  Judge  Hall, 
is  unmarried,  and  is  now  living  at  Mt.  Auburn. 

Judge  James  Hall's  death  occurred  at  his  home  in  Cin- 
cinnati on  the  4th  of  July,  1868.  A  biogrophical  sketch 
of  him  was  prepared  by  his  friend,  Colonel  J.  Fi  Meline,^ 
and  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  October  16, 
1868. 

The  man  of  business  seldom  finds  tim^  for  literary  pur- 
suits. The  duties  of  a  bank  president  are  exacting,  and 
he  who  discharges  them  faithfully  will  have  little  energy 
left  for  the  mental  toil  of  composing  books.  Judge  Hall's 
period  of  literary  invention  closed  soon  after  his  mercantile 
labors  began.  But  he  never  lost  interest  in  the  cause  of 
education,  culture,  and  polite  studies.  We  can  not  better 
conclude  our  survey  of  his  useful  life  and  services  than  by 
quoting  a  passage  from  an  address  which  he  gave  before 
the  "  Young  Men's  Mercantile  Library  Association,"  on 
the  "  Dignity  of  Commerce."     He  said  : 

"  I  am  happy  to  believe  that  the  acquisition  of  wealth 
does  not  necessarily,  nor,  as  I  hope,  usually,  blunt  the 
sensibilities,  nor  destroy  the  manliness  of  a  generous  char- 
acter ;  that  it  is  not  always  a  selfish  and  a  mercenary  occu- 
pation. If  money  be  sought  with  moderation,  by  honora- 
ble means,  and  with  a  due  regard  to  the  public  good,  no 
employment  affords  exercise  to  higher  or  nobler  powers 


*  James  Florant  Meline,  an  author  of  considerable  distinction,  was 
born  in  the  United  States  fort  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York,  in  1813. 
He  came  to  Cincinnati  in  1832,  and  taught  in  St.  Xavier's  College  (then 
the  Atheneum),  and  asssisted  in  editing  the  Catholic  Telegraph.  He 
studied  law  with  William  Greene,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  about 
1836.  He  traveled  and  resided  in  Europe,  becoming  master  of  several 
languages— French,  German,  Italian,  Spanish.  Returning  to  Cincinnati, 
he  practiced  law  there  for  several  years.  Colonel  Meline  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  civil  war.  Besides  writing  much  for  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial,  the  New  York  Tribune,  the  Nation,  and  other  newspapers 
and  magazines,  he  was  the  author  of  "  Two  Thousand  Miles  on  Horse- 
back," and  of  many  learned  lectures.  But  his  most  noted  work  is  that 
entitled  "  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  Her  Latest  English  Historian,"  a 
reply  to  Froude.    He  died  in  1873. 


Judge  James  Hall.  385 

of  the  mind  and  heart.  And  such,  gentlemen,  should  be 
the  character  of  the  merchant.  He  should  guard  his 
heart  against  the  seductive  influence  of  money ;  he  should 
carefully  shield  his  mind  against  the  narrow  precepts  of 
avarice.  Money  should  be  regarded  as  the  agent  and  rep- 
resentative of  the  good  it  may  be  made  to  perform — it 
should  be  sought  as  the  instrument  of  self-defense  against 
the  evils  of  poverty ;  of  parental  love,  enabling  us  to  pro- 
vide for  those  dependent  on  us ;  of  public  spirit,  in  afford- 
ing the  means  of  promoting  the  public  good." 
25 


886  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

GEORGE  DENNISON  PRENTICE,  JOURNALIST,  POET,  AND  WIT. 

George  Dennison  Prentice  was  born  in  an  humble  farm- 
house in  Preston  township,  Connecticut,  on  Saturday, 
December  18,  1802.  The  natural  scenery  surrounding  his 
home  was  impressive,  and  its  varied  beauty  gave  an  early 
impulse  to  his  poetical  tendency.  The  child  inherited 
bodily  vigor,  an  active  temperament,  and  bright  intellect. 
His  precocity  was  stimulated  by  a  fond  mother,  who  taught 
him  to  read  in  the  Bible  ere  he  had  completed  his  fourth 
year.  At  the  tender  age  of  five  he  was  sent  to  school, 
where  he  was  kept  until  he  reached  the  age  of  nine  years ; 
then  his  father  took  him  out  of  school  and  put  him  to 
work  on  the  farm.  A  poor  man's  son,  he  must  do  manual 
tasks,  in  seed-time  and  in  harvest,  and  help  the  family  to 
earn  and  to  save.  Physical  toil  in  the  fields  did  not  de- 
stroy the  lad's  inclination  for  study.  What  he  had  learned 
in  the  country  school  begat  a  longing  for  more  knowl- 
edge. 

Doubtless  the  beloved  mother,  whose  ambitious  care 
had  induced  George  to  con  the  alphabet  as  he  sat  on  her 
knees,  seconded  his  earnest  desire  to  prepare  for  college. 
In  his  fourteenth  year  he  was  placed  under  the  instruction 
of  a  clergyman  who  had  been  a  tutor  at  Yale  College,  and 
he  made  extraordinary  progress  in  his  studies.  Perhaps 
the  foregoing  years  of  sturdy  service,  with  plow  and  scythe 
and  ax,  were  well  invested,  and  had  established  a  sound 
bodily  basis  for  a  good  mental  superstructure.  It  is  re- 
corded that  young  Prentice  "  completed  the  study  of  Vir- 
gil, Horace,  Sal  lust,  Cicero,  the  Greek  Testament,  Xeno- 
phou,  six  books  of  Homer,  the  Greek  Minora,  most  of  the 
Greek  Majora,  and  other  works,  with  in   six  months  after 


George  Dennison  Fr entice,  387 

his  first  introduction  to  English  grammar."  Tradition 
further  declares  that  he  learned  Lindley  Murray  by  heart 
in  ^YQ  days,  and  that  he  recited  the  twelfth  book  of  the 
-^neid  at  a  single  lesson. 

Making  a  discount  of  fifty  per  cent  for  exaggeration  in 
the  above  assertions,  the  record  would  still  prove  Prentice 
a  remarkable  student ;  and  if  we  credit  the  statement  as 
it  stands,  we  must  accord  him  a  place  with  such  prodigies 
as  Macaulay  and  Stuart  Mill. 

Like  thousands  of  other  ambitious  young  people,  before 
and  since  his  day.  Prentice  used  the  vocation  of  teaching 
as  a  means  of  getting  to  college.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  undertook  to  teach  his  first  school  in  a  country  village ; 
undertook  and  succeeded.  For  about  two  years  he  con- 
tinued to  teach,  then  entered  the  sophomore  class  of  Brown 
University.  The  phenomenal  memory  which  enabled  him 
to  prepare  for  college  so  rapidly  gave  great  distinction 
and  brilliancy  to  his  college  career.  We  have  it  on  good 
authority  that  he  could  repeat,  verbatim,  "  Kames's  Ele- 
ments of  Criticism,"  "  Blair's  Rhetoric,"  and  "  Dugald 
Stuart's  Mental  Philosophy."  A  poet  says  our  teachers 
are  the  parents  of  our  mind,  which  epigram  adds  interest 
to  the  fact  that  Prentice,  while  in  college  received  instruc- 
tion from  the  once  somewhat  famous  Tristram  Burges, 
and  the  much  more  celebrated  Horace  Mann.  Prentice 
entered  college  in  1820  and  graduated  in  1823,  crowned 
with  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  student  Brown  Uni- 
versity had  then  sent  forth.  Years  afterward  the  care- 
worn and  world-taught  man,  revisiting  the  scenes  of  his 
student  life,  meditated  thus  : 

"  Within  your  silent  domes,  how  many  hearts 
Are  beating  high  with  glorious  dreams  ?    'Tis  well 
The  rosy  sunlight  of  the  morn  should  not 
Be  darkened  by  the  portents  of  the  storm 
That  may  not  burst  till  eve.    Those  youthful  ones 
Whose  thoughts  are  woven  of  the  hues  of  heaven, 
May  see  their  visions  fading  tint  by  tint, 
Till  naught  is  left  upon  the  winter  air 
Save  the  gray  winter  cloud  ;  the  brilliant  star 
That  glitters  now  upon  their  happy  lives, 


888  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

May  redden  to  a  scorching  flame,  and  bum 
Their  every  hope  to  dust." 

"With  a  full  mind  and  an  empty  purse,  the  honored 
graduate  betook  himself  again  to  the  wide-ranging  art  of 
school-mastering,  finding  employment  in  a  seminary  at 
Smithfield.  Teaching  became  the  stepping-stone  to  the 
profession  of  law,  for  which  he  soon  began  to  prepare. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1827,  being  then  twenty- 
five  years  old.  The  practice  of  law  seems  not  to  have 
been  to  his  liking ;  at  any  rate,  there  is  no  record  of  his 
ever  having  tried  any  case.  Perhaps  he  delighted  more 
in  literary  composition  than  in  legal  forms,  or  the  patience- 
trying  task  of  securing  clients.  While  in  college  he  had 
written  for  the  press  in  verse  and  in  prose. 

The  poet,  J.  G.  Brainard,  himself  an  editor  in  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  was  the  direct  cause  of  Prentice's  launching 
in  journalism.  Brainard,  only  six  years  his  senior,  dis- 
covered Prentice's  ability,  and  encouraged  his  literary  en- 
deavors. Fifty  years  ago  the  knack  of  facile  writing  was 
rarer  than  it  is  now-a-days,  when,  as  Tennyson  said  to 
George  Eliot,  '*  every  body  writes  well;"  and  ready  pens 
were  then  in  demand.  The  JS'ew  England  Review  was 
started  at  Hartford  in  1828,  and  Prentice  was  chosen  ed- 
itor. The  Review  was  an  aggressive  Whig  newspaper 
that  soon  attracted  popular  attention,  for  readers  perceived 
that  it  was  ably  conducted,  and  that  its  editor  was  a  rising 
man.  The  precocious  school-boy,  toil-tried  farmer,  suc- 
cessful collegian,  earnest  teacher,  disciplined  law-student, 
was  ready  for  his  life-work.  Henceforth  he  was  the  slave 
of  the  pen,  yet  its  master. 

When,  in  1828,  Jackson  was  elected  president  over 
Adams,  political  excitement  was  at  a  white  heat.  The 
memorable  campaign  arrayed  the  Whigs  and  the  Demo- 
crats against  each  other  in  desperate  partisan  war  of 
words,  both  on  the  stump  and  in  the  newspapers.  The 
Whigs,  stung  by  defeat,  made  tremendous  efforts  to  re- 
gain their  lost  power.  Political  orators  and  writer^ 
brought  all  their  batteries  of  wit,  argument,  and  eloquence 
to  bear  in  the  hot  controversy. 


George  Dennison  Prentice.  389 

Henry  Clay  was  considered  by  many  in  the  Whig  party 
as  a  foeman  more  than  worthy  Jackson's  steel,  and  he 
was  to  run  as  the  Whig  candidate  in  1832.  The  Ken- 
tucky statesman's  adherents  in  Kew  England  pushed  his 
claims  vigorously.  The  canvas  demanded  that  an  attract- 
ive "life"  of  the  "great  commoner"  should  be  prepared 
for  circulation  among  the  people.  Who  so  competent  to 
prepare  such  a  campaign  book  as  the  ambitious  young 
editor  of  the  !N'ew  England  Review  ?  Prentice  was  easily 
prevailed  upon  to  undertake  the  task.  As  it  was  neces- 
sary for  him  to  go  to  Kentucky  to  obtain  material  for  his 
book,  a  provisional  editor  was  wanted  to  carry  on  the 
Hartford  paper.  There  was  among  the  contributors  to 
the  Review  a  Quaker  youth,  five  years  the  junior  of  Mr. 
Prentice — his  name,  John  Greenleaf  Whittier.  This 
young  man  had  been  studying  and  teaching  in  the  acad- 
emy at  Haverill,  Massachusetts.  He  had  come  back  to 
his  father's  farm,  and  was  one  day  hoeing  in  the  field 
when  a  letter  was  brought  him  from  the  publishers  of  the 
Review,  requesting  him,  in  Prentice's  name,  to  come  to 
Hartford  and  edit  the  paper.  "  I  could  not  have  been 
more  astonished,"  said  Whittier,  afterwards,  relating  the 
incident  to  John  James  Piatt,  "  if  I  had  been  told  I  was 
appointed  Prime  Minister  to  the  Great  Khan  of  Tartary." 
To  J.  C.  Derby,  the  veteran  publisher,  Whittier  said : 
"  My  first  real  work  was  done  when  George  D.  Prentice 
was  editor  of  the  Hartford  Review  ;  although  I  had  writ- 
ten considerable  before,  I  wrote  and  sent  him  a  few  things, 
and  he  encouraged  me.  When  he  recommended  me  to 
take  his  place,  the  publisher  met  me,  and  I  went  down, 
and  for  two  years  I  remained  with  the  Review."  When 
Whittier  arrived  at  Hartford  to  assume  his  editorial 
duties,  Prentice  had  already  gone  to  Kentucky  ;  the  two 
never  met. 

Prentice's  "  Life  of  Clay  "  was  written  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky.  The  preface  is  dated  November,  14,  1830. 
The  book  is  intensely  partisan,  extravagantly  eulogistic  of 
Clay,  savagely  abusive  of  his  political  enemies.  The  style 
is   lucid  and  vigorous,  but  the   sentences  often  soar  on 


890  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

American  eagles'  wings.  "  Impassioned  eloquence  "  was 
a  commodity  much  in  demand  in  the  era  of  Henry  Clay. 
The  popular  taste  relished  flowing  periods,  burning 
perorations,  and  scintillant  rhetoric. 

Prentice  thus  pictures  Clay  in  the  climax  of  oratoric 
fervor :  "  His  keen  eye  kindles  into  new  brightness  from 
the  irresistible  fire  within  him;  and  his  whole  countenance 
discovers,  like  a  mirror,  the  transit  of  star-like  thought, 
which  beam  upon  lips  touched  with  the  living  coal  of  elo- 
quence." One  more  of  these  exuberant  passages  may  be 
quoted  because  it  exhibits  Prentice's  temper  and  early 
style,  and,  at  the  same  time,  afibrds  a  striking  example  of 
a  kind  of  composition  once  admired : 

"  When  the  spirit  of  faction  shall  have  spent  its 
strength  and  died  ;  when  the  flood  of  calumny  which,  like 
the  stream  from  the  mouth  of  the  Apocalyptic  Dragon, 
has  overspread  the  land  with  its  pestilential  tide,  shall 
have  passed  off  into  the  dead  sea  of  common  oblivion,  the 
virtue  of  the  last  administration  will  be  remembered,  and 
will  glow,  undimmed  over  the  waste  of  after-corruption, 
like  *  night's  diamond  star '  above  the  dark  outline  of  a 
sky  of  storm." 

The  administration  thus  praised  was,  of  course,  that  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  to  whom  Mr.  Prentice  refers  in  an- 
other part  of  his  book  in  the  following  terms :  "  The 
tranquil  majesty  of  his  mind  was  like  that  of  the  ocean 
when  its  Controller  has  laid  the  finger  of  His  silence  upon 
every  wave.  A  mild  and  chastened  feeling  of  admiration 
might,  indeed,  steal  upon  the  hearts  of  those  who  con- 
templated its  quiet,  yet  noble  manifestations ;  but  for  the 
calling  forth  of  enthusiasm,  a  wilder  and  more  passionate 
moving  of  its  elements  was  requisite.  It  needed  the 
sublimity  of  the  tempest — the  cloud-fire's  shock — the  loud 
Bummons  of  the  thunder,  and  the  hoarse  murmur  of  the 
answering  waves." 

Such  luxuriant  growth  of  expression,  loaded  with  every 
flower  of  speech,  but  especially  with  metaphor,  character- 
ized Prentice's  early  prose.  I  have  read  a  short,  senti- 
mental story  of  his,  probably  written  about  the  time  he 


George  Dennison  Prentice.  391 

left  college.  It  is  entitled  "  The  Broken-Hearted,"  and  is 
a  tale  of  love  and  desertion.  The  heroine  who  dwelt 
in  "  a  country  village  in  the  eastern  part  of  Kew  England  " 
is  described  as  "  a  creature  to  he  worshiped — her  brow  was 
garlanded  with  the  young  year's  sweetest  flowers,  her  yel- 
low locks  were  hanging  beautifully  and  low  upon  the 
bosom — and  she  moved  through  the  crowd  with  such 
a  floating  and  unearthly  grace  that  the  bewildered 
gazer,"  etc. 

"The  Broken-Hearted"  is  one  of  those  maiden  efforts 
that  their  authors  blush  for  when  they  grow  old  and 
wicked,  but  which,  notwithstanding  their  jejune  senti- 
mentalities, are  often  more  creditable  to  the  heart  than  are 
the  riper  and  less  sincere  productions  of  prudent  maturity. 
The  little  story  is  spangled  with  rhetorical  ornaments,  but 
is  really  beautiful  in  thought  and  feeling,  and  abounds  in 
moral  and  religious  reflections  very  simply  and  devoutly 
expressed. 

While  Prentice  was  engaged  on  the  '•'  Life  of  Clay," 
propositions  were  made  urging  him  to  remain  in  Ken- 
tucky and  conduct  a  newspaper  to  fight  the  Jackson  party, 
and  represent  "  Harry  of  the  West."  The  project  was 
realized  in  the  establishing  of  the  Louisville  Journal  by 
George  D.  Prentice  and  E.  L.  Buxton.  The  first  number 
of  this  famous  newspaper  appeared  November  24,  1830,  a 
month  after  Judge  Hall  started  the  Illinois  Magazine,  and 
a  year  before  Gallagher  began  the  Cincinnati  Mirror.  Mr. 
Prentice  was  connected  with  the  Journal  till  his  death,  a 
period  of  forty  years.  Henry  Watterson,  declares  that 
*'  From  1830  to  1861  the  influence  of  Prentice  was  perhaps 
greater  than  that  of  any  political  writer  who  ever  lived." 
"Wm.  H.  Perrin  claims  that  the  Louisville  Journal  "  built 
the  city  of  Louisville,"  and  "  prevented  the  secession  of 
Kentucky." 

To  Thomas  Jefferson  is  ascribed  the  distinction  of  mak- 
ing prominent  in  political  warfare  that  mode  of  attack 
called  personal'  journalism,  which  he  employed  through 
the  National  Gazette,  edited  by  Philip  'Frenau,  the  poet. 
The  Aurora,  a  Democratic  paper  edited  in  Philadelphia  by 


392  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"William  Duane,  is  said  to  have  secured  the  election  of 
Jefferson  by  virtue  of  its  fighting  force.  So  intense  was 
the  partisan  antagonism  that  a  mob  of  Federalists,  wear- 
ing the  black  cockade,  attacked  the  office  of  the  Aurora. 
Another  powerful  Democratic  "personal"  editor  was 
Thomas  Ritchie,  who  conducted  the  Richmond  Enquirer 
from  1804  to  1845.  On  the  other  side,  William  Coleman 
was  selected  by  the  Federalists  to  ^*  fight  in  their  cause 
and  lead  the  van,"  in  New  York,  and  the  Evening  Post 
was  the  weapon  he  wielded.  The  history  of  Coleman's 
personal  encounters  was  notorious,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Prentice  emulated  his  example.  Wm.  C.  Bryant  succeeded 
Coleman,  and  all  know  his  power  as  a  writer  and  his  apti- 
tude for  applying  a  horsewhip  on  occasion,  small  of  stature 
though  he  was. 

Joseph  Gales  started  the  famous  National  Intelligencer, 
Democratic,  in  1800.  Robert  Walsh,  twenty  years  later, 
became  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  National  Gazette,  the 
leading  organ  of  the  Whig  party  at  that  time,  and  a  paper 
of  great  literary  ability. 

The  individuality  of  such  editors  as  Duane  and  Cole- 
man gave  character  to  their  journals.  The  man  in  the 
"  sanctum  "  and  his  chief  contributors  stood  before  the  eye 
of  the  public,  known  and  personally  responsible.  Modern 
impersonal  journalism  is  a  drilled  army  behind  a  wall. 
The  early  editors  were  summoned  to  a  tournament  in  the 
open  field — spear  to  spear,  sword  to  sword.  The  knights 
of  greatest  prowess  conquered.  Nor  was  the  spear  always 
a  pen  only,  and  the  blood  only  ink.  What  the  composing- 
stick  said,  the  editor  must  stand  bv  when  he  showed  his 
face  on  the  street.  The  term  "  fighting  editor  "  was  not 
altogether  figurative.  He  who  ventured  to  fire  a  fierce 
leader  at  a  political  foe  often  had  reason  to  expect  a  reply 
in  the  sharp  rhetoric  of  a  pistol.  Richard  Hildreth,  the 
historian,  says  that  "  In  the  half  century  from  1765  to 
1816  the  peculiar  literature  of  America  is  to  be  found  in  a 
series  of  newspaper  essays,  some  of  them  of  distinguished 
ability.  Rich  jev<'els  now  and  then  glitter  in  the  general 
mass.     But  the  editorial  portion  of  the  papers,  and  no 


George  Deyinison  Prentice.  393 

small  part  of  the  communications  also,  consist  of  declama- 
tory calumnies  expressed  in  a  style  of  vulgar  ferocity." 

This  peculiar  style  did  not  go  out  of  use  in  1816,  nor, 
indeed,  is  it  likely  to  disappear  until  the  general  process 
of  human  evolution  has  gone  much  further.  In  all  times 
of  great  political  excitement,  strong  and  aggressive  editors 
are  liable  to  relapse  into  the  old  fashion. 

George  D.  Prentice  was  one  of  the  first  powerful  per- 
sonal editors  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  He  brought  the 
Louisville  Journal  into  the  arena  of  action  ten  years  be- 
fore Horace  Greeley  started  the  Tribune,  and  twenty  years 
before  Raymond  began  the  x^ew  York  Times.  The  Ken- 
tucky champion  was  a  warm  friend  of  Greeley,  though 
the  two  editors  were  often  at  variance.  Prentice  respected 
Greeley  as  a  foeman  worthy  of  any  editor's  steel,  and  ad- 
mired him  as  strong  men  ever  must  admire  others  of  like 
power.  The  Louisville  hero  of  the  pen  thus  greeted  the 
New  York  journalist,  in  verses  addressed  to  '^A  Political 
Opponent :" 

"  I  send  thee,  Greeley,  words  of  cheer, 
Thou  bravest,  truest,  best  of  men  ; 
For  I  have  marked  thy  strong  career. 
As  traced  by  thy  own  sturdy  pen. 
I  've  seen  thy  struggles  with  thy  foes 
That  dared  thee  to  the  desperate  fight. 
And  loved  to  watch  thy  goodly  blows 
Dealt  for  the  cause  thou  deem'st  the  right." 

Prentice  was  not  the  only  famous  and  influential  Whig 
journalist  of  his  time  in  the  West.  Charles  Hammond 
began  his  editorial  connection  with  the  Cincinnati  Ga- 
zette in  1827,  three  years  before  the  Louisville  Journal 
was  established.  Hammond,  born  in  Baltimore  in  1779, 
educated  in  Virginia,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1801. 
He  removed  to  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  where,  in  1813,  he 
started  the  Ohio  Federalist,  a  newspaper  which  was  dis- 
continued in  1817.  From  1816  to  1821  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Ohio  House  of  Representatives.  From  1823  to 
1838  he  was  reporter  for  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  and 
prepared  the  first  nine  volumes  of  Ohio  Reports.     From 


394  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

1825  to  the  date  of  his  death,  April  3, 1840,  this  very  ahle, 
industrious,  and  learned  man  was  editor-in-chief  of  the 
Gazette.  In  his  capacious  mind  he  received  and  digested 
the  knowledge  which  proved  him  a  lawyer,  political  econo- 
mist, statesman,  historian,  and  poet.  An  intimate  friend 
and  adviser  of  Clay,  a  correspondent  of  the  leading  pub- 
lic men  of  his  generation,  he  was  pronounced  by  Webster 
"  the  greatest  genius  that  ever  wielded  the  editorial  pen." 

Hammond's  formidable  antagonist  in  editorial  warfare 
was  Moses  Dawson,  conductor  of  the  Cincinnati  Adver- 
tiser, the  Jackson  newspaper  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  Daw- 
son, whose  "  Memoirs  "  by  Mr.  Reemelin  were  published, 
I  think,  in  the  Commercial,  was  a  writer  of  great  force 
and  clearness.  He  was  the  author  of  a  life  of  Harrison.^ 
E.  D.  Mansfield  has  recorded  some  amusing  recollections  of 
the  intercourse  of  Hammond  with  his  respected  Democratic 
opponent.  "They  would  meet,"  says  Mansfield,  "at  a 
noted  colfee-house  on  Front  street,  where  they  would 
banter  each  other  over  their  toddy.  Dawson  would  say, 
"  I'll  beat  you,  Charley,"  and  Hammond  would  say,  "  I'll 
give  it  to  you  in  the  morning.'  " 

Prentice  found  his  Dawson,  though  a  weaker  one  than 
Moses,  in  the  person  of  Shadrach  Penn,  who  edited  in 
Louisville  the  Advertiser  in  advocacy  of  Jackson  and 
Democracy.  Penn  was  an  able  writer,  but  no  match  for 
Prentice.  For  a  dozen  years  the  Journal  and  the  Advertiser 
maintained  bitter  war.  Prentice  disabled  his  adversary 
by  the  force  of  ridicule.  Shadrach  Penn  was  actually 
driven  from  the  city  and  the  state  at  the  point  of  a  terri- 
ble quill.  Prentice  recorded  the  departure  in  the  follow- 
ing witty  but  not  very  generous  sentences  : 

"  Shadrach,  after  a  residence  of  twenty-three  years  in 
this  city,  goes  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  and  lay  his 

*  Historical  Narrative  of  the  Civil  and  Military  Services  of  Major- 
General  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  a  Vindication  of  his  Character 
and  Conduct  as  a  Statesman,  a  Ciliz.n,  and  a  Soldier;  with  a  detail  of 
his  Negotiations  and  Wars  witli  the  Indians,  until  the  final  Overthrow 
of  the  celebrated  Chief,  Tecumst»h.  anl  his  Brother,  the  Prophet.  By 
Moees  Dawson.    8vo.  pp.  472.    Cincinnati,  1824, 


George  Dennison  Prentice.  395 

bones  in  St.  Louis.  Well,  lie  has  our  best  wishes  for  his 
prosperity.  All  the  ill-will  we  have  ever  had  for  him 
passed  out  long  ago  through  our  thumb  and  forefinger. 
His  lot  hitherto  has  been  a  most  ungentle  one,  but  we 
trust  his  life  will  prove  akin  to  the  plant  that  begins  to 
blossom  at  the  advanced  age  of  half  a  century.  May  all 
be  well  with  him  here  and  hereafter.  We  should,  indeed, 
be  sorry  if  the  poor  fellow,  whom  we  have  been  torturing 
eleven  years  in  this  world,  should  be  passed  over  to  the 
devil  in  the  next." 

Prentice  rejoiced  in  controversy.  His  keen  arrows  of 
personal  attack  and  defense  flew  to  every  part  of  the 
United  States,  and  he  was  known  in  France  and  England 
as  a  poignant,  epigrammatical  writer.  Punch  appropriated 
his  jests.  He  wrote  with  sustained  force  and  with  dignity 
on  the  political  questions  of  his  day.  But  his  reputation, 
like  that  of  Tom  Corwin,  depended  much  upon  his  wit 
and  humor.  His  bright  sayings  were  repeated  in  every 
newspaper.  Readers  looked  every  morning  with  eager 
curiosity  for  the  last  quip  of  the  Louisville  Journal. 
^'  Prentice  says,"  was  the  introduction  to  the  freshest  an- 
ecdote of  the  breakfast  table,  and  to  the  last  swift-flying 
witticism  on  'Change. 

A  collection  of  paragraphs  from  the  columns  of  the 
Journal  was  published  in  1859  under  the  title  of  Pren- 
ticeiana,  a  name  suggested  by  Evart  A.  Duyckinck  in 
1855.  The  selections  were  first  made  by  Mr.  Prentice  him- 
self; then  reduced  to  one-third  the  original  number  by 
friends  to  whom  they  were  submitted ;  finally  cut  down 
still  more  by  the  publishers,  J.  0.  Derby  &  Co.  It  is  fair 
to  suppose  that  so  much  editing  diluted  rather  than 
strengthened  the  wit  of  Prenticeiana.  The  critical  friends 
doubtless  rejected  the  most  audacious  and  therefore  best 
hits,  and  the  prudent  publishers  expurgated  the  expurgated 
copy.  The  book  is  a  sort  of  paragraph  history  of  party 
politics  for  a  period  of  twenty  exciting  years.  In  its 
pages  we 

"  Catch  the  manners  living  as  they  rise," 


396  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

of  a  past  generation.  We  learn  the  characteristics  of  the 
press  in  other  days.  We  realize  the  meaning  of  political 
vituperation.  Much  of  that  terrific  editorial  warfare 
seems  more  barbarous  than  it  really  was.  The  tragedy 
lapses,  on  occasion,  into  pantomime,  and  we  see  that  the 
clubs  are  stufted.  Prenticeiana  abounds  in  recommenda- 
tions and  prophecies  in  regard  to  kicking,  nose-pulling, 
cowhiding,  shooting,  hanging,  and  going  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, or  to  a  place  still  more  confining  and  hotter.  The 
style  is  vigor  itself,  for  vigor  means  war-making ;  almost 
every  passage  is  an  aggravating  personality.  The  wit, 
for  the  most  part,  turns  on  the  pun — the  pun  usually  on  a 
proper  name.  For  example :  "  Messrs.  Bell  &  Topp,  of  the 
N.  C.  Gazette,  say  that  ^Prentices  are  made  to  serve 
masters.'  Well,  Bells  were  made  to  be  hung,  and  Topps 
to  be  whipped." 

The  humor  is  broad,  adapted  to  vulgar  apprehension, 
the  point  never  obscured  from  any  qualm  of  delicacy. 
"  There  is  a  member  of  the  Arkansas  legislature  whose 
name  is  Buzzard.  Let  him  subscribe  for  the  Louisville 
Advertiser ;  it  will  be  a  feast  for  him."  Not  all  the  pass- 
ages in  Prenticeiana  are  political  nor  written  in  the  joker's 
vein.  We  meet  maxims,  philosophical,  prudential,  and 
moral.  "A  friend  that  you  have  to  buy  won't  be  worth 
what  you  have  to  pay  for  him,  no  matter  how  little  that 
may  be."  "  The  pen  is  a  formidable  weapon,  but  a  man 
can  kill  himself  with  it  a  great  deal  more  easily  than  he 
can  other  people." 

The  following  are  straws  from  Prentice's  sheaf  of  hon 
mots : 

"A  critic  says  of  a  late  volume  of  poems  that  it  is  '  un- 
utterably stupid.'     Pity  it  hadn't  been." 

"  Doctor,  what  do  you  think  is  the  cause  of  this  fre- 
quent rush  of  blood  to  the  head  ?"  "  Oh,  its  nothing  but 
an  effort  of  nature.    Nature,  you  know,  abhors  a  vacuum." 

"  The  New  Haven  Herald  says :  '  Does  the  editor  of  the 
Louisville  Journal  suppose  that  he  is  a  true  Yankee  be- 
cause he  was  born  in  New  England  ?  If  a  dog  is  born  in 
an  oven  is  he  bread?'    We  can  tell  the  editor  that  there 


George  Dennison  Prentice,  397 

are  very  few  dogs,  whether  born  in  an  oven  or  out  of  it, 
but  are  better  bred  than  he  is." 

" '  The  Louisville  Journal  professes  to  think  that  Mr.  Clay 
can  be  elected  to  the  Presidency.  Is  Brother  Prentice 
a  fool  V — Westchester  Herald.  ITo,  but  if  the  editor  of 
the  Herald  is  our  brother,  we  are  next  kin  to  one." 

"A  locofoco  paper  of  Illinois  calls  the  governor  of  that 
•state  '  a  temperate  man.'  We  believe  that  his  locofoco 
excellency  did  belong  to  a  temperance  society  a  few  days, 
a  year  or  two  ago.  He  made  a  brief  attempt  at  sobriety — 
merely  made  a  stagger  at  it." 

"A  certain  editor,  who  has  had  a  controversy  with  us, 
-suggests  that  he  and  we  should  look  each  other  in  the  face. 
But  he  would  have  the  advantage  over  us ;  he  would  have 
much  the  better  prospect." 

''- '  We  feel  that  we  can  now  go  forward  to  our  destina- 
tion with  nothing  to  obstruct  our  progress.' — [Washing- 
ton Union.  We  suppose  you  can.  The  l^ew  York  papers 
say  that  the  obstructions  at  Hell-gate  have  been  all  re- 
moved." 

Henry  Watterson  says  "  Prentice  was  the  darling  of  the 
mob."  At  the  beginning  of  his  career  in  Kentucky,  the 
"Yankee  School-master,"  as  he  was  called,  encountered 
some  prejudice,  and  had  to  prove  his  personal  courage. 
Adapting  himself  to  his  environment,  he  quickly  learned 
the  use  of  the  pistol,  and  was  accounted  the  best  shot  in 
Kentucky.  On  one  occasion,  he  was  fired  at  and  wounded 
by  a  political  antagonist  on  a  street  of  Louisville.  Prentice 
throttled  the  would-be  assassin,  threw  him  to  the  ground, 
and  was  about  to  stab  him,  urged  by  the  excited  crowd. 
Controlling  his  rage,  he  released  his  victim,  saying,  "  I 
can  not  kill  a  disarmed  man." 

Prentice  was  neither  a  bully  nor  a  respecter  of  bullies. 
"  There  is  no  more  dishonor,"  he  says,  "  in  being  knocked 
down  by  a  bully  than  in  being  scratched  by  a  catamount 
or  kicked  by  a  jackass." 

He  was  opposed  on  principle  to  dueling,  though  he 
mildly  defended  Clay  for  fighting  a  duel.  To  a  certain 
Mr.  Hewson,  who  demanded  satisfaction  according  to  the 


898  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

code,  for  some  offense  of  Prentice's  pen,  he  wrote :  "  I 
came  here,  from  a  distant  state,  because  many  believed  I 
could  do  something  to  promote  a  great  and  important  en- 
terprise, and  as  I  have  reason  to  think  my  labors  are  not 
altogether  in  vain,  I  do  not  intend  to  let  myself  be  di- 
verted from  them.  There  are  some  persons,  and  perhaps 
many,  to  whom  my  life  is  valuable,  and  however  little  or 
much  value  I  may  attach  to  it  on  my  own  account,  I  do 
not  see  fit,  at  present,  to  put  it  up  voluntarily  against 
yours.  I  am  no  believer  in  the  dueling  code.  I  would 
not  call  a  man  to  the  field  unless  he  had  done  me 
such  a  deadly  wrong  that  I  desired  to  kill  him,  and  I 
would  not  obey  his  call  to  the  field  unless  I  had  done  him 
so  mortal  an  injury  as  to  entitle  him,  in  my  opinion,  to 
demand  an  opportunity  of  taking  my  life.  I  have  not  the 
least  desire  to  kill  you  or  to  harm  a  hair  of  your  head, 
and  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  done  any  thing  to  enti- 
tle you  to  kill  me." 

Prentice's  immense  influence  enabled  him  to  dispense 
much  political  patronage.  Hundreds  of  men  were  in- 
debted to  him  for  public  ofiice.  His  power  reached  its 
culminating  point  in  1840,  in  the  memorable  Harrison 
campaign — the  campaign  of  endless  processions,  log-cab- 
ins and  hard  cider.  "  Pray,  in  what  respect  is  hard  cider 
an  emblem  of  General  Harrison  ?"  asked  a  Jackson  editor. 
"All  we  know  is,"  responded  Prentice,  "  that  it  runs  well." 
We  can  readily  understand  how  the  Louisville  Journal 
did  so  much  to  secure  the  triumphant  election  of  old  Tip- 
pecanoe. Kentucky  gave  Harrison  a  larger  vote  than  did 
any  other  state. 

When,  in  the  critical  canvas  of  1856,  the  Whig  party 
went  to  pieces  and  out  of  its  fragments  two  new  combina- 
tions were  formed,  the  Republican  and  the  American,  or 
Know-Nothing,  party,  Prentice  went  with  the  latter,  and 
the  Journal  ran  up  the  Fillmore  flag.  From  1856  to  1861, 
we  know  how  men's  souls  were  tried — how  patriotism 
itself  was  bewildered.  When  the  cannon  of  Sumter 
boom<'<1,  ;i!h1  the  echo  rolled  along  the  Ohio  valley,  Pren- 


George  Dennison  Prentice.  399 

tice  wavered,  and  his  indecision  Avas  fatal  to  his  national 
influence.  He  opposed  the  rebellion,  but  not  for  radical 
reasons  and  not  with  zeal.  The  Journal  was  counted  a 
Union  newspaper,  but  the  army  of  the  Union  did  not 
recognize  it  as  a  strong  ally.  Whittier  said  Prentice  was 
unfortunately  placed. 

The  sympathies  of  his  southern  friends  were  with  the 
Confederacy.  His  interests  in  Louisville  were  involved 
with  southern  business.  His  wife  favored  the  Confederate 
cause,  and  his  two  sons  enlisted  in  the  rebel  army.  The 
eldest  son,  Courtland,  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Augusta. 

Prentice  worshiped  but  one  hero,  and  that  was  the  idol 
of  Ids  early  political  devotion — Henry  Clay.  Clay  was 
his  beau-ideal  statesman.  When  Clay  had  gone,  it  seemed 
to  him  as  if  chaos  had  come  to  the  world  of  politics. 
Just  before  the  war.  Prentice  went  the  rounds  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  as  a  public  lecturer,  his  theme  being  "American 
Statesmanship." 

The  memorable  part  of  his  lecture  is  that  which  is  eulo- 
gistic of  the  Ashland  orator.  On  the  occasion  of  the  un- 
veiling of  the  Clay  statue  at  Louisville,  on  May  30,  1867, 
Prentice  read  an  ode,  in  which  occur  the  lines : 

"Alas!  alas!  dark  storms  at  length, 

Sweep  o'er  our  half-wrecked  ship  of  State, 
And  there  seem  none  with  will  and  strength 
To  save  her  from  her  awful  fate," 

And  again : 

"  Oh,  he  was  born  to  bless  our  race 
As  ages  after  ages  roll ! 
We  see  the  image  of  his  face, 
Earth  has  no  image  of  his  soul!" 

When  a  man  comes  to  seek  the  companionship  of  Mem- 
ory, and  averts  his  eye  from  the  face  of  Hope,  it  is  a 
pretty  sure  sign  that  his  day  is  waning.  Let  him  bind  up 
his  harvest  swath  and  quit  the  field. 


400  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Alluding  to  Mr.  Prentice's  lecturing  experience,  I  am 
reminded  of  an  amusing  story  which  the  witty  editor  was 
in  the  habit  of  relating  at  his  own  expense.  One  summer 
evening  he  delivered  an  address  at  a  country  school-house 
in  a  somewhat  benighted  neighborhood  in  Kentucky,  and 
on  leaving  the  building  at  the  close  of  the  speech,  his  at- 
tention was  arrested  by  the  conversation  of  two  perplexed 
farmers.  "  Say,  Jim,"  asked  one  of  them,  "  what  was  he 
a  drivin'  at  ?"  "  Durned  if  I  know — nor  I  don't  reckon 
the  old  fool  knows  himself." 

George  D.  Prentice  was  married  in  the  spring  of  1835 
to  Miss  Henrietta  Benham,  daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph  B. 
Benham,  a  noted  lawyer  of  Cincinnati.  Mr.  Piatt  de- 
scribes her  as  he  saw  her  in  middle  life :  "  Still  fine 
looking,  having  a  handsome  and  attractive  face,  a  stately 
figure,  an  elegant  and  gracious  manner."  Mr.  Watterson 
tells  us  that  Mr.  Prentice  once  said :  "•  I  have  not  had 
credit  for  being  a  devoted  husband ;  but  if  I  had  my  life 
to  go  over,  that  is  the  only  relation  I  would  not  alter ;  my 
wife  was  the  wisest,  the  purest,  the  best,  and  the  most 
thoroughly  enchanting  woman  I  ever  knew."  Mrs.  Pren- 
tice's death  occurred  in  1868,  two  years  before  that  of  her 
husband. 

Of  the  four  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prentice,  two 
died  in  infancy — two,  William  Courtland  and  Clarence, 
attaining  the  years  of  manhood,  both  meeting  violent 
death.  The  first  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Augusta, 
Kentucky,  in  1862,  fighting  for  the  Confederate  cause; 
Clarence  was  thrown  from  a  buggy  and  killed  since  the 
death  of  his  father.  Clarence,  like  his  brother,  joined  the 
Confederate  army,  against  his  father's  protest.  On  one 
occasion  the  young  man,  who  attained  the  rank  of  major, 
was  arrested  as  a  spy,  and  a  court-martial  was  ordered  by 
General  Burnside  to  try  him.  Geo.  D.  Prentice  tele- 
graphed to  President  Lincoln,  and  immediately  set  off  for 
Washington  to  intercede  in  person  for  his  son.  Hasten- 
ing anxiously  to  the  President's  office,  he  was  smilingly 
received^by  "  Old  Abe,"  who  said :  "  Did  you  think  I'd  let 
them  hang  your  boy?    Sit  down,  Prentice,  and  tell  me  a 


George  Dennison  Prentice.  401 

good  story."  The  chief  magistrate  had  already  dis- 
patched an  order  that  the  court-martial  for  the  trial  of 
Major  Clarence  Prentice  be  dissolved. 

George  D.  Prentice  died  January  22,  1870,  aged  sixty- 
eight.  His  last  two  years  were  spent  almost  wholly  in  a 
small  room  in  the  Journal  office.  There  he  wrote  by  day, 
with  hand  half-deadened  from  writer's  paralysis,  or  dictated 
to  an  amanuensis.  There  he  slept  the  uneasy  sleep  of 
sorrow  and  infirmity.  His  friend  and  successor,  Henry 
Watterson,  says :  "  Strangers  supposed  that  he  was  de- 
crepit, and  there  existed  an  impression  that  he  had  re- 
signed his  old  place  to  a  younger  and  more  active  spirit. 
He  resigned  nothing.  I  doubt  whether  he  ever  did  more 
work  or  better  work  during  any  single  year  of  his  life 
than  during  this  last  year." 

In  the  summer  of  1869,  returning  from  a  tour  to  Mam- 
moth Cave,  I  stopped  a  few  days  in  Louisville,  and  one 
afternoon  paid  a  brief  visit  to  the  distinguished  old  jour- 
nalist, in  his  editorial  room.  I  found  him  at  the  desk,  a 
quill  pen  in  hand.  He  greeted  me  with  a  hospitable 
smile,  and  talked  freely  about  matters  literary  and  per- 
sonal, giving  me,  I  remember,  a  friendly  message  for  John 
James  Piatt,  whom  he  pathetically  called  his  "  oldest 
friend,"  Mr.  Piatt  being  thirty-three  years  his  junior. 

Mr.  Prentice  seemed  older  than  he  was,  and,  to  me,  he 
looked  as  men  look  whose  work  is  done  and  whose  ambi- 
tion has  perished.  My  interview  with  him  happened  in 
his  "closing  year."  "Time,  the  tomb-builder,"  had  num- 
bered his  months  and  days.  He  died  at  the  house  of  his 
son  Clarence,  ten  miles  from  Louisville,  where  he  had 
gone  to  spend  the  holidays,  taking  Christmas  gifts  for  his 
grandson,  little  George.  The  farm-house  stands  near  the 
Ohio  river,  and  as  he  lay  dying  in  an  upper  room,  a 
mighty  flood  came,  and  the  swollen  waters  swept  against 
the  foundation  of  the  house,  the  emblem  of  destruction 
and  death,  but  also  of  immortality. 

George  D.  Prentice  is  buried  in  Cave  Hill  Cemetery. 
He  sleeps  beside  his  son  Courtland,  over  whose-grave  a 
26 


402  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

marble  canopy  rises,  resting  on  four  Grecian  columns, 
with  a  classic  urn  in  the  center  and  on  the  top  a  lyre  with 
a  broken  string.  This  tribute,  erected  by  the  father  to 
the  son,  is  a  touching  memorial  of  himself,  who  in  mourn- 
ful verse  recorded : 

"  Once  more  I  come  at  set  of  sun 
To  sit  beside  thee,  long-lost  one." 

In  a  lofty  niche  over  the  entrance  to  the  Courier-Journal 
building  in  Louisville  is  a  marble  statue  of  Prentice,  rep- 
resenting him  seated  in  the  editorial  chair.  This  figure  is 
perhaps  the  most  prominent  object  of  art  in  the  city.  It 
catches  the  eye  of  every  visitor,  and  keeps  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  the  citizens  the  memory  of  one  whose  bright 
fame  illuminated  the  Ohio  Yalley,  and  shone  even  to  dis- 
tant lands.  Kot  many  months  ago,  I  stood  with  the  ven- 
erable poet,  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  on  the  street,  in  front  of 
the  Courier-Journal  office.  "  There,"  said  he,  with  the 
sympathetic  tone  of  one  who  is  thinking  of  '-'  the  old  fa- 
miliar faces,"  "  there  is  George.''^  After  a  pause  he  added : 
"  We  had  our  political  antagonisms ;  but  Prentice  was 
always  magnanimous." 

It  is  proverbial  that  the  world's  fun-makers  are  at  heart 
melancholy.  "  Comedy  is  crying."  In  1853,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  death  of  Thomas  II.  Shreve,  assistant  editor 
of  the  Journal,  Prentice,  then  fifty  years  old,  wrote :  "We, 
the  surviving  editor  of  the  Journal,  feel  that  the  prime  of 
our  life  is  scarcely  yet  gone ;  yet,  as  we  look  back  upon 
our  long  career  in  this  city,  we  seem  to  behold,  near  and 
far,  only  the  graves  of  the  prized  loved  and  lost.  All  the 
numerous  journeymen  and  apprentices  that  were  in  our 
employ  when  we  first  commenced  publishing  our  paper 
are  dead;  our  first  partner,  our  second  partner,  and  our 
third  partner  are  dead,  and  our  first  assistant  and  our  last 
assistant  are  also  dead.  When  these  memories  come  over 
us,  we  feel  like  one  alone  at  midnight  in  the  midst  of  a 
church-yard,  with  the  winds  sighing  mournfully  around 
him  through   the  broken  tombs,  and  the  voices  of  the 


George  Dennison  Frentice.  403 

ghosts  of  departed  joys  sounding  dolefully  in  his  ears. 
Our  prayer  to  God  is  that  such  memories  may  have  a 
chastening  and  purifying  and  elevating  influence  upon  us, 
and  fit  us  to  discharge,  better  than  we  have  ever  yet  done, 
our  duties  to  earth  and  heaven." 

The  Louisville  Journal  ranked  high  as  a  literary  me- 
dium, and  Prentice  deserves  to  be  gratefully  remembered 
for  having  encouraged  and  assisted  many  young  writers. 
Mr.  Piatt,  himself  one  of  the  recipients  of  editorial  recog- 
nition, says  that  "  such  a  disposition  as  Mr.  Prentice,  in 
the  midst  of  busy  political  engrossments,  showed  and  long 
continued  to  show,  sole  of  American  editors  before  or 
since,  to  encourage  poetical  manifestation  is  memorable." 
W.  W.  Fosdick  gives  similar  testimony,  saying  that  "  Mr. 
Prentice,  by  private  correspondence  and  by  timely  notices 
in  his  Journal,  has  caused  many  a  blossom  of  poetry  to 
blow  in  hearts  that  otherwise  might  only  have  worn  a 
purple  crown  of  thistles."  Among  the  poets  of  real  ability, 
whose  early  rhymes  were  welcomed  to  the  columns  of  the 
Journal,  may  be  named  Amelia  B.  Welby,  Alice  and 
Phoebe  Gary,  William  W.  Harney,  William  Ross  Wallace, 
Fortunatus  Cosby,  Wm.  D.  Howells,  Mrs.  S.  M.  B.  Piatt, 
and  last,  but  not  least,  Forescythe  Willson. 

Many  a  timid  little  book  of  verse  was  dedicated  to 
George  D.  Prentice.  A  prominent  publisher  says :  "  It 
may  be  said  of  Prentice  that  he  made  and  unmade  poets 
and  prose  writers,  as  well  as  politicians  and  statesmen." 
Through  his  influence  Mrs.  Catherine  A.  Warfield's  ro- 
mance, "  The  Household  of  Bouverie,"  was  published. 
He  supervised  the  posthumous  publication  of  M.  Louise 
Chitwood's  poems,  and  wrote  a  tender  and  sympathetic 
introduction  to  the  book.  Such  deeds  of  kindness  were 
habitual  to  his  generous  nature.  He  did,  when  his  repu- 
tation was  established,  as  he  would  have  been  done  by 
when  a  literary  beginner. 

George  D.  Prentice  began  to  write  verses  while  a  student 
at  Brown  University,  and  he  continued  to  produce  them 
occasionally  to  the  last  year  of  his  life.  His  pieces  gained 
wide  newspaper  popularity,  and  many  of  them  found  their 


404  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

w&j  into  school  readers  and  general  collections.  He  as- 
serted no  claim  to  the  poet's  laurels,  and  critics,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  have  rather  slighted  the  work  of  his  muse. 
In  1848,  when  his  faculties  were  in  the  flush  of  vigor,  the 
following  characteristic  rhapsody  appeared  in  the  Journal 
from  his  pen :  "  Poetry  is  a  smile,  a  tear,  a  glory,  a  longing 
after  the  things  of  eternity  !  It  lives  in  all  created  exist- 
ence— in  man,  and  every  object  that  surrounds  him.  There 
is  poetry  in  the  gentle  influence  of  love  and  affection — in 
the  brooding  over  the  memory  of  other  years,  and  in  the 
thought  of  that  glory  that  chains  our  spirits  to  the  gates 
of  paradise.  There  is  poetry,  too,  in  the  harmonies  of 
nature.  It  glitters  in  the  wave,  the  rainbow,  the  light- 
ning, and  star ;  its  cadence  is  heard  in  the  thunder  and 
the  cataract ;  its  softer  tones  go  sweetly  up  from  the  thou- 
sand-voiced harp  of  the  wind,  the  rivulet,  and  forest ;  and 
the  cloud  and  sky  go  floating  over  us  to  the  music  of  its 
melodies.  .  .  .  It  is  the  soul  of  being.  The  earth  and 
heavens  are  quickened  by  its  spirit,  and  the  great  deep  in 
tempest  and  in  storm  is  but  its  accent  and  mysterious 
workings."  This  exuberant  passage  enumerates  the  princi- 
pal themes  on  which  the  author's  poems  are  written — the 
grand  features  of  nature,  earth,  sea,  sky,  with  their  phe- 
nomena. 

"  The  Poems  of  George  D.  Prentice,  edited,  with  a 
biographical  sketch,  by  John  James  Piatt,"  appeared  in  a 
volume  of  216  pages,  in  1875,  from  the  press  of  Robert 
Clarke  &  Co.  The  poems,  sixty-five  in  number,  are  all 
short,  and  of  very  unequal  merit,  ranging  from  such  mas- 
terpieces as  "  The  Closing  Year,"  and  lines  "  To  the  River 
in  Mammoth  Cave,"  to  slight  conventional  jingles  and 
hasty  verses  composed  for  occasions  poetic  or  prosy.  At 
no  time  is  his  muse  "  poky,"  nor  does  she  ever  lack 
words  or  facility  in  versification.  Now  and  then  one  wishes 
that  Mr.  Prentice  had  not  learned  so  much  of  Kames  and 
Blair  at  college.  Rhetoric  interposes  an  artificial  veil  be- 
tween his  eye  and  nature.  In  his  best  and  sincerest  moods 
this  veil  is  lifted,  and  he  sees  hill,  river,  and  sky,  as  God 
shows  them.    Yet  eloquence  is  his  blemish  in  verse,  as  in 


George  Dennison  Frentice.  405 

his  early  prose.  The  taste  of  the  times,  and  the  example 
of  the  legislative  halls,  as  well  as  of  the  har  and  the  pul- 
pit, demanded  sonorous  periods  and  florid  ornaments. 

Mr.  Piatt,  an  exacting  critic,  thinks  that  no  other 
American  poet  excepting  Bryant  "  has  so  finely  handled 
blank  verse  as  Mr.  Prentice  has  done  in  several  of  his 
principal  poems."  In  "  The  Closing  Year,"  "  The  River 
in  Mammoth  Cave,"  "My  Mother,"  "The  Invalid's 'Re- 
ply," and  other  of  the  author's  serious  performances,  we 
discover  the  texture  of  his  mind — his  prevailing  emotions, 
his  mode  of  conceiving  and  developing  poetical  ideas,  his 
devotional  fervor,  his  tenderness  and  delicacy,  melancholy 
solemnity  of  feeling,  pensive  meditation  on  the  past, 
chastened  resignation  to  the  Divine  will;  these  are  the 
frequent  subjects  of  his  blank  verse.  Occasionally  the 
lines  are  surcharged  with  passionate  energy,  the  words 
glow,  the  melody  swells  and  resounds. 

In  reading  Prentice  one's  pleasure  is  marred  by  the  ob- 
vious evidence  that  the  poet,  in  haste  or  carelessness,  often 
left  his  work  faulty  where  he  was  capable  of  perfecting 
it.  Many  of  his  fine  descriptive  pieces,  while  true  to  na- 
ture in  general,  are  not  true  in  detail.  The  stately  rhythm 
of  the  lines  conveys  a  sensuous  pleasure,  but  the  epithets 
are  frequently  inexact,  and  sometimes  meaningless.  The 
verse  is  strained  and  artificial  in  places  where  it  should  be 
simplest.  Excessive  imagery  overloads  the  thought.  Sim- 
ile is  used  too  much,  and  metaphor  is  misused  outrage- 
ously. 

It  is  surprising  that  a  writer,  original,  sensible,  and  ex- 
perienced as  Mr.  Prentice,  should  employ  so  many  trite 
and  puerile  sentimentalities  of  diction  as  he  does.  He 
"  sits  me  down "  in  "  a  fairy  grot,"  or  an  "  amaranth 
bower,"  to  list  "Eolian  strains."  Just  fancy  the  sturdy 
proprietor  of  the  Louisville  Journal,  with  his  keen  appre- 
ciation of  the  absurd,  sitting  him  in  an  "  amaranth  bower" 
— an  "  amaranth  bower  "  in  Kentucky  !  Then  he  makes 
use  of  the  words  "erst,"  "myriad,"  "weird,"  "welkin," 
"  specter,"  "  wizard,"  "  Eden,"  with  "  wasteful  and  ridicu- 
lous  excess."     These   and  their  like   are   good  poetical 


406  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

counters,  but,  after  graduating  day,  with  its  orations  and 
ode,  they  are  to  he  sprinkled  sparingly  in  discourse.  Of 
all  "  pet  words,"  the  word  "  Eden  "  used  adjectively  ap- 
pears to  be  the  favorite  with  our  western  bards  and  bard- 
ines  of  yesterday.  "  Eden ''  and  its  synonym  "  paradise," 
have  performed  prodigious  poetical  service  in  the  Ohio 
Valley.  I  am  afraid  that  Prentice's  muse  must  be  held 
responsible  for  this.  As  a  matter  of  curiosity  I  have  gone 
somewhat  into  the  statistics  of  the  substantive  adjective 
"  Eden."  Mr.  Prentice  allures  his  readers  with  "  Eden 
dyes,"  "  Eden  flowers,"  "  Eden  tones,"  ''  Eden  stream," 
"  Eden  message,"  "  Eden  isles,"  "-  gales  of  Eden,"  "  incense 
winds  of  Eden,"  "  a  dream  of  Eden,"  and  "  Eden's  blessed 
bowers."  Mr.  Gallagher,  in  one  short  poem,  introduces 
"  Eden  lore,"  "  Eden  bloom,"  and  "  Eden  glories."  In  the 
poems  of  Mattie  Griffith,  a  protegee  of  Mr.  Prentice,  the 
nouns  "  Eden,"  "  Paradise,"  and  "  Heaven  "  occur  eighty- 
seven  times,  averaging  about  thrice  to  every  poem,  and  ag- 
gregating celestial  syllables  enough  to  compose  seven 
stanzas,  each  of  four  iambic  lines.  Mrs.  Welby  avoids 
"  Eden  "  except  in  two  happy  instances,  and  in  Mrs.  Piatt's 
verse  "  Paradise  "  is  altogether  lost.  I  wonder  if  it  w^as 
not  the  influence  of  the  verse-makers  that  inspired  the 
Queen  City  to  name  her  beautiful  pleasure  garden  ''Eden 
Park?" 

Prentice  reminds  us  of  Bryant,  both  in  his  choice  of 
subjects  and  in  a  certain  pensive  quality  and  manner  of 
expression.  The  touching  verses  on  an  "Infant's  Grave " 
illustrate  this : 

"  Each  spring-time  as  it  wanders  past, 
Its  buds  and  blooms  will  round  thee  cast, 
The  thick-leaved  boughs  and  moonbeams  pale, 
Will  o'er  thee  spread  a  solemn  vail. 
And  softest  dews  and  showers  will  lave 
The  blossoms  on  the  infant's  grave." 

But  the  poet  of  Louisville  was  much  warmer  than  he 
of  New  York,  and  meddles  much  more  with  that  danger- 
ous fire — the  poetry  of  the  passions.     A  tinge  Byronic  is 


George  Dennison  Prentice.  407 

discernible  in  his  lyrics,  as  also  in  some  of  his  blank  verse. 
Byron  enchanted  the  "  far  West/'  as  he  enchanted  the 
older  world.  The  reflection  of  his  wild  light  is  cast  back 
curiously  from  pages  penned  by  the  pioneer  rhymers  of 
the  wilderness  before  the  time  of  Prentice. 

In  a  letter  dated  December  25,  1855,  addressed  to  Miss 
Sallie  M.  Bryan,  Prentice  wrote  :  "  I  have  no  doubt  that 
your  mind,  as  you  intimate,  has  felt  the  unhealthful  in- 
fluences of  the  pages  of  Byron.  I  have,  like  yourself,  an 
almost  boundless  admiration  for  the  genius  of  that  extra- 
ordinary man,  but  I  believe  it  would  have  been  better  for 
mankind  if  he  had  never  lived." 

Prentice  was  fond  of  society,  and  society  eagerly  sought 
him.  An  ardent  admirer  of  bright  and  handsome  women, 
he  pleased  them  in  conversation,  and  his  graceful  pen  was 
facile  in  the  pretty  art  of  compliment.  Forever  was  he 
gallantly  inditing  "  Lines  to  a  Lady."  Exquisite,  in  their 
way,  are  his  verses,  "  To  the  Daughter  of  an  Old  Sweet- 
heart ;"  more  refined  and  dainty  still  are  the  sentimental 
lines,  "  To  a  Bunch  of  Roses." 

But  it  is  likely  that  neither  these  nor  even  the  noble 
and  impressive  "  Closing  Year "  will  hold  their  place  in 
the  memory  and  affections  of  readers  so  long  as  the  simple, 
sweet,  and  pure  tribute  "  To  an  Absent  Wife." 

"  'Tis  morn— the  sea  breeze  seems  to  bring 
Joy,  health,  and  freshness  on  its  wing  ; 
Bright  flowers,  to  me  all  strange  and  new, 
Are  glittering  in  the  early  dew. 
And  perfumes  rise  from  every  grove 
As  incense  to  the  clouds  that  move 
Like  spirits  o'er  yon  welkin  clear : 
But  I  am  sad — thou  art  not  here ! 


'T  is  noon — a  calm,  unbroken  sleep 
Is  on  the  blue  waves  of  the  deep ; 
A  soft  haze,  like  a  fairy  dream, 
Is  floating  over  wood  and  stream ; 
And  many  a  broad  magnolia  flower. 
Within  its  shadowy  woodland  bower, 
Is  gleaming  like  a  lovely  star ; 
But  I  am  sad— thou  art  afar! 


408  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"  *T  is  eve — on  earth  the  sunset  skies 
Are  painting  their  own  Eden  dyes  ; 
The  stars  come  down,  and  trembling  glow 
Like  blossoms  on  the  waves  below ; 
And,  like  an  unseen  spirit,  the  breeze 
Seems  lingering  'midst  these  orange  trees, 
Breathing  its  music  round  the  spot ; 
But  I  am  sad — I  see  thee  not ! 

"  'T  is  midnight — with  a  soothing  spell 
The  far  tones  of  the  ocean  swell, 
Soft  as  a  mother's  cadence  mild, 
Low  bending  o'er  her  sleeping  child, 
And  on  each  wandering  breeze  are  heard 
The  rich  notes  of  the  mocking-bird. 
In  many  a  wild  and  wondrous  lay ; 
But  I  am  sad — thou  art  away. 

"  I  sink  in  dreams :  low,  sweet,  and  clear. 
Thy  own  dear  voice  is  in  my  ear ; 
Around  my  neck  thy  tresses  twine ; 
Thy  own  loved  hand  is  clasped  in  mine ; 
Thy  own  soft  lip  to  mine  is  pressed ; 
Thy  head  is  pillowed  on  my  breast ; 
Oh !  I  have  all  my  heart  holds  dear, 
And  I  am  happy— thou  art  here ! " 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  409 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

EDWARD   DEERING  MANSFIELD,   PUBLICIST  AND  AUTHOR. 

E.  D.  Mansfield  was  born  at  ^ew  Haven,  August  17, 
1801.  His  father,  Colonel  Jared  Mansfield,  a  good  scholar, 
bred  at  Yale,  was  the  author  of  '■'  Essays  in  Mathematics 
and  Physics."  President  Jefferson  appointed  him  teacher 
at  West  Point,  and  afterward  surveyor-general  of  the 
ITorth- western  Territory,  to  succeed  Rufus  Putnam. 
Colonel  Mansfield  married  Elizabeth  Phipps,  daughter  of 
Captain  David  Phipps,  of  ^New  Haven.  She  was  a  woman 
of  superior  character,  refinement  and  culture. 

In  1803,  Colonel  Mansfield  brought  his  family  to  Mari- 
etta, where  they  resided  two  years,  himself  being  away 
from  home  most  of  that  time  on  his  duties  as  surveyor  in 
the  Territory  of  Indiana.  Edward  remembered  two  things 
which  happened  while  he  was  at  Marietta,  the  great  flood 
of  1805  and  a  visit  which  Madame  Blennerhassett  made 
to  his  mother,  on  which  occasion  the  splendid  lady 
brought  along  her  splendid  little  boy,  w^ho  wore  very  fine 
clothes  and  a  pretty  sword. 

In  October,  1805,  the  Mansfields  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
coming  down  the  river  in  an  ark  like  Noah.  In  his 
"  Personal  Memories,"  Mr.  Mansfield  says  :  "  Cincinnati 
was  the  first  town  I  had  seen,  except  Marietta,  for  the  va- 
rious towns  now  on  the  Ohio  were  then  not  in  existence. 
But  what  was  Cincinnati  then  ?  One  of  the  dirtiest  little 
villages  you  ever  saw.  The  chief  houses  at  that  time 
were  on  Front  street,  from  Broadway  to  Sycamore ;  they 
were  two-story  frame  houses,  painted  white." 

The  family  located  on  Mill  creek,  at  Ludlow  Station, 
now  one  of  the  most  interesting  landmarks  of  Ohio.  Mr. 
J.  M.  Cochran,  who  has  made  a  study  of  the  homes  and 


410  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

haunts  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Miami  country,  writing  in 
the  year  1890,  says  : 

"A  part  of  the  original  Ludlow  Indian  fort,  erected  in 
1790  in  what  is  now  Cumrainsville,  Cincinnati,  was  incor- 
porated into  the  famous  Ludlow  mansion,  which  is  still 
standing  and  occupied.  Here,  in  the  times  of  its  distin- 
guished founder,  Israel  Ludlow,  many  of  the  great  men 
of  our  country  visited.  Here  stopped  travelers  on  the  old 
Hamilton  or  Wayne  road,  to  accommodate  whom  the 
brick  building  that  stands  adjacent  was  erected.  Here 
once  visited  Little  Turtle,  a  celebrated  Indian  warrior 
and  statesman ;  and  that  was  his  last  appearance  in  our 
valley.  Within  a  short  distance,  on  the  beautiful  grounds 
now  occupied  by  the  venerable  Jacob  Hoffner,  stood 
Hutchinson's  tavern,  a  well-known  hostelrie  of  early 
days." 

Referring  to  the  same  edifice,  in  a  paper  on  "  Some  His- 
torical Persons  and  Places  of  the  Miami  Valley,"  Judge 
Joseph  Cox  says  : 

*^  There,  too.  Chief  Justice  Chase  was  married  to  a 
daughter  of  Israel  Ludlow,  and  a  square  away  from  it, 
near  the  corner  of  Chase  and  Dane  streets,  stands  an  an- 
cient elm,  nearly  as  large  as  the  Washington  elm  at  Cam- 
bridge, from  under  which  marched  the  armies  of  St.  Clair 
in  1791  and  Wayne  in  1793  on  their  mission  of  war 
against  the  Indians." 

In  one  wing  of  the  Ludlow  mansion  Colonel  Mansfield 
established  the  first  astronomical  observatory  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  Thomas  Jefferson  caused  to  be  purchased, 
from  the  contingent  fund  of  the  President,  a  transit  in- 
strument, a  telescope,  an  astronomical  clock  and  a  sextant, 
which  the  surveyor-general  used  to  determine  .lines  and 
boundaries.  Colonel  Mansfield  remained  at  Ludlow  Sta- 
tion from  1805  to  1809,  and  during  part  of  that  time  he 
had  in  his  employ  Lewis  Cass,  afterward  governor  of 
Michigan,  and  Thomas  Worthington,  who  became  the 
second  governor  of  Ohio. 

Referring  to  his  solitary  life  at  Ludlow  Station,  Mans- 
field says  :  "  The  only  lonely  person  was  myself,  a  boy  in 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  411 

the  country  with  no  other  boy  to  associate  with,  no  school 
to  attend,  always  with  older  persons.  I  was  not  intoxi- 
cated with  the  levities,  frivolities,  and  fancies  of  youthful 
life.  On  the  contrary,  I  was  of  necessity  lonely,  timid 
and  abstracted.  The  impress  of  that  timidity  and  ab- 
straction remained  upon  my  character  until  I  had  passed 
the  meridian  of  life." 

Colonel  Mansfield  went  east  in  June,  1809,  on  a  visit, 
taking  his  family  to  l^ew  York  and  'New  Haven.  In 
Philadelphia  he  bought  for  Edward,  at  the  book-store  of 
Matthew  Carey,  a  small  collection  of  books,  two  of  which, 
"  Mease's  United  States  "  and  ^'  London  Cries,"  specially 
gratified  the  boy. 

Returning  west.  Colonel  Mansfield  rented  the  place  of 
Colonel  Isaac  Bates,  afterward  called  Mount  Comfort,  two 
miles  nearer  Cincinnati  than  Ludlow  Station.  Here  the 
family  remained  three  years,  in  which  Edward  began  to 
read,  w^rite  and  cipher,  aided  by  father  and  mother.  He- 
tells  us :  "  My  particular  admiration  in  the  spelling-book 
was  the  picture  of  the  man  who  pretended  to  be  dead 
when  the  bear  smelled  him ;  and  the  old  man  who  called 
the  boys  dowm  from  the  apple-tree,  and  when  they  laughed 
at  him  for  throwing  grass,  pelted  them  with  stones." 
"When  nine  years  of  age  he  read  his  first  book,  a  short  life 
of  Bonaparte,  which  made  him  want  to  be  a  soldier.  In 
1811  he  went  to  school  a  few  months,  in  a  log  school- 
house,  which  stood  nearly  opposite  the  site  of  the  present 
House  of  Refuge.  Out  of  school,  he  learned  much  from 
nature ;  set  quail-traps,  saw  a  herd  of  wild  deer,  and  an 
army  of  squirrels,  that  ^'  covered  the  fences  in  every  direc- 
tion, devoured  the  corn  and  disappeared." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812,  Colonel  Mansfield 
was  called  to  the  East  and  assigned  to  duty  first  at  New 
Haven,  and  afterward  at  West  Point.  In  New  Haven 
Edward  attended  two  schools,  at  the  first  pf  which  he 
learned  nothing,  he  sa^^s,  "  unless  it  was  to  draw  ships 
and  pictures  on  a  slate."  In  the  other  school  he  made  a 
start  in  the  study  of  Latin.  When,  in  1814,  his  father  be- 
canie  professor  in  the  Military  Academy,  the  youth  was 


412  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Bent  to  Cheshire  Academy,  Connecticut,  to  continue  the 
study  of  Latin.  The  town  library,  fairly  stocked  with 
novels,  enticed  him  more  than  his  grammar  did;  and 
the  whortleberries  on  the  hillsides  were  more  alluring 
than  the  library.  From  Chesire  the  not  over-studious 
student  was  recalled  to  West  Point,  in  the  summer  of 
1815,  having  received  an  appointment  as  cadet.  He  en- 
tered upon  the  course  of  study — algebra,  geometry,  trig- 
nometry,  French,  drawing — without  much  enthusiasm, 
and  did  not  apply  himself  severely  until  two  years  had 
elapsed,  when  his  father  stimulated  his  ambition  by  prom- 
ising him  a  gold  watch  if  he  succeeded  in  winning  a  cer- 
tain rank  in  scholarship  within  a  stated  time.  "  From  that 
moment  I  waked  up  and  did  a  good  deal  of  hard  work  be- 
fore my  graduation."  Having  finished  the  course  in  his 
eighteenth  year,  he  was  offered  an  appointment  which,  at 
his  mother's  wish,  he  declined.  It  was  planned  that  he 
•should  go  West  after  taking  a  college  course  and  studying 
law. 

Princeton  was  the  college  selected  for  him,  and  from  this 
he  graduated  in  1822.  Next  on  the  programme  came  the 
law-school,  and  this  was  found  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut. 
Mansfield  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  June,  1825. 

To  the  advantages  of  constant  home  training  and  a 
triple  school  course — military,  classical,  legal — he  added 
the  benefits  derived  from  access  to  much  society  and  to 
many  notable  men,  his  father's  acquaintances.  Timothy 
Dwight  was  ^  visitor  at  his  father's  house.  So  were 
Colonel  Wm.  L.  Stone,  the  historical  writer,  and  DeWitt 
Clinton,  the  distinguished  statesman.  Theodore  Wolsey, 
afterward  president  of  Yale  College,  was  one  of  the 
"  nice  boys  "  whom  he  knew.  He  was  made  welcome  at 
the  house  of  Noah  Porter's  father,  and  at  that  of  Samuel  E. 
Foote,  governor  of  Connecticut.  In  Litchfield  he  boarded 
opposite  the  residence  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  whose 
merry  fiddle  he  often  heard  playing  across  the  way,  and 
whose  powerful  preaching  he  attended  on  Sundays.  Mrs. 
Emma  Willard  used  to  instruct  and  amuse  him  with  her 
talk ;  and  James  G.  Percival,  the  poet,  who  for  a  short 


Edward  Beering  Mansfield.  413 

time  was  professor  of  chemistry  at  West  Point,  occasion- 
ally visited  the  Mansfield  family. 

The  following  incident  connected  with  the  once  famous 
author  of  "  Clio  "  is  from  Mansfield's  *'  Memories  :"  "  I 
remember  one  evening,  in  the  early  part  of  summer,  the 
month  of  roses,  Percival  was  at  our  house,  and  exhibited 
the  true  character  of  the  poet,  something  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  poor  human  nature.  The  evening  had  passed  in 
conversation,  when,  at  ten  o'clock,  my  father,  as  he  in- 
variably did,  retired.  Soon  after  my  mother,  quite  unusual 
for  her,  stepped  out,  too.  Percival,  my  sister,  and  myself, 
were  left  in  the  parlor.  The  lights  were  dim,  but  the 
moon  cast  its  silvery  rays  through  the  window^,  which 
probably  suggested  an  idea  to  the  poet.  He  began  to  de- 
scribe a  visit  to  Niagara  by  moonlight ;  the  beauty  which 
shone  from  r.ocks  and  waters  ;  and,  finally,  what  certainly 
must  have  been  a  beautiful  phenomenon — a  rainbow  under 
the  falls  of  Niagara.  All  this  was  in  the  highest  degree 
poetic  and  interesting ;  but,  alas !  never  did  I  have  such  a 
time  to  keep  awake." 

E.  D.  Mansfield  can  not  be  classed  with  those  who,  in 
youth,  were  "  self-made ;"  for  his  educational  opportuni- 
ties were  unusually  rich.  His  parents  had  procured  for 
him  all  that  books,  schools,  and  intellectual  companion- 
ship could  bestow.  So  liberal  had  the  young  man's 
training  been,  so  amply  was  he  equipped  for  the  campaign 
of  life,  that  the  original  intention  of  sending  him  West 
was  shaken  by  the  afterthought  that  qualifications  such 
as  his  would  probably  be  better  suited  to  New  England 
than  to  Ohio.  The  balance  turned,  however,  in  favor  of  the 
new  state  and  its  rising  city — the  young  Queen  of  the 
West.  The  time  had  come  for  Edward  to  be  launched, 
that  he  might  learn  to  "  paddle  his  own  canoe."  In  his 
case  the  self-making  was  to  begin  after  taking  the  degree 
of  bachelor  in  literature  and  in  law.  Accordingly,  in 
June,  1825,  the  newly-fledged  attorney  journeyed  to  Cin- 
cinnati, accompanied  by  his  devoted  father. 

The  young  man,  now  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  was 
w^elcomed  to  the  house  of  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  whose  wife, 


414  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

formerly  Miss  Harriet  Sisson,  was  Mansfield's  cousin  and 
adopted  sister.  It  is  a  staple  topic  of  trite  jest  that  be- 
ginners in  the  practice  of  law  or  n\edicine  are  likely  to 
have  more  leisure  than  they  desire.  Manfield's  experience 
was  not  exceptional ;  the  putting  up  of  a  sign,  "Attorney- 
at-law,"  was  not  the  signal  for  a  rush  of  eager  clients.  On 
the  contrary,  the  "  briefless  barraster  "  found  plenty  of  time 
to  review  his  studies,  to  attend  parties,  and  to  frequent 
the  Columbia  Street  Theater,  where  he  once  saw  Junius 
Brutus  Booth  in  "  Richard  III.,"  and  often  heard  Aleck 
Drake  and  his  talented  wife.  But  he  soon  tired  of  having 
nothing  to  do  but  to  enjoy  himself.  Eager  to  engage  in 
any  dignified  work,  he  was  easily  induced  to  join  Benja- 
min Drake  in  some  literary  projects.  Though  without 
marked  aptitude  for  composition  and  little  inclined  to 
cultivate  the  art  of  expression,  he  was  destined  to  become 
a  professional  writer.  In  connection  with  Drake,  in  the 
summer  of  1826,  he  undertook  to  compile  a  little  hand- 
book descriptive  of  Cincinnati,  designed  to  induce  immigra- 
tion. Dr.  Drake's  "  Picture  of  Cincinnati "  was  out  of 
print  and  out  of  date,  therefore  a  demand  came  for  the 
later  information  in  '*  Cincinnati  in  1826."  To  obtain 
materials  for  their  work,  the  authors  took  the  census  of 
the  city,  and  gathered  other  statistics,  Drake  canvassing 
the  town  west  of  Main  street,  and  Mansfield  that  east. 
The  facts  collected  were  presented  in  attractive  language, 
and  the  small  volume  of  one  hundred  pages,  printed  by 
Morgan,  Lodge  &  Fisher,  furnished  an  excellent  guide  and 
directory  for  the  day,  and  is  still  valuable  as  history. 

In  less  than  a  year  after  the  publication  of  "  Cincinnati 
in  1826,"  circumstances  influenced  Mansfield  to  share 
with  Benjamin  Drake  the  editorship  of  the  Cincinnati 
Chronicle,  a  weekly  newspaper  which  had  been  started 
January  1,  1826,  by  F.  Burton.  As  Mr.  Mansfield  was 
connected  with  this  paper,  interruptedly,  for  fifteen  years, 
a  brief  outline  of  its  history  will  be  appropriate  here.  It 
was  edited  by  Ben  Drake  and  Mansfield  until  1884,  when 
it  was  merged  in  the  Cincinnati  Mirror,  which  was  dis- 
continued October,  1836.    The  subscription  list  was  bought 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  415 

by  Dr.  Drake  and  others,  who  re-established  the  Chronicle, 
with  Mansfield  as  editor.  The  next  year  it  was  bought 
by  Achilles  Piigh,  who  retained  Mansfield,  and  in  Decem- 
ber, 1839,  it  was  changed  to  a  daily.  The  Chronicle 
finally  lost  its  identity  in  1850,  when  it  was  purchased  by 
E'athan  Guilford  and  merged  in  the  Atlas. 

In  1828  Mansfield's  health  declined  to  such  a  degree  that 
he  returned  to  New  England.  The  three  or  four  years 
that  ensued  were  years  of  struggle,  years  of  stern  self- 
discipline  and  severe  preparation  for  the  real  duties  of  suc- 
cessful life. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832,  Mansfield  came  back  to  Cincin- 
nati, and  soon  afterward  formed  a  law  partnership  with  a 
young  Kentuckian,  who,  like  himself,  was  a  graduate  of 
West  Point.  This  was  Ormsby  Macknight  Mitchel,  who 
rose  to  distinction  as  an  astronomer,  and  to  fame  as  a 
general  in  the  civil  war.  Referring  to  their  companion- 
ship, Mansfield  wrote  :  "  He  was  my  partner  in  a  pro- 
fession for  w^hich,  I  think,  neither  of  us  was  well 
adapted. 

"  We  were  really  literary  men,  and  our  thoughts  wan- 
dered ofi*  to  other  subjects.  The  scene  in  our  ofilce  was 
often  a  remarkable  one,  though  observed  by  no  eyes  but 
our  own.  Mitchel  was  fond  of  the  classics,  and  instinct- 
ively fond  of  eloquence,  which,  in  his  after  lectures  on 
astronomy,  he  so  brilliantly  exhibited.  The  scene  I  refer 
to  was  this :  Mitchel  sat  in  one  corner  reading  Quin- 
tilian,  a  Latin  author  on  oratory.  He  was  enamored  of 
the  book,  and  would  turn  to  me  and  read  passages  from 
it.  I,  on  the  other  hand,  sat  at  my  desk  in  another 
corner  writing  my  Political  (Grammar  now  the  Political 
Manual).  Thus  we  were  two  students,  each  occupied 
with  his  own  literary  pursuits,  and  neither  thinking  of 
what  both  professed,  the  practice  of  the  law.  The  conse- 
quence was,  what  might  have  been  expected,  Mitchel  re- 
sorted to  teaching  classics,  and  I  became  a  public 
writer." 

0.  M.  Mitchel  was  born  August  28,  1810,  near  Morgan- 
field,  Union  county,  Kentucky.     Before  he  had  reached 


416  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

his  tenth  year,  his  parents  removed  with  him  to  Lebanon, 
Ohio,  where  the  lad  obtained  his  elementary  education. 
At  the  age  of  about  fifteen,  he  was  admitted  as  cadet  to 
West  Point  Academy.  On  leaving  the  military  school, 
he  was  assigned  to  post  duty  m  Florida,  and,  in  that  state, 
he  was  married  to  a  widow,  Mrs  Trask.  Coming  to  Cin- 
cinnati he  entered  the  law  with  Mansfield,  as  above  re- 
lated. Presently  he  started  an  academy,  a  species  of  mili- 
tary institute,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  John  Augustine 
Wilstach,^  now  of  Lafayette,  Indiana,  and  eminent  in  law 
and  letters.  Mitchel  was  chosen  to  teach  in  Cincinnati 
College.  For  a  time  he  was  civil  engineer  on  the  Little 
Miami  Railroad.  Becoming  deeply  interested  in  astrono- 
my, he  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  that  science  and  formed 
a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  an  observatory.  A  joint 
stock  company  was  organized.  IN'icholas  Longworth  gave 
a  lot  on  Mount  Adams,  and  the  corner-stone  of  an  ob- 
servatory building  was  laid,  with  imposing  ceremonies, 
John  Quincy  Adams  pronouncing  an  oration.  A  tele- 
scope was  put  in  place  in  the  spring  of  1845. 

In  the  summer  of  1833,  0.  M.  Mitchel  published  in  Cin- 
<;innati  a  volume  which  he  entitled  "  The  Works  of  Quin- 
tilian.  Digested  and  Prepared  for  the  Use  of  the  American 
Public."  Mansfield's  Political  Grammar  appeared  in 
1834,  a  text-book  on  the  constitution,  which  is  still  in  de- 
mand.    It  was  reprinted  in  London. 

Mansfield  traces  the  causes  which  led  him  to  embark  in 
writing  as  a  vocation  to  an  informal  literary  club,  the 
meetings  of  which  were  held  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Daniel 
Drake. 

The  coterie  which  assembled  in  Drake's  parlor  must 
have  been  stimulating  to  such  young  men  as  Mitchel  and 
Mansfield.  There  was  vigor  in  it.  Drake  was  himself  a 
galvanic  battery  of  mental  energy.     Mansfield  did  not  al- 

*  Mr.  Wilstach  is  the  author  of  a  notable  translation  of  Virgil,  pub- 
lished by  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.;  and  also  of  a  translation  of  Dante. 
Other  writings  from  his  scholarly  pen  are  *'  The  Virgilians,"  a  study  of 
Dante,  and  an  original  Western  epic,  "  The  Battle  Forest,"  a  versified 
story  of  the  Tip»"" '»ti..o  battle. 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield,  417 

together  sympathize  with  the  crude  and  audacious  origin- 
ality of  some  of  those  pioneer  writers  who  set  authority 
at  naught  and  wrote  from  "•  inspiration."  Recently,  from 
an  Eastern  college,  it  was  hut  natural  that  he  sought  to 
impress  the  classic  proprieties  on  the  unconventional  literati 
of  the  backwoods.  To  Flint's  Review,  he  contributed,  in 
March,  1830,  a  carefully  prepared  article  on  "•  Literary  In- 
dustry," in  w^hich  he  says :  "  There  is  a  strong  tendency 
in  the  West  to  prefer  the  unassisted  energies  of  nature 
in  literary  efforts  to  the  refinements  of  culture  and  the  re- 
strictions of  rule.  Learning  is  frequently  thought  idle 
and  criticism  little.  This  feeling  springs  from  a  principle 
of  independent  action,  noble  and  just  in  the  abstract,  but 
inapplicable  to  the  pursuits  of  literature.  They  are  the 
growth  of  artificial  life,  nor  can  even  genius,  without  the 
discipline  of  labor  and  the  observance  of  rule,  hope  to  be 
distinguished  in  them." 

The  years  1832-7  may^J3e  regarded  as  an  era  of  intel- 
Igctual  activity  in^Cincinnati  and  its^lifefai-yllepeiTderncies^ 
During  this  time  it  was  that'the'Tocally  famous  Semicolon 
Club  rose  and  flourished.  This  club  seems  to  have  been\ 
organized~in  XWd'A.  MrTJohn  P.  Foote  gives  some  account 
of__it_iu_his  ^'Memoir"  of  his~  brother,  Samueh  Edmund 
Foote,  at  whose  house,  at  the  corner  oTTlhe  and  Third 
streets,  Cincinnati,  many  of  the  meetings  were  held.  Mr. 
Samuel  E.  Foote,  generally  known  as  Captain  Foote,  was 
born  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  in  1787.  He  amassed  a 
fortune  by  marine  commerce,  and  then  settled  in  Cincin- 
nati. His  sister  Roxana  was  the  first  wife  of  Lyman 
Beecher,  and  the  mother  of  eight  children,  Henry  Ward 
being  the  youngest.  Captain  Foote  and  his  brother  John 
P.  were  intellectual  men,  and  they,  in  alliance  with  the 
Beechers,  were  leading  members  of  the  Semicolon  Club. 
Another  prominent  figure  in  the  club  was  James  H.  Per- 
kins, who  came  from  Boston  to  live  in  Cincinnati  in  1832. 
He  married  Miss  Sarah  H.  Elliott,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  S.  E. 
Foote.  The  Elliott  family  was  one  of  distinguished  in- 
tellectuality ;  one  of  its  members,  Mr.  C.  W.  Elliott,  who 
27 


418  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

also  belonged  to  the  club,  was  the  author  of  a  "  History 
of  New  England." 

To  the  names  just  given  may  be  added  those  of  three 
Misses  Blackwell,  Mr.  C.  D.  L.  Brush,  Mr,  E.  P.  Cranch, 
Mr.  C.  G.  Davies,  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  Mr.  Benjamin  Drake, 
Mr.  Charles  D.  Drake,  Mr.  Nathan  Guilford,  Mr.  George 
Guilford,  Mr.  William  Greene,  Rev.  E.  B.  Hall,  Judge 
James  Hall,  Prof.  Hentz,  Mrs.  Lee  Hentz,  Mr.  U.  L.  Howe, 
Mr.  C.  P.  James,  General  Edward  King,  Mr.  Lawler,  Mr. 
T.  D.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Joseph  Longworth,  Mr.  E.  D.  Mans- 
field, Mr.  J.  F.  Meline,  Prof.  O.  M.  Mitchel,  Mr.  L  N. 
Perkins,  Dr.  Richards,  Mr.  W.  P.  Steele,  Prof.  Calvin 
Stowe,  Mr.  C.  Stetson,  Judge  Timothy  Walker,  Mr.  D. 
Thew  Wright,  and  his  sister,  the  accomplished  Mrs.  Cur- 
wen. 

Not  one  of  these  names  is  unknown  to  honorable  repu- 
tation, and  most  of  them  hold  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
annals  of  literature,  law,  theology,  science,  or  philan- 
thropy. 

Miss  Harriet  Beecher,  who  was  born  in  1812,  and  who 
at  the  age  of  twenty-four  became  the  second  wife  of  Prof. 
Calvin  Stowe,  at  Lane  Seminary,  may  be  said  to  have  be- 
gun her  literary  career  in  Cincinnati.  She  read  many 
original  papers  before  the  Semicolon  Club,  and_  her  first 
book,  the  "  Mayflower,"  published  in  1849,  was  dedicated 
tolhe  club.  In  April,  1834,  Miss  Beecher  contributed  to 
the  Western  Monthly  Magazine  a  **  New  England  Sketch," 
for  which  a  prize  of  fifty  dollars  was  awarded  her  by  the 
"  enterprising  publishers  of  the  magazine."  In  a  review 
of  this  "  Sketch  "  the  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Mirror  said : 
"  Miss  Beecher  has  evinced  the  possession  of  vivacity, 
versatility,  and  power  sufiicient  to  enable  her  to  write  well 
and  pleasantly — a  union  exceedingly  desirable." 

At  the  date  of  the  formation  of  the  club  Dr.  Daniel 
Drake  was  about  fifty  years  of  age,  and  had  won  celebrity 
as  a  general  and  professional  writer.  His  brother  Benja- 
min had  not  yet  written  his  "  Black  Hawk,"  "  Harrison," 
or  **  Tecumseh,"  but  was  known  as  a  sprightly  editor,  and 
writer  of  "  Tales  of  the  Queen  City."     Charles  D.  Drake, 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.'  419 

the  doctor's  son,  now  chief  judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims, 
Washington,  was  one  of  the  young  poets  of  the  Semicolon 
Club. 

!N'athan  Guilford,  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1786,  edu- 
catecl  at  Y  ale  College,  was  known  not  only  as  the  apostle 
of  the  .p,ulilic--ach(>oLsygtem  in  Ohio,  but  also  as  publisher, 
editor,  legislator,  business  man,  and  general  writer.  He 
was  one  of  the  leading  contributors  to  Hall's  Western 
Souvenir,  and  no  doubt  he  was  prominent  in  the  club.  A 
sketch  of  Guilford's  life  was  furnished  to  the  Genius  of 
the  West,  March,  1855,  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Livermore. 

WUliflm  Greane  was  one  of  the  organizers  and  sustain- 
ers  of  the  club.  Of  him  a  well-known  Cincinnati  gentle- 
man, who  has  graced  the  bar  and  the  bench,  writes  :  "  Mr. 
William  Greene  was  one  of  the  most  glorious  characters 
on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  affiant  is  aware  of  that  which 
he  affirms.  He  is  dead — God  rest  his  soul — but  his  works 
still  live.  We  always  called  him  Billy  Greene.  He  was 
the  most  amiable  man  I  think  I  ever  saw,  and  a  good  deal 
more  so  than  many  I  have  never  seen.  There  never  yet 
was  the  wind  or  cyclone  of  adversity  that  ever  blew  that 
could  rustle  a  feather  of  his  serene  plumage  ;  and  there 
never  was  a  time  when  he  was  not  in  trouble,  and  trouble 
by  the  solid  yard  and  ton  weight,  too.  He  was  once 
wealthy,  and  lost  all  his  money ;  but,  Lord  bless  you,  it 
made  no  difference  to  him.  .  .  .  Discussing  a  profound 
theological  question,  a  crank  (a  crank,  you  know,  is  the 
fellow  who  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  debate)  thought  to 
wind  him  up  by  the  following  stunning  remark  :  '  But, 
you  know,  Mr.  Greene,  Paul  says  so  and  so.'  'Ah,  yes ! 
but  that  is  where  Paul  and  I  differ.'  In  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  some  property  greatly  enhanced  in  value,  and 
again  made  him  rich.  He  went  back  to  his  original  home 
in  Rhode  Island,  and  became  governor  or  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of  that  state."  Mr^  Greene  lectured^ in  ISSO,,^ 
"Constitutional  Law,"  in  the  Ohio  Mechanics'  Institute. 

The^TnFStih'gs  "of~tEe"^miCi5ton~"Club  were  held,  as'  I 
have  said,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  S.  E.  Foote,  and  at  the  ad- 
joining residences  of  Charles  Stetson  and  William  Greene. 


420  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

One  of  the  members  says :  "  My  recollections  of  the 
Semicolon  are  but  scant.  I  was  at  that  uncertain  age  in 
human  life  when  I  took  my  big  sister  to  parties,  and  stood 
in  the  front  entry  and  was  spoken  of  as  '  nothing  but  a 
boy/  I  remember  that  this  occurred,  I  think,  every  two 
weeks.  We  went  to  difterent  houses  of  the  folks,  and 
certain  manuscript  articles  were  read,  which  were  sup- 
posed to  be  interesting  and  instructive.  I  suppose  they 
were,  as  there  is  no  evidence  to  the  contrary.  Personally, 
however,  I  remember  thinking  that  most  of  them  were 
stupid.  Most  of  us  were  glad  when  the  readings  were 
over,  for  then  we  did  something  else,  the  principal  of 
wjiichj^as  dancing." 

Another  "old  member"  furnishes  me  with  an  explana- 
tion of  the  club  name :  "  You  probably  know  that  the 
name  Semicolon  meant  (Christopher  Colon  discovered  a 
new  world)  whoever  gives  us  a  new  pleasure  deserves  half 
as  much  credit  as  the  discoverer  of  a  new  world— hence 
Semicolon." 

Mrs.  Stowe,  in  a  biographical  sketch  of  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  gives  a  graphic  characterization  of  Cincinnati 
society  about  the  year  1834.  It  is  reasonable  to  conclude 
that  she  derived  her  impression  from  experience  among 
the  members  of  the  club.  The  Queen  City  is  described  as 
a  "  newly-settled  place,  having  yet  lingering  about  it  some 
of  the  wholesome  neighborly  spirit  of  a  recent  colony. 
With  an  eclectic  society  drawn  from  the  finest  and  best 
cultivated  classes  of  the  older  states,  there  was  in  the  gen- 
eral tone  of  life  a  breadth  of  ideas,  a  liberality  and  free- 
dom, which  came  from  the  consorting  together  of  persons 
of  different  habits  of  living." 

The  Semicolon  Club  had  its  eastern  lion,  who,  however, 
was  both  hunter  and  hunted.  He  was  none  other  than 
pharloo  Fotio  lloffmanr-of- New  York.  This  versatile  and 
pleasing  author  visited  Cincinnati,  and  was  a  frequent 
guest  of  the  club.  On  his  return  to  New  York,  he  pub- 
lished a  book  of  experiences  entitled  <^ A  Wiiitog^4aJiie 
West."--  TfetfMMmie  out  iu  1836.  Here  is  an  extract  from 
Hoffman's  book :  "  What  would  strike  you  in  the  streets 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  421 

of  Cincinnati  would  be  the  number  of  pretty  faces  and 
stylish  figures  one  meets  in  a  morning.  A  walk  through 
Broadway  here  rewards  one  hardly  less  than  to  promenade 
in  its  IS'ew  York  namesake.  I  have  had  more  than  one 
opportunity  of  seeing  these  western  beauties  by  candle- 
light, and  the  evening  display  brought  no  disappointment 
to  the  morning  promise.  I^othing  can  be  more  agreeable 
than  the  society  which  one  meets  with  within  the  gay  and 
elegantly-furnished  drawing-rooms  of  Cincinnati." 

E.  D.  Mansfield  appeared  upon  the  stage  of  public  af- 
fairs at  that  most  vital  time  wben  social  institutions  were 
taking  fixed  form  in  the  West.  His  tastes  and  training 
fitted  him  well  to  participate  in  educational  movements. 
For  his  life-long  services  in  behalf  of  the  common  school 
system,  Ohio  and  the  country  at  large  owe  him  a  debt  of 
gratitude.  The  happy  phrase,  "  People's  colleges,"  now 
so  hackneyed,  was  first  applied  to  the  public  schools  by 
E.  D.  Mansfield.  He  says,  modestly  enough,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine:  "  In  forming  educational  institutions  I  had' 
some  part  myself,  and  I  look  upon  that  work  with  unal- 
loyed pleasure." 

In  1831,  an  effort  was  made  to  convene  in  Cincinnati 
thgecutors  of  the  Mississippi  Valley^  TEis~failed,  but  inA /[ 
June  of  the  same  year  a  general  meeting  of  teachers  was 
held,  which  organized  the  "  Western  Literary  Institute 
and  College  of  Professional  Teachers."  The  idea  of  cre- 
ating such  a  body  rose  in  the  brain  of  Albert  Pickett,  sr., 
and  it  was  first  discussed  in  the  Academic  Institute,  a  pi- 
oneer educational  association  started  in  1829.  Pickett 
was  a  veteran  school-master  and  pedagogical  writer,  who 
came  to  the  West  from  I^ew  York  city,  where  he  had 
long  held  an  honored  position  as  principal  of  the  ^'  Man- 
hattan School."  He  and  his  son,  J.  W.  Pickett,  con- 
ducted in  Cincinnati  a  very  successful  private  school  for 
girls.  In  the  year  1833,  there  were  twenty-four  private 
schools  in  the  city,  with  thirty-eight  teachers  and  1,230 
pupils,  and  in  the  public  schools  but  twenty-one  teachers 
and  two  thousand  pupils. 

The  College  of  Professional   Teachers  was  a  popular 


422  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

body,  grounded  on  democratic  principles,  and  its  mission 
was  to  create  a  public  opinion  in  favor  of  the  free  school 
system.  Albert  Pickett  was  the  permanent  president  of 
the  organization,  and  he  opened  each  annual  session  with 
an  address.  Mansfield  said  of  him  :  "  He  presided  over 
the  college  with  great  dignity,  and  I  never  knew  a  man 
of  more  pure,  disinterested  zeal  in  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion." 

The  proceedings  of  the  convention  of  June,  1831,  were 
printed  in  the  first  number  of  the  Academic  Pioneer  and 

•  Guardian  of  Education,  a  monthly  conducted  by  the  ed- 
itorial committee  of  the  Academic  Institute.  The  object 
of  the  second  meeting,  in  1832,  as  announced  in  the  news- 
papers throughout  the  West,  was  ''  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  education,  and  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  parents 
and  the  friends  of  science  in  aid  of  scholastic  institutions, 
whether  they  are  of  a  public  or  private  character."  The 
Cincinnati  Mirror  described  the  association  as  a  "  congress 
of  talent,  the  several  displays  of  which  were  a  treat  of  the 
highest  gust."  The  meeting  of  1833  was  held  in  Septem- 
ber, at  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  In  November  of 
the  same  year,  a  similar  convention  took  place  at  Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky. 

I  would  fain  pay  tribute  to  the  leading  spirits  whose 
devotion  to  popular  education  in  this  pioneer  congress  of 
teachers,  builded  so  broadly  and  well  the  basement  walls 
of  our  school  system.  There  was  Lyman  Beecher,  who, 
as  Judge  Hall  said,  "  burst  out  occasionally  like  a  vol- 
cano, with  a  brilliancy  that  astonishes  while  it  enlightens." 
There  was  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  whose  report  on  the 
"  Prussian  Education  "  remains  one  of  the  ablest  papers 
of  its  kind  in  pedagogical  literature.  There  were  Wm. 
H.  McGuffey,  and  Milo  G.  Williams,  and  Joshua  L.  Wil- 
^^",  and   Alexander  Campbell,  and  John  B.  Purcell,  and 

/^^  Th?'"^  S'  Grimkej  and  twenty  others  almost  as  eminent 
who  deserve  not  only  passing  mention,  but  grateful  eulogy 
for  the  helping  hands  they  lent  to  the  struggling  cause 
of  literature  and  learning  in  the  days  of  the  Teachers* 
College. 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  423 

One  conspicuous  worker,  perhaps  the  most  forceful  and 
aggressive  man  in  the  college,  was  the  Scotchman,  Alex- 
ander Kinmont,  who  came  to  Cincinnati  in  1827,  and  died 
there  in  1838.  Western  bibliography  would  be  incom- 
plete without  a  notice  of  his  "  Lectures  on  the  Natural 
History  of  Man,"  a  posthumous  volume,  distinguished  by 
the  praise  of  Henry  James,  who  regarded  its  author  as  a 
man  of  genius,  born  before  his  time.  George  Grraham, 
one  of  Cincinnati's  most  honored  citizens,  who  died  in 
1881  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three,  gave  me  some 
personal  anecdotes  of  Kinmont,  which  I  will  reproduce. 
Kinmont  was  educated  in  Edinburgh  for  the  pulpit.  His 
arm  was  torn  off  in  a  cotton  factory.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  to  try  his  fortune.  Passing  through  !N'ew 
Bedford,  Pennsylvania,  with  his  bundle  on  his  arm,  he 
met  the  father  of  George  Graham,  who  persuaded  him  to 
take  a  school  in  the  town.  He  afterward  came  to  Cin- 
cinnati, where  he  was  adored  by  his  pupils.  He  believed 
in  great  freedom  in  school,  allowing  the  boys  to  study 
aloud.  It  was  his  theory  that  a  student  ought  to  be  able 
to  get  a  lesson  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion  of  a  steam- 
boat wharf.  If  two  of  his  boys  got  into  a  quarrel,  he  or- 
dered them  to  leave  the  room  and  settle  their  dispute  by 
a  fair  fight.  He  was  strict  in  his  way — his  disorder  was 
not  anarchy,  but  liberty  subject  to  self-control.  !N'o  one 
trifled  with  him.  He  was  very  prompt.  Xinmont's 
school  was  devoted  to  classic  learning.  Over  the  school- 
house  door  he  inscribed  the  motto  : 

"  Nil  dictu  foedum  visuque  haec  limina  tangat, 

Intra  quae  puer  est."     "  Procul,  O  !  procul  este  profani ;  " 
"Maxima  debetur  puero  reverentia." 

Kinmont  was  offered  a  position  in  the  Cincinnati  Col- 
lege at  a  salary  of  $2,000.  But  he  declined  on  the  ground 
that  to  accept  would  be  to  surrender  his  liberty.  Said  he 
to  Mr.  Graham,  who  tendered  him  the  place :  "  Your 
college  will  be  under  the  control  of  a  faculty  ;  I  wish  to 
be  not  directed  by  a  faculty  or  by  trustees ;  think  of  my 


424  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

being  told  how  to  teach  school  by  a  set  of  professional 
donkeys." 

The  ordinance  of  1787  proclaimed  that  education  should 
forever  be  encouraged  in  the  North-western  Territory; 
the  constitution  of  Ohio  repeated  the  same,  and,  in  1825, 
Nathan  Guilford  and  other  legislators  secured  the  passage 
of  a  bill  providing  for  school  taxes  and  teachers'  exam- 
inations, and  imposing  educational  duties  upon  the  town- 
ship clerks  and  county  auditors.  The  city  of  Cincinnati 
in  1829  secured  the  passage  of  laws  giving  an  independ- 
ent organization  to  the  city  schools,  and  the  power  to  levy 
special  taxes.  The  statutes  also  provided  for  the  erection 
of  ten  school-houses. 

The  cautious  city  council  were  reluctant  to  tax  the 
people  for  the  support  of  free  schools,  the  richest  objecting 
most  to  what  they  called  the  "  charity  schools."  The 
common  school  advocates  did  all  they  could  to  advance 
the  efficiency  and  promote  the  dignity  of  the  "  people's 
colleges."  Showy  public  examinations  of  the  children 
were  held  ;  distinguished  visitors  were  invited  to  visit  the 
schools;  the  pupils  were  paraded  to  band  music  along 
the  principal  streets  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  It  was 
George  Graham  who  conceived  the  idea  of  marching  the 
schools  through  the  city  for  popular  effect.  When  the 
teachers  refused  to  march  he  had  them  discharged. 
Graham  asked  the  council  for  an  appropriation  to  build 
a  suitable  school-house  in  his  ward,  then  the  Second 
"Ward.  They  voted  a  pittance  insufficient  to  build  a  good 
edifice.  "  I  will  not  have  such  a  house ;  I  will  build  to 
suit  myself."  "  Where  will  you  get  the  money  ? " 
"None  of  your  business!"  was  the  saucy,  but  good- 
humored  reply.  The  "model  school-house,"  as  it  was 
called,  was  erected  in  the  year  1833,  on  the  west  side  of 
Race  street,  between  Fourth  and  Fifth,  nearly  opposite 
the  present  Arcade.  The  cost  was  $5,500.  Graham  sur- 
mounted it  with  a  cupola  to  catch  the  general  eye.  When 
he  demanded  of  the  city  the  cost,  it  was  at  first  refused, 
but  finally  paid  all  except  the  price  of  the  cupola.    Eight 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  425 

other  similar  buildings  were  afterward  erected,  the  total 
expense  for  lots  and  buildings  amounting  to  $96,159.44. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  city  teachers  formed  an  association 
that  met  twice  a  month.  The  classification  of  pupils  was 
perfected.  Courses  of  study  were  improved.  Changes 
took  place  in  the  organization  and  methods  of  the  board 
of  education.  Provision  for  instruction  in  the  German 
language  was  made  in  March,  1840.  JSight  schools  were 
started  in  1842.  The  Central  High  School  was  created  in 
1747,  and  it  continued  in  operation  until  1851,  when  it  w^as 
merged  in  Hughes  and  Woodward,  whose  funds  were 
united  and  put  in  trust  of  a  union  board.  In  1850,  the 
office  of  superintendent  was  created,  and  four  years  later 
the  gradation  of  the  schools  was  improved  by  the  intro- 
duction of  intermediate  schools.  Since  that  date  a  normal 
school  has  been  added  to  our  educational  facilities,  and, 
to  crown  the  system,  the  Cincinnati  University  and  the 
Public  Library  have  been  established  on  secure  founda- 
tions. 

The  principles  formulated  by  Guilford  and  Lewis,  and 
discussed  in  the  College  of  Teachers,  have  been  accepted 
by  all  classes.  The  unpopular  experiments  of  George 
Graham,  succeeding,  have  become  historical  events  grate- 
fully remembered.  The  model  school-house  of  1833, 
propagating  its  kind  by  multiplication,  has  produced 
fifty-seven  buildings,  some  of  which  are  palatial  in  size. 

The  proceedings  of  the  college  in  the  years  1834-1840, 
inclusive,  are  contained  in  six  volumes  of  "  Transactions," 
a  set  of  books  now  rare  and  valuable.  The  proceedings 
of  the  year  1837  were  first  made  public  in  the  pages  of  the 
"  Western  Academician  and  Journal  of  Science  and  Edu- 
cation," a  periodical  edited  by  John  W.  Pickett,  to  which 
the  principal  contributors  were  Albert  Pickett,  Alexander 
Kinmont,  Joseph  Ray,  Rev.  Elijah  Slack,  Wm.  Wood, 
John  D.  Craig,  Rev.'^B.  P.  Aydelott,  W.  H.  McGufiey, 
Samuel  Lewis,  and  Julia  L.  Dumont. 

The  ''College  of  Teachers"  continued  to  assemble  an- 
nually for  some  years  after  it  ceased  to  publish  its  transac- 
tions.    The  sessions  of  1843  and  1844  were  held  in  Louis- 


426  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

ville.  The  far-reaching  influence  of  the  body  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  delegates  came  to  its  meetings  from  the 
states  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Vir- 
ginia, Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Michigan,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana,  Georgia,  JS'orth  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Florida,  and  the  Territories  of  Iowa  and  Wisconsin. 
People  crowded  to  its  daily  sessions,  which  were  held  in 
the  largest  churches,  and  listened  to  the  essays  and  ad- 
dresses with  breathless  attention  and  semi-religious  en- 
thusiasm. 

The  professional  teachers  called  to  their  support  the 
shining  lights  of  the  pulpit,  the  bar,  and  the  press.  Such 
distinguished  representative  men  as  Beecher,  Campbell, 
Purcell,  J.  M.  Peck,  Drake,  Grimke,  joined  in  the  dis- 
cussions with  all  their  force  and  fervor.  The  best  scholars 
of  the  West  brought  their  best  learning  to  the  convoca- 
tion. Mansfield  thought  it  doubtful  "  whether  in  one 
association,  and  in  an  equal  time,  there  was  ever  concen- 
trated in  this  country  a  larger  measure  of  talent,  informa- 
tion, and  zeal."  Mr.  Gallagher  said  :  "  Perhaps  the  most 
important  literary  institution  in  the  West,  and  certainly 
one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  world,  is  the  College 
of  Professional  Teachers."  Through  its  influence  the 
oflice  of  State  Superintendent  of  Schools  was  created  for 
Ohio,  and  one  of  its  members,  Samuel  Lewis,  was  the 
first  to  administer  the  office. 

The  college  encouraged  formation  of  adjunct  societies, 
being  in  fact  the  mother  of  the  teachers'  institute  sys- 
tem in  the  West.  It  gave  birth,  in  1841,  to  the  "  Cincin- 
nati Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Useful  Knowledge." 
This  "  Great  Western  Academy  of  the  Sciences  and  Lit- 
erature "  was  planned  on  a  most  ambitious  scale,  mainly 
by  Prof.  0.  M.  Mitchel,  and  was  to  embrace  fourteen  sec- 
tions devoted  to  teaching  exact  science,  natural  science, 
practical  arts,  fine  arts,  medicine,  law,  politics,  philosophy, 
history,  language,  commerce,  literature,  and  statistics. 
The  membership  included  most  of  those  in  the  Teachers' 
College,  with  many  additional  notables. 

The  organization  had  too  many  aims  to  hit  any  thing 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield.  427 

in  particular.  The  most  important  section  that  survived 
was  the  astronomical,  which,  under  the  fostering  care  of 
Mitchel,  came  to  fruition  in  the  Cincinnati  Observatory. 

The  energy  of  the  College  of  Teachers  was  transmitted 
to  different  institutions — the  Mechanics'  Institute,  various 
libraries,  schools  of  medicine  and  law,  the  Historical  So- 
ciety, and  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  The  impulse 
which  it  gave  to  popular  education  spread  throughout  the 
State  of  Ohio  and  throughout  the  nation,  and  the  schools 
of  to-day  inherit  a  legacy  of  vital  force  from  that  vigor- 
ous pioneer  institution. 

Mr.  Mansfield  took  a  leading  part  in  the  discussions  and 
business  of  the  College  of  Teachers.  The  proof-sheets 
of  his  Political  Grammar  were  submitted  to  that  body  for 
criticism  in  1834.  Several  of  his  addresses  are  published 
in  the  "  Transactions,"  among  them  one  on  "  The  Study  of 
Mathematics,"  and  another  on  ^'  The  Qualifications  of 
Teachers."-  Years  after  the  "  College  "  had  ceased  to  ex- 
ist, he  produced  a  book  entitled  "  American  Education ; 
its  Principles  and  Elements,"  which  was  published  by  A. 
S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  and  which  still  holds  its  place  in  the 
popular  series  known  as  '*  The  School  Teachers'  Library." 
Mansfield  suggested  the  formation  of  a  complete  library  of 
education  in  Cincinnati.  He  was  urgent  for  the  establish- 
ment of  normal  schools ;  and  in  1835  he  proposed  that  a 
great  national  association  of  teachers  should  be  founded  by 
delegations  from  "  New  England,  the  Middle  States,  the 
South,  and  the  Great  Yalley  of  the  West."  His  labors  in 
the  furtherance  of  education  continued  to  the  close  of  his 
life.  One  of  his  favorite  projects  undertaken  in  connec- 
tion with  0.  M.  Mitchel  was  to  form  a  convocation  of 
Ohio  colleges,  that  is,  '^  to  unite  them  in  general  and 
university  purposes,  not  interfering  with  the  particular 
rights  and  instruction  of  the  colleges." 

Cincinnati  College  was  revived  in  1835,  with  depart- 
ments of  medicine,  law,  and  literature.  The  faculty  of  the 
literary  department  consisted  of  Wm.  H.  McGufiTey,  presi- 
dent and  professor  of  moral  and  mental  philosophy ;  0. 
M.    Mitchel,  professor  of   mathematics  and  astronomy ; 


428  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Asa  Drury,  professor  of  ancient  languages ;  Chas.  L.  Tel- 
ford, professor  of  rhetoric  and  belles-lettres ;  E.  D.  Mans- 
field, professor  of  constitutional  law  and  history ;  Lyman 
Harding,  principal  of  the  preparatory  department ;  and 
Joseph  Herron,  principal  of  the  primary  department. 

Mr.  Mansfield's  duties  as  professor  were  light,  being 
confined  to  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  law  of  equity  and 
another  series  on  the  history  of  civilization.  But  the 
task  of  editing  the  Chronicle,  which  was  devolved  upon 
him,  also,  was  by  no  means  a  sinecure.  Writing  for  the 
press  was,  in  fact,  the  business  of  E.  D.  Mansfield's  life. 
Though  he  wrote  ten  books,  and  twice  as  many  pamphlets, 
we  may  regard  this  form  of  authorship  as  but  a  large  in- 
cident in  a  career  dedicated  to  journalism.  In  the  last 
chapter  of  his  last  book  he  says :  "  My  first  newspaper 
article  was  published  in  1824,  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut. 
In  the  more  than  half  century  which  has  elapsed  there  has 
been  no  year  in  which  I  have  not  written  for  the  press." 
The  manuscript  articles  found  in  his  library  after  his  de- 
cease cover  more  than  200,000  pages. 

From  1853  to  1871  he  edited  the  Eailroad  Record.  In 
1857  he  was  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  and  he  con- 
tinued on  the  editorial  staft*  of  that  newspaper  as  long  as 
he  lived,  writing  over  the  familiar  initials,  E.  D.  M.  To 
the  New  York  Times,  edited  by  his  friend,  H.  J.  Ray- 
mond, he  contributed  a  series  of  political  articles  under 
the  signature  of  "  Veteran  Observer."  He  was  a  publicist, 
a  writer  on  current  subjects  of  common  interest.  In  such 
hand  as  his  the  pen  becomes  a  material  power  to  bring 
about  tangible  results.  Manufacture,  trade,  financial  ex- 
pedients were  affected  by  his  newspaper  columns.  Though 
never  rich  himself,  his  practical  thinking  enriched  corpo- 
rations and  individuals.  Especially  was  he  active  and  ef- 
ficient in  promoting  railroad  enterprises.  The  Cincinnati 
Southern  Railroad  was  projected  in  his  mind  fifty  years 
before  it  was  completed.  Not  only  was  his  pen  diligent 
for  near  half  a  century  in  the  advocacy  of  a  railroad  to 
the  South ;  he  traveled,  made  maps,  made  speeches,  and 
persuaded  capital  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  plan. 


Edward  Deering  iMansjield.  429 

Mansfield's  familiarity  with  the  material  conditions  of 
the  country  was  such  that  when,  in  1858,  Governor  Chase 
made  him  Commissioner  of  Statistics  for  Ohio,  the  puhlic 
saw  the  fitness  of  the  appointment.     For  ten  years  he 
held  the  oflace,  making  a  reputation  as  a  specialist,  and 
winning  the  honor  of  an  election  to  the  *"'  Society  of  Uni- 
versal Statistics,"  in  Paris.     In  his  own  state  he  was  re- 
garded as  the  highest  authority  in  facts  and  figures.     In 
the  war-time,  his  calculations  and   prophetic  judgments 
were  eagerly  read  and  much  trusted  by  the  people.     Al- 
most every  day  an  article  appeared  over  his  initials  in  the 
Gazette.     I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  a  scene  which  I 
witnessed  in  the  counting-room  of  that  newspaper,  on  the 
north-east  corner  of  Vine  and  Fourth  streets,  in  one  of  the 
early  years  of  the  civil  war.     Mr.  Mansfield  was  there,  and 
a  crowed  of  citizens  had  gathered  to  hear  his  views  of  the 
*'  situation."     While  he  was  talking,  a  thick-set,  weather- 
tanned,  push-your-way  man,  wearing  a  plain  dress  and  a 
slouched  hat,  appeared   at   the   door.     Some  one   imme- 
diately recognized  the  sturdy  war  governor  of  Indiana 
and  spoke  the  name  Morton.     Mansfield  caught  the  word, 
and  instantly  his  tall,  erect,  and  somewhat  gauntly  muscu- 
lar form  pressed  through  the  crowd.     "Are  you  Governor 
Morton?"   he   asked,   for   he    had   never  met   the   man, 
though  he  admired  him  and  had  applauded  his  course. 
"Yes;  and  you  are—?"     "  E.  D.  M.,"  replied  the  editor; 
and  the  two  embraced  each  other  with  a  heartiness  that 
brought  a  storm  of  applause  from  the  amused  spectators. 
Mansfield's  books,  like  his  other  writings,  are   of  the 
useful  or  the  expository  order,  rather  than  the  purely  lite- 
rary.    His  "American  Education  "  is  a  concise,  suggestive 
and  philosophical  treatise,  clear  in  statement,  correct  in 
facts,  earnest  in  the  advocacy  of  learning,  virtue,  patriot- 
ism and  religion.     The  chapter  on  "  The  Education  of 
Women,"  based  on  the  proposition  that  "  the  human  soul 
has  no  sex,"  is  the  best  chapter  in  the  book.     The  author's 
estimate  of  woman  was  always  high ;  he  regarded  the  sex 
with  chivalrous  respect,  and  at  the  same  time  conceded 
its  claims  to  legal  equality  with  men.     To  gallantry  he 


430  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

added  justice.  One  of  his  first  books  was  on  "  The  Legal 
Rights  of  Women." 

In  1846  Mansfield  published  "The  Life  of  Winfield 
Scott,"  and  in  1848  its  sequel,  a  history  of  "  The  Mexican 
War."  Twenty  years  later  he  published  a  "Life  of  U.  S. 
Grant."  All  these  books  are  clear,  authentic,  and  digni- 
fied. They  abound  in  historical  and  political  truth,  and 
glow  with  ardent  love  of  whatsoever  things  are  right  and 
pure.  Though  an  intense  partisan,  a  Whig  of  the  Whigs, 
and  a  Republican  of  the  Republicans,  he  never  allowed 
party  dust  to  obscure  his  vision  of  the  field  of  conduct ; 
his  public  character  was  untainted,  and  his  name  was 
above  suspicion. 

The  volumes  by  which  he  will  be  remembered  longest 
are  his  "  Daniel  Drake"  (1855),  and  his  "  Personal  Memo- 
ries" (1879).  These  contain  the  true  juice  of  the  man — 
the  wine  of  his  nature.  The  two  books  are  really  one,  for 
the  "  Personal  Memories  "  reproduces  the  more  interest- 
ing parts  of  the  "  Life  of  Drake."  In  the  earlier  work 
the  author,  with  a  young  man's  literary  pride,  put  forth 
his  best  efibrts  at  fine  writing ;  the  last  book,  composed 
when  the  veteran  was  in  his  eightieth  year,  is  simple  and 
direct,  without  waste  of  words,  or  rhetorical  vanities  of 
any  kind.  The  old  man  tells  his  story,  with  delightful 
frankness,  from  the  date  of  his  ,birth  to  the  year  1843. 
The  volume  is  a  rich  sheaf  gleaned  from  a  wide  field  of 
recollection. 

E.  D.  Mansfield  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife,  Mary 
Wallace  Mansfield,  nk  Peck,  was  a  lovely  and  accom- 
plished lady  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut.  I  think  four 
children  were  born  of  this  union,  only  two  of  whom  sur- 
vived infancy.  The  eldest  of  these,  Edward  Jared,  be- 
came a  civil  engineer;  he  died  in  1870,  unmarried.  A 
second  eon,  Charles,  graduated  at  Marietta  College,  and 
studied  law  with  his  kinsman,  Alexander  H.  McGuffey. 
He  practiced  his  profession  for  some  years  in  Cincinnati, 
then  received  an  appointment  as  paymaster  in  the  navy. 
He  married  a  Miss  Beck,  of  Missouri,  and  now  lives,  I  be- 
lieve, in  Rhode  Island,  at  Narragansett  Pier. 


Edward  Deering  Blansjield,  431 

The  second  wife  of  E.  D.  Mansfield  was  Margaret,  the 
fourth  daughter  of  Hon.  Thomas  "Worthington,  second 
governor  of  Ohio.  The  marriage  took  place  April  24, 
1839,  in  the  old  capital  of  Ohio,  Chillicothe,  at  the  historic 
homestead,  "Adena,"  which  Benson  J.  Lossing  describes 
in  his  "Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812,"  in  these  words  : 
*'  It  is  situated  upon  the  same  ridge,  two  hundred  feet 
above  the  Scioto,  and  half  a  mile  north  from  McArthur's 
mansion.  It  overlooks  the  same  valleys,  and,  because  of 
the  beauty  of  its  situation,  it  was  called  'Adena,'  or 
Paradise.  The  building  is  of  hewn  sandstone,  and  was 
erected  in  1805,  at  great  expense,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  elder  Latrobe,  of  Washington  city." 

Another  daughter  of  Governor  Worthington  became 
wife  of  General  Edward  King,  and  mother  of  his  son, 
Hon.  Rufus   King,^  the  honored   Cincinnati   lawyer,  and 

^  Hon.  Eufus  King,  son  of  General  Edward  King,  and  grandson  of 
Rufus  King,  the  statesman,  who  helped  to  make  the  national  Constitution 
and  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  was  born  in  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  May  30,  1817. 
His  mother,  Sarah,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Governor  AVorthington,  was 
distinguished  as  a  philanthropist  and  patron  of  art  and  literature.  By 
a  second  marriage  (in  1844)  she  became  Mrs.  Peter,  the  name  by  which 
she  is  remembered  in  Cincinnati,  A  memoir  of  her  has  been  pub- 
lished. She  founded  the  ''Ladies'  Academy  of  Art,"  the  forerunner  of 
the  Cincinnati  School  of  Design. 

RufusKing  began  his  education  at  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  and  was 

gra^Ha^ed  at  Harvard,  first  "ffOmthe  academic  department  and  then" 

fromthe  law  school.     He  was  admitted  tQ-the"  bar  In  Cincinnati  in  1841." 

Ki"l843  he  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  Rives,  daughter  of  Dr.  Landon^ 

Rives.     He  rose  to  distinction  in  his  profession,  and  was  very  active  and 

efficient  in  serving  the  higher  interests  of  the  public.    Much  of  his 

time,  energy,  and  fortune  were  given  for  the  promotion  of  education, 

science,  history,  and  art.    Mr^_Kingwas  for  years  a  leading  member 

of  the  Public  School  Board,  and  was~a  founder  of  the  Public  LibrafyT 

'KrHe  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Law  Library,  anH'  perhaps  its 

p  Mchief  sustainer.    He  was  a  trustee  of  Cincinnati  University,  and  of 

I /Cincinnati    College.     Th^re_js_scarcely   a  literary   institution    in   the 

p  Queen   City  that  has  not  been  aided  by  his  counsel  ^ajid  liberality. 

TEe~geHeTatT5CbgiiitioTr75f  his  worth  was  voiced  by  Hon.  AVm.  S.  Groes- 

beck^who^,jJt  a  memorial  meeting  in  the  United  States  Court  room, 

/^  \J^arch^28jl89i^,  said:     "Rufus  King  was  the  most  valuable  citizen  Cin- 

cinnati  everliad . ' '    Mr.  King  died  March  25,  1891.     Always  interested 

in  literary  matters,  a  reader  of  books  and  a  friend  of  authors,  Mr.  King 

was  himself  a  strong  and  graceful  writer.     In  the  days  of  his  early  man- 


432  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

author  of  the  "  History  of  Ohio."     Thus,  by  relationship 
of  marriage,  Mr.  Mansfield  was  closely  allied  to  the  King 

family. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Mansfield  died  at  the  homestead,  "  Ya- 
moyden,"  near  the  village  of  Morrow,  Warren  county, 
Ohio,  in  1863.  She  left  one  son,  now  Lieutenant  F.  W. 
Mansfield,  of  the  regular  army,  and  three  daughters,  Mrs. 
Dudley,  wife  of  Rev.  A.  S.  Dudley,  of  Granville,  Ohio ; 
Mrs.  Eleanor  M.  Svviggert,  wife  of  Rev.  Swiggert,  of 
Morrow,  Ohio ;  and  Miss  Edith  D.  Mansfield,  of  Morrow. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Swiggert  for  a  succinct  and  ad- 
mirable account  of  her  father's  leading  characteristics. 
The  impartial  fidelity  of  the  portraiture  will  be  recognized 
by  all  readers  who  knew  Mr.  Mansfield  : 

"  Mr.  Mansfield  was  a  thorough  American — a  believer 
in  both  the  present  and  future  of  this  nation,  an  encour- 
ager  of  American  institutions,  American  education,  Amer- 
ican manufactures,  and  American  people.  For  the  latter 
he  worked  with  brain,  heart,  and  pen  as  long  as  he  lived. 
He  had  a  great  contempt  for  those  Americans  who  can 
see  no  good  in  America,  but  try  to  ape  Europeafl  ways. 

"  He  was  also  thoroughly  a  nineteeath  century  man, 
a  believer  in  progress,  a  despiser  of  all  croaKrsIwlro 
say  *the  former  times  were  better  than  these.'  He 
was  a  great  believer  in  work  as  a  blessing,  not  a  curse; 
a  more  industrious  man  never  lived.  He  would  say, 
when  it  was  urged  in  his  later  years  that  he  should 
take  more  rest,  'Better  wear  out  than  rust  out!'  His 
mind  was  vigorous,  clear  and  cheerful ;  his  interest  in  all 
the  affairs  of  life  wonderful.  He  was  in  every  thing  a 
radical ;  a  believer  in  sides,  he  would  often  say  laughingly 
to  me,  *  My  daughter,  I  am  a  partisan ;'  he  could  not  be 
neutral  or  indifferent.  He  was  a  Christian  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  and  a  believer  in  the  coming  of  Christ  as  the 
ruler  of  the  whole  earth.     He  had   neither  patience  nor 

hood  he  was  a  contributor  to  the  Evening  Chronicle,  a  paper  conducted 
by  his  uncle,  Mr.  E.  D.  Mansfield.    The  only  volume  liejjave_to  the 
.  world  is  a  History  of  Ohio,  one  of  the  American  Cominon wealths  series, 
/\publiHhed  in  1888.  "^ 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield,  433 

toleration  with  infidels,  and  was_strongly  opposed  jto_the 
fQreign_jQ]oinpnt  of  infide1ity_fitruggling-ioF  rule-ia^Jids^ 
country.  He  was  brought  lip  an  Episcopalian,  but  united  Li 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  after  his  marriage  with  my  ^ 
mother,  his  second  wife,  in  1839,  and  was  long  an  elder  in 
the_Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cincinnati.  One  of 
the  pioneers  of  Cincinnati,  no  man  better  loyed  her  inter- 
ests, or  was  more  thoroughly  identified  with  them,  or  did 
more  for  the  growth  and  good  of  the  city.  Eyer  inter- 
ested in  the  public  school  system,  he  was  both  a  professor 
and  a  trustee  of  the  Cincinnati  College  of  Teachers.  He 
is  best  known  as  a  writer.  Besides  writing  for  and  at  dif- 
ferent times,  editing  both  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  and 
Chronicle,  he  .wrote  (^during  the  war)  for  the  ^ejy^York  ka^ 
Times  as  a  ^Veteran  Obseryer/  and  his  articles  attracted 
great  attention.  Besides  these  and  other  papers,  he  wrote 
for  many  difierent  periodicals,  the  Railroad  Journal,  and 

also—many pamphlet^  jfor^  the  different  railroads   of  the 

country  j  also  for  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  coal 
and  iron  men.  In  fact,  it  would  be  impossible  to  enumer- 
ate all  his  writings,  which  were  marked,  according  to  the 
subjects,  by  clear,  strong  knowledge,  statements  of  facts, 
and,  when  on  ethics,  by  a  broad,  hopeful.  Christian  tone. 
There  was  neyer  an  uncertain  ring  to  any  of  his  enuncia- 
tions by  mouth  or  pen.  He  neyer,  in  religion,  politics  or 
morals,  stood  ^  on  the  fence,'  or  hid  behind  sophistries ; 
and  I  laughed  the  other  day  oyer  an  old  letter,  written  by 
some  political  enemy  forty  or  more  years  ago,  adyisihg 
him  to  take  more  pains  to  hide  his  sentiments !  An  old- 
tijga«-^W^hig_arLd.a_strong  RepubHcan,  he  was  neyer  ashamed 
ofJiis-*iews.  His  last  writing  for  the  public  was  his  ral- 
Ijing  cry  to  the  men  of  his  party  for  Garfieldj  '  Forward, 
Republicans.'  TrTpnyaXe^ife^he  wp  the  most  delightful 
of  companions,  cheerful  and  entertaining,  with  a  fund  of 
anecdote  which  did  more  to  educate  us,  his  children,  than 
all  the  preachments  and  lectures  of  the  most  learned  dom- 
inie could  do.  He  knew  so  much,  and  knew  where  to  get 
information,  and  shared  it  with  us  all — read  his  articles 
28 


434  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

aloud  to  us  before  they  went  to  press,  and  asked  our  opin- 
ions of  them.  He  was  so  modest  and  unassuming  always 
— approachable  by  all,  and  yet  too  dignified  to  permit  the 
elighififit  familiarity^  He  was  wonderfully  charitable  and 
courteous.  Surely,  it  might  be  said  of  him  that  he  had 
malice  toward  none.  A  graduate  of  Princeton,  also  of 
West  Point,  the  son  of  a  man  himself  learned  and  distin- 
guished, with  a  mother  of  strong  mind  and  literary  tastes, 
and  of  a  social  position  which  gave  him  unusual  facilities 
for  knowing  the  best  society,  he  had,  of  course,  great  ad- 
vantages, and  used  them  well.  But  God  gave  him  his 
strongest  weapons  in  a  broad  mind,  cheerful  disposition, 
and  a  constitution  not  vigorous  but  of  wonderful  vitality. 
His  life  was  pure  and  he  had  nothing  to  hide ;  no  *  wild 
oats'  were  ever  sown  by  him.  His  records  at  West  Point 
and  Princeton  were  unassailable,  either  as  a  student  or 
man.  He  was  a  hard  worker,  using  the  morning  hours 
and  part  of  the  afternoon  for  writing,  up  to  the  last  ten 
years  of  his  life,  then  only  the  morning,  rarely  or  never 
writing  at  night.  Fond  of  society  and  fitted  to  shine  in 
it,  yet  a  great  lover  of  nature;  enjoying  companionship, 
yet  never  afraid  to  be  alone,  full  of  resources,  he  was 

never  at  a  loss  for  occupation."     / -^.^^    _ 

Edward  Deering  Mansfield  died  October  27,  ISSOjat  his 
country  home,  "  Yamoyden,"  near  Morrow,  Ohio.  The 
following  tribute  to  his  memery  was  written  at  Fern  Kock, 
Pewee  Valley,  Kentucky,  October  28,  1880,  by  his  old 
friend,  Wm.  D.  Gallagher. 

I. 

Yamoyden's  halls  are  filled  with  grief, 

Miami's  groves  are  sere; 
Where  lies  the  fallen  autumn  leaf, 

Falls  many  a  heartfelt  tear ; 
For  one  has  passed  from  life  who  knew 

These  haunts  from  side  to  side, 
While  yet  rang  loud  the  settler's  ax 

As  fell  the  forest's  pride. 
No  devious  courses  led  astray 

His  feet ;  from  earliest  youth 
He  sought  and  found  and  kept  the  way 

Of  Justice  and  of  Truth. 


Edward  Deering  Mansfield,                      435  1 

i 

No  wild  ambitions  fired  his  heart,  1 

Or  clothed  his  arm  with  might ;  j 

His  manhood  struck  resounding  blows, 

But  ever  for  the  Eight.  ) 

II.  j 

Yamoy den's  halls  are  silent  now,  \ 

Miami's  waters  moan,  1 

As  present,  though  afar,  I  bow  | 

In  grief,  but  not  alone ;  \ 

For  round  me  living  spirits  close  l 

That  knew  him  well  through  life,  \ 
But  who  before  him  passed  away 

From  earthly  toil  and  strife  ;  ' 
His  place  is  vacant  now,  but  long 

Shall  his  example  live,  \ 

And  to  the  heart  that  would  be  strong  ] 

Its  better  lessons  give.  J 

Lean  to  him,  youth,  and  tread  the  ways  \ 

So  long  he  nobly  trod  ;  ■ 

Regard  him  age  and  follow  him  .  : 

From  manhood  up  to  God.  \ 


486  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

WILLIAM    DAVIS    GALLAGHER,  POET,   EDITOR,   AND    GOV- 
ERNMENT OFFICIAL. 

William  Davis  Gallagher,  poet,  editor,  and  public 
official,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  August  21,  1808.  His 
father,  Bernard  Gallagher,  familiarly  called  "  Barney,"  was 
an  Irishman,  a  Roman  Catholic,  a  participant  in  the  rebel- 
lion that,  in  1803,  cost  Robert  Emmett  his  life.  "  Barney  " 
Gallagher  migrated  to  the  United  States,  landing  at  the 
City  of  Brotherly  Love,  where,  by  the  aid  of  John  Binns, 
editor  of  the  "  Shamrock,"  he  obtained  work.  Some  time 
afterward  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Abigail  Davis, 
of  Bridgeport,  I^Tew  Jersey,  who  had  been  sent  to  Phila- 
delphia by  her  widowed  mother,  to  complete,  at  Quaker 
school,  an  education  begun  at  home.  "Abbey  "  Davis  was 
the  daughter  of  a  Welsh  farmer,  who,  volunteering  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  lost  his  life  under  Washington  at 
Valley  Forge.  The  Irish  refugee  and  the  Welch  patriot's 
daughter  were  so  much  attracted  to  each  other  that  they 
joined  their  lives  in  wedlock.  Four  sons,  Edward,  Francis, 
William,  and  John  were  the  issue  of  this  marriage.  The 
third  was  a  child  not  eight  years  old  when  the  father  died. 
On  his  death-bed  Bernard  Gallagher  refused  to  confess  to 
his  ministering  priest  the  secrets  of  Free  Masonry,  which 
order  he  had  jomed,  and  the  church  not  only  refused  him 
burial  in  consecrated  grounds,  but  also  condemned  his 
body  to  be  exposed  to  public  derision  in  front  of  his  own 
door;  and  the  execution  of  this  sentence  was  prevented 
by  application  for  police  interference.     This  was  in  1814. 

Two  years  after  her  husband's  death,  Mrs.  Gallagher 
and  her  four  sons,  joining  a  small  "Jersey  Colony," 
removed  West,  crossing  the  mountains  in  a  four-horsed 
and  four-belled   wagon   of   the    old    time,   and  floating 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  437 

down  the  Ohio  river  from  Pittshurg  to  Cincinnati  in 
a  strongly  built  and  well-provided  flat-boat  of  the  period. 
The  boy  "William  amused  himself  during  the  whole  "  river 
voyage  "  by  fishing  out  of  the  window  of  the  boat.  "  I 
was  sorry,"  said  he,  "  when  the  boat  landed  and  put  an 
end  to  my  fun." 

The  widow  and  her  family  located  on  a  farm  near  Mount 
Healthy,  now  Mount  Pleasant,  Hamilton  county,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Carys.  Mrs.  Gallagher  and  the  mother 
of  Alice  and  Phoebe  Cary  were  near  of  kin,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  the  two  families  were,  of  course,  intimate. 
'  Young  William  was  put  to  work  by  his  mother  and  his 
uncle  at  the  various  tasks  a  country  lad  is  expected  to  do. 
In  winter  he  attended  school  in  a  log  school-house.  The 
teacher's  name  was  Samuel  Woodworth,  whose  scholars 
always  addressed  him  as  "  Sir  "  Woodworth,  such  was  the 
law  of  manners  and  the  dignity  of  the  preceptor's  office  in 
those  days.  Under  guidance  of  "  Sir"  Woodworth,  Master 
Gallagher  grew  familiar  with  the  literary  treasures  of  the 
^'American  Reader  "  and  the  "  Columbian  Orator."  The 
boy  was  fond  of  these  books,  and  still  more  enamored  of 
the  rosy-cheeked  girls  of  Mount  Healthy.  Envious  rivals 
taunted  him  by  calling  him  "  girl-boy,"  and  the  jeer  caused 
fist-fights  and  bleeding  noses.  N^ot  even  the  charms  of  the 
bare-footed  maidens  at  spelling-school  "worked  with  such 
a  spell "  on  "  Billy "  (for  that  was  his  nickname),  as  did 
the  attractions  of  the  woods.  What  so  seductive  to  the 
natural  boy  as  the  unfenced  forests  ?  What  so  much  cov- 
eted as  freedom  to  ramble  over  the  hills  and  far  away  ? 
Gallagher's  ruling  instinct,  in  boyhood  and  manhood, 
was  admiration  of  nature — especially  love  of  woodland 
scenery.^  His  young  feet  trod  every  hill  and  valley  about 
Mount  Healthy  and  along  Mill  creek,  whose  remembered 
banks  he  long  after  celebrated  as  "  Mahketewa's  Flowery 
Marge."  Well  did  he  know  the  wild  flowers  and  native 
birds.     He  plucked  spicy  grapes,  or  luscious   pawpaws, 

^  In  the  summer  of  1890,  Mr.  Gallagher,  then  in  his  eighty-second 
year,  visiting  friends  in  the  suburbs  of  Cincinnati,  took  a  long  ramble, 
every  day,  in  the  woods,  with  a  company  of  girls  and  boys. 


488  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

in  season,  and  gathered  hoards  of  hickory  nuts  to  crack 
by  the  winter  fire.  In  summer  weather,  he  found  hidden 
springs,  and  traced  wandering  brooks  from  source  to 
month. 

One  day  the  prepossessing  boy,  with  his  cheerful,  ruddy 
face,  was  observed  by  a  Mrs.  Graham,  of  Clermont  county, 
Ohio,  who  was  visiting  at  Mount  Healthy.  Mrs.  Graham 
was  so  much  pleased  with  "  Billy  "  that  she  begged  his 
mother  to  allow  him  to  return  to  Clermont  county  with 
her,  and  live  there  for  a  time  and  do  "  chores."  "  Want 
my  boy  ?"  said  the  widow  mother,  with  tears  of  protest. 
Yet,  on  reflection,  she  consented  to  the  proposal,  and  Will- 
iam went  with  the  lady  to  Clermont  county,  where,  for 
perhaps  a  year,  he  worked  at  "  Graham's  Mill."  After  his 
return  home  he  resumed  farm-work  on  the  place  of  David 
Jessup.  The  toil  was  hard,  but  relief  was  found  in  stolen 
escapes  to  the  woods;  or  to  Cummins's  tan-yard,  where 
some  pet  bears  were  kept ;  or  to  Spring  Grove,  where  was 
a  herd  of  tame  buffaloes.  Sometimes  he  was  sent  to  Irv- 
ing's  Mill,  and  while  waiting  for  his  grist  he  would  sit  un- 
der a  certain  tree,  which  to-day  stands  within  the  inclosure 
of  Spring  Grove  Cemetery,  and  read  one  of  his  few  books, 
usually  the  "  Columbian  Orator." 

The  routine  of  the  youth's  drudgery  was  broken  by  the 
thoughtful  interest  of  his  oldest  brother  Edward,  who,  vis- 
iting the  Jessup  farm,  saw  that  William  was  working  "  like 
a  nigger,"  as  he  expressed  it,  and  insisted  that  the  boy 
should  be  put  to  school.  A  consultation  of  mother,  brother, 
and  uncle  was  held,  and  it  was  decided  that  Billy  should 
go  to  town  and  attend  the  Lancastrian  Seminary,  he  prom- 
ising not  to  waste  time  by  truancy  in  the  woods  or  along 
the  alluring  shores  of  the  Ohio.  The  Lancastrian  Semi- 
nary, conducted  by  Edmund  Harrison,  was  opened  in 
March,  1815.  George  Harrison,  one  of  the  sons  of  the 
principal,  took  a  kindly  interest  in  the  ingenuous  country 
boy,  and  gave  him  an  opportunity,  while  yet  a  student  in 
the  school,  to  learn  to  "  set  type,"  in  the  oflice  of  a  small 
paper  called  The  Remembrancer,  edited  by  Rev.  David 
Root,  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.    The 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  439 

paper  was  printed  at  'a  small  office  in  a  building  up  "  old 
post-office  alley,"  west  of  Main  street,  between  Third  and 
Fourth  streets.  Here  Gallagher  received  his  first  lessons 
in  the  printer's  art  and  in  proof-reading.  The  most  puz- 
zling part  of  the  work  was  to  understand  and  correct  the 
poetry,  which  seemed,  to  the  embryo  editor,  absurd  for  the 
reason  that  it  was  not  written  in  prose.  "  I  wondered," 
said  he,  referring  to  this  experience  after  a  lapse  of  sixty 
years,  ''  why  the  stupid  contributors  didn't  put  what  they 
had  to  say  plainly,  instead  of  cutting  it  up  ridiculously,  in 
short  lines,  with  capitals  at  one  end  and  rhymes  at  the 
other." 

In  1826,  Hon.  James  W.  Gazlay  started  an  agricultural 
paper  called  The  Western  Tiller,  and  young  Gallagher  was 
employed  as  general  assistant  in  its  management.  ^N'ot 
only  did  he  attend  to  the  mechanical  department,  but 
he  also  ventured  to  write,  and  became  so  expert  with  the 
pen  that,  on  occasion,  Gazlay  left  him  in  charge  of  the 
paper,  jokingly  declaring  that  "  Billy"  had  superseded  him 
as  editor. 

Mr.  Gazlay  disposed  of  The  Tiller  in  1828  to  Wm.  J. 
Ferris,  and  Gallagher's  services  were  then  engaged,  for  a 
time,  by  Mr.  S.  J.  Brown,  proprietor  of  the  Cincinnati 
Emporium,  a  newspaper  founded  in  1824.  Brown  was  per- 
sonally remarkable  for  his  lisping,  and  he  often  boasted 
that  he  was  "  thole  editor  of  the  Thinthinnati  Emporium." 
Gallagher's  connection  with  the  Emporium  was  brief.  His 
next  newspaper  experience  was  with  the  Commercial  Reg- 
ister, the  first  daily  in  Cincinnati.  This  journal,  edited  by 
Morgan  ^N'eville  and  published  by  S.  S.  Brooks,  survived 
only  six  months.  While  engaged  on  the  Eegister,  Galla- 
gher was  requested  by  his  brother  Francis  to  take  part  in 
the  joint  production  of  a  new  literary  periodical.  With 
precipitate  zeal  the  brothers  plunged  into  the  enterprise, 
and  the  Western  Minerva  was  born  almost  as  soon  as  con- 
ceived. This  new  daughter  of  Jove  was  named  in  the 
classic  style  of  the  time,  and  after  an  eastern  magazine 
then  flourishing.  The  Western  Minerva,  notwithstanding 
its  divine  name,  died  in  about  a  year,  and  hardly  deserves 


440  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

an  epitaph.  In  the  year  1824,  Mr.  John  P.  Foote  pub- 
lished the  Literary  Gazette,  for  which  W.  D.  Gallagher 
wrote  his  first  verses.  He  was  then  only  sixteen,  and  the 
tripping  "  Lines  on  Spring,"  which  he  sent  through  the 
mail  to  Mr.  Foote,  were  signed  "  Julia." 

On  January  1,  1826,  F.  Burton  began  to  publish  the 
Cincinnati  Saturday  Evening  Chronicle,  with  Benjamin 
F.  Drake  as  editor.  Mr.  Gallagher  wrote  for  the  Chroni- 
cle, under  the  pseudonym  "Roderick,"  and  his  friend, 
Otway  Curry,  contributed  to  it  also,  signing  his  articles 
"Abdallah." 

In  the  summer  of  1828,  Gallagher,  not  yet  of  age,  went 
to  Mt.  Sterling,  Kentucky,  to  visit  his  brother  John,  who 
attended  school  there.  A  violent  contest  for  the  governor- 
ship was  raging  between  the  Whig  candidate,  Thomas 
Metcalfe, "  Old  Stone-Hammer,"  and  the  fierce  Democratic 
orator,  W.  T.  Barry,  one  of  Clay's  respected  forensic  rivals. 
Gallagher  espoused  the  Whig  cause  by  writing  for  a  party 
newspaper  conducted  at  Mt.  Sterling  by  Weston  F.  Birch. 
While  meditating  editorials,  laudatory  of  "  Old  Stone- 
Hammer,"  the  sojourning  knight  of  the  goose-quill  re- 
ceived intelligence  that  his  brother  Francis  was  lying  ill 
at  Natchez.  William  bought  a  horse  and  rode  from  Mt. 
Sterling  to  Louisville ;  thence,  by  steamboat,  he  completed 
the  journey  to  Natchez.  The  horseback  trip  through 
Kentucky  was  crowded  with  incident.  One  evening  the 
traveler  came  to  the  gate  of  a  large  house,  which  a  black 
servant  told  him  belonged  to  General  James  Taylor.  The 
general  was  not  at  home,  but  his  wife,  a  stately  lady,  very 
hospitably  invited  the  young  stranger  to  dismount  and  rest 
awhile  under  her  roof.  The  black  slave  put  the  horse  in 
the  stable,  and  the  bashful  rider  followed  the  courteous 
southern  matron  into  the  big  house,  and  was  there  treated 
to  a  glass  of  "  Metheglin,"  mixed  by  her  own  fair  hands. 
Pursuing  his  further  adventures,  the  romantic  "Roder- 
ick" arrived  at  Ashland  and  announced  himself  as  a 
**  young  Whig  from  Ohio,  who  desired  to  pay  his  respects 
to  Henry  Clay.  The  distinguished  "  Harry  of  the  West" 
came  out  and  cordially  greeted  the  pilgrim,  and  asked 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  441 

him  to  stay  all  night,  but  the  honor  was  gracefully  de- 
clined. 

Passing  through  Louisville,  he  saw,  where  now  the  finest 
part  of  the  city  is  built,  a  swampy  wilderness,  populous  with 
beaver.  The  open-eyed  traveler  observed  every  thing,  and 
wrote  from  Mississippi  a  series  of  descriptive  letters  for  the 
Chronicle.  These  were  read  by  many,  and  their  author  was 
talked  about  as  a  smart  young  fellow,  worthy  to  be  encour- 
aged. One  of  the  first  to  recognize  his  talents  and  speak 
in  his  praise  was  the  educator,  Milo  G.  Williams.^  Galla- 
gher returned  to  Cincinnati  to  find  himself  quite  a  local 
lion.  Doubtless,  the  people  thought  still  better  of  him 
when  it  was  known  he  had  saved  a  few  dollars  by  self- 
denial,  and  that  he  was  desirous  of  securing  for  his  mother 
a  home  of  her  own.  He  bought  a  ground  lot  of  Mcholas 
Longworth,  the  eccentric  pioneer  millionaire,  but  had  not 
the  means  to  build  a  house.  "  See  here,  Billy,"  suggested 
Mr.  Longworth,  "  I  want  you  to  build  a  house  for  your 
mother;  now,  can  you  raise  money  enough  to  buy  the 
lumber?  Get  the  lumber,  and  I  will  build  the  house,  and 
you  may  pay  me  when  you  are  able."  The  offer  was  ac- 
cepted; the  house  was  built,  and  paid  for  in  easy  pay- 
ments. The  house  was  situated  on  the  north  side  of 
Fourth  street,  between  "Western  Eow,"  now  Central 
avenue,  and  John  street,  and  overlooked  the  sloping  plain 
that  lay  between  the  bluff  on  which  it  stood  and  the  Ohio 
river,  and  the  mouth  of  Mill  creek ;  and  took  in,  most  pic- 
turesquely and  charmingly,  what  is  now  the  town  plot  of 
Covington,  and  the  beautiful  hills  of  Ludlow,  one  of  which 
was  crowned  with  the  celebrated  Carneal  House,  or 
"  Egyptian  Hall." 

We  have  seen  that  Gallagher  was  an  enthusiastic  Whig 
and  a  worshiper  of  Clay.  It  is  not  strange  that,  in  1830, 
he  was  persuaded  by  some  of  the  prominent  Whigs  of 
Green  county  to   cast   his   fortunes   on   the  hazard  of  a 


^  Milo  G.  Williams  was  a  celebrated  teacher  in  Cincinnati,  Dayton, 
and  Urbana,  Ohio.  He  had  a  large  school  in  Cincinnati.  From  1844 
to  1850  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  Dayton  Academy.    Died  in  1880. 


442  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

"  tooth-and-toe-nails "  campaign  newspaper,  at  Xenia, 
Ohio.  Even  the  mother's  new  house  was  sold  to  provide 
an  outfit  for  a  small  printing  office,  and,  in  a  short  time, 
the  JBackwoodsman  ^  was  issued,  a  sheet  devoted  generally 
to  hurrahing  for  Clay  and  specially  to  using  up  Jimmy 
Gardner,  editor  of  the  Jackson  organ  at  Xenia.  Galla- 
gher was  elated  to  see  his  first  leader  copied  in  the  i^a- 
tioual  Journal,  and  to  learn  that  Clay  himself  had  read  it 
with  approval.  In  the  course  of  the  campaign,  a  banquet 
was  given  to  the  Ashland  hero,  at  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio, 
on  which  occasion  the  modest  editor  of  the  Backwoods- 
man was  surprised  and  abashed  on  finding  that  the  com- 
mittee of  arrangements  had  trapped  him  into  a  seat  just 
opposite  the  great  statesman,  who,  it  appears,  requested 
to  have  an  opportunity  of  talking  with  "  that  bright 
young  man  from  Xenia  who  writes  so  well." 

All  this  was  pleasant  enough  ;  but  the  Backwoodsman, 
despite  its  cleverness,  was  doomed  to  fail  with  the  failing 
political  fortunes  of  its  idol.  The  man  who  "would 
rather  be  right  than  be  President "  was  not  chosen  Presi- 
dent, and  consequently  Gallagher's  labor  of  love  was  lost, 
and  with  it  all  his  money  and  much  of  his  self-confidence. 

One  of  the  pleasant  incidents  of  Gallagher's  life  at 
Xenia  took  place  in  the  office  of  the  Backwoodsman  in 
the  summer  of  1830.  One  day  a  gentleman  called  and 
asked  to  see  the  editor.  The  printer's  devil  ran  up  stairs 
where  Gallagher  was  at  work,  and  gave  the  message  :  "A 
man  down  there  wants  to  see  you ;  he  says  his  name  is 
Prentice."  He  of  the  Backwoodsman,  in  a  flurry,  would 
brush  up  and  wash  his  inky  hands  before  presenting  him- 
self to  the  late  editor  of  the  New  England  Review,  but 
George  sliouts  from  below,  **  Never  mind  black  fingers  ! " 
and  the  next  minute  the  two  young  journalists  meet  and 
join  hands.  Prentice  was  on  his  way  to  Lexington  to  pre- 
pare his  "  Life  of  Clay." 

By  far  the  most  important  event  of  Mr.  Gallagher's  life 

»  The  Backwoodsman  was  started  March  20,  1830.  The  price  was  two 
dollars  a  year.  The  paper  had  literary  features,  and  gave  some  space 
to  agriculture. 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  443 

at  Xenia  was  his  marriage  to   Miss  Emma   Adamson,  a 
daughter  of  Captain  Adamson,  of  Boston. 

Some  brilliant  worldly  expectations  had  been  built  on 
the  assumption  that  Clay  w^ould  be  President ;  and  when 
the  campaign  ended  in  disappointment,  the  newly  wedded 
pair  knew  not  which  way  to  look  for  a  living.  Just  about 
this  dark  time  it  came  into  the  mind  of  John  H.  "Wood,  a 
Cincinnati  book-seller,  to  start  a  literary  paper  in  connec- 
tion with  his  business,  and  he  invited  Gallagher  to  take 
editorial  charge  of  it  at  a  guaranteed  salary.  The  oftfe^ 
was  accepted  gladly,  and,  turning  over  the  care  of  the 
fast-expiring  Backwoodsman  to  his  brother  Francis,  Will- 
iam took  stage  with  his  pretty  wdfe  and  hastened  to  Cin- 
cinnati, and  presently  began  his  first  important  literary 
labor,  the  management  of  the  Cincinnati  Mirror.  .  This 
was  the  fourth  literary  periodical  published  west  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains.  Its  prototype,  the  ^ew  York  Mir- 
ror, was  a  well  established  and  influential  journal.  The 
new  paper,  a  quarto,  excellently  printed  on  good  paper, 
and  of  attractive  appearance,  was  issued  semi-monthly. 
The  first  two  volumes  were  edited  by  Gallagher  solely. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  Gallagher  formed  a 
partnership  with  Thomas  H.  Shreve,  and  the  two  became 
proprietors  of  the  publication.  It  was  enlarged  and  issued 
weekly  under  the  name,  Cincinnati  Mirror  and  Western 
Gazette  of  Literature.  In  April,  1835,  the  Chronicle, 
then  owned  by  Kev.  James  H.  Perkins,  was  merged  in  the 
Mirror,  and  Perkins  shared  the  editorship  of  the  period- 
ical. The  concern  was  sold,  October,  1835,  to  James  B. 
Marshall,  who  united  with  it  a  publication  called  the 
Buckeye,  and  named  it  the  Buckeye  and  Cincinnati  Mir- 
ror. Within  three  months  Marshall  sold  out  to  Flash  and 
Eyder,  book-sellers  on  Third  street,  who  engaged  Gal- 
lagher and  Shreve  to  resume  control  of  the  once  more 
plain  Cincinnati  Mirror.  All  now  went  on  smoothly  un- 
til Gallagher  offended  Mr.  Ryder  by  refusing  to  print  mat- 
ter indorsing  Tom  Paine's  irreligious  views.  A  quarrel 
followed,  and  both  Gallagher  and  Shreve  resigned.  They 
were  succeeded  by  J.  Reese  Fry,  who,  though  he  had  fair 


444  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

editorial  ability,  could  not  prevent  the  Mirror  from  sink- 
ing to  final  extinction  within  two  months. 

The  Mirror  never  paid  its  way,  though  it  had  an  exten- 
sive circulation  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Its  contents 
embraced  original  and  selected  tales,  essays,  poetry,  bio- 
graphical and  historical  sketches,  reviews  of  and  extracts 
from  new  books,  and  a  compendium  of  the  news  of  the 
day.  Nearly  all  the  leading  western  writers  contributed 
to  it.  Among  these  were  Timothy  Flint,  J.  A.  McClung, 
John  B.  Dillon,  Harvey  D.  Little,  Morgan  Neville,  Benja- 
min Drake,  Mrs.  Julia  Dumont,  and  Mrs.  Lee  Hentz. 
From  the  East,  Mr.  Whittier  contributed  at  least  one 
poem — "  Lines  on  a  Portrait." 

When,  in  1832,  Mr.  Gallagher  held  this  literary  "  Mir- 
ror" up  to  nature  and  art  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  Bry- 
ant was  but  thirty-eight  years  old,  Longfellow  and  Whittier 
but  twenty-five,  Poe  twenty-one,  and  Howells  lacked  five 
years  of  being  born.  The  backwoods  editor's  comments 
on  contemporary  literature  read  curiously  in  the  light  of 
present  reputations.  Encouraging  mention  is  made  of  a 
fifty-dollar  prize  story,  "A  New  England  Sketch,  by  Miss 
Beecher,  of  this  city."  The  reviewer  says  the  story  "  is 
written  with  great  sprightliness,  humor,  and  pathos,"  and 
that  "  none  but  an  intelligent  and  observant  lady  could 
possibly  have  written  it."  In  a  notice  of  "  Mogg  Me- 
gone,"  Whittier  is  discriminatingly  heralded  as  a  "man 
whom  his  countrymen  will  yet  delight  to  honor.  Some  of 
his  early  writings  are  among  the  happiest  juvenile  pro- 
ductions with  which  we  are  acquainted."  The  complacent 
editor  mentions  "Outre  Mer"  favorably,  saying  that  it 
was  written  by  Professor  Longfellow,  "  who  is  very  well 
known  to  American  readers,"  and  that  "  it  is  for  sale  at 
Josiali  Drake's  bookstore  on  Main  street." 

Mr.  Gallagher  wrote  much  for  the  Mirror  in  prose  and 
Terse,  and  his  editorials,  sketches,  and  poems  were  widely 
copied.  One  of  his  pieces,  a  carefully  finished  short  es- 
say, entitled  "The  Unbeliever,"  was  credited  to  Dr. 
Chalmers,  and  appeared  in  a  school  read*  r  witli  that 
classic  divine's  name  attached. 


William  Davis  Gallagher,  445 

While  editor  of  the  Mirror,  Gallagher  made  his  debut 
as  a  speaker,  by  delivering  before  the  "  Lyceum,"  an 
"  Eulogium  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  William  Wirt." 
The  old  Enon  Church,  where  the  "  Lyceum "  met,  was 
crowded,  and  the  orator,  w^hen  he  rose  to  speak,  was  so 
frightened  that  he  could  not  at  first  open  his  mouth,  but 
the  reassuring  smile  of  the  president.  Doctor  Daniel  Drake, 
restored  his  self-command,  and  the  address  was  pro- 
nounced satisfactorily. 

The  *'  Lyceum "  was  a  society  for  popular  edification, 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ohio  Mechanics'  In- 
stitute. Before  it,  Calvin  E.  Stow^e  delivered  a  course  of 
lectures  on  the  '^  History  of  Letters,"  and  Judge  James 
Hall  read  an  address  on  the  "  Importance  of  Establishing 
a  First-Class  Library  in  Cincinnati." 

The  old  Enon  Church  on  Walnut  street,  w^as  also  the 
meeting-place  of  a  club  called  the  "  Franklin  Society,"  the 
members  of  which,  w^e  are  told,  ''  met  w^eek  after  week, 
with  much  benefit  to  all  concerned."  "  Many  a  cold  and 
cheerless  evening,"  wrote  the  editor  of  the  Western  Quar- 
terly, "  have  w^e  seen  half  a  dozen  enthusiastic  youths 
gathered  about  and  shivering  over  the  stove  in  the  corner 
of  the  large  apartment,  while  the  President,  wrapped  in 
dignity  and  a  large  cloak,  sat  chattering  his  teeth,  apart 
from  the  group,  and  member  after  member  stepped  aside 
and  made  speeches,  many  of  which  were  distinguished  by 
brilliancy  and  true  eloquence." 

A  more  popular  debating  society  was  the  "  Inquisition," 
mentioned  in  Channing's  "Memoir  of  James  H.  Perkins." 
The  "  Inquisition  "  was  attended  by  the  beauty  and  fashion 
of  Cincinnati.  Mr.  Gallagher  shone  w^ith  the  young  gen- 
try who  read  polite  essays  at  Dr.  Drake's  parlors,  and 
shivered  with  the  talented  plebeians  of  the  Franklin  So- 
ciety. He  was  also  the  very  soul  of  a  unique  private 
junto  numbering  but  eight  members,  and  named  the  Tags, 
or  the  T.  A.  G.  S.,  these  cabalistic  letters  being  the  initials 
of  the  four  who  originated  the  conclave,  namely,  Fred- 
eric William  Thomas,  Samuel  York  Atlee,  William  Davis 
Gallagher  and  Thomas  Henry  Shreve. 


446  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Still  another  very  interesting  club  may  be  referred  to 
here,  though  it  arose  somewhat  later  than  those  mentioned. 
It  was  called  the  "  Forty-Twos,"  from  the  circumstance 
that,  at  its  founding,  all  of  its  members  were  over  forty- 
one  years  of  age  and  under  *forty-three.  The  "Forty- 
Twos"  met  in  the  law  office  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  on  Third 
street  (the  office  in  which  Donn  Piatt  says  the  Eepublican 
party  was  born).  Among  its  members,  besides  Chase  and 
Gallagher,  were  Samuel  Eels,  Jordan  A.  Pugh,  and 
Charles  L.  Telford.  The  club  was  larger  than  that  of  the 
"  Tags,"  and  had  more  of  a  social  nature,  but  it  did  a 
great  deal  in  the  way  of  developing  a  literary  taste  in 
Cincinnati. 

It  was  before  the  appearance  of  the  Mirror  that  W.  D. 
Gallagher,  won  his  first  laurels  for  poetical  achievement. 
Some  verses  of  his  called  *'  The  Wreck  of  the  Hornet," 
published  anonymously,  went  the  rounds  of  the  American 
press,  and  were  ascribed  to  the  pen  of  Bryant.  The  suc- 
cess of  this  fugitive  piece  gave  its  author  confidence  to 
produce  others,  and  he  was  soon  recognized  as  the  lead- 
ing imaginative  writer  of  the  West. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  he  published  a  little  book  of 
thirty-six  pages,  entitled  "  Erato  !N'o.  I,"  dedicated  to  Tim- 
othy Flint.  The  naming  of  his  collection  after  a  lyric 
muse  was  suggested,  probably,  by  the  example  of  Percival, 
who,  a  dozen  years  before,  had  put  forth  "  Clio  IN'o.  I." 
and  "Clio  No.  II."  Gallagher's  maiden  venture  was  re- 
ceived with  favor ;  and,  in  August,  1835,  "  Erato  No.  II." 
was  issued,  and  this  was  followed,  two  years  later,  by 
"Erato  No.  III."  A  long  and  laudatory  review  of  these 
booklets  appeared  in  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger  for 
July,  1838.  The  reviewer  says :  "  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that,  in  justice  to  the  poet,  these  volun^es  were  not  pub- 
lished in  one  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  inasmuch  as  it  would 
have  extended  the  reputation  of  the  author,  and  given 
currency  to  liis  works,  which  a  Western  press  can  not  se- 
cure to  them.  The  Atlantic  side  of  the  Alleghanies  is 
sufficiently  controlled  by  that  kind  of  prejudice  in  rela- 
tion to  ultramontane  literature,  that  led  one,  some  two 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  447 

thousand  years  ago,  to  say, '  Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth?'  These  prejudices  should  not  be  ne- 
glected or  despised  by  Western  writers.  The  names  of 
Messrs.  Harper  &  Brothers,  or  Carey,  Lea  &  Blanchard, 
on  the  title  page  of  many  a  book  has  often  proved  a 
better  indorsement  to  the  public  than  the  author's.  How 
natural  it  is  to  condemn  a  book  unread  that  has  the  im- 
print of  a  country  town.  There  is  the  same  kind  of 
faith  extended  to  an  unknown,  book  as  to  an  unknown 
bank-note  ;  if  it  bears  city  names,  and  is  of  a  city  bank, 
it  is  received  with  confidence,  and  if  it  is  a  country  bill 
it  is  taken  with  hesitation  and  suspicion."  The  alleged 
Eastern  prejudice  to  Western  literary  outputs  was  met  by 
Gallagher  with  obstinate  provincial  pride  and  defiance. 
To  him  the  building  up  of  Western  literature  was  a  duty 
which  he  exalted  to  the  rank  of  patriotism  and  religion. 
He  advocated  the  fostering  of  home  genius  with  a  fervor 
like  that  which  protectionists  manifest  in  discussing  do- 
mestic industries.  Instead  of  seeking  Eastern  publishers, 
Gallagher  did  not  even  comply  with  their  voluntary  re- 
quests to  handle  his  books,  though  this  was  owing,  in 
part,  to  his  careless  disposition.  Under  date  of  March, 
1881,  he  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  I  have  been  solicited  repeat- 
edly by  Eastern  publishers ;  never  but  twice,  that  I  re- 
member, by  Western  publishers."  In  the  same  letter, 
alluding  to  the  volumes  he  wrote,  and  magazines  he  ed- 
ited, he  says :  "  I  do  not  possess  a  copy  of  any  one  of 
them." 

Returning  to  the  ambitious  and  sentimental  period  of 
Gallagher's  career,  we  find  that  he  was  admired  for  his 
handsome  looks.  One  of  his  contemporaries  wrote  :  "  He 
has  a  manly  figure,  tall  and  well  proportioned,  with  a 
lofty  and  somewhat  haughty  carriage.  His  complexion  is 
very  fair  and  ruddy  ;  his  face  exhibits  a  remarkably  youth- 
ful appearance,  as  if  but  nineteen  and  not  twenty-eight 
years  had  passed  over  his  head.  In  conversation  he  is  an- 
imated and  energetic,  evincing  the  man  of  quick  sensi- 
bility, the  bold  thinker,  the  acute  critic  and  severe  satirist. 
His  eyes  are  lively  and  of  a  piercing  blue.     His  forehead 


448  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

is  fair  and  open,  denoting  intellectual  strength,  with  soft- 
ened outlines,  and  is  the  index  of  the  graceful  character  of 
hie  mind."  The  allusion  in  this  description  to  Gallagher's 
"haughty  carriage,"  recalls  the  fact  that  the  boys  in  the 
printing  office  used  to  call  him  William  "  Dignity  "  Gal- 
lagher. 

Neither  his  handsome  person,  nor  his  versatile  talents 
brought  much  hard  cash.  Deprived  of  the  salary  which 
he  had  received  as  editor  of  the  Mirror,  the  poet 
found  himself  in  the  unpoetical  condition  of  a  man  with 
a  wife  to  support  on  no  income  whatever.  He  wrote 
to  Otway  Curry :  "  I  must  do  something  to  raise  a  little 
money,  for  I  am  almost  too  badly  clad  to  appear  in  the 
street."  Grasping  at  an  invisible  straw,  he  issued  a 
prospectus  for  a  weekly  paper,  the  Cincinnati  Spectator 
and  Family  News-Letter,  but  the  name  was  all  of  the  pa- 
per that  ever  appeared.  However,  in  June,  1836,  Messrs. 
Smith  and  Day  projected  a  Western  Literary  Journal  and 
Monthly  Review,  and  Gallagher  was  called  to  edit  it. 
Mark  the  western  tone  and  confident  air  of  this  passage 
from  the  opening  number :  "  Let  us,  who  are  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  triune  youthfulness,  being  young  as  a 
people,  young  in  years,  and  young  as  a  literary  commu- 
nity, endeavor  to  approach  the  fathers  of  English  poetry. 
Let  us  discard  the  aifectation  of  parlor  prettiness,  wax- 
work niceties,  and  milliner-like  conceits.  Let  us  turn  our 
lady-pegasus  out  to  pasture,  and  mount  coursers  of  speed 
and  mettle.  Let  us  give  over  our  pacing  and  ambling, 
and  dash  off  with  a  free  rein."  To  these  imperative  appeals 
the  readers  of  the  journal  were  probably  insensible ;  at 
any  rate  they  did  not  pay  liberally  for  such  exhortation, 
and  the  starving  editor's  starving  periodical  gave  up  the 
ghoBt,  aged  one  year.  The  lively  ghost  flew  to  Louisville 
and  was  there  re-embodied,  being  merged  in  the  Western 
Monthly  Magazine,  which  Judge  Hall  sold  to  James  B. 
Marshall  in  1886.  The  combined  publication  forming  the 
Western  Monthly  Magazine  and  Literary  Journal  was  to 
be  issned  simultaneously  from  Cincinnati  and  Louisville. 
Gallagher  was  employed  to  edit  it,  and  he  entered  upon 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  449 

this  new  labor  with  unflagging  zeal.  The  Western  Acade- 
mician (think  of  a  Western  Academician  in  1837)  says  of 
this  new  venture :  "  It  is  replete  with  good  articles." 
]N'otwithstanding  its  exuberance  of  merit,  the  journal 
expired  with  the  issue  of  the  fifth  number,  perhaps  being 
too  good  to  live,  and  William  D.  Gallagher  was  left  once 
more  a  man  without  a  periodical.  But  now  a  star  of  hope 
appeared  in  the  North.  John  M.  Gallagher,  the  poet's 
youngest  brother,  had  become  manager  of  the  Ohio  State 
Journal,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  he  invited  William  to 
assist  him.  Such  an  opportunity  was  not  to  be  slighted, 
and  we  may  imagine  the  strong  Whig,  who  had  begun  his 
journalistic  labors  as  editor  of  the  Clay  newspaper  at 
Xenia,  now  using  the  language  of  Leigh  Hunt : 

"  I  yield,  I  yield. — Once  more  I  turn  to  you, 
Harsh  politics !  and  once  more  bid  adieu 
To  the  soft  dreaming  of  the  muse's  bowers." 

Gallagher  removed  with  his  family  to  Columbus,  and 
entered  upon  editorial  duties,  also  writing  political  letters 
from  the  capital  for  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  under  the 
signature  of  "  Probus."  But  his  connection  with  the 
State  Journal  was  of  short  duration.  Standing  by  his 
convictions  with  his  usual  stubborness  he  opposed,  edi- 
torily,  the  publication  of  the  laws  in  the  German  lan- 
guage and  the  teaching  of  any  foreign  language  in  the 
public  schools.  Finding  that  his  views  were  unpopular 
and  injurious  to  the  business  interests  of  the  paper, 
he  chose  to  resign  rather  than  suppress  his  honest 
opinions. 

Before  withdrawing  from  the  Journal  he  projected 
what  proved  to  be  his  most  important  enterprise  in  litera- 
ture, a  magazine  named  "  The  Hesperian."  This  was  a 
monthly  miscellany  of  general  literature.  The  first  num- 
ber came  out  in  May,  1838.  Otway  Curry  assisted  in  edit- 
ing the  first  volume.  Two  volumes  were  published  in 
Columbus — the  third  and  last  in  Cincinnati.  The  senior 
29 


450  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

editor,  in  his  opening  "Budget,"  confesses  that  his  past 
ten  years'  exertions  in  behalf  of  literature  "  have  been 
Iraitless  to  himself  of  every  thing  but  experience,"  yet  he 
finds  courage  to  make  one  more  attempt,  "because  he 
loves  the  pursuit— because  he  thinks  he  can  be  useful  in 
it— because  he  is  convinced  there  is,  throughout  the  whole 
West,  a  great  demand  and  a  growing  necessity  for  labor  in 

it and  because  he  believes  that  under  present  auspices  it 

can  be  made  to  yield  at  least  a  quid  pro  quo." 

The  Hesperian  was  jealously  Western,  as  its  name  suf- 
ficiently suggests,  but  it  was  by  no  means  narrow,  shal- 
low, or  provincial.  Its  watchwords  were  Freedom,  Edu- 
cation, Manhood,  Fair  Play.  The  contents  were  wide- 
ranging — geographical,  historical,  biographical,  political, 
poetical,  agricultural,  theological,  romantic,  and  fictitious. 
Among  his  contributors  were  the  Drakes,  Shreve,  Perkins, 
Neville,  Prentice,  W.  G.  Simms,  S.  P.  Hildreth,  C.  P. 
Granch,  I.  A.  Jewett,  A.  Kinmont,  R.  Dale  Owen,  Jas  W. 
Ward,  Mrs.  Sigourney,  Mrs.  Lee  Hentz,  Amelia  B.  Welby, 
and  many  others  worthy  to  hold  a  permanent  place  in  lit- 
erature. Gallagher  himself  wrote  copiously  and  very  ably 
for  the  Hesperian.  In  its  pages  appeared  his  most  ambi- 
tious story,  "  The  Dutchman's  Daughter,"  which,  though 
crude  and  ill-sustained  as  a  whole,  has  descriptive  passages 
that  would  grace  the  pen  of  Irving. 

The  Hesperian  was  transferred  from  Columbus  to 
Cincinnati  in  April,  1839.  The  editor  procured  a  room 
in  the  third  story  of  a  brick  house  on  Third  street,  east  of 
Main — a  room  ten  by  twelve,  with  a  door  and  a  single 
window.  "And  in  this  small  place,"  writes  he  gayly  to 
his  wife,  "  Emma,  dear,"  on  May  Day,  "  the  renowned  edi- 
tor of  the  Hesperian  is  to  read,  write,  eat,  drink,  go  to 
bed,  get  up,  and  entertain  his  friends."  To.  Curry  he 
wrote,  lugubriously  quoting  Mother  Goose,  "  I  have  so 
many  children  I  do  n't  know  what  to  do."  Again  to  Mrs. 
Gallagher,  on  May  15,  "  I  inclose  you  three  dollars,  all  the 
money  I  have,  and  I  hope  it  will  last  you  till  I  can  get 
and  furnish  you  some  more."  This  period  was  the  pro- 
verbial darkest  hour  just  before  day-break.  The  "  Probus  " 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  451 

letters  had  made  a  favorable  impression  on  Charles  Ham- 
mond, the  chief  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  and  in- 
duced him  to  oiFer  Gallagher  an  important  position  as  his 
assistant.  Hammond  was  at  that  time  the  most  influential 
journalist  in  the  country.  A  series  of  profound  and  lu- 
minous essays  which  he  wrote,  in  1820,  for  the  !N'ational 
Intelligencer,  on  the  Constitution,  compelled  the  attention 
and  commanded  the  praise  of  Jefferson.  He  was  an  inti- 
mate adviser  of  Clay,  and  had  been  called,  by  Webster, 
the  "  greatest  genius  that  ever  wielded  the  political  pen." 
Thomas  Ewing  had  said  of  Hammond  that  he  used  a  lan- 
guage as  pure  as  that  of  Addison.  It  was  no  light  honor 
to  be  called  and  chosen  by  so  eminent  a  man.  With  the 
honor  came  also  a  liberal  salary.  "  Emma  "  and  the  "  so 
many  children "  were  now  well  provided  for.  The  Hes- 
perian was  discontinued,  and  the  duties  of  the  new  career 
were  begun  in  the  latter  part  of  1839,  to  be  continued, 
with  little  interruption,  for  ten  years.  Mr.  Gallagher  at 
first  attended  mainly  to  the  literary  department  of  the 
paper,  but  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Hammond,  in  1840,  he 
did  much  political  writing.  He  became  more  and  more 
interested  in  state  and  national  questions,  and  took  an  ac- 
tive part  in  party  management.  For  many  years  he  was 
secretary  of  the  Whig  committee  for  the  First  Congres- 
sional District  of  Ohio.  In  1842  he  was  nominated  candi- 
date for  the  state  legislature,  but  declined  to  run. 

The  love  of  literature  continued  to  hold  sway  over  him. 
In  1840  he  planned  a  literary  undertaking  of  praiseworthy 
character  and  generous  scope,  as  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following  letter  to  Otway  Curry : 

"  To  Otway  Curry,  Esq., 

Marysville,  Union  County,  Ohio. 

"  Cincinnati,  Nov.  7,  1840. 
"  My  Dear  Curry  : — I  thank  you  for  your  original  con- 
tribution to  the  Poetical  Volume,  and  shall  insert  it  as  the 
second  selection  from  you,  'The  Goings  Forth  of  God' 
being  the  first.  It  was  not  my  original  design  to  have  ad- 
mitted any  thing  not  before  published,  but  Jones  thought 


452  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

he  could  do  better  than  he  had  yet  done,  and  Shreve  ditto ; 
and,  while  I  held  their  requests  for  the  privilege  of  insert- 
ing an  original,  under  advisement,  along  came  your  volun- 
tary* This,  as  there  was  no  impropriety  in  deviating  from 
the  first  plan  thus  made,  decided  me.  Perkins,  I  think, 
will  have  an  original  likewise;  and,  in  the  forewritten 
verses,*  you  have  one  of  my  own.  I  do  not  wish  it  known, 
however,  that  the  volume  contains  any  thing  specially  pre- 
pared for  it. 

"  I  had  not  room  in  my  last  letter  to  detail  to  you  the 
whole  of  my  design.  The  volume  of  '  Selections  from 
the  Poetical  Literature  of  the  West '  is  but  the  first  feat- 
ure of  it.  My  intention  is  to  follow  this  up  in  regular 
order  by  three  other  volumes,  of  *  Selections  from  the 
Polite  Literature  of  the  West,'  *  Selections  from  the  Pul- 
pit Literature  of  the  West,'  and  '  Selections  from  the 
Political  Literature  of  the  West.'  Don't  wipe  those  old 
specs  of  yours  so  hard,  now.  I  've  been  looking  over  the 
level  prairies  of  these  intellectual  regions,  and  I  find  in 
them  materials  enough  for  all  I  have  contemplated.  The 
truth  is,  Curry,  this  Transmontane  world  is  a  most  glori- 
ous one,  and  I  can't  help  trying  to  do  something  for  its 
literary  character,  engage  in  whatsoever  else  I  may,  and 
starve,  as  I  fear  I  must  at  this.  I  suppose  these  several 
volumes  will  come  out  at  intervals  of  from  five  to  six 
months,  till  the  whole  shall  have  been  published. 

"About  your  *  Veiled  Prophet,'  I  feel  some  anxiety. 
Burton's  new  theater,  I  understand,  has  been  open  for  a 
number  of  weeks,  yet  I  hear  nothing  either  of  Jemmy 
Thorn  or  from  him.  The  first  one  of  our  citizens  whom 
I  find  starting  for  Philadelphia  I  shall  get  to  call  upon 
Burton  and  make  personal  inquiry,  etc.,  with  reference 
to  it. 

"About  that  congress  of  lunatics  which  you  suggest: 
Perkins  thinks  well  of  it,  Shreve  thinks  well  of  it,  Curry 
thinks  well  of  it,  and  Gallagher  thinks  well  of  it;  and 
each  of  these  distinguished  men,  doubtless,  will  willingly 

*  A  poem  entitled  "  Little  Children,"  inclosed  in  the  letter  to  Curry, 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  453 

meet,  lunaticise,  and  go  home  again.  What  further  than 
this,  while  the  matter  is  so  entirely  a  new  suggestion,  can 
I  say  ?  Give  us  your  plan,  and  if  it  be  as  good  and  feasible 
as  I  presume  it  is,  you  will  find  us  readily  and  actively 
seconding  your  motion. 

"And  now,  my  dear  fellow,  a  word  in  your  ear  confiden- 
tially. I  am  very  busy  now-a-days,  and  should  not  there- 
fore have  replied  to  your  last  so  promptly  but  that  I  want 
very  much  to  be  '  astonished  jist.'  So  crack  your  whip, 
and  let  us  know  what  that  'something'  is,  about  which 
you  prate  so  bigly.  Thine  as  ever, 

''  W.  D.  Gallagher. 

"  P.  S. — Write  me  down,  if  you  please,  richer  since  day 
before  yesterday,  by  another  child,  and  poorer  by  what  it 
will  cost  to  keep  it.  This  makes  the  fifth,  all  alive  and 
kicking,  and  able  to  eat  mush  with  the  children  of  any 
Clodhopper  in  the  land." 

That  Gallagher's  inclinations  kept  pulling  him  toward 
literature  for  some  years  after  he  became  a  political  editor, 
is  evident  from  a  breezy  letter  written  to  Curry  in  August, 
1844: 

"Dear  Curry: — Upon  accurate  calculation,  the  time  of 
the  rising  of  the  new  literary  comet  of  the  West  has  been 
determined.  You  and  other  benighted  people  in  your 
region  may  look  for  a  luminous  streak  in  the  heavens  at 
9  h.  10  m.  11  sec,  October  1,  1844.  After  this  announce- 
ment, my  dear  fellow,  can  you  remain  idle  ?  I  hope  not, 
for  the  sake  of  the  new  experiment,  the  credit  of  your 
name,  and  the  honor  of  your  friend,  who  pledged  to 
Messrs.  Judson  and  Hine  an  article  from  your  pen  for  the 
first  number,  and  probably  one  for  the  second,  and  another 
for  the  third.  The  work  is  to  be  gotten  out  in  the  hand- 
somest style,  and  you  will  have  the  pleasure  of  appearing 
in  good  company.  Lay  aside  your  political  pen,  there- 
fore, shut  up  your  law  books,  mount  Pegasus,  or  some 
comely  prose  nag,  and  away  to  the  free  fields  !  What  do 
you  say  ?     Shall  I  have  something  from  yon  to  hand  over 


454  Literary  Culture  in  tlie  Ohio  Valley. 

by  the  6th  to  10th  prox.?  Do  n't  make  it  later,  for  the 
first  copy  is  now  in  hand,  and  they  want  to  be  out  early. 
Think  of  the  olden  time — your  first  love — wipe  your  specs 
— stick  in  a  Havana — hum  a  madrigal — and  dash  into  the 
thing  pell-mell.    Let  me  hear  from  you  at  once." 

The  new  "  literary  comet "  thus  announced  was  (pathetic 
repetition!)  still  another  Literary  Journal  and  Monthly 
Review,  edited  by  L.  A.  Hine,  and  referred  to  by  him  some 
years  later  as  "  my  first  literary  wreck."  It  was  published 
at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  conducted  nominally  by  E. 
Z.  C.  Judson— "  Ned  Buntline." 

In  those  years  of  prosperity  and  constant  pen-wielding, 
Mr.  Gallagher's  muse  was  liberal.  Then  it  was  that  the 
poet,  caring  more  for  the  sentiment  than  the  form  of  his 
utterance,  dashed  off'  the  strong  and  fervent  lyrics,  by 
which  he  became  really  recognized  as  a  man  of  original 
power.  He  sang  the  dignity  of  intrinsic  manhood,  the 
nobleness  of  honest  labor,  and  the  glory  of  human  free- 
dom. Much  that  he  wrote  was  extremely  radical;  his 
poetry  was  tinctured  with  the  gospel  of  Christian  social- 
ism, and  the  example  he  set  was  imitated  by  many  other 
writers  of  verse. 

"  Be  thou  like  the  first  Apostles- 
Be  thou  like  heroic  Paul ; 
If  a  free  thought  seek  expression, 
Speak  it  boldly!— speak  it  all ! 

"  Face  thine  enemies — accusers ; 
Scorn  the  prison,  rack,  or  rod ! 
And,  if  thou  hast  truth  to  utter. 
Speak!  and  leave  the  rest  to  God!" 

Such  lines  as  these,  and  as  compose  the  poems  "  Truth 
and  Freedom,"  "  Conservatism,"  "  The  Laborer,"  "  Radi- 
calos,"  "The  Artisan,"  "The  New  Age,"  "All  Things 
Free,"  went  to  the  brain  and  heart  of  many  people ;  and 
it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  they  exerted  a  deep  and  lasting 
influence.  Of  a  more  distinctly  poetical  type  were  his 
melodious  pieces  describing  the  West  and  the  life  of  the 
pioneer;   and  still  more  popular,  in  their  day,  were  his 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  455 

songs,  many  of  which  were  set  to  music  and  sung  in  thea- 
ters and  at  the  fireside.  In  1845  was  written  his  famous 
ballad,  "  The  Spotted  Fawn,"  which  everybody  knew  by 
heart. 

A  man  of  Gallagher's  principles  could  not  be  other 
than  an  opposer  of  slavery.  When  the  ofiice  of  the  Phi- 
lanthropist, the  anti-slavery  paper  established  in  Cincin- 
nati by  James  G.  Birney,  was  mobbed,  and  the  press 
thrown  into  the  Ohio  river,  Gallagher  was  one  of  the  citi- 
zens who,  meeting  with  Hammond,  Chase,  and  others  at 
the  Gazette  office,  arranged  for  a  public  meeting  to  be 
held  at  the  court-house,  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  free 
speech.  Years  afterward,  in  1848,  probably,  Gallagher's 
feeling  on  the  slavery  question  became  so  positive  that  he 
felt  it  a  political  duty  to  withdraw  from  the  Gazette  in 
order  to  edit  the  Daily  Message.  "  The  most  I  remember 
about  this  paper  is,"  so  he  wrote  in  1884,  "  that  I  gave  its 
editorial  columns  altogether  too  anti-slavery  (not  abolition) 
a  tinge  to  make  it  acceptable  to  business  men  in  Cincin- 
nati, who  had  commenced  transactions  with  business  men 
south,  and  that  soon  after  publishing  the  address  of  the 
first  national  convention  of  the  anti-slavery  party  of  the 
United  States  (which  even  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  refused 
to  publish),  the  paper  was  almost  kicked  out  of  the  stores 
on  the  river  tier  of  squares,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that 
I  must  leave  the  paper  very  soon,  or  the  time  would  not 
be  long  before  it  would  leave  me  (and  my  wife  and  babies) 
without  any  thing  to  eat.  So  I  left  it  and  went  back  to 
the  Gazette." 

While  connected  with  the  Gazette,  Gallagher  did  much 
to  encourage  the  literary  eftbrt  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  It  is 
interesting  to  learn  that  of  the  young  writers  whom  he 
brought  before  the  public,  Murat  Halstead  is  one.  Mr. 
Halstead  humorously  says,  "  I  was  ruined  by  Mr.  Galla- 
gher; he  accepted  and  published  in  the  Gazette  a  story 
which  I  had  written  and  carefully  copied  over  three 
times." 

Gallagher  was  twice  elected  president  of  the  "  Histori- 
cal and  Philosophical  Society  of  Ohio."     The  sixty-second 


456  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Ohio  was  commemorated 
by  the  society  on  April  8,  1850,  when  the  president  deliv- 
ered a  discourse  full  of  information  and  vigorous  thought 
on  the  "  Progress  in  the  North-west."  This  address  was 
published  byH.  W.  Derby,  and  copies  of  it  are  now  much 
sought  after. 

The  year  1850  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  line  of 
experiences  for  Mr.  Gallagher.  His  experiments  in  lite- 
rary journalism  ended  with  the  Hesperian.  His  ten  years^ 
editorial  service  on  the  Gazette  came  to  a  close,  for  rea- 
sons which  we  give  in  his  own  written  words : 

"  While  I  was  connected  with  Judge  Wright  and  L.  C. 
Turner,  in  the  editorship  of  the  Cincinnati  Daily  Gazette, 
*  Tom  '  Corwin  was  appointed  to  the  head  of  the  Treasury 
Department  at  Washington,  and  immediately  offered  me 
the  place  of  private  secretary,  which  I  was  urged  to  ac- 
cept. This,  I  believe,  was  in  the  year  1850.  I  was  what  I 
considered  in  advance  of  both  Wright  and  Turner,  in  re- 
lation to  sundry  questions  of  public  and  party  nature,  and 
on  several  occasions  had  felt  it  my  duty  to  commit  the 
paper,  much  to  Wright's  dissatisfaction.  Finally  a  count- 
ing-room consultation  was  determined  upon,  and  the 
L'llommedieus  were  called  into  the  editorial  room. 
Stephen,  the  elder  brother,  sympathized  with  me  from 
principle,  Richard,  the  younger,  agreed  with  Wright,  as 
he  said,  from  policy.  <What,  Judge,'  Stephen  after  a 
while  inquired,  'is  Gallagher's  besetting  sin  in  editorial 
matters?'  *  Why,' promptly  replied  the  Judge,  without 
any  exhibition  of  ill-nature, '  he  is  forever  treading  upon 
Bomebody's  toes — and  causing  dissatisfaction  in  the  party 
aa  well  as  among  business  men.'  Until  this  I  had  said 
nothing,  but  now  I  quickly  responded, '  That,  gentlemen, 
will  never  be  a  cause  of  complaint  against  Judge  Wright 
— because  be  is  forever  behind  the  life  and  soul  of  his 
party,  or  at  the  best,  stumbling  against  somebody's  heels' 
There  was  an  instantaneous  pause,  when  Stephen  left  and 
beckoned  me  out  of  the  room.  I  followed  him,  and  much 
to  his  dissatisfaction,  notified  him  that  I  should  withdraw 
from  the  Gazette  and  accept  Mr.  Corwin's  ofter." 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  457 

Soon  after  his  going  to  Washington  and  entering  upon 
the  discharge  of  duties  in  the  Treasury  Department,  the 
United  States  Senate  called  upon  the  secretary  for  a  re- 
port upon  the  merchant  marine,  internal  and  coastwise, 
Reliahle  materials  for  such  a  report  were  not  at  hand,  and 
Gallagher,  having  the  reputation  for  ability  to  "hold  hia 
tongue,"  was  directed  to  proceed  to  the  various  interior 
customs  districts  of  the  United  States  and  collect  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  the  revenue,  and  Edward  D.  Mansfield 
was  appointed  to  proceed  upon  similar  business  to  the  dis- 
tricts upon  the  Atlantic  sea-coast.  All  the  materials  in^ 
Gallagher  drew  up  the  report,  which  was  much  com- 
mended in  the  department. 

This  over,  he  was  immediately  dispatched  to  the  city 
of  Xew  York  for  a  million  of  dollars  in  gold,  out  of  the 
sub-treasury,  with  which  he  was  instructed  to  proceed  to 
jS'ew  Orleans,  by  sea,  and  to  deposit  with  the  United 
States  treasury  in  that  city.  This  was  to  be  a  secret  re- 
moval of  gold,  required  in  the  settlement  of  Mexican 
claims.  The  specie  was  quietly  conveyed  to  the  steam- 
ship Georgia,  of  the  Howland  and  Aspinwall  line,  and 
placed  in  a  chest  under  the  floor  of  the  ladies'  cabin  be- 
fore any  passengers  were  received  on  board.  Besides  Mr. 
Gallagher,  the  captain  and  the  purser  were  the  only  soula 
on  the  ship  who  were  aware  that  it  bore  golden  freight. 
The  voyage  was  in  mid-winter;  the  weather  proved 
stormy. 

Key  West  was  reached  without  accident,  but  within  an 
hour  after  the  voyage  was  resumed  from  that  point  the 
ship  struck  a  rock.  By  skillful  piloting,  the  rock  waa 
cleared ;  and,  after  a  much  longer  than  average  trip,  lN"ew 
Orleans  was  finally  reached  on  a  Sunday  morning.  As 
soon  as  the  passengers  were  ashore,  the  gold  was  loaded 
in.  a  wagon,  and  hauled  to  the  office  of  the  Assistant 
United  States  Treasurer,  where  Gallagher  had  it  securely 
placed  under  lock.  With  the  key  in  his  pocket,  he  went 
to  the  St.  Charles  Hotel  and  got  breakfast.  That  over,  he 
proceeded  to  the  telegraph  office,  and  sent  the  follow- 
ing dispatch  :     "  Hon.  Thomas   Corwin,  Secretary  of  the 


468  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Treasury,  Washington.  All  Right.  W.  D.  Gallagher, 
New  Orleans."  Keturning  to  Washington,  Gallagher 
resumed  his  labors  as  private  secretary.  One  day  he 
found  among  the  papers  which  it  was  his  duty  to  examine 
a  letter  signed  by  some  of  his  old  Cincinnati  friends,  sug- 
gesting that  an  extra  compensation  of  not  less  than 
11,000  should  be  given  him  as  an  appropriate  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  general  services  to  the  Whig  party  and 
to  the  government.  He  showed  the  letter  to  another 
officer  of  the  department,  who  was  pleased  with  it,  saying : 
**  There  is  precedent  enough  for  such  extra  compensation 
for  similar  services,  and  it  is  all  right — but  do  you  think 
the  secretary  will  consent  to  it  ?"  "  I  don't  think  he  will 
ever  have  an  opportunity  to  consent  to  it,"  Gallagher 
replied,  and  threw  the  letter  into  the  grate  and  burned  it 
up.  "  You  ought  not  to  have  done  that,  Gallagher," 
remarked  Mr.  H — ,  "  but — "  "  Perhaps  not ;  but  no  per- 
sonal friends  of  mine  shall  ever  be  tempted  by  other 
personal  friends  to  do  any  thing  for  me  like  that  pro- 
posed." Within  an  hour  Mr.  Corwin  came  back  to  the 
department  from  a  visit  to  the  president.  Mr.  H — ,  good- 
naturedly,  mentioned  the  matter  to  him,  whereupon  he 
sent,  by  messenger,  a  request  that  Gallagher  would  step 
into  his  room.  When  the  latter  presented  himself,  Cor- 
win, with  a  very  solemn  expression  upon  his  face,  said, 
not  angrily,  but  with  sternness  in  his  tone,  "  Gallagher, 
are  you  in  the  habit,  as  my  private  secretary,  of  destroy- 
ing such  of  my  private  letters  as  you  happen  not  to 
like?"  "Governor,  you  have  no  idea  that  I  could  do 
any  thing  of  the  sort.  I  destroyed  one  such  letter  awhile 
ago,  which  concerned  me  more  than  it  did  you,  and  which, 
though  meant  as  an  act  of  friendship,  ought  not  to  have 
been  written  without  my  knowledge  and  consent.  But  I 
suppose  you  know  all  about  it."  The  expression  on  Cor- 
win's  face  at  once  relaxed,  as  he  continued*,  "  I  wonder 

j^ and really  supposed  I  would  use  the  public 

money  in  that  way.  If  they  did,  they  were  most  damna- 
bly mistaken."    . 

In  the  summer  of  1852,  Gallagher  had  an  opportunity  of 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  459 

going  into  the  New  York  Tribune  with  Horace  Greeley ; 
and  another  of  taking  a  one-half  interest  in  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial,  then  controlled  by  his  friend,  M.  D.  Potter. 
He  was  advised  and  urged  by  such  old  anti-slavery  friends 
as  Gamaliel  Bailey,  Thomas  H.  Shreve,  Koble  Butler,  and 
others,  in  Washington,  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  to  pur- 
chase half  the  stock  of  the  Louisville  Daily  Courier,  and 
to  assume  the  editorship  of  that  paper,  which  was  to  be  a 
southern  organ  for  the  advocacy  of  Corwin's  nomination 
to  the  presidency.  After  long  consideration,  a  decision 
was  reached  in  favor  of  the  Courier,  and  Gallagher  re- 
turned to  the  West  with  his  family,  arriving  at  Louisville 
the  first  day  of  January,  1853.  IN  early  thirty  years  after- 
ward he  wrote :  "  My  connection  with  the  Courier  proved 
to  be  an  unfortunate  one.  There  was  little  sympathy  with 
my  editorial  tone  and  teachings,  either  in  Louisville  or 
throughout  Kentucky.  I  worked  hard  and  lost  money. 
So  in  1854  I  sold  my  interest  in  the  concern  and  withdrew 
from  the  paper,  having  been  stigmatized  again  and  again, 
in  southern  and  south-western  localities,  as  an  abolition 
adventurer  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Ohio  river,  as  former 
president  of  the  underground  railroad  through  Ohio  for 
runaway  slaves,  etc.,  etc."  Personal  animosity  was  in- 
flamed against  the  unpopular  editor  from  his  boldly  at- 
tacking John  J.  Crittenden  for  consenting  to  defend  Matt. 
Ward,  who  killed  the  young  teacher,  Butler,  in  his  own 
school-room.  Young  Butler  was  a  brother  of  Noble  But- 
ler, one  of  Gallagher's  dearest  friends. 

Even  George  D.  Prentice  {et  tu  Brute!)  joined  in  the  hue 
and  cry  against  the  Courier  editor,  partly  because  Galla- 
gher was  an  Irish  anti-know-nothing,  but  mainly  on  the 
sore  question  of  slavery.  Prentice  came  up  to  Cincinnati 
and  spent  several  days  looking  through  the  files  of  the 
Gazette  to  find  in  Gallagher's  editorials  abolition  senti- 
ments that  might  be  used  against  him  in  Louisville.  An 
article  appeared  in  the  Journal  branding  Gallagher  with 
the  crime  of  managing  the  underground  railroad.  This 
direct  and  personal  attack  roused  the  Celtic  resentment  of 
its  subject,  and  he  replied  in  the  editorial  columns  of  the 


460  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Courier,  over  his  signature,  denying  the  allegation,  and 
closed  his  card  by  denouncing  the  author  of  the  calumny 
as '*  a  scoundrel  and  liar."  He  had  caught  the  spirit  of 
personal  journalism.  The  consequences  were,  if  not  dra- 
matic, at  least  theatrical. 

Upon  a  day  the  Louisville  train  brings  to  Pewee  Valley, 
in  Oldham  county,  where  Mr.  Gallagher  had  bought  a 
little  farm,  a  military  gentleman  of  chivalrous  appearance, 
who  inquires  the  way  from  the  station  to  Fern  Eock  Cot- 
tage. Finding  the  house,  he  knocks,  and  is  admitted  to 
the  parlor  by  a  colored  servant.  The  master  of  the  house 
is  indisposed,  is  resting  upon  his  bed,  but  clothed  and  in 
his  right  mind,  and  able  to  receive  his  visitor.  The 
military  gentleman  will  wait.  To  him  presently  enters 
William  "  Dignity  "  Gallagher,  who,  recognizing  Colonel 
Churchill,  cordially  greets  him,  and  asks  his  pleasure. 
The  colonel,  with  equal  politeness,  takes  from  his  pocket 
a  letter,  which  he  hands  to  the  convalescent  editor.  The 
missive  is  opened,  and  it  proves  to  be  a  challenge  from 
the  proprietor  of  the  Louisville  Journal.  Gallagher  reads, 
tears  the  communication  into  a  handful  of  bits,  and 
throws  the  fragments  on  the  floor.  "Colonel  Churchill, 
tell  Mr.  Prentice  that  is  my  answer  to  his  foolish  chal- 
lenge.'* 

Free  once  more,  and  now  finally,  from  political  journal- 
ism, Gallagher  began  to  plant  orchards,  earning  bread  and 
butter  for  the  time  by  editing  an  agricultural  paper,  the 
Western  Farmer's  Journal,  and  by  writing  for  the  Colum- 
bian and  Great  West,  a  Cincinnati  paper,  published  by  his 
friend,  W.  B.  Shattuc.  He  also  contributed  poems  to  the 
National  Era,  edited  by  Dr.  Bailey.  With  wonderful 
energy,  he  set  about  organizing  industrial  and  educational 
institutions.  He  established  a  Kentucky  Mechanics'  In- 
stitute, a  Kentucky  State  Agricultural  Society,  and  was 
instrumental  in  forming  the  South-western  Agricultural 
Society,  of  which  he  was  made  secretary.  In  the  way  of 
useful  literature,  ho  wrote  a  prize  essay  on  "  Fruit  Culture 
in  the  Ohio  Valley,"  and  prepared  materials  for  a  social 
and  statistical  view  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 


William.  Davis  Gallagher.  461 

Pewee  Valley  (at  first  named  Pewee's  !N"est  by  Noble 
Butler,  from  tbe  circumstance  that,  when  locating  a  build- 
ing site  there,  he  wrote  letters  in  a  ruined  cabin  in  which 
the  pewees  had  built)  is  a  beautiful  village,  on  the  Louis- 
ville and  Nashville  Railroad,  about  sixteen  miles  east  of 
Louisville.  It  became  a  chosen  resort  of  people  of  culture 
and  taste.  There  lived  Edwin  Bryant,  who  had  been 
the  Alcalde  of  San  Francisco  in  the  gold-seeking  days; 
Noble  Butler,  the  educator,  resided  there ;  the  wealthy 
and  accomplished  Warfield  family  made  their  refined  and 
hospitable  home  at  Pewee  Valley.  Mr.  Gallagher's  house, 
a  rambling  frame  cottage,  covered  with  American  ivy, 
was  built  in  the  midst  of  great  forest  trees — beech,  oak, 
maple,  poplar,  and  a  newer  growth  of  sassafras,  dogwood, 
black-haw  and  evergreens.  Gray  squirrels  barked  and 
skipped  about  the  door-yard,  and  the  cat-bird,  the  red- 
bird,  and  the  unceremonious  blue-jay  came  near  the 
porches  for  their  daily  bread. 

Mr.  Gallagher  greatly  enjoyed  the  picturesque  surround- 
ings and  the  congenial  society  of  Pewee  Valley.  Being 
of  a  generous  and  friendly  disposition,  he  was  liked  by  all 
who  knew  him.  Western  literary  people  were  especially 
attached  to  him.  His  correspondence  with  that  class  was 
extensive.  The  following  letter  may  stand  as  a  fair  rep- 
resentative of  the  many  that  were  sent  him.  It  was  writ- 
ten from  New  York,  over  thirty  years  ago,  by  one  who, 
at  that  time,  was  regarded  as  the  coming  man  in  literature, 
Mr.  William  Boss  Wallace. 

[  William  Boss  Wallace  to  W.  D.  Gallagher^ 

"  N.  Y.,  August  17,  1860. 
"  My  Dear  old  Friend  : — Your  most  kind  and  welcome 
letter  came  to  hand  several  days  since ;  and  I  have  delayed 
an  answer  until  I  could  read  your  lady  friend's  novel.  This 
I  have  done  with  very  great  interest,  as  it  is  brimful  of 
genius  and  a  most  peculiar,  startingly  original  power. 
Mrs.  Warfield  is  certainly  endowed  with  great  talent  and 
moral  force.  Her  style  is  rich,  yet  chaste — full  of  a  ma- 
ture and  lasting  splendor.     I  should  think  that  this  Ro- 


462  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

mance  will  place  her,  at  a  bound,  at  the  head  of  our  fe- 
male authors — while  she  will  compare  favorably  with  the 
masculine.  Of  course,  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  in  the 
way  of  newspaper  notices;  although  the  work  needs  no 
bolstering.  T  am  very  glad,  my  dear  friend,  that  you  like 
my  poems — as  it  is  pleasant  to  be  admired  by  those  whom 
we  admire. 

"Do  send  me  a  copy  of  your  wood-thrush-note  when 
it  rings,  at  last,  through  the  grand  old  woods.  I  hope  to 
publish  soon  a  long  national  poem,  entitled  *  Chants  in 
America  " — devoted  to  our  glorious  scenery  and  deeds.  I 
take  a  motto  from  yourself  for  the  first  part.  Do  you  ever 
see  Noble  Butler?  and  Mr.  Bryant  ?  Mr.  Fosdick  told  me 
that  you  were  all  neighbors.  I  have  dear  memories  of 
both  B's. 

"  I  shall  publish  a  notice  of  Mrs.  W.'s  great  novel  in  a 
few  days,  and  send  you  a  copy  of  the  paper  containing  it. 

"  Please  let  me  know  when  you  receive  this,  and  believe 
me  to  be  yours,  afiectionately, 

"  William  Ross  Wallace. 

Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  Esq." 

The  novel  here  referred  to  was  "  The  Household  of 
Bouverie,"  published  in  1860  by  J.  C.  Derby,  and  by  him 
described  as  a  "  wonderful  romance."  ^ 

Busied  with  the  labors  of  peace,  Gallagher  little  antici- 
pated how  soon  he  was  to  assume  important  duties  of  war, 
not  in  the  capacity  of  a  military  man,  but  as  a  civil  officer 
of  the  Government,  which  he  had  served  so  faithfully  be- 
fore. A  new  President  of  the  United  States  was  to  be 
chosen.  He  attended  several  political  conventions — one 
State  convention — was  a  delegate  from  Kentucky  to  the 
National  convention  at  Chicago,  in  1860,  and  was  made 
somewhat  conspicuous  there  by  a  response  which  he  gave 
in  reply  to  an  address  of  welcome.  Though  his  personal 
preference  was  for  Mr.  Chase,  he  went  with  the  current  for 
"Old  Abe,"  working  hard  and  voting  for  his  nomination, 

•Fifty  Yeaw  Among  Aothore,  Books  and  Publishers.    J.  C.  Derby, 
1884. 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  463 

against  that  of  William  H.  Seward  ;  and  was  one  of  those 
who  carried  the  news  to  Springfield.  In  these  and  other 
public  ways,  he  rendered  himself  so  objectionable  to  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  in  his  neighborhood,  who  were 
opposed  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  a  public  meet- 
ing was  called  and  held  within  a  mile  of  his  house,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  him  notice  to  leave  the  State.  The  sit- 
uation was  now  dramatic  in  earnest,  and  might  have  be- 
come tragic,  had  it  not  been  for  the  personal  friendship  of 
some  of  his  political  opposers.  On  the  day  of  the  threat- 
ened violence,  Mr.  Gallagher  had  intended  to  go  from  his 
home  to  Cincinnati.  At  Pewee  Station,  his  friend,  Mr. 
Haldeman,  called  out :  "  Gallagher,  have  you  seen  Dr. 
Bell  ?"  "  ]N'o."  "  He  says  they  are  going  to  mob  you ; 
there  is  a  crowd  at  Beard's  Station,  and  they  swear  you 
must  leave  the  State."  Dr.  Bell  came  up  and  advised 
Gallagher  to  go  on  to  Cincinnati.  "  ^N'o,  gentlemen ;  if 
violence  is  meditated,  my  family  are  the  first  considera- 
tion, and  home  is  the  place  for  me.  Mr.  Crow" — this  to 
the  station-keeper — '^  let  it  be  known  that  I  am  at  home." 
Haldeman  forced  into  Gallagher's  hand  a  navy  revolver, 
though  the  poet  had  never  fired  a  pistol  in  his  life ;  an- 
other political  enemy,  but  personal  friend,  gave  him  a  big 
bowie-knife,  and  thus  grimly  over-armed  he  returned  to 
Fern  Bock,  to  the  amazement  of  his  wife  and  daughters. 

The  meeting  at  Beard's  Station  was  a  dangerous  one, 
but  Gallagher's  rebel  neighbors,  with  warm  respect  for 
the  man  and  chivalrous  regard  for  fair  play,  demanded  a 
hearing.  A  stalwart  young  mechanic  took  upon  himself 
to  champion  the  cause  of  free  opinion.  "  I  hate  Galla- 
gher's politics  as  much  as  any  of  you,"  said  this  gallant 
Kentuckian  to  the  crowd,  "  but  he  has  as  good  a  right  to 
his  ideas  as  we  have  to  ours,  and  " — with  a  string  of  terri- 
ble oaths — "  whoever  tries  to  lay  a  hand  on  him,  or  to  give 
him  an  order  to  leave  the  State,  must  first  pass  over  my 
dead  body."  The  notice  was  not  served ;  but  after  hours 
of  talk,  the  assemblage  contented  itself  with  providing 
for  the  appointment  of  a  "  vigilance  committee  "  for  the 
neighborhood  and  dispersed.     The  excitement  died  away, 


464  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

and  the  Gallagher  family  lived  in  comparative  safety ;  the 
stars  and  stripes  floated  above  the  roof  of  Fern  Rock  Cot- 
tage during  the  six  gloomy  years  of  the  war. 

When  Mr.  Chase  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Gallagher  was  invited  to  accept  the  same  position  under 
him  that  he  had  held  under  Mr.  Corwin.  As  the  war 
went  on,  it  became  necessary  for  the  Government  to  ap- 
point a  special  Collector  of  Customs  for  the  ports  of  de- 
livery in  the  interior,  on  the  Mississippi  river  and  else- 
where. Mr.  Lincoln  selected  Gallagher  for  this  important 
office.  He  was  also  made  special  commercial  agent  for 
the  upper  Mississippi  Valley.  By  his  vigilance,  pro- 
visions and  stores,  to  the  value  of  millions,  intended  for 
the  aid  and  comfort  of  the  Confederates,  were  intercepted 
and  saved  to  the  Union. 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  he  was  appointed  to  the  office 
of  Surveyor  of  Customs  in  Louisville,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war  he  was  made  Pension  Agent.  His  public  duties 
were  all  discharged  punctually  and  with  the  strictest  in- 
tegrity. He  made  no  money  out  of  his  country's  mis- 
fortunes. 

In  the  midst  of  official  labor  he  found  time  and  inspira- 
tion for  the  occasional  use  of  his  good  goose-quill  (for  he 
never  uses  a  steel  pen),  and  he  produced  several  stirring 
poems  that  did  better  work  than  many  bullets.  Chief  of 
these  were  the  patriotic  ballad  "  Grandpa  IS'athan,"  and 
the  timely  lyrics,  "  Move  on  the  Columns,"  and  "  The 
President's  Gun,"  the  last  a  poem  on  the  emancipation 
proclamation. 

The  echoes  of  battle  died  away  and  Mr.  Gallagher  re- 
turned to  his  quiet  farm,  planted  flowers,  made  rockeries, 
and  planned  new  buildings.  He  resumed  the  useful  pen, 
writing  masterly  communications  for  the  "  Louisville  and 
Ohio  Valley  Manufacturer  and  Merchant."  One  of  his 
articles  is  on  "  Cotton  and  Tobacco,"  another  on  "  Our 
Commercial  Exchanges."  Perhaps  his  ablest  statistical 
discourse  is  one  published  in  pamphlet  form  in  1879,  en- 
titled "  The  Area  of  Subsistence,  and  its  Natural  Outlet 
to  the  Ocean  and  the  World,"  a  discussion  of  the  resources 


William  Davis  Gallagher,  465 

of  the  great  South-west,  and  a  counterpart  to  his  address 
in  1850  on  the  North-west. 

In  the  reaction  that  followed  the  seeming  prosperity 
stimulated  by  the  war,  Mr.  Gallagher  suffered  financially, 
as  did  thousands  of  others.  His  property  at  Pewee  Val- 
ley depreciated  and  he  also  lost  money  by  unfortunate 
investments.  Driven  by  necessity  he  earned  his  living  by 
spending  patient  hours  at  the  clerical  desk  as  salaried 
secretary  of  the  "  Kentucky  Land  Company."  In  1881, 
he  was  working,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  like  a  beaver,"  a 
statement  that  recalls  his  brother's  complaint,  more  than 
sixty  years  before,  that  Billy  was  toiling  "  like  a  nigger." 

If  ever  a  citizen  was  entitled  to  government  appoint- 
ment on  the  score  of  faithful  public  service,  Gallagher 
was.  Several  of  his  political  friends  presented  his  claims 
to  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in  1871, 
His  indorsers  in  Kentucky  were  such  men  as  B.  H.  Bris- 
tow,  G.  C.  Wharton,  and  John  M.  Harlan.  Hon.  Charles 
P.  James  wrote  to  President  Hayes  from  Washington,  "  I 
am  able  to  say  that  his  reputation,  whether  as  an  officer 
or  business  man,  has  been  absolutely  without  imputation 
of  wrong  or  neglect.  He  has  always  been  known  as  a 
remarkably  hard  worker,  and  as  a  man  of  great  moral 
courage."  A  letter  written  by  General  E.  C.  Schenck  said 
of  Gallagher,  "  He  can  bring  to  the  public  service,  high 
character,  undoubted  integrity,  and  great  literary  ability." 
On  the  back  of  this  is  written,  with  bold  emphasis,  "  I 
concur  in  the  foregoing  recommendation.  J.  A.  Garfield." 
It  was  Guiteau's  bullet  that  prevented  Gallagher  from  re- 
ceiving an  appointment  from  the  man  of  Mentor. 

Incidental  mention  is  made,  in  the  foregoing  narrative, 
of  Mr.  Gallagher's  ringing  lyrics  of  reform,  and  his  songs 
celebrating  the  days  of  the  pioneer.  These  made  their 
author  famous  half  a  century  ago,  and  were  praised  in  the 
magazines  by  Percival,  Sprague,  Brainard,  and  James  F. 
Clarke.  There. is  music  as  well  as  mental  vim,  and  the 
huzza  of  "  progress,"  in  such  poems  as  "  Conservatism," 
which  opens  with  th^  satiric  stanza : 
30 


466  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"  The  owl,  he  fareth  well 

In  the  shadows  of  the  night ; 
And  it  puzzleth  him  to  tell 
Why  the  eagle  loves  the  light." 

There  is  manly  pride  and  moral  vigor  in  the  lines  ad- 
dressed to  the  "Laborer,"  beginning  abruptly  with  the 
admonition — 

"  Stand  up— erect!    Thou  hast  the  form 
And  likeness  of  thy  God  ! — who  more  ?" 

Sincere  emotion  and  faithful  imagery  give  genuine  poetic 
qualities  to  the  buoyant  rhythm  and  easy  rhyme  of  "  The 
West  "— 

"  Land  of  the  West — green  forest  land  !" 

And  to  the  brave  and  breezy  "  Song  of  the  Pioneers." 

Fine  and  forcible  as  these  eloquent  and  melodious  pieces 
are,  they  are  surpassed  in  poetical  merit  by  the  author's 
delicate  lyrics  descriptive  of  nature,  such  as  his  poems  on 
"  May  "  and  on  "August,"  and  his  lines  to  "  The  Cardi- 
nal Bird."  These  have  been  reprinted  so  often  that  they 
are  accessible  to  most  readers.  There  is  a  little  poem, 
written  by  Mr.  Gallagher  in  1852,  called  "  The  Brown 
Thrush,"  which  has  qualities  of  sweetness  and  tenderness 
and  open-hearted  spontaneity.     I  quote : 

"  We  trilled  our  morn  and  evening  songs  together, 
And  twittered  'neath  green  leaves  at  sultry  noon ; 
We  kept  like  silence  in  ungenial  weather, 
And  never  new  blue  skies  come  back  too  soon. 
•  We  sang  not  for  the  world ;  we  sang  not  even 

For  those  we  loved ;  we  could  not  help  but  sing, — 
There  was  such  beauty  in  the  earth  and  heaven, 
Such  music  in  our  hearts,  such  joy  in  every  thing !" 

The  brief  preface  to  Mr.  Gallagher's  "Miami  Woods 
and  Other  Poems,"  published  in  Cincinnati  in  1881,  tells 
U8  that  nearly  the  entire  contents  of  the  volume,  except- 
ing the  miscellaneous  poems  "appear  in  print  now  for 
the  first  time,  though  written  at  various  periods  between 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  467 

twenty-five  and  forty-two  years  ago."  A  subsequent  vol- 
ume, in  which  will  be  embraced  "  The  Ancient  People," 
"  Ballads  of  the  Barder,"  "  Civile  Bellum,"  w^as  promised, 
but  it  may  never  appear,  for  the  first  volume  was  not  a 
financial  success.  The  book,  a  handsome  octavo  of  264 
pages,  has  its  contents  ranged  in  ^yq  sections :  I,  Miami 
Woods ;  II,  A  Golden  Wedding ;  III,  In  Exaltis  ;  lY,  Life 
Pictures ;  Y,  Miscellaneous. 

"  Miami  Woods  "  is  a  long  work  divided  into  seven 
parts,  corresponding  to  seven  periods  in  which  it  was 
composed.  The  first  part  was  written  in  1839,  the  seventh 
in  1856.  The  poem  is  essentially  descriptive,  though  it 
abounds  in  meditations  and  reflections  on  various  sub- 
jects— political,  social,  moral,  religious,  and  philosophical. 
This  didactic  quality  reminds  the  reader  of  Wordsworth's 
"  Excursion." 

Gallagher's  verse  paints  the  forest  and  field  with  na- 
ture's own  color,  and  glow^s  with  the  warmth  of  human 
iove  and  joy.  "  Miami  Woods  "  is  a  sort  of  Thompson's 
^-  Seasons,"  adapted  to  the  Ohio  Yalley. 

The  following  lines  afford  a  fair  sample  of  the  verse : 

i 
"  Now  from  the  stormy  Huron's  broad  expanse, 
From  Mackinaw  and  from  the  Michigan, 
"Whose  billows  beat  upon  the  sounding  shores 
And  lash  the  surging  pines,  come  sweeping  down 
Ice-making  blasts,  and  raging  sheets  of  snow ; 
The  heavens  grow  darker  daily ;  bleakest  winds 
Shriek  from  the  naked  woods ;  the  robber  owl 
Hoots  from  his  rocking  citadel  all  night." 

Mr.  Gallagher  painted  a  true  and  quite  complete  pano- 
rama of  the  changing  year  in  western  woods.  It  can  be 
said,  in  the  words  of  Pope,  that  he  made  the  groves 

"  Live  in  description  and  look  green  in  song." 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  his  book  will  be  sought  in 
the  future,  not  only  for  its  literary  value,  but  because  it 


468  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

will  be  recognized  as  the  historical  daguerreotype  gallery 
of  woodland  scenery  forever  passed  away. 

Very  appropriate  are  the  lines  selected  from  "  Comus," 
88  a  motto  or  key-note  to  "  Miami  Woods :" 

"  Well  known  to  me  is  every  alley  green, 
Dingle,  and  bushy  dell,  in  this  wild  wood, 
And  every  bosky  bourn  from  side  to  side, 
My  daily  walk,  and  ancient  neighborhood." 

I  have  heard  Mr.  Gallagher  repeat  these  lines,  lingering 
upon  each  noun  and  epithet  with  a  poefs  relish  of  their 
deliciousness. 

True,  beautiful,  and  pleasing  as  are  the  best  descriptive 
passages  in  "  Miami  Woods,"  tliere  is  a  minor  strain  of 
subjective  melancholy  in  the  poem  that  moves  the  heart 
more  than  any  delineation  of  inanimate  nature.  The  im- 
pulse and  motive  of  the  composition  are  discovered  in  the 
simple,  pathetic  narrative,  which,  like  a  musical  air, 
runs  through  the  variable  and  wandering  song  of  seven- 
teen years.  Never  was  sweeter  or  sadder  story  told  in 
prose  or  verse.  No  utterance  more  sincere  ever  fell  from 
pen.  It  is  the  record  of  a  fath<er's  ineffable  love  for  a  fa- 
vorite child — a  sympathetic,  affectionate,  and  beautiful 
little  girl,  who,  after  manifesting  extraordinary  mental 
powers,  was  stricken  with  an  illness  that  deprived  her  of 
memory  and  reason.  After  the  lapse  of  many  months, 
during  which  father  and  daughter  were  seldom  separated, 
her  faculties  were  restored,  marvelously,  by  the  direct  in- 
fluence of  sights  and  sounds  acting  upon  her  senses,  in 
the  depths  of  the  forest.  The  first  awakening,  or  emerg- 
ence of  the  mind  from  eclipse,  occurred  in  a  certain  chosen 
haunt  in  Miami  woods,  associated  by  parent  and  child  with 
many  pleasures  of  "  thought,  sight,  and  admiration,'*  in 
the  years  before  the  shadow  fell  upon  them.  The  revived 
intellect  seemed,  for  a  time,  more  brilliant  than  ever,  but 
a  change  came — Mary's  health  declined  once  more ;  she 
faded  away  and  died,  leaving  her  heart-broken  father  the 


William  Davis  Gallagher.  469 

mournful  solace  of  recording  his  grief  and  embalming  her 
memory  in  verse.  The  central  theme  of  "  Miami  Woods  " 
is  delicately  suggested  in  the  line  from  Keats,  quoted  as  a 
prelude  to  the  poem : 

"A  solitary  sorrow  anthemina: 
A  lonely  grief." 

Mrs.  Emma  Adamson  Gallagher,  the  poet's  wife,  died 
suddenly,  of  heart  disease,  at  the  family  home.  Fern 
Eock,  Pewee  Valley,  December  26,  1867.  She  was  the 
mother  of  nine  children,  of  whom  four  are  still  living, 
one  son  and  three  daughters.  The  son,  Edward  Galla- 
gher, a  business  man  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  is  married 
and  has  a  fine  family.  Mrs.  Jane  Cotton,  the  poet's  eldest 
daughter,  a  lady  of  intellect  and  sensibility,  and  the  wife 
of  a  well-known  lawyer  of  Louisville,  is,  at  the  present, 
residing  at  Pewee  Valley.  There,  also,  taking  affection- 
ate care  of  their  father,  in  the  old  homestead,  live  his  two 
unmarried  daughters,  Emma  and  Fanny. 

In  the  seclusion  of  his  quiet  country-seat,  surrounded 
by  trees  and  birds  and  wild  flowers,  the  pioneer  poet  of 
the  West  passes  his  tranquil  days.  To  him  life  has  always 
been  worth  living,  and  his  serene  piety  doubts  not  that 
death  is  worth  dying.  Ten  years  ago  or  more,  he  wrote, 
in  a  strain  not  unlike  that  of  Whittier's  "  Psalm :" 

"  We  wait  for  the  gates  to  open, 
We  wait  together,  Faith  and  I ; 
And  the  twilight  of  life  comes  sweetly. 
As  the  years  glide  gently  by." 

This  trust  in  the  spiritual  hereafter  is  the  natural  exten- 
sion and  outcome  of  the  hope  for  humanity  on  earth,  ex- 
pressed by  the  young  man,  Wm.  D.  Gallagher,  in  a  speech 
on  "  Progress  in  the  West,"  delivered  in  1850,  which  closes 
with  the  inspiring  sentence  : 

"As  comes  the  cloud  over  the  parched  land,  and  the 
rain  from  the  cloud — as  comes  the  green  plant  out  of  the 


470  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

earth,  and  the  flower  out  of  the  plant — as  comes  the  bird 
with  the  spring-time,  and  the  song  with  the  bird — so,  it 
18  my  faith,  will  yet  come  to  man  the  full  love  of  the 
Creator,  and  with  it  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  upon. 
earth." 


Amelia  B.  Welhy.  471 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

AMELIA  B.  WELBY. 

There  were  two  women  in  the  West  who,  by  the  pecu- 
liar charm  of  their  poetry,  and  by  their  winning  personal 
character,  secured  the  admiration  and  love  of  the  people 
in  the  fullest  measure — Amelia  B.  Welby  and  Alice  Gary. 
They  were  born  but  a  year  apart,  Amelia  in  1819,  and 
Alice  in  1820 ;  but  Alice  lived  almost  twice  as  long  as 
Amelia.  In  girlhood  both  were  left  without  a  mother's 
care ;  each  of  them  was  fondly  attached  to  her  father ; 
both  began  to  write  while  very  young ;  both  preferred  to 
sing  of  nature,  love,  and  religion.  I^either  one  of  them 
had  special,  or  even  ordinary  advantages  of  school  educa- 
tion. Both  attracted  the  attention  of  the  critical  Poe, 
and  both  were  "  encouraged  "  by  Rufus  Griswold.  Pren- 
tice interested  himself,  as  a  journalist,  in  Mrs.  Welby,  as 
Greeley  ^lid  in  Alice  Gary.  The  southern  poetess  was 
born  in  Maryland,  near  the  ocean,  and  is  buried  in  Gave 
Hill  Gemetery,  Louisville,  Kentucky ;  her  northern  sister 
first  saw  the  light  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio,  and  now  sleeps 
in  Greenwood  Gemetery,  within  a  mile  of  the  Atlantic. 

Wm.  D.  Gallagher  wrote  in  the  Hesperian,  of  January, 
1839 :  "  It  is  now  more  than  two  years  since  the  sweet 
and  thrilling  notes  of  an  anonymous  poetess  burst  start- 
lingly  upon  the  ear  of  the  literary  world,  from  the  wilds 
of  Kentucky.  At  once  and  eagerly  were  those  enraptur- 
ing strains  caught  up  by  the  melody  lovers  throughout  the 
Union,  and  sung  in  every  peopled  valley,  and  echoed  from 
every  sunny  hill-side,  of  our  vast  domain."  The  fervid 
and  florid  enthusiasm  of  this  language  fairly  describes  the 
effect  of  '^Amelia's  "  lyrics  upon  her  contemporary  west- 
ern admirers.     She  must  have  been  in  the  mind  of  Pren- 


472  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

tice  when  he  made  the  simile :  "  The  song  of  the  poet, 
like  that  of  the  nightingale,  bursts  sweetest  from  the 
bosom  of  the  wilderness." 

Amelia  B.  Coppuck  was  born  February  3,  1819,  at  St. 
Michaers,  Maryland,  on  Miles  river,  an  estuary  of  Chesa- 
peake bay.  Her  father,  to  whom  Amelia's  poems  are 
dedicated,  was  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade.  The  Coppuck 
family,  consisting  of  the  father,  mother,  and  four  daugh- 
ters, removed  to  Baltimore,  which  city  of  monuments  was 
their  home  for  fourteen  years.  Here  the  mother  and  one 
of  the  daughters  died,  and  here  Amelia's  surviving  sisters, 
both  older  than  she,  were  married.  In  1834,  when  Ame- 
lia was  in  her  fifteenth  year,  her  father  removed  with  her 
to  Kentucky,  and  ijaade  their  home,  first  in  Lexington, 
but  soon  afterward  in  Louisville. 

The  memorials  of  Amelia's  childhood  and  youth  are 
few  and  vague.  She  refers  to  her  early  home  and  to  fam- 
ily events  in  her  poem,  "  My  Sisters  :" 

"  Like  flowers  that  softly  bloom  together, 

Upon  one  fair  and  fragile  stem, 
Mingling  their  sweets  in  sunny  weather, 

Ere  rude  strange  hands  have  parted  them, 
So  were  we  linked  unto  each  other. 

Sweet  sisters,  in  our  childish  hours, 
For  then  one  fond  and  gentle  mother 

To  ufl  was  like  the  stem  to  flowers." 

Born  with  the  poetical  temperament,  she  acquired  facil- 
ity in  versification  almost  without  effort.  Her  nature  was 
rhythmical ;  melodious  expression  seemed  instinctive  to 
her.  She  did  not  "  take  up  "  poetry  as  an  art — poetry 
took  up  her.  Instead  of  wooing  the  muses,  she  was  wooed 
and  won  by  them.  The  spirit  of  song  sought  her  and 
played  with  her  "  on  the  green  mossy  bank  where  the 
buttercups  f^v^yr"  and  knelt  with  her  "  upon  the  dewy  sod 
beside  the  moaning  seas."  Like  Pope,  she  lisped  in  num- 
bers. Before  she  attained  her  twelfth  year  she  was  in  the 
habit  of  improvising  verses,  which  she  would  sometimes 
write  in  the  solitude  of  her  private  room,  or  sing  to  airs 
of  her  own  invention,  while  she  rambled  in  field  or  wood 


Amelia  B.  Welby.  473 

or  by  the  shore  of  the  sea.  Poe  said  that  "  Thomas 
Moore,  singing  his  own  songs,  was,  in  the  most  legitimate 
manner,  perfecting  them  as  poems."  This  Amelia  was 
doing,  unconsciously,  as  she  wandered  along  the  ocean 
beach,  and  heard  the  tunes  of  the  "  dancing  waves,"  "  the 
laughing  wind,"  and  the  "  night-bird  warbling  o'er  its  soft 
enchanting  strain."  Emulous  of  song-birds,  she  exclaims, 
in  her  early  poem,  "  Musings  :" 

"I'd  give  the  world  for  their  sweet  art, 
The  simple,  the  divine — 
I  'd  give  the  world  to  melt  one  heart 
As  they  have  melted  mine," 

The  fanciful  girl  did,  in  some  sense,  catch  the  '^  sweet 
art "  of  the  birds,  so  spontaneous  is  the  carol  of  her  melo- 
dious lines. 

The  wild,  wayward,  passionate  Maryland  maiden  blos- 
somed into  full  womanhood  in  Kentucky,  surrounded  by 
romantic,  southern  influences.  We  may  imagine  the  emo- 
tions of  the  transition  period.  With  the  later  teens  come 
to  impressible  youth  the  melancholy  days,  the  saddest  of 
life's  year.  To  the  susceptible,  introspective,  sentimental 
girl,  "  sweet  sixteen  "  brings  tears  without  sorrow,  dreads 
without  danger,  lamentations  without  grief,  longing  with- 
out definite  object. 

i^ot  long  after  her  removal  to  Louisville,  Miss  Coppuck 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  ''  kindred  spirit,"  to  whom 
she  revealed  her  feelings  without  reserve.  "Among  her 
earliest  associates,"  writes  an  old  friend  of  Amelia,  "  was 
a  lovely  girl  about  her  own  age,  w^iose  heart  was  as  warm 
and  susceptible  as  her  own,  and  whose  genius  was  only  a 
lesser  light  in  the  same  constellation.  They  were  for  a 
time  bosom  friends — confidantes — inseparable  compan- 
ions; and  of  this  cherished  counter-part  the  young  poetess 
sang  in  the  stanzas  beginning  : 

"  I  have  a  fair  and  gentle  friend." 

A  few  weeks  and  this  companion  was  a  tenant  of  the 
tomb !     A  slight  injury  received  during  a  pleasure  excur- 


474  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Bion  threw  lit  r  upon  a  bed  of  unabating  pain,  from  which 
she  never  arose.  This  melancholy  incident  affected  the 
young  poetess  deeply,  and  weeks  elapsed  before  she  could 
allnde  to  her  late  companion  with  composure." 

This  bereavement  seemed  to  develop  Amelia's  emotional 
nature,  awaken  her  deepest  sympathies,  and  give  activity 
to  her  poetical  impulses.  One  of  her  first  pieces  was 
written  in  memory  of  her  deceased  friend,  a  poem  entitled 
**  "When  Shines  the  Star,"  of  which  the  following  verse  is 
a  fair  sample : 

"  Lost  one !  Companion  of  the  blessed  ! 

Thou  who  in  purer  air  dost  dwell, 
Ere  froze  the  life-drops  in  thy  breast, 

Or  fled  thy  soul  its  mystic  cell, 
"We  passed  on  earth  such  hours  of  bliss 

As  none  but  kindred  hearts  can  know, 
And,  happy  in  a  world  like  this, 

But  dreamed  of  that  to  which  we  go, 
Till  thou  wert  called  in  thy  young  years  m 

To  wander  o'er  that  shoreless  sea, 
Where,  like  a  mist.  Time  disappears 

Melting  into  eternity." 

Amelia  made  her  first  appearance  in  print  in  the  year 
1837,  before  she  was  eighteen  years  old.  Her  first  poem 
18  entitled  "  To  a  Tear  Drop,"  and  the  second  is  called 
"  Oh !  Dark  is  the  Gloom  ! "  These,  like  most  of  her  sub- 
sequent productions,  were  published  in  the  Louisville 
Journal,  after  passing  the  criticism  of  the  editor,  George 
D.  Prentice.  Mr.  J.  C.  Derby,  in  his  "  Fifty  Years  Among 
Authors,"  says :  "  Many  persons  surmised  that  Prentice 
himself  wrote  the  poems  signed  'Amelia,'  until  he  denied 
it  one  day  by  saying,  *  I  recognize  their  priceless  beauty 
too  well  to  spoil  it  in  that  way.  I-  never  wrote  a  word  of 
any  of  her  writings.  On  the  few  occasions  when  she  had 
used  a  word  I  would  not  have  used,  I  sent  her  manuscript 
back  with  the  defective  word  marked,  and  she  corrected 
the  diction  herself.  I  never  once  aided  or  had  occasion 
to  aid.'" 

Having  begun  to  write  for  publication,  Amelia  put  forth 
poem  after  poem  with  wonderful  rapidity.    It  was  like 


Amelia  B.  Welby.  475 

the  sudden  and  beautiful  blossoming  of  a  peach-tree  on  a 
sunny  day  in  spring.  The  seventy-five  or  eighty  pieces 
which  constitute  the  complete  "  Poems  by  Amelia  "  were 
produced  within  seven  years.  The  publifc  complained 
that  after  her  marriage  she  ceased  to  sing. 

Miss  Amelia  B.  Coppuck  was  married  to  Mr.  George 
Welby,  a  Louisville  merchant,  in  June,  1838. 

"  There's  a  whispered  vow  of  love, 

As  side  by  side  they  stand, 
And  the  drawing  of  a  snow-white  glove 

From  a  little  trembling  hand. 
And  the  glitter  of  a  ring,- 

And  a  tear  that  none  may  chide — 
These,  these  have  changed  that  childish  thing, 

And  she  is  now  a  bride." 

Mrs.  Welby  died,  May  3,  1852,  not  quite  thirty-three 
years  of  age.  Her  only  child,  a  son,  George  Welby,  was 
born  two  months  before  his  mother's  decease.  He  is  now 
living,  I  believe,  in  Florida. 

Ben  Cassidy,  author  of  a  "  History  of  Louisville,"  an 
intimate  and  valued  friend  of  Mrs.  Welby,  thus  described 
her  personal  appearance  and  character : 

••'In  person,  Mrs.  Welby  was  rather  above  the  middle 
height.  Slender  and  exceedingly  graceful  in  form,  with 
exquisite  taste  in  dress,  and  a  certain  easy,  floating  sort  of 
movement,  she  would  at  once  be  recognized  as  a  beauti- 
ful woman.  A  slight  imperfection  in  the  upper  lip,  while 
it  prevented  her  face  from  being  perfect,  yet  gave  a  pecu- 
liar piquancy  to  its  expression,  which  was  far  from  de- 
stroying any  of  its  charm.  Her  hair  was  exquisitely 
beautiful,  and  was  always  arranged  regardless  of  the  pre- 
vailing fashion,  with  singular  elegance  and  adaptation  to 
her  face  and  figure.  Her  manners  were  simple,  natural, 
and  impulsive,  like  those  of  a  child.  Her  conversation, 
though  sometimes  frivolous,  was  always  charming.  She 
loved  to  give  the  rein  to  her  fancy,  to  invent  situations 
and  circumstances  for  herself  and  her  friends,  and  to  talk 
of  them  as  if  they  were  realities.  Her  social  life  was  full 
of  innocent  gayety  and  playfulness.     She  was  the  idol  of 


476  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

her  friends,  and  she  repaid  their  affection  with  her  whole 
heart.  Her  character  was  as  beautiful  as  her  manners 
were  simple.  Courted  and  flattered  as  she  was,  perhaps 
a  little  willful,  and  sometimes  even  obstinate,  an  appeal  to 
her  affections  always  softened  and  won  her." 

The  praise,  adulation,  almost  adoration  bestowed  upon 
this  pretty,  capricious,  charming  lady  singer  of  the  South, 
by  the  literary  and  artistic  gentlemen  of  her  acquaintance, 
were  extravagant.  The  editor  of  the  "Literary  Journal 
and  Monthly  Review,"  began  a  laudatory  notice  of  the 
fair  favorite's  poetry  in  these  words :  "  There  is  something 
in  this  simple,  three-syllabled  word,  'Amelia,'  that  thrills 
the  hearts  of  us  western  men  whenever  it  is  spoken." 
Prentice,  Gallagher,  Shreve,  Fosdick,  Plimpton,  and  many 
other  Buckeyes  and  Kentuckians,  gallantly  tuned  their 
harps  and  poured  out  th^ir  souls  in  music  to  the  Louisville 
idol.  Amelia-worship  raged  epidemic.  It  was  the  very 
apotheosis  of  "  Platonic  "  sentimentalism.  One  infatuated 
bard  inscribed  warm  "  Lines  on  a  Picture  of  Amelia,"  be- 
ginning— 

"  Ah !  lovely  shade,  where  beauty's  image  sleeping 
Rests  like  the  sunlight  on  the  crimson  rose." 

The  homage  offered  to  the  living  "Amelia,"  gave  place 
to  universal  lamentation  when  she  died.  The  literary  pa- 
pers teemed  with  elegiac  tributes.  Both  meYi  and  women 
wreathed  flowers  of  loving  verse  to  deck  Amelia's  grave. 
Floras  B.  Plimpton  composed  a  dirge  in  which  are  the 
lines — 

**  Weave  me  a  garland  of  the  asphodel, 
The  dark-leaved  cypress  and  the  mournful  yew, 
Bring  hither  locust  boughs  from  yonder  dell, 
Wall-fiowem  of  scarlet,  night-shades  palely  blue. 
And  grave-grown  myrtle  weeping  wet  with  dew. 
They  do  accord  with  mournfulness,  and  bear 
A  sympathy  to  sorrow,  and  renew 
The  hope  of  happiness,  and  breath  a  prayer 
For  those  who  from  our  sight  have  gone  where  angels  are." 


Amelia  B.  Welby.  477 

W.  W.  Fosdick  published  a   passionate   lament  from 
which  I  make  the  following  extract : 

"  Her  glowing  genius  mantled  her  in  rays, 
As  seraph's  presence  sets  the  air  ablaze ; 
And  goodness,  from  her  glances,  like  a  charm, 
Fell  e'en  on  frozen  hearts,  and  they  grew  warm  ; 
Her  speech  was  ever  liquid  on  the  tongue, 
But  music  stood  enraptured  when  she  sung. 
And  sounds,  like  pearls,  fell  from  her  mouth  in  song, 
Or  rained  like  roses  when  the  breeze  is  strong. 
Alas  I  in  vain  the  traveler  shall  seek, 
Sweet  child  of  song,  beside  broad  Chesapeake, 
Thy  childhood's  home  to  find  thee  now  ! 
And  where  Ohio's  bright  blue  waters  flow, 
Bearing  the  sunshine's  gold  upon  his  breast, 
Through  the  green  valleys  of  the  woody  AVest ; 
There  vainly  shall  the  eye  which  reads  thy  lays 
Look  for  thy  form,  to  bless  thee  and  to  praise." 

The  volume  entitled  "  Poems  of  Amelia,"  was  brought 
out  in  Boston,  in  1844,  and  four  thousand  copies  were  soon 
sold.  A  new  edition  enlarged  was  issued  in  1845  in  ]^ew 
York.  In  a  short  preface  to  the  seventh  edition  the  pub- 
lishers, D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  expressed  their  gratification 
that  they  had  been  "  the  humble  instruments  of  making  so 
widely  known  the  beauties  of  this  poet  of  the  West."  In 
1850  the  poems  were  printed  in  a  sumptuous  volume,  8vo 
and  12mo,  illustrated  with  designs  by  Weir.  Copies  of 
this  elegant  book  are  carefully  preserved  among  the  house- 
hold treasures  of  western  families.  The  Appletons  pub- 
lished fourteen  supplies  of  the  "  Poems  of  Amelia."  The 
earlier  editions  were  1,000  each ;  later  only  an  edition  of 
250  copies  was  printed ;  the  last  impression  was  in  1866. 

The  popularity  of  Mrs.  Welby,  unprecedented  in  the 
case  of  any  American  female  poet  up  to  her  time,  calls  for 
some  explanation.  How  did  it  happen  that  "Amelia's  " 
untrained  muse  pleased  so  many  people  ?  What  was  the 
charm  of  those  simple  verses  that  led  children  to  commit 
them  to  memory,  musicians  to  set  them  to  note,  lovers  to 
learn  them  by  heart,  editors  to  keep  them  in  the  "  poet's 
corner,"  and  compilers  of  school  readers  and  popular  col- 
lections to  reproduce  them  in  conspicuous  profusion  ? 


478  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Edgar  A.  Poe  says :  "  Mrs.  Amelia  B.  Welby  has  nearly 
all  the  imagination  of  Maria  del  Occidente,  with  a  more 
refined  taste ;  and  nearly  all  the  passion  of  Mrs.  ]^orton, 
with  a  nicer  ear,  and  (what  is  surprising)  equal  art.  Very 
few  American  poets  are  at  all  comparable  with  lier  in  the 
true  poetic  qualities.  As  for  our  'poetesses  (an  absurd  but 
necessary  word),  few  of  them  approach  her."  (The  sig- 
nificance of  Poe's  reference  to  Maria  Brooks — Maria  del 
Occidente — is  heightened  when  we  remember  that  Southey 
pronounced  her  "the  most  impassioned* and  the  most  im- 
aginative of  all  poetesses.)  Poe  goes  on  to  say :  "  With 
some  modifications,  this  little  poem  would  do  honor  to  any 
one  living  or  dead."  He  then  gives  in  full  the  piece  called 
"  The  Bereaved,"  and  proceeds  to  criticise  it  minutely  at  a 
length  of  three  printed  pages,  closing  the  criticism  in  this 
language :  "  Upon  the  whole,  there  are  some  poets  in  Amer- 
ica (Bryant  and  Sprague,  for  example),  who  equal  Mrs. 
Welby  in  the  negative  merits  of  that  limited  versification 
which  they  chiefly  affect — the  iambic  pentameter — but 
none  equal  her  in  the  richer  and  positive  merits  of  rhyth- 
mical variety,  conception,  invention.  They,  in  the  old 
routine,  rarely  err.  She  often  surprises,  and  always  de- 
lights, by  novel,  rich,  and  accurate  combination  of  the 
ancient  musical  expressions." 

Mrs.  Welby's  vivid  imagination,  her  luxuriant  fancy, 
her  susceptibility  to  rhythmic  beauty,  needed  no  other  in- 
fluence than  that  of  nature  to  inspire  them.  Her  poems 
are  purely  original.  They  are  remarkable  for  the  absence 
of  literary  allusion.  They  are  independent  of  mythology. 
The  odor  of  the  library  does  not  mingle  with  the  perfume 
of  their  flowers.  The  author  appears  not  to  have  thought 
of  what  others  might  think  of  her  writings.  As  the 
poem  came  to  her,  she  gave  it  to  the  world,  unconscious 
of  its  faults  as  of  its  felicities.  Expression  was  a  neces- 
sity and  a  relief.  I  imagine  that  the  untrained  writer, 
penning  her  exhuberant  verses  In  new  Kentucky,  did  not 
bother  herself  much  about  the  critics.  The  impulses  of  her 
heart  were  not  scared  back  by  the  vision  of  some  fierce  editor 
sharpening  his  pencil,  in  New  York  or  Boston,  and  nurs- 


Amelia  B.   Welhy.  479 

ing  an  undying  diabolical  intention  to  stab  her  to  death. 
IS^ov  was  she  worried  by  that  still  more  miserable  fear  that 
"  the  paper"  would  reject  her  "  piece  ;"  nor  did  she  cramp 
her  genius  or  prod  it  for  the  sake  of  a  five  dollar  bill. 

The  objects  which  excited  "Amelia's"  imagination  and 
fancy,  and  called  out  her  earliest  poetical  performances, 
were  ocean,  earth,  sky,  in  their  many  aspects.  The  me- 
chanic's inspired  daughter  was  enraptured  with  stars, 
clouds,  rainbows,  streams,  trees,  flowers  and  birds.  Inan- 
imate nature  was  Aot  inanimate  to  her,  but  instinct  with 
life,  intelligence  and  passion — instinct  with  communicable 
feeling.  She  does  not  labor  to  describe  particular  scenes 
or  objects  with  pictorial  minuteness — she  uses  her  theme 
suggestively,  seizing  upon  its  "  true  poetic  qualities." 
"What  she  does  describe  is  truly  depicted,  both  in  external 
features  and  in  its  eliects  upon  the  beholder.  For  exam- 
ple, her  poem  on  "  Entering  Mammoth  Cave "  is  singu- 
larly happy  in  its  graphic  realism,  while  it  also  conveys 
an  impressive  image  of  the  solemn  and  awful  character  of 
the  place  described.  The  poem  is  very  faulty  in  many 
ways,  and  yet  its  effect  upon  the  imagination  is  powerful, 
because  it  gives  a  realizing  sense  of  the  vague,  weird, 
gloomy  fascination  of  Mammoth  Cave.  Prentice's  excel- 
lent verses  on  the  same  subject  lack  the  subtile  elements 
which  are  the  airy  fabric  of  Mrs.  AVelby's  ode. 

Whoever  has  trodden  the  gloomy  labyrinths  of  the 
great  Kentucky  cavern  will  appreciate  the  lines — 

"  Hark !  hear  ye  not  those  echoes  ringing  after 

Our  gliding  steps — my  spirit  faints  with  fear — 
Those  mocking  tones,  like  subterranean  laughter — 

Or  does  the  brain  grow  wild  with  wandering  here  ? 
There  may  be  specters  wild,  and  forms  appalling 

Our  wandering  eyes,  where'er  we  rove,  to  greet — 
Methinks  I  hear  their  low,  sad  voices  calling 
Upon  us  now,  and  far  away  the  falling 

Of  phantom  feet." 

Contrast  with  these  resonant,  slow-flowing,  solemn  ca- 
dences, the  equally  majectic  poem,  "  The  Stars,"  and  mark 
how  the  measure  soars  to  its  brilliant  theme — the  verse 


480  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

seems  luminous.  In  this,  as  in  other  of  Mrs.  Welby's  de- 
scriptive pieces,  the  utterance  gives  the  impression  of  im- 
provisation—as if  the  singer  were  reciting  impromptu, 
out  under  the  open  heavens,  not  framing  verses  at  a  studi- 
ous desk.     The  following  is  the  closing  stanza : 

"  But  all  in  vain  to  thought's  tumultuous  flow 
I  strive  to  give  the  strength  of  glowing  words ; 
The  waves  of  feeling  tossing  to  and  fro 

In  broken  music  o'er  my  heart's  loose  chords, 
Give  but  their  fainting  echoes  from  my  soul, 
As  through  its  silent  depths  their  wild,  swift  currents  roll." 

This  stanza  reveals  the  working  of  that  irresistible  cre- 
ative impulse,  which  is  called  inspiration.  Thoughts,  emo- 
tions, images  rush  upon  the  singer's  mind  until  she  is 
overwhelmed.  Her  effort  is  not  to  think  of  some  thing 
to  say,  but  rather  to  resist  the  '^  thick-coming  "  visions 
that  confound  expression.  Mrs.  Welby's  art  is  often  de- 
fective, as  the  critic,  and  even  the  composition -teacher  can 
easily  show,  but  she  has  the  inventive  faculty,  the  origin- 
ating capacity  which  art  can  not  give,  but  which,  per- 
fected by  art,  produces  faultless  poetry.  She  chooses  po- 
etical themes,  and  treats  them  with  poetical  skill.  Her 
lines  "  To  a  Humming-Bird,"  and  those  entitled  "  A 
Dew-Drop,"  are  as  bright  and  dainty  as  the  exquisite  ob- 
jects they  describe.  The  familiar  song,  "  When  Soft  Stars 
are  Peeping,"  coaxes  the  tuneless  tongue  to  sing,  and  the 
lyric  "  Music,"  is  music  indeed.  Then  those  delicious 
verses  on  "  May,"  though  excessively  florid,  are  certainly 
charming: 

"  Sweet  season  of  love,  when  the  fairj'  queen  trips, 

At  eve  through  the  star-lighted  grove— 
What  vows  are  now  breathed  where  the  honey-bee  sips! 
What  checks,  whose  bright  beauties  the  roses  eclipse, 
Are  crimsoned  with  blushes!  What  rose-tinted  lips 

Are  moist  with  the  kisses  of  love !  " 

Hardly  anybody  now  reads  the  "  Poems  of  Amelia." 
The  children  of  this  generation  never  learn  the  lines  de- 
scribing "  The  green  mossy  bank  where  the  butter-cups 
grow."     School  readers  do  not  now  contain  "  Musings " 


Amelia  B.    Welby.  481 

the  *'  Freed  Bird,"  or  '*  Pulpit  Eloquence,"  poems  once  fa- 
miliar to  every  household.  Young  ladies  do  not  to-day 
quote  "  Hopeless  Love,"  in  their  hopeful  love-letters. 
And  who  any  more  sings  to  his  light  guitar : 

"  When  soft  stars  are  peeping 

Through  the  pure  azure  sky, 
And  Southern  gales  sweeping 

Their  warm  breathings  by, 
Like  sweet  music  pealing. 

Far  o'er  the  blue  sea, 
There  come  o'er  me  stealing. 

Sweet  memories  of  thee." 

No ;  Amelia's  voice  is  hushed.  Her  book  is  closed. 
Now  and  then  one  turning  the  pages  of  some  book  of 
"  Family  Poetry,"  may  chance  to  find  the  once  favorite 
poet's  favorite  lines  on  the  "  Rainbow,"  and  the  title  sug- 
gests the  evanescence  of  shining  reputation. 

On  a  summer  day  I  strolled  through  Cave  Hill  Ceme- 
tery with  the  "  pioneer  poet,"  W.  D.  Gallagher.  Seeking 
the  tombs  of  Prentice  and  Fortunatus  Cosby,  I  wandered 
away  alone,  and  presently  lost  signs  of  my  venerable 
guide.  Nor  did  I  encounter  him  again  until  an  hour  had 
elapsed,  when,  in  the  course  of  my  ramble  I  unexpectedly 
came  upon  him  where  he  sat  in  meditation  on  a  low  wall 
of  stone  that  encompassed  a  monument,  on  which  was. 
carved  in  relief  a  woman's  face.  "  I  have  found  '  Amelia  * 
for  you,"  said  the  poet,  in  playful  sadness. 
31 


482  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

ALICE  GARY. 

Alice  Gary  claimed  to  be  a  lineal  descendant  of  Thomas 
Gary,  a  cousin  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Thomas  Gary  was  the 
direct  ancestor  of  John  Gary,  a  Separatist,  who  came 
from  England  to  Plymouth,- Mass.,  in  1630.  Robert  Gary, 
the  father  of  Alice,  was  the  second  child  of  the  sixth  gen- 
eration from  this  Pilgrim  father  John.  When  Robert  was 
but  fifteen  years  old  he  migrated  from  IS'ew  England  with 
his  father,  Ghristopher,  to  Gincinnati.     This  was  in  1802. 

Robert  Gary  married  Elizabeth  Jessup  in  1814,  and  set- 
tled upon  a  farm  near  Mount  Healthy,  Hamilton  county, 
Ohio.  He  bought  the  farm  on  credit,  and  built  him  a 
small  frame  house.  Robert  and  Elizabeth  Gary  had  nine 
children,  two  of  whom  are  yet  living,  Warren,  aged  sev- 
enty, and  Asa,  aged  sixty-three.  Alice,  the  fourth  child, 
was  but  eleven  years  old  when  the  ninth  was  born. 

There  was  plenty  of  work  to  do  there  in  the 

"  Woods  upon  woods,  with  fields  of  corn 
Lying  between  them," 

and  in  that  make-shift  farm-house, 

"  Low  and  little  and  black  and  old, 
With  children  many  as  it  can  hold." 

The  patient  father  toiled  in  the  field,  the  gentle  mother 
kept  house  with  frugal  care,  and  at  last  the  farm  was  paid 
for  (a  twenty  years'  struggle),  and  then,  in  1832,  a  new 
dwelling  was  erected.  **  It  cost  many  years  of  toil  and 
privation — the  new  house,"  Alice  said.  The  first  to  dedi- 
cate the  new  house  were — two  ghosts.  The  building  was 
just  finished;  it  stood  near  the  old  one,  separated  from  it 


Alice  Gary.  483 

by  a  little  hollow.  One  evening,  at  the  close  of  a  sudden 
storm,  Alice  and  others  of  the  family,  looking  toward  the 
new  house,  saw  at  its  threshold,  "  Rhoda  with  Lucy  in  her 
arms." 

But  when  they  called  across  the  hollow,  to  their  awe 
Ehoda  came  downi  stairs  to  them,  having  left  Lucy  fast 
asleep  above.  They  all,  including  Rhoda,  saw^  the  appari- 
tions sink  slowly  into  the  ground  in  front  of  the  very  door 
of  the  new  house  !  Rhoda  died  the  next  autumn,  Lucy  a 
month  after  her.  "  Since  the  apparition  in  the  door,"  said 
Alice  to  her  friend  and  biographer,  Mrs.  Clemmer,  "  never 
for  one  year  has  our  family  been  free  from  the  shadow  of 
death." 

In  a  poem  contributed  by  Alice  to  L.  A,  Hines's  Herald 
of  Truth  in  1847,  entitled  "  To  Lucy,"  are  the  following 
characteristic  lines : 

"  I  see  the  willow  and  the  spring 

O'ergrown  with  purple  sedge  ; 
The  lilies  and  the  scarlet  pinks 

That  grew  along  the  hedge  ; 
The  meadow  where  the  elm-tree  threw 

Its  shadow  dark  and  wide, 
And,  sister,  flowers  in  beauty  grew 

And  perished  side  by  side. 
O'er  the  accustomed  vale  and  hill 

Now  winter's  robe  is  spread ; 
The  beetle  and  the  moth  are  still, 

And  all  the  flowers  are  dead." 

In  1835,  two  years  after  the  death  of  the  sisters,  Rhoda 
and  Lucy,  the  beloved  mother  died. 

ISTo  wonder  that  such  a  baptismal  of  grief  saddened  the 
whole  life  of  Alice  Gary.  She  was  naturally  buoyant,  ac- 
tive, joyous.  As  a  child  she  was  fond  of  outdoor  sports, 
running,  climbing,  swinging,  and  rambling  in  field  and 
wood.  Her  brother  Asa  pointed  out  to  me  the  identical 
rafters  to  which  her  swing  w^as  fastened  in  the  barn.  At 
school  she  was  regarded  as  a  tom-boy.  Her  will  was 
strong,  her  observing  faculties  w^ere  keen,  her  love  of 
beauty  was  passionate. 

Two  years  lapsed  after  his  wife's  decease,  when  Robert 


484  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Gary  married  again.  The  second  wife,  it  is  said,  was  not 
altogether  congenial  to  her  husband  nor  sympathetic  with 
his  children.  Her  temperament  may  have  been  incom- 
patible with  that  of  the  Carys,  and,  according  to  gossip, 
the  part  she  played  in  the  family  was  that  which  fairy 
tales  usually  ascribe  to  the  implacable  stepmother.  But 
let  us  do  her  justice.  Probably  she  had  her  share  of  provo- 
catiou  to  endure. 

Mrs.  M.  E.  Banta,  of  Franklin,  Indiana,  who,  when  a 
girl,  lived  just  across  the  ""pike"  from  the  Gary  house, 
remembers  the  second  wife  of  Robert  Gary,  a  ''  sweet- 
faced,  gentle,  old  Danish  lady." 

At  the  time  of  the  marriage,  Alice  was  about  seventeen 
years  of  age.  She  had  thoughts  and  feelings  of  ber  own. 
Nature,  books,  and  maiden  fancies  were  molding  her 
silently.  She  was  ambitious;  she  cherished  an  intense 
desire  to  study,  and  she  had  alread^j  begun  to  scribble 
verses  and  stories.  An  irrepressible  conflict  arose  between 
her  and  her  father's  wife.  The  stepmother  insisted  that 
the  girl  must  work  and  let  books  and  writing  alone.  She 
had  no  patience  with  what  she  conceived  was  foolish 
wasting  of  time. 

So  Miss  Alice  did  work  as  long  as  daylight  lasted — 
scrubbed,  swept,  milked  cows,  washed  dishes,  made  beds — 
but  when  night  came  she  read  and  wrote.  Her  sister  Phoebe, 
about  thirteen  then,  aided  and  abetted  Alice  in  nocturnal 
disobedience.  The  mother  will  not  permit  the  girls  to 
burn  a  candle,  but  a  "  saucer  of  lard  with  rag  wick  "  is 
the  invention  of  their  necessity.  Here  is  Lincoln's  pine 
knot  over  again.     Here  is  the  will  making  the  way. 

What  did  they  read  ?  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  "  Lewis 
and  Clarke's  Journal,"  "  Charlotte  Temple,"  "  Pope's  Es- 
say on  Man,"  and  the  Trumpet,  a  Universalist  newspaper 
from  Boston.  Yet  more  than  books,  they  read  what  the 
best  books  are  made  of.  They  pored  on  nature.  Books 
gave  them  an  idea  of  expression.  They  readily  imitated 
such  literary  models  as  they  had.  Very  pathetic  is  the 
case  of  Alice  Gary  at  seventeen — a  shy  girl  in  her  loveli- 
est age — cramped   by   circumstances,   but  making    sure 


Alice  Cary.  485 

progress  in  spite  of  all.  Well  done,  brave  lass!  Write 
verses  by  the  lard  lamp  ;  shut  yourself  up  in  your  small, 
low-ceiled  room,  and  think  and  write,  and  never  mind  if 
the  hot  tears  fall  upon  the  paper  and  blot  the  lines.  Put 
your  heart  into  your  thought  and  your  thought  into  your 
rhymes. 

The  world  will  acknowledge  one  of  these  days  that  a 
country  girl,  without  a  librarj^,  without  a  seminary,  with- 
out influential  friends,  without  money,  without  a  mother, 
with  younger  brothers  and  sisters  to  take  care  of,  with 
irksome  drudgery  to  do,  may  yet  succeed  in  author- 
ship. 

Alice  Cary  made  her  first  appearance  in  print  in  her 
eighteenth  year.  She  sent  a  poem,  entitled  "  The  Child 
of  Sorrow,"  to  the  Sentinel,  afterward  the  Star  in  the 
West,^  the  Universalist  paper  of  Cincinnati.  "  The  Child 
of  Sorrow  " — theme  befitting  her  case — apt  key-note  to 
the  many  mournful  variations  that  followed. 

The  Star  was  for  a  long  time  almost  the  only  publica- 
tion for  which  Alice  wrote.  Mr.  Elias  Longley,  a  com- 
positor in  the  Star  ofilce  when  John  A.  Gurley^  edited 
that  paper,  remembers  that  the  Cary  sisters  used  to  come  to 
the  ofiiice,  sometimes  with  their  father,  but  more  frequently 
unattended,  and  bring  little,  nicely  folded  manuscripts. 
One  day  two  contributions  were  handed  in,  and  Mr.  Gur- 
ley  held  up  one  of  the  neat  papers,  saying :  ''Ah,  another 
poet ;  this  is  Phoebe's  beginning." 

Do  the  annals  of  literature  afibrd  a  prettier  picture? 

Alice  Cary  had  chosen  her  career.  She  had  also  entered 
into  the  self-reliance  of  womanhood.  She  was  gentle  and 
reasonable,  yet  as  firm  as  grim  Bess,  her  ancient  kins- 
woman. The  conflict  with  the  stepmother  ended  in  a 
compromise,  with  the  responsibilities  of  victory  on  Alice's 

*  "The  Sentinel  and  Star  in  the  West"  was  started  in  October,  1829, 
by  Jonathan  Kidwell,  J.  C.  Waldo,  and  S.  L.  Tizzard.  Among  its  con- 
tributors were  John  B.  Dillon,  W.  D.  Gallagher,  and  Otway  Curray. 

^  Rev.  John  A.  Gurley  was  an  eminent  Universalist  preacher.  He 
went  into  politics,  and  was  elected  to  Congress,  on  the  Republican  ticket, 
in  1860. 


486  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

aide.  Robert  Gary  built  a  new  house  on  the  farm,  and 
moved  into  ilj  with  his  new  wife,  leaving  Alice,  Phoebe, 
Warren,  Asa,  and  Elmina  to  occupy  the  old  homestead, 
and  order  it  as  they  would. 

Alice  and  Phoebe  now  devoted  a  good  deal  of  time  to 
the  service  of  the  muses.  They  wrote  for  several  different 
papers,  and  were  cheered  by  friendly  recognition.  Mrs. 
Clemmer  relates  how  Phoebe  "  laughed  and  cried "  over 
her  first  appearance  in  a  Boston  paper.  '•  I  did  not  care 
any  more  if  I  were  poor,  or  my  clothes  plain.  Somebody 
eared  enough  for  my  verses  to  print  them,  and  I  was 
happy.  I  looked  with  compassion  on  my  schoolmates. 
You  may  know  more  than  I  do,  I  thought,  but  you  can't 
write  verses  that  are  printed  in  a  newspaper ;  but  I  kept 
my  joy  and  triumph  to  myself."  How  sustaining  this 
universal,  "  I  can  do  something  that  you  can't?"  Proud 
Thomas  Carlyle,  like  modest  young  Phoebe  Gary,  required 
the  support  of  conscious  victory.  **  One  or  twice  among 
the  flood  of  equipages  at  Hyde  Park  Gorner,  I  recollect 
sternly  thinking, '  Yes ;  and  perhaps  none  of  you  could 
do  what  I  am  at.'  " 

The  enthusiastic,  practical  Phoebe  seems  to  have  been  a 
sort  of  business  agent  for  the  poetical  firm  at  its  outset. 
Very  soon  the  girls  began  to  speculate  on  the  possibility 
of  earning  something  by  means  of  the  pen.  To  be  a  con- 
tributor is  much — but  to  hQ  2i  paid  contributor — that  were 
fame — for  them.  1  have  before  me  the  original  of  a  letter 
written  to  Mr.  Lewis  J.  Gist,^  in  1845,  and  signed  P.  Gary, 
for  A.  and  P.  Gary.     The  letter  is  without  an  envelope, 

*  U«wb  J.  Cist,  the  gentleman  to  whom  this  personal  appeal  was  ad- 
ditMiHMl,  was  a  well-known  citizen  of  Cincinnati,  a  brother  of  General 
Henry  M.  Cist.  He  was  born  in  Harmonyf  Pennsylvania,  November 
30,  1818.  He  came  to  Cincinnati  in  1827,  and  died  there  March  31, 1885. 
The  work  of  his  life  was  the  accumulation  of  autoj^raphs,  of  which  he 
had  the  most  complet4^  collection  in  the  United  States,  and  one  of  the 
lailgest  in  the  world.  It  comprised  about  twelve  thousand  letters  and 
docomento,  illustraUMl  with  fifteen  thousand  engraved  portraits  and 
viewt.  Mr.  Cist  was  a  poet  of  local  celebrity  A  volume  from  his  pen, 
entitled  "Trifles  in  Verse,"  was  published  in  1845,  by  Robinson  and 
Jones,  Cincinnati. 


Alice  Gary.  487 

folded  and  wafered,  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  and  was 
mailed  at  Mount  Healthy,  the  five  cents  postage  prepaid : 

"  Mt.  Healthy,  November  2,  1845. 
"  Mr.  L.  J.  Cist  : 

"  Dear  Sir — If  (being  a  spirit  of  his  order)  you  agree 
with  the  poet  that  a  '  necessary  act  incurs  no  blame,'  I 
shall  be  permitted  to  waive  apologetic  formula,  as  I  am 
under  the  necessity  of  troubling  you  for  information  rela- 
tive to  the  compensation  usually  given  by  Eastern  maga- 
zines for  poetic  contributors. 

"Awaiting  an  answer  at  your  earliest  convenience,  I  am, 
with  sentiments  of  regard, 

"  P.  Gary,  for  A.  and  P.  Gary." 

In  1846,  Alice  and  Phoebe  both  wrote  for  the  Gasket,  a 
literary  paper  published  in  Gincinnati  by  Emerson  Ben- 
nett, the  voluminous  writer  of  sensational  stories. 

Among  the  Western  editors  who  encouraged  the 
Gary  sisters  in  the  beginning  of  their  career  was  L.  A. 
Hine,  the  reformer.  Mr.  Hine's  first  periodical,  the  Quar- 
terly Journal  and  Review,  was  begun  and  ended  in  1846. 
Miss  Alice  Gary  wrote  two  poems  for  this  journal,  one 
called  "  The  Past  and  Present,"  the  other  "  Hannibal's 
Lament  for  His  Brother."  When  Hine's  Herald  of  Truth 
appeared,  in  1847,  Alice  and  Phoebe  contributed  to  its 
columns  very  often.  Indeed,  Hine  and  the  Gary  girls 
were  intimate  friends,  "  like  brother  and  sisters." 

It  was  through  the  influence  of  Gallagher  and  Hine 
that  Alice  Gary  became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Gamaliel 
Bailey,  who  was  the  first  editor  that  paid  her  any  thing 
for  her  contributions.  Dr.  Bailey  went  from  Gincinnati 
to  Washington  in  1847,  and  started  the  i^ational  Era, 
famous  afterward  as  the  paper  in  which  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Gabin  "  was  first  printed,  and  for  which  Mr.  Ilowells  wrote 
some  of  his  early  pieces.  Alice  wrote  poems  and  sketches 
for  the  Era  under  the  pseudonym,  "  Patty  Lee."  After 
she  had  been  writing  several  months.  Dr.  Bailey  sent  her 
ten  dollars,  the  first  pecuniary  overflow  of  her  ink  bottle. 


488  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

Referring  to  the  beginning  of  her  literary  experience, 
she  says :  "  The  poems  I  wrote  in  those  times,  and  the 
praises  they  won  me,  were  to  my  eager  and  credulous  ap- 
prehension the  prophecies  of  wonderful  things  to  be  done 
in  the  future.  Even  now,  when  I  am  older,  and  should 
be  wiser,  the  thrill  of  delight  with  which  I  read  a  letter 
full  of  cordial  encouragement  and  kindness  from  the 
charming  poet,  Otway  Curry,  is  in  some  sort  renewed. 
Then  the  voices  that  came  cheeringly  to  my  lonesome  and 
obscure  life  from  across  the  mountains — how  precious 
they  were  to  me !  Among  these  the  most  cherished  are 
Edgar  A.  Poe  and  Eufus  W.  Griswold." 

Qriswold's  "American  Female  Poets "  was   issued  in 

1848.  The  editor  says  of  the  Gary  girls  :  "  It  is  but  two 
or  three  years  since  I  first  saw  the  name  of  either  of 
them,  in  a  western  newspaper,  and  of  nearly  a  hundred  of 
the  poems  which  are  now  before  me,  probably  not  one  has 
been  written  more  than  that  time."  He  then  quotes 
from  a  letter  of  Alice  Gary's,  in  which  she  says :  "  We 
write  with  much  facility,  often  producing  two  or  three 
poems  in  a  day,  and  never  elaborate.  We  have  printed, 
exclusive  of  our  early  productions,  some  three  hundred 
and  fifty,  which  those  in  your  possession  fairly  repre- 
sent." 

Here  is  a  prolific  pen !  In  this  copiousness  of  expres- 
sion is  a  secret  of  success ;  and,  alas !  also  of  failure. 
"  We  never  elaborate."    Fatal  omission. 

Poe's  clieering  words  are  in  reference  to  the  poem  enti- 
tled a  "  Picture  of  Memory,"  which  he  says  is  one  of  the 
most  musically  perfect  lyrics  in  the  language. 

Through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Griswold,  the  first  volume 
of  poems  by  Alice  and  Phoebe  Gary  was  brought  out. 
This  was   published  by   Moss   &   Bro.,  of  Philadelphia, 

1849.  "  We  are  to  receive  for  it  $100,"  wrote  the  thrifty 
Phcebe  to  a  friend. 

The  red-letter  year,  1849,  dates  the  beginning  of  the 
Caryg*  acquaintance  with  Whittier,  by  letter,  and  with 
Horace  Greeley,  who  that  year  visited  them  at  Mount 


Alice  Cary.  489 

Healthy.     Greeley  must  have  known  them  as  contributors 
to  the  Universalist  newspaper. 

The  book  was  published  and  went  its  way,  finding 
friends.  The  next  year  the  sisters  made  their  first  pil- 
grimage to  the  East — to  New  York,  to  Boston,  to  Ames- 
bury.  Whittier  thus  describes  their  appearance  at  his 
home : 

"  Timid  and  young,  the  elder  had 
Even  then  a  smile  too  sweetly  sad ; 
The  crown  of  pain  that  all  must  wear 
Too  early  pressed  her  midnight  hair. 

"  Yet,  ere  the  summer  eve  grew  long, 
Her  modest  lips  were  sweet  with  song, 
A  memory  haunted  all  her  words, 
Of  clover-fields  and  singing  birds. 

"  Her  dark,  dilating  eyes  expressed 
The  broad  horizons  of  the  West ; 
Her  speech  dropped  prairie  flowers,  the  gold 
Of  harvest  wheat  about  her  rolled. 

"  Fore-doomed  to  song  she  seemed  to  me  ; 
I  queried  not  with  destiny, 
I  knew  the  trial  and  the  need, 
Yet  all  the  more,  1  said,  God  speed !" 


The  "  trial  and  the  need  "  lay  hard  ahead.  This  visit 
to  the  East  prepared  the  way  for  permanent  residence 
there.  Mrs.  Clemmer  says  :  "  In  I^ovember  of  the  same 
year  (1850),  Alice  Cary,  broken  in  health,  sad  in  spirit, 
with  little  money,  but  w^ith  a  will  which  no  difficulty 
could  daunt,  an  energy  and  patience  which  no  pain  or 
sorrow  could  overcome,  started  alone  to  seek  her  fortune 
and  to  make  for  herself  a  place  and  a  home  in  the  city  of 
N'ew  York."  Referring  to  this,  the  year  before  her  death, 
she  said :  "  Ignorance  stood  me  in  the  stead  of  courage. 
Had  I  known  the  great  world  as  I  have  learned  it  since,  I 
should  not  have  dared  ;  but  I  didn't.     Thus  I  came." 

From  Clovernook  to  the  metropolis — what  a  change  of 
worlds  !  She  went  to  the  great,  roaring  city,  but  she  took 
the  tranquil  country  along ;  she  removed  to  the  East,  but 


490  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

the  West  was  in  her  heart ;  and  in  her  heart  was  the  sting 
of  a  disappointed  love,  not  yet  quite  hopeless. 

And  now  began  a  grim  struggle,  I  might  almost  say  for 
bread.  Yet  she  had  one  staunch,  practical  friend,  her 
brother-in-law,  Alexander  Swift.  Mr.  Swift  had  married 
Susan,  an  older  sister  of  Alice  Gary.  He  accompanied 
the  sisters  on  their  first  journey  to  the  East,  and  he  as- 
sisted them  afterward  in  obtaining  a  place  to  live. 

Alice  came  to  New  York  in  November,  1850;  Phoebe 
and  Elmina,  the  youngest  of  the  Gary  family,  joined  her 
the  next  spring.  The  sisters  spent  the  first  year  of  their 
life  in  New  York  at  the  American  Hotel,  a  favorite  resort 
of  literary  folk,  kept  by  a  refined  and  agreeable  ex-pub- 
lisher, Daniel  Bixby,  from  Lowell.  Gooper,  Irving,  Hal- 
leck,  and  other  notables  had  occupied  apartments  in  the 
American  Hotel,  and  their  patronage  had  given  the  place 
a  sort  of  classic  charm. 

Having  come  to  New  York  to  try  her  literary  fortunes, 
Alice  Gary  went  to  work  systematically  to  make  a  book. 
She  collected  for  the  press  thirty-five  of  her  short  stories 
and  studies  of  country  life  in  Ohio,  under  the  title,  "  Glov- 
ernook;  or.  Recollections  of  our  Home  in  the  West."  The 
volume  was  published  in  1851.  The  author  said  in  her 
preface:  "I  confess  I  have  no  invention,  and  I  am  alto- 
gether too  poor  an  artist  to  dream  of  any  success  which 
may  not  be  won  by  the  simplest  fidelity." 

The  exact  truthfulness  and  felicitous  local  coloring  of 
the  Clovernook  papers  must  be  acknowledged  and  appre- 
ciated by  every  reader  who  has  seen  or  studied  farm-life 
in  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  blemish  of  these  exquisite  stories 
is  that  which  attaches  also  to  Alice  Gary's  poetry,  namely, 
the  all-pervading  sadness  of  the  themes  chosen.  There  is 
scarcely  a  story  in  either  volume  of  the  "  Recollections  " 
(a  second  series  was  issued)  that  comes  out  happily.  How- 
ever cheerfully  the  tale  may  begin,  and  however  comical 
may  be  its  incidents,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  death -bed  some- 
where in  the  narrative,  and  a  tombstone  at  the  finis.  Not- 
withstanding the  depressing  quality  interfused  throughout 


Alice  Gary.  491 

the  book,  it  was  popular,  and  still  holds  a  place  in  the 
market,  a  new  edition  having  been  brought  out  in  1884. 

Early  in  1852,  Susan,  the  first  wife  of  Alexander  Swift, 
died  in  Cincinnati.  Elmina  returned  from  ISTew  York  to 
attend  her  sister  in  her  last  illness.  Bereaved  and  lone- 
some, Alice  and  Phoebe  kept  on  at  their  bread-winning 
labors,  writing  for  various  journals  and  preparing  material 
for  new  books.  Melancholy  meditation  deepened  the 
gloomy  habit  already  fixed  upon  Alice's  mind.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1852,  she  wrote  as  follows  to  her  kinsman,  Wm.  D. 
Gallagher,  then  the  private  secretary  of  Thomas  Corwin 
at  Washington  City : 

ALICE  GARY  TO  WM.  D.  GALLAGHER. 

"  :NrEW  York,  February  11,  1852. 

^'  My  Dear  Mr.  Gallagher — It  is  a  long  time  since  I  had 
a  very  kind  letter  from  you,  for  which  I  thank  you  most 
sincerely.  I  have  been  for  two  months  unable  to  write,  or 
it  should  have  been  acknowledged  before.  I  hoped  to 
see  you  in  Washington  during  the  winter,  but  all  my  plans 
failed  most  unhappily.  The  illness  and  death  of  a  sister 
in  Cincinnati  called  Elmina  from  us  in  ]^ovember,  so  we 
have  had  a  lonesome  time.  Indeed,  life  has  little  charm 
for  me  any  more. 

"  In  April  I  shall  probably  go  West  myself.  I  am 
weary  of  this  continual  effort  to  live — beside,  I  like  the 
simple  way  of  life  to  which  I  have  been  used. 

"  Will  you  not  come  and  be  my  neighbor?  How  I  wish 
you  would — and  sometimes  we  can  meet  in  some  '  homely 
beanvine  bower,'  and  talk  of  poetry.  By  the  way,  I  am 
getting  a  little  volume  ready  for  the  press,  but  I  don't  sup- 
pose it  will  bring  me  either  '  love  or  money.' 

"  You  did  not  come  to  see  us  when  here,  as  I  hoped — 
'  The  w^orld  and  your  great  ofiice,'  I  suppose,  as  Mark 
Antony  said. 

"  It  is  a  dull,  rainy  day,  and  I  am  dull,  too.  What 
would  I  not  give  to  feel  once  more  young  at  heart — as 
though  there  were  anything  to  live  for. 


492  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"  But  I  did  not  mean  to  inflict  all  this  upon  you — par- 
don me. 

"  You  see  I  am  a  sorry  correspondent,  but  I  shall  be 
just  as  happy  to  hear  from  you  as  though  I  were  ever  so 
gay,  and  perhaps  next  time  I  shall  do  better — that  I  am 
scarcely  able  to  sit  up  may  be  some  excuse  for  me. 

"  With  every  wish  for  your  happiness,  I  am  sincerely 
yours,  Alice  Gary." 

About  three  months  later  the  following  letter  was 
written : 

ALICE  GARY  TO  WM.  D.  GALLAGHER. 

"  New  York,  Aj>ril  26,  1852. 

"  My  Dear  Mr.  Gallagher — It  is  a  long  time  since  I  had 
your  very  kind  letter,  and  I  have  been  delayed  writing 
because  I  had  a  great  deal  to  do,  because  my  health  has 
been  wretched,  and  because  I  have  been  in  sad  spirits, 
and  you  scolded  me  for  writing  sadly  before.  How,  my 
dear  friend,  am  I  to  help  it?  My  youth  of  years,  my 
youth  of  heart  is  gone.  Since  I  was  old  enough  to  think 
the  plummet  of  agony  has  been  sinking  deeper  and  deeper 
in  my  soul.  Since  I  came  from  home  a  dearly  loved  sis- 
ter has  gone  down  to  death  ;  a  brother  with  whom  I  played 
about  the  old  homestead  has  gone  far  away,  a  crushed 
and  miserable  wanderer ;  between  Phoebe  and  myself 
the  close  sympathy  has  been  broken  by  religious  difter- 
ence.  God  knoweth  I  would  fain  be  right,  if  in  the 
wrong,  but  I  see  not  as  she  does,  and  this  grieves  me  and 
that  grieves  her,  and  that  grieves  me  again.  I  think  I 
have  good  feelings  and  right  impulses  sometimes — perhaps 
not — but  what  is  all  this  to  you  ? 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  write  sadly,  and  yet  I  want  to  pour 
out  my  heart  somewhere,  and  you  wrote  to  me  kindly, 
and  seem  to  be  my  friend,  and  I  have  known  so  little 
kindness  you  can  not  know  how  I  prize  it.  I  wish  you 
knew  me  better.  I  wish  we  could  see  more  of  each  other. 
Yes,  with  all  my  faults  and  failings,  I  wish  you  knew  me 
better.  I  should  like  to  talk  to  you  on  all  the  past  and 
the  future,  with  no  reserve  and  formality,  but  as  friend 


Alice  Gary.  493 

with  friend.  But  what  will  you  think  of  me  for  writing 
as  I  do?  I  don't  know.  My  mood  unfits  me  for  writing 
at  all  to-day,  and  I  should  still  delay  but  that  I  leave  this 
afternoon  for  Cincinnati,  and  have  much  work  waiting 
me,  and  when  I  am  there  and  find  vacant  places  and  new 
graves,  and  my  father,  old  and  bowed  with  sorrow,  I  shall 
be  in  no  gayer  mood  to  write  to  you. 

"Will  you  not  come  West  this  summer?  I  hope  so. 
And  write  soon.  I  will  reply  promptly — more  cheerfully, 
if  I  can. 

"  Dr.  Bailey  came  to  see  me  twice,  a  week  ago,  but  I 
chanced  to  be  away  from  home,  the  first  time  I  have 
been  out  of  the  city  for  a  year  and  a  half.  I  am  very  sorry 
I  did  not  see  him,  and  especially  under  the  circumstances. 

'^  He  is  not  much  my  friend,  I  fear.  I  had  never  quite 
given  up  the  idea  of  coming  to  Washington  till  now.  I 
have  enough  to  do,  more  than  I  can  do  worthily,  I  am 
afraid,  but  I  must  write — chiefly  because  I  must  live,  and 
not  that  I  have  an  idea  that  I  have  much  influence,  good 
or  bad.  I  would  fain  do  something  before  my  little  life  is 
rounded  by  a  sleep,  but  I  never  shall — they  will  fit  a  slab 
of  granite  so  gray  and  Alice  lie  under  the  stone,  one  of 
these  days. 

"  The  world  flourishes  with  you,  I  hope.  Address  me 
at  Cincinnati.  I  shall  be  there  for  the  present,  but  I  only 
see  my  way  clear  for  a  month  or  two,  and  shall  probably 
drift  with  the  current.  I  have  some  half-formed  schemes 
of  traveling.  Forgive  my  egotism — I  see  I  have  Avritten 
of  nothing  but  myself.     Very  truly  your  friend, 

"Alice  Cary." 

From  the  time  that  Alice  Cary  began  to  write  girlish 
rhymes,  by  the  light  of  a  rag  soaked  in  lard-oil,  to  the 
year  of  her  death,  she  worked  with  the  pen  incessantly. 
When,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  she  left  Clovernook  and  took 
up  her  residence  in  New  York,  resolving  to  become  a  pro- 
fessional author,  she  had  had  fully  twelve  years'  practice 
in  the  art  of  written  expression.  She  had  tried  her  "  'pren- 
tice ban'"  in  a  dozen  periodicals,  and  had  accumulated 


494  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

abundant  material  for  the  composition  of  books.  Besides 
writing  for  publication,  she  wrote  many  letters.  One  of 
her  correspondents,  at  the  time  of  her  busiest  activity  in 
New  York,  was  Miss  S.  I^.  Venable,  of  Ridgeville,  Ohio, 
now  Mrs.  Lundy,  of  Los  Angeles,  California. 

The  first  lengthy  story  by  Alice  Gary  was  contributed 
as  a  serial  to  the  Cincinnati  Dollar  Weekly  Commercial. 
This  was  "  Hagar,  a  Story  of  To-day."  Redfield  published 
it  in  1852.  A  second  series  of  "  Clovernook  "  stories  was 
the  next  fruit  of  the  prolific  Cary  pen.  Then  came  a  book 
of  verse,  "  Lyra,  and  Other  Poems,"  issued  in  1853.  The 
following  year  Ticknor  &  Fields  brought  out  "  Clovernook 
Children,"  a  charming  juvenile  that  should  not  be  sufiered 
to  go  out  of  circulation. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  in  1854  Alice  Cary  was 
the  assistant  editor  of  the  Parlor  Magazine,  a  monthly 
literary  periodical  started  by  Jethro  Jackson,  and  pub- 
lished by  Applegate  &  Co.,  Cincinnati. 

A  complete  collection  of  Miss  Cary's  poems  to  date, 
dedicated  to  R.  W.  Griswold,  was  published  by  Ticknor  & 
Fields  in  1855.  The  edition  unquestionably  contains  the 
best,  though  not  the  maturest  of  the  author's  productions. 
The  volume  met  with  general  favor,  and  established  the 
reputation  of  Alice  Cary  as  a  poet.  But  it  was  mercilessly 
criticised  in  some  quarters. 

A  reviewer  in  Putnam's  Monthly  said :  "  It  is  a  sob  in 
three  hundred  and  ninety-nine  parts.  Such  terrific  mor- 
tality never  raged  in' a  volume  of  the  same  size  before.  It 
is  a  parish  register  of  funerals  rendered  into  doleful 
rhyme."  These  sentences  and  their  like  caused  Alice 
much  pain.  Perhaps,  had  the  critic  known  the  dismal 
history  of  the  poet's  disappointments  and  griefs,  he  would 
have  restrained  his  witty  ridicule.  Mrs.  Clemmer  touch- 
ingly  says  :  "  Remembering  the  bereaved  and  lonely  girl, 
whose  daily  walk  ended  in  the  graveyard  on  the  hillside, 
where  her  mother  and  sister  slept,  how  could  her  early 
song  escape  the  shadow  of  death  and  the  vibration  of  sor- 
row? With  her  it  was  the  utterance  of  actual  loss,  not 
the  morbid  sentimentalism  of  poetic  youth." 


Alice  Gary.  495 

The  critic,  however,  could  not  be  supposed  to  know  the 
peculiar  misfortunes  of  the  author,  and  his  strictures, 
though  disagreeable,  were  not  altogether  unjust.  He  ad- 
mits, at  the  end  of  his  review,  that  "  Miss  Gary  writes 
much  better  verse  than  most  women  who  publish  poetry." 
The  very  extravagance  of  his  ridicule  helped  to  sell  the 
abused  book,  and  while  the  criticism  pained  Alice  Gary,  it 
must  have  taught  her  the  bitter-sweet  truth  that  Irving 
puts  upon  the  lips  of  Buckthorn :  "  Take  my  word  for 
it,  the  only  happy  author  in  this  world  is  he  who  is  below 
the  cares  of  reputation." 

While  the  vivisecting  critic  of  ''  Putnam's  "  was  anato- 
mizing "  Lyra,"  an  equally  pungent  but  more  generous 
reviewer  in  the  West,  Goates  Kinney,  was  writing  an  elab- 
orate article  on  the  "  Poetry  of  Alice  Gary."  Kinney, 
like  the  Putnam  critic  very  humorously  ridicules  the  ele- 
giac element  of  "  Lyra,"  but  he  heals  all  wounds  by  pro- 
nouncing Alice  Gary  "emphatically  the  first  poetess  of  the 
ISTew  World."  He  adds :  "  There  has,  as  yet,  been  no 
other  female  intellect  in  our  literature  equal  to  the  produc- 
tion of  such  poems  as  many  in  this  book,  and  especially 
"  The  Maiden  of  Tlascala." 

The  year  1855  brought  Alice  Gary  full  in  the  eye  of  the 
reading  and  writing  public.  She  realized  her  situation, 
appreciated  her  "means,  culture  and  limits."  She  had 
crossed  the  Rubicon,  and  must  go  on  with  the  war.  She 
had  her  living  to  earn,  and  her  reputation  to  sustain  and 
increase.  The  resolute  Puritan  blood  in  her  said,  Perse- 
vere. Sensitive  she  was,  but  not  timorous.  She  will  fol- 
low the  light  of  the  "  rag  in  the  saucer,"  and  find  whither 
its  glimmer  shines.  Something  at  least  is  won ;  every 
sweet  apple  has  a  bitter  speck.  Dash  aside  the  quick  ris- 
ing tear  of  mortification,  and  take  up  the  pen.  Think, 
think,  think — write,  write,  write;  make  the  best  of  a 
scanty  education,  and  go  your  own  way. 

Before  1856,  the  Gary  sisters  had  given  up  apartments 
which  they  had  rented  and  moved  to  No.  53  East  Twen- 
tieth street.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Susan, 
Alexander  Swift  married  her  youngest  sister,  Elmina,  the 


496  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

"baby  "  of  the  Gary  family.  Elmina's  health  failed,  and 
she  desired  to  go  to  New  York  and  live  with  Alice  and 
Phcebe.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Swift  bought  a  house  on 
Twentieth  street,  and  the  three  sisters  moved  into  it. 
Elmina,  an  invalid,  continued  with  her  sisters  until  her 
death,  in  1862. 

After  Elmina's  death,  Alice  Gary  bought  the  property 
on  Twentieth  street.  Mrs.  Clemmer  has  given  charming 
descriptions  of  this  poet's  nest — Alice's  room  and  Phoebe's 
room  and  the  library ;  the  pictures  of  "  The  Huguenot 
Lovers,"  "  The  Barefoot  Boy,"  Rosa  Bonheur's  "  Oxen," 
and  the  "  Gupid,"  brought  from  Paris  by  Mrs.  Greeley; 
the  neat  table,  with  books,  magazines  and  sewing  work ; 
Alice's  writing-desk  of  rosewood;  the  pretty  curtains; 
the  stained  windows;  the  furniture,  trinkets  and  treasures 
collected,  little  by  little,  as  the  years  sped  by.  The  library 
passed  into  the  possession  of  Major  Glymer,  Govington, 
Kentucky.  The  elegant  mahogany  table  and  two  ecclesi- 
astical bronze  candlesticks  were  presented  to  Mr.  A.  W. 
Whelpley,  of  Gincinnati,  librarian  of  the  Public  Library. 
Mr.  Whelpley  is  also  the  fortunate  owner  of  valuable 
Gary  autographs,  and  of  Alice  Gary's  copy  of  Heine's 
Poems,  with  autograph. 

Horace  Greeley  wrote  reminiscences  of  the  orginal 
Sunday  evening  receptions  held  in  the  parlor  of  the  Gary 
sisters,  at  which  Henry  Wilson,  Oliver  Johnson,  Edwin 
Whipple,  Bayard  Taylor,  John  G.  Whittier,  R.  H.  Stod- 
dard and  wife,  T.  B.  Aldrich,  E.  H.  Ghapin,  Julia  Dean, 
Ole  Bull,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  Justin  McGarthy,  and  others 
not  less  distinguished  were  frequent  attendants.  It  is 
said  that  some  objected  to  these  receptions  because  they 
were  held  on  Sunday,  and  others  aftected  to  disdain  them 
on  account  of  the  "queer  people"  found  in  the  assem- 
blage. 

One  of  Alice  Gary's  warmest  admirers  and  best  friends 
was  Robert  Bonner,  of  the  New  York  Ledger.  This  lib- 
eral man  testified  his  appreciation  by  paying  good  sums 
for  the  poems  which  Alice  wrote  weekly  for  the  Ledger. 
Greeley  said  that  Bonner  paid  perhaps  as  much  for  lite- 


Alice  Gary.  497 

rary  contributions  as  did  all  the  rest  of  the  Kew  York 
journalists  put  together. 

Alice  Gary's  second  novel,  "Married;  ]^ot  Mated," 
came  out  in  1856.  "  Pictures  of  Country  Life,"  one  of 
her  best  books,  was  published  in  1859.  Then  followed 
several  volumes  of  her  poems,  including  *■'  Lyrics  and 
Hymns  "  and  "A  Lover's  Diary."  "  Snow  Berries,"  a  de^ 
lightful  volume  for  children,  was  published  in  1868. 
Then  appeared  another  novel,  "  The  Bishop's  Son,"  first 
printed  as  a  serial  in  the  Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican. 
The  author  commenced  writing  a  story  called  "  The  Born 
Thrall "  for  the  Revolution,  but  her  death  prevented  its 
completion. 

This  daughter  of  a  western  farmer  was  public  spirited, 
patriotic — a  politician  in  her  way  and  a  social  reformer. 
Of  course,  she  knew  only  the  life  that  she  did  know,  and 
formed  her  opinion  accordingly.  Naturally  enough,  she 
took  special  interest  in  the  "  Woman  Question,"  which 
somewhat  involves  the  man  question.  Alice  Cary,  the 
shy  maid  of  Clovernook — is  it  not  remarkable  that  she 
was  chosen  the  first  president  of  the  celebrated  Sorosis, 
or  Woman's  Club,  in  E'ew  York  city?  On  taking  the 
ofiicial  chair,  she  made  her  first  and  last  public  speech — 
simple,  sensible,  dignified  and  aggressive. 

Alice  Cary  cherished  her  domestic  instincts.  She  liked 
to  sew.  She  superintended  her  own  housekeeping;  she 
went  to  market  and  bought  her  own  beef-steak  and  vege- 
tables. 

Regarding  herself  a  "born  thrall,"  under  the  sover- 
eignty of  immemorial  Wrong,  she  did  not  waste  her  en- 
ergy in  repining.  She  lifted  her  woman's  arm  in  self-re- 
liant courage,  and  cast  off  the  shackles.  She  was  of  the 
self-sacrificing  signers  who  dated  a  new  Fourth  of  July 
for  the  subjected  sex. 

But  literary  composition  was  her  vocation.  As  she  grew 
older  she  became  dissatisfied  with  the  quality  of  her  pen 
products.  To  her  brother  Asa,  and  to  other  of  her  inti- 
mate friends,  she  used  to  say :  "  I  have  done  nothing ;  oh ! 
32 


498  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

that  I  could  live  ten  years  longer !"  The  feeling  is  bit- 
terly yet  sweetly  expressed  in  the  poem,  "  To  the  Spirit  of 
Song — Apology,"  prefacing  a  volume  of  her  poems. 

.     .     .    "  Hear  me  tell 

How  much  my  will  transcends  my  feeble  powers : 

As  one  with  blind  eyes  feeling  out  in  flowers 
Their  tender  hues,  or,  with  no  skill  to  spell 

His  poor,  poor  name,  but  only  makes  his  mark, 

And  guesses  at  the  sunshine  in  the  dark, 
So  have  I  been." 

In  1862,  when  Elmina  Swift  passed  away,  Alice^  Cary 
wrote :  "  My  darling  is  dead.  My  hands  are  empty.  My 
work  seems  done."  But  the  fates  spun  out  the  thread  of 
life  eight  years  longer.  They  were  years  of  physical  feeble- 
ness and  suft'ering.  Cancer,  paralysis — terrible  ministers 
of  death,  dragged  the  brave  woman  slowly  out  of  the 
world.  Alice  Cary  died  February  12,  1870.  Phoebe,  her 
dear  companion,  died  the  next  year  on  the  31st  of  July. 
The  friendship  of  these  congenial  sisters  is  memorable  in 
the  annals  of  human  tenderness  and  fidelity. 

The  history  of  Alice  Gary's  life  in  New  York  is  mixed 
with  painful  incidents.  The  ambitious  girl  gained  fame, 
but  she  lost  the  pensive  delights  of  seclu'sion,  and  the  soul- 
soothing  pleasures  derived  from  communion  with  nature. 
She  fled  to  the  city  to  escape  memory  and  grief,  and  lo ! 
memory  and  grief  met  her  on  Broadway  and  went  with 
her  to  her  new  house. 

The  solace  of  her  days  and  nights  w^as  in  recollecting 
"  Clovernook."  Forever  she  was  sighing  for  the  fields, 
the  "  new  furrows,"  the  "  pasture  green,"  tlie  "  clover 
blossoms,"  the  "  flocks,"  the  "  bees,"  and  even  the  "  toad 
stools  "  and  the  "  thistle-flower  "  of  beautiful  Ohio.  The 
longing  for  things  loved  in  girlhood  is  told  in  poem  after 
poem,  but  in  none  more  forcibly  than  the  lines  appropri- 
ately named,  "  My  Dream  of  Dreams,"  beginning: 

"  Alone  within  my  house  I  sit ; 
The  lights  are  not  for  me, 
The  music,  nor  the  mirth  ;  and  yet 
I  lack  not  company. 


Alice  Cary.  499 

"  So  gayly  go  the  gay  to  meet, 
Nor  wait  my  griefs  to  mend — 
My  entertainment  is  more  sweet 
Than  thine  to-night,  my  friend. 

"  Whilst  thou,  one  blossom  in  thy  hand, 
Bewailst  my  weary  hours, 
Upon  my  native  hills  I  stand 
Waist-deep  among  the  flowers." 

J.  C.  Derby,  the  veteran  publisher,  gives  the  following 
anecdote,  which  amusingly  illustrates  Alice  Gary's  ex- 
travagant passion  for  the  plants  she  loved  :  "  I  remember 
on  one  occasion  all  three  of  the  sisters  accompanied  me 
on  a  brief  visit  to  my  residence  on  the  Hudson  near 
Yonkers ;  it  was  in  the  summer  time,  and  the  lawn  of 
clover  in  front  of  the  house  was  fragrant  with  its  blos- 
soms. .My  wife  had  hardly  greeted  them  before  Alice  sat 
down  on  the  steps  and  deliberately  took  ofi'  her  shoes 
and  stockings,  and  literally  waded  through  the  clover." 

I  have  alluded  to  Alice  Gary's  disappointed  love.  The 
story  is  that  of  Evangeline  realized — a  true  story,  not 
stranger  but  not  less  moving  than  the  Acadian  fiction.  A 
young  man — the  prince — came  to  Glovernook  and  wooed 
and  won  an  expectant  heart.  This  youth,  the  only  beloved 
of  Alice  Gary,  wears  many  names  in  her  verses.  It  is 
understood  that  he  was  a  person  of  high  social  standing. 
Alice  was  but  a  poor  farmer's  daughter.  Objection  was 
made  to  the  alliance  by  the  family  and  friends  of  the 
suitor. 

The  match  was  prevented.  The  lover,  it  would  seem, 
was  not  equal  to  rope-ladders  and  a  galloping  steed.  He 
was  not  Lochinvar,  but  the  other  young  man,  who  stood 
dangling  his  bonnet  and  plume.  Alice  confessed  her 
love  for  this  unsatisfactory  hero.  Love  is — love.  Like 
"  Jessie  Carroll,"  she  long  continued  to  hope  that  he  would 
return  to  her  and  make  her  his  bride.  Years  went  by, 
but  he  did  not  come — did  not  write.  At  last  she  saw  in  a 
newspaper  the  notice  of  his  marriage. 

Time  wrought  time's  changes.  The  "  sweetheart,'*  in 
widowhood,  did  return. 


500  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

A  gray-haired  man,  he  journeyed  to  New  York  and 
found  his  first  love,  a  gray-haired  woman,  on  the  bed  of 
her  last  sickness.  That  Alice  Cary  was  the  Evangeline 
and  the  Gabriel,  too,  of  this  sentimental  story  adds  to  its 
pathos.  We  may  afi^ect  to  ridicule  the  fact,  nevertheless  it 
is  a  fact,  as  Alice  Cary  has  intensely  written  that 

"  There  are  griefs  more  sad 

Than  ever  any  childless  mother  had — 
You  know  them  who  do  smother  nature's  cries 
Under  poor  masks 
Of  smiling,  slow  despair — 
Who  put  your  white  and  unadorning  hair 
Out  of  your  way  and  keep  at  homely  tasks, 
Unblest  by  any  praises  of  men's  eyes, 

Till  Death  comes  to  you  with  his  piteous  care. 
And  to  unmarriageable  beds  you  go. 
Saying,  *  It  is  not  much,  'tis  well  if  so 
We  only  be  made  fair. 
And  looks  of  love  await  us  when  we  rise.'  " 

Like  Wordsworth's  Wanderer,  Alice  Cary  was  a  "  poet 
sown  by  nature."     She  was  endowed  amply  with 

"  The  vision  and  the  faculty  divine." 

Bacon  thought  that  "'  a  painter  may  make  a  better  face 
than  ever  was ;  but  he  must  do  it  by  a  kind  of  felicity  (as 
a  musician  maketh  an  excellent  air  in  music)  and  not  by 
rule."  By  some  such  "  felicity,"  Alice  Cary  acquired  the 
accomplishment  of  verse.  The  prime  quality  in  the 
poetical  experiments  of  her  girlhood,  that  won  recogni- 
tion and  praise,  was  the  melodious  quality ;  her  song  sings. 
Much  practice  in  the  management  of  a  few  familiar 
meters  gave  her  surprising  facility  in  rhythm  and  rh}- me, 
and  in  the  choice  of  agreeable  words  and  apt  figures. 
Having  trained  her  art  to  fly  on  a  bold,  free  wing,  she 
sent  it  forth  on  new  adventures.  One  is  struck  with  ad- 
miration of  tlie  range  and  versatility  of  her  power.  Per- 
haps she  wrote  too  much,  too  easily,  and  often  for  the  ear 
rather  than  the  understanding,  especially  in  her  younger 
years.      However,   the   spontaneous   outpourings   of  her 


Alice  Cary.  501 

girlish  muse  are,  as  a  rule,  more  poetical  and  pleasing  than 
her  later  and  more  correct  productions.  There  is  a  deli- 
cious flavor  in  her  early  harvest  apples,  not  to  be  found 
in  her  fall  pippins.  She  became  prosaic,  practical,  merely 
useful  toward  the  close  of  her  career;  thought  more 
of  doing  good  than  of  surrendering  her  emotions  to  the 
influence  of  mood  and  circumstance. 

She  excels  in  descriptive  poetry.  Her  very  best  pieces 
are  those  which  sketch  the  scenery  and  life  most  familiar 
to  her  childhood's  experience.  Her  vivid  pictures  of  per- 
sons and  things  observed  by  her  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount 
Healthy,  whether  painted  in  prose  or  verse,  will  last,  be- 
cause they  are  absolutely  true  and  entirely  original.  Like 
the  etchings  of  Diirer,  they  are  inimitable. 

Alice  Cary  transplanted  to  her  verses,  as  to  a  garden, 
the  characteristic  trees  and  flowers  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 
She  knew  them  all,  not  as  a  botanist  knows,  but  in  that 
passionate  and  sympathetic  w^ay  in  which  Burns  knew  the 
"gay  green  birk,"  and  the  ''  crimson  tippet"  daisy.  IN'or 
was  she  less  lovingly  interested  in  the  form  and  history  of 
animate  things,  brute  and  human.  The  flocks  of  the  field, 
the  birds,  and  the 

"  Sweet  bees  at  sweet  work  about  the  rose, 
Like  little  housewife  fairies  round  their  fire." 

were  the  objects  of  her  attentive  study,  and  the  theme  of 
her  lyrics.  Then,  what  a  collection  has  she  hung  on  the 
walls  of  memory,  of  portraits  of  real  men,  women,  and 
children!  There  is  the  long  procession  of  lovers,  "  Jessie 
Carroll,"  and  "Annie  Clayville,"  and  "  Mildred  Jocelyn," 
and  the  rest.  There  is  "  The  Farmer's  Daughter,"  a  char- 
acter drawn  wdth  Wordsworthian  vividness.  There  is 
"  Crazy  Christopher,"  and,  almost  as  good,  "  Uncle  Joe," 
who  dug  graves  and  played  the  fiddle.  How  touching 
the  story  of  "  The  Water  Bearer,"  how  strong  that  of 
"  The  Fisherman's  Wife." 

Many  of  Alice  Cary's  poems  are  so  profoundly  personal 
and  introspective  that  criticism  shrinks  from  examining 


602  Literary  Culture  in  the  Ohio  Valley, 

them  as  works  of  art ;  they  seem  not  to  have  been  made 
by  the  author,  but  born  of  her  laboring  mind — children 
begotten  of  sorrow. 

Through  struggle  and  under  tribulation  she  attained  a 
serene  faith,  and  a  saintly  piety.  oS'o  other  poet  has  more 
beautifully  expressed  religious  aspiration  and  trust  in 
Providence. 

A  suitable  companion  piece  to  Whittier's  "  My  Psalm," 
is  Alice  Gary's  poem  entitled  "  My  Creed,"  which  opens 
with  the  words : 

"  I  hold  that  Christian  grace  abounds 
Where  charity  is  seen  ;  that  when 
We  climb  to  Heaven,  't  is  on  the  rounds 
Of  love  to  men." 

On  Saturday,  June  24,  1881,  the  home  of  the  Carys, 
situated  about  eight  miles  north  of  Cincinnati,  was  in- 
formally dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  sisters.  The 
ceremonies  were  simple.  The  place  belongs  to  Alexander 
Swift,  and  it  was  his  desire  to  associate  permanently  with 
it  the  .names  of  those  whose  literary  genius  made  the  word 
"  Clovernook "  known  to  the  w^orld.  A  Quaker  picnic 
party  assembled  on  the  grounds.  Among  the  invited 
guests  were  several  literary  friends  of  the  sisters. 

Mr.  Swift  was  persuaded  to  give  reminiscences  of  the 
old  times,  more  than  forty  years  ago,  when  he  first  became 
acquainted  with  the  Cary  family.  He  read  the  poem, 
"  Our  Old  Brown  Homestead,"  and  pointed  out  objects  to 
which  the  verse  referred.  Then  Phcebe's  hymn,  "-  JS'earer 
Home,"  was  sung,  and  short  addresses  or  conversational 
monologues  were  given  by  B.  F.  Hopkins,  Joseph  Kinsey, 
Judge  A.  G.  W.  Garter,  Dr.  John  B.  Peaslee,  and  others. 

The  venerable  brothers,  Warren  and  Asa  Cary,  were  on 
the  grounds,  pleased  with  the  honors  bestowed  in  the 
memory  of  their  gifted  sisters.  Asa,  a  quiet,  dry  humor- 
ist, was  induced  to  relate  several  anecdotes.  To  him 
Alice  was  wont  to  submit  her  verses  almost  before 
the  ink  was  dry,  asking  his  opinion.  Often  he  would 
tease  her  by  some  such  remark  as  "  I  can  *t  bother  with 


Alice  Gary.  503 

your  poetry,  I  must  go  feed  the  hogs  f  or,  "  Well,  I  'spose 
ni  have  to  stand  it — read  away."  Asa  thinks  the  secret 
of  Alice's  fame  was  her  truthfulness. 

He  can  trace  nearly  every  one  of  her  poems  to  some 
reality  which  was  its  origin.  He  walked  with  me  to  the 
old  spring  and  to  the  barn,  and  lifted  a  decaying  board 
from  over  the  deep,  deep  well,  now  without  curb  or  sweep. 
I  asked  if  he  himself  had  ever  committed  the  folly  of 
rhyme,  at  which  he  smiled,  shook  his  head,  and  answered  : 
"  I  have  no  skill,  but  I  know  the  real  stuff  when  I  read  it,'' 
Of  Alice,  he  said  she  was  "  melancholy  by  nature,"  not 
through  circumstances,  and  he  added,  speaking  of  her 
misfortunes  and  his  own,  "I  hope  we  will  strike  something 
better  in  the  next  world." 

There  was  a  very  touching  suggestiveness  in  the  sub- 
dued, almost  religious  reverence  with  which  men,  women, 
and  children  moved  about,  contemplating  the  home  and 
haunts  of  Alice  Gary  on  that  beautiful  June  day,  set  apart 
for  commemoration.  The  sky  was  bright,  and  the  land- 
scape seemed  to  give  back  a  corresponding  radiance,  as  if 
conscious  that  human  associations  had  hallowed  the  place. 
Poetry  had  idealized  every  feature  of  the  scene;  each 
clover  blossom  had  become  sacred,  and  the  dead  leaf  that 
lay  in  the  path  once  trodden  by  the  songstress  was  now 
a  precious  souvenir  that  the  school-girl,  picking  up, 
placed  on  her  heart. 

I  stood  by  the  door,  in  the  shadow  of  which  they  say 
Hhoda,  with  Lucy  in  her  arms,  vanished  into  air,  a  phan- 
tom— a  spirit.  I  do  not  believe  in  ghosts,  yet  how  sensi- 
bly true  it  seemed  that  June  day  that  the  spirit  of  Alice 
Gary  lived  and  moved  and  had  its  being  in  the  trees,  and 
the  grass,  and  the  damask  rose ;  in  the  earth  beneath,  and 
the  sky  above,  and  the  air  around  the  Homestead  of 
Glovernook. 


INDEX. 


Academic  Pioneer,  the  422. 

Academies,  planned  in  Kentucky, 
162 ;  the  golden  age  of,  182. 

Academy,  the  Kentucky,  165  ;  Lan- 
caster, 178;  Muskingum,  183; 
"  Great  Western,"  426. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  his  last  im- 
portant speech,  250 ;  praised  by 
Prentice,  390. 

"Adena,"  home  of  Hon.  Thomas 
Worthington,  431. 

African  Melodies,  on  steamboats, 
268. 

Agricultural  Society,  an  early,  265. 

Albach,  James  R.,  31. 

Albion,  111.,  founded  by  Birkbeck, 
19 ;  visited  by  Schoolcraft,  23. 

Alcott,  Bronson,  his  "  Psyche," 
79. 

Alexandria,  La.,  in  1823,  345. 

AUouez,  4. 

Almanacs,  first  printed  in  Cincin- 
nati, 50,  57. 

Ames,  Mrs.  Mary  Clemmer,  bi- 
ographer of  Gary  sisters,  87; 
quoted,  486. 

Andrews,  Dr.  I.  W.,  on  first  library 
in  Ohio,  135-9. 

Anthology  of  "Western  Poetry,  the 
first,  273 ;  list  of  poets  represent- 
ed in,  274. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra,  W.  H. 
Lytle's  origin  of,  note,  284. 

Anti-slavery  agitation,  240,  246, 
297. 

Appleseed,  Johnny,  notice  of,  211. 

Ark,  37,  409. 

Ashe,  Thomas,  the  "  bone-stealer," 
16,  302. 

Atwater,  Caleb,  Historv  of  Ohio, 
26,  98,  379. 

Audubon,  J.  J.,  ornithologist,  167, 
311. 

Aurora,  The,  Philadelphia,  391. 

Backwoods,  32;  Patterson's  His- 
tory of,  32 ;  strange  rumors  con- 
cerning, 325. 


Bailey,  Francis,  down  the  Ohio  in 
1796,  15. 

Bailey,  Dr.,  Gamaliel,  editor,  487. 

Baker,  Nathan  F.,  sculptor,  323. 

Ballard,  Judge  Henry  S.,  and  Mr. 
Flint,  346. 

Ballentyne,  Dr.  Elisha,  175. 

Bancroft,  Geo.,  Ohio  in  1750,  5. 

Baptists,  the,  in  Kentucky,  200; 
in  Ohio,  203 ;  in  Illinois,  209. 

Bar,  the,  of  Yincennes,  259. 

Barge  or  Bargee,  described,  329. 

Barry,  Hon.  Wm.  T.,  orator,  244. 

Bartram,  John,  botanist,  3. 

Bartram,  Wm.,  botanist,  travels 
of,  1  ;  praised  by  Coleridge,  3. 

Bascom,  Rev.  Henry,  D.D.,  Meth- 
odist preacher,  169,  213. 

Bazaar,  the,  or  "  Trollope's  Folly," 
352   355 

Bear, 'the,"  and  Mr.  FUnt,  334. 

Beecher,  Miss  Harriet,  begins  her 
literary  career,  378 ;  early  writ- 
ings of,  418. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  his  first 
sermons,  219. 

Beecher,  Dr.  Lyman,  218;  tried 
for  heresv,  219;  his  children, 
219,  412,  422. 

Beecher,  Roxana  Foote,  wife  of 
Lyman  Beecher,  417. 

Belpre,  Ohio,  first  Library,  135 ; 
books  of,  138. 

Benham,  Miss  Henrietta,  marries 
G.  D.  Prentice,  409. 

Bennett,  Emerson,  novelist,  sketch 
of,  291. 

Best,  Dr.  Robert,  310. 

Bethany  College,  W.  Va.,  221. 

Bible  Society  at  Vincennes,  265. 

Biddle,  Hon.  Horace  P.,  sketch  of, 
83. 

Bigelow,  Rev.  Russell,  Methodist 
preacher,  216 ;  his  eloquence  de- 
scribed, 217 ;  anecdote  of,  216. 

Big  Harpe,  the  robber,  286. 
(505) 


506 


Index, 


Birkbeck,  Morris,  founds  Albion, 
111.,  19;  his  settlement,  23;  his 
books,  28. 

Birney,  Jas.  G.,  and  the  Philan- 
anthropist,  240,  455. 

Bishop,  Dr.  Robert  H.,  sketch  of, 
176. 

Bishop,  Prof.  R.  H.,  sketch  of, 
177. 

Bivouac  of  the  Dead,  the,  quoted, 
284. 

Blackford,  Judge  Isaac,  author, 
262. 

Bledsoe,  Judge  Jesse,  16G. 

Bliss,  Eugene  F.,  154;  translates 
Zeisberger's  Journal,  155;  Pres- 
ident Ohio  Historical  Society, 
155;  makes  catalogue  of  Tor- 
rence  Papers,  159 ;  quoted, 
199. 

Blythe,  Rev.  James,  165. 

Boathorn,  the,  Butler's  poem  on, 
331. 

Boatmen,  on  the  Ohio,  habits  of, 
330;  on  the  Mississippi,  their 
wild  ways,  339. 

Boat-Songs,  the  French,  267;  on 
the  Ohio,  268. 

Bolton,  Mrs.  Sarah  T.,  poet,  sketch 
of,  281. 

Book,  the  first  printed  in  the  U. 
S.,  36;  the  first  in  Kentucky,  44; 
in  Ohio,  49 ;  in  Indiana,  52. 

Books,  of  early  travel,  1-24;  his- 
torical, 24-34;  the  first  printed 
in  Kentucky,  44-49  ;  the  first  in 
Ohio,  49-52 ;  in  Indiana,  52. 

Book-making,  in  America,  36;  in 
newspaper  offices,  43;  in  Ken- 
tucky, 44-49  ;  in  Ohio,  49-52  ;  in 
Indiana,  52. 

Book-stores,  53-55 ;  the  first  in 
Kentucky,  53 ;  the  first  in  Cin- 
cinnati, 53. 

Boone,  Daniel,  explores  Kentucky 
in  1796,  7 ;  relates  his  life  to  Fil- 
8on,  9;  in  Missouri,  18;  a  manu- 
script letter  of,  134;  where  he 
went  to  school,  188. 

Bonner,,  Robert,  editor,  496. 

Bossu,  Capitaine,  French  traveler, 
1 ;  admired  by  Carlyle,  2. 

Boyce,  Jas.  P.,  of  Kentucky,  his 
library,  133. 

Brackenridge,  Judge  H.  H.,  writes 
for  Pittsburg  Gazette,  36;  his 
"  Modern  Chivalry,"  287. 

Brackenridge,  H.  M.,  "Recollec- 
tions" of,  17. 

Bradbury,     John,     botanist,     his 


"Travels,"  17;  meets  Daniel 
Boone  ;  his  lively  style,  18. 

Bradford,  Daniel,  conducts  the 
"  Medley,"  in  1803,  58-59. 

Bradford, '  John,  first  printer  in 
Kentucky,  sketch  of,  37 ;  prints 
books,  44-45. 

Brainard,  J.  G.,  poet,  and  Prentice, 
388. 

Breck,  Rev.  \Vm.,  pioneer  preach- 
er 200. 

"  Brotherhood,"  the,  on  the  Ohio, 
95,  224. 

Brough,  John,  his  oratory,  247. 

Brown,  Henry,  his  "  Illinois,"  29. 

Browne,  Rev.  John  W.,  publisher, 
41,  50-51. 

Brown,  Dr.  Samuel,  166. 

Brut^,  Bishop,  fosters  learning  in 
Indiana,  255. 

Bryan,  Daniel,  poet,  273. 

Bryant,  Edwin,  461. 

Bryant,  Wm.  C,  as  editor,  392. 

Buchanan,  Dr.  Joseph,  editor  of 
the  "Focus,"  40,  48;  of  the 
"Cadet,"  66;  author  and  pro- 
fessor, 168. 

Buchanan,  Dr.  Joseph  Rhodes,  ed- 
itor end  author,  168. 

Buchanan,  Robt.,  152,  153,  154. 

Buckeye  dinner,  a,  described,  317. 

Buckeye  tree,  the,  Drake's  speech 
on,  318. 

Buflaloes,  5,  6,  18. 

Bullock,  W.,  his  travels  in  the 
West,  24. 

"  Buntline,  Ned,  and  L.  A.  Hine, 
90 ;  and  Albert  Pike,  92 ;  sketches 
by,  93. 

Burnet,  Alf,  84. 

Burnet,  Judge  Jacob,  his  "  N'otes  " 
on  North-western  Territory,  27, 
148,  149. 

Bushwhacking  described,  338. 

Butler,  Mann,  sketch  of ;  his  Ken- 
tucky, 25,  49;  writes  for  West- 
ern Messenger,  73 ;  founds  Louis- 
ville Library,  132. 

Butler,  Noble,  educator,  459,  461. 

Butler,  General  Wm.  O.,  his  "  Boat- 
horn,"  65. 

Byron,  Lord,  reviewed  by  Gibbs 
Hunt,  64. 

Cadet,  the  Literary,  66. 

Cairo,  in  1815,  337. 

Caldwell,  Dr.  Chas.,  the  "American 
Spurzheim,"  sketch  of,  166,  206. 

Caldwell,  John  D.,  154. 

Campbell,  the  liev.  Alexander,  or- 
ganizes Disciples  of  Christ,  208; 


Index. 


507 


sketch  of,  220;  his  debates,  221, 
422. 

Camp-meeting,  the,  origin  of,  206 ; 
influence  of,  207. 

Cane,  described,  11  ;  used  as  torch, 
23. 

Cane  Ridge  church,  the  Ky.,  207, 
208. 

Carlyie,  Thomas,  on  the  travels  of 
Bossu  and  Bartram,  1-2;  ad- 
mired in  the  West,  77 ;  on 
Brother  Jonathan,  172,  486. 

Carpenter,  Joseph,  pubHshes  West- 
ern Spy,  40. 

Cartwright,  Rev.  Peter,  Methodist 
pioneer  preacher,  his  eloquence, 
212-213. 

Cary,  Alice,  edits  Parlor  Magazine, 
87 ;  poem  by,  88 ;  birth  and  par- 
entage, 482 ;  the  "  two  ghosts," 
483 ;  her  youth,  484;  first  poems, 
485 ;  contributes  to  "  Herald  of 
Truth,"  487;  first  volume  of 
poems,  488 ;  and  Whittier,  489 ; 
life  in  New  York,  **  Clovernook," 
490 ;  letters  to  Gallagher,  491-3 ; 
poems  and  stories,  494 ;  her  home 
on  Twentieth  street.  New  York, 
496;  writings,  497;  death,  498; 
her  disappointment  in  love,  499 ; 
her  poetry  characterized,  500-2  ; 
her  brothers,  502. 

Cary,  Phoebe,  484 ;  first  poems  of, 
485,  486;  letter  of,  487;  first 
volume  of  poems,  488;  in  New 
York,  490,  496 ;  death,  498. 

Casket,  the,  487. 

Cass,  Gov.  Lewis,  travels  with 
Schoolcraft,  22, 410. 

Cassidy,  Ben.,  author,  quoted,  475. 

Catholic  Church,  the,  197,  200 ;  in 
Indiana,  254. 

Cauthorn,  Henry  S.,  quoted,  197 ; 
chapter  by,  254. 

Cavelier,  French  explorer,  4. 

Center  College,  Ky.,  169. 

Centinel,  the,  first  newspaper  in 
Ohio,  40. 

Chaiming,  Dr.  Wm.  E.,  a  letter  of, 
75 ;  compares  East  and  West,  76. 

Channing,  Rev.  W.  H.,  edits 
Western  Messenger,  72. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  his  History  of 
Ohio,  26 ;  and  the  Ohio  Histori- 
cal Society,  151 ;  his  oratory, 
247 ;  his  verse,  275 ;  his  marriage, 
410,  429. 

Chitwood,  M.  Louise,  403. 

Christian  Church,  the,  founded, 
208. 


Church,  first  in  Marietta,  202 ;  first 
in  Indiana,  254. 

Cincinnati,  first  named  Losanti- 
ville,  10;  and  Thos.  Ashe,  16; 
visited  by  Nuttall,  20 ;  first  news- 
paper in,  40;  early  publishing 
in,  50-52,  66;  first  library,  139, 
second,  140;  in  1813,  144^5;  the 
Historical  Society,  152;  Literary 
Club,  154;  the  "Tyre  of  the 
West,"  171 ;  first  schools  of, 
184;  in  1805,  409;  society  in 
1815,  333;  intellectual  activity 
in,  417;  schools  in  1833,  421, 
424-5. 

Cincinnati  Chronicle,  sketch  of, 
414,  428. 

Cincinnati  College,  history  of,  178  ; 
revived,  427  ;  faculty  of,  427-8. 

Cincinnati  Gazette,  edited  by 
Hammond,  393;  by  Gallagher, 
428. 

Cincinnati  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Useful  Knowledge, 
426. 

Circuit  Courts,  the,  as  educational 
agents,  237. 

Cist,  Lewis  J.,  sketch  of,  486. 

Clarke  and  Lewis,  their  travels, 
18. 

Clark,  Bishop  Davis  W.,  edits 
"  Ladies'  Repository,"  100. 

Clark,  General  Geo.  Rogers,  por- 
trait of,  263. 

Clarke,  Rev.  Jas.  Freeman,  edits 
Western  Messenger,  sketch  of, 
72  ;  letter  from,  73-4  ;  publishes 
writings  of  Keats,  75 ;  and  poems 
by  Emergen,  Holmes,  and  Very, 
77-78 ;  praises  Hawthorne,  79. 

Clarke,  Robert,  his  Ohio  Valley 
Historical  Series,  34;  a  con- 
jecture of,  53 ;  and  the  Ohio  His- 
torical Society,  154-5,  378. 

Classical  schools,  earlv  in  the 
W^est,  183. 

Clay,  Cassius  M.,  mobbed  in  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  240. 

Clay,  Henry,  and  John  Bradford, 
37,  171 ;  his  schoolmaster,  89 ; 
his  oratory,  242;  extract  from 
speech  of,  243 ;  at  Ashland,  335  ; 
"Life  of,"  by  Prentice,  389 ;  ad- 
mired by  Prentice,  399. 

Clemmer,*Mrs.  Mary.  See  Ames, 
Mrs.  Mary  Clemmer. 

Clermont  Phalanx,  the,  224. 

Cleveland,  Gen.  Moses,  229. 

Clifford,  John  D.,  naturalist,  62, 
167. 


508 


Index, 


Clinton,  De  Witt,  statesman,  412. 

Club,  the  Cincinnati  Literary 
Club,  154 ;  the  Filson,  8,  35. 

Cochran,  J.  M.,  quoted,  410. 

Coggeshall,  Wm.  T.,  trip  to  New 
York,  84 ;  on  Gov.  Morrow,  85 ; 
buys  "Genius  of  the  West," 
109 ;  reports  Kossuth's  speeches, 
110;  made  state  librarian,  110; 
writings  of,  116 ;  his  "  Poets  and 
Poetry  of  the  West,"  110-17; 
Minister  at  Quito,  and  death, 
118. 

Coleman,  Wm.,  editor,  392. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  praises  Bartram's 
"Travels,"  3. 

Colfax,  Hon.  Schuyler,  as  orator, 
248. 

College  of  Professional  Teachers, 
the,  317,  420-21,  425. 

Collins,  Judge  Lewis,  his  History 
of  Kentucky,  25. 

Collins,  Dr.  Richard,  Ky.,  his- 
torian, 25 ;  his  library,  133. 

Communism  in  Ohio  Valley,  224. 

Conclin,  Wm.,  book-seller,  53-55. 

Conway,  Moncure  D.,  early  writ- 
ings, 105;  edits  Dial,  118;  early 
life,  119;  articles  by,  120;  his 
book  reviews,  122. 

Conway's  "  Dial,"  history  of, 
118-23. 

Coppuck,  Amelia  B.  See  Welhy, 
Amelia  B. 

Cordelling,  on  the  Mississippi,  337. 

Corn-husking,  2 ;  in  Kentucky,  20. 

Corwin,  Thomas,  sketch  of,  244; 
his  eloquence  and  humor,  245-6; 
and  Gallagher,  456. 

Cosby,  Fortunatus  Kentucky  poet, 
280. 

Course  of  study  in  early  Western 
colleges,  181. 

Cox,  Governor  J.  D.,  note,  118, 
179. 

Cox,  Judge  Jos.,  quoted,  410. 

Craig,  Rev.  Lewis,  Baptist  preacher, 
200. 

Cranch,  C.  P.,  poet,  writes  for 
Western  Messenger,  7(>-77. 

Creoles,  the,  on  the  Red  river, 
346. 

Crisman,  Rev.  E.  B.,  on  camp- 
meetings,  206. 

Crittenden,  Hon.  J.  J.,  orator, 
244. 

Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church, 
origin  of,  207. 

Cummg,  F.,  travels  of,  18. 

Curry,  Otway,  poet,  73,  81,   102; 


sketch  of,  278;  tribute  to,  279; 
assists  in  editing  Hesperian,  449, 
488. 

Curtiss,  L.  G.,  editor,  292. 

Cutler,  Rev.  Manasseh,  on  educa- 
tion, 173-4 ;  on  religious  liberty, 
201. 

Cutler,  Temple,  quoted,  324. 

Cutter,  Captain  George  W.,  poet, 
sketch  of;  his  "  Song  of  Steam," 
279. 

Dana,  E.,  travels  of,  19. 

Dawson,  Moses,  editor,  and  Ham- 
mond, 394. 

Dayton,  O.,  first  library,  146. 

Debating  societies,  golden  age  of, 
235;  their  utility,  236. 

Deer,  5,  23. 

Delafield,  J.,  148,  149. 

De  Lara,  tragedy  of,  a  rare  copv, 
378. 

Derby,  H.  W.,  publisher,  456. 

Derby,  J.  C,  publisher,  462; 
quoted,  474,  499. 

Dexter,  Julius,  154;  librarian  of 
Ohio  Historical  Society,  159. 

Dial,  the  Boston,  80,  120. 

Dial,  Conway's,  118. 

Dickens,  Charles,  3. 

Dillon,  John  B.,  historian  of  Indi- 
ana, 27-28 ;  note  on,  73. 

Disciples  of  Christ,  the,  organized, 
208. 

Doddridge,  Joseph,  "  Notes,"  32. 

Dorfeuille,  Mons.  J.,  as  lecturer, 
68,  311 ;  collects  curiosities,  312; 
his  "  Hell,"  314. 

Douay,  Anastase,  French  ex- 
plorer, 4. 

Douglass,  Stephen  A.,  his  debates 
with  Lincoln,  248. 

Dow,  Lorenzo,  sketch  of,  writings, 
210. 

Drake,  Benjamin,  writer,  68;  his 
Tales  of  the  Queen  City,  290, 
418. 

Drake,  Hon.  C.  D.,  his  poems  re- 
viewed in  Western  Messenger, 
73,  418. 

Drake,  Dr.  Daniel,  on  Cincinnati 
books,  51 ;  his  parentage  and 
boyhood,  299;  schooling,  300; 
goes  to  Cincinnati,  301 ;  his  pre- 
ceptor, Dr.  Goforth,  302 ;  studies 
medicine  in  Philadelphia  and 
marries,  303;  publishes  notices 
of  Cincinnati,  304;  his  picture  of 
Cincinnati,  304-5;  a  founder  of 
Cincinnati  College,  305 ;  creates 
a  Circulating  Library,  305 ;  pres- 


Index. 


509 


ident  of  School  of  Literature 
and  Arts,  306;  obtains  his  de- 
gree, 307 ;  business  ventures, 
308 ;  becomes  a  professor  in  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  308;  founds  social 
institutions,  308 ;  his  great  med- 
ical work,  309 ;  an  admirable 
fighter,  309;  his  wide  reputa- 
tion, 310 ;  founds  the  Western 
Museum,  310 ;  on  intemperance, 
315;  his  Vine  street  reunions, 
316;  aids  the  College  of  Profes- 
sional Teachers,  316;  his  speech 
on  the  Buckeye  Tree,  318 ;  views 
on  western  literature,  320;  his 
writings,  321 ;  death  and  charac- 
ter, 322;  life  of,  by  Mansfield, 
430. 

Drake,  Isaac,  book-dealer,  53. 

Drake,  Josiah,  book-seller,  54. 

Drake,  J.  G.,  contributor  to  West- 
ern Messenger,  73. 

Drake,  John  T.,  book-seller,  53. 

Drake,  Samuel  G.,  158. 

Draper,  Dr.  Lvman  C,  notice  of, 
92. 

Drury,  Asa,  professor  in  Cincinnati 
College,  428. 

Duane,  Wm.,  editor,  392. 

Dudley,  Dr.  Ben.  W.,  166. 

Dumont,  Mrs.  JuUa  L.,  91 ;  de- 
scribes a  store  boat,  101 ;  sketch 
of,  277  ;  tales  by,  288. 

Dunlevy,  Francis,  early  teacher  in 
Cincinnati,  184. 

Dunn,  Jacob  P.,  jr.,  quoted,  162. 

Durham,  Howard,  editor,  founds 
"Genius  of  the  West,"  107,  and 
the  "  New  Western,"  109. 

Durrett,  Colonel  R.  T,,  brief  sketch 
of,  his  life  of  Filson,  8;  founder 
of  Filson  Club,  35 ;  on  old  Ken- 
tucky books,  47;  on  Kentucky 
libraries,  129-133. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  412. 

Earthquake,  the  great  New  Mad- 
rid, 344. 

Eggleston,  Dr.  Edward,  104 ;  taught 
by  Mrs.  Dumont,  277. 

Eliot,  Rev.  Wm.  G.,  contributor  to 
the  Messenger,  73. 

Elks,  5. 

Elliott,  C.  W.,  author,  417. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  Carlyle 
to,  1-2;  contributes  his  first 
Poems  to  the  Western  Messen- 
ger, his  genius  recognized  in  the 
West,  77-78 ;  writes  for  Con- 
way's Dial,  120;  his  "Conduct 
of  Life,"  123. 


Eolian  Songster,  the,  56,  268. 

Este,  Daniel  K.,  152 ;  sentiment  of, 
230. 

Eudists,  a  religious  order,  266. 

Evening  Post,  New  York,  392. 

Everett,  Hon.  Edward,  229 ;  speech 
at  Yellow  Springs,  O.,  230. 

Ewing,  Rev.  John,  361. 

Ewing,  Hon.  Thos.,  first  college 
graduate  of  Ohio,  175;  his  ora- 
tory, 246. 

Fairchild,  Dr.  Jas.  H.,  quoted,  181. 

Fawn,  the  Spotted,  poem  by  W. 
D.  Gallagher,  455. 

Fiction,  writers  of,  their  themes, 
286. 

Fiddles,  on  western  boats,  330. 

Filmore,  Rev.  A.  D.,  edits  "  Tem- 
perance Musician,"  107. 

Filson,  John,  his  "Kentucky,"  7; 
life  of,  by  Durrett,  8 ;  his  adven- 
tures and  death,  9-10,  163. 

Filson  Club,  the,  founded,  8 ;  list 
of  publications  of,  35. 

Fink,  Mike,  the  Last  of  the  Boat- 
men, 286. 

Finley,  Rev.  James  B.,  his  narra- 
tive, 101. 

Finley,  John,  first  humorous  poet 
of  the  West,  277. 

Fire-hunting,  23 ;  in  Louisiana, 
346. 

Flaget,  Bishop  Benedict  I.,  254. 

Flint,  E.  H.,  book-seller,  his  ad- 
vertisement, 54. 

Flint,  Hezekiah,  portrait  of,  323. 

Flint,  Rev.  Jas.,  epitaph  by,  323. 

Flint,  Micah  P.,  poet,  70;  notice 
of,  348. 

Flint,  Timothy,  "Recollections," 
17;  his  history  and  geography  of 
Mississippi  Valley,  31,  69;  his 
"  Review,"  70-71 ;  his  literary 
creed,  70 ;  birth  and  family  con- 
nection, 323 ;  early  recollections, 
324 ;  becomes  a  preacher,  326 ; 
goes  west  as  missionary,  326 ; 
crosses  the  mountains,  327 ;  de- 
scends Ohio  river,  328 ;  describes 
river  navigation,  330;  visits  Ma- 
rietta, 332;  stops  at  Cincinnati, 
333;  visits  General  Harrison, 
334 ;  tour  through  Indiana  and 
Kentucky,  334-5 ;  describes 
Henry  Clay,  335 ;  descends  to 
the  Mississippi,  336-7  ;  residence 
in  Missouri,  340  ;  at  Post  Arkan- 
sas, 341 ;  describes  the  great 
earthquake,  344;  at  New  Or- 
leans, 345;   at  Alexandria,  La., 


510 


Index. 


345;  visits  the  Sabine  country, 
346;  returns  to  Salem,  347;  his 
recollections  published,  347; 
lives  in  Cincinnati,  348;  writes 
Francis  Berrien,  348;  edits  West- 
ern Magazine  and  Review,  349 ; 
a  voluminous  writer,  357 ;  his 
translations,  358-9 ;  edits  Knick- 
erbocker Magazine,  358 ;  returns 
to  the  South,  writes  life  of 
Boone,  359;  returns  to  Salem, 
and  dies,  360. 

Foote,  John  P.,  starts  Cincinnati 
Type  Foundry,  53;  edits  Lite- 
rarv  Gazette,  66 ;  his  appearance, 
his'books,  69,  147,  152,  417. 

Foote,  Governor  Samuel  E.,  412; 
sketch  of,  417. 

Force,  Hon.  M.  F.,  president  Ohio 
Historical  Society,  153 ;  quoted, 
154,  156. 

Force,  Peter,  157. 

Ford,  Governor  Thomas,  his  his- 
tory of  Illinois,  31. 

Fosdick,  W.  W.,  114;  as  novel- 
ist, 296;  quoted,  403,  477. 

Francis  Berrian,  novel  by  Mr. 
Flint,  348  ;  praised  by  Mrs.  Trol- 
lope,  349. 

Frankenstein,  Godfrey  and  George, 
paint  Niagara  Falls,  84. 

Free  Enquirer,  the,  224. 

Freeman,  Edmund,  buys  Centinel, 
40  ;  prints  territorial  laws,  50. 

Frenau,  Philip,  poet,  391. 

French  explorers,  the,  in  Louisi- 
ana, 1 ;  on  the  Mississippi,  3-4 ; 
on  the  Ohio,  5;  in  Southern  Illi- 
nois, 29 ;  odd  customs  of,  30 ;  at 
Vincennes,  Ind.,  197,  254,  256. 

Friends  of  Humanity,  the,  in  Ken- 
tucky, 240. 

Frothingham,  Rev.  O.  B.,  writes  a 
work  for  Conway's  Dial,  120. 

Fry,  Dr.  Benj.  St.  James,  notice  of, 
93. 

Fuller, Sarah  Margaret, contributor 
to  Messenger,  79. 

Fuller,  Miss  Meta  V.,  sketch  of, 
112. 

Gage,  Mrs.  Frances  D.,  sketch  of, 
280;  her  popularity,  281. 

Gales,  Joseph,  editor,  392. 

Gallagher,  Mrs.  Emma  A.,  469. 

Gallagher,  John  M.,  81,  449. 

Gallagher,  Wm.  D.,  reviewed  in 
Western  Messenger,  73,  74;  his 
Hesperian,  80-1 ;  president  Ohio 
Historical  Society,  152-3;  edits 
Ohio  State  Journal,  449;    edits 


The  Hesperian,  449;  writes 
'*The  Dutchman's  Daughter," 
450;  his  "Probus"  letters,  450; 
assistant  editor  of  Cincinnati 
Gazette,  451 ;  candidate  for  state 
legislature,  451 ;  letter  to  Curry, 
451;  to  the  same,  453;  charac- 
teristics of  his  poetry,  454;  his 
poem,  *'The  Spotted  Fawn," 
355 ;  an  opposer  of  slavery,  455 ; 
edits  Daily  Message,  45o;  and 
Murat  Halstead,  455 ;  president 
Historical  and  Philosophical  So- 
ciety of  Ohio,  455 ;  "  Progress  in 
the  North-west,"  456;  withdraws 
from  editorship  of  Cincinnati 
Daily  Gazette,  456;  takes  one 
million  dollars  in  gold  from  New 
York  to  New  Orleans,  457;  an 
anecdote  about  Corwin  and  Gal- 
lagher, 458 ;  connection  with 
Louisville  Daily  Courier,  459; 
a  challenge  from  Prentice,  460  ; 
life  and  writings  at  Pewee  Val- 
ley, Ky.,  460-1 ;  connection  with 
the  war,  a  threatening  mob,  463 ; 
positions  of  trust  under  Lincoln 
and  Chase,  464 ;  war  poems,  464 ; 
his  poetrv  described  and  quoted, 
466-7 ;  "Miami  Woods,"  467-8  ; 
his  wife  and  family,  469;  and 
Amelia  Welby,  471 ;  quoted,  426 ; 
Alice  Gary  to,  491-3. 

Galloway,  Samuel,  orator,  98,  247. 

Gano,  Rev.  Stephen,  Baptist 
preacher,  203. 

Garfield,  Jas.  A.,  praises  Galla- 
gher, 465. 

Gazette,  The  Cincinnati  Literary, 

Gazette,    Cincinnati,    becomes    a 

daily,  40 ;  established  in  1826,  52. 
Genius  of  the  West,  the,  66,  107 ; 

contributors  to,  110-11. 
Giddings,  Joshua  R.,  orator,  101, 

247. 
Girty,  the  renegade,  286. 
Gist,  Christopher,  surveyor,  crosses 

Ohio,  5;    in   Miami   Valley,  6; 

with  Washington,  6. 
Glass,  Prof.  Francis,  his  backwoods 

classic  school,   189;   his  life  of 

Washington  in  Latin,  189,  194. 
Goforth,  Judge  Wm.,    his   diary 

quoted,  184. 
Goforth,  Dr.  Wm.,  301 ;  sketch  of, 

302. 
Goforth,  Dr.,  robbed  of  mammoth 

bones  by  Thos.  Ashe,  16. 
Gordon,  Dr.  Wm.,  165. 


Index. 


511 


Goshorn,  A.  T.,  donates  Centen- 
nial Collection  to  Ohio  Historical 
Society,  159. 

Gouging,  prevalence  of,  339. 

Gould,  Miss  Hannah  F.,  contrib- 
utes to  Hall's  Magazine,  377. 

Graham,  Geo.,  153;  quoted,  154, 
423-5. 

Granville  College,  Ohio,  founded, 
179. 

Gravier,  French  explorer,  4. 

Greeley,  Horace,  and  Gallagher, 
459;  visits  Cary  sisters,  488,  496. 

Greene,  Wm.,  Eulogy  of,  419. 

Grimke,  Thos.  S.,  422. 

Griswold,  Rufus  AV.,  author,  488. 

Guignas,  French  explorer,  4. 

Guilford,  Nathan,  writer  and  ed- 
itor, 419,  424. 

Gulliver's  Travels,  a  rare  copy, 
134. 

Gurley,  Rev.  John  A.,  485. 

Halstead,  Murat,  and  W.  D.  Galla- 
gher, 455. 

Hall,  Judge  James,  historical  writ- 
ings, 31 ;  writes  for  Flint's  Re- 
view, 70 ;  his  magazines,  71 ;  lec- 
tures in  Cincinnati,  250 ;  his  an- 
cestry, 361 ;  birth  and  parentage, 
362;  schooling,  362;  joins  the 
army,  363 ;  military  career,  364 ; 
descends  the  Ohio,  365  ;  his  first 
book,  366;  describes  the  back- 
woods, 367  ;  law  practice  in  Illi- 
nois, 368;  breaks  up  a  thieves' 
den,  369;  his  marriage,  370; 
starts  the  Illinois  Magazine,  371 ; 
edits  the  AVestern  Souvenir,  372 ; 
publishes  the  Western  Monthly 
Magazine,  376  ;  his  controversial 
writings,  379 ;  his  books,  381 ; 
character  of  his  writings,  382; 
second  marriage,  383;  his  mer- 
cantile career,  384. 

Hall,  Captain  James  Harrison,  383. 

Hall,  John,  361. 

Hall,  John  Ewing,  professor,  362. 

Hall,  Joseph,  and  John  Scull, 
printers,  36. 

Hall,  Mrs.  Mary  Harrison,  371. 

Hall,  Mrs.  Sarah,  writer,  361. 

Hall,  Wm.  Anderson,  his  literary 
work,  383. 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  poet,  writes 
for  Cincinnati  Literary  Gazette, 
69. 

Hamer,  Thos.  Lyon,  orator,  247. 

Hamline,  Rev.  L.  L.,  edits  "La- 
dies' Repository,"  99. 

Hammond,  Chas.,  journalist,  writes 


verse,  275;  sketch  of,  393-4;  ed- 
itor, 451. 

Hanover  College,  Indiana,  177. 

Harding,  Benjamin,  travels  of,  19. 

Harding,  Lyman,  note  on,  179 ; 
professor  in  Cincinnati  College, 
428. 

Harmony,  Rappe's  fraternal  settle- 
ment at,  23. 

Harney,  John  M.,  Kentucky  poet, 
276. 

Harney,  Wm.  Wallace,  Indiana 
poet,  note  on,  276. 

Harrison,  President  Benjamin,  176. 

Harrison,  Symmes,  librarian  at 
Vincennes,  264 ;  president  of  Ag- 
ricultural Society,  265. 

Harrison,  Wm.  Henry,  governor 
Iildiana  Territory,  52,  149,  180 ; 
toasts  Daniel  Webster,  234;  as 
public  speaker,  248,  257;  his 
house  at  Vincennes,  258,  318; 
keeps  open  table,  334,  336,  337 ; 
life  of,  by  INIoses  Dawson,  394 ; 
his  presidential  campaign,  398. 

Hart,  A.  M.,  his  history  of  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  32. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  appreci- 
ated, 79. 

Haves,  ex-President  R.  B.,  quoted, 
lY3. 

Havs,  Will.  Shakespeare,  ballad- 
ist,  269. 

Haywood,  John,  his  histories  of 
Tennessee,  25. 

Hecke  welder.  Rev.  John,  Moravian 
missionarv,  198. 

Hendricks,  Thos.  A.,  248. 

Hennepin,  French  explorer,  4. 

Hentz,  Mrs.  Caroline  Lee,  quoted, 
318;  her  novels,  377;  her  trage- 
dies, 378. 

"  Herald  of  Truth,"  the,  95 ;  con- 
tributed to  bv  the  Cary  sisters, 
487. 

Herron,  Joseph,  428. 

Hervieu,  August  Jean,  artist,  314 ; 
sketch  of,  349  ;  his  pictures,  350 ; 
and  the  School  of  Fine  Arts, 
352 ;  his  portrait  of  Robert  Owen, 
352. 

Hesperian,  the  history  of,  80-81 ; 
started,  449 ;  contributors,  450. 

Hickman,  Rev.  Wm.,  sr..  Baptist 
preacher,  199. 

Hildreth,  Richard,  historian, 
quoted,  392. 

Hildreth,  Dr.  S.  P.,  historical  writ- 
ings, 27;  writes  for  Genius  of 
the  West,  112,  135,  148,  153. 


512 


Index, 


Hine,  Lucius  A.,  sketch  of,  90; 
conducts  "  Literary  Journal," 
joined  by  E.  Z.  C.  Judson,  90; 
a  reformer,  93;  edits  "Quar- 
terly Journal,"  94  ;  edits  "  Her- 
ald of  Truth,"  95 ;  and  "  Quar- 
terly Review,"  96  ;  lectures  and 
writes  stories,  97 ;  on  virtue, 
104 ;  encourages  the  Gary  sisters, 
487. 

Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society 
of  Vincennes,  262. 

Historical  and  Philosophical  Soci- 
ety of  Ohio,  147-160;  list  of 
charter  members,  147 ;  the  Cin- 
cinnati, sketch  of,  152. 

Hitchcock,  J.  S.,  96. 

Hobbs,  Hon.  Barnabas,  anecdote 
of,  177. 

Hoffman,  Chas.  Feno,  author,  420. 

Holy  laugh,  the,  344. 

Hoop  snake  and  whip  snake,  the, 
325. 

Holley,  Rev.  Horace,  president 
Transylvania  University,  165 ; 
his  popularity,  166 ;  his  theol- 
ogy, 169. 

Holmes,  O.  W.,  writes  for  Western 
Messenger,  78. 

Hosmer,  Rev.  Geo.  W.,  73. 

Household  of  Bouverie,  the,  a 
novel,  462. 

Howe,  Henry,  his  wonderful  "  Col- 
lections" of  Ohio,  his  travels, 
27. 

Howe,  Mrs.  Sarah  J.,  poems  by, 
102. 

Howells,  Wm.  Dean,  an  Ohio  man, 
120;  writes  for  Conway's  Dial, 
121 ;  poems  first  noticed  by  Con- 
way, 121. 

Hunt,  Wm.  Gibbs,  writer,  40,  58; 
his  Western  Review,  62. 

JJjinois  College,  beginning  of, 
180-1. 

Illinois,  State  of,  Filson  in,  9 ;  his- 
tories of,  28-31;  first  college, 
180. 

Indiana,  State  of,  as  seen  in  1821, 
22-23;  histories  of,  27-28;  its 
earl^  press,  42 ;  territorial  organ- 
ization, 52 ;  early  schools,  180. 

Indians,  the,  fight  as  they  yield, 
2.  aii<l  the  Jesuits,  4;  visited  by 
(iisi  ;iim1  Croghan,  5;  at  Piqua, 
Ohio,  'i;  kill  Filson,  10;  on  the 
Wabash,  -L' ;  their  mode  of  de- 
coying dt*er,  23;  conflicts  with, 
63,  170;  the  Moravian,  196;  and 
French  Catholics,  254. 


Infernal  Regions,  the,  of  Western 
Museum,  314. 

Jackson,  Jethro,  starts  "Parlor 
Magazine,"  86. 

James,  Hon.  Chas.  P.,  and  Gal- 
lagher, 465. 

James,  IJ.  P.,-  sketch  of,  56 ;  pub- 
lishes Eolian  Songster,  268. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  161,  and  per- 
sonal journalism,  391. 

Johnny  Appleseed,  notice  of,  211. 

Judson,  Edward  Z.  C.  (Ned  Bunt- 
line),  and  L.  A.  Hine,  90 ;  sketch 
of,  294 ;  letters  from,  295 ;  obitu- 
ary, 296;  conducts  Literary 
Journal,  454. 

Julian,  Isaac  H.,  sketch  of,  105. 

Justice,  Richard,  Cherokee  chief, 
341. 

Keats,  George,  75. 

Keats,  John,  74-5. 

Keel-boat,  the,  329,  336. 

Kemper,  Rev.  Jas.,  Presbyterian 
preacher,  204. 

Kentucky  Institute,  the,  169. 

Kentucky,  State  of,  6,  7,  9-12,  14, 
24-5,  38;  first  books,  44;  first 
magazine,  58 ;  libraries,  129 ; 
schools,  162  ;  churches,  200,  206; 
orators,  244;  society,  335,  382; 
people  and  customs,  334-5. 

Kidd,  Hudson  A.,  90. 

Kidder,  Rev.  D.  P.,  101. 

King,  General  Edward,  431. 

King,  Hon.  Rufus,  sketch  of,  431. 

Kinmont,  Alexander,  sketch  of, 
423. 

Kinney,  Coates,  96,  104;  his  Rain 
on  the  Roof,  108,  110,  495. 

Kingsborough,  Lord,  157. 

Kossuth,  84;  reported  by  Cogge- 
shall,  110. 

Lady's  Book,  Moore's  Western, 
82  ;  contributors  to,  83-4. 

Lafayette,  the  Marquis,  praised, 
68;  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  168;  in 
the  West,  229 ;  historical  picture 
of,  350;  meets  an  old  friend, 
352 ;  and  Morgan  Neville,  375. 

Lancaster  Academy,  Cincinnati, 
178. 

Land  Reform,  93-6. 

Lake,  Mrs.  Sarah,  first  Sunday- 
school  teacher  in  Ohio,  183. 

Lane,  Ebenezer,  148. 

Larrabee,  Prof.  W.  C,  100. 

La  Salle  discovers  Ohio  river,  5. 

Law,  Judge  John,  his  history  of 
Vincennes,  28. 


Index. 


513 


Laws,  territorial,  49,  52. 

Lawyers  of  early  Indiana,  262. 

Lazarns,  Dr.  ^I.  E.,  translations 
from  French,  121. 

Leatherwood  God,  the,  226. 

Lecturers  in  the  West,  249,  252; 
from  the  East,  252. 

Le  Sueur,  French  explorer,  4. 

Lewis  and  Clarke,  their  travels, 
18. 

Lexington,  Ky.,  Filson  in,  9  ;  first 
printing  press  in,  87;  libraries, 
129-31;  founded,  162;  first 
schools,  163 ;  a  rival  to  Cincin- 
nati, 170  ;  a  seat  of  culture,  171 ; 
visited  by  Mr.  Flint,  335. 

L'Hommedieu,  Richard,  456. 

L'Hommedieu,  Stephen,  456. 

Library,  the  Transylvania,  129, 
168;  the  Lexington,  Ky.,  129; 
its  treasures,  131  ;  first  in  Louis- 
ville, sketch 'of,  132;  Colonel 
Durrett's,  133;  curiosities  in, 
134;  first  in  North-west  Terri- 
tory, 135  ;  the  Putnam,  the  Bel- 
pre,  135 ;  history  of  by  Dr.  An- 
drews, 135-9;  the  Cincinnati, 
139;  the  Coon-skin,  139-40;  the 
Circulating,  140;  curious  by- 
laws of,  143 ;  strict  rules,  146 ; 
the  Ohio  Historical,  157  ;  Young 
Men's  Mercantile,  of  Cincinnati, 
organized,  250  ;  first  in  Indiana, 
255 ;  Vincennes,  263. 

Libraries,  129  et  seq.;  private  in 
Kentucky,  133;  of  Dayton,  O., 
145. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  boyhood  of, 
189;  how  he  learned,  236;  his 
eloquence,  249 ;  consults  Dr. 
Drake,  310 ;  anecdote  of,  400. 

Lippard,  George,  novelist,  296. 

Lisa,  Manuel,  king  of  fur  traders, 
341. 

Literary  Club,  the  Cincinnati, 
original  members,  154. 

Literary  Journal  and  Monthly 
Eeview,  454. 

Literary  Periodicals,  list  of,  124- 
128. 

Little,  Harvey  D.,  Ohio  poet,  279. 

Lizst,  anecdote  of,  122. 

Locke,  Prof.  John,  a  pioneer  in 
science,  68,  113;  lectures  in  Cin- 
cinnati, 250. 

Long,  Stephen  H.,  travels  of,  19. 

Longley,  Elias,  phonographic  pub- 
lisher, sketch  of,  108,  485. 

Longworth,  Joseph,  an  oration  by, 
317. 
33 


Longworth,  Nicholas,  282,  317; 
gives  lot  for  Cincinnati  Observa- 
tory, 416. 

Lord,  Mrs.  C.  W.,  librarian  Ohio 
Historical  Society,  155;  describes 
Torrence  Papers,  159-60. 

Losantiville,  named  by  Filson,  10. 

Louis  Philippe  and  Morgan  Neville, 
374,  375. 

Louisville  Advertiser,  edited  by 
Penn,  394. 

Louisville  Daily  Courier,  549. 

Louisville  Journal,  established, 
391 ;  rank,  403 ;  contributors  to, 
403. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  Filson  Club,  8 ; 
visited  by  Filson,  9 ;  by  Nuttall, 
21 ;  first  newspaper,  39;  McMur- 
trie's  sketches  of  and  Mann  But- 
ler's sketch  of,  49 ;  the  home  of 
George  Keats,  75;  first  library, 
132. 

Ludlow  Station,  sketch  of,  410. 

Lundy,  Mrs.  Newel  Venable,  494. 

Lytle  mansion,  the,  301. 

Lytle,  General  Wm.  Haines, 
sketch  of ;  his  "Anthony  and 
Cleopatra,"  284. 

Lythe,  Rev.  John,  199. 

Magazine,  "  The  Parlor,"  86 ;  con- 
tributors to,  87 ;  edited  by  Alice 
Cary,  87. 

Magruder,  Allan  Bowie,  as  politi- 
cal writer,  61. 

Major,  Colonel  S.  I.  M.,  his  list  of 
Kentucky  newspapers,  38 ;  his 
library,  133. 

Mammoth  bones,  6,  16. 

Mann,  Horace,  President  Antioch 
College,  86,  93,  251. 

Mansfield,  Edward  Deering,  birth 
and  early  life,  409 ;  life  at  Lud- 
low Station,  Cincinnati,  410 ;  at 
Mt.  Comfort,  411 ;  education  in 
West  Point,  Princeton,  and 
Litchfield  Law  Schools,  412 ;  his 
father's  distinguished  friends, 
412;  goes  to  Cincinnati,  413; 
literary  connection  with  Ben- 
jamin Drake,  414;  edits  Cincin- 
nati Chronicle,  414;  forms  law 
partnership  with  0.  M.  Mitchel, 
415  ;  his  "  Political  Grammar," 
415-16 ;  contributes  to  Flint's 
Review,  70,  417 ;  services  to  the 
common  schools,  421 ;  educa- 
tional books,  427;  professsor  in 
Cincinnati  College,  428 ;  as  news- 
paper writer,  428 ;  Commissioner 
of  Statistics  for  Ohio,  429;  and 


514 


Index. 


Governor  Morton,  429;  on  the 
education  and  rights  of  women, 
429-30 ;  historical  writings,  430 ; 
married  life,  430-31 ;  portraiture 
of,  432. 

Mansion,  the  old  St.  Clair,  106-7. 

Marietta,  first  school  in,  182. 

Marietta  College,  founded,  179. 

Marquette,  French  explorer,  2,  4. 

Manrat,  Captain,  3. 

Marshall,  Humphrey,  his  History 
of  Kentucky,  and  sketch  of  life, 
24  ;  life  of,  35,  58. 

Matthews,  Prof.  T.  J.,  lectures  on 
iSymmes's  Theory,  68 ;  teaches 
in  Lexington,  167. 

Maxwell,  Wm.,  first  Cincinnati 
printer,  40 ;  publisher,  44. 

Maxwell's  code,  49. 

McBride,  James,  his  Pioneer  Biog- 
graphy,  38. 

McCabe,  Dr.  Lorenzo  Dow,  175. 

McClung,  Rev.  John  A.,  his 
Sketches,  33. 

McClure,  Wm.,  geologist,  150. 

McClure  Working  Men's  Library, 
the,  264. 

McDonald,  John,  his  Sketches,  33, 
101. 

McGuffey,  Dr.  Wm.  H.,  sketch  of, 
178,  422;  President  Cincinnati 
College,  427. 

McKinney,  John,  and  the  wild 
cat,  163. 

McLean,  Judge  John,  orator, 
247. 

Medical  College  of  Ohio,  organ- 
ized, 308. 

Medley,  the,  58 ;  prospectus  of,  59 ; 
its  contents,  61. 

Meline,  Colonel  James,  Florant, 
Sketch  of,  384. 

Membre,  French  explorer,  4. 

Messenger,  the  Western,  71. 

Methodist  Book  Concern,  97;  lo- 
cated in  St.  Clair  mansion,  106. 

Mexican  Antiquities,  156-7. 

Miami  Purchase,  the  176. 

Miami  University,    founded,  dis- 

•    tinguished  alumni,  176. 

Miami  Woods,  poem  by  Gallagher, 
467-8. 

Michaux,  F.  A.,  his  travels  in  the 
West,  15. 

Mill,  Morrow's,  on  the  Little  Mi- 
ami, Frankenstein's  picture  of, 
85. 

Millerite  Tabernacle,  the,  in  Cin- 
cinnati, 222. 

Mitchel,  General  0.  M.,  professor 


in  Cincinnati  College,  179;  sketch 

of,  415-416,  426-7. 
Monette,  John  W.,  his  History  of 

Mississippi  Valley,  31. 
Monfort,   Rev.   F.   C.,  account  of 

first  Presbyterian  church  in  Cin- 
cinnati, 204-5. 
Moore,  Rev.  James,  165. 
Moravian  Missionaries,  the,  189. 
Morton,    Hon.   Oliver  P.,  orator, 

248  ;  anecdote  of,  429. 
Morgan,  Ephraim,  pioneer  printer, 

51-52 ;  his  large  business,  52,  55. 
Mormonism,  221. 
Morris,  Hon.  Thomas,  orator,  247. 
Morrow,  Governor  Josiah,  account 

of,  85. 
Mound  Builders,  relics  of,  156. 
Murray,   Orson   S.,   described    by 

Whittier,   121 ;   writes  his  own 

funeral  sermon,  122. 
Muse  of  Hesperia,  the,  a  poem, 

275. 
Museum,  the  Western,  lectures  at, 

68,  311-15 :  Letton's,  315. 
Muskingum    Academy,    founded, 

183. 
•Mussey,  F.  D.,  editor,   on  pulpit 

orators,  214-18. 
Mussey,  R.  D.,  writes  for  Conway's 

Dial,  121. 
National  Era,  the,  487. 
National  Gazette,  391,  392. 
National  Intelligencer,  started,  392. 
National  Road,  the,  in  1825,  347. 
Nashoba,      Tenn.,      and      Fannv 

Wright,  223. 
Navigation,  on  the  Ohio,  330. 
Neville,    Morgan,    writes    "  Mike 

Fink,"  288  ;  sketch  of,  373. 
New  England  Review,  edited  by 

Prentice  and  Whittier,  388-9. 
New  England  Society,  the,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, 158. 
New  Harmony,   Indiana,  Owen's 

Community  in,  222. 
New  Light  doctrines,  205,  208, 219 ; 

hymn,  220. 
New  Madrid,  Mo.,  in  1819,  344. 
Newspapers,  first,  in  Ohio  Valley, 

36,    37,  40;    list   of   Kentucky, 

38-39 ;  list  of  Ohio,  41-2 ;  whole 

number  in  1813  and  1824,  43. 
Newton,  John  M.,  librarian  Ohio 

Historical  Society,  155-158. 
Nichols,  Mrs.  Rebecca  S.,  sketch 

of,  281. 
Nonpareil,  the  Cincinnati    dailv, 

97. 
Nordhoflf,  Charles,  105. 


Index. 


515 


Novel,  first  western,  287. 

Novels,  earliest  western,  287  ;  of 
Scott,  Cooper,  and  Irving,  288. 

Nuttall,  Thomas,  his  travels,  19 ; 
description  of  a  river  tavern,  20 ; 
impressions  of  Louisville,  21. 

Observatory,  the,  Cincinnati,  dedi- 
cated, 250;  first  west  of  Alle- 
ghanies,  410,  416,  427. 

O'Hara,  Theodore,  Kentucky  poet, 
283 ;  his  "  Bivouac  of  the  Dead," 
284. 

Ohio  River,  the  French  on,  4;  dis- 
covered by  La  Salle,  5 ;  visited 
by  Washington,  7;  navigated  by 
Filson,  9;  by  F.  Baily,  in  1796, 
15 ;  by  other  travelers,  17 ;  by 
Nuttall,  19-21. 

Ohio,  State  of,  in  1751,  1 ;  explored 
by  Gist  and  Croghan,  5 ;  histories 
of,  26-27 ;  early  press  in,  49 ; 
first  book  printed  in,  49;  first 
library,  135  ;  first  schools  in,  182, 
et  seq. 

Ohio  University,  the,  founded,  174 ; 
distinguished  graduates,  175. 

Ohio  Valley,  explored  by  white 
men,  5 ;  canebrakes  of,  11 ;  early 
travels  in,  17-18  ;  books  concern- 
ing, 23  ;  histories  of,  31,  32,  33. 

Ohio  Valley  Historical  Series,  34. 

Orators,  of  Kentucky,  244;  of  Ohio, 
246-7  ;  of  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
248. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  the,  encourages 
education,  172. 

Osgood,  Rev.  Samuel,  begins  lit- 
erary career  in  West,  76, 

Owen,  David  Dale,  94. 

Owen,  Robert,  debate  with  A. 
Campbell,  221 ;  his  community 
at  New  Harmony,  222  ;  portrait 
of,  by  Hervieu,  352. 

Owen,  Robert  Dale,  and  Miss 
Wright,  224. 

Packhorse,  37,  52. 

Paper-mills  at  Zanesville,  O.,  26 ; 
the  first  in  Georgetown,  Ky.,  and 
on  the  Miami,  43. 

Parke,  Benjamin,  founds  first  Bible 
Society  in  Indiana,  265. 

Parker,  Benj.  S.,  poet ;  sketch  of, 
115. 

Parker,  Prof.  James  K.,  a  pioneer 
teacher,  letter  by,  190. 

Parlor  Magazine,  86^9. 

Paroquets,  12,  23  ;  the  green,  334, 
338. 

Patterson,  A.  W.,  History  of  the 
Backwoods,  32. 


Peabody,  Miss  Elizabeth  P.,  writes 
for  Western  Messenger,  79  ;  for. 
the  Boston  Dial,  80. 

Peabody,  Rev.  Ephraim,  starts 
Western  Messenger,  71,  72  ;  be- 
comes an  invalid,  74. 

Peabody,  Joseph,  patron  of  Tim- 
othy Flint,  326. 

Peck,  Rev.  John  Mason,  his  books, 
28,  31 ;  on  early  Illinois  schools, 
188 ;  on  pioneer  preachers,  209 ; 
sketch  of,  211-12. 

Peirce,  Thomas,  author  of  Horace 
in  Cincinnati,  68 ;  sketch  of, 
276. 

Penn,  Shadrach,  issued  Advertiser 
in  1819,  40;  publishes  books  in 
1819,  49  ;  and  Prentice,  394. 

Percival,  Jas.  G.,  poet,  412 ;  anec- 
dote of,  413. 

Periodicals,  literary,  list  of,  124-8. 

Perkins,  Jas.  H.,  his  Annals  of  the 
West,  31 ;  edits  Western  Messen- 
'  ger,  72,  149,  152,  417. 

Perrin,  Wm.  H.,  quoted,  391. 

Pewee  Valley,  home  of  Gallagher, 
460. 

Philanthropist,  the,  anti-slavery 
paper,  455. 

Piatt,  Hon.  John  James,  his  "  Pen- 
ciled Fly-Leaves,"  179  ;  edits  G. 
D.  Prentice's  Poems,  404. 

Pickett,  Albert,  Sr.,  organizes  Col- 
lege of  Professional  Teachers, 
421-22. 

Pike,  General  Albert,  travels  of, 
18 ;  poems  reviewed,  73 ;  writes 
for  "  Western  Literary  Journal ;" 
sketch  of,  92. 

Pingree,  Rev.  E.  M.,  Universalist 
preacher,  debates  with  Dr.  Rice, 
222. 

Piqua,  Ohio,  an  Indian  village,  6. 

Pirogue,  329. 

Pittsburg  Gazette,  the,  first  issued 
36,  44. 

Pittsburg  wagons  in  1815,  327. 

Plimpton,  Florus  B.,  84 :  poet  and 
editor,  114,  quoted,  476. 

Plug,  Colonel,  the  boat-wrecker, 
286. 

Poe,  Edgar  A.,  quoted,  473  ;  praises 
Amelia  B.  Welbv,  478,  488. 

Poetry,  in  the  Medley  of  1803,  61 ; 
American,  in  1819,  64;  of  the 
Literary  Gazette,  1824,  68-69;  of 
the  Western  Messenger,  73,  77, 
78,  102  ;  vast  quantity  of,  269. 

Poets  and  Poetry  of  the  West, 
Coggeshall's  account  of,  274. 


516 


Index. 


Political  Club,  the,  of  Danville, 
Ky.,  its  members,  235. 

Portfolio,  the,  Philadelphia,  3(32, 
364,  360. 

Posey,  Captain  John,  370. 

Posey,  Thomas,  370. 

Post  Arkansas  in  1819,  341. 

Potter,  M.  D.,  459. 

Powers,  Hiram,  makes  wax  figures 
and  clock-work,  314 ;  and  Mons. 
Herv'ieu,  351. 

Prayer,  a  strange  view  of,  121. 

Prentice,  George  Dennison,  early 
life  and  education,  386-7 ;  edits 
New  England  Review,  388  ;  and 
Whittier,  389;  his  ''Life  of 
Clay,"  389;  and  Greeley,  393; 
and  Shadrach  Penn,  394;  pub- 
lishes "  Prenticeiana,"  395  ;  "the 
darling  of  the  mob,"  397 ;  rela- 
tions with  the  war,  399;  his  wor- 
ship of  Henry  Clay,  399 ;  a  lec- 
turing experience,  400;  mar- 
riage, 400 ;  last  days  and  death, 
401 ;  statute  of,  in  Louisville, 
402 ;  his  poems,  404-5-6 ;  his 
opinion  of  Byron,  407  ;  "To  an 
Absent  Wife,"  quoted,  407 ;  at- 
tacks Gallagher  in  an  editorial, 
459 ;  challenges  him,  460. 

Prenticeiana,  395. 

Presbyterian  church,  164;  in  Ken- 
tucky, 200 ;  in  Ohio,  200-205. 

Press  in  Mexico,  in  New  England, 
in  Pittsburg,  36 ;  first  in  Ken- 
tucky, 37 ;  first  in  Cincinnati, 
40 ;  the  early,  in  Ohio,  41 ;  in 
Indiana,  42;  the  early  periodi- 
cal, 58  et  seq. 

Psalmody  splits  the  church,  44. 

Publishers,  the  backwoods,  43 ; 
first  in  Kentucky,  their  product, 
44-49;  in  Lexington,  44-46;  in 
Washington  and  Frankfort,  K^., 
47;  in  Louisville,  48-49;  in  Cm- 
cinnati,  49-52,  55-56;  in  Vin- 
cennes,  Ind.,  52. 

Pulpit  oratory,  213. 

Purcell,  Bishoj)  John  B.,  debate 
with  Campbell,  221,  422. 

Putnam,  Kuius,  and  Ohio  Univer- 
sity, 174;  on  Latin  schools,  183; 
in  1815,  332. 

Quisenberry,  A.  C,  24;  discovers 
a  copy  of  the  Medley,  58;  ac- 
count of  the  discovery,  (JO. 

Rafinesque,  Prof.  C.  S.,  writes  for 
Hunt's  Review  on  Ohio  river 
and  its  fishes,  62 ;  writes  for  Lit- 


erary Gazette,  67 ;  sketch  of, 
167-8. 

Ragnet,  Captain  Andv,  writi  r,  :>(i;5. 

"  liain  on  the  Roof,  history  of, 
108-109. 

Raper,  Rev.  Wm.  H.,  pulpit  ora- 
tor, 213;  anecdote  of,  215. 

Rappe,  Frederick,  his  fraternal  set- 
tlement at  Harmony,  23. 

Rattlesnakes,  18;  eaten  by  the 
pigs,  172. 

Read,  Dr.  Daniel,  175. 

Reed,  Peter  Fishe,  painter,  poet, 
and  story  writer,  113-114. 

Regenerator,  the,  radical  paper, 
121. 

Reid,  AVhitelaw,  on  Governor 
Brough,  247. 

Reily,  John,  teacher,  first  school- 
house  in  Ohio,  at  Columbia,  Cin- 
cinnati, 184. 

Repository,"  the  Ladies',  97  ;  con- 
tributors, 100;  also  105. 

Revivals,  religious,  in  Kentucky, 
207. 

Reynolds,  Jeremiah  N.,  descrip- 
tion of  Francis  Glass's  school, 
189. 

Reynolds,  Governor  John,  his 
"  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois," 
description  of  French  settle- 
ments, 29;  his  account  of  the 
king's  balls,  30. 

Rice,  Rev.  David,  teaches,  104-200 ; 
in  Cincinnati,  204. 

Rice,  Hon.  Harvey,  noble  life  of, 
282. 

Rice,  Rev.  N.  L.,  debate  witli 
Campbell  and  Pingree,  222. 

Richmond  Enquirer,  392. 

Ritchie,  Thomas,  editor,  392. 

Rouse,  Miss  Bathsheba,  teaches 
first  school  in  Ohio,  182. 

Russell,  Addison  Peale,  author, 
note  on,  245. 

Ruter,  Dr.  Martin,  194. 

Sackville,  Fort,  258. 

Saflford,  Dr.  James  M.,  175. 

Sav,  Thomas,  150. 

Schenck,  Cxeneral  R.  C,  and  Gal- 
lagher, 4()5. 

School,  the  first  in  Kentucky,  1()3; 
in  Ohio,  181;  in  Indiana,  180, 
255. 

School  of  Literature  and  the  Arts, 
306. 

School-books  of  the  Backwoods, 
192,  193. 

Schoolcraft,  H.  R.,  his  "Tmvels" 


Index. 


517 


in  1821,  Indian  school  at  Fort 
Wayne,  a  night  in  a  wigwam,  a 
savage  carouse,  22 ;  tire-hunting 
on  the  Wabash,  Vincennes,  Al- 
bion, Harmony,  23. 

School-house,  the,  in  pioneer  days, 
187-8;  the  ''model,"  424. 

Schurz,  Carl,  quoted,  189. 

Scott,  Dr.  Wm.  H.,  175. 

Scull,  John,  founds  Pittsburg  Ga- 
zette, 36;  issues  books,  44. 

Semicolon  Club,  297,  31G,  417; 
members  of,  418,  420. 

Seminary  of  Rapide,  La.,  described, 
345. 

Sentinel  and  Star  in  the  West,  the, 
485. 

Shawneetown,  111.,  in  1818,  21,337. 

Shea,  John  Gilmary,  his  historical 
labors,  4. 

Shreve,  Thos.  H.,  writer,  praised, 
78. 

Shuck,  Mike,  the  trapper,  286. 

Simms,  W.  Gilmore,  91. 

Sisson,  Miss  Harriet  (Mrs.  Daniel 
Drake),  414. 

Smart,  Hon.  Chas.  S,,  175. 

Smith,  Hon.  0.  H.,  his  "  Reminis- 
cences," 28, 

Smith,  AVinthrop  B.,  starts  firm  of 
Truman  &  Smith,  52, 

Soda  water,  first,  in  the  West,  308. 

Song-book,  first,  in  the  West,  268. 

Song- writing  in  early  days,  269. 

Sorosis,  the,  Woman's  Club  of 
New  York  city,  Alice  Cary  first 
president  of,  497, 

Souvenir,  the  Western,  372. 

Spaniards,  2,  5. 

an   early  teacher. 


Ezra, 


Spencer, 

186. 
Spofford,  A.  R. 
Stanbery,  Hon. 


154. 

Henry,  orator,  247. 
'in 


Stanlev,  Lord,  Earl  of  Derbv 
Kentucky,  168. 

St.  Charles,  Mo.,  in  1816,  340. 

St,  Clair,  General  Arthur,  his 
mansion,  106-7;  a  speech  of, 
228. 

St.  Cosme,  French  explorer,  4. 

Steamboat,  the  first  on  the  Ohio, 
328. 

Steele,  Robt.  W.,  on  Dayton  libra- 
ries, 145,  176. 

Ste.  Genevieve,  an  old  French 
town,  339. 

Stetson,  Charles,  419. 

Stevens,  Rev.  A,,  writings  of,  104. 


St.  Gabriel  College,  Vincennes, 
266. 

St.  Louis  in  1816,  340. 

Stoddard,  Amos,  travels  of,  18. 

Stone,  Rev.  Barton  W.,  founds 
Stoneites,  208. 

Stone,  Colonel  Wm.  L.,  historian, 
412. 

Storer,  Hon.  Bellamv,  orator,  98, 
247. 

Stories  in  Hall's  Western  Souve- 
nir, 288 ;  in  Cincinnati  Mirror, 
288. 

Story,  Rev.  Daniel,  chaplain  of 
Marietta  colony,  201-2. 

Stout,  Elihu,  starts  Vincennes  Sun 
in  1803,  42;  publishes  laws  of 
Indiana  Territory,  52;  first 
printer  in  Indiana,  259,  260. 

Stowe,  Calvin  E.,  lectures  in  Cin- 
cinnati, 250,  421, 

Stowe,  Mrs.  Plarriet  Beecher,  106 ; 
her  first  writings,  278;  "Unde 
Tom's  Cabin,"  297,  418,  420. 

Stubbs,  Robert,  founds  Newport 
Academy,  Ky.,  186. 

Sullivant,  Jos.,  147;  quoted,  149. 

Swift,  Alexander,  490. 

Swiggert,  Mrs.  Eleanor  M,,  de- 
scribes E,  D,  Mansfield,  432. 

Sycamore  Tree,  huge  trunk  of, 
332, 

Symmes,  John  Cleves,  176,  198. 

Tappan,  Benj.,  147,  150, 

Tavern  Signs,  pictorial,  327. 

Taylor,  Jas.  W.,  111. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  at  Vincennes,  23; 
a  rising  hero,  63,  259. 

Teachers,  the  College  of  Profes- 
sional, 317,  421,  422,  426. 

Teeft,  Rev.  B.  F.,  edits  Ladies'  Re- 
positorv,  100;  writes  "The 
Shoulder  Knot,"  101. 

Telfer,  R.  J.,  woodcuts  by,  84. 

Telford,  Chas.  L,,  Professor  in  Cin- 
cinnati College,  428. 

Tennessee,  State  of,  first  settle- 
ments, 7  ;  histories  of,  25 ;  news- 
papers, 43. 

Theater,  the,  stimulates  literary 
eflfort,  269. 

Thespian  Society,  the  Vincennes, 
260, 

Thomas,  Calvin  W,,  290, 

Thomas,  E,  S,,  pioneer  author, 
290. 

Thomas,  Frederick  W.,  po^  and 
novelist,  290. 


518 


Index, 


Thompson,  Rev.  E.,  notice  of,  100. 

Thompson,  Peter  (i..  author,  51. 

Thompson,  Hon.  nicliai.l  W.,  ora- 
tor, 248. 

Thurston,  Laura  M.,  poet,  qnoted, 
273. 

Todd,  Colonel  John,  an  education- 
al benefactor,  162. 

Torrence,  Aaron,  gift  to  Ohio  His- 
torical Society,  15{)-60. 

Torrence  Papei-s,  the,  in  Ohio  His- 
torical Library,  159. 

Tosso,  Jose,  violinist,  and  the  Trol- 
lopes,  354 ;  sketch  of,  356 ;  on 
Morgan  Neville,  375. 

Toulman,  Henry,  in  Kentucky,  his 
publications,  13,  1(>4. 

"Transactions"  of  the  College  of 
Teachers,  rare  books,  425. 

Transylvania  University,  62;  first 
commencement  of,  65;  writers 
in,  67  ;  library  of,  129-30  ;  found- 
ed, 162, 164;  organized,  165;  fac- 
ulty and  librarv,  168;  alumni, 
169. 

Trees,  5,  15,  21,  70 ;  immense  size 
of,  332. 

Trollope,  Mrs.  Frances,  3;  de- 
scribes Western  Museum,  313 ; 
in  Cincinnati,  353 ;  her  house, 
354  ;  gives  a  party,  355 ;  builds 
the  Bazaar,  355 ;  admires  Mr. 
Flint,  357. 

Trollope,  Henry,  plays  "  Falstatf," 
354. 

Trollope,  Thos.  Adolphus,  remi- 
niscences of  Cincinnati,  353. 

Tupper,  Martin  Farquhar,  writes 
for  "  Ladies'  Repository,"  102-3. 

Type,  cut  from  dog- wood  in  Ken- 
tucky, 37  ;  first  foundry  of,  in 
Ohio  Valley,  43,  56. 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  origin  of, 
297  ;  first  appearance,  487. 

Unitarian  revival,  the,  208. 

Unitarianism,  in  Ohio  Valley,  201  >. 

Universulism,  in  the  AVest,  209 ; 
debates  on,  222. 

University,  Transylvania,  62,  (>5, 
67,  129-30,  162,  164, 165,  168,  169; 
the  Ohio,  founded,  174;  distin- 
guished graduates,  175;  Miiuiii, 
176;  Vincennes,  2()1. 

Utopia,  foumled  by  Josiah  War- 
ren, 224. 

Van  Cleve,  John  W.,  147,  149. 

Varnura,  Judge  J.  M.,  orator,  227. 

Vaughn,  Prof.  Daniel.  U'cturer, 
250. 


Very,  Jones,  letter  of  to  J.  F. 
Clarke,  78 ;  sonnets  by,  79 ; 
writes  for  Boston  Dial,  80. 

'  \'eteran  Observer,"  nom  deplume, 
iA   v..  D.  Mansfield,  428. 

\  ('va\ .  Indiana,  founded,  334. 

Victor,  Mrs.  M.  V.,  novelist, 
sketch  of,  112. 

Victor,  O.  J.,  editor  and  author, 
112. 

Vincenne,  Francois  Morgan  De, 
254,  257  ;  his  death,  258. 

Vincennes,  John  Filson  at,  9 ;  in 
1821,  23;  the  Western  Sun,  42; 
early  printing,  52 ;  first  school 
and  college,  180;  the  first  church, 
197;  literary  institutions  at,  254; 
its  settlers,  258. 

Vincennes  Historical  and  Anti- 
quarian Society,  262. 

Vincennes  Library,  the,  263. 

Vincennes  Universitv,  261. 

Vincent,  Rev.  .1.  H.,  "104. 

Virginia  School  Act,  tlu-,  of  1780, 
164. 

Virginia,  State  of,  Ohio  Company 
of,  5  ;  sends  Washington  west,  6. 

Volney,  ('.  1\.  his  travels  in 
America,  IG. 

Wabash  College,  Indiana,  founded, 
180. 

Wade,  Benjamin  F.,  orator,  247. 

Wagner,  Richard,  heralded,  122. 

W^agon,  a  famous,  324-5. 

Wagoners  of  the  AUeghanies,  their 
songs,  268 ;  described,  327. 

Walden,  Bishop  J.  M.,  early  writ- 
ings of,  111. 

Walker,  Hon.  Tim-.tliv.  11^.  1  I't. 
158. 

Wallace,  Wm.  Ross,  Keutuckv 
poet,  280 ;  letter  to  W.  D.  Gal- 
lagher, 161. 

Walsh,  Robert,  editor,  392. 

Ward,  Nahurn,  his  rare  panii)hKt 
on  Ohio,  26. 

Ward,  James  Warner,  author  and 
music  composer,  113. 

Warfield,  Mrs.  C.  A.,  author  of  the 
"Household  of  Bouverir/'  '_'*i7. 
4()1,  403. 

Warren,  Josiah,  Ins  conuiuini.^tic 
ideas,  224. 

Washington,  Cieorge,  his  journey 
to  the  Ohio  country,  adventures 
on  the  Alleghany,  6;  at  the 
Forks  of  the  Ohio,  7  ;  on  educa- 
tion, 161. 

Watterson,  Henry,  praises  Pren- 
tice, 391. 


Index. 


519 


Wax  figures  made  by  Hiram 
Powers,  314. 

Weaver,  Rev.  Geo.  ^.,  95. 

Webster,  Daniel,  banquet  to,  in 
Cincinnati,  280 ;  his  speech,  233 ; 
praises  Hamraonti,  394,  451. 

Welby,  Mrs.  Amelia  B.,  early  life, 
471-2-3;  praised  by  Gallagher, 
471 ;  her  first  poems,  474 ;  her 
marriage,  personal  appearance, 
and  character,  475 ;  "Amelia- 
worship,"  476;  "Poems  of 
Amelia,"  477 ;  praised  by  Poe, 
478;  her  tomb  in  Louisville, 
481. 

Weld,  Isaac,  Jr.,  his  travels  in 
America,  13  ;  his  pettishly  scorn- 
ful book,  14;  amusing  descrip- 
tion of  Western  people,  14-15. 

Western  Academician,  425. 

Western  Association  of  Writers, 
the,  115,  281. 

Western  Museum,  the,  310  et  seq. 

Western  Reserve  College,  Ohio, 
founded,  179. 

Western  Review,  the,  Hunt's, 
62-66. 

Western  Souvenir,  the,  first  an- 
nual of  the  West,  288,  372. 

Western  Spy,  the,  40,  41,  66. 

Western  Sun,  the,  first  newspaper 
in  Indiana,  42,  52. 

Whelpley,  Albert  W.,  496. 

Whiskv,  drinking,  13,  20,  22,  188, 
191.  " 

White,  Jas.,  advertises  English 
school  in  1799, 185. 

Whitman,  Walt,  praised  by  Con- 
way, 122-123. 

Whittlesey,  Colonel  Charles,  93, 
149,  152. 


Whittier,    John     G.,    edits    New 

England  Review,  389 ;   and  the 

Gary's,  488 ;  poem  of,  489. 
Wild  turkeys,  5,  21. 
Willard,  Mrs.  Emma,  412. 
Williams,  MiloG.,  422. 
Williams,  John  Fletcher,  98. 
Williams,  Samuel,  pioneer  writer, 

98;  on  William  Tell,  104. 
Williamson,  Geo.  T.,  157. 
Willson,   Byron   Forceythe,   poet, 

sketch  of,  285. 
Wilson,    Rev.     Joshua    L.,     205 ; 

charges   Lvman    Beecher    with 

heresv,  218,  422. 
Wilson,  Rev.  Peter,  205. 
Wilson,  Robert  Burns,  poet,  artist, 

284. 
Wilson,  Rev.  Robert  G.,  175. 
Wilson,  Rev.  S.  R.,  205. 
Wilstach,   John    A.,   lawyer    and 

author,  416. 
Wistar,  Dr.  Casper,  307. 
Withers,  A.  S.,  his  "  Chronicles," 

32. 
Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  and  Captain 

Imlay,  10;  marries  Wm.  Good- 
win, 12. 
Wolsey,  Theodore,  412. 
Worth,   Gorham    A.,  prints    first 

book  of  verse  in  Ohio,  275. 
Worthington,   Governor  Thomas, 

410. 
Wreckers  on  the  Ohio,  21, 
Wright,  Miss  Frances,  her  career, 

223-4. 
Zachos,  John  C,  sketch  of,  93,  155. 
Zeisberger,  Rev.  David,  his  diary, 

199. 


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