USA > Ohio > History of Ohio Methodism : a study in social science > Part 2
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and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has had a more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the Ordi- nance of 1787."
The colonization of Ohio and the struggles of the early settlers read like an Arabian tale. The pious Moravian missionaries were among the first settlers. They founded a mission among the Delaware Indians of the Muskingum Valley in the year 1761. Several missions were founded from time to time among the Indians of Eastern Ohio. They were unfortunately located between hostile forces; and in 1781 they were obliged to remove, and many of their Indian followers were massacred in the most shameful and brutal man- ner. Five years later a mission was established on the Cuyahoga River. This mission ceased to exist in 1824, when the lands of the Indians passed over to the General Government. In 1786 the Ohio Com- pany was formed in Boston to purchase and settle lands west of the Alleghanies. They purchased from the Government about a million and a half of acres situated in the present counties of Washington, Athens, Meigs, and Gallia.
The following year a colony for its settlement was organized, and started on its journey to a new home in the West. General Putnam, with forty-eight colonists, landed, on April 7, 1788, at the mouth of the Muskingum River, at the present site of Mari- etta, where they erected temporary huts, which con- tained the germs of a great civilization, although there was no large prophecy in these early beginnings.
Bancroft says of this company: "It interested
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every one. For vague hope of colonization here stood a hardy band of pioneers, ready to lead the way to the rapid absorption of the domestic debt of the United States; selected from the choicest regiments of the army, capable of self-defense, the protectors of all who should follow them; men skilled in the labor of the field, and artisans, enterprising and laborious,
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trained in the severe morality and strict orthodoxy of the New England villages of the day."
The civil government of the Northwest Territory was established in 1788. In September of this year the first Court of Common Pleas in the Territory was opened at Marietta with imposing ceremonies. Eighty-four new colonists joined the number before the year closed.
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Other settlements followed this one. In 1792 about five hundred settlers from France reached the Ohio River and founded Gallipolis. Soon after the purchase of the Ohio Company, John C. Symmes, of New Jer- sey, purchased one million acres between the Great and Little Miami Rivers. This purchase was subse- quently modified by Congress to three hundred and eleven thousand six hundred and eighty-two acres. This territory was settled mostly by people from New Jersey. The Virginia military settlers occupied the Scioto Valley. Another stream of immigration poured in from Pennsylvania, and located in Central-East Ohio, and covered what is known as the backbone of Ohio, which is the great wheat-belt of the State. These colonists were Scotch-Irish and Pennsylvania German. The Connecticut settlements came in on the north, and settled what is now known as the Western Reserve territory. They brought the New England ideas. These streams of immigration met and eddied about each other. There was a marked distinction in the manners, customs, and ideas of these early settlers, which to the present day is not entirely ef- faced. These lines of demarkation are growing fainter each year. The railroads and various avenues of trade have led men to move about more readily. The provincialism of thirty or forty years ago has been in a great measure broken up, and the population of Ohio is now a homogeneous body. This mingled stock and life of various peoples found a common exhibition, and made possible a richer and more progressive civili- zation. The social and unifying principle of political
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freedom and Christianity has operated favorably in bringing about these results.
Ohio furnishes the theater of the story of the most thrilling incident and heroic valor. Its history abounds in experiences of the deepest pathos and the grimmest tragedy. The feats and hairbreadth escapes of the daring bordermen read like a romance. The Indians resisted every encroachment of the pioneers upon their territory, and with daring and barbaric cruelty they captured and sacked the villages. They did not hes- itate to perpetrate some of the most daring atrocities on the frontier settlements. The pioneers retaliated by making frequent expeditions among the Indians to destroy their crops, burn their towns, and capture and kill the inhabitants. It is to be regretted that such a deep hatred existed between the Indians and pioneers, which continued until the treaty concluded by General Wayne in 1795. Several attempts were made to check the depredations of the savages upon these frontier settlements, but with varying success.
General St. Clair organized an expedition against the Indians, and with less than two thousand soldiers came to the Wabash River, where his army was en- circled by a thousand and fifty Indians; and a terrible battle ensued, eight hundred and ninety-four of his men being killed within a few hours; and the others fled. The result of this battle greatly emboldened the Indians. General Anthony Wayne, a heroic soldier of the Revolution, organized an army of three thou- sand men, and marched from Cincinnati to Green- ville, the rendezvous of the hostile savages. He made
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generous proposals of peace, but they were rejected. On August 20, 1794, near the present site of Mau-
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mee City, he attacked and signally defeated the Indian tribes of the Northwest. He and his army retired to
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Greenville, and arranged and concluded a treaty upon August 3, 1795, which was participated in by eleven hundred and thirty Indians.
This treaty established peace on the frontier, and opened the way for a more rapid settlement of Ohio. The Territory in 1798 had five thousand male inhabit- ants of full age. They were now entitled to elect a legislative assembly, and this was done the December following. The Territorial Government continued until 1803, when Ohio, with a population of sixty thousand, was admitted to the sisterhood and Union of the States, where her career was to be an important factor in the history of the Union. At the close of the first century of the history of Ohio we see the im- perfect alliance between the early settlers succeeded by an organized union of eighty-eight counties, "ex- uberant with vigor, proudly independent in local affairs, but for national concerns compacted into a unity which nothing but the splitting of the continent can disturb."
This short review of the early settlement and the formation of Ohio will prepare us in some measure to consider the resources and industrial agencies which exist at the present time. The feeble and re- mote beginnings in Ohio's history hardly prepare us to comprehend the remarkable growth in everything that goes to make up civilized life. For several years the cost of transportation checked the settlers by limit- ing them to a domestic market. The only means they had of communicating with accessible markets was by pack-horses, which were soon displaced by Penn- sylvania wagons, drawn by four or six horses. The
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roads at first were only obscure and winding paths in trackless forests. But Congress in 1806 ordered the construction of a national road between Ohio at Wheeling, and Cumberland, Maryland. The road was completed in 1825 at a cost of more than two million dollars. Almost two-thirds of this amount was pro- vided from the proceeds of Ohio land-sales. The sum of one million two hundred and thirteen thousand dol- lars was likewise expended by Ohio on that part of the road lying within the State's domain. This road be- came the highway of national activity, and gave an outlet for the immense productions of the State, and helped to relieve the depression created by the absence of commerce, as well as to bring a great influx of ยท population.
Commerce was likewise retarded on the Ohio River for lack of transportation. Keel-boats and sail-barges and other frail and unmanageable crafts were in use until 18II. Shortly after, steam navigation proved a success. The first steamboat in the Ohio River left Pittsburg, and sailed down the Ohio about 181I. This brought about industrial and commercial changes which have proved very beneficial to the country.
Prior to this time the entire commerce of Lake : Erie was carried by half a dozen little schooners. It was not until 1818 that the first steamer appeared on Lake Erie. At the present time there are more than three thousand vessels plying on her waters, with more than a million pounds of tonnage, whose value exceeds fifty million dollars.
The canals were likewise an important factor in aiding Western growth. The Erie Canal, extending
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from Buffalo, five hundred and thirteen miles in length, was begun in 18II and completed in 1825. The Ohio Canal, connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River by the way of the Muskingum and Scioto Val- leys, and the Miami Canal, connecting Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo, were both authorized in 1825 by the Legislature of Ohio. These canals, forming a waterway of seven hundred and eighty-two miles, were constructed at an expense of more than fifteen million dollars. They produced a healthful influence upon the growth and prosperity of the State. They were the means of enhancing the value of land, en- couraging immigration, and raised the prices of grain and other products more than fifty per cent.
The railroads mark another epoch in the history of Ohio, and they soon became rivals of the canals. The first railroad was incorporated in 1832, and was to connect Dayton with Sandusky. A portion of the road was open in 1838, and completed in 1841. Now a railroad system covers the State with bands of iron; and every city, village, and county is in communication with the outside world. Scarcely half a century has elapsed since the first railroad was completed; and to-day Ohio has more than twelve thousand miles of railroad, valued at one hundred and twenty-five million dollars. These facts convey but a faint idea of the gigantic power of this great civilizing agency and thoroughfare of the people. These iron highways have opened up new markets, and have had a remarkable influence upon the prosperity of Ohio. The volume of trade has increased with their growth. Their in- fluence upon agriculture is especially remarkable.
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Prior to railroads, oats and corn brought eight and ten cents a bushel, and wheat thirty and forty cents. Beef and pork sold for one dollar and fifty cents a hundred. The railroads have been instrumental in doubling the price of flour, tripling the price of hogs, and quadrupling the price of corn. The Ohio farmers have gained millions of dollars through the introduc- tion of railroads. Their effect was to quicken the spirit of progress, increase public confidence, stimulate immigration, and give a touch of new life to agri- culture and manufactories and all kinds of business.
The material resources are likewise encouraging. The coal-fields in Ohio are ten thousand square miles in extent, and estimated to have an average layer of nine feet. The total product of coal in Ohio for 1891 was more than thirteen million tons. The iron indus- try in Ohio was set on foot as early as 1804; but the making of iron first began in 1829. This industry has had an almost uninterrupted career of activity.
The agricultural statistics for 1891 show a prodi- gious amount of farm products. The entire cereal crop of Ohio for this year aggregated over forty million bushels. For the same year Ohio produced eighteen million two hundred and eighteen thousand pounds of cheese, forty-six million dozen of eggs, and about nineteen million pounds of wool. Certainly these figures are not bare and uninteresting when we con- sider that these products afford every citizen of Ohio an abundance to eat and wear, and prove a blessing to his own land and to other nations.
In the early settlements "there was little money; and business was chiefly in barter for peltries, ginseng,
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beeswax, and such products as could be transported by pack-horses. Cut-money, or sharp-shins, was a curious necessity of the times. For want of small change the coins, chiefly Spanish, were cut into quarters, and so circulated." The pinching poverty of the early times has been followed by extraordinary wealth, and Ohio now ranks among the richest States in the Union. The real and personal property in Ohio in 1890 was more than seven billion dollars, which was more than the entire value of property in the United States, as shown in the census of 1850. If this amount were divided among the families residing in Ohio, they would each receive nearly two thousand dollars.
Besides the good roads and the material resources and great financial strength of the State, Ohio ranks among the foremost States of the Union in the variety, extent, and application of human skill to all forms of industry. She rivals other States in her manufacturing interests, and has more manufacturing towns than any other State in the Union.
Ohio, likewise, occupies the proud position of being foremost among all the States in educational matters. She has the largest percentage of youth in her insti- tutions of learning, and spends one-tenth of all the money used in the United States for school purposes.
The early pioneers gave attention to the education of the youth. They recognized that intellectual ad- vancement must go hand in hand with progress in material things. The founders of many of the Colonies were men of education. Schools and the means of education were encouraged by legislative provisions. Two townships were set apart by the Ohio Company
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for a college, and one in the Miami Purchase for an academy. Congress had likewise set aside one thirty- sixth of all the land in the State for the foundation of public schools. However, the free-school system was not established until 1826. Prior to this act of the Legislature every township in the State was provided with private schools.
The public schools in Ohio have grown to colossal proportions. The least number of schoolhouses in any township in the State is four, and the largest number is twenty-seven. In 1891 there were enrolled one million one hundred and thirty-two thousand six hundred and sixty-seven youth of school age; and of these, seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand three hundred and fifty-two were attending school, and were taught by twenty-five thousand and ninety-nine teachers.
Besides our public schools, Ohio has numerous colleges and universities. At the beginning of this century there was only one college and a very few schools; now there are thirty-seven colleges and uni- versities, with a permanent endowment of more than eight million dollars. There were in 1896 some sixteen thousand young men and eight thousand young women attending the colleges and the professional schools in the State. This shows that Ohio is educat- ing more students than any other State in the Union. In addition to our school system and colleges and professional schools there are more than one thousand newspapers and magazines published within the State, which become the exponents of the people's life and civilization. We believe it not too much to say that
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the average intelligence of the people of Ohio is equal to, if not above, any other State in the Union.
These fragmentary outlines of the growth of Ohio may serve to remind us of what astonishing changes have occurred during the first century of our history. The mere chronicling of facts and the depicting of leading events does not satisfy the inquiring mind. Men naturally seek for the constituent elements and the forces underlying the history of phenomena, in order to discover their deep meaning and significance.
All social progress has an historical preparation. One of the hidden forces at work in the phenomenal growth and prosperity of the State of Ohio is found in environment. The early pioneers had favorable sur- roundings. One of the chief elements in the material progress has been the prodigious resources and fertile soil of the country.
The mere material environment, however, is a small matter in comparison with the personal charac- teristics of the early settlers. These are important factors, which go to make up our estimate of the forces at work to produce some of the results given.
I. The early pioneers startedout with strong physical energies. They could look back through a long period of noble ancestry who had bequeathed to them a native vigor, social aptitudes, and a moral capacity which gave promise of a rich and progressive civilization. They were, generally speaking, men of sterling char- acter. The majority possessed a spirit of industry, in- tegrity, and the fear of God. They might well rank among nature's noblemen. They came into the new country without wealth; but they had what was far
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better,-noble purposes, elevated aspirations, and firn faith in God. Men with such characters are a sufficient guarantee in the formation of individual and national prosperity. Our history has been largely but the un- folding of what was folded in the nature of those pioneers.
2. They were likewise men of intense activity. They were trained to labor. A vital condition of civilization is strenuous, persistent labor. Wherever these settlers went, the place became a scene of intense activity. Whatever changes have brought distinction to Ohio, have been wrought by the patient endurance and he- roic efforts of these settlers. Their toilsome journey to their future homes was made without a road to guide them. They entered a dreary and unbroken forest to find no hotel, and were often separated by miles from their nearest neighbor. "Their first ne- cessity," says Rufus King, "was to girdle the trees, and grub a few acres for a corn-crop and a truck- patch, sufficient for a season. As soon as the logs were cut, a cabin was built with the aid of neighbors. But food, rather than shelter, was the severest want of the pioneers. True, the woods were full of game; but venison, turkey, and bear-meat all the time, be- came tiresome enough. There was no bread nor salt. The scanty salt-springs were therefore precious. The Indian corn, when once started, was the chief reliance for man and beast. The furniture of the cabins and the dress of the people necessarily partook of the same absolutely rustic simplicity. Excellent tables, cupboards, and benches were made of poplar and beech woods. The buckeye furnished not only
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bowls and platters for all who had no tin or queens- ware, but also the split-bottom chair still in popular use. Bearskins were bed and bedding. The deer- skin, dressed and undressed, was very much used for clothing; and the skins of the raccoon and rabbit formed a favorite headgear. But wool and flax soon abounded, and spinning-wheels and looms became standard articles in every house. The home-made tow linen and woolens, or mixed flannels, linseys, and jeans constituted the chief materials for clothing."
It was fortunate that the land laws were modified at the very beginning of the early settlers so as to give each emigrant the right to purchase one-fourth sec- tion of land at two dollars an acre on a credit of five years. The effect of this was that a multitude of emigrants were induced to settle in Ohio and become freeholders. They were willing to grapple with the forest, subdue the soil, practice economy, in view of the reward of a home and friends. The idea of pos- sessing property was the root idea of their social prog- ress. The necessities of life, the virginity of the soil opening resources and inviting opportunities, were the outward occasions that challenged them to faithful exertions for food and comfort and the blessings of civilized life. Their early privations and hardships produced a new vigor which has stimulated every im- portant industry in the State.
3. Another characteristic of these early settlers was that they believed in self-protection. They grewin charac- ter and power because they were ready to defend and preserve what their labor had secured. They wrestled and struggled against physical forces, severity of
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climate, fierceness of beasts, and the hostility and brutality of savages. These struggles strengthened character, nurtured manhood, and incited to heroic deeds. From the harsh, sterile conditions men have gone forth, conspicuous for energy and valor. The early pioneers not only heroically struggled in all the expeditions in their aggressive warfare against the Indians, but in 1812 Ohio was called upon to help engage in the disastrous and bloody war against Great Britain. Three regiments were first sent into the field. The following year several brigades of militia were called out to resist the British invasion. This war caused great sacrifice. An eyewitness described the country as "depopulated of men, and the farmer women, weak and sickly as they often were, and sur- rounded by their helpless little children, were obliged, for want of bread, to till their field, until frequently they fell exhausted and dying under the toil to which they were unequal. The horrors and the fearful suf- ferings of the first year of the war can never be for- gotten by the people of that generation."
An incident in this war will illustrate the heroic spirit of the times. In 1813 General Proctor, a British officer, besieged Fort Stevenson at Lower Sandusky, now Fremont-garrisoned by only one hundred and fifty men under Major Croghan, a brave young sol- dier, only twenty-one years of age. Proctor called upon the garrison to surrender in order to escape massacre. The heroic Croghan answered that, when the fort was taken, a massacre would do no harm, for none of its defenders would be left alive. Croghan had but one cannon. By firing it from different places,
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he tried to make the enemy believe that he was well provided with artillery. The British concluded to take the fort by storni. Croghan concealed his cannon so as to sweep the ditch through which they had to pass. When the ditch was full of men, he opened fire with deadly effect. The British now retreated after a loss of one hundred and fifty men, while the Americans had but one killed and seven wounded. Croghan was promoted to the rank of colonel, and the ladies of Chillicothe gave him an elegant sword.
The war soon ended. Under the leadership of Gen- eral W. H. Harrison and Commodore O. H. Perry, the enemy were repulsed and defeated. After the Ohio campaign the war terminated, and the people were again left in peace. Of the fifty thousand soldiers that sustained the Government in the War of Mexico in 1848, Ohio raised and maintained five thousand five hundred and thirty-six volunteers, who did valuable service for their country. This heroic display of self- protection was magnificently displayed at a later pe- riod in the history of Ohio.
When the Civil War broke out in 1860, Ohio took prompt and energetic action in suppressing the re- bellion, and in vindicating the national power. Ohio furnished one-tenth of the whole army during this severe struggle. Three hundred and nineteen thou- sand six hundred and fifty-nine soldiers responded to the call to defend the Nation. The career of her officers and soldiers is the glory and pride of the Nation. It is a remarkable fact that most of the dis- tinguished officers in the army were born or trained in Ohio. Among the great generals are Grant, Rose-
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crans, Sherman, Sheridan, McPherson, Gilmore, Cox, McDowell, Buell, O. M. Mitchel, Schenck, Garfield, Steedman, Crook, Keifer, and Hayes. Stanton, Lin- coln's War Secretary, was born at Steubenville. Sal- mon P. Chase was Secretary of the Treasury, and "the father of our National Bank system." These distin- guished leaders were the exponents of a people of like character, who gave them prominence, and sustained them by suffering and sacrifice. Thus we see that whenever the people's liberties were invaded, or their rights questioned, they were ready to maintain them with such means and ends as they could command.
Likewise many of the struggles on moral questions have required as much nerve and conviction as any of the great struggles in the war; the people who have been noted for their independence in expressing con- victions and aiding all moral reforms, have thus gained dignity and power, because they have ever been willing to resist whatever limited or endangered the social welfare.
4. The early pioneers were likewise public-spirited. They studied the public welfare, and showed a readi- ness to make free and intelligent self-sacrifices for the general good. People of such diversified character- istics and tempers have been prompt to subordinate all local and individual aims to the public welfare, believing that personal interests are essentially in- volved in all that goes to promote the good of the commonwealth. This self-sacrificing temper has been one of the chief characteristics of a great number of large-minded men in Ohio, whenever they felt that the State was passing through a crisis.
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