History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 142

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

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In all the private relations of life he was faithful and true to his personal obligations : as husband, father, neighbor, and friend. In 1828, he united with the Presbyterian Church in Warren, then in its infancy, and continued as a member, ruling elder and Sabbath-school teacher, to be during his life one of its main supports and ornaments. On the 8th of July, 1853. he was gathered to his fathers-a shock of corn fully ripe.

He was one of the busy workers, who at the right time, and in their appointed sphere. "dug deep and laid broad the foundations of many generations." Such labors may not be heeded, may even be desecrated and destroyed -but history must make their record "well done."

DAVID PUTNAM.

Third son of Col. Israel Putnam, and grand- son of Gen. Israel Putnam, was born in Pom- fret, Windham County, Connecticut, February 24. 1709. He was graduated at Yale College in the class of 1793. After his graduation. with the view to entering upon a mercantile life, he accepted a place on a vessel in a voy- age to London in the winter of 1794. A jour- nal kept at the time describes the seasickness and discomfort of the voyage, the abuse of an arbitrary and domineering captain, the disgust- ing association of an ignorant and wicked crew, and the utter distaste for the life on which he had entered. After a rough and dangerous passage. the vessel was wrecked on the coast of France, the officers and crew mak- ing a narrow escape to land. Here they were detained some months, mostly in the city of Nantes, with short rations and general dis- tress, in the period of the French Revolution,

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY.

and the attempt to improve the morals and prosperity of the country, by the substitution of a tenth, instead of a seventh portion of time for rest and relaxation. The journal is a graphic description of the prevailing wretch- edness. It says, March 4, 1795 :

Since we have been in Nantes, we have lived twenty of us in one chamber, have had two very scanty meals of victuals, one about 12 o'clock, the other at 8 in the evening, consisting of tripe, lights, a little veal, etc., all cooked after the French fashion, and a half pound bread per day, which we draw from the commissary store-for such fare the American consul pays IIO livres per day.

He availed himself of the first opportunity to return to the United States, and landed in New York July 2, 1795. On meeting an ac- quaintance, he was informed of the removal of his father's family ( during his absence ) from the home in Pomfret to the then distant Ohio, and says: "It was unexpected, it surprised, and in some respect agitated my mind-my plans were disconcerted. I returned on board. walked the deck, was pleased, disappointed and pleased again, was miserable, was alone, was happy.'

Mr. Putnam's brief experience abroad proved an effectual cure for a desire of mer- cantile life or foreign travel.

He taught school in Brooklyn, Connecti- cut, during the winter of 1795, and during the following year made a brief visit to Ohio. He then, for about two years, pursued the study of law with Hon. Calvin Goddard, of Plain- field, Connecticut. On the 16th of September, 1798, he was married to Betsey Perkins, daughter of Dr. Elisha Perkins, of Plainfield. They came, immediately after, on horseback, to Marietta, where he commenced the practice of law. He became the teacher of the Muskin- gum Academy in Marietta, established about this time, the first institution of the kind in the Northwest Territory. He was postmaster in Marietta from 1800 to 1802. In 1805 he built the stone residence on Front street in Harmar ( now occupied by a grandson ), where he continued until his death in 1856. He be- came cashier of the Bank of Marietta at its organization in or about 1807 (Gen. Rufus

Putnam, Benjamin Ives Gilman, Paul Fear- ing, William Skinner and others, directors or stockholders ), the business being done at his residence in Harmar until about the year 1815, when the bank was transferred to Marietta, and a new cashier appointed.

He continued in the practice of law nearly 30 years, and then retired from it, to an ex- tensive agency which had devolved on him in connection with the lands in the Ohio Com- pany's Purchase. This he continued until the year 1845, when at the age of 75 he re- linquished it to his son.

He was a faithful adherent, during his ac- tive life, of the First Religious Society of Mar- ietta. He donated the lots now occupied by the Congregational Church and parsonage in Harmar, and was a liberal contributor to the erection of their meeting-house.

Mr. Putnam had no aspiration for public life or political distinction, but in his sphere of a private citizen, was known, recognized and honored as a firm, reliable and intelligent friend of order, morals, education and religion. He died at his homestead in Harmar, March 31, 1850, aged eighty-seven.

NAHUM WARD.

Although the subject of this sketch did not come to Marietta until 20 years after the beginning of the settlement, he has probably contributed as much as any other man who ever lived in the county to its agricultural development. Born at Shrews- bury, Massachusetts, October 23, 1785 ; he re- ceived such education as the' schools of his town afforded and the higher training given at Leicester Academy. His commercial educa- tion he acquired as a clerk in the store of his uncle, a Mr. Brigham, and in a small store of his own, for which his father had furnished the capital. Mr. Ward was a grandson of Arte- mus Ward, the senior major-general of the Revolutionary Army. He came to Marietta in June, 1809, with letters of introduction to Gen. Rufus Putnam. He remained about six weeks visiting the different parts of the Ohio

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Company's Purchase, then returned to Shrews- bury on horseback. In ISII he returned to Marietta to become a citizen, and began mak- ing purchases of land belonging to sharehold- ers of the Ohio Company or their successors. He thus secured more than 37,000 acres of land lying principally within the counties of Washington, Athens, Morgan, Gallia, Law- rence, and Meigs.

One of the first of his measures for the settlement and improvement of his great tracts of land fell short of its full effect through cir- cumstances entirely beyond his knowledge. Conceiving the idea that the Scotch would make an industrious, frugal and intelligent ele- ment in the agricultural districts, he went to Scotland in the fall of 1822 for the purpose of bringing over a colony of the "canny people." He published in Edinburgh a small pamphlet giving descriptions of the country, derived principally from the pamphlet of Dr. Manasseh Cutler, printed at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1787; from the works of Thomas Hutchins, United States geographer, and from the Ohio press. A letter from Return Jonathan Meigs, Postmaster General of the United States and ex-Governor of Ohio, and a note from the United States consul in Edinburgh were pub- lished on the inner leaf of the cover and served as Mr. Ward's credentials. Mr. Ward was so far successful in his measure that he in- cluced about 175 persons to emigrate to the United States and to the lands which he owned. But the season when they arrived-the sum- mer of 1823-was one during which a terrible epidemic prevailed in Marietta and all the Ohio River region. Nearly all of the Scotch emi- grants were stricken down with fever, and thus afflicted, and some of their number dying, these people began their life in a strange land. To the credit of Mr. Ward, be it said, that he was unremitting in his attentions to the unfortunate foreigners. He hired large public rooms for their comfortable lodging, and supplied them with medical attendance and nurses. Many of the descendants of these Scotch emigrants who settled on Mr. Ward's lands now live in Barlow and Wesley townships, and form one

of the best elements of the population of Wash- ington County.

Personal interest, a laudable pride and pub- lic spirit combined, led this great land owner to make the most thorough and systematic improvements. His farms throughout the southeastern part of the State-40 or 50 in Washington County-could be easily distin- guished by their fine buildings, neat fences, well cultivated acres, and general appearance of thrift. Along many of the country roads Mr. Ward set out shade trees. Taste and utility were alike thought of. He lent aid to the building of many country school houses, and contributed liberally to every turnpike, bridge, or other improvement of value to the public.

The fact that nearly all of Mr. Ward's farms were improved before they were sold redounded to the advantage of the purchasers and the tenants by whose labor those improve- ments were made, having easy terms of rental. also prospered. In many cases the renters be- came the owners. It was the theory of Mr. Ward that the best condition of the country was attained when the greatest number of peo- ple possible secured homes, and so, becoming fixed, had a permanent interest in the welfare of the community. Most of his land was sold in small parcels, and to men of small means. Many of the purchasers were people who had absolutely no capital but their industry. In selling to hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of this class, it was only natural that many cases should occur in which the buyer was unable to fulfill his contract. And it is a notable fact that in no one of these cases did the proprietor foreclose the property. In every instance he made a settlement with the occupant of the farm forfeited by non-fulfillment of the contract, either refunding any payments already made, or making suitable compensation for improve- ments put upon it. Hundreds of well-to-do farmers in Southeastern Ohio, who bought their lands of Mr. Ward by paying annual in- stallments, can attest the perfect equity of his business method and the liberality of his terms. And yet he did not escape entirely the obloquy which usually bears upon the large land-owner

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

and dealer. While he never brought suit for foreclosure against those who were unable to pay for lands, Mr. Ward left no legal means unused in his dealings with other real estate owners, and would contest a title, when he be- lieved justice was upon his side, as long as a vestige of hope remained. Becoming the own- er of nearly all the shares of the Ohio Com- pany, he obtained an amount of Georgia Revo- lutionary certificates, which, owing to an ir- regularity in their issue, had not been included in the partition of the Company's property. and remained as its only undivided assets.

Mr. Ward's home was the house on the north side of Putnam street, between Front and Second, built by Gen. Edward W. Tupper. When he purchased it, in 1817, it was the largest and most elegant residence in Marietta, and an appropriate dwelling for a man of Mr. Ward's tastes and hospitality. It stood in the rear of the lots now occupied by the Citi- zens National Bank, by Strecker Brothers. and others. Among other distinguished vis- itors whom he entertained here was General La Fayette, whom he had visited in Paris, and whose visit to this county, by the way, was largely the result of Mr. Ward's solicitation and his representations of the deep interest that the people of the United States felt in him.

The kindness of his nature was exhibited in the constant exercise of benevolence. Through various channels, religious and secu- lar, private and public, he contributed aid to individuals and to causes. The greatest of his benevolent acts, however, was that which supplied the Unitarians of Marietta with a

house of worship. He had been an adherent

of the Unitarian faith from his early man- hood, and in middle life began to labor zeal- ously to establish a society of the denomina- tion in Marietta. "At length." says a biog- rapher, "as advancing years admonished him that whatever was to be done must be done quickly, he determined to build a church and organize a society, and leave the rest to this silent influence of the testimony of truth, and to the gradual softening of prejudice and in- crease of freedom." The church ( upon the corner of Putnam and Third streets) was com- pleted and dedicated with appropriate services June 4, 1857, at a cost to Mr. Ward of not less than $25.000. The edifice was donated to the First Unitarian Society, and Mr. Ward, not resting satisfied with what he had done, con- tinued to promote, by every means in his power. the well-being of the society. Ever since his arrival in Marietta he had endeavored to fur- ther the growth of Unitarian sentiment by per- sonal persuasion and by the distribution of tracts. Whenever he prepared for a journey through the country, he was accustomed to fill one of his saddle bags with tracts of the Ameri- can Unitarian Association, which he gave to those with whom he came in contact during his travels.

He died April 6, 1860. His son, William S. Ward, died in 1871. William's daughter, Agnes, is the wife of Governor A. B. White, of West Virginia. Three daughters of Na- hum Ward, Mrs. W. L. Ralston, Mrs. Charles B. Rhodes, and Mrs. Goodrich Barber, reside in Marietta.

GEN. RUFUS R. DAWES.

Representative Citizens

EN. RUFUS R. DAWES was born at Malta. Morgan County, Ohio, July 4, 1838. He was one of a family of six children, of whom he was the second son and fifth child. His fa- ther, Hon. Henry Dawes, was of good old Revolutionary stock, a grandson of the William Dawes who rode with Paul Revere on his mo- mentous ride. His mother, Sarah ( Cutler ) Dawes, was the daughter of Judge Ephraim Cutler, and granddaughter of the famous Dr. Manasseh Cutler. Thus he came from dis- tinguished ancestry on both sides, his forefa- thers having taken an important part in the establishment both of our nation and of our state. His prominence has but sustained the family tradition.

His youth was spent in Constitution, Ohio, near Marietta, and Malta, and although he be- gan his collegiate course in the University of Wisconsin, he came back to Marietta College to finish the last two years, and was gradu- ated there in the class of 1800. In that year, he accompanied his father to Wisconsin, where he engaged in business, but did not long con- tinue. In April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon. On the day after it fell, April 15, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the Rebellion. The young man could not refuse his country's summons, and on April 25. only 10 days later, he began to gather volunteers. He was a good type of the splendid young manhood of the nation who rushed to the front in those first months of the war, and whose only fear was that they would

be too late for any actual service in the con- flict. Service enough they saw, but they did not flinch. The pledge which young Dawes drew up and signed was this : "We, the un- dersigned, agree to organize an independent military company, and to hold ourselves in readiness to respond to any call to defend our country and sustain our government."

A company was quickly raised and mus- tered in for three years, and Mr. Dawes was elected its captain, without opposition. It was soon accepted and became Company K, in the 6th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., which in turn was a part of the so-called "Iron Brigade."

Both were famous organizations and saw the hardest service. The "Iron Brigade" suf- fered a greater proportion of loss, in men killed, than any in the Union Army, and the Sixth Wisconsin, which General Dawes after- ward commanded, stood, it is said, 10th in this respect, among the two thousand regiments which were actually under fire.

In the battle of Gettysburg. Colonel Dawes came out with only half his men, and in some other battles the proportion was almost as high. During the first year, he and his regi- ment were spared actual fighting, a time of re- spite which was well employed in drill; but from August, 1862, until the end of the war there was no lack of engagements. The regi- ment was in twenty or more pitched battles, and took part in all the great conflicts fought in the East.

"At Gettysburg this regiment took a most important part, and one which will ever make

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it and its commander historic. On the morn- ing of July I. Lieutenant-Colonel Dawes, com- manding the Sixth Wisconsin, arrived on the scene of battle at a most critical juncture, when Cutler's brigade was being driven back near the Cashtown turnpike, by a Confederate brigade under command of Gen. Joseph R. Davis. Upon the issue of the engagement then in progress with the Confederates under Davis and Archer hung the possession of Cemetery Hill, and upon the holding of Ceme- tery Hill hung the issue of the battle of Get- tysburg itself.

"In his official report, referring to the time when Cutler's regiments were overpowered and driven back, Gen. Abner Doubleday says : 'The moment was a critical one, involving the defeat, perhaps the utter rout, of our forces. I immediately sent for one of Meredith's regi- ments, the 6th Wisconsin, a gallant body of men, who I knew could be relied upon, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dawes, their commander, ordered a charge, which was gallantly exe- cuted.' The fire of Colonel .Dawes' men checked the headlong advance of the Confed- erates, who halted in a railroad cut, 175 paces from the turnpike fence, where his men were in line.

"Colonel Dawes' horse had been shot from under him, and he was unmounted. Climbing the fence, under fire, with his regiment, the wonderful charge of the Sixth Wisconsin was made under his command. In the face of the awful fire delivered from the railroad cut, the only orders of the young commander were. 'Align on the color! Close up on that color ! Close up on that color!' And by the side of the flag of the Union, as it fell and then was lifted and then fell and then was lifted once again, with 180 men dead or wounded, of the 420 who started at the fence, Colonel Dawes, with the remnant of his regiment, reached the railroad cut and received the surrender of the Second Mississippi Regiment.

"It was an awful, though glorious, day for the 'Iron Brigade.' On that bright morning 1,800 men had marched in its ranks. In the evening, of that heroic band but 700 were left.

How hard the service was, the muster-roll. as has been said, shows."

It was a magnificent regiment, magnifi- cently led.

In August, 1864, at the close of his term of service, the subject of this sketch was hon- orably discharged. Grant then had Lee se- curely shut up in Petersburg, and the hard fighting was nearly over.

During the period of his service he had from time to time received well deserved pro- motion; he was major in 1862, and lieutenant- colonel in 1863, colonel in 1864, and finally, at the close of the war, brigadier-general by brevet, and by this well-won title he was hence- forth known. The battle record of General Dawes is as follows: At Rappahannock, Au- gust 26, 1862, he served as major : Gaines- ville, August 20, 1862, as major; Bull Run (2nd), August 29, 30, 31, 1862, as major : South Mountain, September 14, 1862, as ma- jor; Antietam, September 16 and 17, as major commanding ; Fredericksburg, December 13. 14 and 15, 1862, as major commanding ; Fitz Hugh's Crossing, April 29 to May 3. 1863. as lieutenant-colonel : Gettysburg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, as lieutenant-colonel commanding ; Mine Run, November 27, 1863. as lieutenant- colonel commanding ; the Wilderness, May 5 and 6, 1864, as lieutenant-colonel ; Spottsyl- vania Court House, May 8, 9 and 10, 1864, as lieutenant-colonel commanding; the Bloody Angle, May 12 and 13, 1864, as lieutenant- colonel commanding ; North Anna, May 23 to 25, 1864, as lieutenant-colonel commanding ; Tolopotomy, May 28 to 31, 1864, as lieuten- ant-colonel commanding: Bethesda Church, May 30, 31, 1804, as lieutenant-colonel con- manding; Cold Harbor campaign, May 3 to June 9, 1864, as lieutenant-colonel command- ing ; Petersburg campaign, June 15 to July 30, 1864, 'as lieutenant-colonel commanding ; and Mine Explosion, July 30, 1864, as colonel com- manding. General Dawes was commissioned major, June 21, 1862. He was commissioned colonel July 5, 1864, and was honorably dis- charged by reason of expiration of term of service, August 10, 1864. On May 22, 1806,

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he was appointed brigadier-general by brevet. on account of meritorious service rendered in the foregoing list of battles.

What sort of a man and soldlier he seemed to his comrades may be inferred from a few extracts of letters written by them at the time of his death. Thus: "1 know 1 but voice the sentiments of the entire brigade and all the officers who had the pleasure of his ac- quaintance, when I say that he was one of the fairest, coolest, and bravest of commanders." Another writes: "As an officer he was vigi- lant and painstaking to the extreme, consci- entious in the discharge of his duties, untiring in his efforts to perfect himself in the arts of war; a father to his men, but strict in his disci- pline. In battle he was coolness and bravery personified.'

And this further, still higher praise, from the same source : "As a young man he was pure, chaste in his language and his conduct. I never heard him utter a word amongst men that could not be repeated before the most re- fined woman." Still another: "I have seen your father so many, many times in positions where it tried the souls of the bravest men, I never saw him quail or flinch. I have seen him bearing the flag of the regiment in more than one desperate fight until some of us would force it from his hands. I have seen him, in the heat of summer and the rain and snows of winter, on the march and in camp, always and ever a true soldier and gentleman. He never swore, drank or used coarse language when most of them around him were proficient in these traits." Again: "He was my ideal commander, ever ready, alert, and efficient in every startling emergency, doing the right thing on the spur of the moment, watchful for the safety of his men, while seemingly ob- livions to his own danger. His heroic pres- ence, clear, ringing voice and erect figure in- spired his men-one and all-to do their whole cluty. He was born a leader of men, and we of the rank and file appreciated him as such. He was the manliest man of a manly regiment. Ilis personal character was not only without reproach, but he was also a shining example

of chivalric gentleness. When occasion re- quired, he was the stern officer and wise coun- sellor. Camp life and army surroundings never tainted his gentlemanly instincts. He was a noble man, and his hopeful words, in the clarkest days of the rebellion, as to the success- ful outcome of the war, yet linger in my mem- ory."

Such was his career in the great war. Naturally his interest in military matters con- tinned unabated. The great events of the mighty struggle offered a field of research in which he delighted, and one of the fruits of this study was a book of most graphic and de- lightful personal reminiscences, entitled, "Ser- vice with the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers."

He was a member of the Loyal Legion and of the G. A. R. Even as shortly before his death as Decoration Day, 1899, the boys of the cadet corps of the Marietta High School marched up to his house, and the general, put- ting on his old uniform and looking, broken veteran as he was, every inch a soldier still, addressed them on patriotism and duty-a message the boys will not soon forget. But, to take up the story again,-the war was over, and, he, still a young man, turned, like the thousands of his comrades, to the duties of peace. He settled at once in Marietta, close to his boyhood home, and entered upon a busi- ness career which continued, with little inter- ruption, until his death. An important inter- ruption, however, occurred, which constituted another chapter in his life. He had served his country on the battle-field, and it was destined that his work should be continued in legisla- tive halls and political life. General Dawes had won a wide reputation as an orator. Clear, eloquent, effective, and popular, in the best sense of the word, it was inevitable that a po- litical career should be his lot. He was a party man, but always in an honorable. open way; and as such, after conspicuous service, he was, in 1880, nominated by the Republicans, and elected to Congress. There his career was most honorable. Especially in all the debates of those years on military matters, his was an influential voice, and an important piece of

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legislation-the establishment of diplomatic relations with Persia-was wholly due to his initiative. It was, therefore, a most graceful act when President Mckinley, in 1897, offered to him the position of minister to Persia, even though he could not accept it. General Dawes was renominated for Congress in 1882, but failed of election ; and in 1889 he was one of the leading candidates for the nomination as Governor of Ohio. If less conspicuous, his services to his country have been no less hon- orable in his civil than in his military career, and but for failing health they doubtless would have gone much further.

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 142

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490