USA > Ohio > Allen County > A standard history of Allen county, Ohio : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development > Part 48
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cup in the house covered with the remnants of the taffy-plenty of reminders in every room in the house. One surprise party stands out above all others, and it seems that the family had prepared for over Sunday guests when Saturday night visitors were served the things in readiness. While the guests brought oysters they did not leave till everything prepared for Sunday was used and the hostess had her trouble all over again.
Everybody rode on horseback in early days, and great cavalcades rode off to the country for a good time. General Blackburn's at Allen- town was a great place to go; the Amurugens was a military company formed in 1853 for horseback riding and the members in uniforms and mounted on spirited steeds always enjoyed themselves. There were a number of riding clubs and the best known people in Lima were in them. Among the horseback riders were: Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. John L. Hughes, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Stevens,: Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Adams, Mr. and Mrs. C. Halliday, Miss Carrie Alexander, Miss Hattie Armstrong and Messrs. Knox, Kibby and Ramsey. Sometimes these riding clubs gave exhibitions in the public square and drew large crowds to witness them. They went through figures, riding four abreast, singly, forming a hollow square, etc. Mrs. J. P. Adams was accorded the honor as the best rider. The ladies were attractive in their neat, close-fitting riding habits of dark blue cloth, long skirts, high hats and streamers.
Two of the largest parties ever known in the social life of early Lima were given in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin S. Brice and in the home of Dr. and Mrs. S. A. Baxter. There were 600 guests at the Brice party, the occasion being their tenth wedding anniversary, and the spread was laid by a caterer-a departure in Lima customs. One thousand invita- tions were issued for the Baxter party. The grounds were illuminated, and there was a dancing pavilion, and because of the elaborate scale both these parties attracted many spectators to the vicinity of the two homes on West Market Street, the streets and sidewalks being lined with per- sons bent on witnessing the gaiety although they had no part in it. The Brice homestead is now the Christian Science Church property, while Baxter place remains a family possession, the home of Mrs. S. A. Baxter.
CHAPTER XXXVII
TEMPERANCE-ITS RELATION TO ALLEN COUNTY
The Century Dictionary says: "The temperance movement is a social or political movement, having for its object the restriction or abolition of the use of alcholic liquors as beverages," but in the United States the movement has become political rather than social. When the temperance question entered the realm of business its death knell was soon sounded, and while the taxpayers may be burdened with John Barleycorn's funeral expenses-well, that is an easy way out of the difficulty. In the 1920 presidential election, there was no drunkenness at the election booths and nobody wanted to see the return of whisky.
In the countries of the world where laws are enforced, there seems to be little inclination to return to the liquor habit, to alcoholic conditions. The hair tonic consumer has one alternative-he can drink it or let it alone, and the "easy to take" nostrums that flood the market in the shape of patent medicines do not have smooth sailing in some instances. When the charge was made: "America began with the Declaration of Independ- ence and ended with prohibition," some Allen County folk indulged the hope that prohibition was permanent. While a cherry seed dropped into a bottle of Scotch may convert the whole thing into bitters, one does not see Allen County shoppers carrying market baskets so carefully-baskets concealing bottle being "conspicuous because of their absence," now that prohibition is written into the law. "Ha, ha, ha, you and me, little brown jug, don't I love thee," is now obsolete in the whole United States, although there was always sentiment about it. At local political head- quarters in the 1920 presidential campaign, some of the party leaders said prohibition would never be the issue again.
The great drought is widespread-covers the United States and is fast spreading to other countries. While the fruits of prohibition may be raisins and apples, and there are always abundant crops of dandelions, a recent newspaper squib says: "Ten or twenty years ago people dis- missed as lightly the fear that in time prohibition would be saddled on the country.". Another squib said: "Prohibition has worked a hardship in newspaper offices, as editors are now unable to cite reporters where to find the leading citizens-the saloon always the 'hang-out,'" but the numerous clubs and fraternity houses now shelter them. With the pass- ing of the saloon-the poor man's club, has been ushered in a different civilization. It is prophesied that the time will come when Allen County children will not know what father looks like when he is "soused," and when the song: "Father, dear father, come home with me now," no longer has local significance.
When the saloon is a thing of the past, the parlance of the community center there will be forgotten, but in the dawn of the prohibition morn- ing one hears such words as "soused," "spifflecated," "stewed," "corned," "pickled," and when there are no longer any groups of hilarious men under the influence of "inoccuous stewitude," perhaps there will be improved diction in the community. While "home brew" is so rotten, there will be-but the advance guard of temperance reform is convinced that when the present corps of drunkards reaches the discard, there will be no more demand for the saloons-the hell-holes of destruction. The poor man's club is now a dead issue as a business proposition. No business corporation wants to employ a drunken man. As long as pro-
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hibtion was only regarded as a moral issue, it did not progress very rapidly ; when it became an economic question the question was no longer raised : does prohibition prohibit ?
The business of making men drunk, promoting crime, disorder and dishonor for profit is on the defensive almost everywhere, and if Amer- ica stands firm in the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment recog- nizing women in politics, other countries will follow and legalized traffic in spirituous liquors will be under the bans in all countries. If America fails that will mean failure in other nations. American leadership in the dry reform is the hope of the entire world. National prohibition is close in many countries- closer than it was in America ten years ago. The liquor question is the problem in the large cities, and while some argue that prohibition is not effective, a paragraph on the subject reads: "In New York one may have liquor with his meals in hotel or cafe, but one is not permitted to lean out of the window and wave the bottle at pass- ersby in the street," and gradually people are adjusting themselves to prohibition requirements.
When it comes to the matter of technicalities, there is a difference between temperance and total absinence; now that prohibition has gained a foothold in the United States, it is interesting to trace its development through the different stages in Allen County history. When the Shaw- nees consumed "fire water" they were troublesome, and "moonshine" has had the same influence with their pale face followers. In the fall of 1841, says an old account, an Indian who had consumed "fire water" in the "moonshine," had an attack of mental aberration and while rest- ing his head on the forks of a gate in Lima he lodged himself so firmly that he could not extricate his head and when he found himself choking to death in the rear of Musser's tavern, he roared like some haunted thing, and -the noise brought everybody to his rescue; when he was released he was a sadder and wiser Shawnee-wiser, if in future he let it alone.
It is related that Samuel McClure, who was in the Allen County wilderness early, one time found some wild honey that was damaged and he make a drink of it which he called "methelgin." It was perhaps the first intoxicant manufactured in Allen County. It had the "kick," the same as whisky; it was a prime favorite with the Indians who were always addicted to intoxicants; the illicit Lima distillers in 1920 had nothing on Samuel McClure; in his day there were none to molest-none to make afraid, and he could do as he wished with his "smear" of honey. In 1920, the illicit distillery business caused widespread trouble in Allen County ; there were numerous arrests, and "wine of pepsin" did not shield the offender from the "clutches of the law." While some con- coctions were sold as medicines, in the eyes of the law they were beverages.
The illicit liquor business resulted in the death of one man in Lima, and a jury was only fifteen minutes in liberating the policeman who shot him: "A wild outburst of applause greeted the verdict of not guilty that was arrived at by the jury in the case of John Goebel, Lima police sergeant, who was charged with manslaughter in the case of shooting Melvin Flannigan, while attempting an arrest; the jury was out exactly twenty minutes, and it is understood the verdict was arrived at after the first ballot ; a host of friends pressed forward to shake the hand of the defendant," and the law and order element felt that the safety and secur- ity of the people demanded protection; the country would be over-run with bootleggers, moonshiners and thugs although it was urged by the prosecutor : "Policemen should not constitute themselves a law unto
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themselves." The policeman in question was not disqualified-was on duty every day while awaiting trial.
There used to be bars in grocery stores in Lima and other Allen County towns, and thus the women and children frequented the saloons. It is said that even prohibitionists have no objection to prices "taking a drop," but there have always been citizens who objected to their relatives using intoxicants. It was before the crusade that seventy-four Lima women banded together and addressed a communication to Dr. Edwin Ashton, a local druggist, citing their objection to his business as a dealer in strong drinks, and threatening a visit to his store unless he ceases from selling whisky. The communication read: "These resolutions will be put into practice in a short time," the last clause reciting: "Whereas we believe it our duty to put a stop to that, the result of which is the destruction of our fellow citizens, the manufacture of paupers and the corruption of the morals of the youth of our village," and it was signed by some of the best known women of the town.
Doctor Ashton's reply, dated July 1, 1856, reads: "I have on hand now some five or six hundred dollars worth of liquors, all of the best that could be obtained; they have been purchased for medical purposes, and I have endeavored to sell them for that purpose and no other; it is well known that I do not sell to those who are in the habit of making an improper use of liquor," and seventeen years in advance of the cru- sade, this Lima druggist showed himself to be a man of determination, adding: "If those are the liquors you base your determination on, I would say to you that now is the time; you may rest assured that I shall continue to sell them in the same way that I have done; my past course will serve as a correct index to the future," and while the letter was properly signed there is no record that the women carried out their inten- tion; they had said: "We shall visit your place where the beverage is sold and destroy the contents of your whisky and other liquor barrels, unless you cease." But there is record of one woman playing Carrie Nation in a Lima saloon. She had requested the saloonkeeper not to sell liquor to her husband; while she was regarded as a good woman, "she got her name up big" in the community, by destroying a stock of liquor with a hatchet. It was "quite a happening," but an effective campaign against intemperance.
It is related that as early as 1834 a resident of Allen County named Henry Carter, "when he was a little in his cups which he was by times, he would hunt up all the friends who had come from his native heath, and they would take a bumper for 'good old Madison.'" "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot?" Not by this man when "he was in his cups." It is related that when Bluffton dealers brought whisky from Piqua that cost them 25 cents a gallon, and sold it in Bluffton at 75 cents, the wagon- ers always carried more whisky than any other merchandise, and the statement seems like a reflection on the community. It is said that while in other campaigns a man's hand on his hip was construed as meaning a threat, that in 1920 it was sometimes interpreted as meaning a promise -there was always hope of spirits to spirit hopes, when a man's hand wandered to his hip pocket. A Lima man who admitted that he still had something that cheered in his cellar, exclaimed : "When I visit it I feel like one who treads alone some banquet hall deserted," and that reflected the mental attitude of others. The teacher in a men's Bible class at un- day school related that when there was threatened scarcity, he had pur- chased a quart of whisky and paid $1 for it; the time came when he could have sold it for $14, but in the presence of his wife, he removed the cork and allowed it to escape through the kitchen sink; he was given applause
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by the men in the class; they all disclaimed any definite knowledge of "the six best cellars" in Allen County.
Now people may be intemperate in other ways than the use of liquor; it is in a narrow, restricted sense that temperance is applied to moderation in the use of beverages alone. Temperance is habitual moderation in regard to the natural appetites and passions, both in drinking and eating and it is said that in temperance dining halls, temperance is about all one gets for his money. It has been gratifying to note the rapidity with which the tremendous amount of capital invested in the liquor traffic, and the industries dependent upon it has been diverted to other chan- nels, and seemingly without jar to local industrial conditions; there are a number of dining rooms in Allen County that are still equipped with bar fixtures ; it was only one step from a thirst parlor to a hunger relief station ; the transition of monetary forces from destructive to constructive channels has been accomplished, and none seem losers from it. The Lima Lodge of Elks Year Book, 1920-21, carries the following statement : "Notwithstanding the elimination of the buffet, the business of the club continues to grow, the mortgage on the home has been paid entirely," and it is recited that there have been many necessary expenditures.
An old account relates that when a man from Delphos thought to favor Lima with a saloon, he loaded three wagons with the necessary "goods," and drove one afternoon to within two miles of town and camped until darkness came on, intending to occupy The Old Fort before daylight without consulting the citizens about it. By 10 o'clock that night forty persons had congregated and demolished the building; there were four crowbars and the rest had sledge hammers and axes, and some were armed with revolvers; there was no need of disguise as some were prominent citizens. The Old Fort had been the first storeroom in Lima, and it was not suffered to shelter a saloon. The wagons loaded with wet goods returned to Delphos without entering Lima. At another time an attempt was made by Wolf and Meyers to open a saloon on Christmas day; five glasses of whisky had been passed over the bar, when the masculine population waited on the proprietors, and the gutters run with it ; this was in 1853, the crusade yet a good many years in the future.
It is said that when humanity again attains to "normalcy" men will not want to defile their persons and that properly balanced rations will rid them of the craving for stimulants. A study of menus is necessary, and the depraved appetite may be corrected in a measure by appetizing foods. Since American prohibition has driven so many thirst ridden people to Cuba, it is said they are the only persons seen on the streets of Havana who show symptoms of over-indulgence; however, that is not saying that all American visitors drink to excess; beer and light wines are so much a part of the Latin life that they do not have the effect of intoxication. Cuba happens to be the nearest "foreign country," or oasis in the dry desert and Cubans are learning the utter weakness of some Americans; some who have reached Havana no longer ask for money to get their other shirt out of the laundry, but without shamefacedness boldly ask for money with which to buy drinks. Cuba is the dumping ground for drink-crazed Americans.
LOCAL TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATIONS
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The first temperance agitation in the United States began in the year George Washington was elected President, and when old persons say they have heard temperance lectures all their lives, they no doubt speak truth- fully about it ; that the evils of intemperance are as old as the race, is a
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stock assertion in the mouth of each temperance orator, and Noah is a conspicuous example of the first drunkard. While there have been tem- perance movements all over the world, some of the best results have been attained in the United States. Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia was the first writer condemning intemperance, and his dominant note was total abstinence through prohibition ; the first temperance work in the United States was in the nature of a reaction against the use of intoxi- cants which threatened to produce a nation of drunkards, and the first actual temperance reform was among the farmers of Connecticut; the "wooden nutmeg" agriculturists would not allow the use of liquor among farmhands, and the whisky jug in the Allen County harvest fields has long been a thing of the past while the pioneers knew all about it, today it is as a story that it told and that begins: "Once upon a time."
When whisky flowed like water, there was a different moral status in the community. A pioneer minister one time admitted that a drink of whisky made him bold in his presentation of the gospel, and there were frequent drunken brawls and fights in the streets. Men would sometimes encourage boys to fight each other, but much of that was changed when the saloon was banished from Allen County. One day when a boy asked a drunken man for tobacco, he picked it off his whiskers for the child-but there are no such spectacles today. John Barleycorn will never again be welcomed to Allen County; his uncouth habits are buried with him, and everybody is willing to forget him. While the one-armed bartender in the form of the town pump has been banished from most of the towns under recent sanitary rulings-Spencerville still has excellent water, there is not much danger from "snake bite," and like the rest of humanity Allen County folk will have to "worry along" with- out whisky even for medicinal uses; there are not many "snake bites," and not many "snakes" in "dry" territory.
While there was temperance agitation as early as 1789, and while drunkenness was ever considered as an enemy to society, it was not until 1826 that there was agitation of the question of total abstinence. Lyman Beecher, who was said to be "the father of more brains than any other man in America," was prominent among. early temperance advocates. While liquor was once used in ordination services, the ministry soon revolted against it. While not all the temperance organizations have been represented in Allen County, the Washington Society organized in 1840, in Baltimore included some of the foremost temperance agitators known to the world. Matthew Hale Smith, John Hawkins and John B. Gough were shining lights. The Sons and Daughters of Temperance followed the Washington Society, and along in the '60s the Sons of Temperance was a strong organization in Allen County ; it created public sentiment against the liquor traffic. The Good Templers Lodge was active for several years in Allen County ; while it was a secret order, temperance was its object. In the '70s came the Murphy movement --- Francis Murphy and his blue ribbon bow, and the different local organ- izations strengthened and expanded the gospel of total abstinence. It is said there was more aggressive temperance warfare in the '70s than since that time, and that comes up to the last fifty years in Allen County history.
Francis Murphy was a converted saloonkeeper, and the movement started by him had a restraining influence on crime and lawlessness of all descriptions ; the blue ribbon worn by all who signed the pledge was the silent evangelist, although it was many years before prohibition swept the country. Writing on the temperance question in the '80s, Henry William Blair said: "The conflict between men and alcohol is as old as
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civilization, more destructive than any other form of warfare, and as fierce today as at any time in its history." There has always been a wet and dry element in Allen County, and that long ago there was a good deal said about the whisky jug in the harvest field; while some farmers harvested their grain without it, the hired labor usually went to the fields where there was a jug of whisky.
When the Civil war came on there was not so much agitation of the temperance question, and for some years afterwards the dry forces were not as well organized as they are today ; the alcoholic evil is the subject of crucial investigation all of the time, and the wets and drys lie awake nights planning how they may outwit each other. In 1908, was the only time the local option question was before the Allen County voters alone. When Allen County was the unit there were sixty-seven more wet than dry votes, and the wets donned badges: "I am one of the sixty-seven," and it said their demonstration had its weight in creating unmistakeable dry sentiment in the community. While the question was before Allen County voters frequently it was as a state unit, and there were wet dis- tricts outside of Allen County. For twelve years The Lima Clipper, owned by John Carnes and W. E. Crayton, was published in the inter- ests of prohibition. While prohibition and the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States are not exactly synonomous, much was expected and realized from the vote of the recently enfran- chised women of Allen County. It is said that the saloonkeepers were their own undoing, and their failure to comply with law requirements defeated them. May the children of the future know as little about the saloon as the men and women of today know about the crusade which was once such an effective agency in Allen County.
Mayor F. A. Burkhardt of Lima was recently called to a meeting of Ohio mayors in Columbus, to consider different phases of the temperance question ; the conference was called by the national prohibition commis- sioner, John F. Kramer of Washington, District of Columbia, and the purpose was to devise methods of enforcing the prohibition laws, and the better understand the Volstead and Crabbe acts; should the Crabbe Act be enforced in Lima, there would be some revenue from "bootleg- gers." While the "blind tiger" is a bugbear and a menace, it has never been a "poor man's club," and social center; with the saloon a thing of the past some men have at last cultivated the acquaintance of their own families; when the patronage began to wane, some saloonkeepers were glad of the technicality in the law that closed their doors before the sheriff did it for them. While the women had not voted on the local option question, and many had not cared for suffrage only along refor- mation lines, they were glad when the saloon was eliminated by auto- matic process. Local option in Allen County was not in advance of state- wide prohibition; while they would have accepted the half loaf in the form of county local option, the women of Allen County always had the slogan ; statewide prohibition.
In the Allen County Women's Christian Temperance Union, A. D. 1920, there were twelve separate and distinct unions, with Mrs. D. R. (Villa) Cook of Lima as county president ; the Women's Christian Tem- perance Union members call themselves the Daughters of the Crusade. The Crusaders in Allen County were those women who taught their sons and daughters the truths of total abstinence ; to reverence truth and virtue in manhood and womanhood; they definitely divided the people into ranks either for or against the liquor traffic. Some Women's Christian Temperance Union enthusiasts unhesitatingly say that the Anti-saloon League men who have worked hand in glove with them in bringing about
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temperance measures, are sons of Women's Christian Temperance Union mothers and grandsons of Crusaders. There was an Anti-saloon League in Massachusetts in 1892, and it was organized in Ohio only a few months later. While there may not be any mothers of presidents among the Women's Christian Temperance Union or the Crusaders, there have been wives of presidental dignitaries who were temperance women.
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