USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > Steubenville > Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, 20th > Part 46
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Busts and smaller works for private in- dividuals were rapidly followed by such productions as the statue of "Liberty" in bronze for a monument at Peabody, Mass., colossal statue of "Edmention," in granite fourteen feet high for the Pilgrims' monu- meut at Plymouth Rock, Mass., the JJohn Howard Payne statue and monument at Washington, D. C .. and the "Margaret" statne in marble ut New Orleans. All this work was done before he was twen- ty-six years of age, and at that time he received a commission for a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee to sur- mount a monmment to that genernl in the Crescent City. It was 1614 feet in height and weighed nearly 7,000 pounds, being the largest bronze statue ever east in New York up to that time. The statue was unveiled on Washington's birthday, 1884, with imposing ceremonies. At that time Mr. Doyle had begun work on a colos- sal statue of "Pence." 114 feet high, with the base surrounded by thirteen figures representing the original states. This was soon afterwards completed, together with a statue of Albert Sidney Johnson for New Orleans, Senator Bon Hill at Atlanta,
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Bishop Pinckney for Washington, Mis- souri's two statues in the old Hall of Representatives, at Washington, Garfield statue in the Cleveland monument, and other works whose mere enumeration would fill a volume. The death of his father a few years ago compelled Mr. Doyle to tem- porarily give up his profession in order to attend to business matters, but he has since returned to his first love, and among the commissions first received was one for a statue of General Beauregard and one of Jefferson Davis, both to be located in New Orleans, thus making four of his productions in that city. Mr. Doyle at this writing is now engaged on what he considers his greatest work, namely a he- roic statue of Hon. Edwin M. Stanton to be placed in front of the entrance to the Steu- benville Court House. It is a gift from the sculptor to his native city and county and is expected to be completed about the time these pages are given to the public.
The Howells family, who were of English and Welsh descent, came to Jefferson County in 1813. William C. Howells, father of William Dean Howells, the novel- ist, was then a boy, and has fortunately preserved for posterity such full and in- telligent account of their sojourn here as to give it a value and interest far beyond what would attach to a mere family his- tory, and places before the reader a graphic and accurate picture of the condition of things and the state of society between 1813 and 1840. Their previous home was in Louden County, Virginia, and they came the usual route by wagons over the moun- tains to Brownsville, Pa., where they took a flatboat and floated down to Pittsburgh. From there they "embarked upon a keel- boat to proceed down the Ohio on our voyage which was to terminate at Warren- ton, a point fourteen miles below Stenben- ville, to the mouth of Short Creek in Jeff- erson County. I suppose the boat must have made a coasting trip, for we stopped at Beaver, Steubenville, and other points, taking three days to make the eighty-five miles from Pittsburgh. This brought us to
within three miles of the end of our jour- ney, which was finished in some convey- ance sent down from Steer's mill. I can well remember my mother's delight at get- ting through with the tiresome trip, which had been to me a panorama of delightful novelty ; but to her-who still pined for the home she had left in Wales-it was an added four hundred miles in the distance of her exile."
Mr. Howells adds:
"The part of Ohio into which we came, in 1813, was one of the best improved in the state. The country was well cleared up and settled by thrifty, and, in some instances, wealthy farmers. The excellent mill-stream of Short Creek-then much better than now - on its whole twenty-five miles of length, had a good flouring mill at every available site, and one respectable paper mill. Mount Pleasant, the town where we went to meeting and for what little trade we did, was a larger and more prosperous place than it is now, after fifty-five years (1868) and had six or seven hundred inhabitants, while Steubenville boasted of 2,000 and extensive manufactures. Still it was a new country, and life in it was attended by numberless inconveniences. As soon as the family was settled in a good hewed-log house, with shingle roof, my father set about his preparations for manufacturing wool, according to his (previous) engagement. But while we were on the way from Virginia, Steer's flouring mill, which was an extensive one, was burned down, and on our arrival they were busy rebuilding it, and build- ing a house for the woolen mill also. This retarded father's work, as the fire had crippled the means of the proprietor. Bnt father had the direction of mechanics, who built machinery from his drafts and explanations, in a very primitive way. A blacksmith nearby, who made axes, did the work in steel and iron, including the forging of the spindles, which was rather a particular job, as they had to be made round with the file, as well as other work by hand that would have been properly done on a lathe. The summer was taken up with the building of the house and machinery, and it was pretty well into the winter before the factory started. So far as I know it did well enough as a small concern; but for some reason that I did not understand, father gave it up at the end of his first year's engagement and moved to Mount Pleasant."
During the war with Great Britain the family, being Quaker and English, were not very enthusiatie supporters, which was the cause of some animadversion by their neighbors, but nothing serious, The narra- tive continues:
"Father having made arrangements to go to Mount Pleasant, he joined two brothers of the name of llunt, Samuel and Jonathan, who owned a large horse-power mill, which they converted into a factory for woolen work; but it took a good while to get it ready, and we were delayed in moving till late in the spring. After
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getting to our new place father went to work in great spirits, and soon after he and the Hunts were joined by a Scotchman, Thomas Donaldson, whom we had known in Virginia. He introduced the spinning of flax as an addition to the business. This required new machinery, which they set about building. My recollec. tion is that it was well into the winter before they got ready to spin any flax, and when they tried it they failed, because the finx required to be kept moist und the house was so open that they could not keep it from freezing. On some mild days they made very nice thread of flax, and with a coarser machine they made a great deal of tow twine, which they wove into some coarse fabrics. But they were, as I supposed, compelled by poverty to give it np, and the partnership was dissolved. After this, which exhausted another year of fruitless labor, father began alone, being assisted by credit from John Hogg, an enterprising Englishman who kept a store in Mount Pleasant. Under this arrangement father built a house for a factory, in a part of which he finished off rooms for us to live. He got together machinery for carding and spinning wool for country customers, they being mostly satisfied with the carding, from which they spun it at home. The machines were propelled by horse-power, which was supplied by a blind horse that we called Charley, whose duties extended to carrying un when not at the wheel. It was early in 1-15 when father began to build, within which year he got started; but this kind of life continued till June, Isit, when one day John Arthur, one of the hands who worked under father at Steer's factory, where he then worked, came from Steubenville with an offer to father to come and take charge of the carding room (which contained eight or ten machines attended by boys) at a salary of $500 a year. Father's business was neither very prosperous nor promising, and he was in debt, chiefly to John Hogg. A family council was called, in which I took part, and it was accepted, and the next day or so be started, leaving a large lot of wool to be carded. A well-grown boy, who knew something about the business, was employed, and he and I, with mother to look after the business and accounts, finished up the carding to the satisfaction of customers. This took up a few weeks' time. but the family was removed to Steubenville in August. Mr. Hogg befriended father, took the coneern off his hands at a tolerably good price-perhaps all it was worth-and assuinedi all the debts that the balance over his own dues would pay, though many troublesine ones remained to haunt us for some years afterwards."
As noted, the elder Howells came to Sten- benville a few weeks before his family, go- ing home once a fortnight. It was the cus- tom of the boy to go with a horse and meet his father, when both would ride back on the same patient animal, the distance to Steubenville being about twenty miles. The second time he came clear to the city, the first sight of which from above Mingo he thought the most splendid view of his ex- perience. Coming on up he met the fol- lowing difficulty as he entered the town.
" The road divided at the bank of the little mill stream below, one fork of it turning to the river bank, and the
other, which I followed, starting forward through a lane into Third street and up a hill that hid the town from me. Here I was attacked with doubts, and I supposed I was on the wrong road. But reasoning that If I kept near the river I must come to where I had seen the town, I turned into an open gate and followed the carriage road then leading into the very handsome grounds of Bezaleel Wells. I soon came to the end of the avenue and in sight of the town; but I saw no way to it, except to cross that ravine upon a slight foot bridge that was thrown across on very light timbers, and floored with inch boards. Upon this frail structure I turned the old horse (which was blind and could not see his danger ) and went over in safety. Whether snybody saw me or not I do not know, as 1 never heard it spoken of, and when I came to understand it 1 said very little about it myself. 1 suppose the feat of crossing that bridge on horseback wax never performed by anyone else."
Concerning his first experience in the in- fant metropolis he says:
"From a community nearly all Quakers I bad come where there was not one. And then I was a stranger to all the boys, and as i was very Quakerish and wore a little shad-bellied coat I was estermed fnir game for those disposed to play the bully, while I was a curiosity to others. I had to ran the gauntlet of constant chal. lenges to fight, which I had to accept, or run, followed by jeers and erles of coward! I did not want pluek, but I had a principle against fighting, and was under constant injunction from father not to strike, whatever the provo- cation. I compromised this matter towards the last by kicking the shins of a few of the more troublesome ones, and this brought me peace. For the winter comfort of the children, inther got a cartman to go with me one Saturday afternoon along the bank of the river, near Mingo Bottom, where in a short time we filled the cart with butternuts. By going into the country in alinost any direction we could get would fruits, especially grupes, and nuts in great abundance. As soon as winter set in I started to school. The teacher, then called master, was John Finley, a brother of Father James B. Finley, well known among the Methodists as a preacher of great zeal and piety. John Finley was also a Methodist preacher, and as such superior to his brother, but he left the itin. erant service of his church to devote himself to teaching. which he seemed to prefer. Hle was regarded as an excel- lent teacher, and his school was large, mcluding the sons of the lending men of the place. Among them were the sons of Bezalecl Wells. Martin Andrews, Judge Benja- min Tappan and John C. Wright, who led society there. Our studies at this schoul were spelling, reading, arith- metie and writing. Grammar and geography were not taught in the common schools then, nor for many years after. The paper used in writing was a pretty girl article of foolsrap, made in the country, but unruled. So we had to rule it for ourselves; and each boy was armed with a wooden rule, furnished by some friendly carpenter, to which was tied a pencil made of crude lead. With these we ruled our paper to all desirable widths. by which we were guided in learning to write, for it was expected that any one who had learned to write would not need such a gulde. Our pens were all made of quills; and making a gmail pen was part of the art of writing, and an indispensable one at that. Our ink was usually male from ink powders, or from oak and maple bark. with copperas added to the Imiled decoction of these. One of the most efficient agencies in education in that
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day was thrashing, and every master serupulously availed himself of it. The house where this school was kept was a one-story frame about eighteen or twenty feet square- a mere box with doors and windows. I afterwards attended an evening school to learn grammar. At this grammar school my seat mate was Edwin M. Stanton. I do not remember meeting with him since; but I remem. ber him a boy, delicate physically, grave and studious. As there were no Quakers in Steubenville father joined the Methodist church. Mother joined with him, but never partook of his enthusiasm. Typhoid fever of a very malignant form was epidemic in that region during the winter of 1816-17, and great numbers died; people in the country were alarmed to such an extent that they would not come to market or on business, and the place was almost desolate .* One of our great sports in the streets at that time was bonfires made of shavings from the new houses building. To add to the excitement some boys were engaged to gather a great quantity, that is to say, sundry hatfuls of bnekeyes-wild horse chestnuts that grew in great abundance along the river. These were saved until Saturday, when the carpenters would throw out the rubbish for the bonfire. When the fire was nearly burned down and the flame began to lose its splendor the buckeyes were thrown into it by the boys who sur. rounded the fire, when, as they became hot, there was a gas generated in them that exploded with a report like a pistol."
In 1818 the elder Howells purchased a farm of about thirty or forty acres on the north fork of Wills Creek, five miles from town, where the family moved in 1819, the log cabin on the place having been made inhabitable. He still worked in the factory, coming home on Saturday afternoons, which imposed most of the farm duties on the mother and children, and many were the adventures they had. There were plenty of snakes, as there are now up there, copperheads predominating. Jay birds were numerous, robins few, wood- peckers plenty, and redbirds, brown thrush, whippoorwills, and pheasants. An uncle Powell occupied the Howells's townhouse and then moved to Mingo, which is thus described :
"Mingo Bottom in that day was really much larger than now, for the river han washed away many valuable acres from it since I first knew it. The last time I mnw it the loss of land within my own observation was prob- ably fifty acres, besides a great part of the island, which is now very little more than n sandbar and towhead of willows. Then it was covered with large trees, and a voyage to that island, which was not enltivated and was out of the reach of cattle, ufforded a regular Robinson Crusoe adventure. Among the natural growths of the island I remember hops, which seemned identical with the cultivated kinds, running over the bushes and brush of
[* This could not be charged to the Ohlo River .- ED. ]
the driftwood. This was the period when steamboats were beginning to take their place in the navigation of the Ohio. Their appearance would create a great excite- ment along the banks, and at the towns and villages their arrival and landing were great occasions. The citi- zens turned out, and civic ceremonies were observed be- tween those in command of the boat and those in com- mand of the town. At Steubenville they had a little cannon, with which they always fired salutes on these occasions, and the steamboats also carried a gun, with which they announced their arrivals and purpose of land- ing. On the departure a like ceremony was observed. I remember, on one occasion, I was in town in 1820 (in March, I suppose, from it being cold weather) when a steamboat was said to be seen far down the river, and the people were gathered in groups to discuss the sub- ject. At one tavern where there was a kind of lookout upon the roof a man was stationed with a spyglass to report progress. He announced the approach, which was very slow, as there was a strong current, with the opinion that there was something wrong with the machinery, as she was about to land. This cast lismay over the crowd, and there was a general rush for the river bank to see what could be learned there. But she erept along the short till about a mile and a half below town, where she stopped, when there was a grand rush of men and big boys through the mud down the river bank to see the steamer, as if there never had been and never would be another. From the landing several saintes were fired, but received no answer. The engine was out of order, and when the enrious crowd arrived the steamboat men threw out a cable, by which the people towed the boat into port. These steamboats were a queer style of water craft, as they had not assumed the forms that were afterwards found to be suited to river navigation. Their builders copied the models of ships adapted to deep water, and the boats all drew too much water to be available in the dry season, so that they could not really be used on the upper Ohio more than about three months in the year. They looked just like small ships without masts. Some of them had peculiar models, and all had very little power in comparison with later boats. Very few of them could make over two or three miles against the stream when it was strong. When Fulton commenced steamboat building he patented the side paddle wheels, and held a monopoly of that form of bont. This led to an evasion in many of the western boats, which consisted of placing a wheel on each side of the keel at the stern of the vessel, so that the wheels were out of sight except from behind. The present stern wheels on river boats are a later and very different invention, and served a different purpose, being designed to place the wheel out of the current and clear the boat of the drag of its eddy. The first boats had no more decking than n common sailing vessel."
"The fall of 1819 was marked by the prevalence of a dense fog mixed with the smoke of the clearings of the forests that made it impossible to see any consider. able distance for many days. From the boats on the river the banks could not be seen, or the boats from the banks. It was customary for the boatmen to carry tin horns with them, from which they sent forth a wild music through the fog that still sounds to me most enchantingly. The notes were all on a minor key, soft and weird, and when its source was unseen it seemed like the wail of a spirit. I do not wonder that Gen. William O. Butler made that horn the burden of his only poetie effort and sang :
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"O, boatman! wind that horn again, For never did the listening air Upon its ambient boson bear So soft, so wild, so sweet a strain. What tho' thy noles be xad and few, Yet, boatman, wind thy born again! Tho' much of sorrow marks its strain, Yet are its notes to morrow dear,
Yet is each pulse to nature true, And melody in every tune."
Spenking of the lumber rafts, which would frequently cover nn avre or more of space, Mr. Howells says :
"I have seen shanties of two or three families, with wagons, horses, cows and even poultry, all anugly situated, with room for the children to play outside. Often have I seen the women washing, and a clothes line hung with the linen, as if in the door yard they had left."
Our author attended a enmp meeting at East Springfield in 1820, during a rainy spell, and consequently his principal recol- lections of it are not very inspiring. After living on Wills Creek for about three years, the farm was given back to the owner, the payment going as so much rent, and a tract of twenty-three neres secured on the hill above Mingo, about a mile from the river, and between Cross Creek and Sten- benville, where the night grammer school already referred to was attended, at which Stanton was the youngest scholar. The teacher was a hutter, but the name is not given, possibly it wns Henry Orr. He men- tions the Scotch-Irish as most of the set- tlers at that time. In this connection is re. lated the following :
" There is a little valley near Steubenville to the south- west of town, and in it I found a near cut from one place to the other, through which I could drive the cows, sheep and pigs without going through the town, as we should otherwise have to have done, and Thus shorten the distance and escape the trouble of keeping them together in a strange place. Whenever I entered this valley, at either end of it, I was invariably affected by great dejection of spirits, which lasted until I passed out of it, and whether alowe or in company this way always the case. The distance through it was a little less than two miles. There was nothing about this valley, of tradi- tion or peculiarity of situation, That could call up asso- ciations, to me at least, of an unhappy kind. But to me it was always a place of melancholy shadows, and it was the only locality that ever so affected me."
Could this have been the present celle- tery ravine connecting Fourth street ex- tension with Market street road! That was the only such ent-off back of town.
Perhaps there were some anticipatory ghosts or shadows long before the place was put to its present use. There certainly was a somewhat weird appearance of the hills about the present entrance before the property was improved, and the present writer recolleets very well that while wan- dering there in boyhood days the place re- minded him of the description of the en- trance to Aladdin's cave until sometimes he almost imagined he saw the youth and magirian at their incantations.
Some religions experiences of that period are thus related:
"Among the Methodists at that time there was a very steady succession of meetings of our kind or another, and those who belonged to the church found abundant entertainment, if nothing else, in the continual round of preaching. class and prayer meetings, The Methodist church at Steubenville, which was the largest church there numerically, was rent and distracted with contro versies between those who wanted to preach and how who did not want them to do anything of the kind, This state of Things was soon wented out by some preachers in the adjoining enuntry, who were known as Newlights, but who called thenewwives Christians. In the way of doctrines they had little to way, though so far as I can gather they taught a kind of Unitarianism. But those fellows that came down on Steubenville about 1824 were o most unpolished and uncultivated sel. Ther ranted and roared and shouted to the entire satisfaction of the most enthusiastic of the meeting guers, and, as a prime article of their faith, they taught that every man or woman who wanted to do so had a right to preach, and was at liberty to preach, though I remember that two or three of them managed to do it all themselves; and they got rid of the clamorons aspirants by conceding them the privilege withont insuring them a congregation. It was not long before the Newlights made their appear- ance before they had Inrge meetings, filling such rooms as they could get to overflowing, and generally raising a noise that could be heard half over town. ยท The
result was the detachment of a large body of the Meth. odists who went directly over to the new comers, making up at once quite a respectable society, as to numbers at least, The Methodists, who were losers in the conflict, were exasperated to such a degree that they expelled the memluts who had left. and talked violently against their rivals, the Nealights preachers, and treated them in a most unchristian manner. This soon reacted In favor of the Newlights, and though they were admitted to be a rough set, there was woon a strong sympathy with them among outsiders. They rapidly strereaval, and took in many from the class of "wicked sianers" whom the Methodists had failed to reach, Among these were a lot of pretty hard boys from the woolen factory. From working in the newly-dyed wool these boys hecame col ored in hands and fares, and especially at times they were extremely blue. But the boys, when they became interested in the meetings, cleaned their hands and faces. and bwvamie very prexrusable. They were regular and zealous members of the new church, our of the ceremonies of which was the washing of feel. The ceremony was
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