USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > Centennial souvenir of Marietta, Ohio; settled April seventh, 1788, celebration, April seventh, 1888 > Part 3
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MARIETTA.
This, the city of most importance, being the county scat, has realized a steady and satisfactory growth. It is a convenient center for the general distribution of the products and exports of the county, or the exchange of these for the vast supplies necessary for the needs of a large and prosperous community surrounding it. The conveni- ence of the people is greatly faciliated by the numerous lines of rail- roads intersecting the county, with ample river accommodations, giv- ing more advantages than are generally found in country towns, the industries of the community not being checked during the winter season. The public interest and welfare of the city is in the hands of all its citizens, which results in harmony and a tendency to make the most of the advantages at hand.
Marietta is unusually attractive in the summer months, with its broad streets for pleasant drives; these are well shaded with stately elms and sycamores and maples of large growth. The College Campus is a miniature forest; the City Park, lying along the Mus- kingum, with smaller parks throughout the city, make it a place of sunshine and shade. The residences are uniformly neat and tasty in appearance, the grounds which surround them large and well-kept, with everything bespeaking comfort, thrift and an intelligent pride. Industry prevails in all vocations, and success and contentment are common blessings.
It is a city of churches and schools, and has sometimes been called "an old college town,"-which it is in fact. This is an advantage duly appreciated by its citizens, and recognized by strangers who visit here,
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as there is an intellectual tone in society always noticeable in college towns, where professors, teachers, scholars are citizens of one and the same community. The college gives a stimulus to all efforts of an educational tendency, so that its advantages are felt on the Academy and the public schools. The latter maintain a standard equal to any in the State. The sturdy New England customs, trans- planted here a hundred years ago, are still handed down from sire to son, and are manifest in the even tenor of the life-time of the citizens. They are satisfied with a modest competence, and are not envious of the more stirring cities, which have been built up by the assistance of men nurtured and educated here.
MARIETTA gladly offers the hand of fellowship to her sons and daughters, former sojourners and friends, and through these a welcome is extended to all who may wish to participate in the festivities soon to follow. Accept her hospitality, and view the grand old gateway to the Northwest. Assist in the commemoration of her hundreth anniversary. In this way inaugurate anew an earnest effort to per- petuate the principles secured by the wisdom and sacrifices of our forefathers.
A century, all hail the time! With quickened pulse we see The feasting of our wedding day, The year of jubilee. We greetings send to every friend; Dwell with us once again
Near altar fires, built by our sires, Which steadfast still remain.
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THE OHIO RIVER.
This was an important factor in the selection of this spot for the new settlement by the Ohio Company, its waters being more accessi- ble than the impenetrable forest, to the band of Pioneers who had the confluence of the two rivers in view as their abiding place. The Indians called it Ohio, meaning in the language of at least two tribes, the fair river, or the fine river. The French explorers said of it, "La belle Riviere,"-meaning beautiful river. It extends along the entire south- eastern boundary of the county, a distance of nearly sixty miles. Be- fore the time of railroads it was of vast importance as an avenue to the South and West. It still commands a trade sufficient for a fine line of passenger boats, and numerous craft for a heavy coal and freight traffic.
The stretch of river joining this county is thickly dotted with small, but fertile and beautiful islands, some of these of size sufficient for fine farms and gardens. The names of those adjacent to Washington county are, beginning at Newport,-Grape Island, Middle Island, Three Brothers, Willow Island, Crescent or Kerr's Island, Hutchin- son's Island, Neal's Island, Vienna Island, and the historic Blenner- hassett Island. These islands greatly enhance the beauties of the lovely scenes, which, in the summer season, are seldom surpassed if they are equaled anywhere else along the course of the river. It is said that the views along this river were to the first settlers a continu- ous feast of enjoyment. The foliage hung dense, to the margin of the water, often reaching far out over its surface. Sometimes a sunny spot could be found, where a coarse grass, of a lively green color, had taken root and thrived. The deer that came to the sand bars and shallow places were molested only by their own images mirrored in the waters. They slaked their thirst and sped away to the
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sunny openings for fresh pasturage. The elk and moose shambled down its sloping banks in the silence of the twilight, but soon depart- ed for the deeper density of the woodlands. The wild turkeys called their flocks together among the water grasses, not knowing the danger of the huntsman or his rifle. The buffalo quenched their thirst in their long wanderings and leisurely left its shores after resting from fatigue. Fish played in the sunshine or among the rocks, undis- turbed by bait or hook. Even the crows seemed to salute it with a laży caw when flying above its surface. The Indians paddled their canoes across the placid waters, in search of new hunting grounds beyond the farther shore.
All these made, indeed, a beautiful scene, the beautiful river as it is still called, and it justly merits its name. Not until towards 1800 did the white sail fleck its surface; and it was ten years later before the moving wheel of a steamboat splashed its quiet waters. To the year 1815 there had been less than a dozen moving monuments to the in- ventive genius of Robert Fulton, coursing their way southward. The first of these was built at Pittsburg in 1811 and passed Marietta in the winter of 1812; the smoke and noise of the boat frightening the chil- dren. As late as 1820 not more than a score of steamboats were seeking the traffic of these western waters.
Boat-building was at one time a lively enterprise at this port. In- stead of river craft, they built sca-going vessels, brigs and schooners. The first of these was the brig St. Clair, built in iSoo, commanded by Commodore Whipple, then in the sixty-seventh year of his age. There is a recorded list of twenty-four vessels built here, but the "Embargo Act," of Jefferson, suddenly stopped this industry.
The Ohio river is classed as one of the most important of the United States, its navigable waters and tributaries exceeding five thousand miles. It has two tributaries from this county, with some
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smaller streams. These are Little Muskingum, above, Muskingum, at Marietta. The Hocking empties just below the county line. Mus- kingum, in the Indian language, means Elk's Eye, and Hock-Hocking, as it was formerly called, signified "Bottle River."
The area of country drained by the Ohio and its tributaries is esti- mated to be two hundred thousand square miles, so that incessant and general rains over that portion of the country, or the melting of heavy falls of snow in the mountain regions at the head of its tribu- taries, result in high floods, some seasons doing great damage. The most notable since the settlement were in 1813, 1832, 1852 and 1884; the latter unprecedented in history and very destructive to property.
The following lines were written by William D. Emerson, (extract of poem.)
TO THE OHIO RIVER.
Eden of rivers, when thy infant rill
Was yet upon its mother mountain, say,
Who fixed for aye, its hesitating way, -- Why, on the East didst thou not dance thy way, And o'er the precipices waste thy spray? He who created man, commissioned thee,
And sent thee forth to work thy bed of clay;
Then bear thy load of waters pure and free, Until their wealth is stored in the unbounded sea.
A century ago, and what wast thou?
The red man chased the wild ox o'er the wild,
The birch canoe was then thine only plow,
And Navigation was an unformed child; The Indian war-whoop woke thy slumbers, mild,
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Thou wert a giant beauty, in the robe Of untamed nature; cities had not smiled
On blooming farms, and Sol could scarcely probe
The forest, while he bathed in thee, his golden globe.
I love thee, radiant stream; thy banks are free, The Pioneer has tinged thee with his soul;
His bold and steady mind doth image thee, Those waters which have borne him to the goal,
Of his far-reaching enterprise, shall roll Forever past his grave; to history dear:
Thy bells of commerce o'er his sod shall toll, But not the notes of woe, his spirit 's here
And walks the verdant fields, when Spring renews the year.
MILLS.
The old adage, "Happy is the miller that grinds in the mill," could easily have originated with the early settlers. With all their primitive ways and inconveniences, they lacked in nothing more than in the im- perfection of their mills, so the miller who had a mill that would grind even slowly was certainly happy, if happiness consists in earthly pos- sessions. Corn was, at first, ground on hand mills, a slow and tedious process, the most popular of these being one of large dimensions called the Army mill. This, being more rapid in execution, was con- tinually "borrowed" by the neighbors. After the hand mills came an era of floating mills, not lasting, as it was found that the current of the rivers was too slow to move a mill-wheel in a very satisfactory manner. A mill run by horse-power was in operation for a long time; this was succeeded by mills built at the rapids of the smaller streams.
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The first successful mills by water power were built on Wolf Creek in 1789. These were located about two miles from the mouth of the creek, near Waterford, close enough to Fort Freye for aid, if a retreat was found necessary. These mills were built under the direction of Haffield White, and furnished the grinding for a time for all the set- tlements, including Marietta, Newport and Belpre, with others; the mills on "Hock-Hocking" afterwards supplying the latter settlement.
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Robinson's Mill, 1875.
The site of the first mill on Duck Creek was in close proximity to
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a farm then owned by Commodore Whipple. The mill there erected was a saw and grist mill. Much of the lumber used in the erection of buildings in Marietta was sawed at this mill, also the lumber in the construction of the boats built at Marietta for Blennerhassett. Ad- jacent to it were poplar trees in great numbers and of immense size; the lumber of these trees brought but fifty cents per hundred, so that many trees were left to decay upon the ground where they fell.
The last mill in operation on the site of the first mill, was for a long time known as Robinson's Mill. The illustration represents it as it appeared in the year 1875.
The floods of recent years have entirely destroyed this land-mark, as neither the mill or mill-dam is left. From the small beginnings of hand-mills used by the Pioneers grand results have been obtained. Mills now dot the margins of the many streams and splendid structures stand on either bank of the Muskingum near its mouth. Once, where these now stand, the giant Sycamores sent their branches half way across the stream, and the willows fringed the shores until the river presented the appearance of a small creek.
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THE BLENNERHASSETTS.
The story of these people is so closely allied with early Marietta history that to omit them, would be to disregard an important episode. The tale tinges so much of romance, that it is next to im- possible to believe in the reality of it. Only an outline is here given of what made many pages in history at the time of its existing activity.
About the time of the Declaration of Independence by the United States all nationalities were looking with interest upon the outcome of that event. Some looked with an envious desire and longed for a similar expression in their own governments; none felt the bitter pangs of delay, for themselves, more than the oppressed tenants of Ireland. This same spirit manifested itself in one abundantly able to seek and enjoy the new dispensation here granted. This man was Harman Blennerhassett. He was fitted for the Law, and possessed an inheri- tance to a fine estate. After his father's death, and his own marriage to Miss Agnew, he soon decided to dispose of his property, which he did, and in the Autumn of 1797, sailed with his wife and intimate friend and school-mate, Emmett, for the United States. He tarried but a fortnight in New York city,-bade his friend farewell and un- dertook the perilous journey through the wilderness, over mountains, where but ten years before the Ohio settlers had opened the way to the new country, by which the waters of the river they were seeking, gently floated. They came by keel-boat to Marietta, and spent their first winter here. They greatly enjoyed the social atmosphere of New England culture, and too, their society was sought and duly appreciated, by people who understood the advantages they had gained by the accession of a family of so refined and courteous man- ner, who aimed in every way to honor their ancestry which were
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readily traced to the most illustrious families of the province, from which they had so recently emigrated.
In the early spring-time of 179S, Blennerhassett concluded to pur- chase a part of an island in the Ohio river and build a residence there rather than reside in Marietta. The purchase was for the upper half of what was then called Backus' Island. He and his wife went im- mediately to the island, occupying for a time, a deserted block-house, until their own home was completed. This island is twelve miles be- low Marietta on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad where it crosses the Ohio river at Parkersburg. It has been called Blenner- hassett's island since his occupancy of it and is becoming more and more famous as a resort for pleasure and excursions, in connection with its historic interest. There is nothing remaining, however, of the days of Blennerhassett except some stately sycamores, and the deep well, the walls of which are moss-grown, with luxuriant ferns growing from the crevices.
It must have seemed an enchanted isle, when one reads of the golden, drooping branches of the willow bordering the shores, of the lavish growth of the Eglantine or Wild Brier rose, of the long tendrils of the Honeysuckle, festooning the tall branches of the grand trees of the forest, the 'openings' for the sunlight to gild the cushioned walks covered with moss and wild flowers, the deep, dark corners, cool and damp where luxuriant ferns peacefully grew,-the description alone is exceedingly entertaining. What must it have been after the lavish expenditure of fifty thousand dollars on residence, walks, ave- nues and all that pertain to the establishing of such a home of luxury. There was nothing need break the quiet solace of these wanderers from their own land but the ripple of the waters over the pebbly shores, the dip of the oar, the quick stroke of the paddle of the canoe, or the songs of the wild birds in their undisturbed carols of delight.
LOSSING BABBITT
Blennerhassett Mansion.
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Nature had been lavish indeed in her adornment and man paused to consider, what he could add, to the already attractive place. It was left for him to dispossess the scene of some of its charms, at a fair recompense, and for eight years this home was mutually enjoyed by the Blennerhassetts, and their many friends. This noble, self-poised manhood finally met its destroyer. The finer balanced tactics of womanhood were sealed by fate when his wife, showed her first courtesy to Aaron Burr and a lady friend, who artfully visited the grounds surrounding their home. She did what any one would probably do, under like circumstances, sent a message by a servant extending to them, in her husband's absence, the hospitality of their mansion. Instead of immediately returning to their boat, they, after assumed delibera- tion, accepted her invitation, and spent an entertaining evening with her household. The absence of Blennerhassett only delayed Burr's plans for a short time. From Mrs. Blennerhassett, he obtained the address of her husband, when his schemes were partially divulged by a brief correspondence, after which Burr again visited their island home; this time, accompanied by his daughter, the wife of Governor Alston of South Carolina. Her husband soon joined her here, when a mutual confidence and trust pervaded the whole party. It was but a short time until active preparations were engaged in for a temporary abandonment of their lovely home,-as history seems to portray,-merely to join a colony, help organize it, and see it estab- lished in the Louisiana country on the " Washita."
Burr left the island, with Alston and his wife in September, 1806, for Lexington, Kentucky. Rumors were soon afloat of a conspiracy against the United States, and the leader of this none other than the late Vice-President when Thomas Jefferson was President. He, it was rumored, was in a deep plot, conspiring against his own govern- ment, assisting the breaking in Spanish treaty with the United
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States, possibly an interference between these States and Mexico. Many surmises were put put forth but nothing definite was known.
Burr was twice arrested, the first time soon released. On the second, after a long imprisonment and tedious trial, nothing was proven against him. This fact, however, does not greatly detract the mind of the reader from the possibilities of what might have followed had his scheme been allowed to mature, or been left unmolested by state and national interference.
After the first arrest and dismissal of Burr, he returned to Marietta on a hasty errand. He contracted for a number of boats that were to convey Blennerhassett, his family and servants, together with many who had enlisted in a cause, of which they were possibly ignorant of the outcome. These were to go down the Ohio and join others on the way. He left the boats, and the payment of the building of them, to the superintendence of Blennerhassett, and suddenly departed. Rumors were still afloat that a great conspiracy was being concocted. Government detectives were sent out, one visiting here and plead- ing with Blennerhassett to desist, and turn from the project, but he could not be induced to give it up. He saw that he was closely watched, and anticipated trouble. He left his home on a bleak De- cember night, with boats and men who had come to his assistance. The boats at Marietta were in readiness, and Mrs. Blennerhassett expected to secure these and follow with her children, household effects and servants, immediately.
The strength of the law and the power of the Government was greater than hers or her persuasive words. She returned to find a wild revelry enacting within the walls of luxury,-her own home. Soldiers had been ordered there, who arrived in her absence, and little or no civility was shown the helpless household. She was allowed to leave unmolested, and, with much difficulty as to transportation, secured -
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passage on a boat with a number of young gentlemen from Pittsburg, out for a trip of pleasure and , recreation, only taking with her, her children and a few articles hurriedly selected. After many days of great anxiety she succeeded in joining her husband near Natchez. An order from Jefferson to General Wilkinson for the United States, and from Governor Tiffin of Ohio were issued to the State militia simul- taneously, in January, 1807, calling troops into active service and or- dering militia to be ready to report for duty to thwart every move- ment of the expedition. These actions so frustrated their plans, whatever they were, that just preceding Burr's second arrest they were altogether abandoned, Burr escaping under disguise.
It was never proven whether the movement was really a conspiracy against the United States, a violation of former treaties with the Gov- ernment and Spain, an invasion of Mexico, or whether the expedition . was to be a peaceful establishing of a colony in the Louisiana country. Burr abandoned the boats and undertook to escape the vigilance of the officers, but was captured in what is now Washington county, Ala- bama, for a possible treason that was planned and inaugurated in part, in Washington county, Ohio; but under a disguse to those who became victims to the plot, and others who had enlisted in his service.
His trial was in Richmond, Virginia; after a tedious imprisonment and maneuvering there was no further cause for holding him as a prison- er and he was released. He went directly to Europe, where he led an indifferent life, a semi-exile, for twenty-five years, only cherishing the hope, after his return to the United States, of meeting his daughter, Mrs. Alston, who it is supposed was shipwrecked after leaving Charleston, S. C., for New York, as she was never heard of again by husband, father, or friends.
Harman Blennerhassett was arrested and had his trial; nothing was proven against him, and he returned to the then desolate country of
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the lower Mississippi. His home and property on the island had been confiscated by creditors, and the State of Virginia, and with floods and fire but little was left to attract them again to it. They lived a few years near Natchez, but the war of 1812 blasted all hopes for their future and they again journeyed with their children to a strange land,-this time to Montreal, Canada. From there they went to England, Blennerhassett preceding his wife. Here they finally found refuge with a sister, he waiting for some position by which he might support his family. From there they went to the Isle of Guernsey, where Blennerhassett died in 1831, at the age of nearly sixty-five years.
Mrs. Blennerhassett returned to the United States, and after all their means had been exhausted, was tenderly cared for by former friends. Her children, three boys, not prosperous nor self-sustaining, proved a great addition to her multiplicity of sorrows, and to relate all the care they were to herself and friends would not in any way alleviate her grief for them, and death has claimed them all.
She presented a memorial to Congress asking to be reinstated in a portion of her loss financially. Henry Clay, who had been the attorney for her husband thirty-six years before, then a United States Senator, was conversant with the facts of her misfortune, and earnestly advocated the justness of the claim, and eloquently plead for immedi- ate relief. The relief to her came, but not by man's sensibilities; rather, by the wisdom of the Divine ruler. She died in 1842, and was interred in New York city, under the direction of kind friends, the Emmetts, descendents of the one friend of the Blennerhassetts, and their companion on their sea voyage to America.
Blennerhassett Island still remains historic ground, and there exists through all the years even to-day a reserved sympathy for those, whose tenacity of opinion and confidence in others, led them amiss.
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The following poem was written by Mrs. Blennerhassett while in Montreal :
THE DESERTED ISLE.
Like mournful echo from the silent tomb, That pines away upon the midnight air,
Whilst the pale moon broke out with fitful gloom, Fond memory turns with sad, but welcome care, To seenes of desolation and despair; One bright with all that beauty could bestow,
That peace could shed, or youthful faney know.
To thee, fair isle, reverts the pleasing dream, Again thou risest in thy green attire; Fresh, as at first, thy blooming graces seem; Thy groves, thy fields, their wonted sweets respire; Again thou 'rt all my heart could e'er desire. O why, dear isle, art thou not still my own? Thy charms could then for all my griefs atone.
The stranger that descends Ohio's stream, Charm'd with the beauteous prospects that arise, Marks the soft isles, that 'neath the glistening beam, Danee in the wave, and mingle with the skies; Sees also one, that now in ruin lies, Which erst, like fairy queen, towered o'er the rest; In every native charm by culture dress'd.
There rose the seat where once, in pride of life, My eye could mark the queen of rivers flow;
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In summer's calmness, or in winter's strife, Swol'n with the rains, or baffling with the snow ; Never again my heart such joy shall know. Havoc, and ruin, and rampant war, have passed Over that isle with their destroying blast.
The blackening fire has swept throughout her halls, The winds fly whistling throgh them, and the wave No more in spring-floods o'er the sand-bank crawls; But furious drowns in one o'erwhelming grave, The hallowed haunts it watered as a slave. Drive on, destructive flood ! and ne'er again On that devoted isle let man remain.
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