Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 115

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

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In 1881 he was the leading Republican speaker in the Ohio Senate. He was

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the author of the amendment to the Constitution on the subject of temperance, which was submitted to the voters the following year, and of the bill for the abolition of " The Official Railroad Pass," on which he made a speech that was circulated and commended throughout the United States. He passed the bill through the Senate by his eloquent, masterly array of facts and deductions, but the railroad influence reconsidered it the next day, and converted enough votes from aye to no to defeat it, but the principles of the bill have since been enacted in the Inter-State Commerce Law. But Col. Kinney's record as editor, speaker and public official has been eclipsed by his achievements in literature, especially poetry. His reputation as a poet was established in 1849, when he wrote the famous lyrie, "Rain on the Roof." Since then he has written several poems of such merit as to demonstrate that his early effort was not a literary accident, and his recent collection, entitled " Lyrics of the Ideal and the Real," has greatly ex- tended his reputation.

In review of this work the poet's friend, Prof. W. H. Venable, says, he gives, "in glowing words and often splendid dictum, the deepest and most earnest thoughts of a well-trained and subtle intellect upon life, doubt, fear, faith, freedom, immortality, God and man; and then to all his own restless and penetrating questions finds an answer.". This answer Mr. Venable then quotes in the thril- ling stanza with which he concludes the great poem of the book entitled "Duty Here and Glory There."

Where ? My soul looked up and ques- Parts aside the veil and enters ; tioned- It is there ! Oh, it is there !

Up to where the stars were burning In the grand and awful temple Of the midnight-up to where Vision stops against the curtain Of the infinite, but spirit

Thrilled the whisper through my being,

"Duty here for little lifetimes, Glory there for endless ages- Duty here and glory there !"

Another of the poet's friends, and he has many, Mr. Frank D. Mussey, in his > review says : " After reading some of the strong poetical efforts of Col. Kinney in his recent book, how softly comes back into the thoughts from the days of one's boyhood, the old lines of 'Rain on the Roof,' a poem which there are few writers who could wish for anything better to leave to the world ; that is in every school- book ; sung to the music of a dozen composers, and is in every man's memory and life."

RAIN ON THE ROOF.

When the humid shadows hover Over all the starry spheres, And the melancholy darkness Gently weeps in rainy tears, What a bliss to press the pillow Of a cottage-chamber bed, And listen to the patter Of the soft rain overhead.

Every tinkle on the shingles Has an echo in my heart ; And a thousand dreamy fancies Into busy being start. And a thousand recollections Weave their air threads into woof As I listen to the patter Of the rain upon the roof.

Now in memory comes my mother, As she used in years agone, To regard the darling dreamers Ere she left them till the dawn.

O, I feel her fond look on me, As I list to this refrain, Which is played upon the shingles By the patter of the rain.

Then my little seraph sister, With the wings and waving hair, And her star-eyed cherub brother- A serene, angelic pair- Glide around my wakeful pillow, With their praise of mild reproof, As I listen to the murmur Of the soft rain on the roof.

And another comes to thrill me With her eyes delicious blue ; And I mind not musing on her, That her heart was all untrue ; I remember but to love her With a passion kin to pain, And my heart's quick pulses quiver To the patter of the rain.

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Art hath naught of tone or cadence That can work with such a spell In the soul's mysterious fountains, Whence the tears of rapture well.

As that melody of nature, That subdued, subduing strain, Which is played upon the shingles By the patter of the rain.

When a lad of fourteen WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS (sce page 327) lived with his father's family in a log-cabin on the Little Miami river, where his father had a grist-mill, near the road to Dayton, some two or three miles from Xenia. His home, was rude and rninous ; through the roof the stars shone in and the snows sifted down. Says Mr. Howells: "I should not like to step out of bed into a snow-wreath now, but then I was glad to do it ; and, so far from thinking that or anything in our life a hardship, I counted it all joy."

There were barrels of books in the loft, and this was a treasure to him. Among them, he says, "I found also a copy of the poems of a certain Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, then wholly unknown to me; and, while the old grist-mill, whistling and wheezing to itself, made a vague music in my ear, my soul was filled with this strange new sweetness. I read 'The Spanish Student' then, and 'Copias de Manrique,' and the solemn and ever-beautiful 'Voices of the Night.' But neither those nor any other books I read made me discon- tented with the small boys' world around me. They made it a little more populous with visionary shapes, and there was room for

them all. It was not darkened with cares, and the duties in it were not many."

In the tenderly expressed poem of his "Lost Boyhood" he wistfully recalls the calm, peaceful hours of his early life on the banks of the Little Miami.

"Were some bright seraph sent from bliss With songs of heaven to win my soul From simple memories such as this, What could he tell to tempt my ear

From you ? What high thing could there be, So tenderly and sweetly dear As my lost boyhood is to me."

It is a somewhat remarkable fact that Ohio, besides supplying the nation with so large a proportion of statesmen and generals of eminence, should be alike pro- lific of journalists. At this time three of the leading dailies of New York city, the metropolis of the nation, have as their editorial managers Ohio men, viz., Whitelaw Reid, the Tribune, Col. John A. Cockerill, the World, and Charles Julius Chambers, the Herald; also William Henry Smith, of the Associated Press, Bernard Peters, of the Brooklyn Times, and W. L. Brown, Daily News.

WHITELAW REID is a direct descendant of the Scotch Covenanters. His father, Robert Charleton Reid, had married Marian Whitelaw Ronalds, who came in a direct line from the small and ancient "clan Ronalds" of the Highlands. His paternal grandfather emigrated to this country from the south of Scotland, and settled in Kentucky, but crossed the Ohio in 1800, and bought several hundred acres of land on the present site of Cincinnati. He was a stern old Covenanter, and found his conscience uneasy owing to a condition in the deed which required him to run a ferry across the river every day of the week. Sooner than violate the Sabbath he sold ont, and, removing to Greene county, became one of the founders of Xenia.

Whitelaw Reid was born near Xenia, He served as aide-de-camp to Gen. William October 27, 1837. He graduated at Miami . S. Rosecrans in the Western Virginia cam- University in 1856, and took an active inter- est in journalism and politics before attaining his majority ; made speeches in the Fremont campaign on the Republican side, and soon became editor of the Xenia News. At the opening of the civil war he was sent into the field as correspondent of the Cincinnati Ga- zette, making his headquarters at Washington, where his letters on current politics, over the signature of " Agate," attracted much atten- tion by their thought, information, and pungent style. From that point he made excursions to the army whenever there was a prospect of active operations.

paign of 1861, and was present at the battles of Shiloh and Gettysburg. From 1863 to 1866 was librarian of the House of Repre- sentatives. He engaged in cotton-planting in the South after the war, and embodied the results of his observations in a book-"After the War." He then gave two years in writ- ing "Ohio in the War" (Cincinnati, 1868). This work is by far the most important of all the State histories of the civil war. It con- tains elaborate biographies of most of the chief generals of the army, and a complete history of the State from 1861 till 1865. On the conclusion of this labor he came to New

Whitelaw deid

WHITELAW REID HOMESTEAD. Birthplace of Whitelaw Reid.

(719)

Frank Henry Howe, Amateur Photo., 1887. SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' ORPHANS' HOME, XENIA.

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York at the invitation of Horace Greeley, and became an editorial writer on the Tribune. On the death of Mr. Greeley he succeeded him as editor and principal owner of the paper. In 1878 he was chosen by the Legis- lature to be a regent for life of the University of New York. With this exception he has declined all public employment. He was offered by President Hayes the post of Min- ister to Germany and a similar appointment by President Garfield. He is a director of

numerous financial and charitable corpora- tions, and has been for many years president of the Lotus Club. Besides the works men- tioned above, and his contributions to period- ical literature, he has published "Schools of Journalism " (New York, 187]); "The Scholar in Politics" (1873) ; "Some News- paper Tendencies " (1879) ; and "Town-Hall Suggestions " (1881) .- Appleton's Cyclope- dia of American Biography.

THE REID HOMESTEAD, in which Whitelaw was born, was erected by his father, Robert Charleton Reid, in 1823, on land which, before his marriage, he and his brother bought at the Virginia military sales, and stands to-day as it was then, identical in frame-work, flooring, plastering, and interior fiuish. It is situ- ated between Massie's creek and Little Miami river, in what was then part of Xenia township, not far from the centre of the triangle formed by the three towns of Xenia, Yellow Springs, and Cedarville.

About the year 1850 this part of Xenia township was set off to Cedarville, of which it is now a part. The house, as left by Rob- ert Charleton Reid, consisted of a two-story frame building with a one-story wing, in which were sitting-room, dining-room, and kitchen. Some extensions have been made to the wing and the whole exterior has been repaired and restored by Whitelaw Reid. The interior finish in the old part of the house was of oiled and polished black walnut, with hand- some mantels, oak floors, excellent plastering, and windows with 8 x 10 panes of glass, which were then a costly elegance. Every room on the first floor had a large fireplace finished in Xenia limestone. The original framework has now been filled in with fireproof concrete blocks, and the roof and second story are covered entirely with red Akron tiles. There are numerous piazzas, a porte-cochere, etc., and the new rooms in the extensions of the wing are finished in handsome cabinet-work in cherry, sycamore, ash, walnut, etc. The house contains fourteen rooms, numerous bath-rooms, dressing-rooms, etc.

It is situated on one of the highest points in the county, the ground gently sloping away, and giving a view of many miles in every direction. The farm consists of about 200 acres, is carried on by a farmer for whom a separate house is provided, and is kept in a nice state of cultivation.

When Robert Charleton Reid was married he immediately took his bride to this house. There he died in the room in which his chil- dren were all born, and there his widow still lives. His eldest son also died there. The house was originally finished in oak, black walnut, and poplar ; not because it was fore- seen that these woods would be fashionable half a century afterwards, but because they stood on the actual site of the dwelling, and had to be got out of the way to make room for it. The house at first stood in almost unbroken forest, and for a number of years there were not more than ten acres of cleared land in sight. The lawn surrounding it has always remained unbroken by the plough since the Indians rambled over it.

Mr. Reid is in person very tall and sinewy, uniting delicacy with strength. He has in person and character the best qualities of his Scotch ancestry. His eyes are dark and forehead broad and full, and the intellectual perceptions that discern, and the untiring persistence that wins, have been his inheritance. His great work of "Ohio in the War" will grow with the years, for it has no equal as a record of those troublous times. Therein he wrote of that of which he was a part. He was at the head sources of knowledge and a personal witness of the events under which the Nation trembled. Its spirit of fairness, to those opinions with which he could have no personal sympathy, and its fulness in facts must impress every reader. In character-drawing it is most admirable-every man brought in review stands out in his peculiarities ; and wherein there are words of condemnation which a love of truth and a sense of duty impelled him to utter, it seems as though the spirit of charity guided his pen and flowed with the ink.

Wilberforce University is the result of a most notable effort of the negro in America at self-development. It began Sept. 21, 1844, with the appointment of a committee " to select a tract of land for the purpose of erecting a seminary of learning, on the Manual Labor plan, for the instruction of the youth among us, in

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the various branches of literature, science, agriculture and mechanic arts ; and also for those young men who may desire to prepare their minds for the work of the ministry." In 1847 Union Seminary, twelve miles from Col- umbus, began a humble yet relatively important career. In 1856 the M. E. Church laid the foundations of Wilberforce University. Students by the score came from the South into the free State of Ohio. Stu- dents by the score returned with edu- cation from surroundings, as well as from science, for Wilberforce began, WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY. and has continued, a Southern school on Northern soil. In 1863 the University passed into the possession and under the control of colored men. Two years later it lay in ashes, on the very day of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Arrangements for rebuilding were begun at once; yet thirteen years of arduous effort were required for its completion.

"The work of the University has been, from its organization, continuous and progres- sive. It has maintained a faculty of from four to seven regular instructors, assisted by undergraduates. It has enrolled more than 3,000 students, or an annual average of about 130. These have come from all parts of the United States, from Canada, the West Indies, and India. It is located about three miles from Xenia, in Xenia township, and about one mile from the P. C. & St. L. R. R. The main building is a substantial brick 160 x 44, four stories high, containing seventy- eight rooms. Eight cottages in the campus are used for resident and dormitory purposes. There have been recently erected by the State Normal and Industrial Board a build- ing for instruction in domestic arts, and one for instruction in carpentry.

The property is variously estimated at from $50,000 to $60,000. The university has an endowment fund of $14,033.62. During its existence of twenty-two and one-half years there have been collected and disbursed more than $200,000. The university is under the

management of a Board of Trustees, com- posed of the entire Episcopal Bench-seven- teen permanent trustees and 210 conference trustees : the latter are chosen at each con- ference and consist of three ministerial and two lay members. Under the jurisdiction of the Methodist Episcopal Church Dr. Fred- erick Merrick and Dr. R. S. Rust presided. Three Presidents have executed the will of the Board since 1863-Bishop D. A. Payne, D. D., presiding from July 3, 1863, to Sep- tember 6, 1876 ; Rev. B. F. Lee, D. D., from September 6, 1876, to June 19, 1884, and Rev. S. T. Mitchell, A. M., was elected June 20, 1884. Under the provisions of an act of the Legislature of Ohio passed March 19, 1887, the Normal Department has been strengthened and an Industrial Department organized ; $5,000 per annum is pledged to its support.

The Board for the management of the new department consists of Bishop D. A. Payne, Dr. B. W. Arnett, Hon. C. L. Maxwell, Senator John O'Neill, Dr. R. McMurdy and Hon. J. A. Howell.

YELLOW SPRINGS is about forty-five miles west of Columbus, on the Little Miami River, and on a branch of the P. C. & St. L. R. R. Newspaper : Re- view, Independent, A. E. Humphreys, publisher. Churches : 1 Christian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Advent, 1 A. Methodist Episcopal and 1 Colored Methodist Episcopal. Industries : 1 saw-mill, grain elevator, etc. There are many small fruit growers at this place. Population in 1880, 1,377 ; school census in 1886, 410, S. Ogan, superintendent.

The village is a pleasant and interesting spot, the seat of Antioch College, and takes its name from the medicinal springs here. Formerly they were much visited, and there were ample hotel accommodations for invalids. Early in the century travellers often spoke of the place. The noted Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who was here in 1824, says in his travels :

The spring originates in a limestone rock. The water has a little taste of iron, and deposits a great quantity of ochre, from which it takes its name. The spring is said to give 110 gallons of water per minute, which is received in a

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basin surrounded with cedar trecs. The yellow stream which comes from the basin runs a short distance over a bed of limestone and is afterwards precipitated into the valley. These limestone rocks form very singular figures on the edge of this valley ; the detached pieces resemble the Devil's Wall of the Hartz.

In the beautiful glen at Yellow Springs is POMPEY's PILLAR, of which Prof. Orton has written for us this brief description.

POMPEY'S PILLAR, YELLOW SPRINGS.

It consists of a mass of the native limestone rock, fifteen to twenty feet in height, which has been left as we find it, through the action of erosive agencies in the past. The large mass which makes the top of the column is a part of the cap- rock of the cliffs, and the column itself consists of a number of courses of the building stone of the same series. All of it is Niagara limestone. The formation of the column must date back for many hundred and probably for many thou- sand years. It is now slowly wasting through the action of the atmosphere, but is likely enough to remain about as it is for many centuries to come, unless dis- turbed by human agency.

Yellow Springs derives its principal im- portance at this time from being the seat of Antioch College. Connected with its teach- ing department have been quite a number of eminent men. In the college campus is a monument to the memory of HORACE MANN of national fame, who spent the last seven years of his life, from 1852 to 1859, here as its President. He was born in Franklin, Mass., in 1796, was educated at Brown University ; the theme of his graduating oration, "The Progressive Character of the

Human Race," foreshadowed his subsequent career. He was educated to the law, took great interest in the cause of education, and being elected Secretary to the Massachusetts Board of Education introduced thorough re- forms into the school system of the State. He visited the schools of Europe, especially those of Germany, and on his return by his lectures and writings did more to awaken an interest throughout the country in education than any man in our history.

From 1848 to 1853 he served in Congress,

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first succeeding to the vacancy, as a Whig, occasioned by the death of John Quincy Adams ; then was re-elected by the anti- słavery party, and as an advocate in behalf of their principles was pre-eminent, at one time engaging in a controversy with Daniel Webster, in regard to the extension of slavery and a fugitive slave-law. Failing in his candidacy from the Free-soil party as Governor of the State, he accepted the Presi- dency of Antioch. He carried the institu- tion through pecuniary and other difficulties, and satisfied himself of the practicability of

the co-education of the sexes, and his in- cessant labors hastened his death. This great friend to man gave to Ohio his last ripe years, and her soil is honored by being the resting place of his remains. He published several annual reports, also lectures on education, voluminous controversial writings, "A Few Thoughts for a Young Man," " "' "Slavery : Let- ters and Speeches," "Powers and Duties of Women," etc. His work on education was republished in France, with a biographical sketch.

BELLBROOK is about forty miles northeast of Cincinnati and half a mile from the Miami river. The Magnetic Springs, owned by Ohmer & Co., of Dayton, were discovered here in 1884. Newspaper : Moon, Independent, Morgan Fudge, editor and proprietor. Churches : 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 P. M., 1 Presby- terian. Population in 1880, 425.

JAMESTOWN is an important village eleven miles east of Xenia, on the D. & I. railroad, which had in 1880 a population of 877. It narrowly escaped destruction a few years since by what has been termed the "Jamestown Cyclone."

THE JAMESTOWN CYCLONE.

On Sunday, April 27, 1884, at abont five o'clock, a destructive cyclone passed over the southern part of Montgomery and Greene counties. It was formed near Dayton by the meeting of two light storm clouds from the south and northwest respectively, which immediately assumed the shape of a water spout, rising and descending like waves of the sea, and moved on with great fury, destroying every- thing in its path. It caused much damage.in Montgomery county, mowing down forests, destroying buildings, fences, live-stock, etc.

At Bellbrook, in Greene county, at least fifteen houses were more or less damaged ; but the inmates seeing its approach took refuge in the cellars, and thus escaped serious injury. The greatest damage inflicted was at Jamestown, where the cloud approached along the pike leading to Xenia, having first passed over the fair grounds of the Union Agricultural Society, completely demolishing all the buildings excepting a few small stalls : even the fence posts were razed to the ground. In Jamestown only abont one-half of the homes of the entire popula- tion escaped destruction : nearly one hundred families were rendered homeless, four persons killed outright, and some thirty-five or forty more or less seriously injured.

Along the track of the storm, which was about one hundred yards wide, not a single building was left intact, and nine out of every ten were razed to the ground. The most prominent buildings in the town were either unroofed or badly damaged. Every church was more or less damaged, and those of the Methodist, Presby- terian, Christian and Colored Methodist nearly demolished. The loss of property amounted to nearly $200,000. The cyclone seemed to have about exhausted its fury on Jamestown, for it passed away to the east without creating much more damage.

CLIFTON is ten miles north of Xenia, on the Little Miami, and on the line of Clark county, and has about 300 inhabitants. The name originated from the cliffs which bound the river at this place. The stream commences running through a deep ravine at the eastern extremity of the village, and after circling around the town, leaves it on the southwest. For more than two miles it runs through a deep and narrow gorge, bounded by perpendicular and impending rocks,

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overhung by evergreens, and presenting scenery of a wild and picturesque char- acter. In this distance the stream has sufficient fall to supply a number of mann- facturing establishments.

CEDARVILLE is forty-seven miles southwest of Columbus on the P. C. & St. L. R. R., and on Massies' creek, eight miles northeast from Xenia. Newspaper : Herald, Independent, Robt. H. Young, editor and publisher. Churches : 1 Cov-

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846. CASCADE AT CLIFTON.

enanter, 1 Reformed Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 United Presbyterian, 1 African Methodist Episcopal and 1 Colored Baptist.

Industries .- Manufacture of lime ; extensive saw-mills are also located here. Population in 1880, 1,181. School census in 1886, 368 ; J. V. Stewart, superin- tendent.

FAIRFIELD is twelve miles northwest of Xenia ; had in 1880, 380 population. SPRING VALLEY, seven sonthwest of Xenia, 376 ; and OSBORNE, near the north- west corner and line of Clark county, 656 population.

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GUERNSEY COUNTY.

GUERNSEY.

GUERNSEY COUNTY was organized in March, 1810. The upland is hilly and of various qualities, and the soil clay or clayey loam. There is much excellent land in the bottom of Wills creek and its branches, which cover about one-third of the county. Wool is a staple product of the county, together with beef cattle, horses and swine. Its area is 460 square miles. In 1885 the acres cultivated were 67,095; in past- ure, 133,784; woodland, 48,407 ; lying waste, 1,134; produced in wheat, 68,313 bushels ; oats, 206,490 ; corn, 671,694; tobacco, 231,191 pounds ; wool, 685,262 ; sorghum, 32,069 gallons ; sheep owned, 162,640 ; coal, 433,800 tous. School cen- sus, 1886, 9,690 ; teachers, 180.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 115

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006