USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; from the glacial period to the present time > Part 6
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The Lawrence was reduced to a mere wreck; her deck was streaming with blood and covered with the mangled remains of her crew. Her guns were dismounted, but Commodore Perry and his officers helped to work the last one cap- able of service. At 2 o'clock Captain Elliot was
PERRY'S VICTORY.
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OHIO IN THE WAR OF 1812.
enabled, by an increase of wind, to bring his ship into close action, and Perry immediately determined to shift his flag on board that ship, leaving his own in charge of Lieutenant Yarnell. Taking his flag under his arm, Perry ordered a boat to place him on board the Niagara. Broad- sides were leveled at his boat, and he received without injury, a shower of musketry from three of the enemy's ships. He landed safely and hoisted his flag with its animating motto. Cap- tain Elliott was sent back to bring up the other schooners. At that moment the flag of the Law- rence was hauled down. She had sustained the principal force of the enemy's fire for more than two hours and was rendered incapable of de- fense. Any further show of resistance would have been a useless sacrifice of the remains of her brave and gallant crew. The enemy at the same time were so badly crippled that they were unable to take posession of her, and circum- stances soon enabled the bleeding crew to again hoist her flag.
Commodore Perry then gave the signal to all the vessels for close action. Finding the Ni- agara in good condition, Perry determined upon the desperate plan of breaking the enemy's line of battle. He accordingly passed the head of two ships and gave them a raking fire at close range, and after getting the entire squadron into
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
action, he laid his ship alongside of the British Commodore. The smaller vessels closed in with the enemy between them and the Niagara, and in that position kept up a destructive fire from both sides until every British ship had struck her colors.
The engagement lasted about three hours, and never was victory more decisive and complete. The number of prisoners taken exceeded the number of men on board the American squadron at the close of the action. Perry's loss was 27 killed and 96 wounded, while that of the English must have been much greater. At the close of the battle Perry sent his famous dispatch, "We have met the enemy and they are ours : two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."
After the defeat of the British on Lake Erie, Proctor and his Indians withdrew into Canada. The enemy were pursued by General Harrison and his army, who overtook them at the Thames river, where a most decisive battle was fought and a glorious victory gained by the Americans. The enemy were completely routed and slaugh- tered in a frightful manner. Tecumseh and his bravest chieftains were slain, thus ending for- ever the Indian wars in Ohio.
Chapter X
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INTERNAL DEVELOPEMENT OF OHIO
W ITH the close of the War of 1812, came a peace and quietness such as Ohio
had never known. The war-cry of Te- cumseh was heard no more in the forests nor on the plains, and the people pursued their ways without molestation.
The increasing crops and multiplying flocks and herds soon created a great demand for better roads to market. The crooked trails of the In- dians and the unkept roads of the first settlers would no longer suffice. So, while the United States was constructing a road west from the Atlantic, the Ohio people were busily engaged in laying out and grading roads throughout the state.
In 1811, a steamboat made its appearance in the Ohio river and was soon followed by numer- ous other boats, giving to the southern portion of the state an unlooked-for outlet. In a like manner the northern portion was reached by boats on the great lakes, leaving the interior of the state without an outlet.
But the stage-coach and freight-wagon would
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
no longer suffice for the rapidly growing com- merce, and an increasing demand for canals was felt throughout the state. A petition was sent to the State Legislature asking for assist- ance in the construction of these canals. The state began in 1825 to build two canals; one from Cleveland to Portsmouth, and the other from Toledo to Cincinnati. When these canals with their branches, were completed, they gave the people nearly a thousand miles of navigable waters within their own state.
With the construction of these canals came great prosperity. They were dug by the citi- zens of the state, and so the sixteen millions of dollars came back to those who had so willingly taxed themselves for the outlay. Great swamps were drained by these canals, making them the most fertile lands of the state. The price of property increased rapidly, and while the old towns grew into cities, new towns and villages rose up on the prairies and in the forest regions, and the camp and log hut of the rural districts gave place to large and beautiful dwellings of modern architecture.
The Ohio people had received, from the peo- ple of New York, this impulse to build canals, and so the new York Governor, De Witt Clinton, was invited to join in the ceremonies incident to the beginning of the first canal. He came by
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INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT OF OHIO.
steamboat to Cleveland where he took stage for Newark. On July 4th, 1825, in the presence of a great throng of Ohio citizens, and a distin- guished delegation from New York, Governor Clinton lifted a spadeful of earth on the Lick- ing summit. Governor Morrow of Ohio lifted the second spadeful, and then followed a strug- gle among the other distinguished gentlemen as to who should lift the third. Soon a wheelbar- row was filled and a happy Buckeyean wheeled it away and dumped it over a bank. The cere- monies were concluded by an eloquent address by Thomas Ewing.
When the canals were completed, multitudes thronged the banks to see the water let into the channels. A continuous ovation accompanied the first fleet of three canal boats throughout its course. At the larger cities cannon were fired and great throngs of people shouted themselves hoarse.
While the value of these canals, to the state, can hardly be overestimated, they were to have, but a brief existence. The enormous increase in the state's commerce, brought about by the canals, showed the careful observer that a still greater development of the state's resources could be occasioned by faster and safer trans- portation.
As early as 1830 and '31 steam railroads had
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
been put into operation in the eastern states, and soon they were to be tested in Ohio. In 1836, an interstate railway was put into opera- tion between Toledo and Adrian, Michigan, but not until 1839, was Ohio to have a chartered railway, all within her own boundaries. This road was the Mad River and Lake Erie, extend- ing from Sandusky to Dayton. It was opened to the public, as far as Bellevue, sixteen miles, in 1839, and completed to Dayton in 1844. Pro- gressive capitalists conceiving the vast possibili- ties of the railway, soon began the construction of numerous roads. In the course of a few years, a net-work of railways covered the state, making every part of it quickly, cheaply and easily accessible to every other part.
The younger generations of the present day could scarcely imagine how rude and simple were the railroads of the earlier days. Instead of the well ballasted road-beds supporting the ponderous steel rails, the first trains were run on wooden rails, on which were nailed strips of iron. The powerful locomotives, the luxurious cars and the long black coal trains of sixty or eighty cars were unknown in those days, when a train consisted of a mere toy engine drawing two or three wooden cars little longer than a carriage. The speed of these early trains was never more than twelve or fifteen miles an hour,
E &K.R.R.
m
FIRST LOCOMOTIVE AND PASSENGER CAR RUN IN OHIO.
Courtesy of Ohio Archeological and Historical Society.
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INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT OF OHIO.
but that was a marvelous increase over the canal boats going about three miles an hour.
The magnificent fleets on the rivers and lakes soon felt the fatal rivalry of the railroad, along the shores. Both travel and traffic deserted the steamboats, seeking the surer and swifter trans- portation of the railroad. The great passenger boats plying between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, and reaching all intermediate points, soon dis- appeared. The fast freight boats, carrying per- ishable goods, in turn gave place to the coal barges which are so numerous at present. Thus the railroad forever put an end to the usefulness of the canals which first introduced the state to its present prosperity and gave to it such an eminent commercial position among the other states. Of those nine hundred miles of canals in the state, only a few miles are in use to-day, and the deserted, grass-grown ditches are scarcely distinguishable from the ancient ruins of the Mound Builders.
But the improved commercial faculties were not sufficient for the Ohio people. With the ease and cheapness of travel, came a knowledge of life in the adjoining states, and a desire to bet- ter their own environments. The log cabin was no longer considered sufficient for the sturdy and prosperous farmer, and so a modern brick or frame residence took its place. Various con-
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
veniences of the present time soon found their way to those Ohio people whose great glory and strength came from their varied origin. Their ancestors had been accustomed to the highest environments of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mary- land, the Carolinas and Kentucky, and they made Ohio what it is by a blending of all those characteristics into a new individual, the "Buckeye."
As might be expected, those various charac- teristics did not at all times, blend harmoniously. While the southern element favored a commer- cial development, the New England descendants favored a development of the intellect. So there was one faction favoring canals, and another one favoring schools. But happily all were in favor of anything that would advance the interests of the state, and the construction of the canals was followed by wise school legislation. While the canals have long lost their important place in the state, the schools are ever increasing, and are becoming more efficient in fitting the young generations for a more useful position in life. Although the school system of the state in 1903 ranked very low among the other states, yet the product of the schools, the best criterion, gives it a position second to none in the Union.
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INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT OF OHIO.
More than three-quarters of a century ago General Lafayette, that Frenchman whose name will forever brighten the pages of our National History, came to America to visit old comrades with whom he had formed a lasting friendship in Revolutionary days, and to make a tour of the nation for which he had done so much. He, while on this tour, visited Cincinnati, and his greatest surprise and pleasure was occasioned by the greetings extended him by the school chil- dren. It gave to him proofs of a grateful life and general culture far beyond his most san- guine expectations. Upon his arrival he was met by six hundred pupils of the public schools, who strewed his way with flowers, and shouts of "Welcome to Lafayette," echoed and reechoed through the city. When he had traveled over the state and seen what wonderful progress the people had made, no wonder he should pro- nounce Ohio "The eighth wonder of the world."
Much more might be said here about our arti- ficial water-ways, railways, churches, schools, colleges and universities, of which we are right- fully proud, but the vast amount they have done and are doing, in the progress of the state and nation in many ways, is so apparent to all that we need not make a further discussion of them.
Chapter XI
143
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IFLAG OF THE STATE OF OHIO.
Courtesy of Ohio Archeological and Historical Society.
TROUBLE WITH MICHIGAN
I N the early spring of 1835, serious trouble with the Territory of Michigan resulted
from a disputed boundary line. The ordi- nance of 1787 provided that in case the North- western Territory should be divided into five states, that the boundary between the three southern and two northern should be a line drawn east and west through the southern point of Lake Michigan to the territorial line in Lake Erie. But such a line was an impossible one, as it could never reach the territorial line by extending it east, but on the contrary, it would go far south of it, leaving a portion of the Western Reserve to its north.
The constitution of Ohio provided that in case the ordinance line did not go as far north as the north cape of the Maumee bay, then the northern boundary of Ohio should be a line drawn from the southern part of Lake Michigan to the north cape of the Maumee bay. The ter- ritory lying between these two lines was the source of the trouble.
When Michigan became a territory, she ex- tended her government over this disputed land.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
Ohio did likewise, and two sets of officials was the result, and war was inevitable. Ohio at once levied troops, and with Governor Lucas in command, marched, in the spring of 1835, to Fort Miami, eight miles above Toledo and four miles above the disputed land. Meanwhile Gov- ernor Mason of Michigan had raised an army and marched them to Toledo, where they over- ran watermelon patches, created a great scarcity of fowls and carried off at least one prisoner of war.
Mason's army did not long sustain its posi- tion. Frightful stories were circulated among the Michigan troops, in regard to the vast army of Buckeye sharp-shooters who were hastening with leveled guns to greet them. So great was the scare produced, that more than half of Mason's forces deserted, and the remainder of the army withdrew.
At this juncture of affairs, commissioners arrived from Washington, D. C., and a tem- porary compromise was effected. At the next session of Congress, the matter was ably dis- cussed and decided in favor of Ohio. In return for this strip of land, averaging about eight miles in width, Michigan received the entire northern peninsula so rich in mineral resources. But the people of Ohio were satisfied as they had won the territory in dispute, including the grand old harbor at Toledo.
Chapter XII
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UNDERGROUND RAILROADS
W HILE the ordinance creating the North- west Territory forbid slavery within its boundaries, it was only by one vote that slavery was kept out of Ohio at the adoption of her first constitution. Although the negroes living in Ohio were not really slaves, they were not allowed to vote nor to testify in the courts. Many of the farmers living in the southern por- tion of the state rented slaves from their masters living in Virginia and Kentucky. These slaves were brought into Ohio and worked there, but were never owned on Ohio soil. But when the feeling against slavery became more bitter, the slaves were helped to escape to Canada. The . Abolitionists were accused of coaxing and tempt- ing slaves to cross the Ohio river in order that they might be carried away to freedom.
The method of transporting negroes North was known as "Underground Railroads," and the homes of Abolitionists in the towns and throughout the country, served as stations along that road. While these roads were not well or- ganized, they had a President, Levi Coffin, and
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
many staunch supporters in all parts of the state.
The first station on one of these underground railroads to Canada was the residence of Rev. John Rankin of Ripley. His was a solitary house built on the top of the hill overlooking Ripley and the Ohio river. Thousands of poor fugitives found rest and shelter in his home, and in the darkness of the night they were sent on in wagons to the next station. Among these fugu- tives were Eliza and George Harris, and other characters of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
The home of Mr. Rankin was frequently sur- rounded by slave hunters, but with the assist- ance of his eight sons and two daughters, he always managed to escape harm. On one occa- sion four men from Kentucky and one from Rip- ley, with two fierce bulldogs, came to the house and were met on the porch by Mrs. Rankin. They informed her that a store had been broken open in Dover, Kentucky, and that the thieves had been tracked to her house and they wanted to search the house for the goods and thieves. Mrs. Rankin replied that she did not harbor thieves nor conceal stolen property, and gave them permission to look through the house. As they started to enter the house, one of her sons who had heard the conversation, took down a rifle, cocked it, and called out, "Halt! If you
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UNDERGROUND RAILROADS.
come another step I will kill you," and they halted. At that moment two of the other sons, who had been conveying fugitives north, arrived on the scene and sent word down to Ripley. Soon the yard was filled with friends, and the slave hunters were taken by the arms and led to the fence and told to climb, and they climbed.
Rev. Rankin frequently preached against slavery, and on one occasion a mob leader en- tered his pulpit and drew a club over his head. "Stop preaching or I will burst your head open," he shouted, but Rev. Rankin went on as if noth- ing had happened. A powerful man in the con- gregation sprang forward and seized the intruder by the neck and jerked him from the pulpit and put him out.
James G. Birney, another famous Aboli- tionist, had come to Ohio from the South. He established a newspaper called the Philan- thropist in Cincinnati, and attacked the slave cause in no doubtful manner. But the public sentiment was so strong in favor of slaves, that on July 23, 1836, a mob broke into his office and destroyed his type and press. Then they assailed the negroes in the back streets, and a general riot followed in which many were wounded. Editors and orators opposed to slav- ery were mobbed in almost every city, and the authorities of "Lane Theological Seminary" for-
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
bade the students to either write or talk about slavery.
The slave owners being highly incensed over the escape of their valuable slaves, appealed to the United States Congress, and accordingly in 1850 the "Fugitive Slave Law" was passed. This law provided that all runaway slaves, found at the North, should be arrested, and, without trial by jury, be returned to their mas- ters. Other laws were passed with reference to the slaves, and one of these made it a crime for anyone to assist the slaves in their escape. These laws were very unpopular in Ohio, as well - as in the other northern states, and many, fol- lowing the dictates of their consciences, helped the slaves to escape, in violation of the nation's laws.
The slave owners were pleased with the na- tional laws favoring them, and with a United States warrant in the hands of a United States marshal they pursued the escaping slaves with renewed inspiration. On the other side the Underground Railroad business was never bet- ter, and while fights with the officers were fre- quent, many hundreds of slaves escaped.
The feeling against slavery was again intensi- fied by the case of Margaret Garner in 1856. This unhappy victim of slavery, with her hus- band and four children, had escaped from Ken-
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UNDERGROUND RAILROADS.
tucky, and were concealed at the home of a free negro below Mill creek in Hamilton county. While they were making arrangements for their transportation north, the house was suddenly surrounded by slave hunters and officers with a posse of men. A desperate fight followed in which both slaves and officers were seriously injured, but at last the slaves were overpowered and dragged from the house.
When the fight ended Margaret seized a large knife and killed her little daughter to prevent its return to slavery, and then attempted to kill herself but failed. Margaret, with the rest of the party, was taken to Cincinnati, where they were all tried, not for murder, but for trying to escape from their owners. After a trial lasting two weeks, they were all found guilty of seeking freedom, and were returned to their masters.
In 1857 a fugitive slave named Ad. White was arrested by a United States marshal in Champaign county. White resisted and fired at the marshal but the bullet struck the gun- barrel in the hands of the marshal, and glanced off doing no injury. The county officials and the people took White's part, and the fight con- tinued both in and out of court for a long time. The county sheriff narrowly escaped death from a billy in the hands of a United States marshal, and he never fully recovered from his injuries.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
White's master, fearing a disastrous outcome of the affair, offered to take a thousand dollars for him. The sum was quickly raised among the Abolitionists, and White was again set free.
Less fortunate was another negro known as Thomas Marshall, who had lived unmolested for a number of years at Dayton. He was caught in the street one day by a number of slave hun- ters who declared that he was an escaped slave. He was quickly taken before an official where the charge was easily proven. One of the slave hunters assured Marshall that his master would sell him. The slave gave all his money, fifty dollars, and a large ransom was soon made up when word was received from his master in Ken- tucky that he would not sell him under any con- dition. Marshall was then taken to Cincinnati where he was placed in the fourth story of a hotel for safe-keeping over night. As soon as his guard had fallen asleep, Marshall raised the window and jumped to the street below. He was picked up in a crushed and unconscious con- dition, and lived but a few hours after.
While many of the slaves were willing to give their lives for freedom, few of the Aboli- tionists were willing to go so far. One family of these however, John Brown and his sons, re- sided for a number of years in this state. Brown had spent his entire life in the cause of free-
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UNDERGROUND RAILROADS.
dom, and thinking he had received a divine com- mission from Jehovah to destroy the kingdom of slavery, he marched with sixteen men to capture the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The result of his undertaking is well known to the world, and the fires of slavery were thus made to burn with a brighter luster than ever before.
Chapter XIII
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OUR JEWELS.
OHIO IN THE CIVIL WAR
T HE sons of Ohio were destined to become famous in war. Whether they received this martial love with their birth, or as a heritage from their struggles with the Indians and wild animals, does not appear, but that they possess the rarest characteristics of warriors is doubted by none who ever met them on the field of battle. Their loyalty to the nation as well as to their own state, has never been disputed. Not only in the "War of 1812" had Ohio assisted in a national strife, as in 1846 she sent 5,536 of her sturdiest sons to the sunny climes of Mexico, where each was to meet and vanquish three blood- thirsty Spaniards, or see the nation's emblems trailed in the dust. Yet they never faltered. Their courage was not found lacking, their en- durance was sufficient, and victory again found a perch upon their banners, and with a loss of but 57 in killed and wounded, they again marched back to their native soil.
Had it not been for the contributions Ohio made to the national army during the civil war, it would be difficult to tell just what the out- come of that war might have been. While it is
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
· a fact that other states produced generals cap- able of commanding armies, it is none the less a fact that Ohio gave to the nation the generals . who led her armies to victory. The deeds of these Generals, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Custer, will not be discussed here, as their fame is no longer circumscribed by either state or national boundaries, but has long since been received by the world as a rich heritage.
While Ohio, at the beginning of the civil war, was greatly disturbed by factional strife, the disturbance was of short duration, and soon the state, with slight exceptions, gave her influ- ence in behalf of the nation's cause.
It is impossible to state the exact number of men who entered the national army from Ohio during the war of the rebellion, as many enlisted in regiments formed in the adjoining states. The nation's records show that Ohio gave of her citizens 340,000 men, excluding squir- rel-hunters, re-enlistments and the militia.
The state contributed in organized regi- ments -
26 regiments of infantry for 3 months.
43 regiments of infantry for .100 days.
2 regiments of infantry for 6 months.
27 regiments of infantry for .1 year.
117 regiments of infantry for 3 years.
13 regiments of cavalry for. 3 years.
3 regiments of artillery for 3 years.
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OHIO IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Twenty-six independent batteries of artillery and 5 independent companies of cavalry.
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