USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 59
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Connecticut, are the statues of General Putnam, heroic size, and the emble- matic figures on the pinacles of the state capital. At Burlington, New Jersey, is a fine statue of Lafayette, an ideal portrait statue. At Newbury- port, Massachusetts, is a statue of Washington. At Spartansburg, South Carolina, is the General Morgan statue. At Charleston, in the same state is that of William Gilmore Sims, and at Gettysburg is that of General Reynolds. "In them all," Russell Sturgis says, "is a trait, which, shown more plainly in one that another, is yet the special characteristic of Ward's minor as well as his greater work, a noble simplicity."
In Washington is Ward's great statue of Garfield and his equestrian statue of General George H. Thomas. In New York, among his later works, are "Washington Taking the Oath of Office," and the Greeley statute in front of the Tribune building. In Brooklyn stands that stately, majestic figure of Beecher, with its graceful groups at the base. In the · later years of Ward's life he was engaged upon one of his greatest tasks, the pediment of the Stock Exchange building in New York. Russell Sturgis, the art critic in Scribner's Magazine, says: "In Ward we have the first American sculptor in this important matter of constructional, expressional and harmonized design in the placing and grouping of human figures." In describing the magnificent naval arch, erected hastily in New York for the reception of Admiral Dewey in 1899, he speaks of the general criticism made, "That while the artists associated in that work had done masterly work in the individual figures, there was a noticeable weakness in the composition or grouping; but in Ward's work, the group of sea horses and Tritons asso- ciated with an adaptation of the victory of Samothrace, which formed the crowning decoration of the arch, no fault could be found and the very warmest praise had to be given to his general conception of his task."
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By the universal judgment of American artists and art critics, Quincy Ward is placed first among American sculptors. H. K. Brown, his old teacher, once said: "Ward has more genius than Greenough, Crawford, Powers and all the other American sculptors combined." Eastman Johnson, James H. Beard and other eminent artists affirmed that Ward passed Story. Ball, Thompson and all other rivals, and was without a peer as a sculptor, unquestionably the greatest artist that this country has yet produced.
Even with all the greatness which he achieved and with all the remark- able recognition and honor conferred upon him, John Quincy Adams Ward showed his true greatness of spirit, high purpose and lofty sentiment by ever keeping treasured away in his heart his great love for his fellow towns-
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men. This was evinced materially about the first of April, 1905, when he donated to the city of Urbana a tract of land to be used as a park, in honor of the Champaign County Centennial, July 4, 5 and 6 of that year. He was then an honored visitor to his old home.
On May 1, 1910, Ward died in New York City. His death was deeply lamented by his fellow artists, for they had lost a leader; and by the peo- ple of Urbana, since they had lost a fellow townsman who by his every endeavor had endeared himself to them. Yet his life was a long one, full of service. He had recorded faithfully and wonderfully, in indestructible characters of marble and bronze, beauty as he so nobly and ably conceived it.
This great artist now lies in Oakdale cemetery, where his grave is marked by a bronze statue, which was erected by his wife. It is a replica of "The Indian Hunter." his first and most popular statue, which stands in Central Park. The following is the inscription on the bronze slab which is attached to one face of the granite base of the statue:
John Quincy Adams Ward Sculptor Born Urbana, June 29, 1830. Died New York City, May 1, 1910. This replica of his first statue is a memorial left to his townsmen. Erected by his wife to mark his grave.
CHAPTER XXVII.
PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATIONS.
There are organizations and organizations : some literary, some scien- tific, some social and some cultural: but there is one kind of organization, the membership of which is determined by the active participation on the part of the individual, or the descendants of such men, in some war of our country. Membership in one of these organizations is something of which one can be justly proud. It means that either he, his sire or his grandsire, placed upon the altar of liberty and justice his all.
Champaign county has many citizens who are worthy and eligible for such distinction: a fact which speaks well for the patriotism of the people. Back in the days from '61 to '65, many a Champaign county boy bade his mother. wife or sweetheart adieu and went forth to do or to die for the Union. Many returned, but a few "gave their last full measure of devo- tion" for the cause. Now there are in the county four posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, enrolling most of those who returned and are yet living, these posts being located at St. Paris, North Lewisburg, Urbana and Woodstock. On Memorial Day these old veterans tenderly unfurl their old battle flags and march forth to recite their ritual over the graves of those of their comrades who have already answered the last roll call.
When the call went forth again in 1898 for men to stand for the cause of liberty and justice, the men of Champaign arose once more to the exi- gency of the times. Many of their names are on the roll of honor in the archives of the Lincoln Command No. 90, State of Ohio, Spanish-American War Veterans, at Mechanicsburg.
There is no war that does not touch woman vitally. There never was a bayonet thrust that did not hiss through the heart of a mother at home. She sees her son dead on a thousand bloody fields of battle when he is safe in camp. For her is the worry and the anguish of dire expectancy. Women of Champaign county have nobly done their part in our country's wars. As a recognition of this there are two organizations-the Daughters of the American Revolution at Urbana and organizations of the Woman's Relief Corps at Urbana and Mechanicsburg.
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Proud of their sires, whose cause was the same as that of Lincoln. the men of the second generation in Champaign county since the Civil War have several camps of the Sons of Veterans. There are camps at Urbana, Mechanicsburg and Woodstock. Moreover, the daughters have organized in Urbana an auxiliary to the Sons of Veterans.
Our country is now in the midst of the greatest war the world has ever seen. Thousands, nay millions, of the young men of the nation are prepar- ing to go forth to fight for the cause of democracy as against autocracy. Undoubtedly after this present conflict, organizations honoring the men who have gone forth will be organized. Without a doubt, Champaign county. which has always filled its quota in the struggles of the past, will be hon- ored again by having a charter of such an organization including the brave young men who are now getting ready to go to Europe.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
The Daughters of the American Revolution stand unique among the organizations of the United States. There are a thousand and one societies to which women may belong, but the Daughters of the American Revolution is one of the few organizations which demand requirements for admission that limit its members to the chosen few. No one can become a member of this patriotic society who can not establish a lineal descent from some one who fought in the Revolutionary War, and this must be confirmed by docu- mentary proof from official records. There are cases where it has been impossible to establish such documentary proof even when there was no question about the eligibility of the person in question.
The object of the Daughters of the American Revolution is to foster patriotism, and love of country, to encourage historical research and the protection of historical sites, to preserve Revolutionary documents and relics. to maintain and defend the institutions of American freedom, and to pro- mote all agencies for the general diffusion of historical knowledge. The character of the work done by the local chapters differs greatly and is largely determined by the personnel of the local membership. . The Urbana chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has taken a broad and liberal view of its constitution and by-laws and has engaged in a multitude of laudable works which have made the organization a real power for good in the community.
Urbana Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was organ- ized on May 23, 1896, at the home of Mrs. John Whitehead. The credit
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for the organization of the local chapter was due to Sarah Alice Worces- ter, a member of a chapter in Massachusetts, and at the time an instructor in languages in the University of Urbana. She was a woman of unusual attainments, active in everything pertaining to the interests of women, and especially interested in the work of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion. She found the city without a chapter and conceived the idea of install- ing one if she could get the proper encouragement. She found no difficulty in securing twelve eligible persons, the minimum number required for a chapter. These twelve charter members were Hannah Cranch Moses, Nellie Howard Hagenbuch, Mary Blickensderfer Jordan, Louise Spooner Foster, Louise Stockton Leedom, Adelaide Hamilton Williams, Mary Louise Will- iams, Gertrude Vanuxem James, Margaret Lynch James, Mary Aitken Whitehead. Laura Lamme McDonald, Rosetta Bunker Conrey, Maryneal Hutches Smith and Mary Foster.
Since she was the only member who had been regularly initiated, Miss Worcester was appointed regent and she in turn appointed the following officers to serve until the first regular election: Vice regent, Mrs. John Whitehead; recording secretary, Mrs. Gwynn T. Jordan ; corresponding sec- retary, Mrs. Edwin Hagenbuch ; registrar, Louise Williams; historian, Mrs. Thomas Moses : treasurer, Mrs. Duncan McDonald. The regent, Miss Wor- cester, appointed a committee to Grav. up the by-laws and with their adop- tion two weeks later, the chapter was ready to launch out on its career as a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The chapter has completed twenty-one years of history. These years have witnessed accomplishment of much that has been fraught with good for the people of Champaign county. The chapter was scarcely two years old when the Spanish-American War of 1898 opened. During this brief strug- gle the local chapter made its first entry into the field of social service and before the close of the war had made substantial contributions of hospital supplies, clothing and food for the soldiers. Their donations were sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and there they were turned over where they would do the most good. Mrs. Milo G. Williams, an honorary member, donated a barrel of crackers and a bolt of sheeting.
OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE CHAPTER.
Probably the next most important work of the chapter was its effort to raise money for books to be sent to the library which was being prepared for the soldiers in Manila, Philippine Islands. A "silver" tea was given at
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the home of Mrs. Gwynn T. Jordan on February 22, 1901, for the benefit of the Manila library fund and the sum of twenty-five dollars was realized and forwarded to the chairman of the committee in charge of the state fund. This was not only the largest fund contributed by an Ohio chapter, but the largest of any chapter in the United States.
In 1903 the chapter purchased and presented to the Grand Army of the Republic two hundred and fifty flags for the purpose of decorating the sol- diers' graves in Oak Dale cemetery. Later, an additional one hundred and fifty flags were secured for the same purpose. The chapter also set aside a sum of money to buy and have framed a number of copies of their flag code, these to be placed in public buildings and other appropriate places in the city.
The most conspicuous contribution of the local chapter to the city is the bronze tablet which they placed on the site marking the headquarters of Governor Meigs when he was located in Urbana during the War of 1812. This tablet was placed on the McDonald building, northwest corner of Monument Square and Main street, on the east side of the building. The bronze tablet contains the following inscription :
THIS TABLET MARKS THE SITE OF DOOLITTLE'S TAVERN HEADQUARTERS OF GOV. MEIGS DURING THE QUARTERING OF GEN. HULL'S ARMY AT URBANA IN THE WAR OF 1812.
Erected by the Urbana Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution
1912
The unveiling ceremonies were held in the Grand Army of the Repub- lic hall on the morning of November 7. 1912, the main address being made by Mrs. Edward Orton. Jr., former vice-president general of the national society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The tablet was pre- sented to the city of Urbana by Mrs. Charles F. Johnson, regent of the Urbana chapter, and was accepted by the city by Dr. C. M. Wanzer. The tablet was unveiled by Gertrude McDonald and Belinda Pearce, the two youngest members of the chapter.
The beautiful shrubbery surrounding the monument in the square is the
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gift of the local chapter, which has taken a personal interest in keeping it in condition since it was first planted there several years ago. In the spring of 1917 the county commissioners appropriated fifty dollars to be used under the direction of the local chapter in beautifying the court house grounds. The shrubbery and vines which are now seen there were placed under the direction of Mrs. George McConnell and Mrs. W. R. Wilson.
In the summer of 1916 the chapter experienced one of its busiest seasons. The local militia company was sent to the Mexican border and a number of soldiers' families had to be taken care of by the local authorities. The chapter offered to take charge of this relief work and the authorities turned the matter over to the local chapter. Donations of all kinds were turned over to the "D. A. R. relief fund" and a committee of the chapter took complete charge of the relief work. At one time there were nineteen families who were being taken care of, and when the work was closed on December 1, 1916, there were still three receiving aid. The citizens donated between nine hundred and one thousand dollars for this work and in addi- tion there were food and clothing supplies of all kinds. The regent, Mrs. R. M. Day and Mrs. E. P. Middleton visited these families from the last of June until December Ist, when the work was taken up by the government.
OTHER BENEFACTIONS ENUMERATED.
An enumeration of the many benefactions of the local chapter to a variety of worthy causes would show that it has contributed hundreds of dollars in one way or another. For several years an appropriation was made each year to the city hospital. Many poor people were given the benefit of hospital treatment through the generosity of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution. The chapter has also contributed for several years to the maintenance of a number of schools conducted in the mountains of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee for the poor whites. They not only make cash contributions, but also give clothing, books, etc. The many different angles which the philanthropic work of the chapter takes are seldom given the light of publicity. Their work is quietly done, but it seems fitting in this connection to set forth for future generations something of the good work which has been accomplished by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The most recent work of the Daughters of the American Revolution was its active assistance in the organization of the Champaign county chap- ter of the Red Cross society. On February 22, 1917, Miss Josephine Valen-
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tine, a Red Cross nurse of Urbana, gave a history of the American Red Cross movement before a regular meeting of the local chapter of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution. She recounted her experiences as a nurse in Servia and as result of her inspiring talk the regent, Mrs. Day, and the chapter began agitation for a public meeting at which a Red Cross chapter should be organized. Their efforts met with public approval and on April I a rousing meeting was held in the Clifford Theater, at which the Cham- paign county Red Cross chapter was formally organized. Prior to this meeting Mrs. George M. Eichelberger had enrolled about sixty-five mem- bers who became the nucleus of the present organization of several hundred members.
OFFICERS AND MEMBERS.
The regents of the chapter since its organization in 1896 have served in the following order: Miss Sarah Alice Worcester, 1896-98 Miss Mary Louise Williams, 1898-99; Mrs. Gwynn T. Jordan, 1899-1901; Mrs. Dun- can B. McDonald, 1901-03; Mrs. Alexander F. Vance, 1903-05; Mrs. Thomas C. Berry, 1905-07; Mrs. Melvin H. Crane, 1907-09; Mrs. Evan P. Middleton, 1909-11: Mrs. Charles F. Johnson, 1911-13; Mrs. W. B. Griswold, 1913-15: Mrs. R. M. Day, 1915-17. Two of the regents, Mrs. E. P. Middleton and Mrs. Frank Vance, have been members of the state regent's council, the former during the years 1911-13, the latter, 1914-16.
The resident members in 1917 were: Florence Barlow, Mrs. Thomas C. Berry, Mrs. Leroy L. Blose, Mrs. Charles Brand, Lucy Brown, Mrs. Frank Chance. Mrs. John Connor, Mrs. M. H. Crane. Mrs. Donald S. Col- well, Mrs. R. M. Day, Mrs. W. E. Dimond, Mrs. W. M. Dixon, Mrs. Charles F. Downey, Mrs. E. R. Earle, Mrs. Emma S. Eichelberger. Mrs. Bruce Fulton, Mrs. William B. Griswold, Mrs. C. B. Hatton, Mrs. Edwin Hagenbuch, Mrs. Thomas Heap, Mrs. George W. Hitt, Mrs. Robert Hen- derson, Mrs. Charles F. Johnson, Mrs. Anna Johnson, Margaret Jennings. Mrs. Gwynn T. Jordan, Mrs. Thomas McConnell, Mrs. George McConnell, Mrs. Frank S. McCracken, Mrs. George H. McCracken, Mrs. D. B. Mc- Donald. Ella McDonald, Gertrude McDonald, Kathryn Marvin, Mrs. Evan P. Middleton, Mrs. John T. Mitchell, Mrs. David H. Moore, Mrs. Harriet H. Milne, Margaret Mosgrove, Belinda Pearce, Mrs. Smith M. Pence, Mrs. L. G. Pennock, Mrs. Frank S. Ross. Mrs. Fred Saumeneg, Mrs. John H. P. Stone, Mrs. S. L. P. Stone, Mrs. Marcus Stansbury, Mrs. Marion Todd. Mrs. Frank Valentine, Mrs. Alexander F. Vance, Louise Williams, Adelaide Williams and Mrs. William R. Wilson.
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The non-resident members, together with their present addresses, are as follow : Mrs. Robert Arnott, Cleveland; Mrs. Robert Babson, Glouces- ter, Massachusetts; Mrs. Garnet Brand, Springfield; Mrs. W. C. Bonebrake, Pittsburgh; Mrs. Charles H. Duncan, Columbus; Mrs. Leola H. Euans, North Lewisburg: Mrs. C. B. Heiserman, Sewickly, Pennsylvania: Mrs. A. J. Miller, Bellefontaine: Louise Kingsley, Mechanicsburg: Mrs. William Mccutcheon, Wayne, Pennsylvania: Millie Smith, Cincinnati; Mrs. Thomas Moses, Waltham, Massachusetts: Mrs. Samuel McA. Taylor, Nottingham, England : Mrs. John R. Wilson, North Lewisburg: Sylvia H. West, Kings Creek ; Bessie A. Knox, Springfield, Missouri; Mrs. Lora McDonald Davis, London, England.
Since the organization of the chapter in 1896 the following members have been lost by death: Mrs. Maryneal Hutches Smith, Mrs. Adelaide Wicker Gallagher, Mrs. Mary Loring Williams, Louise Mosgrove, Mrs. Maria Young, Mrs. Dora Berry and Mrs. Effie M. Crane.
The officers elected in May, 1917, for the years 1917-19, are as follow : Regent, Mrs. W. R. Wilson; vice-regent, Miss Ellen McDonald; recording secretary, Mrs. Charles Brand: corresponding secretary, Mrs. John Connor ; treasurer, Mrs. S. M. Pence : historian, Mrs. George McCracken : registrar, Mrs. Charles Downey.
GRAVES OF REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.
One of the duties of the Daughters of the American Revolution is to find the graves of Revolutionary soldiers and to see that they are properly marked. While the eastern third of Champaign county was set aside for the exclusive use of Revolutionary soldiers, yet as far as is known there is not a single soldier of that war buried within the limits of the Virginia Mil- itary Survey in Champaign county. Despite the fact that there are more than one hundred separate surveys in the county, each one of which was originally surveyed for an old soldier, yet it is not known definitely that a single one of these old soldiers ever lived on the tract which their blood won for them.
The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has succeeded in locating the graves of only three Revolutionary soldiers. Two of these are at Heathtown, in the northwestern corner of Mad River town- ship. They are the graves of Charles Tipton and Richard Stanhope. Adam Rader, who died on April 14, 1847, at the age of eighty-three, is buried in the Kings Creek cemetery. George McCoy, a gunsmith, was living in
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Urbana between 1815 and 1820 and undoubtedly died in the village, but it is not known where he was buried. Thomas Pearce, the first settler on the site of Urbana, lived either in the village or at the edge of it, from 1802 until his death. The date of his death and the place of his burial are unknown.
W. A. BRAND POST, GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
The W. A. Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, was organized at Urbana, in July, 1881, with the following charter members : John T. Mitchell, Thomas McConnell. Thomas T. Brand, T. G. Keller, James T. Shumate, M. A. Jordan, B. F. Ganson, A. F. Vance, Jr., Joseph Cham- berlin, R. P. Wilkins, John M. Fitzpatrick, J. M. Maitland, J. H. Ayres, George M. Eichelberger, David W. Todd, Joseph C. Brand, Frank Chance, and Daniel C. Hitt. Of these charter members, T. T. Brand, B. F. Ganson, A. F. Vance, Jr., J. M. Maitland, D. W. Todd and D. C. Hitt are the only ones now living.
Future generations of Champaign county will wonder why the Urbana post was named after William A. Brand. This is the reason: William A. Brand, a son of Joseph C. Brand, was born in Union township, Champaign county, Ohio, July 9, 1837, and died in Urbana May 14, 1879. Moving to Urbana with his parents when a small boy he lived in the county seat until his death. Here he received his preliminary education and later continued his studies at Ohio Wesleyan University. He then studied law for a time with John H. James and completed his legal education by taking the full course in the Cincinnati Law School, graduating in 1858 at the age of twenty-one. He formed a partnership with Moses B. Corwin and the year following married Frances R. Saxton, the daughter of Joshua Saxton, for more than forty years the editor of the Citizen and Gasette.
The military career of Brand began with his enlistment in September, 1861, in Company G, Sixty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He left Urbana with the regiment on January 17, 1862, and served with it until it was mustered out. His record on the field of battle was such as to make him beloved by all of the men with whom he came in contact. Possessed of a facile pen and the happy gift of vividly describing the scenes through which his regiment was passing while at the front, his letters to his home paper in Urbana describing conditions at the front were most eagerly read by those left behind. Week after week a letter signed D. N. Arbaw, a reversion of his own name, appeared in the Citizen and Gazette. After the
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close of the war he purchased from his father-in-law a half interest in the Citizen and Gazette and maintained his connection with that paper until February, 1879. In January, 1878, he was appointed postmaster of Urbana and was serving in that capacity when he died on May 14, 1879. Two years later a local post of the Grand Army of the Republic was established in Urbana, and the charter members, wishing to pay a deserved tribute to some one soldier of the county who had passed away, chose the name of William A. Brand; hence the W. A. Brand Post Grand Army of the Republic, of Urbana.
OFFICERS AND MEMBERS.
The post commanders since the organization in 1881 have served in the following order: John T. Mitchell, 1881-82; William Hamilton, 1883; D. W. Todd, 1884-85: John T. Mitchell, 1886-87; Thomas McConnell, 1888-89; W. R. Warnock, 1890; J. J. Anderson, 1891 ; T. G. Keller, 1892- 93; John T. Mitchell, 1894; W. W. Lewis, 1895; Colin McDonald, 1896: W. M. Whitaker, 1897; T. S. Binkard, 1898; John P. Neer, 1899; J. M. Maitland, 1900; J. K. Cheetham, 1901; C. W. Hollingsworth, 1902; B. F. Dixon, 1903-04; T. V. Sivill, 1905: J. K. Cheetham, 1906; Henry H. Deyo, 1907 ; M. G. McWilliams, 1908-09; D. B. McDonald, 1910; M. G. McWil- liams, 1911; James K. Cheetham, 1912: John P. Neer. 1913-17.
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