History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 30

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

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 30

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MARIETTA IN THE WAR.

enthusiasm should run high. Of the 42 grad- uates in the four classes, 1860-64, 31 entered the Union Army, to say nothing of those who left the college before their course was com- pleted for the same purpose. Marietta was represented in the Union Army by 87 alumni, 39 of whom won commissions. Warner, '45, became major-general; Fearing, '56, Dawes, 'co, and Newport, '60, brigadier-generals. Our roll of honor includes Captains Waldo. '53. Greenwood, '59, and Whittlesey, '61 ; Lieu- tenants Condit, '60, and Turner, '62, who were killed in battle. Ninety-four non-gradu- ates served in the Union Army in addition to the above. What college can equal this rec- ord? Six Marietta alumni served in the Con- federate Army, Col. Henry Fitzhugh, '47, be- ing a Commissioner of the Confederate States to England.

Considering the total number of graduates, the figures quoted here and in the section above are indicative of the real power of the College in the past to give an adequate train- ing and a high purpose to its students.

THE LITERARY SOCIETIES.

In the first years of the College there exist- ed a society under the supervision of the fac- ulty, known as the Philomathean Society, which, however, was divided into two divi- sions. Dissensions in these led to the disrup- tion of the society and the formation of the two present societies Alpha Kappa and Psi Gamma, in 1839. From that day these have furnished the opportunity for literary and or- atorical training of the greatest value to the students. They have engaged in joint debates and contests in friendly rivalry, and have co- operated in the editing of the Olio and other similar enterprises.

THE YOUNG WOMEN.

In 1890, Rev. John L. Mills, for many years a professor in the College, established Elizabeth College for Women. It was always

Located so near the border, it was inevit- able that the issues of the war should be warm- ly discussed in the halls of Marietta and that i in close affiliation with the College, and in

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1893 passed into the control of the College as the Marietta College for Women. On ac- count of the expense involved in the mainten- ance of two independent institutions under one management, a consolidation was effected in ISO7, the young women being admitted to the College, which then became co-educational in the strict sense.

THE ACADEMY.

From the beginning it has been necessary to have a Preparatory Department connected with the College. because the schools of the region do not give adequate preparation for a college of this high grade. This has shared the fortunes of the College, being always con- sidered an integral part of the institution. Connected with it there has been at times a Commercial Department, or an English course or a Normal course, not fitting for college, but for the most part, it has limited its work to courses leading up to the College doors. At the beginning a department of Manual Labor was instituted, which, however, proved quite unpopular with the students, and after a few years was given up.

THE COLLEGE. SPIRIT.

When an institution has been described in its buildings, its professors, its students, after its external history has been traced in its every detail. there still remains a something-the atmosphere, the spirit, the real soul of the in- stitution-which has not been mentioned. It is difficult to describe this, and yet this is a most important part of a college. Its source and its growth cannot be specifically identified. It can be said. however, that this intangible character which belongs to Marietta College is recognized as sweet and wholesome and in- spiring. Its traditions are good, its customs sober and cultivated. and those who study here receive a corresponding uplift.

THE COLLEGE OF TODAY.

It is the purpose of those who control the affairs of the College to maintain its high

scholarship, its thorough training, its Chris- tian atmosphere, its non-sectarian spirit. Al- though there have been many changes in the 60 years, they have not been departures from these essential principles. Students now do not attend chapel by candle-light at 5 a. m., which, however profitable to the spirit, was certainly irksome to the flesh ; but the Christian service is a daily exercise still. Manual labor is not exacted of each student as at the beginning ; but self-help is a recognized feature of to-day, and the student who works his way loses noth- ing in college society because of that fact. The course of study has been broadened. the elec- tive system has been introduced, but the es- sential ideal of the College has been main- tained of a training for right living. The classes are somewhat larger than at times in the past, yet not so large as to destroy that personal contact between professor and stu- dent which is the glory of the small college.

The College, which has been so closely identified with the life of the community in all these years, is bound to it now by close ties. The College has received a generous support, far the largest part of its buildings and endow- ment having come from Marietta people. It has returned to them a service not measured in dollars-the educational opportunity, the holding up of high ideals, the elevating intlu- ence of culture. May the ties binding the two together grow stronger with the years, and may the service each renders to the other be more full of blessing !

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Rev. Alfred Tyler Perry, M. A., D. D., President.

*Hon. Alfred T Goshorn, LL. D. Cincualnati

Col. Douglas Putnam. Ashland. Ky.

John Means, Esq .. Ashland, Ky.

Hon. Martin D. Follett.

Marietta

Rev Cornehus E. Dickinson. D. D.,

Cincinnati

William W. Mills. Reg ..

Marietta

Rev. George R Gear. D. D ..

Marietta

John A. Gallaher, Esq . Marietta

Rev. Edwin Knox Mitchell D. D., Hartford. Conn.

Ilon. Edward S. Wilson, Ironton

Hon Rodney M. Stinson. Marietta

Rev. William E. Roe. D D. Marietta

*Died. February 19, 1902.

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES .- CONTINUED.

Hon. Charles G. Dawes, Evanston, III.

Rev. John R. Nichols. D. D., Marietta

Thomas H. Kelley, Esq., Cincinnati

Rev. Henry Rumer, D. D., Parkersburg. W. Va.

Charles Penrose, Esq .. Marietta

Charles Hall Turner, E=q., Marietta

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD

William W. Mills, Secretary and Treasurer Auditor

Charles H. Newton,

ADVISORY BOARD

The following ladies have been appointed to exer- cise general oversight of matters relating exclusively to the young women :

Mrs. W. W. Mills, Chairman; Mrs. Lydia Putnam, Mrs. Helen G. Curtis, Mrs. Sarah E. Norton, Mrs. John A. Gallaher, Mrs. Alfred T. Perry. and Mrs. Charles H. Turner, of Marietta; Mr. C. C. Clark, of Ironton, and Miss Susan M. Sturgis, of Mansfield.

FACULTY

ALFRED TYLER PERRY. M. A., D. D., President.

Professor of Christian Evidence and Sociology

THOMAS DWIGHT BISCOE, LL. D.

Professor of Biology.

JOSEPH HANSON CHAMBERLIN, Litt. D.

Hillyer Professor of English Literature and of Latin: Dean of the College.

EDWARD EMERSON PHILLIPS Ph. D. Henderson Professor of Philosophy. (Endowed by, etc.)

THOMAS EMERY MCKINNEY, M. A.

Professor of Mathematics, and Lee Lecturer on Astronomy. WILSON FORSYTH MONFORT, M. A.

Erwin Professor of Chemistry and Geology.

MARTIN REGISTER ANDREWS, M. A.

Douglas Putnam Professor of Political Science and History; Registrar of the Faculty.

JOSEPH MANLEY, M. A. Professor of the Greek Language and Liter- ature.

CHARLES GOURLAY GOODRICH. B. Ph.

Acting Professor of Modern Languages.

JOHN LEWIS BARBOUR, CAPT. U. S. A. I'Professor of Military Science and Tactics.

ELIZABETH ANDERSON, M. A. Instructor in Rhetoric and English Literature. GEORGE T. HAMILTON, Instructor in Public Speaking.

RODNEY METCALF STIMSON. M. A. Librarian Emeritus.

MINNIE M. ORR, Librarian.

ELMER ELLSWORTH WOLFE. M. A .. Ph. D.

Prncipal of the Alcademy and Instructor in Latin and Physics.

RALPH V. D. McGOFFIN, M. A. Physical Director and Instructor in Greck.

ROBERT S. POND,

Instructor in Mathematics and Science.

MRS. CARRIE S. WOLFE, Instructor in English Language and Literature. REDECCA SCHWESINGER, Instructor in German and History.

BERTHA DICKINSON METCALF, Instructor in Organ and Paino Playing. JAMES BIRD Instructor in Vocal Music.

KATHARINE PARR NYE, Instructor in Drawing and Painting.

MIKS. JANETTE RORSON, MMatron of Ladies' Home.

TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS.

We have already mentioned some of the pioneer teachers in district or neighborhood schools. The first teacher in a school of higher grade was David Putnam, a graduate of Yale College, and grandson of Maj .- Gen. Is- rael Putnam. He became preceptor of Mus- kingum Academy in 1797, witun less than 10 years after the beginning of the settlement and only two years after the close of the long and harrassing Indian war. From this school, Ma- nietta College has been the natural development and we might almost say that the same is true of Ohio University at Athens; since the men who were most active in the founding of Mus- kingum Academy also took a prominent part in the founding of both of these institutions for higher education.

David Putnam's son, Douglas, was for more than 60 years the secretary of Marietta Collegiate Institute, or, as it was afterward named, Marietta College. Until 1894 every diploma issued by that institution bore his sig- nature and was presented from his hand. Of his munificent benevolence to Marietta College a benevolence which inspired him not only to give many thousands of dollars in money but, what was better, his wise counsel and guid- ance, and the warm affection of his heart, every former student and every instructor has grateful recollection.

In the early period after school houses had been built in some places by public funds, but

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before adequate provision had been made for the support of teachers, it was the custom of the directors to engage a teacher for a speci- fied term, giving the teacher the privilege of charging each pupil a specified rate of tuition. Pupils from other districts might be admit- ted on condition of paying in addition to the tuition a certain sum per month or week. for the use of the school room. Among the noted teachers thus employed we may mention William Slocomb, of whom Mr. Woodbridge tells a pleasing story in the pre- ceding chapter, and Theodore Scott, who con- tinued to teach very successfully a private school, long after the establishment of the un- ion system, in which he had taken an active part.

Perhaps the best known teacher of common schools in our county for about 40 years in the latter half of the last century, was John Dean Phillips, a graduate of Marietta College in the class of '54, and a teacher from that time until 1888, when he died at the age of 56. In 1859. he was called to take charge of the Greene Street grammar school, at that time considered a very difficult position for any teacher. yet he proved himself at once a mas- ter in his chosen profession. It is safe to esti- mate that in the 34 years which he devoted to teaching. not less than 3,000 pupils received from him personal instruction in the common English branches. Almost from the first his school was crowded, since students came to him from every part of the county. In 1868 the enrollment was 145. and the average daily attendance, 92. He seemed to delight in the size, as well as in the order of the school; he was never more happy than when he was crowded against the wall by the throng of pu- pils, and he declined every offer of assistance. In 1879 he accepted the superintendncy of the Harmar public school but continued to devote the greater part of his time and attention to the grammar school grades, where the same success attended him and even larger numbers thronged to his instruction until the room could holdt no more. When in the summer of 1888 failing health warned him that it was

time for him to rest, he offered his resignation ; but this was not accepted until he made it per- emptory. He did not live long to enjoy the rest and retirement he sought: he was called home August 14, 1888. It will be a long time before his enthusiastic labors will be forgotten by his grateful pupils.

Mrs. Jane Russell, who taught for many years in the Washington Street school build- ing, is remembered with pleasure and gratitude by hundreds of people in Marietta, who as boys and girls were so fortunate as to sit with- in the circle made light by her presence and en- thusiastic sympathy. It was truly said that to have gone to school to Mrs. Russell was to have obtained the best start possible to acquire an education. In 1868 Mrs. Russell was mar- ried to Col. E. S. McIntosh, one of the most prominent business men of Washington Coun- ty. She died in Beverly, June 26, 1902. She was a daughter of Maj. John Clark.

Dr. Henry Smith, the second president of Marietta College ( 1846-1855), performed a great educational service to this community, and indeed to the State, through the collection of books which he purchased in Europe for the library of Marietta College, as well as through his subsequent donations and legacies to the endowment. Few people understand the true value of the first important addition to the li- brary. The books which he, as agent for the trustees, purchased in that early day could not now be bought for 10 times the amount which he paid for them. Among those books are Aldine copies of the Latin classics, printed by the celebrated Manutius in Venice before Shakespeare was born.

President 1. W. Andrews, connected with the College as tutor, professor and president for a full half century ( 1838-1888), was in- strumental in securing larger additions to the endowment and equipment of the College than any other man of his time.

Beman Gates, whom we of the present gen- eration remember chiefly as the quiet, cultivat- ed man of business, railroad director and bank president, has done much in the educational work of this county, as a teacher of music,

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY.

leader of a band (one of the first in the coun- ty), as leader in the choir in the First Congre- gational Church, as secretary of the Washing- ton County School Association, whose minutes are published in another part of this volume, as editor of the Marietta Intelligencer, and as trustee of Marietta College, to which he was a generous donor and in whose management he took a very active part. Among these gifts was the beautiful lot upon which the College Observatory now stands.

Hon. Rodney Metcalf Stimson, who is still with us, has been his own executor in the collection, arrangement and cataloguing of 20,- ooo volumes, which he has given to Marietta College. The richness of this collection, es- pecially in American history, is only beginning to be appreciated. Students and specialists are coming from a distance to consult the rare volumes, printed and manuscript which are found in the Stimson collection. Dr. S. P. Hildreth, who was one of the committee ap- pointed at an early day (as mentioned in an- other chapter), to prepare a report on the sub- ject of education for the use of the General Assembly of Ohio, has in many ways contri- buted to the educational wealth of the country. He was a close observer and carefully record- ed his observations. Among the older writers of scientific subjects, Sir Charles Lyell and his contemporaries, Dr. Hildreth is frequently quoted as an original authority, and his col- lection of manuscript, including, as it does, autograph letters from so many of the leading men in the first half century of our national existence, can hardly be overestimated. Every chapter in this book, except those exclusively devoted to more recent affairs, is indebted to the wise forethought of Dr. S. P. Hildreth and to the filial piety of his son, Dr. George O. Hil- dreth, who in his goth year still manifests a lively interest in the subject to which his atten- tion from childhood has been directed. For some time Dr. George O. Hildreth has been thinking of preparing a new edition of his fa- ther's publications, but we fear that this pur- pose cannot be carried out on account of his feeble health.

Among the principals of the Marietta High School, George Rosseter, afterward professor of mathematics in Marietta College, is remem- bered by his grateful pupils for his enthusias- tic, sympathetic spirit. Judge M. D. Follett and Rev. George R. Gear are remembered as principals of the High School, as active mem- bers of the Board of Education, and as trus- tees of Marietta College.

The pioneers brought with them their New England habits and traditions. Books and papers were to them among the necessities of life. Hence the early founding of libraries.

In 1823 Mr. Wilcox kept open a reading room which was supplied with many eastern papers and also with the Edinburgh and North American Reviews-an important step in pop- ular education.

Terms of subscription .- To citizens gener- ally, $5 per annum. To clerks and students. $3, and to apprentices, $2.

PATRONS OF THE READING ROOM IN 1824.

B. P. Putnam,

R. J. Meig: .

Dr. M. German,

W: B. Barnes,

J. M. Booth,

R. Crawford,

John Mills,

D. C. Skinner,

Roval Prentiss,

A. V. D. Joline,

Silas Cook.

A. Fisher.

Capt. D. Greene,

J. English.

Rev. J. McAboy,

Rev. E. Maltby.

H. P. Wilcox.

Dr. S. P Hildreth,

T. K. Cooke.

Nahum Ward.

J. Wood.

W. A. Whittle-cy.

Dr. J. Cotton.

Caleb Emer-on,

Dudley Woodbridge.

William Knox.

S. H. Gates,

N. Holden,

L. T. Reno.

Joseph P'. Wightman.

E. Cockburn.

Rev. D. Limerick.

This reading room was a kind of a literary

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club room ; for it was announced that, "Gentle- men visting Marietta will always find a wel- come reception in the Reading Room-espe- cially when invited and introduced by a sub- seriber."

This attempt at co-operation among the readers and students was continued by the Marietta Magazine Club which, organized in 1842, has continued to the present day. One honorable name, that of John Mills, descend- ing from father to son, has been connected with this educational enterprise nearly 80 years. In the Magazine Club, the magazines are passed from member to member around a definitely appointed circle. The fee for many years has been $3 per annum. The example of this pioneer magazine club has led to the formation of the Lotos Club and of others, not only in Marietta, but in other towns and even in distant places.

The character of the reading matter which was found in Marietta in the first half century of its history may be inferred from the follow- ing :

LIST OF BOOKS FOR SALE AT THIE STORE OF D. WOODBRIDGE. 18.25.

Encyclopaedia. 23 volume -. British Essayits. 45 volumes.

Watson's Tracts. 6 volumes.

Hunter's Sacred Biography. 3 volumes.

Village Sermons, 4 volumes, Mosheim's Church History, 6 volumes.

Sterne's Work. 6 volumes.

Locke's Works, 1 volumes.

Blair's Lectures. 3 volumes. Good's Study of Medicine, 5 volumes.

If Mr. Woodbridge had any light litera- ture, lie does not mention it although he does offer flour, New Orleans sugar, and whiskey.

ARTISTS.

The education of a community is not com- plete unless there be added to the moral and intellectual training some cultivation of the æsthetie side of humanity. Early in our his- tory, traveling portrait painters paid us visits. but very few of their works remain to the present day. As early as 1830, Charles Sulli-

van of Marietta was an amateur landscape painter and one of his paintings, now hanging in a room of the First National Bank of Mar- ietta, has been photographed for this volume. It is chiefly valuable for the history which it tells.

Miss A. M. Martin, who taught herself the use of pencil and brush and whose first efforts at portrait painting with charcoal on the kitch- en wall were the delight of her acquaintances, gave promise of wonderful success, but her best friends must confess that she made the great mistake of her life when she refused to take lessons from the best masters. She went to New York many years ago and there won some reputation as a portrait painter but not that wide renown of which her earlier productions gave so fair a promise.

The earliest portrait painter who lived among us was Sala Bosworth, the father of Mrs. ( Major) E. C. Dawes of this city, and C. H. Bosworth, president of the Chicago, Pe- oria & St. Louis Railroad. In many a fam- ily in this city and in other counties, the por- traits painted by him in his early manhood are the most highly prized heirlooms. Born in Halifax, Massachusetts, September 15, 1805, he came to this county with his family in 1816. He studied painting at the Art Academy in Philadelphia in 1826 and was the artist to whom the publie are indebted for the portraits of Gen. Rufus Putnam. Judge Ephraim Cut- ler, Col. Joseph Barker, and many of the pio- neers. The pictures of the "Campus Mar- tius," "Farmers' Castle at Belpre." "Wolf Creek Mills," "The Blennerhassett Mansion." and "Marietta at the Point in 1792."-orgin- ally printed in "Hildreth's Pioneer History" and in numerous other works, were all copies from his drawings, made from data supplied to him from the pioneers. Ile held various of- fices, as county auditor, and postmaster at Marietta under Lincoln. He died December 22. 1800, in his 80th year. Ile was gentle, unselfish and much beloved.

The artistic talent seems to remain in the Bosworth family. William Bosworth, a Mar- ietta boy, a grandnephew of Sala. was the su-

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pervising architect to whom the people are greatly indebted for that vision of beauty re- vealed in the Pan American Exposition, and who is now busily engaged in devising plans for the exposition at St. Louis.

In the art of music, although Washington County can boast of no great genius who has won a national reputation, yet we may be thankful that there has been such a wide dif- fusion of musical culture as has added much more to the refinement and happiness of the whole community than could have been con- ; soon followed by the settlers about Amesville. tributed by even the greatest isolated genius. We may even hope, with good reason for our expectations, that one native of Marietta, Mas- ter Francis McMillan, who received his first in- spirations and lessons in music from his gifted mother, an amateur of no mean ability, will soon win that world-wide renown of which his youthful performances give fair promise.

The reports of the Washington County

| School Association, from whose manuscript records we have made long quotations, show that a very large number of farmers and other intelligent business men took a very active part in educational affairs. Not only Ephraim Cut- ler and Dr. Hildreth, but business men from every part of the county were as much interest- ed in education and progress as the few profes- sional teachers. It was a farmer of Belpre who founded what was perhaps the first library in the great Northwest Territory, and he was The schools were placed upon a broad and solid foundation because all the intelligent citi- zens took an active interest in the work. The perpetuation of the educational institutions, and their adaption to the changing needs of successive generations will ever demand the ac- tive co-operation of the patriotic citizens as well as of the professional teachers.

CHAPTER IX.

ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL PROGRESS. 1788-1830.

MILLS -- CLOTHING-SALT --- BOAT-BUILDING-MARIETTA IN 1809 -- IMPORTS FROM THE EAST -- STEAM MILL-INDIANS -- TRADE STIMULATED BY THE WAR OF 1812-WITHDRAWAL OF SPECIE TO THE EAST-HARD TIMES-SEARCH FOR SILVER-THE SCOTCH IMMI- GRATION-CHANGE OF METHOD IN TAXING LAND-IMPROVEMENTS-TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT-A CHANGE IN THE POPULATION OF THE COUNTY-HUMANE SOCIETY- AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY-GRAND CIRCUS HUNT-WOOL AND WOLVES -- PHENOMENA -- GENERAL LA FAYETTE-STEAMBOAT BUILDING -- THE FIRST STEAMBOAT UP THE MUS- KINGUM- NAVIGATION OF THE MUSKINGUM-NAVIGATION OF THE OHIO-THE TOWN

IN 1826 MARKETING-MINISTERIAL LANDS-WASHINGTON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY-MARIETTA FAIR-RAILROAD TO OHIO-BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD- HEALTH OF MARIETTA-SILK CULTURE -- THE GERMAN IMMIGRATION.

The isolated position of the pioneers soon , sistance of Griffin Greene, erected a floating taught them to depend upon their own labors for almost every form of food, shelter and clothing. For meat they depended principally upon the game to be found in the forest, the supply often proving very scant. The streams were more plentifully stocked with fish. The only grain they could raise in considerable quantities before 1796 was Indian corn.

MILLS.

The grinding of corn in a hand mill was so laborious that the citizens of Belpre began to look for a site for a water-mill. They found one, which appeared suitable, on the Little Hocking a mile and a half from the Ohio and here Griffin Greene and Robert Bradford em- ployed the millwrights Baldwin and Applegate to construct a dam and a mill. The work was interrupted by the Indian war, but in 1791 Capt. Jonathan Devol, with the advice and as-

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 30

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