History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 5

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196

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Witness our hands and seals the day and year above written.

Of the bylaws of the Franklin Company, the first artiele, in five sections, prescribes the duties of officers. The second article, in two sections, makes it the duty of each member "to be industrious and faithful; to act justly, honestly and respectfully to the company ; to obey the orders of the commanding officers and not absent himself without consent of the captain," and to "perform all duties required of him by law or the company. A refractory member is to be reported to the captain, and if he does not take action, the company may. Members are required to serve on guard in regular order, to protect the company's property, and to keep themselves and their arms clean. Each member must furnish his own personal outfit, which shall consist of a good and sufficient wardrobe and weapons of selfdefense, which weapons shall consist of one good rifle gun, one revolving pistol or a good pair of pistols, and a knife."

The third article, in three sections, provides that all appropriations shall be made by a majority of all the members present, when a quorum ; that grievances shall be investigated by a committee; that no member shall vote on a matter in which he is personally interested ; that punishment shall be by reprimand, expul- sion, or "in such other manner as the company may determine; " that all gambling and drinking of intoxicants as a beverage shall be forbidden ; that the company will, so far as practicable, refrain from work or travel on the Sabbath day ; and that no personal or individual trade or traffic shall be engaged in.

The fourth article requires regular meetings to be held monthly, authorizes special meetings by request, makes a quorum consist of a majority of all, and lays down some parliamentary rules to be observed in company meetings.

M& Schreck.

THE CALIFORNIA EXODUS.

The officers chosen by this association were as follows: Captain, Joseph Hunter; Lieutenant, John Coulter ;? Secretary, J. H. Marple ;3 Treasurer, F. A. McCormick ; Quartermaster, O. S. Hunter. The other members of the association were : Chester F. Colton,4 J. Robey, Joseph W. Booth, George Woodward, Samuel Price, Matthew Williams, Alexander Robertson, John Spaythe, V. R. Smith, John Uncles, Charles A. Robertson, John McCartney, K. J. Barr,5 R. J. Hunter, C. M. Shaw, C. H. Myers, Jacob Armitage6, Samuel Myers, A. M. Hunter, Jonathan Bobo, Anderson Cornwall, J. W. Coulter, Nicholas Demorest, O. S. Walcutt7, and E. Gaver8.

The articles of the " Columbus California Industrial Association" began with the following significant "whereas ":

The undersigned parties have agreed to associate themselves together for the pur- pose of prosecuting and conducting mining operations and pr euring gold and other minerals in the territory of California and on and about the shores of the Pacific Ocean ; and whereas, an undertaking requiring our presence at a point so remote from our homes sub- jects us to many privations and hardships, and calls for cordial and united efforts for our mutual welfare ; and whereas, we cannot hope for success in our undertaking without the blessing and guidance of an Allwise Creator, and a due observance of His laws, now there- fore, ete.

A copy of the constitution and bylaws of this company was deposited with the County Recorder for safe keeping. These regulations so deposited were sub- stantially the same as those of the Franklin Association. The officers of the com- pany were: President, John Walton; Vice President, J. G. Canfield ;9 Secretary, Peter Decker ;10 Treasurer, C. G. McColm; Directors, S. J. Price, H. Moores, G. Walton and C. Breyfogle;11 Physician, C. E Boyle. The nonofficial members were: D. Bryden, E. Barcus, Junior, E. E. Canfield,12 G. Chadwick, W. Cain, A. B. Crist, C. Dewitt, J. S. Domigan, T. Davis, L. A. Denig, C. M. Fisk, J. Krumm, J. C. Lunn, P. McCommon, H. Ranney, T. Rugg, D. Rugg, J. P. Stone, W. C. Stiles, C. D. Wood and L. Sherman.13 The company had ten wagons, forty mules and a good supply of camp equipage, provisions and arms. It was subdivided into five messes. Its intended route lay via Xenia to Cincinnati, thence by water to Independence, Missouri, and thence westward overland. The Franklin company proposed to follow the same line of travel. It provided itself with eight new, strong wagons, twentysix yoke of oxen, and provisions for eighteen months.

A small company of Columbus men set out for California by the overland route during the latter part of March. The names of these adventurers were H. L. Morgan, 14 L. Green, B. Johns,15 S. F. Hoyt, H. C. Riordan,16 J. Cowen and B. Carpenter.17 The Ohio Statesman of April 2, 1849, thus describes the departure on that date, of the Columbus company, and its associate, the Franklin, above mentioned :

Our streets today presented an unusual appearance in consequence of the movements of the goldhunters toward California to " seek their fortunes," as the storybook says, and to gather the precious metals in the mines of California. Mule teams rattled through the streets, filled with the baggage and other fixins of the emigrants. The two companies from this city will rendezvous in Cincinnati during the latter part of the week ; from thence they

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

take steamers to Independence, and then by the overland route by mule and oxteams for the promised land. . .. The number [thirty in each company] embraces several of our most enterprising citizens - men in the prime of life and wellarmed against the dangers of the overland route. . . . In addition to the above, Messrs. McDowell & Purdy, of this city, and a couple of gentlemen from Lancaster, have fitted ont another expedition. They have provided a wagon and will procure the necessary oxen in Missouri. Their intention is to aid in forming a caravan for mutual protection going out, and after arriving at the gold region to go it on their own hook.

The Ohio Statesman of April 6, 1849 - four days after the departure of the Columbus companies - said :

The whole West is crowded with our fellowcitizens passing towards California. Every stage, every steamer, every road leading to the Upper Missouri is thronged with the very choicest of our population on their way to the Pacific shores. The number is legion, and from a careful observation we do not think there can be less than twenty thousand from Ohio alone. Almost every village furnishes its company, and some two or three. Some go single, some in pairs, and others in companies varying from ten to thirty and even sixty. . . They go with provisions enough to last twelve months, and some longer ; they are equipped with every possible necessary, and besides, many singular and ingenious instruments for finding gold, either on the surface or deep in the soil. . . . Taking Ohio as data to estimate from, and at the lowest calculation, there will be one hundred thousand able and enterpris- ing men leave Independence, St. Joseph, &c., on the Missouri for the Plains from the twentieth of March or first of April to the first of June next-two months. This will average over a thousand a day, and will line the road hundreds of miles.

These statements, though exaggerated, are useful as illustrating the impres- sions made upon the editor's mind by the movement then in progress.

On May 24, 1849, the Ohio Statesman announced that William S. McElvain, son of Colonel Andrew McElvain, formerly of Columbus, had died of cholera at Manitou, Missouri, while on his way to join his father in California. On May 23, Oliver S. Walcutt, of the Franklin company, wrote to his father from the Little Blue Grass River that while the company was encamped on the Big Sandy, dur- ing the night of the eighteenth, its cattle were stampeded, that they ran over and seriously injured some of the members of the company, and that ten yoke of oxen were lost. The letter continues :

Next morning, in talking over our misfortune, we agreed to separate and divide the money and the property. Those who go on will do so in small companies of six or eight men. The remainder will return home. For my own part, I am still bound for California. The mess to which I am attached will go on in a body. It consists of Messrs. Roby, Price, Woodward, Barr and myself. . .. Major Sanderson, with a body of the mounted riflemen18, passed us on the twentieth instant en route to Fort Laramie. Edward Gaver is with Marple, JeCormiek and Colton, who are determined to go ahead.

On August 21, 1849, Peter Decker, of the Industrial Association, wrote from Sacramento, California, to W. B. Thrall, of Columbus :

The main train with the wagons arrived in the "diggins" on the twelfth instant. Mess number two, of which I was a member, packed and were sent in advance of the company from the Cannon [canyon] in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and arrived in this city on the ninth, the former having been on the road one hundred and four days and the latter one hundred and one days from St. Joseph. We were fortunate in being among the foremost trains on the road this year, crowded to an excess that must result in much suffering to

THE CALIFORNIA EXODUS.

some of those behind on account of scarcity of grass, which, to emigrants, is second in importance to bread. From advices received on the road from packers who left St. Joseph after all the wagons had left, I suppose the number of wagons that started across the plains this season was from eight to nine thousand, and, on an average, at least three persons to a wagon. Our company came through as an association, but since have dissolved by unani- mous vote. Nearly all companies formed in the states broke up on the road - even down to the number of two or three. This may appear mysterious to many, but those who have observed human nature as developed on the plains have no difficulty in solving this mystery.

Some make money fast, while others do but little and yet labor hard, for mining is hard labor. An ounce a day is considered doing tolerably well. ... Mechanics and laboring men get from $10 to $20 per day, and prices in other respects range as follows : Flour $8 @@ $10 per hundred pounds ; ham 40 to 45c per pound ; mess pork 35c per pound ; coffee from 12 to 20c, and brown sugar the same ; tea from $1.00 to $1.50; molasses from $1.00 to $1.50 per gallon. Butter is almost out of the question here; some which in the States would only be used in place of lard sells at two dollars per pound. Saleratns is $3.00 @ $4.00 a pound. Watermelons sell at from four to six dollars apiece ; cheese at one dollar a pound. Loaves of bread that sell in your city at five cents are fifty cents here. Boarding is eighteen to twentyone dollars per week, with the privilege of selecting the smoothest ground you can find to sleep on outside of the " shanty," and then, too, you have a nightly serenade from the wolves. ... The city from which I address you is about three months of age, and has a population of from four to five thousand inhabitants. The houses are mostly tents, though some good wooden houses are being built, for one of which I heard a gentleman offer $31.000 rent a year. . . . Lots sell from $1,000 to $30,000 apiece.

During the year 1850 numerous parties of wellequipped Californiabound emigrants passed through Columbus. To what extent the tide of goldseekers was recruited from the capital of Ohio during the fifties there is no record, but doubt- Jess its full share of adventurers joined in the grand march over the plains and mountains. The extent of the general exodus to the Pacific Coast may be esti- mated from the fact that, within ten years from the date of the discovery at Sutter's Mill, California- admitted to the Union as a State in 1850 -had increased her population from 30,000 to 600,000, and yielded a gold product of nearly six hundred million dollars.

NOTES.

1194901

1. John M. Kerr, son of John Kerr, one of the original proprietors of Columbus, organized a company of California emigrants in Cincinnati, where he was engaged in keeping a boarding- house. Among the persons who signed his roll was an English nobleman then visiting the United States. When the time fixed for departure approached, most of Mr. Kerr's men found pretexts for refusing to go. Kerr was nevertheless determined to go himself and accordingly quitted Cincinnati for California on April 1, 1849, accompanied by James Way, of Boston, George Krauss and a third goldseeker named Kloppenberg. Mr. Kerr and his companions, after crossing the plains and mountains together, halted at the Feather River placers, in Butte County, where they extracted their full share of wealth from the diggings of that region. After mining awhile Kerr bought a camp inn, consisting of a long canvas booth, erected and sold to him by a brother of Mr. Powell, the artist who painted the picture of Perry's Victory, now in the rotunda of the Statehouse. While managing this business Mr. Kerr had in his employ a negro officeboy who had been brought out to California as a slave and was hired or let from his master. This boy was accustomed to claim as his perquisite the droppings of golddust which accumulated during each day's transactions in a crevice of the office counter.

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

Every evening the boy took from that crevice about three dollars worth of dust. Whisky was sold over the counter at twentyfive cents, or, in the absence of coin, a pinch of gold dust per dram. In larger transactions the golddust and grains with which payment was made were weighed in a pair of scales standing on the counter ; from these scales the dust fell which the officeboy secured in the manner just stated. While conducting his camp tavern, Mr. Kerr was elected as the first treasurer of Butte County, which was then large enough territorially to constitute a goodsized state. Failing in health, Kerr sold his inn on the Feather River and removed to San Francisco where he bonght the City Hotel. The seabeach then skirted Montgomery Street, from which it is now nearly a mile distant, the dry land having since been extended that far seaward by filling. When the " great fire " took place in San Fran- cisco, Mr. Kerr's establishment was destroyed, and all that he had invested in it was lost. He remained on the Pacific Coast until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted in the First California Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, mostly in New Mexico and Arizona. In 1865, he returned to Ohio, where he has since remained. Having lost his property in California, he found, upon his return, that most of his Columbus posses- sions, now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, had also passed beyond his reach. Broken in health, he was reduced to penury and has never since been able to retrieve his fortunes. He is now over seventy years of age. In his earlier life he was not only wealthy but prominent. His clothes, purchased annually in New York, were of the latest style and set the fashions of the town. A friend and ardent admirer of Henry Clay, he took an active part in the National campaign of 1840, and was accustomed to drive through the streets a pair of " clay- bank " mares, hitched tandem. He was a boon companion, generous to a fanlt, and enjoyed an extensive acquaintance. His life has been replete with strange adventures and vicissi- tudes, extending all the way from princely affluence to abject want. The author is indebted to him for the information contained in most of the remaining notes appended to this chap- ter.

2. Coulter returned to Columbus and died in a state of utter destitution.

3. J. H. Marple became one of the functionaries of Butte County, California.

4. Was a clerk in the drugstore of Sumner Clark.

5. Brother to Jolin Barr, recently deceased.

6. The same elsewhere mentioned in connection with the Jerry Finney kidnapping case. See Chapter XXXI.

7. Brother to General C. C. Walcutt.

8. Was John M. Kerr's mining partner. Settled in California. Obtained a position in the United States Mint at San Francisco.

9. Obtained a position in the San Francisco Customhouse. Became a judge of one of the California courts.

10. The same whose letter is quoted in a later part of the chapter. Established a trad- ing post on the Yuba River and became wealthy. Organized a banking institution at Marys- ville, California.

11. Afterwards a member of the Columbus City Council.

12. Obtained a position in the San Francisco Customhouse.

13. A comb manufacturer on South High Street.

14. Was connected with Neil, Moore & Co's Stageoffice.

15. From Ridgway's Foundry.

16. Connected with the stove and tinware establishment of Ellis. Ayers & Co., where the Neil house now stands.

17. Among other Columbus men who went to California during the gold excitement was John Bigler, of the Ohio Statesman. Mr. Bigler acquired a fortune on the Pacific Coast, entered political life and became Governor of the State. He was a brother to Governor Bigler, of Pennsylvania,

THE CALIFORNIA EXODUS.

Charles H. Bryan, brother to John A. Bryan, Auditor of the State of Ohio, went to the Pacific Coast with the goldseekers and became one of the judges of the California Supreme Court.

Milton S. Latham, son of Bela Latham, one of the postmasters of Columbus, emigrated to Alabama, studied law in that state and went from thence to California during the gold- seeking excitement. John Bigler, who knew him and who had become wealthy, established him in a lucrative law practice at Sacramento. Latham acquired a fortune and was elected Governor of the State under an alleged private arrangement whereby he received the sup- port of John B. Weller, also from Ohio, on condition that Weller should be United States Senator. Immediately after his inauguration as governor, Latham sought and obtained the senatorship for himself. He is said to have been an instigator of the duel between Judge Terry and United States Senator David S. Broderick, in which the latter was killed. Latham, after this affair, became unpopular, lost his property and returned to the East, where he died.

18. Major W. F. Sanderson, previously of Columbus, had been ordered to establish a post on the California ronte near Fort Laramie, on the Upper Platte River. His command consisted of two companies of United States Mounted Riflemen, partly recruited at Columbus, and one company of the Sixth United States Infantry.

CHAPTER IV.

RECEPTION AND VISIT OF LOUIS KOSSUTH.

Freemen have a profound sympathy for freedom's cause throughout the civil- ized world. One of the most impressive illustrations of this which modern history bas furnished was the reception given in this country to the Hungarian patriot Louis Kossuth.

During the summer of 1849 the efforts of Hungary, first to obtain an extension of natural rights under the Crown of Austria, and finally to establish an independ- ent government, culminated in failure. They were overcome by the combined forces of Austria and Russia. Far outnumbered and in part betrayed, the armies of the revolt were vanquished, and Kossuth, the leader in the Hungarian cause, took refuge in Turkey. His extradition was demanded by the allied powers, but the Sultan, supported by France and England, refused to grant it. He was finally liberated and soon afterwards embarked on the steamship Mississippi, which was dispatched by resolution of the Senate, to convey him to the United States as a guest of the nation. On December 5, 1851, he arrived in New York, where bis reception was in the nature of a triumph. The popular enthusiasm with which he was received is said to have surpassed even that with which Lafayette was wel- comed in 1824. At Philadelphia he was received in Independence Hall, and at Baltimore was escorted to his hotel by a vast concourse of people. On December 30 he reached Washington, and was officially welcomed by Senators Seward, Cass and Shields. He was immediately visited by Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, and on the following day a levee in his honor was given at the Executive Mansion. On Jaunary 6, he dined with President Fillmore, and on the seventh visited the Capitol by the invitation of Congress. During the ensuing evening the members of the two Houses jointly honored him with a banquet, at which the Vice Presi- dent of the United States, Hon. William R. King, presided. To the toast " Hungary," proposed by the Vice President, he responded in a strain of splendid eloquence.

From Washington Kossuth extended his journey through the South, West, and back again to the East. Cities, corporations and legislatures honored him with their attentions, and vast crowds of people everywhere rushed to give him welcome. To all these greetings he responded with the most fascinating and inspiring eloquence, such as modern oratory has rarely equaled. The inde-

[SS]

RECEPTION AND VISIT OF LOUIS KOSSUTHI.

pendence of Hungary, and the intervention of the United States in her behalf, constituted the burden of his appeal. He failed, of course, to realize his wishes in this regard ; however just his cause, our government could not, in its behalf, meddle in the politics of Europe; nevertheless the popular sympathy for him was every- where unbounded.

In appearance Kossuth is described as a man slightly above medium stature, with broad forehead, large blue eyes, heavy mustache and a countenance indicat- ing earnestness and refinement. Of the manner and matter of his speeches, of which he delivered a great many, the following has been written :

In speaking, nothing could be more incomparably dignified and graceful than Kossuth's manner ; gestures more admirable and effective and a play of countenance more magnetic and winning could not be conceived. He always stood quite erect, instead of frequently bending forward, as is the case with some orators, to give emphasis to a sentence. His posture and appearance in repose indicated great- ness by their essential grace and dignity, and impressed the beholder with a sense of marked individuality and power. This sense of reserved power in the man - the certainty that he was not making an effort and doing his utmost, but that behind all this strength of fascination there were other treasures of ability not brought into notice and perhaps never made use of -- constituted one of the great charms of his oratory. He spoke as if with little preparation, and with that peculiar freshness which belongs to extemporaneous speaking ; every movement seemed perfectly easy, and he gesticulated a good deal, equally well with either arm. The universal remark concerning him in this respect was that he was the greatest of living orators.

On December 15, 1851, a public meeting was held at the City Hall, in Columbus, to make arrangements for Kossuth's reception at the capital. Robert Thompson presided at this meeting, which is described as very large and very enthusiastic. It was addressed by S. S. Cox, R. P. Spalding, Samuel Galloway, George E. Pugh, William Deunison and John Woods. The meeting adjourned to reassemble December 18, when a reception committee of one hundred and a finance committee were appointed. Of the Finance Committee Peter Ambos was chairman, W. F. Wheeler secretary, and Luther Donaldson treasurer. In January, 1852, resolutions were adopted by the General Assembly, welcoming Kossuth to Ohio, and on the fifteenth of the same month a third meeting of citi- zens to arrange for his reception was held. At this meeting, which is described as very large and enthusiastic, Samuel Galloway presided, an executive committee was appointed, and William Dennison, R. P. Spalding and L. V. Bierce were dele- gated to confer with the reception committees appointed by the General Assembly.

On the morning of February 4, 1852, Kossuth and his companions quitted Cleveland for Columbus. The party traveled on a special car, and was accom- panied by the legislative committees. At Berea, Grafton, Lagrange, Wellington, New London, Shelby, Cardington and Ashley the Hungarian leader was greeted by enthusiastic throngs of people, and was presented with their offerings to defray the expenses of a new effort to emancipate his country. Between Cleveland and Columbus he received for this purpose the total sum of 8312.50. The contribu- tion at Shelby, amounting to 857.50, was presented to him by Hon. Jacob Brinkerhoff. When he arrived at Delaware, he was met by an immense erowd

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

and was escorted to a church filled with people, including the Hungarian Associa- tion of the town and the students of the University. Formally welcomed at the church, first by Mayor Buck and then by Doctor Edward Thomson, President of the University, he replied in a brief address, said to have been one of the most charming of all he had delivered in the English language.' Expressing his appre- ciation of the sympathy shown him, and hoping the people would be true to their friendship for Hungary, he said : " Then, indeed, it will be recorded in imperish- able letters in the heart of my nation, that out of the Delaware Springs of American sympathy I have filled a tumbler of health for my people of Hungary." At the conclusion of his address, S. M. Little presented him $210.00 in behalf of the Hungarian Society, after which ceremony he was escorted to an omnibus by Governor Wood, and drove to his train amid defeating shouts.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 5

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196