Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 122

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916

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After the war he engaged in business in Cincinnati, but was compelled to withdraw from active life on account of precarious health resulting from his wounds. He re- turned to his old home in Harmar, where the last years of his life were spent in literary pursuits.

RUFUS R. DAWES was born in Marietta, Ohio, July 4, 1838 ; graduated at Marietta College in 1860. The beginning of the war found him in Juneau county, Wis. He at once raised a company, and May 13, 1861, was commissioned captain of Company K, 6th Wisconsin. Capt. Dawes served with this regiment throughout the war, assuming command of it in May, 1864. Col. Dawes' regiment had very severe service, and par- ticipated in a large number of engagements. Only nine regiments in the war suffered greater loss in killed and wounded. Col. Dawes was mustered out Aug. 10, 1864, by reason of expiration of service. March 13, 1865, he was commissioned brevet brigadier- general. Gen. Dawes married, Jan. 18, 1864, Mary B. Gates, daughter of Beman Gates, of Marietta. In 1880 he was elected to Con- gress, and has since been prominently men- tioned as the candidate of the Republican

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party for the governorship of Ohio. Brevet Lieut .- Col. E. C. Dawes, Commander Ohio Commandery Loyal Legion U. S., is a brother.

FRANCES DANA GAGE was born in Mari- etta, Ohio, Oct. 12, 1808, and died in Green- wich, Conn., Nov. 10, 1884. Her father, Col. Joseph Barker, was one of the early settlers of Marietta. The following sketch of Mrs. Gage's career is from Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography :

"Miss Barker married, in 1829, James L. Gage, a lawyer of McConnellsville, Ohio. She early became an active worker in the temperance, anti-slavery and woman's rights movements, and in 1851 presided over a woman's rights convention in Akron, Ohio, where her opening speech attracted much attention. She removed in 1853 to St. Louis, where she was often threatened with violence on account of her anti-slavery views, and twice suffered from incendiarism. In 1857-58 she visited Cuba, St. Thomas and Santo Domingo, and on her return wrote and lec- tured on her travels. She afterward edited an agricultural paper in Ohio ; but when the civil war began she went south, ministered to the soldiers, taught the freedmen, and, with- out pay, acted as an agent of the sanitary commission at Memphis, Vicksburg and Nat- chez. In 1863-64 she was superintendent, under Gen. Rufus' Saxton, of Paris Island, S. C., a refuge for over 500 freedmen. She was afterward crippled by the overturning of a carriage in Galesburg, Ill., but continued to lecture on temperance till Aug., 1867, when she was disabled by a paralytic shock. Mrs. Gage was the mother of eight children, all of whom lived to maturity. Four of her sons served in the National Army in the civil war. Mrs. Gage wrote many stories for children, and verses, under the pen name of ‘Aunt Fanny.' She was an early contributor to the Saturday Review, and published 'Poems' (Philadelphia, 1872) ; 'Elsie Magoon, or The Old Still-House' (1872) ; 'Steps Up- ward' (1873) ; and ' Gertie's Sacrifice.' "

DON CARLOS BUELL was born in Lowell, ncar 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 uncle, Geo. P. Buell, to Law- renceburg, 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 district 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 Oct. 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 succeeded 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.

He 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, eulti- vated and polished. His replies to the at- taeks 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.

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 Tncker, 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 same 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.

The Centennial Day was exceedingly beautiful in the weather, as indeed were all the days and evenings throughont, and everything tended to make a joyons 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 7thi 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 (Ill.) 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. John 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 Relie 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.]

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- ocrat), 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 Marictta 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- scription of Madame Blennerhassett and the island she admired. Poetic 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. Blennerhassett'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.' 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 eensured 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 lament 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- lution. 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 scoffers 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, licentiousness, 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 vice 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 coteni- 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 classes, society was not really in so good a state as it is now. At Marietta were several men of superior intellects 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- came 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 pack-horses. The business of the hunters was to procure game and bring it into the camp at night. Flour, coffee, 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 camp.

"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 cut into slices and broiled on the coals. 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 cave 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 citizen of these days will probably be astonished to hear that the buffalo was once common in Ohio, and roamed even on the banks of the Muskin- gum ; but such 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 Scioto and the Miamis were Indian towns where they cultivated corn as white men do now. Marietta, Chillicothe, Circleville, Cincinnati, Xenia and Piqua are all on the sites of old Indian towns. The wild animals and the wild Indian were as conscious as the civilized white man that Ohio was an inviting land-a garden rich in the products which God had made for their support. But man was commanded to live by labor ; hence, when man, the laborer, came, 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 Cincinnati.

"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 residence 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 cra 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."

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 122

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 916

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916