USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in three volumes ; an encyclopedia of the state : with notes of a tour over it in 1886 contrasting the Ohio of 1846 with 1886-90, Vol. III > Part 71
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DON CARLOS BUELL was born in Lowell, near Marietta, Ohio, March 23, 1818. His grandfather, Captain Timothy Buell, is said to have built the first brick house in Cincin- nati. His father's death, and the second marriage of his mother, resulted in his being taken by his unele, Geo. P. Buell, to Law- reneeburg, Ind., where he spent his boyhood days.
In 1841 he graduated from West Point, and was assigned to duty as brevet lieutenant of the 3d Infantry. He served during the Mexican war, and was severely wounded at Churubusco. At the beginning of the civil war he was serving as adjutant-general at Washington. He was appointed brigadier- general of volunteers May 17, 1861. Of his military career we give the following sum- mary, abridged from Appleton's Biographical Encyclopedia : After assisting in organizing the army in Washington he was assigned to a division in the Army of the Potomac, which became distinguished for its discipline. In
November he superseded Gen. W. T. Sher- man in the Department of the Cumberland, which was reorganized as that of the Ohio.
Early in December he entered upon the campaign which resulted in his troops enter- ing Nashville March 25th, supported by gun- boats.
He was promoted major-general of volun- teers on March 21, 1862, and on the same. day his distriet was incorporated with that of Mississippi, commanded by Gen. Halleck. He arrived with part of the division on the battle-field of Shiloh near the close of the first day's action. The next day three of his .divisions came up, and the Confederates were driven back to Corinth. On June 12th he took command of the district of Ohio.
In July and August Gen. Bragg's army advanced into Kentucky, and Gen. Buell was. obliged to evacuate central Tennessee and re-
GEN. D. C. BUELL.
treat to Louisville, which he reached Sept. 24, 1862. On Sept. 30th Gen. Buell was ordered to turn over his command to Gen. Thomas, but was restored the same day. The next day he began to pursue the Confederates, and met them in battle at Perryville. The action began early in the afternoon of Oet. 8. 1862, and was hotly contested until dark, with heavy losses on both sides. The next morning Gen. Bragg withdrew to Harrods- burg, and then slowly retreated to Cumber- land Gap. Gen. Buell pursued him, but was blamed for not moving swiftly enough to bring on another action, and on the 24th was sneceeded in his command by Gen. Rosecrans. A military commission appointed to investi- gate his operations made a report, which has never been published. Gen. Buell was sub- sequently offered commands under Generals Sherman and Canby, but declined them.
Ile was mustered out of the volunteer ser- vice on May 23, 1864, and on June Ist re-
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signed his commission in the regular army, having been before the military commission from Nov. 24, 1862, till May 10, 1863. He became president of the Green River Iron Works of Kentucky in 1865, and subsequently held the office of pension agent at Louis- ville, Ky.
Gen. Buell is reserved in manner, culti- vated and polished. His replies to the at- tacks made upon himself in the public press are written with great force and pungency,
impressing the reader with a high opinion of his ability .. Whitelaw Reid says he is "one of the most accomplished military scholars of the old army, and one of the most unpopular generals of volunteers during the war of the rebellion-an officer who oftener deserved success than won it-who was, perhaps, the best organizer of an army that the contest developed, and who was certainly the hero of the greatest of the early battles of the war."
On " Cleona Farm," just above the city, is an old family mansion in which, in 1811, JOHN BROUGH, one of Ohio's war governors, was born. A sketch of him is under the head of Cuyahoga County.
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MARIETTA CENTENNIAL.
At the annual meeting of the Washington County Pioneer Association, April 7, 1881, the initial step was taken for the centennial celebration of the first organ- ized settlement of the territory northwest of the Ohio river, at Marietta, April 7, 1788.
A committee was formed to take the necessary measures for the centennial, April 7, 1888, with Rev. Dr. I. W. Andrews, chairman ; R. M. Stimson, secre- tary ; Beman Gates, and two others who did not act, Hon. Wm. P. Cutler soon taking the place of one of them. There were some subsequent, changes, till in addition to the above, as the time approached for the celebration, Gen. A. J. Warner, Col. T. W. Moore, Gen. R. R. Dawes, Hon. John Eaton, Prof. O. H. Mitchell, Capt. S. L. Grosvenor and Hon. Wm. G. Way had become co-operating members of the committee, with Mr. Way as secretary. Maj. Jewett Palmer was made the grand marshal and chief executive officer for the occasion.
The results were a magnificent success, April 7, 1888, crowning several happy annual celebrations of April 7th-Forefather's Day-notably that of the Ninety- fifth in 1883, when Hon. Geo. B. Loring, of Massachusetts, delivered the oration.
The centennial exercises began Thursday evening, April 5th, with an address by F. C. Sessions, Esq., of Columbus, president of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, followed by an address by Judge Joseph Cox, of Cincinnati. On Friday, 6th, addresses were made in the afternoon by Hon. Wm. M. Farrar, of Cambridge, with short addresses by R. B. Hayes, ex-President of the United States ; David Fisher, of Michigan ; Prof. F. W. Putnam, of Massachusetts, and at night an address by Hon. Wm. Henry Smith, of New York. On the 7th- Centennial Day-Gov. J. B. Foraker, of Ohio, presided, making a spirited ad- . dress, with an oration by U. S. Senator George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, in the forenoon, and an oration by Hon. John Randolph Theker, of Virginia, in the afternoon. Also addresses were made by Hon. Samuel F. Hunt, of Cincinnati, and Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, of Boston. General reception at the City" ... Hall in the evening. On Sunday, 8th, there were historical discourses in several of the churches in the morning, and at 3 P. M. Rev. Dr. Henry M. Storrs, of New Jersey, delivered an address in the City Hall ; and at 7 P. M., in the sanie place, addresses were made by Rev. Dr. A. S. Chapin, of Wisconsin ; Rev. Dr. J. F. Tuttle, of Indiana ; Rev. Dr. B. W. Arnett, of Wilberforce University ; Rev. Dr. J. M. Sturtevant, of Cleveland, and Rev. Dr. E. E. Hale. Exercises also at the Unitarian Church.
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The Centennial Day was exceedingly beautiful in the weather, as indeed were all the days and evenings throughout, and everything tended to make a joyous affair. The banquet in the armory room of the 7th found some 1,500 persons at the dining-tables. Music, cannon-firing, bell-ringing, the great attendance from abroad of distinguished people, and the festivities generally, everything, from first
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to last, conspired to make the Centennial of April 7th at Marietta complete and- delightful.
CENTENNIAL, JULY 15, 1888, AT MARIETTA.
The celebration of the first settlement of Ohio and the Northwest Territory, at Marietta, did not exhaust by any means the resources of the people in this locality, and on July 15th a second celebration was successfully held in Marietta, the centennial of the reception of Gov. St. Clair, in 1788, by the people who here: had begun the foundation of city and State, when the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the people northwest of the river Ohio was read, and accompa- nying addresses made. This second celebration was of a popular character, and was attended by enormous crowds of people. The pageant, the Elgin (111.) Mil- itary Band, and all the addresses and festivities, were enthusiastic and satisfying, except the weather, which was not the best for the season.
Among the chief managers were Judge William B. Loomis, A. T. Nye, Wm. . H. Buell and S. M. McMillen. Gov. Foraker presided, and the oration in chief was by the Hon. Jolm W. Daniel, United States Senator from Virginia, and among those who made addresses were Hon. Thomas Ewing, of New York ; Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, of Massachusetts ; Prof. J. D. Butler, of Wisconsin ; Hon. John Sherman, Hon. Charles H. Grosvenor, Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, etc.
The historical relic departments of both celebrations were very large, and were objects of universal interest.
FIRST MILLSTONES AND SALT KETTLE IN OHIO.
[Exhibited in the Relic Department. The millstones were used in the block- house at Fort Harmar ; the salt kettle in the production of the first salt made in Ohio.]
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REMINISCENCES OF MARIETTA SOCIETY AT AN EARLY DAY.
Hon. E. D. Mansfield, when a very young child, came with his father's family to Marietta, and in his " Personal Memories " has left some interesting items. His father, Col. Jared Mansfield, of whom there is a sketch in this volume under the head of Richland County, first took up his residence at Marietta. We quote :
"My father's removal to the West, which took place in 1803, required in those days a long journey, much time and a good deal of trouble. The reader will understand that there were then no public conveyances west of the Allegheny. Whoever went to Ohio from the East had to provide his own car- riage and take care of his own baggage. At
that time there was really but one highway from the East to the West, and that was the great Pennsylvania route from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. It professed to be a turnpike, but was really only a passable road, and on the mountains narrow and dangerous. It was chiefly traversed by the wagoners, who carried goods from Philadelphia to the West.
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A private carriage and driver, such as my father had to have, was the abhorrence of the wagoners, who considered it simply an evidence of aristocracy. They threatened and often actually endangered private car- riages. My mother used to relate her fears and anxieties on that journey, and, as con- trasted with the mode of travelling at the present day, that journey was really danger- ous.
"Arrived at Marietta. Ohio, my father es- tablished his office there for the next two years. At first, some trouble arose from dif- ferences of political opinions at Marietta. Political excitement at the election of Jeffer- son had been very high-perhaps never more so. Gen. Rufus Putnam, my father's pre- decessor as Surveyor-General, had been a Revolutionary officer and a Federalist, while my father was a Republican (now called Dem- nerat), and supposed to be a partisan of Jef- ferson. This political breeze, however, soon . passed over. The people of Marietta were, in general, intelligent, upright people, and my father not one to quarrel without cause. The Putnams were polite, and my parents passed two years at Marietta pleasantly and happily. I, who was but a little child of three or four years of age, was utterly obliv- ious to what might go on in Marietta society. Two things, however, impressed themselves upon me. They must have occurred in the summer and spring of 1805.
" 'The first was what was called 'The Great Flood.' Every little while we hear about extraordinary cold, heat, or high water; but all these things have occurred before. The impression on my mind is that of the river Ohio rising so high as to flood the lower part of Marietta. We lived some distance from the Ohio, but on the lower plain, so that the water came up into our yard, and it seems to me I can still recall the wood and chips float- ing in the yard. However, all memories of such early years are indistinct, and can only be relied on for general impressions. As I was four years old at the time of the Marietta flood, it is probable that my impressions of it are correct.
"The other event which impressed itself on my mind was the vision of a very interesting and very remarkable woman. One day, and it seems to have been a bright summer morn- ing, a lady and a little boy called upon my mother. I played with the boy, and it is probably this circumstance which impressed it on my mind, for the boy was handsomely dressed, and had a fine little sword hanging by his side. The lady, as it seems to me, was handsome and bright, laughing and talking with my mother. That lady soon became historical-her life a romance and her name a theme of poetry and a subject of eloquence. It was Madame Blennerhassett.
" It is seventy years since Wirt, in the trial of Burr, uttered his beautiful and poetic de- seription of Madame Blennerhassett and the island she admired. Poctie as it was, it did less than justice to the woman. An intelli- gent lady who was intimate with her, and
afterward visited the courts of England and France, said she had never beheld one who" was Mrs. Blenderhassett's equal in beauty, dignity of manners, elegance of dress, and all that was lovely in the person of woman. With all this, she was as domestic in her habits, as well acquainted with housewifery, the art of sewing, as charitable to the poor, as ambitious for her husband, as though she Were not the 'Queen of the Fairy Isle.A. She was as strong and active in body as she was graceful. She could leap a five-rail fence, walk ten miles at a stretch, and ride a horse with the boldest dragoon. She frequently . rode from the island to Marietta, exhibiting her skill in horsemanship and elegance of dress. Robed in scarlet broadcloth, with a white beaver hat, on a spirited horse, she might be seen dashing through the dark woods, reminding one of the flight and gay plumage of some tropical bird ; but, like the happiness of Eden, all this was to have a sudden and disastrous end. The 'Queen of the Fairy Isle' was destined to a fate more severe than if her lot had been cast in the rudest log-cabin.
"During my father's residence at Marietta there appeared in the Marietta papers a se- ries of articles in favor of the schemes of Burr, and indirectly a separation of the West- ern and Eastern States. These articles were censured by another series, signed . Regulus,' which denounced the idea of separating the States, and supported the Union and the ad- ministration of Jefferson. At the time, and to this day, the writer was and is unknown. They are mentioned in Hildreth's 'Pioneer History,' as by an unknown author. They were, in fact, written by my father, and made a strong impression at the time.
" Here let me remark on the society of the past generation as compared with the present. There is always in the PRESENT time a dis- position to exaggerate either its merits or its faults.
"'Those who take a hopeful view of things. | and wonder at our inventions and discoveries, think that society is advancing, and we are going straight to the millennium .. On the. other hand, those who look upon the state of ~ society to-day, especially if they are not en- tirely satisfied with their own condition, are apt to charge society with degeneracy. They see crimes and corruptions, and assert that society is growing worse.
"Let me here assure the reader that this is not true, and that while we have all reason to lument the weakness of human nature, it -- is not true that society is declining. No fact is more easily demonstrated than that the so- ciety of educated people-and they govern all others-is in a much better condition now than it was in the days succeeding the Revo- Intion. The principles and ideas that caused the French Revolution, at one time, brought atheism and free thinkers into power in France, and largely penetrated American so-, ciety.
Skepticism, or, as it was called, free think- ing, was fashionable; it was aided and
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strengthened by some of the most eminent men of the times. Jefferson, Burr, Pierre- pont Edwards, of Connecticut, and many men of the same kind, were not only skeptics, but seoffers at Christianity. Their party came into power, and gave a sort of official pres- tige to irreligion. But this was not all; a large number of the revolutionary army were licentious men. Of this class were Burr, Ham- ilton, and others of the same stripe. Hamilton was not so unprincipled a man as Burr, but belonged to the same general caste of soci- ety. No one can deny this, for he published enough about himself to prove it. Duelling, drinking, lieentiousness, were not regarded . by the better class of society as the unpar- donable sins which they are now regarded. At that time wine, spirits and cordials were offered to guests at all hours of the day, and not to offer them was considered a want of hospitality. The consequence was that in- temperance, in good society, was more com- mon than now, but probably not more so among the great masses of the people. In- temperance is now chiefly the viee of la- boring men, but then it pervaded all classes of society.
"Judge Burnet, in his 'Notes on the Northwest,' says that of nine lawyers cotem- porary with himself, in Cincinnati, all but one died drunkards. We see, then, that with a large measure of infidelity, licentious- ness and intemperance among the higher elasses, society was not really in so good a state as it is now. . At Marietta were several men of superior intelleets who were infidels, and others who were intemperate; and yet this pioneer town was probably one of the best examples of the society of pioneer times.
"I have said that my father was appointed to establish the meridian lines. At that time but a part of Ohio had been surveyed, and he made Marietta his headquarters.
" In the rapid progress of migration to the West his surveys also were soon necessary in western Ohio and in Indiana. Indiana was then an unbroken wilderness, although the French had established the post of Vin- cennes. This was one of a line of posts which they established from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with a view to holding all the valley of the Mississippi. There may have been a settlement at Jeffersonville, op- posite Louisville, but except these there was not a white settlement in Indiana. It be- eame necessary to extend the surveyed lines through that State, then only a part of the great Northwest Territory. For this purpose my father, in 1805, in the month of October, undertook a surveying expedition in Indiana. As it was necessary to live in the wilderness, preparations for doing so were made. The surveying party consisted of my father, three or four surveyors, two regular hunters and several paek-horses. The business of the hunters was to proeure game and bring it into the camp at night. Flour, eoffee, salt, and sugar were carried on the pack-horses, but for all meat the party depended on the hunters. They went out early in the morn-
ing for game and returned only at night. As the surveying party moved only in a straight line, and the distance made in a day was known, it was easy for the hunters to join the others in eamp.
"It was in this expedition that some of those incidents occurred that illustrate the life of a backwoodsman. One day the hun- ters had been unfortunate, and got no game, but brought in a large rattlesnake, which they ent into sliees and broiled on the eoals. My father did not try that kind of steak, but the hunters insisted the flesh was sweet and good. On another day a hunter was looking into a eave in the rocks and found two pan- thers' cubs. He put them in a bag, and afterward exhibited them-in New Orleans. Here let me say, that posterity will never know the kinds and numbers of wild animals which once lived on the plains of the Ohio. Some are already exterminated east of the Mississippi, and can only be found on the mountains of the West. A eitizen of these days will probably be astonished to hear that the buffalo was onee common in Ohio, and roamed even on the banks of the Muskin- gum ; but sueh was the fact.
"A large part of Ohio was at one time a prairie, and the vegetation of the valley very rich. The wild plum, the pawpaw, the wal- nut, and all kinds of berries were abundant, so that Ohio was as fruitful and generous to Indians and wild animals as it has since been to the white man. In the valleys of the Muskingum, the Seioto and the Miamis were Indian towns where they cultivated corn as white men do now. Marietta, Chillicothe, Circleville, Cineinnati, Xenia and Piqua are all on the sites of old Indian towns. The wild animals and the wild Indian were as conscious as the eivilized white man that Ohio was an inviting land-a garden rich in the produets which God had made for their support. But man was commanded to live by labor ; hence, when man, the laborer, eame, he supplanted man, the hunter.
"The animals most common in Ohio were the deer, the wild turkey, squirrel, buffalo, panther and wolves. All these were found near Marietta, and all but the buffalo subse- quently near Cineinnati.
"It is not my purpose, however, to go into the natural history of Ohio. The inhabitants of the woods fast disappeared before the man with the spade. I, myself, saw birds and animals in the valleys of the Miamis which no man will hereafter see wild in these regions. "I recollect one bird which made a great impression on me-the paroquet-much like the parrot, its colors being green and gold, but much smaller. This bird I have seen at Ludlow station in large flocks. I was told it was never seen east of the Scioto.
" Our residenee at Marietta lasted two years. In 1803 Ohio was admitted to the Union, with a constitution which continued until 1850. The first constitution of Ohio was, I thought, the best constitution I ever saw, for the reason that it had the fewest limitations. Having established the respec-
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tive functions of government, judicial, execu- tive and legislative, it put no limitation on the power of the people, and in a democratic government there should be none. For half a century Ohio grew, flourished, and pros- pered under its first constitution. It was the best and brightest period Ohio has had. It
was the era of great public spirit, of patriotic devotion to country, and of the building up of great institutions of education which are now the strength and glory of the State. In forming educational institutions I had some part myself, and I look upon that work with analloyed pleasure."
THE ORIGIN OF OHIO'S COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOMES.
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Given by that of the history of their founder, Mrs. Catharine Fay Ewing.
In 1866 the Legislature of Ohio passed a law, prepared by Hon. S. S. Knowles, a Senator from Washington county, which was amended in 1867, by which the commissioners of any county could purchase lands and erect buildings for a Children's Home, and provide means by taxation for their cost and maintenance of the same by county taxation. The commissioners were empowered to appoint a board of trustees for the same. Children under 16 years of age were eligible for admission, "by reason of abandonment, or orphanage, or neglect, or inability of parents to provide for them."
On their arrival at 16 years of age the trustees were empowered to indenture the children and provide suitable homes for them.
As a result of this law thirty-six of the eighty-eight counties of Ohio have es- tablished Children's Homes, and about 3000 children have been taken from pov- erty and neglect, largely from almshouses from the association with the adult inmates and their vicious degrading companionship.
In the Children's Homes the inmates enjoy a home-life as near the good natural home as possible. "In the nursery or the play-ground, in the dormitory and dining-room, in the school-room and chapel, they find the uplift of education, social, industrious and religious, that prepares them for an early and safe transfer to good homes outside. In these Homes the industrial training begins. House -.... work, garden work, light chores, interest the children, develop a love of labor, and teach them habits of industry, of order and neatness, so necessary for their success in the battle of life. Many poor waifs, ignorant, uncouth and almost repulsive, are received into these Homes. To them it is humanitarianism in the gospel of clean clothes, soap and water, a seat at the table and a nice bed in the dormitory ; is the beginning of a new life, the dawn of a brighter and a better day." It is estimated there are to-day in Ohio 20,000 children suffering from the want of parental love, cheer and guidance, all involved in a good safe home. It is from the families of the wretched largely come the criminal classes that prey upon the public, and fill our prisons and almshouses.
CHILDREN'S HOMES.
The greatest charity of Ohio, the Children's Home, the greatest because in be- half of the weakest and most helpless of its population, owes its origin to one single determined, devoted woman, with a clear intellect and pitying heart in- spired by the Divine Spirit, Mrs. Catharine Fay Ewing, Marietta. It would be difficult to find in our land a single other woman who has been the author of - @ such great good. She began in poverty, her only capital " Love, Faith and Works," and to-day this capital abides : it is her all, but then it is huge. I called upon her to obtain the story of her life. I found her home a small two-story ancient frame honse ; its ceilings low, which gives the place a cozy air, and is saving of fuel, and the stairs to the upper regions short, and that saves from weariness of limbs. In that humble spot beneficent work progresses.
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