History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 147

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304

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"No person in the Northwest," said the Chicago Post, of June 2, 1877, " has excelled Lyman C. Draper, Secretary of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, in solid contributions to historical literature. Through his zeal and efforts, that Society is second to none of like character in the Union. Its library has a national reputation, and its Collections, edited by Mr. Draper, have been pronounced by competent au- thority to he unequaled by those of any similar organization in the country. The State of Wisconsin honors herself, and illustrates the superior character of her population, by the continued and liberal sup- port she has given to her Historical Society. The result is a library of great size and richness, and a col- lection of historical publications of incalculable importance."

Prof. James D. Butler, in his "Historical Sketch of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin," sppended to President Whitford's " History of Education in Wisconsin," thus speaks of Mr. Draper's connection with the Society : " Mr. Draper may be called the Perpetual Secretary. His name appears signed to every annual report from the first to the last, now these twenty-two years. He lias also been per- petuslly at work, not only as Secretary, but as the factotum of the association. He has raised money for it not only at home, but from the most unlooked-for sources abroad. He has found rare and curious docu- ments, which rich antiquarians had failed to find, and often procured them for his treasury without money and without price. He is understood to have bequeathed his own collection, which is without an equal in manuscripts illustrative of Western annals, to the Society, that, having served it through life, he may con- tinne to serve it after death."

"One specimen of Mr. Draper's success in raising money, is the so-called Society's Binding Fund. He first set apart for this end small fees and gifts, saying they should accumulate by interest and begging till it amounted to at least $10,000. The project was laughed at even by those who pityingly gave it some tri- fles. But when last heard from, that fund amounted to more than $4,000, besides a section of land." This was written by Prof. Butler in 1876. The fund thus mentioned by him, now exceeds $8,000, besides the section of land and a bequest of $1,000 not yet available.

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A handsome volume could be filled with quotations from eminent men, and prominent periodicals, in regard to the value of Mr. Draper's labors in behalf of the Historical Society. In his annual address before the Society, and in the presence of the Legislature in 1869, Hon. Harlow S. Orton, now one of the Asso- ciate Judges of the Supreme Court of the State, observed : "The indefatigable labors, under the foster- ing care of the State, of our invaluable and worthy Corresponding Secretary, Lyman C. Draper, have accomplished grand and magnificent results for our Society. He is a small and feeble man, and we may not long enjoy the active benefits of his correspondence and labors. While we have him, we should value and encourage him-he is worth his weight in gold to this Society and the State." "Stand your ground," wrote Gov. C. C. Washburn, in 1877, "and the people will stand by you. There is no institution in Wig- consin that the people should be more proud of than the Historical Society. To you is the honor greatly due for building it up to its present great proportions."

" The State Historical Society of Wisconsin," said the Louisville Monthly Magazine, of June, 1879, " is a good example of what can be done by systematic, persevering work in the establishment of a library. It presents imposing strength. It has overcome all obstacles, and can now be safely assured of its pros- · perity as long as the State of Wisconsin exists. Its enemies in its infancy can now recognize it as one of the most potent agencies that have made Wisconsin a great State in-how few years ! We unhesitatingly declare it a greater honor to have been identified in promoting the welfare of such a Society than any to be obtained in political life. All honor to Wisconsin !"

Not a few of the Historical Societies of the country, learning of the large degree of prosperity wbich has attended the Wisconsin Society, have, in their incipient stages, applied to Mr. Draper for advice and suggestions as to the best methods of success. These requests have not come from one quarter alone, but from different sections of the country, especially in the South and West, where such institutions had not previously been organized ; or, if they had an existence, it was merely in name. As an instance, we cite the newly formed Historical Society of Nova Scotia. Its Secretary, J. T. Bulmer, Esq., wrote in May, 1878, saying : "Col. Brantz Mayer, President of the Maryland Historical Society, recently advised me as follows : 'Lyman C. Draper, my old friend, at Madison, Wis., is the model, in my poor judgment, for all Historical Societies, founders and administrators. Open your correspondence with him, without delay, and tell him I suggested to you to do so. He is the most judicious and liberal of men.'"

In this case, as in others, Mr. Draper took much pains in urging first an application, as strongly backed as possible, to the Legislature of the Province, for a permanent appropriation of money, for a yearly grant of Government publications for exchanges, and for such further aid in rooms, stationery, etc., as the Province could supply ; together with appropriate suggestions for objects of collection from the public generally, and how best to secure them. In due time, Mr. Bulmer wrote gratefully, that he and his friends had followed Mr. Draper's suggestions, and had secured a permanent Government appropriation, and other favors. And so of the Minnesota, Iowa and Kentucky Historical Societies, and other similar organizations.

In the fall of 1857, Mr. Draper was chosen State' Superintendent of Public Instruction, serving at the head of that department during the years 1858 and 1859, bringing order out of chaos, and in every way possible rendering the public schools of the State efficient and useful. He visited several of the State Super- intendents of Schools, and leading educators of the country; among them Horace Mann, Hon. Henry Bar- nard, Presidents Wayland and Sears, and Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson, of Canada, to consult them with reference to the most desirable plau for popular libraries as an adjunct to the public school system, aiming to reach the points wherein they had succeeded in other States and Canada, as well as the causes of their failure, where they had practically failed of success. It was found that the district library system, by the smallness of the collections and the worthlessness of the books, had inspired no enthusiasm, nor accomplished any per- ceptible good results.

With these lights before him, Mr. Draper proposed to the Legislature in his first annual report, that a township library system be created, by setting apart for that purpose one-tenth of the school-fund income, and imposing one-tenth of a mill tax on the taxable property in the State. That a competent State Board be chosen to select and approve the books, and contract for them at the lowest wholesale rates; and where the townships were large, empowering the local boards to sub-divide the libraries into two or more parts, and by rotation have them go the rounds of the township. In this way, instead of having half a dozen or a dozen feeble libraries in the several districts of the township, there would be one strong library, largely increased each successive year, and made up of the choicest works in every department of literature, and procured at the lowest rates. A law was at once enacted for raising a library fund in 1859, after a full discussion of the subject, and passed with scarcely a show of opposition. The first year a fund of $88,- 784.78 had been raised for library purposes, when the great war tornado of 1861 burst upon the country,

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and. the Legislature. without due reflection and unwisely, repealed the Library law, and transferred the money to the school and general funds, so that the latter might aid in equipping our first regiments for the war.

Gov. Randall, in his annual message in January, 1859, thus spoke of Mr. Draper's report : "The Superintendent of Public Instruction has made a very voluminous and able report. It indicates great thought and labor, and will be of great value. It exhibits better than has ever been done before, the condition of our schools, the character of our system, and the resources at command for their support." Horace Maun, who has justly been styled the apostle of free schools, said of Mr. Draper's report: " It presents the most persuasive and effective argument in favor of education that has ever been offered to the world." Fine words these, coming from so noble a source.

The State Legislative Investigating Committee, who annually examined into all the Wisconsin State Departments, gave, through their Chairman, Hon. M. M. Davis, the following testimony in their report, in 1859, to Mr. Draper's efficiency and faithfulness as a public officer : " The examination into the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has been brought down to February, 1859, and the committee are most happy to find that the present Superintendent, Lyman C. Draper, has established a new order of things from that heretofore found in the management of that department. All the duties of the office are discharged with promptness, and accurate records of all the transactions are kept. Great credit is due Mr. Draper for the industry and efficiency with which he has discharged the duties of his responsible office."

In Hon. W. C. Whitford's " Historical sketch of Education in Wisconsin," prepared for the National Centennial of 1876, occurs this highly complimentary paragraph : " Hon. Lyman C. Draper, of Madison, was Superintendent in the years 1858 and 1859. He had been for many years the efficient Secretary of the State Historical Society. He collected reliable statistics, showing the actual condition of the public schools; and he organized the work of his department, which had been sadly neglected. The efficient system of conducting Teachers' Institutes, was inaugurated while he was in office, and has continued in force until the present time. He procured, during his term, the passage of an excellent law for establish- ing town school libraries. He wrote largely upon this subject in his reports, and awakened much interest for it in different parts of the State. After a fund of $88,784.78 had accumulated for the benefit of these libraries, the law was very unwisely repealed in 1861, and the money transferred to the school and general funds. It is due to this enterprise, and to this indefatigable laborer, that this money should be refunded by the State, and this law revived. If this measure had been put in force, and prosecuted vigorously for & few years, it would have furnished an excellent basis for the introduction of the township system of managing schools."

The late President, Daniel Read, of the Missouri State University, in some remarks at the Librarians' Convention at Philadelphia, in October, 1876, said : "The Hon. Lyman C. Draper, of Madison, Wis., who is well known as practically the founder of the Wisconsin State Historical Library, when elected State Superintendent of Education, brought forward as his great measure, a scheme of school libraries ; and the Legislature, responding to his views, provided over $88,000 to carry it out, which, however, upon the war breaking out, was diverted to the immediate necessities of the times. No measure is more popu- lar or more generally acceptable with all classes than this provision for the intellectual food of the people. It has proved so everywhere." We can most heartily indorse the words of Dr. Read and President Whitford, and join the latter in the earnest hope that Mr. Draper may live to see his ideas in regard to township libraries realized. They are a lasting monument to his wisdom and patriotism.

A zealous watch-care over the school fund also engaged his attention. "We must award to Mr. Draper," said the Janesville Gazette and Free Press, of May 8, 1858, "great credit for his able and clear school report upon a subject of vital importance to the welfare of the people of this State. His report is timely, too, submitted, as it is, when there is an effort making to divert a large portion of the school fund to other purposes. He takes strong ground against the transfer of another 25 per cent of the swamp land fund to the drainage fund, which would take from the school fund 50 per cent of the swamp land fund. We hope the members of the Legislature will study well the facts and suggestions of Mr. Draper, and listen to his appeal in behalf of the 250,000 children now living in our midst, and of millions yet unborn. " Whoever,' says Mr. Draper, ' attempts to divert any portion of our sacred school fund from its consecrated purposes of education, should feel that he is treading on holy ground.' We may add, too, that it is dangerous ground for all who desire to stand well with the voters of this State hereafter. We do not hesitate to say, that after the forcible exposition of this matter given by the Superintendent, no man is fit to be a legislator who will vote to increase the drainage fund at the expense of the school fund."

When Mr. Draper was chosen Superintendent of Schools, the lovers of border history everywhere

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regretted that he had been tempted from his field of antiquarian labor. Among others, the late Hon. Henry S. Randall, who had served as Superintendent of Schools of New York, and the well-known author of an excellent life of Jefferson, and other valuable works, wrote thus freely and pleasantly to his friend :

" I am one of the fierce ' Democracie ;' but, upon my word, I am disposed to regret your success. The field of a State Superintendent of Instruction is a fine one ; but there is a good deal of timber for good officers of this stamp, compared with that of historical investigators and archaeologists. Our early unwritten history-and, oh ! how little of it is written ! is passing away. This bustling, material genera- tion is scrambling for bread and larger farms. Another generation will have lost about all our unwritten history ; that is, all except the pseudo-traditions, which we see sometimes worked up by sentimental fools. And of all the contemptible lies, those of history are the least excusable.

"There is a rich field of history on our own borders. The man who collects and writes it must have peculiar qualifications. Besides being a clear, vivid writer, he must have a peculiar taste in that direction. He must have untiring industry ; he must have enthusiasm. He must be ready to dig as faithfully and patiently to bring out a border incident as Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck would have dug to determine the foundations of a prætorium ! Yesterday I would have said, ' Thou art the man !' But you have turned politician and office-holder. At any rate, you have been guilty of polygamy in your hobbies ! You have laid Boone and Clark, and those border heroes whom it makes my blood tingle to think of, on the shelf. Their memory is going like snow in June, and you have put them off to a more convenient season. And then, too, there is that State Historical Society, which I expected to see made one of the features of your giant young State, half abandoned !

"Rely upon it, my friend, polygamy won't do when you wish to beget great offspring. Enthusiasm won't bear dividing. And-I being the judge-you have sacrificed the major to the minor. He who can save our true border history, can, in the first place, get his bread thereby, and he can also enroll his name high among the literary benefactors of mankind. He can make himself an American Camden-a house- hold word among scholars, and the people, to all generations. I hope you will get back to your task as soon as you properly can."

During the term of his School Superintendency, Mr. Draper was ex-officio one of the Regents of the State University, and of the Normal School Board; and labored, with others, in rendering the University more efficient and more useful to the rising generation. He exerted himself to secure the labors and ex- perience of that great public educator, Henry Barnard, at the head of the University and Normal School system of Wisconsin ; and Dr. Barnard, for a time, till his health failed him, gave a new impetus to all our educational matters, and especially to the Normal Institutes. As the University Library had been neg- lected, Mr. Draper proposed that a specific sum be permanently set apart, annually, from the University fund for the increase and building up of the library, which was adopted. Though no longer in its imme- diate service, Mr. Draper is still one of the most steadfast friends of the University, and no man takes more delight in its progress and usefulness. We also know, from personal acquaintance with the facts, that Mr. Draper was largely instrumental in securing to the University the services of the late Dr. S. H. Carpenter, one of the most efficient professors the University ever had.

Mr. Draper has published several important works ; but, as we look over his list of publications, we feel a painful regret. that he has not yet produced more from his extraordinarily rich mine of history and biography. As already indicated, he possesses the material for a whole series of most absorbingly interesting works, and looking at the petit done, and the undone vast, in the matter of giving the public the results of his extensive collections and researches, we cannot help praying that the hand of time may rest gently on him for many years to come, and enable him to give his many great border heroes a suitable dress for the publishers. Besides the eight volumes of col- lections of the State Historical Society, several pamphlets, and two elaborate school reports, he produced, in 1869, aided by W. A. Croffut, a thorough work of over eight hundred pages, entitled, "The Helping Hand: An American Home Book, for Town and Country," devoted to farm matters, stock, fruit culture, and domestic economy, which was highly commended by competent judges. This work is, for some reason, bound up in litigation, and has not been made accessible to those for whom it was intended. While we are not competent to estimate the merits of this work, we are persuaded by the criticisms passed upon it by those who are well up in agriculture and domestic economy, that it is a work of great value; but when Mr. Draper showed us a handsomely bound copy of it, and mourofully unveiled to our mind the litigious bonds that hold it closed from the public gaze, we could not help rejoicing that the author had gotten a practical lesson in polygamy. The shoemaker should stick to his last, and the American public cannot afford to let Mr. Draper grow rich out of prosy volumes on agriculture, though the work be ever so well

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done. We trust he did not fail to see the intervention of the hand of Providence in the fate of the " Help- ing Hand."

He has now in press a work in his own special line-a work that, in some measure, indicates what rich treasures he is able to bring forth from his unique library and remarkable mind. The book is en- titled " King's Mountain and its Heroes," and sheds much new light on that brilliant episode of our Revo- lutionary history. It is heing published by P. G. Thomson, of Cincinnati, and will soon be in the trade. He has completed a carefully prepared volume on the so-called " Mecklenburg Declaration of American In- dependence," of May, 1775. A literary critic who has examined the manuscript, thus speaks of the merits of this work : "The author has been obliged to go over an immense mass of evidence, and slowly disen- tangle the knot which so many others have tried to cut. He has done his work thoroughly, and has pro- duced an exhaustive monograph, which, if printed, is destined to settle the question for all time." He has also in manuscript a large work on " Border Forays and Adventures," in the preparation of which he had the assistance of C. W. Butterfield, author of " Crawford's Expedition," and other works, embracing the period from De Soto's romantic explorations down to the present century, and extending from Canada and the froutiers of New York to the Gulf of Mexico. Each chapter treats of a distinct subject, and treats it thoroughly, and is written largely from hitherto unpublished materials-another instance of the kind of coin that can be produced in Mr. Draper's wonderful mint.

Thirty years ago, Granville College, Ohio, conferred on Mr. Draper the honorary degree of Master of Arts; and, in 1871, the University of Wisconsin that of LL. D., in recognition of his services in behalf of the historical literature of the country, and his unflagging efforts in rearing at the capital of Wisconsin a great public library for the benefit of the scholars and investigators for all coming time. He is either an honorary or corresponding member of the principal Historical Societies of the country ; and, since 1876, one of the honorary Vice Presidents of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society.

Mr. Draper has from the first of his antiquarian career, been a man of much system and persistent industry, never becoming wearied or discouraged in whatever he undertakes. This is one of the great secrets of his success. A proof of his thoroughly unselfish nature is the generous use he makes of his rich stores of historical acquisitions. He has freely-indeed too freely for his own interest-aided fellow labor- ers with facts and materials, and oftentimes without a proper acknowledgment on their part, so that when he subsequently had occasion to use the same facts, he might, to the uninitiated reader, seem guilty of plagiarism, when it reality he was only reclaiming what was honestly his own, and for the acquisition of which he had labored and toiled as few have the ability and patience to do. Still, many anthors have acknowl- edged their indebtedness to Mr. Draper, and the volumes in which he is mentioned would if collected make a very respectable library, containing such works as Schoolcraft's " History and Condition of the Indian Tribes," " Documentary History of New York," " Pennsylvania Archives," Parkman's " History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac," " History of Braddock's Expedition," Charles Campbell's " History of Virginia," Perkins' " Western Annals," Peck's "Life of Boone," in Spark's " American Biography," Ramsey's " History of Tennessee," Neill's " Minnesota," and countless others.

In his interesting volume of " Tah-gah-jute " or " Logan and Cresap," the late Col. Brantz Mayer observes: "Mr. Draper, the distinguished and indefatigable Secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society, is one of our ablest border historians and scholars. No student of American border life in early days, has accumulated so large, various and valuable a stock of original manuscripts and printed anthorities on the subject as this kind and enlightened scholar. No one opens his treasures with more generosity to his friends and co-laborers. ] may be permitted also to express the hope-in which I am sure American his- torians will cordially unite-that Mr. Draper will soon commence the publication of that series of pioneer histories and biographies, upon which it is known he has been employed for so many years."

" We are looking anxiously," observed the Chicago Post in 1877, for Mr. Draper's long-deferred "Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark." No other living man has the material and knowledge he possesses for the work, and he is growing old. It would be a great loss if there should be too long delay in bring- ing out this work, which no one can doubt will be exceptionally valuable."

" It is to be hoped," wrote Ex-Gov. B. F. Perry, of South Carolina, in 1878, " that the Hon. Lyman C. Draper, of Wisconsin, who has been engaged for years in collecting material for the life of Gen. Thomas Sumter, will meet with success. He is Secretary of the Historical Society of Wisconsin, and a literary writer and scholar of eminence. When I had the pleasure of meeting him several years since, I was amazed at the minute accuracy of his information in regard to the Revolutionary history of South Caro- lina, and all of her distinguished men."

William A. Croffut, at one time associated with Mr. Draper in literary labors, wrote an appreciative sketch of him in the New York Graphic of Oct. 16, 1875. From this we will, before closing, make a

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few extracts. "Down the street," says Mr. Croffut, " to his residence I strayed to see the man who had built up a library that ranks among the few mammoth collections in our country-one of the very richest in American history. Here I found him, studying, writing, accumulating-certainly the most remarkable literary antiquary in the United States. His own historical appetite dates from his boyhood, and during forty years he has constantly indulged it with fresh food. Instinctively seizing on a few representative names, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, Andrew Lewis, Simon Kenton, Thomas Sumter, Tecumseh, Brant, Brady and the Wetzels, the centers of pioneer history of the West, he has, for two-score years, followed up every clue, till he has gathered in his little hut a complete manuscript history of the develop- ment of the West. His investigations have been as thorough as they have been wide. He follows the trail of a fact with the persistence of an Indian, and the scent of a hound.

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History of Dane County, Wisconsin, Part 147

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1304

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899; Western Historical Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1304