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diff --git a/old/55809-0.txt b/old/55809-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0b9d693..0000000 --- a/old/55809-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9001 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio, by N. E. Jones - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio - or Glimpses of Pioneer Life - -Author: N. E. Jones - -Release Date: October 25, 2017 [EBook #55809] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SQUIRREL HUNTERS OF OHIO *** - - - - -Produced by MFR, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: PIONEERS.] - - - - -The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio - - - or Glimpses of Pioneer Life - - by N. E. JONES, M. D. - - [Illustration] - - Cincinnati. - - ⁂ THE ROBERT CLARKE Co ⁂ - - 1898 - - * * * * * - -COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY N. E. JONES. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -It required long trains of complex circumstances, and peculiar -conditions for each, to give to the world a Moses, an Alexander, a -Napoleon, a Washington. Still greater were the pre-arrangements and -preparations for the development of the coming man of the Nineteenth -Century, that he might stand pre-eminently upon the summit of American -manhood. The habitation selected was the most elaborate and lovely -of all the gifts of nature: A domain dedicated to freedom forever, -bountifully supplied with animals, vegetables, and minerals; with -lakes, rivers, and running brooks, grassy lawns and fields of flowers; -making a fitting place for the best blood left of the American -Revolution; descendants of Anglo-Saxon kings; knights of Norman titles -and heroic deeds; supporters of William the Conqueror, whose ancestral -names appear in the Doomsday Book, but more imperishably written in the -law of descent and transmission. With such the new environment brought -forth an improved species, christened by a sovereign state, “_The -Squirrel Hunters of Ohio; or, Glimpses of Pioneer Life_,” and to whom -this volume is most respectfully dedicated. - - N. E. JONES, M. D. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -As an actor and interested witness of the marvelous changes which -have occurred in the settlement and civilization of the “North-west -Territory,” the author places before the reader this book, entitled, -“_The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio; or, Glimpses of Pioneer Life_.” - -Others have faithfully recorded the wars, bloodshed, victories, -defeats, dangers and deaths it cost to subjugate the savage and -establish the civilized. And it is as the gleaner follows the reapers -and gathers in the wayward straws, that the author hopes to interest -and entertain, by picking up some of the fragments, that nothing may -be lost which contributed to the elevation, pleasure, subsistence and -safety of the pioneer, or added attractiveness to his home during the -rise of the first state in the great empire of the North-west. - -It is often the little things that become the most important--things -the immigrant in old age delights to recall--things that bring up -associations and pleasures of former days--“the good old times,” -when with dog and gun the pioneer walked the unbroken forest and made -himself familiar with the alphabet of beasts, birds and trees. - -At the close of the Revolution, the Eastern States were old and -prematurely gray, and poverty, bankruptcy and starvation induced the -patriotic soldiers to accept pay for their services in unsurveyed wild -land in the “North-west Territory.” The new acquisition was lauded -as a country flowing with equivalents to “milk and honey,” and would -sustain a large population, make delightful homes, and furnish an -easily-acquired subsistence. - -As soon as the Indian dangers were no longer detrimental, the homeless -poor, with guns, ammunition and land certificates, flocked in from all -quarters of the world, took possession of the country, and became the -progenitors of a great and pre-eminent people--“_The Squirrel Hunters -of Ohio_.” - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - CHAP. I. OHIO--EARLY SETTLEMENT, 1 - - II. OHIO--EDUCATIONAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL, 51 - - III. OHIO--PROFESSIONS: MEDICAL, MINISTERIAL AND LEGAL, 107 - - IV. OHIO--HER BEASTS, BIRDS, AND TREES: AIDS TO HIGHER - CIVILIZATION, 166 - - V. OHIO--HER COACH, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT ERA, 267 - - VI. OHIO--HER RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH ERA, 310 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - FRONTISPIECE. - - Home of the Pioneer, 7 - - This is Freedom! 9 - - The Gum Tree, 12 - - Stray Pup, 30 - - Gamer, 33 - - Our Cabin, 1821, 37 - - Ground Hog Club--Certificate of Membership, 58 - - Ohio School-house from 1796 to 1840, 64 - - School-house of 1851, in which President Garfield Taught, 92 - - The Olive Branch, 95 - - Hunter and Dog, 118 - - Man of Special Providences, 128 - - Church, Residence, and Court-house, 131 - - Public School Building, Pickaway County, O., 1851, 148 - - A Squirrel Hunter, 171 - - A Herd of Bison, 174 - - Camp Red River Hunters, 176 - - Turkey River, Iowa, 1845, 221 - - Sequoia Park, 235 - - Conflict in Pre-emption Claims, 250 - - Chillicothe Elm, 252 - - Logan Elm, 253 - - Map--Lord Dunmore’s Campaign, 256 - - Monument, Boggs Family, 263 - - Indian Raid, 264 - - Spinning Wheel, 275 - - Canal Era, 1825, 290 - - Log Cabin Luminary, 292 - - Ohio Stage Coach, 301 - - Prairie Schooner, 306 - - New Passenger Car on the Toledo and Adrian R’y, 1837, 320 - - Pontoon Bridge over the Ohio River, 337 - - Governor’s Certificate of Honorable Membership, 343 - - The Squirrel Hunter’s Discharge, 344 - - Draft Wheel, 349 - - * * * * * - -THE SQUIRREL HUNTERS OF OHIO; OR, GLIMPSES OF PIONEER LIFE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. OHIO--EARLY SETTLEMENTS. - - -From the time the Mayflower landed at Fort Harmar (Marietta) in 1788 -until 1795, emigration had not materially increased the population of -the North-west, owing to the unstable and dissatisfied condition of the -Indians. - -All this time, the soldier, who had served his time in the cause -of independence and been honorably discharged without pay:--the -poverty-stricken patriot, unable to procure subsistence for himself and -family in the bankrupt colonies, had been listening to accounts of a -land “flowing with milk and honey,” and was anxious to get there. It -was described as a country “fertile as heart could wish:”--“fair to -look upon, and fragrant with the thousand fresh odors of the woods in -early spring.” The long cool aisles leading away into mazes of vernal -green where the swift deer bounded by unmolested and as yet unscared -by the sound of the woodman’s ax or the sharp ring of the rifle. “He -could imagine the wooded slopes and the tall grass of the plain jeweled -with strange and brilliant flowers;” but there the redman had his field -of corn, and would defend his rights. - -The success of General Wayne in procuring terms of peace with the -warlike tribes of Indians in the spring of 1795, caused such an influx -of emigration into the Ohio division of the North-west Territory, that -in 1798 the population enabled the election of an Assembly which met -the following year, and sent William Henry Harrison as a delegate to -Congress. So rapidly did the country fill up with new settlements that -the prospective state at the beginning of the nineteenth century was -knocking at the door for admission, with all the pathways crowded by -pedestrians--men, women, and children--dogs and guns; crossing the -perilous mountains to reach a country where a home was a matter of -choice, and subsistence furnished without money or price. - -Where all these lovers of freedom and free soil came from, and how they -got here, will ever remain a mystery next in obscurity to that of the -Ancient Mound Builders. They brought with them the peculiarities of -every civilized nation, and continued to come until Ohio became the -beaten road to western homes beyond. They were God’s homeless poor--the -file of a successful revolution--the founders of a republic. As such -they accepted pay and bounty in wild lands--established homes of -civilization, cultivated the arts and sciences, and soon increased in -numbers, until they became a people powerful in war and influential in -peace. - -Men and women, the chosen best, of the entire world, by causes -foreordained, were made the exponents of the axioms contained in the -charter founding the great empire of freedom. They were strangers to -luxury--unknown to the corroding influences of avarice, and unfamiliar -with national vices. Their lives were surrounded with happiness, and -they lived to a good old age, enjoying the pleasures of large families -of children in a land of peace and plenty. These and their descendants -are the “Squirrel Hunters” of history. - -Kentucky had received her baptism into the Union in 1791, but -afterward felt slighted and dissatisfied, looking toward secession, -if the five proposed states, outlined by the act of 1787 as the -North-west Territory, should constitute an independent confederacy. -The opinion seemed to exist to no small extent, that the North-west -was by necessity bound to become separated from the Atlantic States; -and Kentucky was lending her influence to this end. Josiah Espy, in -his “Tour in Ohio and Indiana in 1805,” says: “In traveling through -this immense and beautiful country, one idea, mingled with melancholy -emotions, almost continually presented itself to my mind, which was -this: that before many years the people of that great tract of country -would separate themselves from the Atlantic States, and establish an -independent empire. The peculiar situation of the country, and the -nature of the men, will gradually lead to this crisis; but what will -be the proximate cause producing this great effect is yet in the womb -of time. Perhaps some of us may live to see it. When the inhabitants -of that immense territory will themselves independent, force from the -Atlantic States to restrain them would be madness and folly. It can not -be prevented.” - -But the inhabitants of this immense territory had a better and clearer -vision of the mission of this “vast empire;” it was to be the heart -and controlling center of a great nation of freemen. And when Ohio, in -1803, entered the Union under the enabling act, binding the Government -to construct a national highway from Cumberland to the Ohio river, and -through the State of Ohio, as a bond of union between the East and -West, no more was heard of secession until the rebellion of the sixties. - -In 1821, a member of the Virginia legislature (Mr. Blackburn), in -discussing the question of secession, claimed there ought to be an -eleventh commandment, and taking a political view of it, said it should -be in these words: “Thou shalt not, nor shall thy wife, thy son or -thy daughter, thy man-servant or thy maid-servant, the stranger or -sojourner within thy gates, dare in any wise to mention or hint at -dissolution of the Union.” Mr. Blackburn did not live to see it, but -the words of the commandment came sealed in blood and “were graven with -an iron pen and lead in the rock forever.” - -Many persons at the very dawn of independence felt the weakness of a -union of such conflicting sentiments and interests as those of freedom -and slavery, and were free in the expression that either slavery or -freedom must rule and control the destinies of the nation--that the two -could not, nor would not, co-operate peaceably in the same field. - -Francis A. Walker, in “Making of the Nation,” says: “No one can -rightly read the history of the United States who does not recognize -the prodigious influence exerted in the direction of unreserving -nationality by the growth of great communities beyond the mountains -and their successive admission as states of the Union.” And the author -apprehends “_great danger_” from the aversion of Western people to -“measures proposed in the interests of financial integrity, commercial -credit and national honor. ‘Having a predilection for loose laws -regarding bankruptcies and cheap money has been a constant menace and a -frequent cause of mischief.’ This, however, we may regard as due to the -stage of settlement and civilization reached.” - -No one, if he reads at all, can read otherwise than the “prodigious -influence” of the Western States. To these the nation owes its -freedom. Through this prodigious influence, slaves and slavery have -been wiped out, national finance established with enlarged commercial -credit, integrity and national honor. And if the history of the United -States is correctly read, the country need fear no _danger_ from any -_stage_ in the settlement and civilization of the North-west. The -early pioneers of this lovely country brought with them from the -South and East large stocks of patriotism perfumed with the firearms -of a successful revolution; and it was prized more highly as it was -chiefly all they had in a home where poverty was no disgrace, and -a “poor-house” unknown in nature’s great empire. Their descendants -inherited much, and increased their talents, and have under all -circumstances been ready to render a favorable account and go up higher. - -The residence of the immigrant was exceedingly primitive; still, it -could not be said the log cabin of the pioneer made a cheerless home, -by any means. Man retains too much of the unevolutionized not to find -and enjoy the most pleasure in things nearest the heart of nature. -Many pointers and pen pictures originating in these humble domiciles -exist in evidence of the pleasure and satisfaction enjoyed by the early -inhabitants, regardless of apparent privations, previous conditions or -existing numbers. - -Late in the fall of 1798 a revolutionary soldier wrote on the fly-leaf -of his Bible that the “North-west Territory” made a delightful home, -saying: “My footsteps always gladly hasten homeward; and when I pull -the string and open the door, the delicious odor of roasting game and -cornbread meets with smiles of hungry approbation. And with kisses for -the children and blessings for a good wife, who could ask for more or a -better home.” - -[Illustration: Home of the Pioneer.] - -Another in 1799--“We often talk of fathers and mothers, brothers and -sisters and friends left behind, and wish them _here_. And as the -holidays draw near we send them our wishes and prayers, for it is all -we can do. There is no mail or carrier pigeon to cross the wilderness -that takes any thing else.” - -The pioneer believed in the declaration of the Ordinance of 1787, -that “_Religion_, _Morality_, and _Knowledge_” were necessary to good -government and happiness of mankind. Thanksgiving and Christmas were -days of universal observation. The Star of Bethlehem was the Star of -Empire, and rested as brightly over the North-west Territory as when -shining on the little town in Judea. - -During the first few years of pioneer life, new and interesting as it -must have been, few persons, comparatively, kept a diary of social life -and times; and of such accounts fewer still remain to the present. Yet -the number is sufficient to show corroborating testimony or agreement -with the following in substance taken from a family history of a father -and mother who, with three small children, a dog and gun, and all their -worldly goods, crossed the mountains on foot, by following the Indian -trail--reaching the Ohio river, floated to the mouth of the Scioto on -a temporary raft, and from the confluence pushed up its winding course -over fifty miles in a “_dugout_” to the “High Bank Prairie,” near where -Chillicothe now stands--making the trip from Eastern Pennsylvania -in sixty-three days; arriving at the place of destination April 25, -1798--a day of thanksgiving ever after. - -The first Christmas seen or enjoyed in the new home of this family -would in the present era be considered out of date, but doubtless at -the time was the duplicate of hundreds of others. The day, before -the event, was set aside for procuring extra supplies from nature’s -store-house, regardless of any signal service. A coon-skin cap and -gloves--deer-skin breeches and leggins, and a wolf-skin “_hunting -shirt_” made the weather right at all times with the hunter. - -[Illustration] - - “Ay, this is freedom!--these pure skies - Were never stained with village smoke: - The fragrant wind that through them flies, - As breathed from wastes by plough unbroke. - - “Here with myrtle and my steed, - And her who left the world for me, - I plant me where the red deer feed - In the green desert--and am free.” - -Early in the morning on the 24th of December, 1798, this pioneer -started out with dog and gun in pursuit of Christmas supplies. It was -no small game day--a deer, moose, bear, or wild turkey must adorn the -bill of fare for the Christmas dinner. - -Before the sun had reached the meridian mark in the door-way, he -returned loaded down with three turkeys and two grouse. The country -made such a favorable impression, as soon as time and chance offered an -opportunity, the husband sent a letter to a friend at Redstone, Penn., -who had never seen Ohio, in which he recalls this hunt and the first -Christmas he enjoyed in this lovely country, and which is here given in -his own language: - - “After dressing the game and making a present of a turkey and two - grouse to a widow and two children across the river, I told Grace (my - wife) that the man who got injured by the falling tree must have a - turkey, and with her approbation I shouldered a dressed gobbler and - delivered the kind remembrances of my wife to the unfortunate. - - “When I returned, it was quite dark, but my mind was ill at ease, - and I told Grace I thought we had better take the other turkey down - to Rev. Dixon as he hunted but seldom, and a bird of the kind would - appear quite becoming, in the presence of a large family of small - children at a Christmas dinner. These suggestions met with hearty - approval, and I started off to walk a half mile or more with a great - dressed gobbler in one hand, a gun in the other, and dog in front. - - “On arrival I found the latch-string drawn in, but a knock on the - door soon caused an opening large enough to admit the procession. The - presentation was made with an Irish speech, dilating and describing - the virtues of the deceased; and wishing the minister, his Quaker - Mission and his family a merry Christmas, I turned my steps homewards. - - “On my return, Grace wished to know what I expected for our own - dinner;--reminding me of the guests,--Samuel Wilkins and Benjamin - James, who were looked for by invitation, I told her I had been - thinking while on the way home from Mr. Dixon’s, that Dr. Hamberger - and wife up at the ferry were nice folks, and the Dr. had been pretty - busy in his ‘clearing’ lately, and that Jack and I would go, early in - the morning, up to the beech bottom, and get a turkey for the Doctor, - and one for us--I said ‘_Won’t we Jack_’--and Jack’s assent was at - once made known by the wag of his tail. - - “Christmas morning, before the breakfast hour, Jack and I returned - with two gobblers, and throwing them down at the cabin door I - exclaimed ‘they are heavy.’ As I did so ‘_a merry Christmas_’ from - Grace rang out on the bare and frosty forest for the first time ever - heard in that vicinity. ‘Oh! the poor birds’ (said Grace), ‘how - nicely bronzed they are--who is it that paints those iridescent - colors? I never saw a happier pair than you and Jack make.’ I - replied, ‘they are beautiful birds, but if I’d had my wits about me, - I could have shown the best woman west of the Alleghanies the nicest - fat fawn she ever looked at. But I was hunting for turkeys, and did - not see it quite soon enough, and let it go without a shot. Never - mind,’ I said, ‘I’ll be there in a day or two’--and I was.” - -[Illustration] - -The hunter states that he dressed the game, left a turkey in the -doctor’s cabin, and then assisted Grace in placing a twenty pound bird -on a wooden spit to roast for dinner. - -Before noon the invited guests came and after pleasantly reviewing -army scenes and political, social and literary prospects of the -people coming to the unbroken wilderness of the North-west, dinner -was announced from the kitchen dining-room and parlor; and a more -intellectual and jolly company has probably not assembled at a -Christmas dinner since 1798. The guests had filled important positions -in the general government, and were both natives of New York; while the -host was from Dublin, and hostess an English lady, a former resident of -London--all educated people, and knew how to entertain and partake of -social and mental enjoyments. - -The good pioneer became schooled to a quiet, but heroic submission -to the unavoidable; and in this virtue Grace was recognized a model -throughout the settlement. Still she manifested the greatest sorrow one -could well express in the loss of the souvenir she had so carefully -preserved and protected from damage during the long and perilous -journey to Ohio. A large English Bible, printed in the infancy of -the art, containing the family coat of arms and record for over four -hundred years, with a chart of unbroken line of descent for near one -thousand years. All was lost in the burning of their cabin in 1812. - -The pioneer and his good wife lived to enjoy with these three children -and grandchildren, forty-six returns of the Star of Bethlehem, near -where the first Christmas day was seen in Ohio; and the writer has -often heard the aged couple recite with feelings of delightful -remembrance the first Christmas in Ohio as the dearest and most -enchanting of all others. - -A country by nature so lovely exerted no little influence on the -civilization and character of its early, but mixed inhabitants. They -all were, or soon became, genial, warm-hearted, kind, neighborly and -obliging, in a sense unknown to phases of civilization connected with -affluent circumstances. They generally settled at short distances from -each other, to better enable them to render mutual assistance, and also -protection in times of danger. Much of the labor necessary to open up a -new country of this character could not be performed “weak-handed” as -“rolling logs,” building cabins, opening roads, etc.; and when a new -arrival appeared in the settlement and announced his desire to remain, -all the neighborhood would cheerfully turn out, and with shovels, axes -and augurs assemble at some designated spot in the forest, and work -from day to day until a domicile was completed. Although entirely -gratuitous, the construction of these log-houses was a business of -experience. First, trees were cut down sufficiently to make an opening -for sunlight, and site to place the cabin; then logs of determined -diameter and length were cut and placed in position, one above another, -and by notching the corners in a manner calculated to make them lie -closely together, the whole became very substantial and binding. -Cross-logs made sleepers and joists, and similar logs of different -lengths formed the gables, and which were held together by supports for -the roof in a way truly primitive and ingenious. It was covered with -clap-boards four or five feet long, split from oak timber, placing -them in the usual way to turn rain, and securing their position by a -sufficient number of heavy poles or split pieces of timber reaching the -length of the roof at right angles to the boards. The weight pole at -the eaves was made stationary by the projecting ends of the top logs at -the corners of the building, and the others were prevented from rolling -down and off the building by intervening blocks of wood placed parallel -with the clap-boards, one end resting against the pole at the eaves and -the other end acting as a stop to the pole next above; and so on to the -comb of the roof. The floor, if not of earth, was made of puncheons or -long clap-boards. The door was constructed of heavy pieces of split -timber, joined to the cross-sections, or battens with wooden pins. -One end of the lower and upper battens was made to project far enough -beyond the side of the door, and large enough to admit an auger hole of -an inch and a half to form part of the hinge for the door. The battens -and hinges were placed on the inside, also the latch, to which a strong -string was attached, and passed through a small hole a short distance -above, terminating on the outside. By pulling the string the latch was -raised and the door opened by persons without. At night, the string -was pulled in, which made a very secure and convenient fastening, in -connection with the two great wooden pins that projected on the line -of the top of the door to prevent it from being raised off the hinges -when closed. It is quite probable, as has often been suggested, this -primitive latch and lock combination gave rise to the saying “you will -find the latch-string always out.” - -There were no windows; but, if one was attempted, it consisted of a -small opening without frame, sash, or glass, and was covered with a -piece of an old garment or greased paper. The chimney formed the most -important, as well as singular, part of the structure. It was built -upon the outside, and joined to the cabin some five or six feet in -height at the base, and then contracted, forming a stem detached from -the building and terminating short of its height. The materials used -in its construction consisted of sticks and mud, and when completed -resembled somewhat in shape an immense bay window, or an overgrown -parasite. The logs of the building were cut away at the chimney so as -to give a great opening into this mud pen for a fireplace, and which -sometimes had a back-wall made of clay, shale, or stone. The crevices -between the logs were filled with small pieces of split wood and clay -mortar, both on the inside and outside. Numerous augur holes were bored -in the logs, and pins driven in to hang articles of apparel and cooking -utensils on. Two pins in particular were always so arranged as to -receive the gun, and perhaps under which might be seen a pair of deer -antlers to honor the powder-horn and bullet pouch. - -To erect a rude cabin of this kind would frequently occupy all the -persons in a neighborhood three or four days; and, when finished, made -a very humble appearance in the midst of the natural grandeur of its -surroundings. Even after the occupants were domiciliated, the addition -of their worldly goods added but little to the unostentatious show of -comfort. In the absence of facilities for transportation, the pioneer -was obliged to leave most every thing behind; or, worse perhaps, had -nothing but family, dog, and gun to bring with him; so the furniture -of his new home consisted of a bedstead made of poles--a table from a -split log;--a chair in the shape of a three-legged stool;--a bench, -and a short shelf or two. The utensils for cooking were quite as -limited and simple, and corresponded in usefulness and decoration -most admirably with the furniture; generally consisting of a kettle, -“skillet,” stew-pan, a few pewter dishes, and gourds. These with an -occasional souvenir, or simple article that could be easily carried -from the “Old Home,” made up the invoice of the inside of the cabin of -the pioneer. - -Notwithstanding the apparent scanty comforts in the house, they were -more imaginary than real. It required but little exertion to keep the -larder supplied with the choicest beasts, birds, and fish, which with -hominy, or, still better, the corn dodger, shortened with turkey fat or -bear’s oil, and baked in the ashes--or that climax, the “johnny-cake” -well browned and piping hot on the board in front of a grand open -fire--constituted a substantial diet that might be envied by those of -the present day. In addition to these, there was no lack of pumpkins, -potatoes, turnips, beans, berries,[1] honey, and maple sugar, and the -early settler had little reason to sigh for the delicacies of a more -advanced civilization. - -Sugar making was an attractive calling and one of the pioneers’ -money-making industries, although sugar groves were scattered over -the entire state. The trees, by nature, were gregarious, growing in -clusters from hundreds to thousands so thickly set over the ground that -few if any other varieties could find room to maintain a standing. -There are a few of the older crop of sugar trees still remaining; but -the great “_camps_” that furnished sweets in abundance have, with other -varieties of timber, fallen victims to the woodman’s ax. - -It has been suggested that the yearly “_tapping_” might injure the -growth and shorten the longevity of the trees; but both experiment and -observation tend to sustain the opposite opinion. A tree that has been -under the notice of the writer for more than seventy years, and has -been tapped in three to four places every year for the period named, is -still a beautiful, healthy, growing tree. - -It may be correct, that “it takes more than one swallow to make a -summer;” but the evidence shown in the wood made into lumber after many -years “_tapping_” for “_sugar water_” (not sap), is not significant of -injury or decay. The cut made by the auger is soon closed over, which, -no doubt, would be different if the sugar was obtained from “_the sap_” -or wood-producing fluid. The fluid which contains the sugar is no -nearer the “_sap_” (or blood of the tree) than is the milk, or other -cellular secretion of a gland, near or identical with the blood or life -sustaining and constructive element of animal existence. - -A pioneer who owned a small cluster of sugar trees made his own sugar -and some to spare, while those working camps of several thousand trees -made it a “profitable calling and supplied others at reasonable rates -of exchange,” so no one had occasion to stint or reason to complain. -It required some labor and expense to equip a camp for making sugar; -but once furnished, the material lasted many years. During the time -unoccupied, the furnace and kettles under the shed would be surrounded -with a temporary fence--the sugar-troughs, spiles, sled, water-barrel, -funnel-buckets, etc., at the ending of the sugar season would be -safely housed to remain until the next year. As soon as the icy -earth began giving way to mild sunshining days in the latter part of -winter, it was considered by the “_sugar-maker_” as the announcement -of the near approach of “_sugar weather_.” At such times, on like -indications, the “_sugar-troughs_” would be taken from the place of -deposit and distributed to the trees; the better ones getting the -larger troughs. The water-barrel underwent inspection--the funnel -refitted--sled repaired--the pile of dry wood increased--store-room or -annex renovated--tubs and buckets soaked--shortage of “_spiles_” and -“_sugar-troughs_” made good--furnace and kettles cleaned, and every -thing made ready for the work. - -After this, the first clear frosty morning with the prospect of a -thawing day, a man would be seen with an auger passing rapidly from -tree to tree, closely followed by another, with a basket and hatchet, -who “_drove the spiles_” and set the troughs as fast as the one with -the auger made the holes. - -It would have astonished a Havemeyer[2] to witness the rapidity -with which the “_tapping_” was accomplished. In a few moments the -surrounding forest seemed sparkling with the beauties of the rainbow, -and echoing the music of falling waters, each tree dripping, dripping -with a rapidity suggestive of a race and wager held by Nature for the -one that first filled the assigned trough with sparkling gems. - -A “_run_” of sugar-water was not dependent upon a special act of -Congress, nor was the product a subject for public revenue. It was -limited, however, to frosty nights and warmer days; and when a number -of consecutive days and nights remained above or below freezing, the -“_sugar-water_” would cease to flow, often making it necessary to -remove the “_spiles_” and freshen the auger-hole at the next run to -insure the natural ability of the tree. - -Sugar manufactured in those days was made from the black maple or -sugar tree. This tree was very productive--in an ordinary season would -run ten or twelve gallons each in twenty-four hours, and during the -season average enough for ten to fifteen pounds of sugar--the better -trees have been known to produce over fifty pounds each in an ordinary -season. This, however, was before Congress suspected a trust and -combine would be a good thing for the common people or got up the Luxow -investigation and whitewash of the sugar business by New York. The -sugar maker knows quite well the kind of days he could obtain a run of -“sugar-water,” and for that purpose one or more holes were bored into -the tree three to five inches deep, and “spiles” driven in to conduct -the fluid into the sugar-trough. - -The “spiles” that conducted the water from the tree to the trough were -made from sections of elder or sumac, eight or ten inches in length, -shaved down to the pith from three inches of one end, which formed -the shoulder, made tapering to close the auger hole of the usual -size, three-fourths of an inch. The pith in the shoulder and body of -the spile was removed so as to form a channel for the sugar-water to -escape. The sugar-trough was a short trough two to four feet long made -of some light wood, as the white walnut, and were carefully charred on -the inside or concavity to prevent the injury of the delicate flavor -of the sugar. Many persons, familiar with higher mathematics and -languages named in the curriculum of Yale or Harvard, as well as words -and phrases used in athletic games, and manly arts of self-defense, -would be turned down if asked to describe or name the uses of many very -simple things to an Ohio “squirrel hunter” of three score and ten years. - -No doubt there are many more persons that have seen and felt the great -Congressional Sugar Trust and Combine than are now living who have seen -the headquarters of one of those primitive “_sugar camps_,” with its -row of kettles placed over a furnace--under an open shed--parallel with -and near the kettles under this shed, a reservoir made from a section -of a large tulip tree, to hold the excess of gathered water during the -day for night boiling--the sled and mounted barrel with, a sugar-trough -funnel--the annex near the furnace to obtain light and heat, with other -primitive articles or things connected with and used in the manufacture -of sugar. - -The annex or temporary residence of those running the camp was -generally a strong well-built cabin with one door, but no window. The -door occasionally showed a want of confidence by being ornamented -with a heavy padlock and chain. This little building entertained -many a jolly crowd. It was the manufacturer’s office, storeroom, -parlor, bedroom and restaurant. It was always a pleasant place to -spend an evening, and, still more, a delightfully-sweet place on -“_stirring-off_” days--to watch the golden bubbles burst in air and -with noisy efforts rising to escape, driven back by their master with -the enchantment of a fat-meat pill and made to dance to the tune of -Yankee Doodle Dandy; for then was the time to dip and cool the wooden -“_paddle_,” and taste again and again the charming sweetness of maple -sugar in its native purity. - -But in less than a century sugar-trees, sugar-troughs, and pioneer -sugar making have been classed with things of the past, scarcely -known by the many, and remembered but by a few; and shows how soon -time makes abandoned words and many simple expressions of facts -obsolete and unknown. When it is said, “In infancy he was rocked in -a sugar-trough,” the language to many is as figurative, hypothetical -or meaningless as the “lullaby upon the tree tops.” The younger -generations never saw the pioneer cradle, and Noah Webster did not get -far enough West to incorporate the word in his “Revised Dictionary.” - -The ordinary use of sugar-troughs was to catch and hold the sweet water -as it dripped from the “_spile_” placed in the sugar-tree. But under -certain circumstances good specimens were devoted to other purposes, -and not a few eminent lawyers, doctors, statesmen and divines have -proudly referred to their cradling days as those having been well spent -in the pioneer environment of a “sugar-trough.” - -The sugar made from trees was gradually superseded by cane and beet -productions; and the supply has always remained equal to the demand -at moderate prices; and not until 1887 did the country discover -the necessity of a “Sugar Trust” to control and regulate the trade -of the United States. This combine started with a capital of seven -million dollars, capitalized at fifty millions, and again was watered -up to seventy-five millions. This trust controlled four-fifths to -ninety-eight per cent of all the refined sugar in the United States. - -The president of this trust has been receiving an annual salary of one -hundred thousand dollars and the secretary seventy-five thousand. The -stockholders have absorbed as dividends nearly four hundred million -dollars in the eleven years of its existence, while thousands of its -employes obtain but six dollars a week, working twelve hours each day -in rooms at a temperature not much below two hundred degrees. The -scales of justice are not often evenly balanced in trust monopolies -that yield a net income of five hundred per cent profit on the capital -invested. - -The pioneer, however, had no use for “combines” to keep him poor, -for like many facts not admitted or recognized at the time, good -subsistence was so easily obtained from nature that it frequently -contributed much toward creating an indifference for labor, which -remained through life and kept the man of destiny no better off than -when he arrived at his new home. It was no easy task to clear the land -and prepare the soil for agricultural purposes. As a rule the timber -was large and thickly set upon the ground; usually the best soil was -covered with the greatest trees, and the labor required for their -removal was not inviting to those who could subsist well without it. -The white oak, burr oak, black oak, black walnut, sycamore, poplar, -and other varieties, had for centuries been adding size and strength -to their immense proportions. These giants, and the smaller timber -and undergrowth, required great energy, perseverance and protracted -labor to remove and clear the ground ready for a crop. The usual plan -for their removal was by “girdling,” or cutting a circle around the -trunk of each sufficiently deep to kill the tree, and then to burn by -piece-meals as the branches and trunks came down by reason of time and -decay. Consequently the patch of sunshine around these primitive homes, -as a rule, did not enlarge very rapidly, and the pioneer too often -became a man of procrastination and promise; and for all the time he -had (the present) preferred the dog and gun to the maul and wedge as a -means of subsistence. Some, however, opened up small fields and farms -by disposing of the timber in this slow way. In the meantime, while -the process of decay was going on, grain and vegetables were grown in -the openings among the dead timber. The crops were generally divided -pretty equally between the wild animals and the landlord. This loss, -however, was of no great importance as there was no money, market, or -mill; nor domestic animals to take a surplus. At a later day, and after -the introduction of “movable mills,”[3] there still existed no market -for the products of the soil, and to grow enough for food seemed all -that could be required of the most ambitious pioneer; and if at any -time the returns exceeded the estimates and insured a surplus, such -overabundance seldom went to waste, as there were always enough who -yearly came short in this respect, and were ready to share with the -more prosperous neighbor. - -The time and labor expended upon clearing the ground and raising grain -met with little or no reward. The products could not be sold nor -exchanged for necessaries of life. Consequently the forests remained -quite undisturbed for many years and agriculture neglected, excepting -for the necessary consumption of the family. The early settler, -however, was not all the time free from discouragements. His domestic -animals frequently became lost, or destroyed by ravenous beasts; and -diseases of the country occasionally were protracted; and to the wife -and children, he sometimes felt, it was not so much a paradise. But -he came to stay, and this, for better or for worse, was his home, and -submitted philosophically to circumstances and events he could not -control. - -The wife and mother endured with patience and heroism all privations -and afflictions equally with the husband and father, and performed -the arduous household duties; and, like the model woman of old, -“sought wool and flax and worked willingly with her hands,” and the -whirring spinning-wheel and thudding loom were heard in most every -household. The welfare of the family depended upon the success of home -industries, and consequently the wife had much less leisure than the -husband. She superintended the manufacture of all the fabrics for the -house and for the clothing of the family, and cut and made up the same -without protection, tariff, rebate, or combine. And it is singular so -little has been recorded of the good women who unlocked the resources -of the new territory and gave their aid in founding a civilization that -has surpassed all precedents in the history of nations. - -Natives of every country and of every grade of intelligence in -the new environment became alike distinguished for liberality and -hospitality--ever desirous to forget the past, willing to admit the -future, and ready to enjoy the present, the life of the pioneer was -seldom darkened or overburdened with toil or care, and had times of -good cheer, and was not without his social amusements. The violin and -Monongahela whisky found way to the settlements and were accepted by -many, young and old; and the dance after a quilting, shooting-match, -fox-chase, bear-hunt, log-rolling, or house-raising gave all the -pleasure and excitement desired. - -As the population became more numerous, leisure and the desire for -amusements increased; and among the many ways devised to entertain -and interest, no one, perhaps, ever received more attention, higher -cultivation, and obtained more general favor than the chase. Most -descendants of Virginia, however destitute in other respect, had their -packs of “hounds,” and the good people and the better, the poor and the -poorer, some on horse and some on foot, mingled alike in the exciting -sport. - -The pedigrees, qualities, and performances of “lead dogs” of different -owners were known over the country, and their comparative merits were -frequently subjects that called forth the warmest discussions, the -disputants generally ending the controversy with knock-down arguments -on both sides. The owners of the dogs always manifested great pride and -satisfaction in public praises and good will toward their animals, and -no offense received a greater condemnation than the theft or injury of -one of these “noblemen’s pets.” - -Whenever a “pack” failed in having a good “leader” and “poked,” they -lost their reputation at once and forever. And many trips were made on -horseback through the wilderness over the mountains to South Branch, -or other points in Virginia, on pretext of other business, when the -real purpose proved to be “fresh blood,” or perhaps a pack of dogs -that could take the front. They were brought through on foot, chained -one behind another in double file, with a chain between, and horse -in front, resembling the transportation of surplus of the “divine” -institution in the days of John Brown. New importations, however, -did not often give satisfaction. As a rule, the dogs of the finest -scent and greatest endurance and speed were bred in Ohio. Such were -McNeal’s “Nick,” Jordan’s “Sam,” Anderson’s “Magnet,” Renick’s “Pluto -the Swift,” McDowell’s “Yelp,” Colonel Vause’s “Clynch,” and a host -of others that never saw a “bench-show,” but were awarded the highest -praises by men who filled their places as well in the chase, as many of -them did, important public positions in after life. And in the written -history of these notable contests for superiority is the circumstance, -if not the day, when Colonel Vause’s little blue hound, his lead dog, -“Clynch,” outwinded and distanced all the other “packs” as well as his -own companions, and pursued the deer alone so inveterately, the poor -animal, confused or to confuse, ran to the town of Chillicothe and into -the open, empty jail, and was there captured. - -[Illustration: Stray Pup.] - -But of all the dogs known to have taken part in amusing the people of -destiny; or aided the advancing strides of civilization, none ever -attracted such universal attention, and enjoyed that wide-spread fame -as that given to “_Gibbs’ Stray Pup_.” - -Quite early in the fall, when as yet the frosts had but slightly tinted -the woodland foliage, some hunters while after turkeys, saw a dog in -hot pursuit of a deer, and so close was the chase that the fatigued -animal leaped from a high bank into deep water in Paint Creek and -expired immediately. This dog proved to be a little half-starved, -lemon, black and white pup, not more than seven months old, and having -around his neck a section of dilapidated bed cord. Such a performance -by a strange pup so very young and alone, attracted no little attention -and talk, especially among the sporting gentlemen, who kept first-class -dogs, and doted more upon their hounds than upon their lands and -houses. Mr. James Gibbs was one of these, and by right of discovery, -took the pup in charge and named him “Gamer.” The dog proved a stray in -the settlement, and no owner could be found, and mere supposition gave -a satisfactory explanation. “The pup had broken away from an emigrant -wagon to get after the deer.” - -At maturity, true to instinct, Gamer refused to follow deer, but became -the embodiment of all the virtues and qualifications of a thoroughbred -fox-hound. His fleetness, his extraordinary “_cold nose_,” or ability -to carry a “cold trail;” his industry, perseverance, and sagacity, made -him the model and marvel of all who knew him. He always led the pack -far in advance, and so exact was he to hound nature, that in case the -fox doubled short and came back near enough to be seen and turned upon -by all the other dogs, he would continue around the course and unravel -every winding step. His voice was quite as marked and remarkable as any -of his other qualities: so much so, that for many years it lingered in -the ears of surviving friends like the far-off echo of an Alpine horn. -He could be distinctly heard across the great valley, bounded east by -the Rattlesnake and west by Patton and Stone Monument Hills, a distance -of more than five miles in an air line. His cry was musical, prolonged -and varied, opening with a deep loud bass, and closing with a high, -clear note, it would come to the listener sharp and distinct, solitary -and alone, when the united cry of all the pack would be dead in the -distance. - -An accurate likeness with minute description of this dog has been -preserved--height, above the average fox-hound; length, medium; -head, long and narrow and well elevated when running; under jaw, -three-fourths of an inch short, which gave a pointed appearance to -the face; eye, intellectual and gamy, but of a most singular yellow -color; ears, long and thin, but not wide; neck, slim and clean; -shoulders, firm; chest, deep, the breast-bone projecting so as to make -a perpendicular offset of two inches; back, quite straight; loins, not -wide; hind legs, unusually straight; hams, thin, flat and tapering; -tail, slim, medium length, little curved, and hair short towards the -tip; color, white, excepting a large black spot on each side of the -chest, tipped with lemon; a small black spot joined to a lemon spot on -each hip or root of the tail, lemon head and ears, with small black -spot behind each ear. Altogether a fine appearing dog, especially when -engaged in the chase: and before two years old, was held in high -esteem by the owner. - -[Illustration: Gamer.] - -The popularity of Gamer was now fast gaining ground, as his -performances were casting shadows over dogs of high repute, and many -things were attempted to silence the repeated huzzahs that came in at -the end of every chase for “Gibb’s Stray Pup.” Years rolled on, pack -after pack, pick after pick were pitted against the “pup” to no purpose -excepting to widen the difference by comparison. - -A single incident taken from many that might be given, will -sufficiently illustrate the superior qualities of this remarkable dog, -as well as the usual success attendant upon the efforts to detract -from his merited superiority by running picked hounds with him in the -chase. A number of persons in every neighborhood kept hounds, and each -owner considered himself the possessor of a small fortune, consisting -at least of one animal that was considered faster and truer than any -one belonging to a neighbor; and it was an easy matter at any time to -summon on short notice fifteen to thirty of these favorites surrounded -by a conflict of good opinions. On the 11th of November, 18--, twenty -gentlemen, some of whom afterwards rose to high political and judicial -eminence in the history of the state and nation, met by agreement and -entered the forest at four o’clock in the morning with twelve dogs, -the pick of the best packs known in the state. The atmosphere was -still, white frost hung on the trees all day; the ground was but little -frozen, and other things perhaps conspired to make it favorable, as -hunters say, “for scent to lay.” - -The dogs soon struck a cold trail, perhaps where the fox had been -the previous evening, and which could be followed but slowly. Before -midday, it became too cold for all the dogs excepting Gamer and two old -hounds, one of which was famous for his “cold nose.” The latter dogs, -however, were unable to get scent excepting in favorable places; and, -by three o’clock in the afternoon, they too were out, and no longer -able to render assistance. Gamer still kept at work trailing Reynard’s -footsteps so closely, that on his way he entered an old vacant cabin, -declaring most emphatically that Reynard had been there, showing that -even on the dry ground and probably more than ten hours after the -presence of the animal, there was enough found to call forth a most -vigorous cry. - -When more than half a mile from this cabin, the trail was lost, and -half an hour was consumed, with all the dogs in circuits, to no -purpose. While engaged in these efforts to strike the track, the -wonderful “pup” raised his voice most significantly at the very spot -where he had ceased his cry. He had discovered the track and commenced -a rapid backward march in the precise line over the same ground he had -passed but a short time before. When within fifteen or twenty rods -of the old vacant cabin, he turned off through a “deadening” in the -direction of Mount Logan, showing that, notwithstanding the fox had -retraced his steps for a long distance, the sagacious hound detected -the fact after going over the ground, and that, too, when the trail was -so very cold that no other dog in the chase could take the scent. - -From Mount Logan the trail was leading through thicker timber, and -Reynard had been zig-zagging here and there, in search, perhaps, of -birds and rodents for his supper the night before, walking on logs and -limbs of trees whenever near his intended line of march. Here, the dog -quite knowingly changed his tactics, and for two hours ran at more than -half speed from log to log, right to left, with nose close to the bark -and decayed wood, as he rapidly passed, would let out his encouraging -cry. - -In this way he followed the crooked course until the close of the day, -carrying a trail for thirteen hours, which the fox had passed at no -point less than ten hours before, following it, too, more than three -hours after the best and most renowned dogs ever in Ohio were silent. -It was now dusk, the timber sparse and logs few, making the chances -seemingly more unfavorable. So, the hunters who had been on the go for -fifteen hours, and without the substantials of life for twenty-four -hours, concluded to quit, and, calling the dogs to follow, turned in -the direction of the by-path leading toward home. All the dogs were -very ready to obey, excepting Gamer, who only stopped for a moment to -gaze at his retreating masters, and then resumed his work, in which he -became more and more interested as the day passed on. It was thought, -however, he would soon quit and overtake his companions but, before the -hunters had gone a mile, Gamer’s starting cry was heard; he had winded -Reynard where he had stopped to spend the day high up the mountain -side. Every hound knew it was no cry on a cold trail, and turned and -went off at the top of their speed. Soon Gamer could be heard over -ridges and hills far away; and the hunters, thinking the run would be -made in the broken mountains, went home. A squirrel hunter in that -vicinity, who obtained Reynard’s “brush,” reported the fox so closely -pressed, that he soon doubled, came back, and entered a hollow log near -his cabin, and was captured. The time given showed the run was finished -in less than an hour after the hunters left. - -[Illustration: Our Cabin, 1821.] - -The sense called “power of scent” is exceedingly delicate in the dog, -enabling him to follow the course of one animal amid a multitude -of “tracks” made by others of the same species. This power of -discrimination is frequently manifest even in the common house-dog as -he traces the footsteps of his master or those of his master’s horse -through crowded thoroughfares and winding ways, although hundreds of -similar feet have passed over the ground after the walk of the one -he seeks was made. But, to tell any one but an old foxhunter that it -was possible to find perfection in a dog sufficiently, under the most -favorable circumstances, to run all day on a trail ten hours’ _cold_, -would be deemed purely chimerical.--Gamer is no more.--James Gibbs has -long been numbered with the dead.--And of those who participated in -and enjoyed the pleasures of that day’s chase but one remains a living -witness of the facts herein stated--the old Roman--the Hon. Allen G. -Thurman.--It is a notable fact, that in after years, when those Ohio -boys no longer resembled the festive _hunter_, they always gave a smile -of pleasure at the mention of those merry times; and, even in old age, -when oppressed with the heavy hand of time, nothing awakened the flush -of youthful pride and satisfaction like the rehearsal of the deeds of -the hound that had no equal in the history of the country--“_Gibbs’ -Stray Pup_.” - -The exterior beauties of an animal are always attractive. But more than -these do we admire those qualities termed intelligence, instinct, and -reason in their beneficent relations to man and the external world. The -dog possesses a most wonderful harmony in form and faculties. He is the -type and embodiment of beauty, strength, and freedom of motion combined -with endurance, courage, zeal, fidelity, constancy, and uncompromising -affection. For these reasons he is of all man’s friends, the most -valuable, the truest, and the best. So devoted and unchangeable is his -love, that he is ever ready to sacrifice his life to save his master -from threatened injury. He long remembers a kindness, and soon forgives -ill usage. At an early age he obtains a knowledge of the meaning -of words in the language of his master, and understands and obeys -commands; and with that retentive memory which animals possess, he -never falters or forgets. The story of Ulysses and his favorite is but -the citation of the tenacity of memory which belongs to the species. -After twenty years-- - - “Near to the gates, conferring as they drew - Argus, the dog his ancient master knew, - And not unconscious of the voice and tread, - He knew his lord, he knew, and strove to meet; - In vain he strove to crawl and kiss his feet; - Yet, all he could, his tail, his ears, his eyes - Salute his master and confess his joys.” - -From prince to beggar, all the same--the only friend neither misfortune -nor poverty can drive away. He is watchful and bold, and with delight -guards his master’s house and herds from thieves and rapacious animals, -and by his various services has accomplished for man’s happiness and -advancement in civilization _more than all other agencies combined_. -Without this aid, man would scarcely have maintained his existence on -earth. “When he had ‘evolved’ to the ape,”[4] and “for safety lived in -tree-tops with monkeys and squirrels,” his security and advancement -was not so probably due to the suggestive “club” as to _training_ of -dogs, which is given by the great naturalist, Buffon, as the first art -invented by man. - -By means of dogs, the rapacious animals common to new or uninhabited -countries are captured or driven to the rear of advancing population. -Almost every emigrant in the earlier settlements of Ohio, from -necessity, became more or less a hunter with dogs, not only to provide -for the family, but as a profit in ridding the locality of thieving -varments with which the forests were overrun. The pelts of fur animals -were a legal tender, and were received as contributions and payment of -debts. And the bark of the industrious dog was in this way transformed -into literary and religious institutions of the country. And if not for -his dogship, the “North-west” would be a wilderness still, inhabited by -wild animals. The great naturalist says: “To determine the importance -of the species in the order of nature, let us suppose it never had -existed.” Without the assistance of the dog, how could man be able to -tame and reduce other animals into slavery? How could he discover, -hunt, and destroy noxious and savage beasts? To preserve his own -safety, and to render himself master of the animated world, it was -necessary to make friends among those animals whom he found capable of -attachment to oppose them to others; therefore, the training of dogs -seems to have been the first art invented by man, and the first fruit -of that art was the conquest and peaceable possession of the earth. - -Many species of animals have greater agility, swiftness, and strength, -as well as greater courage than man. Nature has furnished them better. -And the dog not only excels in these, but also in the senses--hearing, -seeing, and smelling; and to have gained possession over a tractable -and courageous species like the dog, was acquiring new or additional -agility, swiftness, strength, and courage with a mysterious increase -of power and usefulness of the more important senses. And by the -friendship and superior faculties of the dog, man became permanently -sovereign and master of all. - -“The dog is the only animal whose talents are evident, and whose -education is always successful.”[5] - -No better picture, portraying the noble qualities of the dog could be -given than that by Buffon. And why this close observer of nature should -say--“Without having like man _the faculty of thought_,” has always -seemed strange. It sounds like a misprint, or an error in translation. -Thought is the exercise of the mind--reflection, meditation, -consideration, conception, conclusion, judgment, design, purpose, -intention, solicitude, anxious care, concern, etc. - -Who is there, even with ordinary acquaintance with the animal, that has -not witnessed some if not all these attributes of “_thought_?” Most -writers on the subject have shown a desire to give the human animal -some distinguishing quality or faculty above all others, but their line -of demarcation between man and the rest of animal creation has not -been altogether successful, as man can not claim by the high authority -that he is the only species that has the something called “_spirit_,” -which is necessary in order “_to think_;” for the sacred book teaches -that man and beast are alike in this, but the _spirit_ of man goeth -upward, while the _spirit_ of the beast goeth downward to the earth, -and which in anti-bellum days constituted a knotty text for Southern -theologians who taught that “_niggers and dogs_” have no souls. - -An eminent Scotch clergyman, who has made a study of natural history -believes that dogs are possessed of the same faculties as man, -differing only in degrees. He asserts that conscience in man and -conscience in the dog are essentially the same things. And Charles -Dickens declares that dogs have a moral nature--an unmistakable ability -to distinguish between right and wrong, which led him to believe the -difference in the dog nature and the so-called spiritual nature in man -was imperceptible, and that future existence rested upon like natural -foundations. - -It would be holding conclusions in opposition to all rules of -observation to say that dogs and other animals are destitute of the -faculty of “_thought_.” When the awful torrents came sweeping down upon -Johnstown the terrible waves and debris dashed over housetops and Mrs. -Kress was carried away by the wild current in an instant beyond human -help, her faithful dog, unmindful of himself, jumped after her, and -when he saw her dress come to the surface, seized and carried her to -another housetop. Soon this house was demolished, but Romeo kept the -head of Mrs. Kress out of water and battled with the raging current and -floating timber for more than half an hour before he reached the roof -of another house, where she was taken up unconscious with fright and -exhaustion. When the dog saw the motionless condition of his mistress -he barked and howled and made pitiful demonstrations of grief, for he -“_thought_” she was dead; but when she breathed he became delighted and -manifested his joy in a way that could not be mistaken. - -For eight summers a little cocker spaniel (Archos) was daily with -the writer in field and forest, and to his industry and sagacity is -due no small part of the success in obtaining fresh specimens for -the life size, hand-colored work by Mrs. N. E. Jones, entitled, “The -Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio.” Many of the rare -small birds build on or near the ground in thick cover, and among those -he was credited with finding may be mentioned the obscure nest and eggs -of the Helminthophaga pinus--Blue-winged yellow warbler, and the nest -of the Geothlypistrichas--Maryland yellow-throat. He knew the object of -pursuit as well as his master, and delighted in finding these little -homes, and would stand firmly on a point, as it was understood between -us that the bird must be shot when flushed for positive identification. -He knew what his master was doing, for he understood the meaning of -almost all words used in ordinary conversation, and could transact -business on orders with admirable accuracy. - -While out with a friend quail shooting, the sun was warm and we sat -down on the cool grass in a fence corner shaded by the dead leaves -on an oak bush. The little cocker was panting with heat and enjoyed -the shade quite as much as his master. Soon a voice was heard from my -friend, on the opposite border of a large field, calling: “Send Archos -over here. I have a dead bird my dog can’t find.” The cocker paid no -attention to the call, and no reply was made by the writer. And to show -how much a dog may acquire of the meaning of words in a few years, I -said to Archos in a conversational tone, as he ceased panting and fixed -his great dark eyes on the speaker: “Ed has lost a dead bird--he can -not find it; you go over and get it.” No sooner said than the little -fellow started off in the tall ragweed which covered the field, and -unknown to my friend scented the dead bird and brought it and laid it -at my feet, all the time smiling and wagging the tail, as much as to -say, “I would like to tell you how nicely that was done, but I can’t -talk--dare not.” - -Bab says: “Away back in some old book there is a story how dogs used to -talk, and were men’s advisers. One day a great prince met a beautiful -woman, and despite of the advice of the dog who was his counselor, he -married her, and he made her cousin, a beggar, his prime minister. Amid -the festivities, the dog warned the prince to watch the woman, told the -prince that she was unfaithful, that her cousin was her lover, and that -between them they would rob the kingdom and drive him from the throne. -He turned on the dog and cursed him--cursed him so that this good -friend, looking at the prince, said: ‘Until men are grateful and women -are faithful, I and my kind will never speak again.’” - -The world has grown older and better, but for the peace of society -and quiet of social relations, it’s well he still holds his tongue. -Professor Garner, who has devoted much time to the study of animals -in this country and in Africa, has confirmed the general observation -of those familiar with rural life to be true: that cattle--as horses, -sheep, hogs and other animals--talk among their kind. What there is to -be detected in the manner of delivery of the same sound, giving out -entirely different sensations, is yet to be discovered. The squeal of -the hungry pig, repeated by the phonograph, only increases the hunger -and squeal of the pig that hears it; while to repeat the similar squeal -of a pig in pain, at once causes manifest fear, anger and distress in -all the pigs that hear it. And it must be so--all domestic animals do -think and reason, and not unoften are enabled to make their thoughts -known by signs and sounds to those to whom they look for help and -comfort other than their kind. - -Dogs are utilized extensively in Germany and other parts of Europe as -draft animals. The United States consul says, in the large, wealthy and -industrial city of Leige, and throughout Belgium, dogs are used for -delivery of goods by all the trades of the city. While they are used as -hewers of wood and drawers of water, the species is the most versatile -in talents of the animal creation--and the dog makes the most accurate -critic, the most successful detective, most reliable witness, best -sentinel and most trustworthy friend. - -Persons do not stop to think there is a world of intelligence, love and -affection outside the human head and heart, and innocently ask, “What -makes the dog heed every word when his master says ‘you can not go with -me this time?’ What makes him place himself at the most observing point -and look wistfully after his departing friends until they disappear -in the distance? Why does he stay, perchance all day, at a favorable -point to hear or see a returning approach, anxiously waiting and -watching, and at the well-known and accurately distinguished sounds of -the footsteps of his master’s horse from all others, runs to meet his -master, and barks and laughs and cries with joy and gladness?” The -beneficence of creation gives the answer in a world of unselfish love. - -Dogs know nothing of hypocrisy--are always sincere--never lie--dislike -ridicule--and never accept nor offer a joke. - -The dog has been recognized as valuable property by his owner in -every age, nation and people on the face of the earth; but with no -staple market price any more than there is for that of the horse. The -consideration is determined by amount of education, usefulness or -purposes which he is capable of fulfilling. - -Colonel D. D. Harris, of Mendon, Michigan, refused more than once ten -thousand dollars for his famous sable Scotch Collie. He was a dog of -such note, with the refined people of the world, that he was privileged -to walk through the Vatican, and was entertained by the President of -France--the Czar of the Russias--the King of Norway and Sweden, and -other nobility of the old world. President Cleveland stroked his glossy -coat, and he received the most grateful attention among all the courts -visited in this and in other countries. - -This Collie was never on public exhibition, but was the traveling -companion of his owner. He could select any card called for in the -deck--if not there, would say so by giving a whine--could distinguish -colors as well as any human being; and could count money and make -change with the rapidity and accuracy of an expert bank accountant. -If told to make change of $31.31, or any other amounts from coins of -various denominations, he could do so rapidly and without mistake. This -intelligent dog lived out his allotted brief existence, dying at the -age of fourteen years; but was better known than thousands of men who -have lived much longer, thinking themselves quite eminent. - -If dogs are not valuable property why are they exchanged at high rates -in dollars and cents? Why did Mr. E. R. Sears, of Melrose, Mass., part -with his twelve thousand five hundred dollars in “greenbacks” for the -dog Bedivere? It may be _said_ the one who purchased a dog at that -price was “_green_”--if said, it would be a mistake, for _Green_ was -the gentleman who sold him. - -The greater part of the early population of Ohio associated with dogs -much of their time, and with good results. But the law-makers of the -state, or a majority, had a penchant for self-elevation by legislating -against those they feared as rivals--“dogs and niggers.” Consequently, -“Black laws” and dog laws engrossed the time and talents of law-makers, -who felt measurably unsafe unless the former were excluded as property -and the latter deprived of citizenship. - -The sensitive, if not infallible, Supreme Court has recently given -the property rights and protection of the dog a bad set-back in the -decision that “dogs are not property,” and outside of property it -would seem there can be no ownership. But as decisions of the learned -court are not required to be accepted in silence by the canine species, -_this one_ affecting their rights is enough to make every dog of high -and low degree, from Maine to California, rise up with a prodigious -howl of contempt. - -The logic by which the high court was enabled to enunciate its decision -is quite as remarkable as the decision itself. It would seem the -learned court divided the animal creation into two parts--“useful and -useless,” and subdivided these into “wild and domestic beasts;” and -then states: “Dogs belong to the non-useful, wild animal division.” -_Ergo_: “Wild animals, as dogs which have been domesticated, are -therefore property _only while in actual custody_”--which means in -arms, cages, or confinement. An able critic, and a very well-informed -lawyer, says: “Any respectable court would laugh at the proposition -that it is not theft to appropriate a diamond which has escaped from -the owner’s custody.” But that is another kind of cow--_the poor have -dogs_, not _diamonds_. Still the learned man is to be admired who said: - -“I like dogs because I know so many men and women. - -“I like dogs because they always see my virtues and ignore my vices. - -“I like dogs because they are friends through good report and evil -report--through poverty and through riches. - -“I like dogs because they are faithful and generous. - -“I like dogs because they are full of simplicity and find pleasure in -very little things.” - -The population of the early settlements of Ohio bought and sold dogs, -and considered them as much property as horses, cattle, or other -personalty. They were not purchased by the pound; neither were hogs nor -cattle. Among traders of the rural districts, every thing weighing over -five hundred pounds was bought and sold upon appearance and opinion, by -the piece. - -Where the price caused a disagreement between buyer and seller, some -mutual friend, who had obtained a good reputation as guesser, would -be called as an arbiter. Fattened cattle to go east, purchased by -“drovers,” were never weighed, but were taken, like horses, at a -given sum per head. Fattened hogs, however, were generally weighed, -by request of the purchaser. Each hog would be suspended, and weight -determined by the “steelyard,” and then branded with a redhot iron on -the left ham. This done, the squealing prisoner would surrender his -place and attentions of the audience to the next, and so on, until -the whole drove became duly registered. But farmers trading among -themselves, buying and selling stock, depended entirely upon their -sight and judgment as to the valuation. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Native fruit: cranberries, huckleberries, blackberries, -raspberries, service berries, paw-paws (custard apples), persimmons, -plums, grapes, cherries, haws, crab apples. - -[2] Mr. Havemeyer is the autocrat of the Sugar Trust of America after -the fashion of Mr. Arbuckle, the Coffee Baron. Under the chairmanship -of a committee the New York legislature, Senator Luxow investigated -the Sugar Trust and found Mr. Havemeyer controlled four-fifths of the -entire output of sugar in America. - -[3] Mills erected on two boats, separated at an angle, with water wheel -near the bow. The natural current of the stream passing between the -boats turned the wheel that moved the machinery of the mill, which -would grind twenty to forty bushels of corn in twenty-four hours, -according to the current of the stream. - -[4] Prof. Drummond. - -[5] Buffon. - - - - -CHAPTER II. OHIO--EDUCATIONAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL. - - -Ohio is the first of the contemplated states under the Ordinance of -1787, and is the most important if not the largest state in the Union. -Although geographers say there are some twenty-five states larger, yet -no one has ventured to determine beyond dispute or contradiction just -how large Ohio is. When the lights of education were limited to the -“three R’s,” the boundary was supposed to contain about thirty-nine -thousand square miles. In a short time after, the size increased to -forty thousand. The area is described as the space between Lake Erie -and the Ohio river; and is usually estimated to contain twenty-five -million six hundred thousand acres. But some advanced information has -changed these figures to forty-one thousand square miles, and has shown -by the state auditor’s reports that nearly twenty-seven million acres -of farm lands were returned for taxation in 1833, and the question -still remains undetermined how large the state is. - -The state is greatly favored in regard to water navigation, having Lake -Erie on the north for two hundred and thirty miles, and the Ohio river -on the eastern and southern border for four hundred and thirty-five -miles, giving a natural water-way around three sides of its boundary -amounting to six hundred and sixty-five miles, which is more navigable -water than is possessed by any other state in the Union, except -California and Michigan. - -The vast territory east of the Mississippi river, of which Ohio formed -a part, was claimed and controlled by France, and was known as the -“North-western Territory,” or “Louisiana”, by French traders and -missionaries as early as 1658. In 1679, La Salle established a sailing -vessel on Lake Erie, and trading posts were designated at favorable -points, and missionary work found its way among the resident Indian -tribes that occupied the portion of territory now called Ohio. - -France was made aware of the beauty of the meager possession on -this continent, and endeavored by means of the natives and their -missionaries to keep the pre-emption warm until a title could be better -recognized. In 1794, Major De Celoran, an officer of the French army, -with a force of several hundred men (French and Indian) landed at a -favorable point on Lake Erie, and carried their boats overland to -Chautauqua Lake; from thence into the Alleghany and Ohio rivers. And on -the way down the Ohio river, it is said this officer buried at numerous -favorable points lead plates bearing the proclamation of Louis XIV, -asserting the dominion of France over the territory on both sides of -the Ohio river. The titles of France were but little better than the -favorite grants and charters of James I, and the American colonies soon -began the establishment of claims, which, in conflict, were settled -only by the defeat of the French by the British at Quebec, and the -treaty of Paris in 1763, by which this territory was all ceded to Great -Britain; and the present good state was annexed to Canada, and by -proclamation amenable to the government located at Quebec. - -After the close of the War of Revolution, the United States found the -rights to the territory of the great North-west in dispute between the -Indians and the colonies; and congress attempted to settle the disputes -by having the colonies abandon all claims by ceding the same to the -United States as the common property of all. New York set the patriotic -example, and gave up all her rights to a common cause and general -good, and was soon followed by other colonies until the entire domain -became vested in the United States, excepting an unsurrendered claim -of Connecticut, in the northern part of the state known as the Western -Reserve, about fifty miles wide and one hundred and twenty miles long. - -The great North-west Territory, under the supervision of the -government, was divided up and known under the following heads: - - 1. The Seven Ranges and Congress Lands. - - 2. United States Military Lands. - - 3. The Ohio Company’s Purchase. - - 4. The Connecticut Reserve and Fire Lands. - - 5. The Military Bounty Lands. - - 6. The Virginia Military Bounty Lands. - - 7. Symmes’s Purchase. - - 8. Special Grants, Donation Tract, Refugees’ Tract, French Grant, - Dorhman’s Grant, Moravian and Lane’s Grants, Improvement Grants. - - 9. Canal, Turnpike, and Road Lands. - - 10. School, College and Ministerial Grants. - -The Congress lands are those sold by officers of the Government. The -Connecticut Reserve, consisting of about 3,800,000 acres, was a claim -or grant made to the colony by Charles II in 1662. The “Fire Lands” -were part of the grant, and were donated by the colony to reimburse -losses sustained in property by the raids of Benedict Arnold during the -Revolutionary War. The Fire Lands consisted of 500,000 acres, and were -located chiefly in Erie county. - -Connecticut sold her Ohio lands to a “land company for $1,200,000,” and -placed it securely as an endowment fund for common schools; and the -income from this source is still educating the children of that highly -intelligent state. - -The United States Military Lands, made such by act of Congress in -1796 to satisfy claims of officers and soldiers of the War of the -Revolution. This tract embraced an area of 4,000 square miles in the -counties of Morgan, Noble, Guernsey, Pickaway, Coshocton, Muskingum, -Perry, Fairfield and Franklin. Donation Tract is 100,000 acres in -the north part of Washington county, granted to the Ohio Company by -Congress. The Symmes Tract of 311,682 acres was granted to John Cleves -Symmes, of New Jersey, in 1794, for sixty-seven cents an acre. The -land lies between the two Miami rivers. Mr. Symmes’s daughter married -General Wm. Henry Harrison, and was the grandmother of ex-President -Harrison the II. - -The Refugee Lands is a grant of 100,000 acres. It lies along the Scioto -river, and the city of Columbus stands upon this land, granted by -Congress to be given to persons driven out of the British provinces -during the Revolutionary War. - -The French Grant consists of 24,000 acres in Scioto county, and given -by Congress after the fashion of hush money. - -The Dorhman Grant is a tract of 23,000 acres in Tuscarawas county, -given by Congress to a Portuguese merchant. - -The Virginia Military Lands were located on the west of the Scioto -river. The amount of the grant in acres has never been known. There are -fifteen counties in the tract and much of it has never been surveyed. -This body of land was reserved by Virginia to pay her soldiers who were -in the Revolution without compensation or pay. When it was determined -by Congress to pay the soldiers in land, each original settler marked -his own boundaries with a hatchet, and made a good liberal guess that -the area within his lines would cover the acres given in his warrant. - -The Moravian Grant was 4,000 acres in Tuscarawas county. Besides, -many other donations were made for roads and other purposes, making a -total of over eight million acres, the greater part of which went to -creditors of the Government. Land was the only thing the United States -had available to cancel the war obligations, and soldiers and others -gladly accepted land certificates in lieu of those of silver or gold. - -Land in body was more desirable than town lots. When Chillicothe was -made capital of the territory it had about twenty cabins promiscuously -located among the timber, which had not yet been cut down to designate -the streets. The State House was constructed in 1800 by an old -revolutionary soldier, Wm. Rutledge, and remained the Capitol until -1816, when it was permanently located at Columbus, Franklin county. -The removal of the capital injured greatly the prospects and business -of Chillicothe for many years, and secured leisure to its citizens, -who engaged in various innocent amusements for killing time--in fact, -lingered with scarcely a symptom of lysis until after the “Literary, -Astronomical and Natural History Society” commenced the publication -and distribution of that illustrated periodical (yearly), known and -remembered to the last days of the older citizens, entitled “_The -Ground Hog Almanac_.” Since then the town has grown in population, -wealth and beauty, and is now the center jewel of the cities in the -rich Scioto valley. - -Provisions for the education of the generations that were to inhabit -the North-west were made and ratified by Congress, in 1787, giving -one-thirty-sixth part of the entire public domain to be reserved from -sale for the maintenance of schools, declaring “That schools and means -of education shall forever be encouraged.” - -When Ohio was set off and became a state, the reserve school lands -were placed under the management of the legislature, the constitution -of 1802 making it the duty of that body to carry out the educational -clause of the ordinance, and that the schools supported by the land -grants should be open for the reception of pupils. But it turned out -like many public trusts; with this splendid endowment of near a million -acres of good land, the children of Ohio received no benefit from that -source, nor from any legislative equivalent, for near half a century -after settlement. The majority of the people, it must be confessed, -were indifferent to the subject of education, and were used to keep -in power enough imbecile legislators, who in defiance of Ephraim -Cutler, the wording of the constitution and acts of Congress, spent the -sessions for more than twenty years in perverse legislation of the -public school lands. - -[Illustration: - -THE HISTORIC GROUND HOG CLUB. - -ORGANIZED FEBRUARY 2, 1800. - -Certificate of Membership. - -The ground hog goes into his hole in the ground early in the fall, -and stays there until the 2d day of February, when, regardless of the -weather, he comes out; but, if he sees his shadow, winter is not over, -and he goes back to stay six weeks.] - -It was stated by a member of the senate, at the time, that every year -things were made worse--“That members of the legislature got acts -passed, under pretexts of granting leases to themselves, relatives and -political partisans, giving the lands away until there was little or -nothing left.” One senator got acts passed giving him and his children -seven entire sections. And legislation through ignorance, inability -and design subverted the intention in regard to the school-land -grant--squandered the proceeds, and then pledged the state to pay the -interest. And for this pledge the citizen is annually taxed on a fund -of over four million dollars, which exists nowhere excepting in name on -the musty books of the state. - -But the young Buckeye Squirrel Hunter could not be repressed; and -fathers and mothers labored hard and economized to help sustain -subscription schools to the full extent of their financial ability; -while the State of Connecticut was supporting an expensive system of -common school education from a fund arising from the sale of her lands -in Ohio.[6] - -The teachers of Ohio subscription schools were not examined, nor did -their patrons require a very high standard of qualification. Still some -were highly educated wanderers over the earth, as the literary works of -H. D. Flood, John Robinson and James Kelsey show; and who were teachers -in Southern Ohio from 1810 to 1825. The greater number of instructors -were well-informed citizens, who accepted the opportunity in order to -pursue studies that would qualify them for a more lucrative calling. - -It was not customary to close the school on holidays; nor even on -Saturdays. They were all hired by the month and were required to -perform the duties of teaching the full number of working days in each -calendar month--neither Christmas, New Year nor Fourth of July could -close the _door_. The patrons were the sole managers of these schools, -and were solicitous to obtain full consideration for the amount paid. -But young America was alive, and the incentive a holiday by nature -gave, could not, under the most staid rules of conduct and economy, -be entirely suppressed; and it became more contagious than measles or -whooping-cough, and every school in the country was soon broken out -with the idea of a holiday--in parts of two days--Christmas and New -Year. - -There seemed to be no way to treat it other than to let it have its -regular course. It always came with a specific demand upon the teacher, -of which the following well-preserved pattern specimen embraces the -material points of others, varying only in quantity and quality, with -locality and circumstances: - - “_December 23, 1817._ - - “MR. JOHN ROBINSON (Teacher)-- - - “_Sir_:--We the undersigned committee, in behalf of the unanimous - voice of the scholars of your school, demand that you treat, - according to custom, to the following articles in amount herein - named, to wit: - - 200 ginger cakes, - 2 bushels of hickory nuts, - 1 peck hazel nuts, - 10 pounds of candy, - 10 pounds raisins, - - delivered at the school house, noon hour, December 25, for the - enjoyment and pleasant remembrance of this school. If this meets your - approbation you will please sign and return the paper to John Kelley - to-morrow, December 24, at noon, saying, over your signature, ‘I - agree to the above,’ - - “JOHN KELLEY, } - JAMES BROWN, } _Committee_.” - WILLIAM SMALLWOOD, } - -Occasionally a teacher not fond of fun or fearful of exposure, would -at once sign these modest demands, and would join in with the children -at noon on Christmas, and again on New Year’s day, and have a long to -be remembered pleasant jollification. But by far the greater number of -teachers preferred a little preliminary skirmishing before acceding -to the peremptory demand. When the above bill of fare was handed the -teacher just before dismissal on the evening of the 23d, he glanced -over the contents and commenced tearing the paper into small fragments. -And it was said this meant defiance. - -The next morning was cold, with deep fall of snow during the night; but -all the larger boys were inside of the school house with a hot fire -and armed with ropes and strings, and plenty of wood and provisions -to withstand a siege, before it was yet light. All the openings were -barricaded with the benches, which consisted of heavy “puncheons,” with -wooden pins driven in on the convex side for legs. One after another -of the children came and were admitted, and when the teacher arrived, -he found the house (cabin) full of jolly boys and girls, but could not -himself enter. - -After many ineffectual efforts to obtain admission, he started -homeward. This was the signal for the boys, and the yelping, whooping -crowd of all sizes and ages of minors, broke camp and gave chase. -Robinson is described as an athletic specimen of vigorous manhood, -and delighted in sport, and concluded to give the boys a fox chase -through the forest and unbroken snow. He led the gang quite easily for -a short time, but after several miles’ running the boys captured and -overpowered the fleeing despot. Finding resistance useless he submitted -to be tied and roped down securely to pieces of timber on either side -with face in the direction of the clouds. The burial ceremony was -performed by asking compliance, and marching around his body, singing -funeral dirges, and piling snow upon his person. - -A monument of snow was soon erected with an opening for breathing and -conversation. He did not hold out long, and by pledging his honor -the bill of fare should be on hand, and no punishment or ill-will -entertained for the usage received, the prisoner was released, and all -returned to the school-house, spelled for head, and were regularly -dismissed for home. - -The next day at noon a cart-load of good things arrived with those -specified; and children and parents enjoyed the feast, after which -there was an old-fashioned spelling-match, and all went home to -remember with pleasure the Christmas of 1817. And at this writing -(1895) only one of that jolly crowd is known to be living, and from -whom the above reminiscences have been obtained. - -The country was so thinly settled it was often difficult to make up a -school (fifteen), owing to distance from the school cabin, and it was -the common practice for those most interested, usually two or three -neighbors, to “sign” for their own children and enough more out of the -range to make up the required number. And often, in order to secure -them, agreeing to pay the tuition and to board them during attendance. -And so far as the advantages of these schools were to be obtained, the -boys and girls shared alike. But if unable to afford the expense for -both, the boys generally got the schooling. - -[Illustration: Ohio School-house from 1796 to 1840.] - -The school-house was usually located in the woods. The building was -of round logs, and presented the appearance of very little comfort, -either without or within. The floor was of mother earth; the ceiling -above, the underside of the roof; a number of rude benches; a few -puncheon shelves, and a huge fire-place, constituted the necessary -arrangement of the interior. It was known as the school-house, although -used as a place to hold elections, lectures, debating societies, and -singing-schools. - -But notwithstanding the loss of an endowment much needed in primitive -times, and the restriction of subscription schools from existing -poverty, and that the log-cabin school-houses stood empty for long -periods, there was no effeminacy in the desire for knowledge, for -where there is a will there is a way, and volumes might be filled with -learned and illustrious names who were once rocked in a “sugar-trough,” -and took their first lessons in “_Brush College_.” - -It was in this environment the scientist, statesman, and divine -obtained that self-confidence and industry which leads to high and -honored stations and has made the North-west a perpetual eclipsing -shadow upon all other parts of the United States. - -In every department, the chosen citizen of this magnificent empire -has shown himself master of the situation. In art, literature, and -sciences; in war and times of peace, he has given strength to the Union -and credit to a central power that will surround itself with national -influences the most impregnable of any government in the world. And -under all the disadvantages--the absence of public schools, and the -opening up of a new world isolated from civilization, he came forth -like a vision of beauty and glory from a chrysalis on which was -written the destiny of future greatness. - -A short time before execution, John Brown said--“I know the very -errors by which my scheme was marred were decreed before the world -was made. And I had no more to do with the course I pursued than a -shot leaving a cannon has to do with the spot where it shall fall.” -That hunger and thirst for knowledge which prevailed in the North-west -seemed to contradict all theories of man’s proneness under favorable -circumstances to degenerate, and favors the theory advanced by the -hero of Ossawatomie in regard to power and purpose. Some of the first -generation of boys of Ohio (those that lived in the territory) previous -to 1796 were born elsewhere to disappoint the Indians, but were all -the same shareholders of the great estate. And at the early dawn of -the present century many of these young men found their way to Eastern -institutions of learning, taking the front in physical and mental -culture, as they did afterward in positions of national honor. - -As boys, squirrel hunters, men, scholars, lawyers, soldiers, civilians, -and statesmen, history shows they filled their places well as American -models of superior manhood. Poor as the isolated inhabitants were -in regard to worldly goods, they had an abundance of that which -gave vitality, energy, and power of will to do. It was no uncommon -thing for boys in this vast forest to obtain by their own efforts -full preparation to enter college, and with a knapsack of luncheon, -_tinder-box_, and scantily-filled purse, walk hundreds of miles to a -seat of learning, and there remain four years without seeing home or -friends until they obtained the high honors of the institution. - -Ex-Governor Seaberry Ford is but the sample of many. When it came time -to go to college, the family of the young squirrel hunter was living -in a log cabin in the backwoods of Ohio. His ambition, however, was -for Yale, and so expressed it. His father replied, “How are you to -get there!” The answer was, “I can walk,” and did walk--reached Yale, -where he remained the “boss” young man of the town and institution -for four years, and returned to Ohio with the first diploma issued by -that college to an Ohio boy. Many years without public schools papers -or libraries did not dampen the ardor of the young for knowledge. The -inhabitants were destitute of a circulating medium, but managed to keep -apace with all the world in that synonym for power. The means employed, -as given in the autobiography of one of the first two college graduates -in the North-west, illustrates well the thousands of that and later -dates who managed to obtain books, and worked their way to the highest -standard of education. - -The Hon. Thomas Ewing says--“About this time” (1803) “the neighbors in -our and the surrounding settlements met and agreed to purchase books -and make a common library. They were all poor and subscriptions small, -but they raised in all about one hundred dollars. - -“All my accumulated wealth, ten coon-skins, went into the fund, and -Squire Sam Brown, of Sunday Creek, who was going to Boston, was charged -with the purchase. After the absence of many weeks he brought the books -to Captain Ben Brown’s in a sack on a pack-horse. I was present at the -untying of the sack and pouring out the treasure. There were about -sixty volumes, I think, and well selected; the library of the Vatican -was nothing to it, and there never was a library better read. This with -occasional additions furnished me with reading while I remained at home. - -“Dec. 17, 1804, the library was fully established and christened, ‘The -Coon-skin Library,’ and a librarian duly elected by shareholders.” - -Five years later, at the age of nineteen, with consent of his father, -young Ewing left home to procure means to obtain a collegiate -education. He set out on foot and found his way through the woods from -his home in Athens county to the Ohio river, and from thence to the -Kanawha Salt Works, where he engaged as a day laborer, and in three -months saved enough money to pay his way at school through the winter -at Athens College. He became well satisfied with the success so far, -and in the spring returned to the Salt Works and made money enough to -pay off some indebtedness that was troubling his father, devoting -the winter to the study of some new books obtained by the “Coon-skin -Library.” - -The third year he returned with enough to induce him to enter college -as a regular student, where he remained until 1815; and, after taking -the degree of A. M., returned to the Salt Works, and earned enough to -aid in the study of law. Thus, ten years were spent as a necessary -apprenticeship--performing the arduous and monotonous labors of boiling -salt, that he might be enabled to cultivate the various talents nature -had so bounteously bestowed upon him, and at the same time avoid -financial embarrassments. - -Many thousands of squirrel hunters since have imitated the example -of this great man, and have arisen to high eminence, but none--not -one--to the height of “The Ohio Salt-boiler”--the greatest man America -ever produced. In stature Mr. Ewing was six feet two inches tall--well -proportioned, with remarkable physical ability. It is related--that -many years after athletical exercises had been lain aside for law, on -passing near the old court-house in Lancaster, Ohio, he found a crowd -of able-bodied men who had been trying to throw an ax, handle and all, -over the building, but it could not be done. Mr. Ewing halted, and took -the ax by the handle and sent it sailing five feet or more above the -building and passed on. - -Mr. Ewing was great from the fact he was familiar with the little -things of life, as well as the greater matters in the supreme court, -where he chiefly practiced. Daniel Webster acknowledged Mr. Ewing’s -superior abilities in seeking his aid in his difficult and weighty -cases. - -In the Senate of the United States, he introduced many important -bills--and opposed Clay’s Compromise--the amendatory fugitive slave -law of 1850--and advocated the abolition of slavery in the District of -Columbia. As a statesman and educated in a free state, he had none of -that diffidence, timidity, and submission to slave-holding dictation so -commonly witnessed among northern legislators in Congress, and before -their constituents. - -The influence of slavery was felt in the education and lives of the -people of the North-west. As race hatred was transplanted into Ohio in -the early settlements, it soon became a political element that caused -many odious and unchristian laws to be placed on the statute books, and -enforced as vigorously against color as if made in the interests of -slavery and bonded ignorance of the state. - -The first State Constitution of Ohio, adopted in 1802, in article 8, -“That the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and free -government may be recognized, and forever unalterably established, we -declare”-- - - Sec. 1. “That all men are born equally free and independent, and have - certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights, among which are - the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, - and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and - safety.” - - Sec. 2. “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in - this state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the - party shall have been duly convicted.” - - Sec. 3. ... “That schools, and the means of instruction, shall - forever be encouraged by legislative provision, not inconsistent with - the rights of conscience.” - - Sec. 25. “That no law shall be passed to prevent the poor in the - several counties and townships within this state from an equal - participation in the schools, academies, colleges, and universities - within this state, which are endowed, in whole or in part, from - the revenue arising from the donations made by the United States - for the support of schools and colleges; and the doors of the said - schools, academies, and universities shall be open for the reception - of scholars, students, and teachers of every grade, _without any - distinction_ or preference whatever contrary to the intent for which - the said donations were made.” - -Still the colored man, under no circumstances, excepting taxation, -was recognized as a citizen. He was by Article IV of the Constitution -of Ohio disfranchised by the word “white”--no other color could enjoy -the rights of an elector. He was by law deprived of schools and means -of instruction contrary to the spirit of the endowment as well as -expressions of the constitution; and for more than forty years the -colored population sojourned in a wilderness of freedom before it was -discovered that manhood has rights all are bound to respect--one of -which is the right of suffrage. - -The greater portion of the population forming the new state were -favorable to freedom, and many were known to have emancipated their -slaves and settled in Ohio that they might wipe out the stains of an -institution which had so truthfully been denominated the “sum of all -villainies.” There were, however, others, in almost every neighborhood, -who by nature were the patrons of the slave-hunter and looked upon a -colored man as unworthy of an existence on earth, and delighted in -tormenting, killing, or driving him from his home and neighborhood. - -This race hatred in some parts of the state received so much attention -and cultivation, that many well-meaning people encouraged the -prejudice, in view of the peace of the neighborhood. - -Cincinnati did more than all the rest of the border towns in keeping -up and disseminating a _violent_ race hatred. Free respectable colored -people were looked upon, denounced, and treated as a nuisance, “having -no rights a white man was bound to respect.” The city harbored if not -encouraged a lot of miscreants, who made it a business to hunt and -capture runaway slaves for the reward; and also to carry on the money -making business of kidnaping free blacks, carrying them across the -river, and selling them into slavery. Any and every unlawful treatment -they received was winked at by citizens and city authorities. - -The courts were open, but until S. P. Chase went to Cincinnati in 1830 -the black man could procure no counsel, as a white man could easily -ruin his character and standing by manifesting the least sympathy for -the persecuted. When the Hon. Salmon P. Chase defended one of these -down-trodden creatures in the courts of Cincinnati, after the hearing -of the case, a prominent man of the city said, pointing to Mr. Chase, -“There goes a promising young lawyer who has ruined himself.” - -But the state outside of Cincinnati had enough of the right element to -enforce, if necessary, at all times, the fifth paragraph of the eighth -article of the state constitution, which affirmed, “That the _people_ -shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, from -all unwarrantable searches and seizures; and that the general warrants -whereby an officer may be commanded to search suspected places, without -probable evidence of the fact committed, or to seize any person or -persons not named whose offenses are not particularly described, and -without oath or affirmation, are dangerous to liberty, and _shall_ -_not be granted_.” Still in matters of legislation Cincinnati managed -to secure her influence against the negro. - -Notwithstanding the plain wording of the Constitution of the State, -laws were enacted to keep the black and mulatto people out of Ohio. -These were the much discussed “black laws”-- - - _First._ A black or mulatto person was prohibited settlement - unless he could show a certificate of freedom and the names of two - freeholders as security for his good behavior and maintenance, in - the event of becoming a public charge; and unless the certificate of - freedom was duly recorded and produced, it was a _penal offense to - give employment to a black or mulatto_. - - _Second._ Colored and mulattoes were excluded from the schools; and, - - _Third._ No black or mulatto could testify in court in any case where - a white person was concerned. - -In 1848, Dr. N. S. Townshend, of Lorain county, and Dr. John F. -Morse, of Lake county, were elected members of the legislature as -“abolitionists.” To these two members, fortunately, holding the balance -of power between the Whigs and Democrats, are due the repeal of the -odious “black laws,” and the election of an “abolition” United States -Senator--S. P. Chase. - -To these men, in combination with the Democrats, is not only due the -repeal of existing laws, but, also, provisions for schools for black -and mulatto children. And Ohio became reclaimed in favor of freedom, -and all was bright and lovely and prosperous--but not all happy; for -there still remained a black, disgraceful, disfiguring spot on the face -of the Goddess of Liberty--a spot that was causing millions to mourn. - -Early in the Union of the States, slavery caste began to isolate itself -from every thing denominated “Yankee North,” and, at the same time, -disseminated a race hatred against the “nigger” among the ignorant -white and poor people of the South. And, in the line of emigration, -Ohio received a larger share of immigrants who had been taught to -despise the “nigger,” and honestly believed a colored man was an -inferior animal, “destitute of a soul;” and lecturers were often -traveling over the state entertaining large audiences with such crude -material as that--“A nigger is not human--the bones in the hands and -feet are entirely different; and he is nothing more or less than an -improved Orang-outang, and made to be a slave to the human race as -much as a horse or cow.” By lowering the natural status of the colored -man, such audiences became elevated and the space between man and the -monkey widened by comparison making room for increased hatred. At all -times, but most especially so, previous to the odious amendments of the -“Fugitive Slave Law,” in 1850, it was no uncommon thing to see calls -signed by numerous citizens inserted in popular newspapers, asking -all persons in favor of “law and order” to assemble at the time and -place specified to put down abolitionism, and to let their “_southern -brethren_” know the people of Ohio were in favor of the constitution -and preservation of the Union of the States. - -A call for a meeting of this kind in a central county of the state, and -announced in the official political paper of the time, dated October 3, -1835, is headed in large type-- - - “_Anti-Abolition Meeting._ - - “A meeting of those opposed to the wild projects of abolitionists is - proposed to be held at the court-house in Circleville, on Saturday, - the 10th day of October next, at 1 o’clock P. M. - - “All those who love their country and are willing to maintain her - constitution-- - - “All who are friends to order and would avert the horrors of a - servile war-- - - “All who know slavery to be an evil, but believe a dissolution of our - National Union a greater evil-- - - “All who deprecate ecclesiastical influence in political affairs, are - respectfully and earnestly invited to attend the proposed meeting, - when a number of addresses will be delivered.” - -This call is signed by four hundred and seventy-three names, citizens -of a town having less than two thousand inhabitants. The next issue of -the paper publishing the call, and previous to the time of meeting, -contained an anonymous, but scathing criticism of such movements, in -which the author of the article says: “It has been shown what is the -real state of the anti-slavery question, and the unreasonableness and -utter groundlessness of the outcry against Abolitionists.” “Further we -would state for the serious consideration of our opponents that we are -persuaded that the ‘Union will be dissolved,’ not if this subject be -discussed, but if it be not. If it be true that the social compact was -formed on the condition of slavery being tolerated by the free states, -then it is such an Union as must sooner or later be dissolved.”... -“Admitting the existence of a God, and that God is a being of perfect -equity, can it be believed that He will suffer such a combination -against the happiness of man to exist forever? And has it not already -existed too long for that unity of counsel in this great republic which -should ever mark the doings of a nation? And can we calculate on a -much longer forbearance?” The editors of the paper, after offering an -apology for publishing the article, of which the above quotations are -but a small part, say: “Will some Abolitionist be so kind as to refer -us to the passage in our Constitution or Declaration of Independence -which asserts that all men are created free and equally; we have not -seen it.” - -The meeting came off as advertised, and the chairman said: “Deeply -sympathizing with our ‘_Southern brethren_,’ we have assembled -to express our most unqualified opposition to emancipation and -disapprobation of the course pursued by its advocates; and to assure -our fellow-citizens in the Southern States that we regard their -constitutional rights as our own, and that we will to the utmost aid -them in the defense of those rights.” “Therefore, Resolved,” was -followed by ten long resolutions in praise of fidelity to the South and -opposition to emancipation, winding up with the following: - -“Resolved, That were the slave-holders now willing to abolish slavery, -in our opinion the immediate and unconditional emancipation of all the -slaves in the United States, without providing for their colonization, -would render the condition of both the whites and blacks infinitely -worse than it now is, and would be an act of palpable and unpardonable -inhumanity to the _slaves_.” - -Signed: Valentine Kieffer, President; Nathan Perrill, John Entrekin, -Wm. Renick, Sr., Vice-Presidents; Elias Bentley, W. N. Foresman, A. -Huston, Secretaries. - -All the officers were well-known and prominent people, and it is not -strange that persons of such note and intelligence should have given -their approbation and signatures of approval to such a meeting, when we -reflect that most pro-slavery men in the free states had been taught to -believe or say: If the slaves were liberated, they would come north -in swarms and “_steal our chickens_,” and destroy the peace of society -“_by marrying every good-looking white woman in the country_.” - -But there existed no occasion for alarm; the slave-holding states South -never had an inclination to emancipate their slaves. _They_ were the -wealth of that country, and its growing greatness fostered the desire -to found an aristocratic empire on slave labor. The number in bondage -was rapidly increasing and their labor was becoming more and more -remunerative. They had but to see the increase of this wealth and its -products in fifty years, to stimulate the desire to found a government -on the aristocracy of the institution. - -In 1810, there were in all the states but 1,191,360 slaves; and -notwithstanding New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -had in the meantime liberated theirs--and the African slave trade had -previously been abolished--the underground railroad had been doing a -lively business--and the manumissions and colonizations that were going -on in the “breeding states”--in 1860 the number had increased to within -a small fraction less than four millions. - -Slave labor was exceedingly profitable in the cotton states, as the -increase of the cotton product shows. In 1801, these states only -produced 48,000,000 pounds, while 1860 returned 2,054,698,800 pounds. -There were, however, two things inserted in the government plat that -were unsatisfactory: “That all men are created equal” in natural -rights, and the Missouri Compromise--the thirty-six degrees thirty -minutes north latitude, Mason and Dixon’s line. It was not so clear -as they wished it might be, that “unalienable rights,” “life, liberty -and the pursuit of happiness,” belonged only to masters; and when the -failure to rescind the “Compromise” in 1853 occurred through democratic -influence, of such men as Albert P. Edgerton, the possibility of -peacefully enlarging the area of slavery became as hopeless as it was -manifestly evident that bondage and freedom could not much longer -remain peaceably in the same government. And with amendments to the -fugitive slave law the Southern political bosses, who had usurped the -control of the national government, knew the constitution found slavery -in the states, and as a state institution left its local existence -to the chances of state laws. They knew full well it was not made a -national institution and that the time was close at hand when they -must go to the rear or abandon their northern allies and set up a -slavocracy for themselves. They had obtained sufficient to know Lloyd -Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Arthur Tappan and the Boston Liberator were -actual facts; and the large meetings of the “dough faces” and their -expressions of sympathy was not the kind of “Soothing Syrup” the South -desired, although giving great encouragement to secession. - -The division of sentiment existing in the free states in regard -to the rights of slavery and its extension became more and more -expressive, especially along the border lines of the opposing -institutions. Consequently Ohio felt a full share of the evils -due to political and social disturbances arising from this cause. -But the intercommunications given by railroads and the light -emanating from a free and fearless press--cheap postage and speedy -transportation--infused new life; and mankind began thinking--thinking -differently from that of past times when the postage on a letter was -twenty-five cents and required four days for an individual to travel -one hundred miles and return. - -Slave hunting in the land of the free did not prove an agreeable -or profitable occupation. The oppressed fugitive generally found -friends enough in the North to secure the boon he sought. In almost -every community could be found the spirit contained in the lines by -Whittier, expressed for George W. Lattimer, who with his wife escaped -from Norfolk, Va., in 1841, and was found in Boston. He was the first -slave hunted in the North, and was arrested and proceedings began to -have him returned to slavery. His cause was championed by such men as -William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and Frederick Douglass. The -court ruled against the fugitive and his liberty was purchased by the -good people of Boston. Lattimer gained great notoriety, and after a -long and eventful life died at his home in Lynn, Mass., May 30, 1896, -aged seventy-five years. And it can not well be disputed that much of -the after changes in public sentiment in regard to the status of the -colored man, and his rights in a free state, was brought about by the -object lessons in the enforcement of the odious fugitive slave law. -“All that was necessary to prove the detestable character of this -iniquity and its dangers to liberty was simply to enforce it.”[7] Still -the corrupting influences of trade made the evils of slavery felt in -the social, moral and educational interests of the entire state; and -consequently citizens, who had in their hearts the logical idea that -all men are born free and equal, saw the hand of tyranny quite as much -on either shore of the river, that constituted geographically the -dividing line. - -This was more especially true of Cincinnati, where large interests -in trade enabled the sentiments of the few to dominate and regulate -public acts and opinions parallel with steamboat monopoly, and the -creed of the “Divine Institution,” as much as if the city had been -located considerably south of “Mason and Dixon’s line;” and as late as -1836 a free soil newspaper, “The Philanthropist,” was destroyed by a -mob of leading citizens of Cincinnati, and which will ever remain a -historical record of loyalty to the institution on the opposite side of -the river, and as penance for some manifestation in favor of freedom. - -The Philanthropist was a newspaper ably edited by James G. Birney. -After being published some three months, at night, July 14, 1836, the -press-room was broken open by well-known citizens of Cincinnati, and -the press materials all destroyed. No attempt was made to punish the -perpetrators. But rather to sanction the act. A call for a meeting of -the citizens was made for July 23d, stating the purpose to be, “_to -decide whether the people of Cincinnati will permit the publication or -distribution of ‘abolition’ papers in the city_.” - -The decision of this mass meeting, composed of the business men of the -city, was afterwards published in a leading local paper, and makes -very good reading, although derived from a pro-slavery source, to wit: -“On Saturday night, July 30th, very soon after dark, a concourse of -citizens assembled at the corner of Main and Seventh streets, in this -city, and, upon a short consultation, broke open the printing office of -the Philanthropist, the abolition paper, scattered the type into the -street, tore down the presses, and completely dismantled the office. It -was owned by A. Pugh, a peaceable and orderly printer, who printed the -Philanthropist for the Anti-Slavery Society of Ohio. - -“From the printing office the crowd went to the house of A. Pugh, where -they supposed there were other printing materials, but found none, -_nor offered any violence_. Then to Messrs. Donaldsons, where only -ladies were at home. The residence of Mr. Birney, the editor, was then -visited; no person was at home but a youth, upon whose explanations the -house was _left undisturbed_.... And proceeded to the ‘Exchange’ and -took refreshments.”... “An attack was then made upon the residences of -some blacks in Church alley; two guns were fired upon the assailants -and they recoiled.... It was some time before the rally could again -be made, several voices declaring they did not wish to endanger -themselves. A second attack was made, the houses found empty, and their -interior contents destroyed.” - -Although all this kind of proceeding looked very much like an unlawful -assemblage, it met with no opposition from the city authorities, and -all that was ever done in a matter of this kind was to call a meeting -of citizens, and “_regret the cause of the recent occurrences_,” and -the next day would drive a Wendell Phillips from Pike’s Opera House, -and seek him with a howling mob that he might be hung to a lamp-post, -“the mayor refusing to allow the police to interfere.” - -Cincinnati reaped a rich harvest for the examples given in “citizen” -mobs. Still, at any time previous to the “_salvation_” of the city, it -was impolitic if not dangerous for a minister of the gospel, a public -speaker, press or private citizen, to mention the subject of slavery -in a manner that might be construed unfavorable to its sanctity; -for a black line had been drawn over the twenty-sixth verse of the -seventeenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles; the tenth verse of the -second chapter of Malachi, and the spirit of the gospel dispensation, -as effectually in their practical theology as was ever manifest in -Danville or in any Southern translation of the ten commandments. - -So determined were the pro-slavery elements to hold the fort in -Cincinnati and aid the South in making it dangerous for a colored -man in a “free state,” that they continued to supply the South with -stores until the last moment; and only a week before the bombardment of -Sumter, the city permitted cannon to pass through on way from Baltimore -marked - - “_For the Southern Confederacy,_ - _Jackson, Mississippi._” - -And the same day, or the day before, returned a fugitive slave through -the commissioner, and all went well with the city, reaping the fruits -of the war, until General Wallace placed it under martial law, and, -suspending business, demanded the citizens to enroll themselves for -defense. “Some were at once taken very sick, others were hunted -up by detailed soldiers, who turned them out of barns, kitchens, -garrets, cellars, closets, from under beds, and in the disguise of -women’s clothing.” For the seed sown was now ripe and mid air was -resounding--“_The harvest is here._” - -At a time, in 1858, when public sentiment was beginning to be felt, and -official prosecutions for the return of fugitive slaves became more or -less unsatisfactory to the owners, James Buchanan, President of the -United States, gave a surprise to every one by appointing Judge Stanley -Matthews--an eminent lawyer, ex-editor of an abolition paper, and -leader in the anti-slavery movements in Ohio, as United States District -Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. - -To politicians, this seemed not only a deviation from all known -precedents, but, politically, an unfathomable mystery. But, no more -remarkable was the appointment than that, a lawyer at the summit of -professional ability and large income--a noted abolitionist--opposed -to the fugitive slave acts, should have accepted the position. But -those who knew Judge Matthews and his patriotism best, could discern -in it logical conclusions--the interests of freedom could be subserved -and the public mind attained by a shorter method than by arguing, -speaking, or publishing--“_the enforcement of the iniquitous fugitive -slave law_.” And for three years he prosecuted “offenders” _without_ -just fault or favor--giving such lessons in its application, that made -loyalty to freedom, and magnified the blessings of the free. - -Judge Matthews resigned the office in 1861, and took the commission -of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Twenty-third--afterward Colonel of the -Fifty-first Ohio, and awaited the “proclamation.” - -During Judge Matthews’ entire service as United States District -Attorney, the slave states were secluded as pertaining to things -and persons of the “North”--papers, books, teachers, preachers, and -citizens were effectually ostracized; northern colleges and seminaries -had their southern patronage withdrawn; and, finally, when, by the -aid of the Secretary of War, they secured large quantities of United -States arms and military supplies, and felt thoroughly prepared and -equipped, the states stepped out of the Union with defiance, leaving -poor Kentucky with a governor that threatened to chastise either of the -belligerents if they dared to interfere with her “_neutrality_.” And -it is not known to history that either the cotton states or neutral -Kentucky ever gave Judge Matthews a vote of thanks for his vigorous -enforcement of the fugitive law. But this is not all. In 1876, Judge -Matthews ran for Congress in the Second District of Cincinnati, and his -defeat, says the biographer,[8] was in consequence of an act of his -while United States District Attorney--that while he had the office he -prosecuted W. B. Connelly, a white resident of Cincinnati, and reporter -of the Gazette, for giving to a young runaway slave and his wife “a -glass of water and piece of bread”--a _crime_ under the fugitive slave -law. It was shown that the negroes were captured and were shut up -in Connelly’s room, and while there they were furnished “bread and -water.” It was further shown, that a letter was written by Connelly, -as a Master Mason, to Judge Matthews, as a brother Mason, in which he -confessed that he had “furnished the negroes with food.” - -But, with all these influential relations, the offense was -prosecuted--Connelly found guilty and was sentenced to serve time of -imprisonment. “The publication of these facts destroyed Judge Matthews’ -chance for Congress,” and that his brother Masons obtained full credit -for his defeat can not well be doubted. - -It is not stated that any _promise_ had been made by Judge -Matthews--_none violated_; and differed materially from ordinary cases, -like that of O. A. Gardner, a Master Mason, arrested for robbing the -mails at Minneapolis, who said in court that his confession was made to -Postal Inspector Gould, a brother Mason, on the promise that Gould, as -a fellow Mason, would see that he was acquitted--“that his acquittal -was assured--that the judge, the lawyers on both sides, and most of the -jury were _Masons_.” - -Judge Matthews had taken the oath of office as district attorney, which -to him was above all other oaths, and was not the man to play the -Marshal Ney performance. And it would seem the “defeat for congress” -was not “the consequence of an _act of his_” as much as it was his -declining to “act” crooked for the benefit of a brother Mason. - -If any one now thinks it impossible that a free people in the North -could be so influenced, cowed, and blinded to the atrocities of slavery -upon the free, let them read the biography of Southern prisons. It -was a day of jubilee for the abolitionists (who had survived the -horrid cruelties that made “Libby” a paradise) when the federal forces -took possession of the South. The Rev. Calvin Fairbanks, after being -kidnapped and serving horrible time for seventeen years and four months -for being an abolitionist, was released from the state prison of -Kentucky, at Frankfort, by a special order of President Lincoln. - -During the last two wardens of the prison--Zeb Ward and that of J. -W. South--this man received thirty-five thousand stripes on his bare -body with a strap of half-tanned leather a foot and a half long, often -dipped in water to increase the pain. He was often whipped four times a -day, receiving seventy stripes at each whipping; one time the number of -lashes was increased to one hundred and seven. - -All this punishment was pretended to be inflicted on the grounds -of failure to perform the daily task which had been fixed beyond -possibility--requiring the prisoner to weave two hundred and eight -yards of hemp cloth daily. - -Early in 1864, Mr. Lincoln learned through Miss Tileston of the -cruelties practiced upon Mr. Fairbanks, and sent General Fry to -Kentucky with orders to make it “Fairbanks Day” at Frankfort prison. - -“When released, Mr. Fairbanks says he crossed the river and kissed -the free soil in Ohio,” where he met the girl who, on hearing of his -misfortune in Massachusetts, came to Ohio and engaged as teacher at -Hamilton, and then at Oxford, supplying him with such comforts as was -within her power--worked and petitioned and watched over the border for -many long years with the love of a true woman. - -Slavery is no more--the dark blotch to freedom has been wiped out with -the best blood of the nation. It was a contentious, political evil as -well. But slavery of the colored race is not the only evil, the only -danger, that can arise to overthrow a Republican form of government. - -The first thirty-five years of the existence of Ohio as a state may -be recognized, in an educational point of view, as the period of -the “_Three R’s_”--“_readin, ’riten, and ’rithmetic_”--for state -legislation made it so. There were no public schools, no academy, but -one higher institution in operation, called an “Ohio University,” -located at Athens, in Athens county. This was opened for students, -in 1809, with the classic course; and the first class, numbering -two, graduated in 1815, receiving the first collegiate degrees ever -conferred under the endowment for education by the act of 1787--John -Hunter, A. M., and Thomas Ewing, A. M. - -This university was in financial straits all this time with an -incomplete corps of professors, for the reason the legislature had -manipulated the land endowments (46,000 acres) from time to time until -little or nothing was received, where large incomes should have been -realized. And the good intent of land grants for educational purposes -in Ohio proved a signal failure in common schools, academies, and -colleges. - -After ineffectual efforts of mongrel state universities to supply the -pressing wants of rising generations, sectarian institutions multiplied -rapidly, and the state soon became honored with numerous chartered -seats of learning representing all religions from Roman Catholic (down, -or up, which ever it may seem) to the Free Will Baptist. Of these, -Oberlin has taken the lead. It was chartered, in 1834, under the -direction of the Congregational Church, with a theological seminary -attached as part of the institution. Both sexes and all colors have -been admitted to its classes. - -During the struggle in Ohio to establish a satisfactory system of -education, the good people of Kentucky claimed to be greatly in advance -in regard to facilities, and sold large numbers of scholarships -to those who desired to embrace better opportunities to obtain an -education, before it was discovered that young men from a free state, -or states, attending those seats of learning had little or no spare -time for mental culture, after giving the physical enough attention to -keep all its members intact; as free-state students were obliged to -fight or “eat dirt.” - -[Illustration: School-house of 1851, in which President Garfield -taught.] - -The writer still holds the larger end of an uncanceled scholarship in -one of the then leading, but now defunct, college institutions. - -As late as 1837, there was no public school system operating in Ohio. -But the year following a law was passed for the purpose of adopting a -system on a uniform footing. Still it required that teachers should -be qualified _only_ in reading, writing and arithmetic. Amendments -and improvements, however, went on, and in 1847 the “State Teachers’ -Association” was organized, and deserves great credit for the good work -done and still doing in obtaining beneficial legislation and raising -the standard of teachers and the curriculum of “High Schools.” And at -the present time Ohio compares favorably with other states in regard to -her system for general and liberal education, regardless of color or -previous condition. - -Information derived from newspapers was measurably lost--the -inefficient postal service prevented the circulation of metropolitan -papers; and those published in Ohio for half a century were under the -ban of slavery. And with the censorship of Kentucky and the cotton -states it is not surprising they were short-lived and unattended with -prosperity. The first paper published in the North-west was printed in -Cincinnati, November 9, 1793, under the name of “The Sentinel of the -North-western Territory.” The journal was owned and edited by William -Maxwell. Newspapers in those days were comparatively small and poorly -executed in presswork; and changed names, ownership or ceased to exist -so frequently that not a few attempts at journalism became lost to -history. - -During the territorial days, and while the seat of government tarried -at Chillicothe, Mr. Willis, the father of N. P., the poet, author and -artist, published a literary paper for a short time. After the capital -became permanently located at Columbus, Philo H. Olmstead, from 1813 to -1818, published “The Western Intelligencer”--then changed the name to -“Columbus Gazette” and in due time to “Columbus Journal.” - -Small as these and other beginnings were over the settled portions -of the state, the press and its influence became of more and more -importance, and kept pace if not in advance of many other leading -departments connected with an advanced civilization. As ideas beget -ideas, so inventions beget inventions, until time and space are no -more, and the wild elements meekly bow in submission to the will and -works of man. If John Gutenberg, Fust, Mentel or Koster, with their -little inventions, could see the automatic working of one of those -mammoth printing machines, which noiselessly move with such rapidity, -exactness and intelligence--even putting human volition and precision -to shame--any one or all of the once contesting discoverers would stop -disputing in astonished wonderment long enough to set up and strike off -on their own inventions a single line, in quotations, “Large trees from -small acorns grow,” and abandon further contention. - -Newspaper educators at an early day, like the schoolmaster, had a -limited showing in a country so financially short. Editors and -publishers could not conduct the business without a given amount of -support. But this needful requirement was too manifestly uncertain to -justify an expensive venture; for there was little or no money in the -country, nor means to procure it by exchanges. Still, the experiment -was occasionally made, but most generally failed even in the hands of -the most economical management and moderate expectations. - -The following is a brief of a four-paged paper, ten by fifteen inches -in size--“No. 33, Vol. I.”--dated June 5, 1818. This paper was started -at the county seat of one of the early settled localities, and in -agriculture one of the leading counties in the state. This number -treats of the following subjects: - -[Illustration: THE OLIVE BRANCH - -VOLUME I.] JUNE 6, 1818. [NUMBER 33.] - - 1. Light reading. Traits in Washington City Drawing-Room. Mrs. - Monroe. The President. Virginians. The Belles. Foreigners. Etiquette. - Foreign Ministers. The Secretaries of Government Departments. - Western Opposition. American Manufacturers. Essex Junto. Two - Different Descriptions of Men that Inhabit Virginia, Contrasted. - - 2. Foreign News--Spain. Major-General Jackson’s Letter to Gov. - Rubute, Bowleg Town, Suwanny, April 20, 1818. Late from the - Army--Milledgeville and Indians. Patriots victorious--Marching on - to Carraccas. The President of the United States. More Specks of - War at Detroit. The Belt had passed through the Winnebago, Sack, - Fox and Hickapoo Nations. Mercury at Green Bay through the Winter, - 25°. Letter from “Savannaa,” April 30, 1818. Letter from Porto Rico. - Letter from Upper Canada. Extract from a Vermont Paper. Expensiveness - of the Ground purchased for the Bank of the United States at - Philadelphia, being One Thousand Dollars per Front Foot. - - 3. Obituaries. Advertisements. Court Proceedings. Expulsion of - Masons from the Order. Patent Pumps. Paris Papers. One Hundred and - Forty Vessels perished in the late Tremendous Gale along the English - Coast. Injurious Effects of Flannel. Masonic Notice. Prospects for - continuing the Publication of “The Olive Branch.” Advertisements. - - 4. Poetry--“Absent Friends. Defense of Putnam. Improvement of the - Loom for Weaving. Sheriff Sale of Accounts.” His own Included. - -The deplorable condition of the press of Ohio at the time is so -graphically and candidly set forth by the editors of the Olive -Branch--the only paper published in the county--in their last appeal -for support, is better illustrated by reproducing the article entire: - - “PROSPECTS - - “FOR CONTINUING THE PUBLICATION OF THE OLIVE BRANCH. - - “The publishers now call upon the citizens of ---- county, and the - country adjacent, to determine if they shall continue publishing - _The Olive Branch_. They have fully and firmly determined to - discontinue its publication, unless the number of their subscribers - is considerably increased. They apprehend their present number will - not pay the expense of the establishment; and they do not think - themselves able, nor are they under obligations, to lose more by it - than they have lost already. - - “If, therefore, the citizens of the county are desirous that a paper - should be published at this place, and if any think _this_ worthy of - their patronage, let them declare it by adding their names to the - list of our subscribers. By this declaration, yea or nay, when fully - and explicitly made known, we shall positively abide. - - “Some persons ask, ‘What is to be the _character_ of our paper?’ And - what _inducements_ we offer them to become subscribers? In a few - words we will tell them: Its character shall be truly American and - Republican. Americans by birth and education, we have no partiality - for European institutions or policy. _Republicans_ in principle, we - will never disseminate aristocratical or monarchical doctrines. We - will ever oppose, with our utmost endeavors, their progress. We do - fearlessly declare perpetual war against them. Believing our forms of - government infinitely superior to any ever before witnessed, we will - rather perish in their defense than sit silent spectators of their - destruction. - - “We will ever respect and inculcate virtue, both public and private, - and deprecate vice in all its dazzling forms. Nothing shall ever - appear in our columns to disturb the present public tranquillity, - unless we see danger lurking therein, which duty requires us to - expose to public view. We hold the Christian religion in sacred - veneration, and shall never, therefore, suffer an aspersion to be - cast upon it through our columns. - - “As the happiness of most of mankind lies in their social domestic - circles, we shall hold them sacred. We will never designedly cast - into them the apple of discord; nor will we knowingly cause a pang to - the _honest heart_ or a blush upon ‘the modest cheek.’ - - “The _inducements_ we offer are: - - “_First_--A weekly account of the most important events and - transactions occurring in our own country. - - “_Secondly_--An account of such as transpire in other parts of the - globe affecting us; and among these, every thing important relative - to our Mexican and South American neighbors will have a preference. - - “_Thirdly_--The most important state papers and documents relating to - or coming from our government. - - “_Fourthly_--Well-written essays, either original or extracted, - on political, moral and scientific subjects, and relating to the - topography and geography of our country. - - “_Fifthly_--A view of the proceedings of our state and national - legislatures, and a strict examination of the laws passed by them. - - “_Sixthly_--Literary articles which convey _instruction_ with - _amusement_ will find a niche in our paper. We shall not, however, - seek to _amuse_ unless we can at the same time _instruct_. To excite - or gratify the public taste for amusement alone we consider dangerous - to our freedom. By such means Pericles destroyed the liberties of - Athens, and Cæsar of Rome. Modern France, too, had her Pericles and - her Cæsar; she followed them, and she is now ruing her folly. Similar - must be our fate when we _follow after_ the siren song of amusement. - We will never be the willing instruments of thus sapping our free - institutions. If our paper can not find a sufficient support without - this, let it go ‘to the tomb of the Capulets.’ For we will sooner - breast the torrent of public feeling on this subject, though we are - swept by it into the deep bosom of destruction, than glide upon its - surface and trim our barques to its course. - - “Renick, Doan & Co.” - -Although ably edited--containing interesting, well-written and -well-selected articles, the verdict was “_perpetual suspension_.” -The inhabitants of neither town nor country cared to become “readers -of newspapers.” The agrarian element of society had not extended to -business transactions. The contracted condition of the “circulating -medium” was such that it became absolutely necessary to ignore every -luxury that required “spot cash;” while state laws made the credit -system so dangerous, honest people kept as free as possible from -financial obligations. They did not wish to take the risk of seeing -their names posted in public places, stating the time the indebtedness -would be sold by the sheriff at public outcry to the highest bidder. - -And the citizen continued on his even way, enjoying the chase--catching -wolves and foxes; and hunting the deer, turkey and squirrel; and in -summer tilling a few acres of corn--a small “patch” of flax--enough -potatoes, beans, pumpkins, and gourds for the use of the family. The -soil produced well, and with but little labor enough corn could be -raised for family meal and to winter the small amount of stock--the -fire-wood was secured from wind-falls in the “deadening,” and with -a horse and cow, a few sheep, and a good dog, the “squirrel hunter” -became wonderfully well satisfied with his environment, and had no -desire for change. The amount he knew of things transpiring in the -outside world was obtained by the word of mouth in the regular line of -communication. - -The women carded the wool and hackled the flax, and spun and wove -the same; and from year to year there were no changes in household -appearances or landed possessions. The “deadening,” however, was a -little larger in area, in order to keep up the easily-obtained supply -of fire-wood, and to increase the amount of the natural grasses and -green things in summer for the benefit of the stock. - -All domestic animals subsisted on what nature furnished in the woods -during spring and summer, and each individual owner had an ear-mark -for hogs and cattle recorded at the county-seat, which gave security -against mistakes, and when animals became lost furnished information of -ownership and acted as a substitute for a square in the “lost” column -of some newspaper. It must be remembered that Ohio was not settled all -over at once. It came into the Union an immense wilderness, and much of -it remained unoccupied for long periods. The first tree cut, in Hardin -county, was cut for bees in 1837--a dead black-walnut, seventy-two -feet to the first limb. And as the counties became organized and -settled the inhabitants all commenced at the same point--the same style -of cabin and like simplicity--benches were used for chairs, earth -for flooring and carpet, forked sticks driven into the ground with -cross poles for bedsteads, clap-boards for bed-cords, and pond-grass -for feathers, a single pot and frying-pan, with a few pewter dishes, -constituted the primitive outfit, sooner or later, for every county in -the state. - -The immigrants who pushed forward into the interior counties suffered -most for want of mills and from the high price of freight, and -merchandise, as salt, flour, and other necessaries of life, all came -from Chillicothe or Zanesville. Salt was ten and twelve cents a pound, -calico one dollar a yard, coffee seventy-five cents, and whisky two -dollars a gallon. - -High prices ruled in all new settlements long after they had been -reduced in and at the vicinity of Chillicothe and Zanesville; -and which, too, was only partly owing to exorbitant rates for -transportation. So little and so few were articles purchased, that -pioneer merchants did not enter the interior counties of the state for -many years, and orders for flour, and salt, and other necessaries, -accompanied by the silver, would be forwarded generally by the bearer -of the order, as no regular mail or line of transportation was run from -one settlement to another. For want of roads the inconvenience was -tolerated, as it did not detract much from the power of the inhabitants -in every part of the state from living well and living easy. Still -there were a few from isolation or improvidence suffered hardships and -unpleasant conditions, especially in the interior counties. - -In the fall of 1803, Henry Berry, a Welshman, came to this country -to establish a home, and leaving his wife and smaller children in -Philadelphia, Pa., took his two boys, one nine and the other eleven -years old, and put up a small cabin in the interior of Delaware -county, fifteen miles from the nearest one of the three families that -constituted the white inhabitants. At this time the country was full -of Indians and wild animals, and was distant from sources of supplies -seventy-five to one hundred miles. The father was so infatuated with -the country, he hurriedly erected a small cabin of such timber as -he and his boys could handle; and when covered, but without floor, -chimney, or fire-place, and without daubing or chinking, he fixed the -children a place to sleep, started back for Philadelphia, hoping to -get the rest of his family West before the cold weather set in. When -he reached Philadelphia he found his wife dangerously sick with a -protracted fever, and before she was able to travel Mr. Berry became -sick, and winter came on, and he was unable to return until the June -following. - -The boys had not been heard from; the winter had been unusually -severe, and they had been left with but a short amount of provisions, -without a gun, surrounded by Indians and wild beasts, and were -compelled to live upon such animals as they could capture; and with no -fireplace or chimney they passed a cold winter in that open cabin. And -when the father returned with the family, he found the boys had cleared -enough ground for a large garden and had vegetables growing from -the seeds they had brought with them from Wales. Of course the boys -suffered much, but like the one on the burning deck, they heroically -stood their ground regardless of consequence. - -But the man who would refuse cornbread and carry a bushel of wheat -seventy-five miles on his shoulder, to get it ground, is not properly a -subject of pity or sympathy. - -Before the state had reached its fortieth anniversary, almost all -parental heads establishing homes in this country, prior to the opening -of the Erie Canal (1825), could, at the sound of a dinner horn, call -in a large family of well-grown children, numbering a “baker’s dozen,” -more or less; and oftener than otherwise, without the loss of a single -addition. - -The ratio of natural increase of population was satisfactory, and -death rate was small. The climate was healthful; living simple and -easy; house-keeping uncomplicated and destitute of style. Rural homes -were all alike unostentatious, and early marriages were seldom, if -ever, deferred on account of immaturity or financial circumstances; -and large families became fashionable. Seldom less than ten, and only -occasionally more than twenty children, were added to the household. - -People may have been poor in accumulated wealth, but it was not -felt or despised. A father with eight or ten robust sons had a sure -foundation for a hope to see the destruction of the surrounding forest, -cultivation of the soil, and the transformation of a portion of the -wilderness into fields of waving grain, fruits and flowers. - -It is possible, and has been no uncommon thing for heads of large -families to live to see their great-great-grand-children; for it would -seem true, as in history, longevity and children are very nearly -related. As a rule, large families are healthy, having inherited a full -measure of vital resistance. Records of centenarians show that both -males and females of those who have gone into the second century have -been nearly all parents of large families; and read quite similar to -the following: “Alexander Hockaday has just celebrated his one hundred -and twelfth birthday. His wife, a few years younger, is still living. -They were blessed with twelve children, eleven of whom are living near -the aged couple with their numerous posterity.” - -No doubt the existing conditions of a desirable new country, and the -exemption from avarice, penury or speculation, with the enjoyment -of that happy state unknown to wealth, want or war, were favorable -to longevity and natural increase. States of the mind and existing -impressions, like acquired habits, are transmissible as certainly as -that of the resemblance of physical and moral qualities. And with the -pioneer posterity, much of that strong manifestation of character and -mental endowment was due to the multiplicity and salutary combinations -of causes. Blood will tell, but in addition to descent, posterity -had all the winning influences of a quiet, simple and easy mode of -living--pure air, earth and water, filled with inspiration to greatness -and dispensed by nature to those who delight to worship within her -temple and partake wisdom from beasts, birds and flowers. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[6] History United States, by C. A. Goodrich, 1823: “This fund, in -May 1821, amounted to one million seven hundred thousand dollars--the -yearly income of which, together with twelve thousand dollars of the -public taxes, is annually devoted to the maintenance of common school -masters in every town in the state. The amount paid to the towns from -this fund, in 1818, was more than seventy thousand dollars--a greater -sum by twenty-two thousand dollars than the whole state tax amounted to -in the year preceding.” - -[7] Mathews. - -[8] “The Builders of the Nation.” - - - - -CHAPTER III. OHIO--PROFESSIONS: MEDICAL, MINISTERIAL, AND LEGAL. - - -“The subject of practical education has occupied the attention of every -enlightened nation, and has ever been one of intense interest to the -reflecting portion of this country. It has been a universally-received -axiom, that the foundations of a republic must be in the information of -its people.”[9] - -In the general desire for knowledge and a steady advancement in the -things pertaining to civilization the professions were in harmony with -that honesty, simplicity and zeal which constituted the foundation -structures of pioneer society. The doctor, the clergyman and the -lawyer occupied respectively their inviting fields, and each became -alike interested in the ever new book of nature, and read aloud -the wonders of the New World. The calling of the physician was not -very remunerative. He seldom refused to obey a call for reason of -the inability to pay. Still, he had but little to do. It was not -fashionable to send for a doctor and have the _temperature taken_ for -every little indisposition. The people, from instinct or circumstances, -had great faith in _Nature_ as a _healer_. They discovered that -persons recovered from most all diseases; and that cool spring water -and a little catnip or bone-set tea served to amuse the patient to a -satisfactory termination quite as well as the visits of the physician. - -And, it would appear, the doctors were generally honest enough to -encourage this reasonable confidence to so great an extent that the -good physical inheritance required very little medication; and many -pioneer fathers and mothers reared large families of children without -the loss of a single member, as well as without having a doctor -called for any occasion whatever. And the rate of mortality remained -astonishingly low until the innovation of “cross-roads” medical -colleges, and proprietary nostrums received the patronage of the public. - -The great danger in a free country of the learned professions being -made up of evil, ignorance and corruption, gave timely warning to the -medical men of Ohio, who, with the aid of the legislature, endeavored -to protect the growing community against quacks and mountebanks. - -The state was divided into districts of several counties each, in which -censors were appointed and duly qualified “to faithfully perform and -impartially discharge their duties as censors” in the examination of -the qualification of applicants to practice medicine and surgery. A -certificate of qualification from the Board of Censors was insufficient -of itself to entitle the holder to practice, and required a license -from the court of common pleas, certified by the secretary of the -medical district, and placed on record in the county in which the -applicant proposed to practice medicine and surgery. - -The following forms were used: - - “CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION. - - [Illustration: SEAL] - - “STATE OF OHIO, - MEDICAL DISTRICT NO. 3. - - “_To Whom It May Concern._ - - “These presents certify, That Giles S. B. Hempstead, of Portsmouth, - in the county of Scioto, appeared for examination, and is found to be - duly qualified to practice physic and surgery. - - “In testimony whereof, I, President of said Board, have hereunto set - my hand and affixed the seal of said Board at Marietta, this, the - fifth day of November, 1818. - - “E. PERKINS, _President_. - COLUMBUS BIERCE, _Secretary_.” - - “LICENSE. - - “Know all men by these presents, That I, ----, President of the - Second Circuit Court of Common Pleas in the State of Ohio, by the - authority in me vested, do license Giles S. B. Hempstead to practice - physic and surgery within this state. - - “In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and official seal - of the County of Scioto this, the twenty-third day of November, A. D. - 1818. - - [Illustration: SEAL] - - __________________________ - “_President Court Common Pleas._ - - “I do hereby certify the above to be a true copy of the license - granted to Giles S. B. Hempstead. - - “COLUMBUS BIERCE, - _Secretary Third Medical District._” - -Each medical district kept a record of all certificates and licenses -issued within the area designated for public inspection, that all might -know who were qualified to assume the responsibility. - -The censors and members licensed composed a list of the learned -and able men of Ohio. Almost every one licensed brought with him a -certificate of qualification from state censors of some state east, -which was copied into the records kept by the censors in Ohio. - -These “Diplomas” were quite similar in character and expression, the -following being a fair sample: - - “DIPLOMA. - - “We, the President and other officers of the Incorporated Medical - Society of Dutchess County, in the State of New York, having received - from our censors full assurance of the competent knowledge of - Columbus Bierce in the theory and practice of medicine, and from - Doctor John Cooper and others, his former preceptors, the like - assurance of his standing and moral deportment, do by the powers - vested in us confer upon him, the said Columbus Bierce, license to - practice physic and surgery and midwifery in any part of this state, - and recommend him to the confidence of our fellow-citizens, and the - friendly attention of our brethren, as a person of good morals and - liberal attainments. - - [Illustration: SEAL] - - “In testimony whereof we have subscribed these presents with our - names and caused our seal of incorporation to be annexed. - - “Done at Poughkeepsie, this, the 15th May, A. D. 1816. - - “JOHN THOMAS, _President_. - - “Attest: JOHN BARNES, _Secretary_. - - “I certify the above to be a true copy from the original. - - “C. BIERCE, - _Secretary Third Medical District, Ohio_.” - -The censors and society of the third district met semi-annually, -alternately at Athens and Marietta, and the place of meeting was -generally at the residence of some citizen, who volunteered in advance -to entertain the doctors. An applicant for a certificate or license -to practice medicine was required by law, to file with the Board of -Censors a certificate of good moral character and a fee of ten dollars. - -A diploma from the censors, approved by the court in the county where -the practitioner resided, entitled the holder to a membership of the -medical society in his district, auxiliary to the state society. Any -member failing to attend a semi-annual meeting subjected himself to a -fine, notwithstanding many were obliged to ride horseback more than two -hundred miles to make the round trip. The attendance of these meetings, -as the records show, was good, and the proceedings compare favorably -with those of the present day. - -Among the standing resolutions, members were “requested to exhibit -specimens of indigenous medicinal plants for inspection,” and “Dr. S. -B. Hildreth to procure and keep on hand at all times genuine vaccine -matter, and to furnish the same to members of the society on their -application and payment therefor.” - -At one of these semi-annual meetings the following met unanimous favor, -viz: - -“_Resolved_, That each individual member of this society, at the next -meeting, furnish in writing an account of such remedies as are known -and used by the people in their several vicinities, not hitherto -generally employed by the faculty.” - -The import of this resolution was of much more significance than it -would seem at the present time. Then, domestic medicine, or use of -indigenous plants, by a poor and sparsely inhabited country, was -general for diseases incident to locality. And to receive written -statements on the subject from various parts, covering a large portion -of a great state, by men of science, constituted an instructive record -in diseases, remedies and results. - -Another resolution seems to have been adopted as the rule of the -society, “to report all accidents requiring surgical interference.” -This may have been from the fact there has always remained a suspicion -of the dual character of things coming under the law of accidents, and -from which probably originated the saying that “trouble never comes -singly.” This dual character of odd occurrences has been noticed, and -noted more frequently by physicians and surgeons, perhaps, than by -those of any other calling. - -This may not have been uppermost in the mind of the Doctor when he -announced to the society that he wished to report two unusual cases of -“_stuck balls_” that came under his notice at the same time, happening -to two squirrel hunters in the same neighborhood. A young man after -squirrels, became confused in regard to the order in which the loading -materials should be used, and put the ball down first. The ramrod, -however, was provided with a remedy for such loss of memory, and the -screw in the end of the rod was firmly fixed in the body of the ball; -but no adequate force seemed at hand to withdraw the ramrod, as the -end projecting beyond the muzzle was so short the operator was obliged -to apply force by means of the teeth. After making many unsuccessful -efforts a happy thought seemed born with the necessity, and he felt -assured if he had the ball once started it could be withdrawn. On this -theory he worked just enough powder in at the “_touch-hole_” of the -“_priming-pan_,” as he judged, to give the ball a slight impetus in -the right direction. And with the end of the ramrod between the teeth, -and great toe upon the trigger, applied full force, adding that of the -powder by means of the toe, which, to his surprise, lost the ramrod -and left an ugly looking hole in the neck at the base of the skull. -Treatment for gunshot wound--recovered. - -The other “stuck ball” was caused by a lad of German extraction failing -to close the “priming pan” to his flint-lock before loading, and -consequently the powder nearly all went out at the “touch hole” as -the ball was pushed down the barrel. Enough, however, remained with -the “priming” to drive the ball about half way out. At this point it -remained fixed, and the amateur gunner could neither get it out nor -push it down. - -Like a dutiful son, reverencing parental wisdom, returned to the house -with the gun, and gave a statement of the facts. After being equally -unsuccessful in the removal of the obstruction, the father looked -carefully over the make of the gun, and said, in bad English: “Shon, -oh, Shon! did you cshoot de gunne mid a zingle drigger ur mid de double -drigger?” John replied that it was shot with a single trigger, which -so enraged the father that he disremembered the commandments, and -with irreligious prefixes declared any fool might know, to shoot a -double-triggered gun “mid a zingle drigger, the ball would go only half -way out.” The case was considered hopeless. - -These short reports bear the only appearances of matter for levity that -the writer has found in looking over volumes of manuscript proceedings -of the biennial meetings. - -At a subsequent meeting of the Medical Society, in 1819, an accident -is given, as stated, “not for the surgery there was in it, a simple -fracture of the left clavicle, but on account of the odd manner in -which it occurred and the instructive sequel. The patient was but -recently from New York City, an estimable young man, but not versed -in the ways of the Western world,” ... “A squirrel he killed lodged -in another tree on its way to the ground. The branch that held the -unfortunate animal was an offshoot of an ancient sycamore which had in -some past age of the world been broken off about thirty feet from the -ground; but, like most sycamores, it was not willing to give up the -ghost, and threw out incipient branches along the remaining section of -the trunk; and at the top or point of fracture a crown of short limbs -adorned the mammoth stump. It was one of these top branches that held -the squirrel. - -“After failing to dislodge the animal by the usual methods, he went up -the tree, and on the top of the stump he found a good place to stand -and bring the game in reach above his head. In the act, the decayed -wood on which his feet were placed gave way and let the hunter down to -the base, in a dark tube, six feet in diameter, without door or window, -and no possibility of returning by the opening he entered. - -“As soon as he recovered from the shock, and took in the situation, -he began making voice signals of distress; but the caliber of the -horn of his dilemma was too large and long to be blown effectually -by an excited and injured asthmatic. He did, however, the best he -could, thinking if those on earth could not answer his prayers, ample -facilities had been obtained for being heard _from above_. - -“Fortunately a fisherman had not proceeded far up the river before he -heard groans of distress, that seemed to come from the water beneath -his boat, and badly frightened, pulled ashore. Still the muffled cries -of human distress were unceasing, and apparently in all directions -among the trees--soon a man was located imprisoned in the interior of a -sycamore. Friends were notified, axes procured and the hunter relieved, -who gave many thanks, requesting that nothing be said about it. - -“He soon recovered from the injury and to show there is no disposition -in the human mind so universal as that which ‘locks the stable door -after the horse is stolen,’ long after, his friends smiled but said -nothing, as they looked upon a hatchet suspended to his hunting belt.” -And circumstances make it highly probable that no one connected with -those meeting with the accidents named, were in any way related to the -enrolled men of renown, known in history as the “Squirrel Hunters of -Ohio;” all are not Jews that dwell in Jerusalem. - -Doctors were mostly hunters, consequently the hunter was not -necessarily an ignorant man, still, in a population of many thousands, -the exceptions might have appeared quite numerous. As a rule he -became a man of extensive information, and hunted, not as a primitive -Darwin-tailed quadruped “making a struggle for life with a club,” yet -it was to supply the necessities of existence all the same. Subsistence -was, however, easily obtained, and did not tax much of his time, and -he had abundance of leisure to devote to experiment and observation. -He was a worker in the vineyard, with the naturalist, geologist, -botanist, biologist, archæologist, etc., and the aggregate co-operative -labor accomplished became manifestly incalculably great. With object -lessons daily before him, in due time he became familiar with the -habits, instincts, intelligence and peculiarities of beasts, birds and -insects, as well as acquainted with the geology, mineralogy and botany -of the district in which he resided. Nothing escaped observation, from -a spear of anemone to the spreading oaks of the forest. The names of -all beasts, birds, plants and minerals with characters, habits and -qualities could be given by the accurate and extensive observers and -investigators who were found among resident squirrel hunters. - -[Illustration: Hunter and Dog.] - -The man with dog and gun could answer all questions; was the only -encyclopedia the collector had to consult; the formulator of scientific -facts desired no other, could ask for no better. The Doctor in -early days, was a man of science and literary attainments. And his -avocation brought him in contact with the hunter and his valuable -collections, observations and investigations, and in this way became -the safety deposit of facts relating to natural history and collateral -branches; in fact, the medical profession constituted a small army -of zealous collectors and investigators--such men as Doctor Ezekiel -Porter, president of the first medical society in Ohio; Doctors -Eliphas Perkins, John Cotton and Samuel P. Hildreth, of Washington -County; Doctors Ebenezer Bowen, Chancy F. Perkins and Columbus Bierce, -of Athens County; Doctors Robinson and James S. Hibbard, of Meigs; -Doctors Felix Reignier and J. G. Hamlin, of Gallia; Doctor Giles S. B. -Hempstead, of Scioto; Doctor Alexander M. Millan, of Morgan; Doctor -Joseph Whipple, of Hocking; Doctor Joseph Scott, of Madison; Doctor -Ezra Chandler, of Muskingkum; Doctor Jared P. Kirtland, of Cuyahoga, -and others equally well known and respected in other parts of the -country and who were equally identified with the history of the state. - -To Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth we owe the first extended and connected -account of the geology of the Ohio Valley. His published notes on -the salt springs and interesting observations on the coal deposits, -with descriptions of the rocks, fossils, organic remains, illustrated -by drawings of plants and shells, constitutes one of the most -comprehensive documents that has ever been made of the geology of the -state. And it was through his influence the legislature took steps -for a geological survey, which was ordered March 27, 1837, with a -corps composed of doctors chiefly--Professor W. W. Mather, Dr. S. P. -Hildreth, Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, Dr. John Locke, Dr. C. Briggs, Col. T. -W. Foster, and Col. Charles Wittlesey. - -Dr. Kirtland was a model specimen of those noble men with great hearts, -clear heads and diligent hands. He was no closet naturalist, but a -student of nature in its full degree. In 1829, while studying the -unios or fresh-water mussels, he discovered that authors and teachers -of conchology had made nearly double the number of species which -are warrantable. Names had been given to species in which was only -a difference of form due to males and females of the same species. -The fraternity of naturalists in the United States and Europe were -astonished because of the value of the discovery and the _source whence -it came_. There were hundreds and probably thousands of professors who -had observed the unios and enjoyed the pleasure of inventing new names -for the varieties. “A practicing physician in the backwoods of Ohio had -shattered the entire nomenclature of the naiads.”[10] - -At the Cincinnati meeting of the American Association in 1852, -Professor Kirtland produced specimens of unios of both sexes, from -their conception through all stages to the perfect animal and its -shell. Agassiz was present and sustained his views, and said they were -likewise sustained by the most eminent naturalists of Europe.[11] -And it is worthy of remembrance that it is only those who base their -conclusions on observed nature that make permanent reputations, and -show that theory and discussion do not settle any thing worthy a place -in science. - -The field was long and wide as it was inviting to the man of science. -And the large corps of medical men dispersed over the state, working -in concert with each other, and in daily contact with the observing -hunter, constituted an academy of science that will not likely ever -find its parallel in enthusiasm, character and efficiency. The -country was so healthy that the practice of medicine was limited and -unremunerative, and the doctor who carried a gun and whistle for a dog -often had much of his time and attention taken up with things other -than squirrels. He conversed with intelligent hunters, and listened -attentively to all they had to say, and then investigated their -statements of every thing in turn, from the habits and life of the -black ant, that relieves the beasts and birds from annoying ticks, up -to the most perplexing questions in natural history. His shelves were -loaded with mineral and archæological specimens; his cases glistened -with the bright plumage of rare taxidermic birds; his drawers filled -with oological information; and every rare plant, tree and shrub -accurately drawn and classified, with the fruits and flowers indigenous -to different parts of the state, received attention and preservation. - -And the question may be suggested, Where did all this wealth of thought -and investigation, scattered over the state, go to? - -The answer is found in the collections of nearly every natural history -society in the United States--in the geological surveys of the state, -and in the everlasting records made by Thomas Nuttall, John J. Audubon -and Alexander Wilson. These noted authors with pens, pencils and -brushes were in the new world collecting facts--each independent of -the other. Nuttall, to make a compendious and scientific treatise on -ornithology, hoping to produce it at a price so reasonable as to permit -it to find a place in the hands of general readers. Audubon marked -out his designs on a much larger and more expensive scale--to give -the exact size, coloring, etc., of the birds and botany indigenous -to the country. This required double elephantine sheets, three feet -three inches long, by two feet two inches wide, to accommodate figures -of the large birds. Exactness was a prominent feature in making -this descriptive history. The eye was never trusted for size; every -portion of each object--the bill, the feet, the legs, the claws, the -very feathers as they projected beyond each other, were accurately -measured. These full-size drawings were engraved and artistically -colored by hand, according to the pattern drawings and colorings made -by the author’s pencil and brush. Collecting and formulating the -material for the four hundred plates, required six year’s labor in -the unbroken forests, and the publication handicraft twenty more in a -foreign country. It was nevertheless completed and will forever remain -as pronounced, by the immortal Cuvier, “_The greatest monument ever -erected by Art to Nature_.” - -Alexander Wilson also contemplated nature, as nature is, and communed -with her in her sanctuaries. In the forests, mountains and shores, he -sought knowledge at the fountain head. - -The observations and records made by these collectors are the corner -stones of natural history of the United States, and their writings -and illustrations will be consulted when other books on the subject -have passed to oblivion. Still it can not be claimed that all valuable -observations have been or ever will be registered; nor that collectors -did not obtain much of their vast stores of information from pioneer -residents, as the acknowledgment of this fact is so often met with -in their works. These authors compliment the medical profession, who -in turn refer to the pioneers, students and professors in natural -history--the “Squirrel Hunters.” - -Dr. Coues, the standard authority on ornithology of the present -time, was told incidentally by a reputable woodsman, that the “wild -goose” often nested in trees along large water-courses. The Doctor -could scarcely believe it, and was led to investigate, and found the -circumstance to be a matter of common information among the residents -of localities where the bird rears its young. Captain Bindere, of the -army, stationed in Oregon, states that one year it was dry and the -geese all nested on the ground; and the next year proved wet with high -waters, and many nested in the trees, and asks if this is instinct -or reason. Other birds that usually nest on the ground, for some -reason during the wet season, occasionally build in trees, showing an -architectural ability entirely different from nests constructed on the -ground. The writer has known the chewink, or ground-robin to build five -feet from the ground a well-constructed nest, during wet seasons only. - -It is the observing man who resides for many years among beasts and -birds that obtains full knowledge of their habits under various -circumstances. It is the patient man to whom nature reveals her -secrets; and the half-clad hunter is often a man versed in these hidden -things, and can even tell how to “feed tadpoles to make them all -females” as correctly as a Professor Drummond. - -Through the knowledge of such men have come the great educators--the -natural history societies and associations of the north-west. Is there -one of these institutions of civilization that owes not its origin -to the collections, accomplishments, observations and will of the -Squirrel Hunter? Not one. He not only collected scientific matter, -but was also the man the future looked upon as the one to open up -farms, build school-houses, churches, highways, water-courses, mills, -manufactures--to carry on commerce, make laws and to enforce them. He -kept his gun clean, his powder dry and bullet pouch full, ready to put -down rebellion or subdue invasion, or perform any other duty assigned -him. - -All this is no fancy sketch nor pen-picture--history written and -unwritten will forever stand with his honorable mention. In the war -of 1812, Ohio sent out more of these men as volunteers than she had -voters; and in addition to this--when it was known General Hull had -disgracefully surrendered the fort at Detroit, the Squirrel Hunters -in the northern counties of the state did not await an invitation, -but with their own guns, ammunition, blankets and rations marched to -Cleveland, and made General Brock and his Indians feel satisfied to -have the big pond of water between them and these determined men. - -The following year (1813), at the time Fort Meigs was under hot fire -and siege by General Proctor and his mixed army of British and -Indians, the besieging general, it is said, was informed “ten thousand -‘squirrel hunters,’ called ‘_Hardy Buckeyes_,’[12] were on their way -and near at hand to tell his army to get out of the country without -delay!” On receipt of this, “not another gun was fired,” and the -general with his army took the nearest and most expeditious route to -Canada. - -In the absence of the love of gain that comes with higher civilization, -the pioneers were in favorable condition to receive literary and -religious instructions. And the teachers found the people always as -ready and anxious to hear the words of inspiration and eternal life -as are those of the present time to learn the last quotations of the -market. - -The strictly moral and religious elements seldom, if ever, took part in -such amusements as “shooting-matches,” “horse-racing,” ball-dancing, -card-playing, or drinking whisky. And for the first forty years of the -Nineteenth Century, the social condition, in regard to loading vices, -had perhaps less evil than at any period since. - -The majority of resident citizens were a Sunday-observing, church-going -people. Although the inhabitants were sparse, the congregations were -generally very large--whole families would walk six, eight, and ten -miles or more to hear a Lorenzo Dow, Jacob Young, or Bishop McKendree. - -Sectarian influences were but little felt. The people encouraged all -denominations, though differing in confessions of faith and church -discipline; each had in view the making mankind better here, and -happier hereafter. “And for forms of faith, let graceless zealots -fight, holding that his ‘can’t be wrong’ whose life is right.” And with -a people who had many reasons to believe in special providences it was -but consistent they should cultivate a submissive sincerity and desire -to follow the paths of rectitude, with faith and assurance--“to such -all ends well.” - -In looking back upon the records made by Squirrel Hunters in early -days there may be seen a most wonderful faith in the providences of -practical religion--that religion which stays with the individual -throughout his daily occupations of life. A simple instance of this -old-fashioned piety is sufficient to illustrate its meaning and spirit -of the times, taken from the biography of one born in the Quaker -Church, written by himself: - - “I owned two hundred acres of choice land, heavily timbered and - well watered with springs and brooks. Of this, only five acres were - cleared for cultivation. My family consisted of wife and two small - children. Of domestic animals, I had two horses, a cow and a dog. One - evening, in the spring of 1813, the cow failed to come home. Her - pasture was an unfenced wilderness. The bell could not be heard, and - search beyond its sounds was impractical after night. Three days were - ineffectually spent without obtaining the least clue to her location; - and bodings of bad luck seemed standing in the high way to prosperity. - - [Illustration: Man of Special Providences.] - - “I gave the cow up for lost and resumed the work of grubbing and - burning brush to enlarge the five acres a little. In the afternoon, - while busily engaged with my thoughts in smoke and brush, my wife and - two children appeared on the ground. She came to tell me there was a - man at the house with a sad story. He had been burned out, and lost - everything, and wanted help to start again. I told her we were too - poor to help any body; that the half dollar in the house was all the - money we had, and I did not think it best to part with the last cent; - that he should go to work and earn something and not spend his time - begging of people who have nothing. My good nature had got around on - the north side. - - “As my wife turned toward the cabin, she observed, ‘The man looks - much distressed.’ And either her words, spirit, or something else, - brought before my eyes in large capital letters the creed or motto - of my life, ‘Do right and all will come right.’ And I called her, - saying, ‘Give the unfortunate man the half dollar, and tell him we - feel for him.’ The beggar left rejoicing. And while at supper the - sound of the cow-bell was at the door--the lost had returned, and we - were all happy again.” - -Pioneer preaching was most satisfactory and successful, and piety -appeared quite as lasting in members of the Methodist Church as -those in churches holding “once in grace, always in grace.” It was -remarkable, as stated, that in a sparsely settled country congregations -would assemble in numbers so great no house could accommodate more -than a small fraction of the multitude. And out-door preaching became -a necessity; and camp-meetings held in “God’s first temples” were -inaugurated in the very commencement of the settlements, and a meeting -of the kind in the pleasant season of the year would bring together -the inhabitants from a large area of country. And under the supervision -of such eminently spiritual divines as Bishop Asbury, McKendree, and -others, it was not strange the old lady entertained the opinion that -“dogfennel and Methodism were bound to take the country.” - -Methodism and its methods were better adapted to the religious wants -of the people than any of the many sects that found missionary -encouragement in the North-west, and it was well said by Warren Miller, -of New York, recently, at the Methodist Social Union, held in Chicago -in honor of John Wesley--“that Methodism has exercised a greater -influence for good over the institutions of our government, from its -origin, and over the lives and character of the masses of our people -than any other branch of the Christian Church, can not be questioned by -any one who has carefully studied the inner history of our government -and of our people.” - -Religious and educational interests were not neglected, and where -the population was too sparse and poor to afford a week-day school, -children were taught to read and write in Sunday-schools, which were -open in summer in most every neighborhood. Church buildings were few, -but preaching and religious services were seldom overlooked, and in -warm weather were held in the groves, and in winter in private houses, -bar-rooms, country taverns, school-houses, courtrooms, and other -places obtained for the occasion. Protracted, tented, or camp-meetings -increased, following the settlements, and becoming very popular with -preachers and people--usually lasting over a week--attended by large -congregations and great revivals. - -Stated preaching places were free to all denominations. - -[Illustration: Church, Residence, and Court-house.] - -Of the numerous log-cabins used for this purpose, only a few have been -preserved as familiar objects in the history of early settlements. A -house that served as a family residence, hotel, church, court-house, -and school-house--a humble log cabin, of which the above drawing is a -faithful likeness--is still standing. - -Dwellings, school-houses, churches, “meeting-houses,” hotels, and -court-houses, resembled each other so closely, it required a knowledge -of the purpose to apply the correct name. And quite frequently cabins -were dedicated for general purposes, but without change of pattern. - -The Methodist Western Conference comprised in 1802, Ohio, Kentucky, -Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and missionary fields in Indiana, -Illinois and Michigan. The ministry traveled on horseback, and after -conference each member would have his field of labor designated on a -map or drawing. On arrival at point of duty the minister arranged his -own circuit and engaged his own preaching places, so he might travel -and preach each day in the week. - -Bishop Asbury devoted all his time and talents to this large field -of religious instruction; traveled and preached, and was so devoted -to the religious or spiritual welfare of the people that he often -remarked to Mr. Kendree that his work was so arduous that he “never -had time to marry a wife, buy a farm or build a house.” And it can not -be said that he or those in his charge had either an easy or lucrative -calling--the bishop’s salary being sixteen dollars per quarter, or -sixty-four dollars per annum. But he lived to see that for which he and -other Christian denominations labored--ten years of the most remarkable -revivals of religion that ever occurred in the United States, and of -which Ohio and the North-west received a full share of the good and -lasting results. - -In the period from 1800 to 1810, or during the height of the great -religious revival that swept over the western and southern states, -there existed a singular manifestation, called the “_jerks_.” -It appeared to follow and to be in some way related to religious -excitement; to be no respecter of persons, and made victims of all -classes and conditions of society. A noted divine in his autobiography -says: “I have often seen the ladies take it at the breakfast table, -as they were pouring out tea or coffee. They would throw the whole up -toward the ceiling, and sometimes break both cup and saucer. They would -then leave the table in great haste, their long suits of braided hair -hanging down their backs, at times cracking like a whip. For a time -it was the topic of conversation, public and private, both in and out -of the church. Various opinions prevailed. Some said it was the work -of the devil, and strove against it. Sometimes it almost took their -lives.”[13] - -The Methodist and Presbyterian ministers were working together in -the revival very harmoniously. But in due time it became whispered -around that the Methodists were making more noise than necessary; that -shouting was a matter under the control of the will, and should be -moderated. All this reached the ears of a young minister, who, at a -camp-meeting in 1804, and before an audience of more than ten thousand -people, concluded it a fitting moment to set matters right and explain -or give the philosophy of the “_jerks_,” and that of shouting, and of -which he says: - - “On Monday morning I preached. I was preceded by the venerable Van - Pelt, who, having preached a short and pithy sermon, sat down, with - the congregation bathed in tears. There was no appearance of jerks. I - took the stand like most of men who know but little and fear nothing, - and undertook to account for the jerks. The preachers behind me - looked as if they were alarmed, the audience seemed astonished at - the young man. I viewed it as a judgment on that wicked community. - This led me to take a compendious view of nations, to show that God’s - providence was just, as well as merciful. Though He bore long, His - judgments were sure to come.... I took occasion to dwell on the rise - and progress of Methodism in this country, and the cruel persecutions - its professors had met from their neighbors. I quoted their taunting - language: ‘How, the Methodists are a pack of hypocrites, and could - refrain from shouting if they would.’ I made a pause, then exclaimed, - at the top of my voice: ‘_Do you leave off jerking if you can?_’ It - was thought more than five hundred commenced jumping, shouting, and - jerking. There was no more preaching that day. One good old mother - in Israel admonished me, and said I had just done it in order to set - them to jerking.” - -The “jerks” have never been satisfactorily accounted for. Some persons -have attributed the manifestations to the influence of witchcraft. But -this superstition failed to fasten itself upon Western civilization as -it unfortunately did on the Eastern States; and the witches imported -into the North-west were so few and insignificant in character that -none of the tribe ever reached recognition to an extent sufficient to -obtain more than a mere mention in the statute books of Ohio. They made -but little public history. - -In 1828, there was a court case in Lawrence county, involving the -individuality of those operating the “black art,” growing out of an -action to recover on a warranty given in a bill of sale of a horse. -The horse proved unsatisfactory, if not unsound. And it was claimed -the horse was docile and all right, excepting for frequent periodical -“spells,” in which he would stop in the midst of routine work, and, -after a short pause, would rear, kick, plunge, and strike out right and -left, uttering unearthly cries, foaming at the mouth, and trembling, -showing great fatigue and fear. All these alarming symptoms would pass -off in a short time, and the animal would again resume its normal -condition and in all respects a docile and well educated beast. - -It was during one of the animal’s normal periods that the defendant -sold it to the plaintiff, making the usual warranty. Soon after, while -the animal was quietly drawing the family to a country church, he -commenced kicking and screaming, until he demolished a new wagon and -tore down the “worm fences” in the vicinity of the transaction, and -suit was brought upon the warranty to recover the money. - -The witnesses for plaintiff showed conclusively that there was -something wrong with the horse; and defendant frankly admitted all that -had been testified as to the singular “spells” or waywardness of the -animal, and related others more startling, but declared that this was -not because of any unsoundness, but owing to the horse being bewitched -from time to time by a gang of witches under control of an old lady who -lived in seclusion of the mountains and fastnesses for which Lawrence -county is noted. - -The defendant stated to the court that this gang were in the habit -of taking possession of horses and cattle, and sometimes of men and -women, riding and worrying them almost to death in the night-time. That -the horse he had sold (and causing this suit) was one of the victims -of this witchery, and that he sold the horse to his neighbor hoping -the evil spirit would not pursue it when it had passed into other -hands--adding, “If witches could be driven out of the neighborhood _the -horse would be all right_, and the people would be better off.” - -Upon mature deliberation, the court went far enough in the direction of -the views of the defendant to render a conditional judgment, to wit, -“that the defendant should either repay the plaintiff the price of the -horse, or relieve the animal of the witches.” Upon receipt of this -optional decree, the defendant went up to the head waters of Little -Beaver, in Pike county, and consulted a noted witch doctor who resided -in that neighborhood. - -After obtaining a statement of the case, the doctor concluded it was -necessary to visit the locality and make a careful and mysterious study -of the situation. On arrival in the affected district the doctor soon -discovered that the old woman on the hill was at the head of a gang of -witches, and prescribed an old-time remedy--that she be at once seized -and burned at the stake. - -It is reported that even the victims of the witches thought this to be -rather heroic, and insisted that some milder remedy should be adopted. -After several days study of the case, the doctor so far modified the -prescription as to substitute the first animal that fell into the -clutches of the witches as a vicarious offering at the stake. - -“It was only a few days until one of the defendants’ cows was taken -possession of by a battallion of witches, which apparently showed -indications of complete recovery. Defendant lost no time, but called -his neighbors together to assist him in tying the cow with ropes and -leading her into a neighboring clearing, where there were plenty of dry -logs and brush. - -“These were piled around and over the bellowing animal and fired. Then -began a supernatural battle. The cow refused to be burned to death and -gave vent to the most piteous and unearthly moans. More brush and logs -were piled on her, and blue flames leaped high in the air, assuming -grotesque shapes and uttering guttural laughing sounds. - -“As sunset approached, the struggles and moans of the animal began to -subside and the flesh and bones began to yield to the consuming fangs -of the flame; the doctor and the defendant in the law-suit, stood -by watching for the denouement with absorbing interest, while the -awe-stricken neighbors stood farther back in the gathering folds of the -approaching night. - -“There was a lurid outburst of flames, demoniac cries and gibbering as -a cloud of sparks rose upward, on the crest of which were a score of -witches, each with a firebrand in its hand. Up and up they rose, then -sailed away over the hill and past the hut of the old lady, and finally -disappeared from sight.” - -The bewitched horse recovered his wonted docility, and the purchaser -never again had any complaint to make. The old lady ceased to commune -with witches, joined the church, and when she passed away was mourned -by the entire community, and so far as known, the witch doctor never -had another case, and the court records officially attest that there -once were witches in this part of Ohio, but were most effectually -expelled by fire and the doctor, and fled shrieking across the Ohio -River, into Kentucky, where they still exist among white politicians -and the aged colored population, who once served under the previous -condition. All of which is a pointer as to variety, or that Ohio can -show enough merely to make up a fair assortment and pattern of most -every kind of people, with room for improvement by further advances in -civilization that will end the least barbarous act in the attempt to -diminish crime by the horrors of electrocution, the rope, or the stake -and fagots. - -But the “jerks,” as well as witchcraft, soon gave way before the -ministers of the gospel, who were a social body of men, welcomed -always at pioneer homes: although many stories have been circulated in -regard to their love for barn-yard poultry. In early days wild game -was common, and when a preacher called, something extra was sought in -honor of the guest, and generally a chicken was sacrificed for the -occasion. At one time, the minister who said “a turkey was an unhandy -bird--rather too much for one, and not quite enough for two,” called -to dine with a widow woman and sister in the church, who was noted -for her willingness to put the “best foot foremost.” After a short -time the clergyman went out to look after his horse, and heard a boy -crying, and soon located him back of the corn-crib, with a chicken -under his arm. “What is the matter, sonny?” said the divine in his most -soothing manner. The boy bawled out “Matter! between the hawks and -circuit-riders, this is the only chicken left on the place.” - -Early in the nineteenth century a citizen and observing author[14] -says: “There is a prejudice against all preachers in this (Ohio) and -all other states is certainly true; but, so far as we are acquainted -with them, and we know them well, we are compelled to say that our -clergymen in Ohio, especially those who have lived here ever since -our first settlement, deserve unqualified praise for their zeal and -good works. _No men in this state_ have been _so useful in building up -society, in making us a moral and truly religious people_. - -“Their disinterestedness and benevolence; their kindness, forbearance -and charity, zeal, industry and perseverance in well-doing, merit and -receive the respect, gratitude and affection of all good men. They have -labored zealously and faithfully and long, and their pay has been but -trifling. We name them not, though we know them all. They have always -been the true friends of liberty, and they would be the very last men -in the nation to wish to overturn our free institutions.” - -The work of the clergy, though differing from that of the doctor, often -caused them to meet on common ground, and they were alike fast friends -of humanity and of each other. As a financial success neither could -boast the superior; but in the good works in which they were engaged -the minister of the gospel held the longer and stronger lever. With -the doctor “death ended all;” but the lessons of the man of inspiration -established a faith in a higher and everlasting existence, which shed -its influence from the departed to the living, and placed in view -another and higher kingdom. - -For many years the learned profession of law was a mere form, and -practically remained on the statute books. Few indeed were the causes -justifying legal investigation. Parties having grievances preferred to -settle them in the primitive way. - -A single recorded instance so fully represents the infant scales of -justice in Ohio that we quote the proceedings of the first court held -in Greene county, in a public “tavern” with all the accommodations for -man and beast. - -The first court-house in this county was not located within the area -of the present city of Xenia, and it was by no means as pretentious as -the present structure. A primitive log cabin with a single room, in a -“clearing” of a few acres, some five miles west of the present county -seat, a little off the road which leads from Xenia to Dayton, with Owen -Davis’s mill on one side and a block-house on the other side of the -stream, was the place where the blind goddess first set up her balances. - -The building was constructed by General Benj. Whiteman more than a -century ago, and shortly after became the property of Peter Borders, -and was selected by the “court” as the seat of justice in 1803, when -the first session was held to complete the county organization. The -first term of court was synonymous with a meeting of the county -commissioners of the present day. The presiding, or law, judge, Hon. -Francis Dunlavy, was not present, and the associate judges, William -Maxwell, Benjamin Whitman and James Barrett, with John Paul, clerk, met -at the Borders cabin on the 10th of May, 1803, and duly dedicated it. -The session lasted but a single day, and the business dispatched was -the organization of the townships. This done, the court adjourned until -the next regular session, which convened some two months later. - -This was a more imposing court and was convened for trying such causes, -civil and criminal, as might come up for consideration. The court -opened with a perfect, clean docket, and for a short time it looked -as though there would be nothing to do. Judge Francis Dunlavy, then -one of the most distinguished citizens of the new state, and who had -served in the territorial legislature, from Hamilton county, presided, -with associate justices Maxwell, Whiteman and Barrett on the bench, -and Daniel Symmes, of Hamilton, performing the duties of prosecuting -attorney. The grand jury was composed of William J. Stewart, foreman, -John Wilson, Wm. Buckles, Abram Van Eaton, James Snodgrass, John Judy, -Evan Morgan, Robert Marshall, Alex. C. Armstrong, Joseph Wilson, Joseph -C. Vance, John Buckingham, Martin Mindenhall and Henry Martin, who were -duly sworn and impaneled. - -Chief Justice Dunlavy (as recorded) delivered a forcible charge to the -grand jury, directing it to diligently inquire into and make a true -presentment of all infractions of the law within its bailiwick. Duly -impressed with the solemnity of the charge to which they had listened, -the jury retired a few yards distant from the cabin, where they began -the first grand inquest, but the most diligent inquiry failed to -discover a single case requiring their attention and action. - -The court, as it seems, would have proved an absolute and inglorious -failure had not Owen Davis, the miller, come to its rescue. People far -away as the Dutch settlement in Miami, had taken advantage of court day -to come to the mill with their grists. Among the number from a distance -was a Mr. Smith from Warren county. Mr. Smith had the reputation of -helping himself to pork wherever he could find wild hogs in the woods, -and Mr. Davis, after having turned out the grist for his Warren county -friend, concluded to administer a little “pioneer law” on his own -account, while the court was proceeding in a more conventional manner. -Accordingly he gave the unfortunate Smith a good drubbing, and as he -was an expert Indian fighter, the job, no doubt, was well done. Having -finished it, he burst into the primitive courtroom where the judges -sat around the deal table in solemn state and awful dignity, with the -exclamation-- - -“Well, I’ll be blanked if I haven’t done it!” - -“Done what, sir?” inquired associate justice Whiteman. - -“I’ve whipped that blanked hog thief from down the country, Ben, and -I’ve made a good job of it. What’s the damage, anyhow? What’s to pay?” - -Whereupon he pulled out his purse and counted down a handful of silver -coins, while the court looked on with horrified surprise, but said -nothing. - -“Oh, it’s a fact,” he went on, “I’ve whipped him, Ben, and blank you if -you’d steal a hog, I’d whip you, too!” - -This was altogether too much for the court, and the sheriff was ordered -to go out and get the witnesses to the affray and take them before the -grand jury. The miller’s pugilistic performance, however, had proved -contagious, and when the sheriff got outside, he found a free fight -going on in all directions, and the grand jurors watching it through -the openings in the little out-house. - -Everybody who had a grievance was settling, or trying to settle it -in the regular way, in backwoods fashion, and the grand jury and -prosecutor Symmes at once had their hands more than full of business. -A score or more of witnesses were examined and by the middle of the -afternoon, nine indictments for affray and assault and battery were -presented in court, and the offenders, including the owner of the -court-house, were arraigned. All plead guilty, beginning with Davis, -the first offender, who was assessed a fine eight dollars, and the rest -four dollars each. All paid their fines upon the nail, so that the -court, owing to the fortunate visit of the Warren county man, found -itself in funds to the amount of forty dollars before early candle -lighting. - -The rest of the business of the court, including a license to Peter -Borders, to conduct a “tavern” in the court-house, with all the word -implied, for which he was taxed eight dollars, was finished before bed -time, and the court was ready to adjourn at an early hour next morning. - -Daniel Symmes, the prosecuting attorney, had come from Cincinnati, -making the fifty miles’ journey on horseback along the Indian trails, -and the court awarded twenty dollars out of the proceeds of the fines -as compensation. But when it reassembled in December following, it -decided that the payment had been illegally made, and Mr. Symmes was -required to refund it. This so discouraged the prosecuting attorney, -he decided that thereafter he would not appear in that court as -prosecutor. He was partially remunerated, however, when, a few years -later, he was promoted to the supreme bench. - -The first session of the Supreme Court was hold in this old -log-cabin, on the 25th of October, 1803, the judges present being -Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg. The third judge, Jonathan Meigs, -was unable to be present, but Arthur St. Clair, of Hamilton county, -attended the sitting in all the glory of a cocked hat and other -military paraphernalia. The only business transacted by the court was -to admit Richard Thomas to the practice of law. - -The descendants of pioneers cling with tenacity to the memories of -olden times, and are proud of the historic struggles made by their -ancestors to establish schools, churches, and good government in a -wilderness known only to savage life for untold ages. Although there -was little cause for litigation, it was necessary to hold the courts -of justice open, as it was to encourage schools and churches that -directed society in the enlightened paths of virtue and higher plane of -civilization. - -Workers in religious denominations met with more or less encouragement, -and mapped out their fields upon a large scale for future operations. -And fathers and mothers, doctors, ministers, and lawyers worked -harmoniously together to instruct, educate, and elevate coming -generations, and many lived to witness the fruits of those exertions -with pride and satisfaction. - -Colonel Charles Whittlesey, in an address before the “Northern Ohio -Historical Society,” November, 1881, says: “If our representative -men are prominent, it may be a source of honorable state pride, -for, while great men do not make a great people, they are signs of a -solid constituency. Native genius is about equally distributed in all -nations, even in barbarous ones; but it goes to waste wherever the -surroundings are not propitious.... - -“Cromwell was endowed with a mental capacity equal to the greatest of -men; but he would not have appeared in history if there had not been -a constituency of Round-heads, full of strength, determined upon the -overthrow of a licentious king and his nobility.... - -“Washington would not have been known in history if the people of -the American Colonies had not been stalwarts in every sense, who -selected him as their representative. In these colonies the process -of cross-breeding among races had then been carried further than in -England, and is now a prime factor in the strength of the United States. - -“I propose to apply the same rule to the first settlers of Ohio, and -to show that if she now holds a high place in the nation, it is not an -accident, but can be traced to manifest natural causes, and those not -alone climate, soil, and geographical position.” - -No doubt, the admixture of races has in some cases added something -favorable to the physical and mental powers of manhood; but, perhaps, -in regard to the superiority of the men of the North-west, more must -be attributed to the natural conditions and surroundings which secured -freedom from all corroding influences of avarice, added to the alert -outdoor life among Indians and savage beasts, with the rifle and -attendant athletic exercises, that gave mental stimulation without -subsequent exhaustion of mind or body. The rising Squirrel Hunter is no -drone; he represents a bundle of activities that scorns a leisure that -breeds an indolent stupidity. - -[Illustration: First School-house in Circleville, Ohio. Cost $10,000 in -1851. In 1879 was remodeled by the School Board at a cost of $39,300.] - -The facilities for the physical culture were greatly in advance of -those for the development of the mental; and it is remarkable what the -key to education has in its turn accomplished--the Bible, “Buckley’s -Apology” and “Pilgrim’s Progress.” - -Most of the present educational influences were unknown to the -generation that has given to the United States so many great men. In -their youthful days libraries were exceedingly few, and books were -expensive and not easily obtained; and little reason had any one to -anticipate that the boys living in the backwoods of Ohio, shooting -squirrels and hoeing corn, spring and summer; catching rabbits, -foxes and coons in the fall and winter, and occasionally attending a -“subscription school” in some abandoned log cabin two or three months, -would ever become stars of the first magnitude in the literary canopy -of the United States. - -From the Atlantic to the Pacific--in every city, in every town--boys -of the rural districts of Ohio have marched to the front. Even in the -National Metropolis it need not be asked: “Whence came Murat Halstead, -Whitelaw Reid, John A. Cockerill, Charles J. Chambers, William H. -Smith, Bernard Peters, William L. Brown, and others.” The New York -_Tribune_, _Herald_, _World_, Associated Press, _Times_ and _Daily -News_, and the evidences of success resulting from ability, integrity -and business capacity, give the answer, “_Ohio_.”[15] - -Whatever the cause may now be attributable to, there can be no question -of the inherited capacity and natural and acquired ability which has -enabled the “_Squirrel Hunters_” of Ohio to give to the nation greater -and more useful men during the present century than all the other -states combined. - -In every channel of advancing civilization the _Ohio man_ is found -over the entire world, and is known by the stamp he bears--“none other -genuine”--“O.I.O.” It may be excusable to name a few of the many -national characters which an Ohio man is ever proud to recall with an -admiration unknown to egotism--of such--Thomas Ewing, Rufus P. Ranney, -George H. Pendleton, Joseph Medell, Richard Smith, Donn Piatt, Ed. -Cowles, Samuel Medary, W. McLean, E. D. Mansfield, James G. Birney, -Swayne, Springer, Scoville, Chase, Simpson, McIlvaine, Thomas Cole, -Hiram Powers, Wm. H. Beard, Quincy Ward; the great inventor, Edison; -the arctic explorer, Dr. Hall; the Siberian traveler, George Kennon; -the astronomer, Mitchell; geologists, Hildreth, Newberry, and Orton; -humorists, Artemus Ward and Petroleum V. Nasby; as popular writer, A. -W. Tourgee and William Dean Howells. The latter found “_Squirrels_” in -the spring, where they resorted for “the sweetness in the cups of the -tulip-tree blossoms;” and in boyhood made “_impressions_” with his bare -feet in the snow on the cabin floor, and in after life more lasting -ones with his pen on the hearts of those who have been favored with his -literary productions. - -Why was it said on the 4th of March, 1881, the nation was enabled to -see “three men of fine presence advanced on the platform at the east -portico of the Federal Capitol? On the right, a solid, square-built -man, of impressive appearance, the Chief-Justice of the United States -(Morrison R. Waite). On his left stood a tall, well-rounded, large, -self-possessed personage, with a head large even in proportion to the -body, who is President of the United States (James A. Garfield). At -his left hand was an equally tall, robust, and graceful gentleman, -the retiring President (R. B. Hayes). Near by was a tall, not -especially graceful figure, with the eye of an eagle, who is the -general commanding the army (Wm. Tecumseh Sherman). A short, square, -active officer, the Marshal Ney of America, Lieutenant-General (Phil. -Sheridan). Another tall, slender, well-poised man, of not ungraceful -presence, was the focus of many thousand eyes. He had carried the -finances of the nation in his mind and in his heart, four years as -the Secretary of the Treasury, the peer of Hamilton and Chase (John -Sherman). Of these six five were natives of Ohio, and the other a -life-long resident. Did this group of national characters from our -state stand there by accident? Was it not the result of a long train -of agencies, which, by force of natural selection, brought them to the -front on that occasion?”[16] - -While this painting from life will ever stand as a most worthy -compliment to Ohio, it must be looked upon as but a detached part of -the great picture of the North-west, in the center of which may be seen -the full measure of a wise man crowned with six stars untarnished with -slavery--Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, 1787. - -The Ohio State Journal says of the 4th of March, 1897, that, “This is a -great time for Ohio at the National Capital. The Buckeye State is very -much in evidence. The President is from Ohio; the Secretary of State is -from Ohio; Mark Hanna is an Ohio man; Secretary Alger was born and bred -in Ohio; ... Senator Foraker, who is expected to be one of the leaders -in the senate, is an Ohio man; the First Assistant Secretary of -State ... is an Ohio man. In short, Ohio politicians will be in the -saddle as far as national affairs go, and, compared with them, the -Republicans of the other states are small potatoes, so to speak. - -“Ohio has for the last quarter of a century been a great state for -presidents. But it never occupied a more conspicuous position in the -sisterhood of states than to-day. The Ohio man comes very near being -the whole thing.” - -Ohio has made her mark politically high, and still manifests a modest -willingness to furnish the nation with presidents and other high -officials, although the New York World thinks the kissing of the words -of Holy Writ by the last favorite son assumed a rather extravagant and -monarchical appearance; that it cost only five thousand dollars to -seat Thomas Jefferson, while the ceremonial bill for William McKinley -and the tenth verse of the first chapter of the Second Chronicles -footed two million five hundred and fifty-five thousand five hundred -dollars; and _bannered_ the fifteenth verse of the same chapter, for -the time being at least. For with that “_wisdom and knowledge_,”--“the -king _made_ silver and gold at Jerusalem (Washington) as _plenteous as -stones_.” - -And in this line, not of boasting, but of greatness, it is not thought -strange, after supplying the nation with a large ratio of leading -statesmen, artisans, scientists and men of letters, the state should -have had in readiness for the occasion--one general, U. S. Grant; one -lieutenant-general, Mr. Tecumseh Sherman; twenty major and thirty-six -brigadier generals; with twenty seven brevet major-generals and one -hundred and fifty brigadier generals; a secretary of war, Edwin M. -Stanton; a secretary of the treasury, S. P. Chase; a banker, J. Cooke, -with a contribution of three hundred and forty thousand armed men and -twenty-six independent batteries of artillery, and five independent -companies of cavalry. - -Ohio had the men--had the will--and when the call came, went into the -war to fight, and of which she did her share, as the eleven thousand -two hundred and ten killed and mortally wounded on the battle-fields, -attest. - -The finances were so ably managed by the secretary and his advisor, -Jay Cooke, that a rebel leader declared the treasury, and not the war -department, had conquered the South. To take an empty and bankrupt -treasury and agree to find, equip and pay the immense federal army was -the portion assigned to secretary Chase. And when Mr. Cooke asked the -amount required daily to meet demands--the reply was “two millions, -five hundred thousand dollars. Can you raise the money?” “I can,” was -the reply. - -Mr. Cooke organized a plan for popularizing the loan, and soon had -receipts coming into the treasury, averaging over four millions per -day. It must be admitted that brains, as well as bullets, gave strength -and success to the federal forces, and it can be truthfully as well as -modestly assumed, that Ohio furnished her share of both, with honest -scripture measure. - -Ohio people are not given much to foolish pride, although considered -sensitive; and those familiar with the resources, industries, wealth -and learning, were surprised that the glorious first-born of the family -of the “North-west Territory,” should come so far short of expectations -at the World’s Columbian Centennial Exposition, at Chicago. The state -was all right, however, and deeply interested. But political favoritism -and incompetency often supplants meritorious ability, and determines -adversely what otherwise would claim admiration and give general -satisfaction. - -Ex-Governor Campbell, in an address recently, would mislead a stranger, -when he says, “The State of Ohio was at Atlanta in 1864, under Sherman, -but is not now at Atlanta as part of the great exhibit of industrial -products held there, because, under, and by virtue of the last general -assembly, the state credit was reduced so low, and its coffers so -depleted, that not money enough could be found for this purpose. -The only official representation from our state at Atlanta, in the -year 1895, is on the part of a few lady commissioners, who have the -freemen’s privilege of paying their own expenses.” - -Does anyone believe Ohio is poverty stricken? Has anyone known the -state or people to be so since the squirrel hunters traded coon-skins -for books, that it could not turn Lake Erie into the Ohio River--the -army of the “Southern Confederacy” face about--or make a first-class -exhibit in any competitive exposition? As a statement, it is true, -“Ohio is not at Atlanta.” But the absence is not due to the causes -assigned, and the wonder is, she is as rich and powerful as she is, -after being forced so frequently to play the part of the individual -that journeyed from Jerusalem down to Jericho. - -Ohio is an agricultural state, populated with those who hold the -handles of the plough and fear not poverty, discontent and strikes. The -native inhabitants inherited a love of liberty and independence from -an ancestry who came to a wilderness to secure _homes_ for themselves -and posterity. And it was in these _homes_ a permanent foundation for -a superior civilization was laid; and through the providences of a -people with _homes_ and families, supported by natural and cultivated -resources, that has transformed unbroken forests into fertile fields -and developed an intelligent, happy and prosperous people. - -It is an old and well-founded belief that the earth was not made in -vain, but is capable of fulfilling all the purposes for which it was -created--now as at any other period in its history. It is also worthy -of thought that the interest in the well-being of man by creative and -governing intelligence is not less than that extended to the beasts of -the fields, and that his title to a share of subsistence on the earth -is quite as good as that of the cattle that graze upon a thousand hills. - -Every one can, and every one should, secure a share in this inheritance -while living. His heirship is indisputable, and on which no mortgage -ever found a right, room or reason to rest. If every cast-off from the -seductive trusts, combines and monopolies--every one of the millions -begging bread--had a definite home upon the soil of the earth, there -would be room for millions more, and bread riots and starvation would -be unknown in all the land. - -Natural civilization--that made in accordance with the laws of -nature--does not consist in aggregating the products of labor into the -hands of a few and distributing poverty broadcast to the many, but -in cultivating intelligence, securing homes, families, subsistence, -comfort and happiness, by every man owning and controlling the products -of his own labor. - -During the first half century of the settlement in the Buckeye State, -the equality and advancement of true civilization of the people have -never been surpassed in the history of the world. Although their land -estates were small, and with that prohibition nature had thrown around -the state against all foreign imports, it might readily be imagined the -living and populating a great empire on its own developed resources -would naturally entail much want and distress. But such was not the -fact. They all had enough and to spare, and vagrants were as unknown -to public provision as were paupers or want among the sparrows, or the -innumerable millions of buffalo that were provided for on the western -plains. - -Those who had homes they could call their own, with families and -friends, plenty to supply the necessities of life, were singularly -exempt from avarice, or that which since the world began has been -denounced “the root of all evil.” - -The first organized money power of serious import, endangering a -republican form of government, was the monopoly termed “The Bank of -the United States,” incorporated by act of Congress in 1816, for the -term of twenty years. And with its millions of easily earned profits, -it soon controlled legislation in the interests of wealth and the -corporation, causing suffering and disaster to the business of the -nation by making prices unstable through contractions and expansions of -the mediums of exchange, so that the State of Ohio raised objections to -the contemplated establishment of branches of the monopoly within her -borders. - -After much political discussion of the matter, a legislature was -elected largely opposed to the money power, and the state in 1818 -passed an act in the nature of a high protective tariff, “taxing each -branch of the United States Bank located in the State of Ohio fifty -thousand dollars.” The bank refused to pay the assessments when due -under the act, and, like most monopolies in sight of a supreme court, -disregarded the act of legislation and defied the authorities. - -The law-makers in Ohio, even in that early day, had seen enough to -understand the defiant insubordination of wealth, and in the act for -collecting the tax from the branch banks due the state, authorized the -collector to employ an armed force, if necessary, and to enter the bank -and seize money sufficient to cover the claim and costs of collection. - -This was done by the collector for the “Chillicothe branch,” and -the state became defendant, returning with interest the money taken -at the end of the usual course of litigation, by an order of the -supreme court. It has often been related by those who took part in the -great struggle for supremacy of _law_, or _will of the majority of a -producing population_, as against the tyrannical usurpations of a money -power, with its revolving satellites, that the contest threatened the -peace, prosperity and safety of the whole nation. - -As stated by Hon. Brisben Walker, the institution “quickly became -a political power; established branches and agencies throughout -the country to _control votes_; spent money freely for _political_ -corruption;” and when it went down, was reported in 1839, by a -committee of its own stockholders, to have given “_such an exhibition -of waste and destruction, and downright plundering and criminal -misconduct, as was never seen before in the annals of banking_. - -“_Thirty millions of its loans_ were not of a mercantile character, -but made to _members of Congress, editors of newspapers, politicians, -brokers, favorites, and connections_.” And it continued to rule until -the will and wisdom of President Jackson put an end to the great -monopoly. He removed the government deposits, prevented a re-charter, -and in 1833 made a statement to Congress, giving the grounds on which -his action was based toward the bank, saying “_it was for attempting -to control the elections, producing a contraction of the currency, and -causing general distress_.” The funeral went off quietly, with but few -mourners, and the American people were liberated from the bondage of -aggregated wealth, and Ohio obtained a lease for a number of prosperous -decades. But the war of the Sixties came, and moneyed combines grew in -power and audacity, until many persons expressed fears for the laws, -labor and liberties of the common people. - -Taking into consideration the small number of wealthy persons among -the great mass of the people, it is rather remarkable that so many -patriotic men in this country, from the days of Washington up to -the present time, have expressed emphatically their fears for the -welfare of the republic should it fall under the destructive power of -concentrated and organized wealth. - -President Jackson declared it was “better to incur any inconvenience -that may be reasonably expected than to _concentrate the whole -money power of the republic_ in any form whatsoever, or under any -restrictions.” He had seen the arrogant influences under all the -restrictions law could give, and gave the warning statement that what -he saw were but premonitions of the fate that awaits the American -people should they be deluded into sustaining institutions of -“_organized wealth_.” - -President Lincoln said, at the close of the sanguinary struggle: “It -has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood; ... but I see in the near -future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble -for the safety of the country. As the result of war corporations have -been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, -and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign -by working upon the prejudices of the people, until all wealth is -aggregated into a few hands, and the republic is destroyed. I feel -at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever -before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicion may prove -groundless.” - -These and other prophetic warnings carry with them a vast degree of -thoughtful solemnity, due to our knowledge of man and the signs of the -times. When the successful candidate for office is made to depend upon -the size of the campaign fund, and party success more or less assured -in proportion to the length of figures beyond a dollar mark, the -liberties of the common people are fraught with danger, if not already -destroyed. - -Wherever the corrupting influence of money has been permitted to -enter politics, it has become more successful than just and salutary -announcements, and has been used aggregatingly by the wealthy in -amounts sufficient to secure their own interests, regardless of -party lines or the welfare of the public. This may appear severe in -statement, but it is nevertheless true to the experience of one who -has seen nearly four score years of our republican form of government. -The writer would gladly soften the roughness with charity, had he ever -witnessed a compensating virtue or redeeming excuse for permitting the -money power to run the government, make the laws and rule the people. - -So great is the apparent fear, too, by the money power that the -government may pass into the hands of the common people, and those -less than multi-millionaires may aspire to political preferment, that -organized leagues are spread over the entire Northern states, like -political fly-traps, with plenty of the “_sticky stuff_,” in order -to hold the ignorant and indifferent to the support of the rich and -their party alliances. The organization of wealth for increasing -its influence on legislation, or other purposes, under the title of -“The National Business Men’s League,” is not looked upon in any very -commendable light by the average American, and has been pronounced -“unsavory” by many honest men. - -“The promoters of this league,” says Senator Quay, “invokes a class -against the masses and all other classes. No league of business men, -based upon wealth, can erect a government class in this country. In the -United States Senate we have _millionaires_ and business men _enough_ -to serve all legitimate purposes. Senators are needed who have no -specialties, _but who will act for the interests of the country in -gross_, without special affinities. - -“The people most deserving of _a representation_, and most in need of -_legislative protection_, are the _farmers_, the small _store-keepers_, -the _artisans_, and the _day-laborers_, and I stand by _them_, and -against this ‘league.’ I go into the barricades with the _bourgeoisie_ -and the men in blouses. - -“There must be less business and more _people_ in our politics, else -the republican party and the _country_ will go to wreck. The _business_ -issues are making our politics sordid and _corrupt_. _The tremendous -sums of money furnished by business men, reluctantly_ in most -instances, are _polluting the well-springs of our national being_.” - -It is unpleasant to look upon the dark side of any question, and -especially that of our lovely country, and still go on ignoring the -lessons given us by the fathers of the nation. When we compare the -administrations of Washington, Adams, and others, with the present -ravening greed for place by those who look upon official position as -the gateway to sudden wealth, the inquiry suggests itself, and the -desire to know the points of compass the nation is drifting, and at -what _port_ the ship of state is expected to enter if continued on the -dark lines of the present chart? - -History is full of object-lessons--storms, wrecks and disasters that -have ended all attempts to perpetuate a republican form of government -by the power of organized wealth. Money is powerful, and may govern for -a season. But legislation that concentrates the wealth of the nation -into the hands of a privileged few causes the government to rest upon -a sandy foundation. The common people will eventually tire, become -restless and revengeful. - -The money interests of the United States and those of Europe are the -same. And when the accumulation becomes so great it can not satisfy -personal greed for gain, it finds its way into landed investments, -chiefly in the United States. At the present rate of concentration -and transfer into realty, the period can not be far in the future -when all the valuable lands in the United States will be owned and -controlled by a few immensely wealthy families in this country and in -Europe. The “money power,” with its “trusts,” “combines,” high fences, -barb-wired, armed police on the outside and bulldogs within, may smile -at the success giving financial control of the profits of all kinds of -labor necessary in the development and manufacture of the resources -of nature. Still, the aristocratic pyramid is incomplete until the -soil and profits from cultivation are owned and controlled by the -“systematic and satisfactory management of a ‘_land trust_.’” - -It is manifest now that wealth is seeking unusual investments in -farming lands by the money kings of Europe and America, when a single -lord of England can own three million acres in the heart of the most -fertile section of the United States, and have his rack-rents sent to -Viscount Scully, in Europe. Sir Edward Reid owns two million acres; -the Marquis of Tweeddale, one million seven hundred thousand acres, -and several others of the titled aristocracy of Europe own farms -ranging from forty thousand to three million acres each, making in the -aggregate an area of several states. And quite recently fifty million -acres more have passed into the hands of the English stockholders in -the distribution of the land grants to the Northern Pacific Railroad. -These large bodies of land owned by aliens--lords of Europe, with the -syndicates and American monopolies and railroad grants,[17] and special -gifts by Congress of one hundred and ninety-seven million six hundred -and ninety-nine thousand acres to the rich monopolies in this country -and Europe, amount to an area greater than the sum of eleven states -of average size, and which may ere long be considered sufficient to -constitute a respectable nucleus for an “AMERICAN LAND TRUST.” - -FOOTNOTES: - -[9] Dr. R. Dunglison. - -[10] Charles Whittlesey. - -[11] Charles Whittlesey. - -[12] “Ohio Valley,” by Samuel Williams, p. 40. - -[13] “Autobiography of a Pioneer,” by Rev. Jacob Young. - -[14] Atwater, “History of Ohio.” - -[15] NOTE--1895.--“Out of eight new Republican United States Senators -just sworn in, four were born in Ohio. There are now eleven Ohio-born -Senators. Ohio does a good business in ‘raising men,’ to say nothing -about the good women.”--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ - -“True. It might be added that the managing editor and chief -political writer of the _Inter-Ocean_ are Ohio men. And, according -to Mr. Dana and Mr. McCullagh, to be an editor is ‘greater than a -king.’”--_Exchange._ - -[16] Howe’s Hist. Coll. - -[17] Minnesota, with an area of 46,000,000 acres, gave 20,000,000 acres -to 3,200 miles of railroads. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. OHIO--HER BEASTS, BIRDS, AND TREES: AIDS TO HIGHER -CIVILIZATION. - - -BEASTS. - -In the absence of native beasts, birds, and trees, a country is -unfitted for the habitation of man. Nature had given to Ohio these -supports to life and aids to civilization in great abundance. - -The Indian was not inclined to improve his “talents,” still he was -exceedingly kind, through instinct or wisdom, in preserving in nature’s -superlative beauty things necessary for the coming man. - -Of the various wild animals in Ohio, no one species has ever shown -greater numerical strength than the gray squirrel. In the early -settlements, he often annoyed his new neighbors with his mischievous -habits and petty larcenies; nevertheless, the pioneer was generally -pleased to see him, as at all seasons he was good for a savory meal. - -At times these little animals became so numerous and destructive to -crops they were more to be feared than is the rabbit in California or -grasshopper in Kansas. For many years, settlers were obliged to guard -their fields when planted with corn, or droves of foraging bands would -dig up the hills and eat the growing grains; when the crops matured, -they were still more destructive, and boys when quite young were -taught to handle the rifle, and when employed as guards became expert -marksmen. Most every one old enough to use a gun could put a ball -through the head of a squirrel three times in five or better on the -topmost boughs of the lofty hardwood timber which covered the face of -the country. - -The amount of forest was so extensive and undisturbed that the squirrel -at times increased to a degree which made him disastrous to crops in -spite of guards, guns, traps, and “deadfalls,” and caused him to become -a subject for legislation, encouraging his destruction by obligations -and rewards. When becoming too numerous, and subsistence scarce, they -migrate to other parts, and often in numbers so great it would require -many days for the marching column of several miles in width to pass any -given point. The Ohio river was a favorable place to capture and kill -them, as they arrived on shore weak and wet. Many were drowned in the -attempt to swim. The inhabitants along the river at such times made it -a business to kill them by wagon loads to feed and fatten hogs. - -The country through which an army of this kind marched left nothing -out doors in the way of subsistence. The first migration of this kind -causing serious alarm occurred in 1807 directly after corn-planting; -and in all the southern counties of the state, it became impossible -to guard the fields, and continued so long that the corn crop was a -failure over a large extent of country, and farmers were obliged to buy -grain for bread. - -The legislature was appealed to, and a statute enacted the same year, -making it imperative for every person within the state, subject to -the payment of tax, to furnish a specified number of squirrel scalps, -to be determined by the trustees of the township, whose duty it was -to give the lister the number required from each individual. This was -intended as a tax in addition to other taxes, making the penalty for -refusal or neglect the same as that of a delinquent tax-payer. And -a non-tax-payer, and tax-payers furnishing scalps in excess of the -required number, were entitled to two cents per scalp, to be paid from -the funds of the county. But, with all the boys and guns and other -devices for destruction to keep the number down to a minimum, the -usual amount seemed but little changed, and squirrel raids continued, -occasionally, all the same. - -A good story is told by an old lumberman, who, in the early days of -steamboating on the Ohio river, contracted to deliver on board of -steamboat one hundred thousand shingles at a “wood-landing” of one of -the river counties in Ohio. The shingles were stacked on the bank of -the river ready for shipment. A few days after, the lumberman heard -most of his “stuff” had been stolen, and that it was probable it had -gone to Pittsburg. On receiving this unwelcome news, he drove down to -the river to look after the condition of things. Before he reached the -place he found the woods alive with squirrels marching toward the river. - -On his return the workmen asked what discoveries were made. The reply -was, “The shingles never went to Pittsburg;” “they all went down the -river, and it is useless to look in Pittsburg or any other place for -them.”... “I got to the river just in time to know all about it. You -see, the squirrels are marching and crossing the river at that point; -and the commanding general is not much on a swim, and he carried one of -my shingles down to the water and rode over on it, and every colonel, -captain, lieutenant and commissioned and non-commissioned officer did -what they saw their general do, and finally the rank and file made a -raid, and I got there just as an old squirrel came down to the water -dragging a shingle, which he shoved into the river, jumped upon it, -raised his brush for a sail and went over high and dry; and when near -enough the other shore leaped off and let his boat float down the -stream. As soon as these observations were taken in, I went up on the -high bank where the shingles had been stored, and found there was not a -shingle left--they are down the river, gentlemen--down the river, sure.” - -This story receives a shadow of support from the learned and cautious -Buffon, who observes: “Although the navigations of the grey squirrels -seem almost incredible, they are attested by so many witnesses that -we can not deny the fact.” And in a note on the subject says: “The -grey squirrels frequently remove their place of residence, and it not -unoften happens that not one can be seen one winter where they were in -multitudes the year before; they go in large bodies, and when they want -to cross a lake or river they seize a _piece of the bark of a birch -or lime, and drawing it to the edge of the water, get upon it, and -trust themselves to the hazard of the wind and waves, erecting their -tails_ to serve the purpose of _sails_; they sometimes form a fleet of -three or four thousand, and if the wind proves too strong, a general -shipwreck ensues ... but if the winds are favorable they are certain to -make their desired port.”[18] - -The squirrel is an industrious and sagacious animal. He lays up stores -of provisions for future use, and conceals them where others of his -kind are unable to find them. And his memory is so perfect, and -location of place so unerring, that in dead of winter, and short of -a meal, he will quit his warm nest in the hollow limb of some tree, -plunge into deep snow and go direct a long distance to the exact spot -where months before he had buried a walnut or an acorn, and dig down -and get the treasure and return with it to his home. - -[Illustration: The Squirrel Hunter.] - -It was once said, “To number the Bison would be like counting the -leaves of the forest”--so, too, the myriads of squirrels that inhabited -the unbroken forests of Ohio evidently approached in number the -incalculable hosts of buffalo that in the grandeur of their numerical -strength swept over the western plains. - -The rabbit multiplies six times as fast as the squirrel, yet he has -never appeared in such multitudes as that of his bushy-tailed cousin. -Happen what may he is, however, always on hand. He loves civilization -and prefers the grassy fields, standing corn and sunny hillsides to -the wilds of the forests, and is always as ready to care for the waste -apples in the orchard as he is to bark around the young trees. He is -an annoying tenant--timid by nature and easily captured. Millions are -sold in the markets every year, but can not come up in numbers with the -squirrel in his palmy days. The “one day’s rabbit shooting” at Lamar, -Colo., by two hundred guns, December 31, 1894, resulted in the capture -of five thousand one hundred and forty-two (5,142); but compared with -a squirrel hunt in Franklin county, Ohio, August 20, 1822, it does not -appear so large; when a less number of guns killed nineteen thousand -six hundred and sixty; and evidently not a “very good day for squirrels -to be out either.” - -No part of the North-west, in a state of nature, was so well adapted -to the propagation and preservation of game beasts and birds as that -within the geographical limits of Ohio. To show the immense amount of -large game which also existed long after settlements had been made, it -is but necessary to give the results of a single day’s hunt, confined -to one township of five miles square, in the county of Medina, December -24, 1818, and which is authentically described by Henry Howe in his -“Historical Collections of Ohio,” Vol. II, pages 463 to 467, inclusive: -“The accurate enumeration of the game killed at the center (of the -drive) resulted as follows: _Seventeen_ wolves, _twenty-one_ bears, -_three hundred_ deer, besides _turkeys_, _coons_ and _foxes_ not -counted.” The wolf-scalps were good for fifteen dollars each, making -a draw on the treasury for two hundred and fifty-five dollars. Many -counties in Ohio were not formed nor settled for nearly a quarter of -a century after becoming part of the state, and a few much later, the -last being that of Noble, in 1851, making in all eighty-eight counties. - -Consequently, game of all kinds remained in abundance in Henry, -Hancock, Hardin, Lucas, Marion, Noble, Williams, and some others. As -late as 1845 two men in Williams county made an effort to see who could -kill the greater number of deer, each confining his operations to a -single township of his own election. One selected Superior and the -other Center township; the hunt to last sixty days. - -At the expiration of the time, one had killed ninety-nine and the other -sixty-five. The success of neither caused remarks of admiration among -the “squirrel hunters,” a few of whom boastingly declared they could -show a much greater list in the given time if they were inclined to -hunt for quantity. - -When the “Reports, Explorations and Surveys” were made to ascertain -the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the -Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, under the direction of the -Secretary of War, in 1853 to 1856, the vast public domain was shown to -be rich in herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and smaller game of both beasts -and birds. It was at this time the bison swarmed over all the Western -plains and hills, from the great rivers to the ocean and from Canada to -the Gulf in numbers beyond the power of computation. - -[Illustration: A Herd of Bison.] - -Of all the quadrupeds known to inhabit the earth, no one species ever -marshaled such innumerable armies as that of the American bison. As -late as 1871, it was estimated that south of the Union Pacific Railroad -line there were between three and four million head. As soon as the -road entered the territory the destruction began, and by the reports of -the Smithsonian Institution, the miserable “pot-hunters” in 1872 killed -over a million and a quarter; and during the first three years after -the road was completed this band of thieves and murderers slaughtered -over three millions of these valuable animals, taking the hides of some -and tongues of others, but leaving untouched where they fell more than -half of this immense number. As American game the bison exists no more. -The only few remaining out of captivity are at Yellowstone Park. - -It is to be regretted that the policy of the government in regard to -the natural wealth of the “public domain” has ever shown such a lack of -wisdom, forethought, and power as to permit the immediate exhaustion -leaving nothing for the legitimate heirs. And it seems singular that -such a well known and immense storehouse of national wealth, as that of -the buffalo, the annuity of which supported more than thirty thousand -natives of the country, should have been left unprotected against those -who have destroyed the forests and killed the cattle on a thousand -hills. - -Governor Isaac I. Stevens, in his report of estimates of the Pacific -Railroad in 1854 to Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, says: “The -supplies of meat for all the laborers on this line east of the -mountains ... will be furnished from the plains. The _inexhaustible_ -herds of buffalo will supply amply the whole force till the road is -completed.” - -[Illustration: Camp Red River Hunters.] - -There were at that time twenty-seven known tribes of Indians west of -the Missouri river, of which the greater part subsisted by hunting the -buffalo; and he says of the hunters from Mouse river valley to the Red -river of the North: “They make two hunts each year, leaving a portion -of their numbers at home to take care of their houses and farms: -One from the middle of June to the middle of August, when they make -‘pemican’ and dry meat, and prepare the skins of buffalo for lodges -and moccasins; and again from the middle of September to the middle of -November, when, besides the pemican and dried meat, the skin is dried -into robes. - -“I estimate that four months each year two thousand hunters, three -thousand women and children, and eighteen hundred carts are on the -plains; and estimating the load of a cart at eight hundred pounds, and -allowing three hundred carts for luggage, that twelve hundred tons of -meat, skins, and furs is their product of the chase.[19] - -“These people are simple-hearted, honest, and industrious, and would -make good citizens. Each year they carry off to the settlements at -Pembina at least two million five hundred thousand pounds of buffalo -meat, dried, or in the shape of pemican.” Large tribes, as the Gros -Ventres, Bloods, Piegans, and others, had hunted and feasted for ages -without diminishing the number or strength of “the _inexhaustible_ -herds of buffalo,” described by Governor Stevens in 1854. - -This source of subsistence to a numerous and poor people, and immense -wealth to the nation, was wantonly destroyed by the “_pot-hunter_,” -who is in no way related to the “squirrel hunter,” but stands in about -the same relation to the sportsman as does the “missing link” to the -species he disgraces. He is a destructive animal, and it is as useless -to hope any species of game, beast or bird, will ever exist in numbers -too great for this wily loafer to destroy, as it is to expect legal -enactments and penalties will ever prevent him doing evil. - -The selfishness that exterminated the buffalo--“_might makes -right_”--runs through the veins of the white man. In the same report to -the Secretary of War in which Mr. Stevens calls attention of settlers -to “many pleasant valleys” that are occupied by “friendly Indians--in -some instances described with log houses, cultivated fields, barns, -flocks and herds, mills and churches, with good morals and observance -of the Sabbath day--that many tribes live in a rich and inviting -country, and are wealthy in horses, cattle, and hogs.” He closes by -saying: “Laws should be passed for the extinguishment of the Indian -title. Posts are recommended with half regiments of mounted men, with a -battery of horse artillery, and one of mountain howitzers; that all the -Indians west of the mountains ‘should be placed in reservation,’ and -the country opened to settlement.” - -It is stated that with a small distribution of presents and “prudence, -judgment, and _display of a small military force_, no difficulty will -be experienced in accomplishing these arrangements so essential to the -construction of the road.” And it does not appear that the government -protected the rights of those in possession of the “fertile valleys” -any more than it did the game it knew gave support to the people -inhabiting the country. If the same careless indifference and love of -greed that wantonly destroyed the game beasts which existed upon the -vast unoccupied domain west of the Mississippi had in like manner -forestalled the settlement of the “North-west Territory” by killing all -the game, population and civilization would have been suspended if not -made improbable within the past century. - -The area of Ohio was well supplied with a variety of the most -attractive game, fed and marked by Nature as her own, free for -all--which made the early settlements contented, independent, and -observing. No means of education gives the mind so much satisfaction -and confidence in truth and reality as the study of the object lessons -received while living in a garden of Nature, an invited guest. - -“All self-educated persons,” says Doctor Newman, “are likely to -have more thought, more mind, more philosophy, than those who are -forced to load their minds with a score of subjects against an -examination--who have too much on their hands to indulge in thinking -or investigation.... Much better is it for the active and thoughtful -intellect ... to eschew the college and university altogether than to -submit to a drudgery so ignoble, a mockery so contumelious. - -“How much more profitable for the independent mind after the rudiments -of education to pursue the train of thought which his mother-wit -suggests! How much healthier to wander in the fields, and there with -the exiled prince to find - - ‘Tongues in trees, books in running brooks.’ - -How much more genuine an education is that of the poor boy in the poem-- - - ‘As the village school and books a few supplied,’ - -contrived from the beach, and the quay, and fisher’s boat, and the -inn’s fireside, and the tradesman’s shop, and shepherd’s walk, and -smuggler’s hut, and the mossy moor, and the screaming gulls, and -restless waves, to fashion for himself a philosophy and poetry of his -own.” Sir Walter Scott long ago declared: “The best part of every man’s -education is that which he gives himself.” - -This was the nature of the school system in Ohio. The young population -grew up among the beasts and birds and trees; each of which in turn -served as teacher. Not only the burley bear and nimble deer, but even -the pestiferous vermin, were aiders and abettors in education and the -rise of the new civilization. The coons, the foxes, the beavers, the -otters, minks, muskrats, and skunk, carried _legal tenders_ with them -and furnished the chief circulating medium known to the country for -many years. - -With the trained dog, the boys in the wilderness were enabled to secure -pelts to send to Boston for books, which erected the superstructure of -more great men than can be found as the production of any other state -or country in a single century. And to-day the intelligent squirrel -hunter makes a respectful bow to the little animals for the honorable -part they so successfully performed in creating the new species and -placing Ohio permanently in the lead of a nation of the best informed -people in the world. - - -BIRDS. - - “For wheresoe’er your murmuring tremors thrill - The woody twilight, there man’s heart hath still - Conferred a spirit breath, and heard a ceaseless hymn.” - -The number of species of birds found at various times in Ohio amount -to two hundred and ninety-two; while the number breeding in the state -is placed at one hundred and twenty-nine; and if the probable summer -residents are counted the number would be increased to one hundred -and seventy-one. An eminent ornithologist says in a recent work: “To -cast the horoscope of the bird-life of the future is uncertain work, -and perhaps without profit; but the stars certainly predict utter -extermination of the finest of all game birds--the wild turkey--and -the diminution to the point of extermination of the ruffed grouse, the -quail, the wood duck and wild pigeon.”[20] - -Game birds as well as song birds would from natural causes alone -diminish in number, as their selected homes or breeding places become -destroyed by clearing up the country. But in addition to this, the -unseasonable and inhuman destruction by means of firearms has become -so alarmingly great as to foretell that at no distant day most of the -desirable species of birds that are permanent residents will have been -destroyed. - -It is generally known by the older “Squirrel Hunters” that from their -first knowledge of the North-west to beginning of the railroad era, -1855, Ohio was a paradise for the sportsman with dog and gun. The -fields abounded with covies of quail; the forests with wild turkeys, -grouse, pigeons and squirrels; and the streams with ducks and geese. -Up to the period named the conditions of the country underwent but few -changes detrimental to the propagation and preservation of game, and -the abundant supplies afforded amusement and subsistence equaled at -present nowhere within the limits of the United States. - -The settlements as yet contained many reservations of continuous -tracts of undisturbed forest, wild ranges, islands along the larger -water-courses, overflowing lands, unmolested parts of large estates, -military and school reservations, etc., often embracing sections of -rich soil heavily timbered and densely covered with an undergrowth of -bushes, and in topography well adapted for resorts and homes of game -birds and beasts. - -Few, if any, of those timbered reservations failed to be occupied by -every species and variety of nature’s household. Some locations from -time immemorial had been the favorite and undisputed habitation of -that most wonderful American bird, the wild turkey. For he is not -migratory, nor an aimless wanderer of the forest. His instincts and -attachments to place, the home of his ancestors, are so great that -generations after generations live and die in the same selected site of -wild territory. No persecution can induce him to abandon his accustomed -haunts. Nothing but death or the removal of his forest ends his family. - -The area of his home requires several square miles, and includes a -nursery, feeding grounds, ranches, roosts and places of refuge in times -of danger. And if by pursuit he is obliged to flee beyond the limit of -his range, he returns to his associates, to his familiar trees, rocks -and mountain streams. - -The turkey is indigenous to America, and not found wild in any other -part of the world. He resides in unsettled sections of timbered -countries, from Mexico to the forests of Canada, and is the wildest, -most intelligent and untamable of all the birds. When taken directly -from the shell, and reared either by hand or with domesticated turkeys, -he will, when grown, separate from friends and accustomed comrades, -and instinctively seek the more attractive life of the forest. No -care and kindness can in one or two generations overcome the fear -of man and love for the wilds, and it requires many generations of -skilled schooling to extinguish the desire for roving and give to him -that contented and confiding disposition which characterizes the -domesticated bird. The writer does not believe it possible for a bird -that has been reared in a state of nature, and felt the charms of -the wilderness, to ever become reconciled to any other conditions of -life. He once brought down a young full-grown female bird and captured -her. When she found resistance useless, she cried most pitifully. She -had suffered no injury excepting a broken tip of one wing, which was -amputated and dressed. The bird was kept in a large cage in the back -yard for two years, remaining concealed during the day and partaking of -food and water late in the evening, and then in the absence of every -object of fear. In due time she was removed to a garden overgrown with -bushes of currants, gooseberries, raspberries, etc., interspersed -with strawberry plants, and with her a pair of tame turkeys. Here she -remained over two years without manifesting the least indication of -making the acquaintance of her civilized relations. A misplaced board -on the fence gave her the boon so much desired--freedom. It was the -beginning of summer when she escaped and was searched for, but seen no -more until the following spring, when she was noticed several times -near the tame turkeys, and this always very early in the morning. - -That she could get there at that hour, or get there at all from the -timbered land near a mile distant, through farms and fences, seemed -remarkable, as she could not fly. After harvest of that year she -frequented the stubble fields near the timber, with four well-grown -half-breeds, as wild as herself. The next spring she commenced visiting -her old acquaintances again, but, unfortunately, fell in sight of a -pot-hunter, and was brought in as a great prize. But those who had -kindly cared for the misfortunes of the bird, and now looked upon -her lifeless form, had feelings which the word indignation failed to -express. - -The turkey propagated in foreign countries soon becomes degenerated, -and in every way much inferior to the American type, the high standard -of which in this country is kept up by infusion of wild blood and -liberal forest ranges adapted to the nature of the bird. - -The wild turkey has many peculiarities not found in any other species. -Other birds elect certain localities to spend their nights, while the -wild turkey puts up wherever night overtakes him; for his range is -his home, and he is at home any-where in his range. When roosting in -considerable numbers, the flock is dispersed over an extensive area -of forest. He seldom, if ever, roosts two consecutive nights in or -near the same place. When the leaves are on the trees he goes to the -topmost twigs of the highest trees, and lets his heavy body down upon -the foliage and small branches, and fixes himself for the night so he -can not be seen by enemies from above nor from below. When the forest -is bare he is still more careful to withdraw from observation, and for -this purpose selects large, rough and broken trees--trees with ugly, -crooked limbs, with knots and deformities--and places himself near some -bump, crook, or place where the addition of his body will be readily -overlooked; for well does he understand that the ordinary pot-hunter -expects to see him perched upon a small limb far out from the body of -the tree, standing on his legs, with outstretched neck and elevated -head. But, instead of making a show, he always does the best he can to -conceal himself, and if nothing better appears at hand, he will take -to a large horizontal limb, and near the trunk of the tree flatten his -body down on the upper part and stretch out the neck and legs on line -with the limb, so to resemble closely a slight enlargement on that part -of the growth. - -He knows so well how to conceal himself when roosting that he laughs at -the possibility of being seen and captured by the marvelous hunters who -have _killed so many by moonlight_! The arrival of man and gun in his -forest is scented and signaled at once. The birds most exposed fly far -in advance of the hunter, and those that feel safe keep still and are -safe from observation. - -The writer admits, after testing this mode of hunting after night, many -times, many seasons, and with many persons, that he has never been -able to find a turkey on a tree while roosting. He has seen, however, -and measured the credibility of the individual who insists that he has -captured a great many snipe in cold, dark winter nights, by holding a -light at the open mouth of a bag while other persons drive them in, but -has never been able to find the individual who shot a wild turkey while -sitting on the roost. - -A friend who had become infatuated with the idea of night-hunting, -insisted that turkeys could be seen on bare trees when the moon was as -light and bright as then; and the reason he had not been heretofore -successful was owing entirely to the “if.” As soon as the moon was -declared all right we were on the grounds; could hear birds flying off -the trees in advance of us as soon as we entered the border. Every -tree in our pathway was scanned, without seeing an object resembling a -turkey. The writer soon tired of the amusement and retraced his steps -some distance, and sat down upon an old log lying on the sand in the -deep-cut bed of a creek. - -After waiting a reasonable time and hearing nothing from the friend, -the writer called--waited and called a number of times; but all -remained silent. Thinking the hunter had become bewildered and wandered -beyond the range of vocal sounds, fired one barrel of the gun off, -pointing it in the direction of the moon, which was partially obscured -by some of the small branches of a large sycamore tree, standing on -the bank of the opposite side of the creek. - -The gun made a loud report, and so did a large gobbler as he came -flapping down through the branches into the creek, having received a -mortal charge of shot. The signal gun soon brought in the absent member -of the expedition, who, on feeling a twenty-pound bird and hearing the -explanation, moved it be made unanimous, as the only successful way to -shoot wild turkeys by moonlight. - -Another peculiarity of this bird may be mentioned. In the spring of -the year the female birds straggle long distances from the flock, and -seek temporary separation in the more open but unfrequented parts of -the forest, where the male birds seldom, if ever, resort. Here they -nest and rear their young. When the offspring is well grown the mother -birds, with young, return to the flock, after which old and young, male -and female, remain together as one family during fall and winter. - -In-door naturalists and authors have given to the world many singular -and absurd statements respecting the habits, sagacity and instincts -of the wild turkey, since the truthful descriptions penned by John -James Audubon, F.R.S., S.L. and E. And it is singular that the eminent -naturalist, Thomas Nuttall, A.M.T., L.S. and C., should say he is not -gregarious. - -Charles Hallock, the able editor of “Forest and Stream,” author of -“Camp Life,” “Sportsman’s Gazetteer,” etc., states that in the spring -wild turkeys “pair off” (like blue-birds), “and after the young are -hatched both parents take great interest in the growth and progress -of the young family;” that they are “easily tamed; are slaughtered -by moonlight while roosting; that it is rarely a wing-shot can be -procured; that they are killed by sportsmen in various ways,” most -of which is not much less at variance with facts in nature than the -statement of Mr. Burrell Symmes, who claimed that he had outwitted -the sagacity of the bird, and killed at one shot, with a rifle, a -large flock that infested a wheat-stack near their range. “The turkeys -would gather around the stack, every few days, as close as they could -crowd their bodies, pulling out wheat-heads to eat;” and, taking in -the situation, says he bent the barrel of his gun to the segment of -a circle corresponding to the diameter of the area of the base of -the stack. And well loaded with powder and leaden ball, concealed -the weapon at the proper adjustment, placing himself in view of the -situation, with a cord attached to the trigger. The turkeys came, and -unsuspectingly crowded around the stack, and began their accustomed -repast. Now was the moment for action--“the cord was pulled, and the -gun fired, which sent the ball round and round the stack, until it -mowed down every last turkey in the flock.” - -Respecting the habits and peculiarities of the wild turkey, the author -turned up a slip from the lips of an old North Carolina negro, who -gives the best pen-picture of the home-life of the bird that has -fallen to the notice of ornithologists. The authography is somewhat -objectionable, but the whole story is well told. Among other things he -says the wild turkey is a “mighty peert fowl;” that he can sometimes -teach a fox how to be smart, while at other times a sucking calf is not -half so big a fool as he makes of himself; that he had known gobblers -to outwit all the hunters in the country, and then walk into some -ordinary colored man’s “pen” and stay there, “a cranin he neck, an’ -tryen to get out at de top w’at been all roof over, wile de hole in de -groun’ w’at he came in at stans wide open.” - -The “pen” was a fatal device, capturing annually thousands of -those birds during early settlements. Before the extensive forests -disappeared turkeys lived well in the fall and winter and fattened on -the mast. But owing to the love for Indian corn they were by a moderate -display of this food easily enticed into traps, called “pens,” when -placed in secluded sections of forest where the birds were known to -seek subsistence. - -Pens were usually constructed of windfalls--old limbs of various -sizes--making an inclosure of ten or twelve feet square, four feet in -height, and covered with similar limbs weighted down with other limbs -placed across the covering. A trench, eighteen or twenty inches deep -and about the same width, cut to enter the pen two feet, terminating -abruptly slanting upward. Over the part of the trench next to the wall -were secured a number of small poles forming a bridge a foot wide. -Outside of the pen the trench extended, rising gradually, until it -reached the level of the surrounding ground. - -When finished, the trap would be well-baited with corn in the center -and in the trench. Small quantities were scattered off in different -directions from the pen, and a few grains here and there for a mile -or more. After the birds would find a few grains, the entire flock -would engage in search for more, and soon the trail of corn leading to -the pen would be discovered, and rushing along in haste would enter -the trench unawares, and forcing the front birds in the trench under -the bridge and up into the pen before danger was suspected. As soon -as those in the inclosure discovered the situation, they would try to -force their way through the openings in the pen, passing and repassing -around and over the bridge with heads erect, never observing the -opening by which they entered--their comrades would soon disappear, -leaving the unfortunate birds to be taken out by the trapper. - -In a good location a single pen would furnish one hundred or more -turkeys during a winter. One year, J. J. Audubon kept an account of -the produce of a pen which he visited daily and found that seventy-six -had been caught in it, in about two months. Seven was the highest -number he had ever succeeded in taking from a pen at one time, but knew -of as many as eighteen being captured by others. The average success -of a pen, per capture, ranged from four to five. The writer has known -fifteen to be the fruits of the first visit, and no more caught that -season. - -To make the pen a success, required great care and attention. The -timber necessary for the construction was gathered from windfalls -showing woodland decay; any marks of the axe, or civilization were -considered objectionable. The earth taken out to make the trench, -leading to and into the pen, was carefully removed to other parts; old -leaves were thrown into the trench and about the pen, making every -thing in the vicinity look ancient and accidental. - -In many settlements the success of trapping pens was of short duration. -As the country soon furnished easy access of the birds to large fields -of their favorite food, they no longer could be induced to enter -the baited pens. Notwithstanding the number captured by means of -pens--“slaughtered by moonlight”--“by baiting”--“by treeing with dogs,” -turkeys remained quite plentiful for more than sixty years after the -settlement of Ohio. They were to be found in the woodlands all over the -state, and for half a century remained the king-bird of the sportsman. -When frightened, he seeks cover and lies well to a point. Early in -the morning is the most propitious time to find him. When a flock is -flushed and frightened by the rapid motions of a dog, some will fly -and others run in the direction of security and cover; it may be a -mile or more distant, and if so the sportsman will most surely pick -up a straggler or two on his way, if he and his dog understand their -business. - -If any have taken to the trees, it will be lost time to look after -them--they have made another fly in the direction taken by the leaders, -who prefer the use of feet to wings. The dog must now keep close -to his master, who moves so cautiously and quietly, that he talks -to his companion by signs and motions altogether. The birds are so -wonderfully fearful of a dog, and are now so frightened that some, -while on the way to the place of refuge, will drop down in a secure -looking spot to regain composure or to await till all is quiet. It is -these the sportsman is after. Old logs, fallen tree-tops, piles of -old brush, blackened limbs, tufts of weeds and spots of dead prairie -grass grown in small openings among timber, afford attractive points -for concealment, and are all remembered with reverence and respect as -monuments of departed birds, at the death and obsequies of which the -writer had been present. - -The hunter must be prepared to find a bird anywhere on the line of -march. The dog carries the scent and his every movement determines the -distance the birds are off. Now he moves with cat-like stealth--he -stops with tetanic muscular tension, quivering in every fiber, stands -elongated--a fixed immovable figure--his marvelous nose has caught the -image and measured the distance, which in silence says, stop!--move -not, as eyes and nose direct to the place some twenty or thirty yards -distant. The bird is there, and the canine head knows the result of -another step in that direction--the hunter summoning all his skill and -coolness, takes a step or two forward, and the bird is flushed, and -starts off with the velocity of a grouse, testing sporting ability -and rapidity of motion that rewards in hearing the monster fall; and -a second later the quiet salute by the faithful and well-trained dog, -showing he is elated equally with his master. - -Quite often a turkey will carry a mortal charge a long distance and -drop dead. Remains of dead birds are so frequently found during the -hunting season, that there can be but little doubt many shot at and -get away, die from their wounds. And the hunter should not despair -of success if his shot on the wing does not come to the ground -immediately. Instances in great numbers are before the writer, some of -which are marked by more than ordinary singularity, where the recovery -of the bird has taken place, quite unexpectedly, after a pronounced -miss. One bitter cold afternoon, while out with a friend, who shot at -a bird as it was flying through the timber; it continued on its course -and was observed for a long distance to fly naturally but to go down -too abruptly. The locality where observation ended was hunted closely -and easily, as there was a crusted snow on the ground, but without -finding as much as a feather. As we were returning, and within a few -rods of the spot where the bird we had been searching for was shot at, -another turkey came sailing over with tremendous velocity, going in the -direction taken by the first one. It was given a barrel loaded with -Ely’s Green Cartridge, No. 5 shot. The bird went on and down, but this -time we marked the locality more accurately and were soon at the place -and found two turkeys, dead and warm, within a few feet of each other. -Some years before this, while standing in a little opening, early in -the morning, listening for turkey sounds, the report of a gun was heard -near half a mile distant, and in a moment a large gobbler fell dead at -the writer’s feet. - -While out with two young dogs, a bird was flushed on the bank of the -Scioto river, and received a shot when near the opposite side, which so -injured and confused him that he came back and fell upon the side of -the stream from which he started. The heavy body came down with a thud, -close to the shore, among some weeds and bushes near a large pile of -drift-wood. The dogs were at the place in quick time, but could find -no turkey. Thinking it had crawled into the drift, we tried to have the -dogs hunt the drift. But they knew better and took no heart in spending -time at that point, and required constant restraint to prevent them -from taking the forest. After an ineffectual examination of the cover -afforded by the drift, the superior judgment of the dogs was taken, and -with management, their noses kept the course of this wounded bird and -followed his meanderings one and a half miles in an air line from the -drift to the point where they came to the bird on a stand. Walking up, -expecting a flush, I was surprised to find a dead turkey, warm, muddy, -and wet with the dew of the morning. - -While it is quite common for a turkey, when mortally wounded, to -continue his flight considerable distances before falling, and equally, -if not more so, to fall dead at once from the shot, it is not often one -will, while on the wing making his escape, change his course of conduct -and come down and give himself up without being touched by shell or -shot. Still, it is not impossible, for he has been known to do so, but -not, perhaps, for the reason said to be entertained by Captain Scott’s -coon. - -One still, warm afternoon in December, 1860, with dog, the writer -visited the “Fenced-in Wilderness.” On arrival in the woods a concealed -position was selected and the dog sent out to look up the birds. Soon -a large male bird came so near, on foot and unseen, that he scented the -hunter, and rose within less than twenty yards of the writer, who fired -after him one of Ely’s green wire cartridges, one and a half ounces No. -5 shot, driven by three drachms of Hazard’s electric powder. The bird -was up in the air about thirty feet, going off directly in line with -the shot. When the gun reported the turkey did not limber nor tumble -like a bird shot, but came down precisely like a paper kite--full -spread of wings and tail, with outstretched neck and legs. When the -writer came up he was lying upon the ground, spread out like a bat, -and the captor placed one foot and weight of the body on his neck, and -commenced reloading the empty barrel. Before this was half accomplished -it became necessary to suspend reloading and attend to the customer -by changing his neck from the foot to the hand, in order to keep him -long enough to cut his throat. During the time required to open the -knife and perform this little surgical operation he used his legs and -toenails most vigorously and effectively, and the operator came out -of the fray bleeding and lacerated, with loss of the greater portion -of coat, vest, shirt and pants. The wounds, however severe, were as -nothing compared with the knowledge demonstration revealed--that this -turkey was knocked down by the generation of some force, without making -a scar, mark, or sign of traumatism, external or internal. A critical -examination revealed no injury whatever, except the cut made by the -knife. The explanation is for the scientist. - -It requires a good gun, a good load and a good shot to bring down a -full-grown, well-feathered turkey. Seldom they rise short of thirty -yards distant; then, by the powerful motor assistance of the legs at -the start, the next thirty yards are made with such velocity that by -the time the gunner has “spoken his piece,” the bird is off so far that -loose No. 5 shot and a fair charge of powder will not be effective -unless by mere accident. This became manifest at the beginning of -the Fifties. Having flushed a very large flock of turkeys near town -by means of a little cocker, that made a terrible ado after them in -the standing cornstalks, near the Scioto river--after hunting them -unsuccessfully in the timber, a strip of prairie grass was entered, -full of “nigger-heads,” extending parallel with the river for a full -half-mile. The grass was tall, and the freezing weather had stiffened -the ground and frozen over the pools, so it could be walked over with -safety. As the grass was entered the little dog became invisible; but -it was soon discovered where he was by the flight of a turkey out of -range, and before the cocker could be brought under control he flushed -several more. It was not long, however, before a good wing shot was -obtained, and the writer started home with a load. This success and -the close proximity to town induced a number of amateur gunners to try -their luck, and they were directed to the locality; for it was certain, -if the turkeys were concealed in the grass, they would remain there if -undisturbed until their time for moving--the dusk of evening. - -From what was subsequently known, it would appear that the whole flock, -consisting of forty or fifty birds, still frightened, had found their -way back to this place of security and concealment, and, without the -aid of dogs, were walked up and shot at by the party, but without -capturing a single bird. - -The hunters returned with sorrow and disappointment. One of their -number, a prominent lawyer and ex-member of Congress, came in with the -loss of one eye and otherwise disfigured for life by the explosion of -his gun. - -At the close of the War of the Rebellion a large amount of -uncultivated, wild land, owned by non-residents, was sold in small -farms to settlers; and a general disposition prevailed, from high -prices of produce, to improve much of the better class of timber lands -every-where, underbrushing for pasture, or deadening the large timber -for corn, and this had some influence in decimating game. Still the -game resorts, uninhabitable in this way, amounted to little compared -with influence and facilities increased railroads gave the pot-hunter -to go on with his work of extermination in those mammoth parks of -forests in the eastern and southern borders of the state, where the -deer, turkey, grouse, and wild-pigeon should have found protection and -a home to the end of time. - -And with a diversified and wild section of country large enough to -accommodate and furnish annually thousands of game, beasts, and birds, -some are entirely extinct, and others scarcely known within the limits -of the state. Such destruction is truly an injustice to a beneficent -creator that fed the hungry, clothed the naked, made pioneer homes -happy and a savage wilderness a desirable habitation for the pilgrims -of a better civilization. - -It is more to be regretted that in the general destruction the grandest -bird in the world--indigenous alone to America--and whose love for -“liberty” exceeds all other species, should be denied room enough among -a liberty-loving people for a home. It seems a pity Benjamin Franklin -had not been more than “half in earnest” when he suggested this bird as -the emblem of our national independence. But as it is, in other ways he -has advanced civilization and been a benefactor to the human race. His -surpassing size, tender, juicy, and gamey-flavored flesh, places him -far above all other gallinaceous birds; and his goodness and greatness -are known over the world, and those who occupy his native country have -secured for his name a _place_ among the saints, to be chanted annually -on a day set apart for _thanksgiving and praise_. - -Railroad facilities enabled pot-hunters to flood the country, to shoot -for eastern saloons and cold-storage houses, until the rapid decimation -of valuable game gave reasons for serious apprehension that both birds -and beasts will become exterminated or taken from the sources of food -supply. An annual depletion of the quantity of game in a given locality -is generally borne well, and is, to a limited extent, beneficial. They -usually stand assessments of numbers much better than encroachments -upon their borders. And it is sometimes singular where they all go -to, when the woods in which they have always lived become cleared up, -so they are obliged to transfer their possessions. An estate in the -Military District, consisting of two thousand acres, remained wild -until 1862. The agent at this date had the land cleared of the young -growth of trees and bushes and put in grass. - -Two years after, while riding along a road that led through this piece -of timber, the writer saw a stately wild turkey, with head erect -and measured steps, marching through the open timber, occasionally -stopping, as though looking and listening for former companions. On the -same road, after several hours, we again saw the disappointed bird on -his way back to tell the sad story. - -The wild turkey is now exterminated in Ohio, and the indications are -he will soon be as little known as the Dodo. During his stay in the -aid and interests of civilization, thousands of Squirrel Hunters were -made happy, and for nearly three hundred years he has been placed -at the head of the feast with all the compliments bestowed upon him -in 1621 by Priscilla Holmes: “The foremost of all delicacies--roast -turkey--dressed with beech-nuts.” - -The quail, another valuable game bird, has, until within a few years, -been an abundant, permanent resident of the state. It is scarcely -necessary to say a word in his praise, for Bob White is a smart little -fellow, an early riser, and worth millions to agricultural interests -while living, and unequaled on toast when dead. - -At the date of the first settlements in the territory the bird was -undoubtedly very retired, as well as few in number. The extensive and -dense forests, covering almost the entire country, made it ill adapted -to his nature; and those which were enabled to perpetuate existence -occupied some of the limited open tracts of land found here and there -over the country. Bob White is really a bird of civilization. He -flourishes most near the abodes of man. The cultivation of the soil and -settlement of the country increases his numbers. In support of these -conclusions we will here refer to the fact contained in a statement -made by a gentleman who, with family, settled in Ohio in the spring -of 1798, and located on the border of a small prairie--seemingly a -favorable situation for the bird. He resided several years in that -locality, raising wheat, corn, and other kinds of produce, without -hearing the voice of the quail. He had about abandoned the anticipation -of quail shooting, and questioned if it would ever be recognized as a -sport in Ohio. - -One day in early summer of 1802 he thought he heard the recognized -though suppressed sound, “Bob White.” Somewhat doubting the sense of -hearing, he immediately made observations and procured additional -evidence--that of sight. Yes, he actually heard and saw the bird for -the first time in Ohio. Elated with the good news, he proceeded to the -cabin and told his discovery with so much excitement and enthusiasm -that it created a laugh at his expense. He excused his manner, however, -by saying, “It was sufficient to excite any one to know that a -highly-esteemed and familiar friend had found the way through such an -interminable wilderness, and announced his arrival in that modest and -meaning way, ‘Bob White.’” Since then he has been known as a permanent -resident. - -The greater portion of the year the old birds, with the family -increase, remain in coveys. In early spring this general attachment is -broken up by pairing, each pair selecting a locality, where they remain -during the breeding season. When mating and selection of locality -has taken place, it is known by the demonstration of the male, who -gives the whole neighborhood due notice of his domestic intentions by -frequent repetitions of his cheerful and well-known notes, “Bob White! -Bob White!” - -When paired the two are constant companions, ever watchful and -devoted to the welfare of each other, sharing equally the duties and -responsibilities of wedded life; and from the appearance of the first -offspring to their settlement in the world, as faithful father and -mother, remain unceasing protectors and providers for the family. -This extraordinary strength of attachment and exhibition of natural -affection has attracted the attention of all their friends. - -While living on a farm the writer discovered a nest, nicely concealed -by tufts of grass after being constructed, under the projecting end -of a fence rail. At the time there were in it five eggs. This number -increased daily until twenty-three eggs filled the nest, and incubation -began. All went on happily, until one morning there was evidently -great distress in that little household. The male bird was sounding -his anxious alarm--going hurriedly from one part of the farm to that -of every other--sometimes flying, sometimes running; stopping a moment -here, a moment there; calling at the top of his voice for his mate, -in his peculiar tone of distress. His unanswered cry soon told the -tale--some accident, some ruthless hawk, some sneaking cat, or some -other enemy, had captured and destroyed his faithful companion. - -He kept his calling for several hours, sometimes coming quite near, -making a low chittering noise, as if suspicious something could be -told--that the writer could tell him where his love had gone. Far from -it, he too was in search of anything that could give a clue to the -whereabouts of the unfeeling wretch that had done the bloody deed--he -too was excited, and would have executed the severest penalty known on -the guilty one, if found. - -The nest was occasionally observed during the forenoon, with merely the -thought she might be testing the affection of her lord, or playing him -a practical joke; but no, the eggs were, at each visit uncovered. About -noon-day, his lamentations ceased, and hoping his mate had returned, -the nest was again visited, and was surprised to find Bob on the nest, -keeping life in the prospective family. - -For several days he left the nest frequently to make further search -for his missing sweetheart. One morning, as usual, I called to see how -the little widower was getting along, and found nothing but a bundle -of shells--every egg had been hatched. Not far from the nest was heard -a crickety sound--“chit, chit, chit”--and soon discovered Bob with his -brood. He continued to care for the motherless young, as the writer -can testify from frequent meetings, and reared a fine, large covey, -which received protection and sympathy during the following fall and -winter, of all the farm hands and sportsmen, who knew him and his -well-behaving family. - -Quail are not strictly granivorous. In autumn and winter they subsist -chiefly on grain, berries and weed seeds. But in the spring and summer -their food is almost exclusively composed of worms and insects. While -Henry William Herbert extols the benefits the agriculturist derives -from the consumption of weed seeds by these birds, he does not seem -to have been aware the quail is the greatest worm and insect enemy of -all the birds of North America, and are of more valuable service to -crops and trees than all other birds combined. A few coveys carefully -preserved would protect the farmer against the ravages of many -destructive insects, which are more to be feared than the “rag-weed, -the dock, or the brier.” The writer examined one accidentally killed, -several years ago, in the month of June, and its crop contained -seventy-five “_potatoe-bugs_,” besides numerous smaller insects. -And, if for no other reason, the farmer should protect the bird as -his best and most reliable exterminator of worms and insects, which, -if undisturbed, accumulate to the great detriment of growing grain -and grass, and to orchards and gardens. The quail regards man as his -friend, though a stranger to his sympathy and protection. If not for -ill-treatment and general manifestation to exterminate his species -by those whose friendship he courts, he would soon become quite as -domestic as the barnyard poultry. In fact, he frequently presses his -claims perseveringly in this line by establishing partnership and -social relations with domestic fowls. It is not uncommon to find a hen -and quail occupying the same nest, until the complement of eggs are -deposited by each, at the end of which time the quail usually submits -the incubation to her partner. - -Quail are pursued by man, beast, bird, and reptile; but with a fair -opportunity and timely warning they manifest a wonderful faculty for -evading their foes; and, excepting the “pot-hunter,” they are provided -with ample means for self-preservation. He who steals upon a covey -while enjoying the sunshine by some stump, log, or fence-corner, seated -in a space less than the circumference of a half-bushel measure, and -betrays a confidence by firing upon them in this unsuspecting attitude, -filling his bag with the dead, and marching off with the brand of -“sneak-thief” upon his brow, is a “pot-hunter.” He, too, who, with a -show of indifference, rides about, pretending to be overseeing his own -affairs, whistling around until the poor unsuspecting birds, in order -to get out of his way, unconsciously walk into a net prepared for them, -and as a reward for this confiding friendship triumphantly mashes their -heads, is a pot-hunter. Against such the bird has no protection. - -When coveys have warning of danger, and wish to evade detection, they -will conceal themselves from their enemies, in a most magical manner, -by a singular concerted action, seemingly, withholding their “scent,” -so it is often impossible for the best dogs to detect them, even in -the most favorable cover. It is quite amusing to witness the changes -that come over the amateur sportsman when he fails to put up his birds. -He knows where they are, at least he thinks he does, for he “marked -them down” in the meadow of short grass within a few yards of a stump -or tree. Then, it is such a commentary on his dogs, for he knows they -are all right--never better, truer noses; still they go over and over, -round and round, without winding a bird, or coming to a point. There! -that dog has flushed a bird! Now he is assured the whole covey are -within twenty feet of that spot; and he renews his search, and keeps -his dogs going over and over the same locality, until both dogs and -gunner, disgusted, quit the place. - -How they got away, and where they all went to, and why that single bird -remained where the covey went down, and why the dogs did not point that -bird, all passed through the mind of the hunter, as he marched on in -search of better luck. - -The amateur perhaps meets his experienced friend, to whom he relates -his disappointment, and who in reply proposes to return to the meadow -of the “marked down” covey. After a time they do so, and every dog at -once winds his bird; and each come to point--these are flushed and shot -at. The dogs are made to move cautiously, and again the trio stand, -each having a bird under point. This is repeated until every bird has -gone the gauntlet. - -Quail shooting has been, but is no longer, an interesting field sport -in Ohio. Wing shooting, while diminishing the aggregate number, by -subtracting from each covey, does not often destroy the entire family, -and under proper legislation, has its benefits and advantages, and -generally insures the preservation of an abundance to propagate another -season. The sport, also, to some extent, draws from the destructive -spoils of the pot-hunter and trapper, making the birds coy, suspicious -and not easily seen. True, there is a possibility that the sportsman -with dog and gun may destroy a whole family by shooting on the wing. -A chapter of this kind occurred to the writer. While riding along the -road in a buggy with a friend, our pointer companion came to a stand -some distance in front, with nose and tail paralleled to the line of -fence. The birds rose by concert in line along the fence, while the -rear bird, or first to rise was covered and fired at. The atmosphere -was so the smoke obscured results, excepting that of a wounded bird -crossing the road for a sorghum field. An effort was made to intercept -and capture it, but failed. The friend who sat in the buggy and had a -good view of the situation, declared every bird fell. A walk over the -ground proved it true, as from the first to the last in the distance of -about twenty yards or more, eleven dead birds were picked up. The next -day on passing the spot, the dog came to a point on a wounded bird, -which was captured and killed as a kindness. Here the whole covey was -exterminated; but as the perpetrator felt “sorry” for the act, and did -not intend it, and would never do it again, it should not be considered -unpardonable. - -The quail is a bird favorable to the happiness of man and advancement -of civilization, is of inestimable value as a permanent resident, -for the reason he is independent of forests for the maintenance of -existence and perpetuation. He is the bird of field and farm and the -only one from which a single pair can produce and rear to maturity more -than half a hundred young in one season, to present as choice morsels -of food for the weary farmer and protector. - -It is comforting to the sportsman to feel assured there is one resident -game bird the iniquity of the pot-hunter can not exterminate. So long -as forests and mountains last, the Ruffed Grouse will be able to -maintain an abiding place. And many are the pleasant reminiscences of -the hunter connected with the pursuit of this wary bird; it is a sport -once enjoyed can never be lost from among the sunny associations of -the past. Even the name brings to view the ragged mountains, rocky -ravines, shady dells, babbling brooks and quiet streams in forests, -ripe with every shade and tint of autumn colors, quiet secluded places -where nature reveals her sweetest charms in inimitable splendor that -mocks the artist’s pencil and poet’s pen--the home and haunts of this -beautiful bird. - -It does not seem reasonable that the indifference of the people should -permit the depopulation of the earth of all its birds! It is sorrowful -to contemplate a place where no bird exists excepting the “English -sparrow.” Of the known species, amounting to over five thousand, that -once glorified the life and beauty of the earth, more than one-half the -number has already disappeared forever. - -The Chicago Tribune, of August 11, 1895, on the “Destruction of Birds,” -tells the truth, a horrible truth, when it says: “If masculine greed -and cruelty, and feminine vanity and thoughtlessness, are not in some -manner restrained or punished, it is only a question of time, and very -short time at that, how soon the earth will lose its birds.” That the -Seattle Argus called attention to the danger of the utter extermination -of game birds by the destruction of their eggs on the Alaska breeding -grounds--ducks, geese, swans, and other migratory birds, seek the low -lands along the Yukon river for their nesting places. The egg-hunters -gather their eggs by millions in these as well as other localities -in South-western Alaska, where the birds resort, and sell them for -the purpose of manufacturing egg albumen, a commercial article. The -destruction of these millions of eggs every spring and summer is -rapidly reducing the number of game birds, and the flocks every year -grow smaller and smaller. Senator Mitchell, of Oregon, introduced a -bill at the last session of Congress for the protection of these game -birds, but of course it did not come to vote, and it probably never -will. The game birds will share the fate of the four-footed game; grow -fewer every year, and finally disappear altogether. - -“When one remembers that thirty years ago the skies were almost -darkened by flights of pigeons across Indiana and Illinois, and that -branches of trees were broken by their weight and numbers, and that -the other day a wild-pigeon shot in Southern Indiana was regarded as -rare a curiosity as a white blackbird, it can be realized how rapidly -game birds are disappearing. The game birds which are not migratory are -also hunted down in spite of game laws, and every year grow scarcer and -dearer in the markets. If nothing is done to protect (more effectually) -there will soon be an end of game birds. The greed of gain will end -their existence.” - -Of all the birds in Ohio and the North-west, the wild pigeon was by -far the most numerous. Those who have witnessed their flight, from -early morn until approaching night, all going in one direction, without -cessation for a number of consecutive days, were ready to believe -pigeons were as the sands of the sea, innumerable, and could never be -exhausted. But, alas! inventions came, the foes of bird-life: railroads -and telegraphs. And for many years, winter and summer, the pigeon -was traced, pursued, netted and trapped, at feeding places, by gangs -of pot-hunters, keeping tons of dead birds all the time in transit -to the large cities. Year after year, from coast to coast, this bird -was followed, invading the breeding places and destroying the young -and old, until the wild pigeon now exists in history, and may be seen -mounted by the taxidermist. - -The birds that are not game, the women in their vanity and -thoughtlessness are rapidly destroying those having an attractive -plumage, and millions of humming-birds, orioles, bluebirds, starlings, -indigo-birds, redstarts, redbirds, and many others, are annually -slaughtered to gratify an _inhuman_ and uncivilized fashion. For more -than ten years this destruction has been increasing, and birds are -diminishing in this and other countries until extermination is near -at hand. Jules Forest says of the bird of paradise: “They are so -industriously hunted that the males are not permitted to reach full -maturity, and the birds which now flood the market are for the most -part young ones, still clothed in their first, plumage, which lacks -the brilliancy displayed in the older bird, and are consequently of -small commercial value.” As to the tuft of delicate plumes which are so -much in demand by milliners, and sold by them as real, are often mixed -with ospray tips, which, to the shame of womanhood, have so long been -in fashion and are still used. I may state on trustworthy authority, -that “during the last season one warehouse alone has disposed of no -less than sixty thousand dozen of these mixed sprays.” And the question -comes: Is there no way to stop it? Must bird-slaughter go on to gratify -a weak and cruel vanity, that should be met not only with public scorn, -but also by the strong arm of the law, to reach the possessor or the -hat, as it does the fisherman and his net or the hunter and his gun. - -As the country became partially settled and the larger game supply -diminished by unseasonable killing, clubs of squirrel hunters organized -and laws wore enacted protecting beasts and birds with a close season. -The good, the social and intelligent, became members for what there -was in it. These clubs entertained no secrets, and did not pattern -after any of the ancient orders with which the United States appear -overblessed, nor were they given to boasting of their pedigrees. No -one ever claimed King Solomon was “the father and founder,” although -he might have been; and members were satisfied and sanguine that Mr. -Nimrod, the mighty hunter, for a _saint_, was in morals as good as any -of them. - -These clubs had also many improvements over ordinary societies. A -candidate for membership was not obliged to ride a goat to get in, -nor with bandaged eyes go down into a dangerous pit to search for -the tables of stone that Moses brought home the ten commandments on. -Neither had the clubs any use for a catechism of secret signs to let -the brethren know when a member had been guilty of something unwelcome -to society, and needed assistance. They were all Squirrel Hunters, -and members recognized each other by the absence of society pins and -want of superlative adjectives at the front end of their names. The -only thing recorded in which these clubs resembled any other order or -society was in having a great many glorious banquets. They cultivated -the social and democratic principles, owing allegiance nowhere, to -no one or any thing, but the government and country covered by the -American flag. - -The objects of these clubs were the study of natural history and to -secure and enforce all laws for the preservation of game beasts and -birds, as well as the summer songsters that give life and happiness to -forest and field. - -These clubs labored hard to enforce legislative enactments against -pot-hunting and thoughtless destruction of birds, but found it more -difficult to capture the violator and public opinion than to subdue -British and Indians or frighten an army. People generally had embraced -the idea that birds, beasts and trees could never become seriously -decimated, and it was useless to offer them protection, which made it -troublesome to obtain a verdict against offenders by either judge or -jury. The motives of such prosecutions were generally misconstrued, or -plaintiffs made subjects of sport or ridicule. - -The following is taken from the records and proceedings of one of the -earliest organized and most worthy game clubs in Ohio. It appears the -offender was a lawyer, who enjoyed fine grounds and an elegant garden, -and amused himself shooting little birds that came to share his bounty, -or obtain a pittance by way of interest for the good they had by nature -rendered. The club gave the lawyer notice and request to desist such -cruelty, or it might become necessary to call the attention of the -officers of the law to the matter. - -To this the club received the following reply, worthy of preservation -for its wit, humor, and literary ability: - - “_To N---- E----, Secretary of Branch No. 3, Ohio Game Club_: - - “MY DEAR SIR--Your esteemed favor of yesterday has been received, and - at an early date I hasten to reply, not knowing just what punishment - would await me should I fail to be prompt in my responses. As to the - ‘birds of various kinds’ of which you speak, I move to amend in order - to make more specific and certain, by stating what kind of birds, - what number, when killed, and by what means. If required to plead to - the general charge, I would enter a plea of ‘not guilty.’ Permit me - to say that I only killed birds of _prey_, and I only _pray_ that - I may kill more of them. I always bury all I kill; I _berry_ them - before I kill them, and _bury_ them afterwards. - - “I am exceedingly sorry that my fancied misdeeds have rendered - necessary a special meeting of the ‘club,’ or to have been the - innocent occasion of the least trouble to either the officers or - members of that useful and ornamental body. Be kind enough to say, - with my compliments, to the association of which you have the honor - to be secretary, that the doors of the Temple of Justice, like ‘the - glorious gates of the gospel of grace,’ stand open night and day, and - the ‘club’ will please consider itself invited to enter and become - ‘involved in the intricate meshes of the law.’ - - “Allow me further to say that I expect tomorrow morning to be on my - premises, near the city, engaged in my usual and ordinary amusement - of destroying birds of prey; and as it is the ‘early bird that - catches the worm.’ I would suggest to members of your valuable - association, through their secretary, that they meet at an early - hour, say half-past five in the morning, either at Dodson’s store - or at the well-known grocery stand of John L. King, and proceed - in a body, in full uniform, to the premises alluded to in your - correspondence. It might be well to have music, and march to the tune - of ‘Listen to the Mockingbird,’ or such other appropriate music as - your orchestra may select. - - “One other suggestion: I am constitutionally and proverbially - careless in the handling of firearms, and it may be well to make that - statement to the members of your organization, so that should a stray - shot fall wide of the mark at which it was aimed, they may feel a - sense of security behind such intrenchments as nature or art shall - have provided. Ice-water and sponges will be furnished free to each - and every member who attends, but no gin cocktails will be given. - - “Very truly yours, H----.” - -It seems an unanswered question, how the natives preserved the forests -from fires, and maintained the numerical strength of the species of -animals on which they subsisted. The countries in which Indians have -been found subsisting by hunting, are known to have forests undisturbed -by fires for thousands of years, and containing a full complement of -all kinds of game indigenous to the locality. This country, at the -time surrendered, was fully endowed with all the gifts of nature. Love -had preserved the forests from fires, protected the game beasts and -birds, and shown natural wisdom enough not to kill the goose to obtain -the golden egg. - -How these wise results were accomplished are unknown to civilization. -But it can be stated as a fact, new countries have never suffered from -forest fires or the destruction of their game at the hands of the -Indian hunter. Even in limited and crowded reservations he manages -to preserve the forests, and in some way to keep on hand a supply of -animals to the full extent the conditions of nature will admit. The -instinct to kill no more than enough for present use, though he may -suffer from hunger the next day, probably has had a favorable influence -on game and its preservation. - -While practically a resident of an unsettled Indian country (the -northern portion of Iowa Territory), in 1845, it was noticeable that -there existed no lack of game, nor variety, although pretty densely -populated with Winnebagoes, Sioux and Fox Indian, who derived their -meat chiefly from the yearly increase of game furnished within a -limited territory. - -Soon after the close of the treaty with those tribes, made by General -Dodge in the summer of 1845, at Fort Atkinson, the writer, with a -friend, passed through the hunting grounds for more than one hundred -miles, and saw a number of large flocks of wild turkey and larger game -in abundance. We followed the deep-cut channel of the romantic Turkey -river for sixty miles in the Indian country, and during this ride the -young birds were seen flying from bluff to bluff, crossing the river on -their daily round in search of food. - -And we believe it is true: No game laws enacted by white man can prove -as effective in the protection of game as those enforced by Indian -hunters. The red man never scares game from the region in which he -hunts. He steals upon the deer or wild turkeys with the soft tread of -moccasined feet, and dressed in accord with the tints and tones of -plain and forest, the animals are satisfied with trying to avoid his -presence without quitting the region selected as their home. - -[Illustration: Turkey River, Iowa, 1845.] - -An old-time hunter in the West makes the statement that ever since the -general adoption by Indians of firearms for hunting, it has not been -found that game has diminished in regions where the white man is an -infrequent visitor. It is when white hunters invade their haunts, with -the tread of booted feet, their clothes alien to surrounding nature and -with dogs and bluster, that all kinds of game are bound to be killed or -driven away. And as Sir Samuel Baker, the explorer, asserts of African -game and predatory creatures: “Animals can endure traps, pitfalls, -fire, and every savage method of hunting, but firearms may be used -to clear them out from extensive districts.” Still, under prudent use -known to Indians only, game of our forests and plains may be preserved -indefinitely and in abundance of all kinds. - - -TREES. - - “Half the mighty forest - Tells no tale of all it does.” - -“Individual avarice and corporate greed will soon cause all the mineral -lands to be stripped of their forests.... Wealthy companies have been -organized, mills erected, and the most valuable timber accessible -is being rapidly cut off. That which is every one’s property is no -one’s care, and extravagance and waste are the natural consequence of -negligent legislation.”[21] - -The increasing destruction of the timber belts of this country is -certainly enough to alarm the nation. The Census Office prepared for -distribution a bulletin bearing upon this subject for the consideration -of the people of the United States. The lumber production--which means -tree destruction--in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan in the last -decade increased twenty-nine per cent in quantity and seventy-five per -cent in value, and according to the eleventh (last) census, the capital -invested in the milling business in the three states named shows an -increase of one hundred and fifty-seven million five hundred and -thirty-one thousand dollars. - -United States Senator Henry M. Rice, who spent considerable time in -Northern Minnesota treating with the Indians, says: “This timber -cutting is going on for fifty miles up the Baudette, North and South -Fork rivers, and that the Indians declare that it has been going on for -more than a dozen years by Canadian lumbermen.” It is stated on good -authority that more than two hundred million feet were floated through -the Lake of the Woods in 1894. And Senator Rice says: “So bold have -these timber robbers become that they have built dams in the tributary -streams for the purpose of backing up the water and floating out their -logs.” - -When these extensive thieving operations were conveyed to the -authorities, one lone “timber inspector” was sent up in this vast -district and made his headquarters in the wilderness one hundred and -fifty miles from the nearest point from which he could obtain any -assistance, and it is generally believed, in Minnesota, that the -“timber inspector” failed to “hold up” several thousand Canadian -robbers, who were engaged in floating American timber across the line -and filling their pockets with gold. - -The Minneapolis Journal has done much to call the attention of the -people of that state, and the Nation, to the unparalleled destruction -of this greatest gift of nature, and quite recently says: - - “The reservations which have been ceded by the Chippewas in this - state to the government embrace the heaviest white pine forests now - available as a source of lumber supply. These forests are largely - contributory to the retention of the moisture which feeds the streams - and lakes that make the sources of the Mississippi river. - - “Already there is much said about the great commercial value of - these pine lands, and there is not the slightest doubt that as soon - as the region is opened by the government the work of destruction - will commence, which will speedily lay bare the soil and subject - it to the drying influences of the sun and wind, or to the forest - fires, which will kill every young growth which appears, and destroy - even tree seed, which has been borne there by the winds. The result - of this will be the diminution of the sources of the supply of the - Mississippi, which will be felt by every water power company from - Itasca to Fort Snelling. - - “These are grave consequences, and the question is: Shall the - denudation of this new region be allowed to go on without some - regulations as to cutting and forest renewal? There would seem - to be a good opportunity to bring to bear the world’s experience - in forestry. This reckless cutting and selling the forests will - bring temporary gain to the lumbermen, but will ultimately destroy - agriculture and water-power interests as well as the healthful - conditions of the country. - - “In France, whole communities were ruined by the denudation of - their lands; and obliged the government to enter upon the work of - restocking this ruined section of country with young trees at a cost - of many millions of dollars; all to regain what had been lost through - indifference. But how is it now? The region of the Landes, which - fifty years ago was the abandoned country of little value, inhabited - by a few sickly shepherds, who wandered over the country with their - meager flocks, is now the most prosperous part of France. It has been - made so by the planting of forests, and has now saw-mills, charcoal - kilns, turpentine works, thriving towns, and fertile agricultural - lands, and a growing and increasing valuation, and the net gain to - the government by the expenditure amounts to over two hundred million - dollars. - - “Not until the sheltering influence of trees has disappeared, the - climate made variable with sharp and sudden changes of temperature, - successions of thaws and freezings; not until springs and brooks - become dry in summer, and a failure of all kinds of crops and plants, - does the improvident ask or even wonder what the matter is. - - “_Every reserve of timber in this country ought to be sacredly - guarded by the government_, and timber cutting be put under stringent - regulations, looking to the continued protection of the streams. - _Unless this is done the Mississippi river will surely change its - character._ It will become a shallow, sluggish stream, unable to - carry off impurities, and useless for navigation or water-power. - It will not take very long to effect this change, if the forests - are destroyed in the northern part of its source. A present gain - in lumber will mean very great injury to all other material - interests.”[22] - -A special from St. Paul says--“From Rainy Lake to the Lake of the -Woods, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, the entire country -is covered with a heavy growth of timber and is mostly pine, and is -totally uninhabited save by scattering bands of Chippewa Indians. That -these two great lakes are connected by Rainy Lake river, one of the -finest navigable streams in North America; and on which its branches -and the Lake of the Woods, no less than twenty steamers and tugs ply -from early spring to late in the fall, conveying stolen timber from the -United States to Rat Portage, Keewatin, and even to Winnipeg, where it -is manufactured and sent wherever a market can be found. - -“Keewatin and Rat Portage are the centers of the timber depredations -and act as a base of supplies for the depredators. Nearly all the -numerous fleets of steamers plying on the lake find their home in -these two towns. The Dominion Government considers its side of the -line important enough to demand a station at Hungry Hall, on the -Canadian side of the mouth of Rainy Lake river, as well as at several -other points between the Red river of the North and the head of Lake -Superior, but the United States Government, though knowing the amount -of valuable timber in the district desirable, has no port between St. -Vincent and Lake Superior. - -“When it is realized that all this timber belongs to the wards of the -United States, the Indians, or to the Government itself, it is hard -to see on what principle the states can so neglect this great timber -belt. Not a foot of this timber can be sold or in any way disposed of -until it has been appraised and surveyed. And it was asked that the -Minnesota delegation in Congress take steps at once to have Congress -pass a measure authorizing the placing of a revenue cutter on the -Lake of the Woods, and equipping two posts, one near Rainy Lake, and -the other directly across from Hungry Hall, where one lone timber -inspector is supposed to be. But has any thing been done? The State -Senatorial Committee of Minnesota, in an investigation of frauds -against the state, found the _timber pirates_ responsible for most all -the calamities from fire which have befallen the timber lands of the -state. After stealing millions of dollars worth of timber belonging -to the state, in order to cover the theft, have started fires which -have resulted in those terrible losses of life and property. Firing -the lands they had fraudulently cleared in order to render the -measurement of stumpage impossible, and thereby shut off any suits a -commission might attempt to bring against them. In putting the torch -to the ‘toppings,’ every thing is destroyed--stumps, young trees and -frequently valuable timber, to the amount of many million dollars.” - -In all the pine belts in the western country there is a loud demand -by honest citizens, that the manner of cutting timber be severely -regulated. It has been clearly shown from time to time that this forest -destruction in the United States without restitution, is still going on -at the enormous rate of over ten million acres annually, and must soon -land the country in all the ills due to forest famine. - -Senator Paddock, of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, reports -that the United States Government retains somewhat less than seventy -million acres of public domain, which is designated as timber or -woodland, mostly situated on the slopes and crests of the western -mountain ranges. The above estimate may be too low, but if not, the -entire forests of the Government are scarcely sufficient of themselves -to supply the vast demands of the country another decade. - -In 1889, it was estimated that Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming contained -fifty-three thousand square miles of forest--Colorado and New Mexico, -thirty thousand; and that other portions of the public domain were -covered with large and valuable belts, and of which the Hon. Secretary -of Agriculture says in his reports: “We are wasting our forests, by -axe, by fire, by pasturage, by _neglect_. They are rapidly falling -below the amount required by industrial needs, by our water supply, by -our rivers, by our climate, by our navigation and agriculture. It is -high time to _call a halt_. The devastation of the axe will probably go -on in the forests owned by private parties. Other forms of devastation -_can and should be stopped by vigorous measures on the part of the -Government_.” - -“_Our only hope_,” says Secretary Rusk, “_is to save what forests we -have still in public possession, ... not allowing them to be cut except -under such conditions as will insure ample reproduction_.” - -Six years have passed since the above important declarations were made, -still nothing has been done to deter the thieves or ward off a pending -calamity. - -For future forest supplies the people of the United States must look -to the general government which controls the national domain, holds -the keys of the public treasury, and is responsible for this source of -national wealth. - -From various authentic sources, it is stated of the once-timbered -countries in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and from the Russian -Empire to South India, which are now uninhabited barren wastes, has -been due to changes of climate, soil and water-fall, from the loss of -forests. The once fertile valleys of Syria, with springs and brooks, -and fields of grain and grass, are as parched and dry, and water as -scarce as it is on the desert or staked plains--summer suns have -scorched the unprotected soil--hot winds absorbed the last vestige of -moisture--the air is filled with clouds of loose dust, and the naked -mountains stand as monuments of departed glory, of the Roman provinces -from the Caucasus to the archipelago. - -Look at the wasted peninsulas of Southern Europe. What has reduced -to skeletons the inhabitants of the garden lands of the nations of -classic antiquity? Greece has become a barren rock, and Sicily, “the -pearl of the Mediterranean,” a hospital of famine, typhus and purulent -ophthalmia! - -Has not the desolation in each been due to one and the same cause?--the -destruction of forests. - -Why then should history repeat itself on this subject in America? - -As early as 1832, the wisdom of Mehemet Ali saw the cause of the -poverty and distress, and applied the only remedy that ever has or ever -will restore life-sustaining conditions, and commenced re-establishing -forests on the sand plains of upper Egypt--Abyssinia and the slopes of -the mountains--at the rate of one hundred thousand acres annually. - -Trees, like beasts and birds, at one time existed in such vast and -apparently incalculable numbers that it seemed improbable their -presence could be diminished sufficiently to give them importance or -value. To have trees removed by any means was looked upon by the owner -of the soil as a favor; and those having charge of the public domain -felt pretty much the same way. But to the man of three-score and ten -years it is astonishing how soon the great forests have disappeared, -or become so valuable and inviting as to tempt the mercenary to steal -and the rewarded public official to permit. Trees have a value to -every form of life--a value above the lumber they may produce or the -moneyed wealth they may bring the possessor. It has for thousands of -years undergone practical demonstration that forests determine the -climatic conditions of any given country, and for this reason forests -form an indispensable basis for agriculture, manufacture and commercial -industry. They also bear a near relation to the health, wealth and -prosperity of a nation. - -These facts being so universally admitted, it may seem strange that -a government which has from its inception been so interested in the -welfare of its subjects, and which has assisted and encouraged in -various ways so many sources of wealth and industry, should have -overlooked the forests, from which the nation is drawing larger -amounts than from all other natural sources combined. - -The government has ever been devoted to the interests of agriculture -and manufacturing; and by premiums, by exemptions, by protections, by -model farms, by grants, by bounties, by patent rights, by technical -schools, and by introduction of superior animals and improved -machinery, has fostered well these industries. It has not been at -fault, either, in donating large sums in the construction of canals -and railroads and for the improvement of rivers and harbors. It has -even taken an interest in the clam and oyster, and has stocked the -rivers and lakes with young fish, that the devastation of these -natural sources of wealth may be compensated thereby, and perpetuated -as a national trust; while the springs and brooks and streams, the -climatic causes of disease, the necessary conditions for national -wealth and national health--in a word, the importance of forests for -the nation, for the land, for agriculture, for the perpetuation of -rivers--has received little or no official recognition. Few persons are -so destitute of foresight as not to see that the fires and thieves, -and increasing consumption, if continued at the present rate, can not -fail to make this a treeless waste, a desolate, uninhabitable country, -at no very distant date. Is there no way by which the remaining -beasts and birds and trees can be preserved? Must the civilization -of the North-west permit the pirates of destruction to take and hold -possession of all its natural endowments? The clubs have been after -the pot-hunter with legal enactments, and have crippled, but never as -yet have they succeeded in exterminating him. He is still destroying -the remnants of game, and is at large in the public domain, seeking -something to devour. - -The general government should no longer postpone a definition of its -policy regarding _forests_, _rivers_, and its _millions of acres of -arid lands_. The American people have been slow to realize the drifting -of this country toward a forest famine and its destructive results. -On the subject of forestry, until recently, representatives have been -politically dumb, and, no doubt, would have remained so much longer -had it not been for the inspiration of a few men. In January, 1872, -ex-Secretary Morton presented a resolution before the Agricultural -Society of Nebraska to set apart one day in each year and consecrate -it to planting trees. This day was christened “Arbor Day,” and is now -observed by law and proclamation in thirty-one states; has entered our -schools and colleges, and forestry forms part of the curriculum. - -Wherever Arbor-Day has been observed it has awakened a sense of -inquiry; has taught the children the names, nature, and usefulness -of trees, with a lasting admiration and love for them. From the -influences of Arbor-Day, Nebraska has more than a million acres of -planted forests, and Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and other -Western States fast following the good example. With laws, plantings, -and premiums; with books, schools, and colleges; with the hearts of -workers in it, forestry has built up a healthy public sentiment that -must be felt. The Eastern States are also awake and glistening with -law officers to protect their woods from fires and thieves; and by -large premiums and exemptions from taxation, have greatly promoted the -interest of forestry in their respective states. - -Even the state that sold her birth-right--one hundred and fifty billion -feet of standing forest for nine hundred million dollars--is not -without influence for good. All these noble acts of the states and of -the people will be heard in time; for the government of the nation is -not given to disregard the will of the people, and has ever shown a -readiness to take the front and co-operate with the states in every -good work. But there is something more required of a government--the -representatives of the people must do more than simply respond to -petitions. In a free republican government the people are both -sovereigns and wards, and they expect those who assume legislative -and executive powers of the nation to understand political economy -sufficiently to manage correctly the finances and the natural wealth -of the nation with intelligence and superior wisdom. And in this -direction it would certainly prove a most laudable act to withdraw -from sale or entry for a long period, if not perpetually, _all_ -remaining forests and all arid lands where the rain-fall is below -twenty inches, and place the same under the management of the Secretary -of Agriculture, with ample powers and appropriations to build up a -grand system of forestry, surpassing in extent and wealth all similar -institutions belonging to the monarchies of Europe combined. - -Governor J. J. Stevens, in his final report of surveys for a railroad -across the Rocky Mountains, called the attention of the government, in -1855, to the arid lands west of the Missouri river, between parallels -forty degrees and forty-nine north latitude. He compared it in extent, -climate, rain-fall, and other features, to the Steppes, which occupies -about one-fifth of the Russian Empire, and quotes the “Commentaries of -the Productive Sources of Russia” to sustain his statements: - - “Among other peculiarities of the Steppes a very prominent and - distinctive one is the absence of timber, ... and opinions differ - greatly as to the possibility of wooding it anew.” - -Since 1855, the Russian Government has arrived at one conclusion, and -adopted a policy of reforesting this two hundred and forty thousand -square miles worthy of imitation. - -Let the Government of the United States do as Russia has been -doing, and the steppes from the Missouri river to the mountains -will be reclaimed and made to “blossom as the rose.” According to -geological surveys there are seven hundred and fifty million acres -of arid, treeless lands, incapable of successful cultivation without -irrigation--but where trees can be grown--for experiments have shown -that trees will grow where the rain-fall is insufficient for grain or -grass. - -According to J. W. Powell, director of the United States Geological -Survey, on the water supply in the arid regions, it would seem if all -the water run off could be impounded and appropriated to irrigation it -would be insufficient to supply one-tenth of the arid districts. And it -might be asked if the arid land in the Dakotas, Montana, Washington, -Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, -Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Indian Territory, only about “one -hundred million acres” can be irrigated and made productive, what is to -be done with the remaining six hundred and fifty million acres? - -Could the area entire, or any part of the arid lands be made productive -on the most economic plan yet devised by irrigation enterprise in this -country, the cost of such lands and their products could never become -profitably utilized in commerce so long as the vast area of cheap -productive soil of the United States, or even that of the North-west -lies out doors, ready to receive the showers of Heaven. - -When we recount the miseries and misfortunes of the eight hundred -million people that meagerly subsist on the products of irrigated, -treeless lands, it makes an irresistible hope that the government -of this nation may never be induced by ingenious descriptions of -co-operative systems of economics, nor less perceptible but more -powerful influences of _speculators in western water-ways_, to adopt a -policy that will make any part of this country and nation, a Spain, a -China, an India, or an Egypt, for want of forests. - -Every country should have a just proportion of the total area in timber -to make it healthful and productive. It is far better to have a portion -in timber than to have all the country clothed with herds or covered -with corn. It is the order of nature, the necessity of civilization, -and the only true basis for a happy, powerful and independent -population. - -As the source for national revenue, it is an interest ranking first -in importance, even in dollars and cents; and certainly, if for no -other reason than for the wealth there is in it, the subject demands -the attention of the government sufficiently to enforce protection -and perpetuation. Every year it comes--“Once more the forests of the -far west are aflame,” and it is not only the loss in money, but such -sections of country are ruined for all purposes beyond the power of -generations to repair. - -It may seem expensive to maintain an army of officers and employes -to protect and perpetuate the forests of the public domain. But -notwithstanding it would require large appropriations, it would repay -the outlay many thousand times in national wealth, for this great -army would not be idlers. Nothing short of an organized department -of forestry can protect and maintain this source of national wealth. -The appropriation for this department in France has been five million -dollars, and is returned with good interest. - -Austria, not larger in extent of territory than the States of Illinois -and Iowa combined, maintains thirty-two thousand forestry officers -or employees and receives a large net income from this source; and -reports show that Germany has an annual income of fifty-seven million -dollars from an area of thirty-three million acres of timber, and it -is estimated that no more is harvested each year than is compensated -by growth and reoccupation of wasted ground. For, forest preservation -does not mean that trees shall not be cut down, but that they shall -be used, while all the conditions for their reproduction are steadily -maintained from year to year, using if necessary, an amount equal to -the production by growth. This requires planting, and tree-planting and -forestry mean labor in this country as it does in Europe. The United -States without Alaska, is, I believe, about nineteen times larger in -area than Germany, and to be proportionately equal with this foreign -power, the United States should have under control of the government -an area of _six hundred million acres as a reservation for timber to -supply the public necessities of the near future_. And it should be -done without delay; the arid lands and forests along the streams and -lakes that make the sources of the Mississippi and other navigable -streams, should be dedicated forever to the cultivation of timber. - -And here the labor question is solved. Every government that is able -to sustain itself, must have something for idle hands to do. The -increasing supply of labor has alarmed many thinking people. _Labor -is wealth_, but how can all find employment? Which means _bread_. And -various suggestions have been made simply to furnish _subsistence_. But -in forestry there is something better--a necessity, a demand for labor, -giving profitable employment to a vastly greater number than any other -public necessity; for the labors of a department or bureau of this kind -would be as immense as indispensable; and could end only with the end -of the race. - -A forest of six hundred million acres, thoroughly organized and -officered under the Secretary of Agriculture, would sink the -post-office department and its patronage into insignificance, and would -be the brightest star in the civil service solar system to those who -elect a life in the service of the country. But this is not all--it -would make the climate more healthful, the rain-fall more regular and -abundant, the soil more productive, and in due time would exceed all -other sources of revenue combined. - -The immensity of the consumption of forest supplies can not be measured -accurately; but some idea can be formed of its vastness, when it is -known that the one hundred and eighty-seven thousand miles of railroads -and one hundred and thirty-seven thousand miles of telegraph lines in -this country consume each year the annual growth or a forest equal to -_one hundred and fifty million acres_. And nothing short of a large -area of well-managed forest will prove adequate to _future_ demands. -What else can the nation expect when at present statistics show the -annual consumption, or crop, exceeds in value seven hundred million -dollars? - -This is more than the yield of all the gold-mines and silver-mines, -coal, iron, copper, lead, and zinc combined; and if these are added -to the value of all the steamboats, sailing vessels, canal-boats, -flat-boats, and barges in American waters, the sum would be still less -than the value of the forest crop by an amount sufficient to purchase -at cost of construction all the canals, all the telegraph and telephone -lines in the United States. The value of the forest income exceeds the -gross income of all the railroads and transportation lines, and is -an interest ranking in importance far above all others in the United -States. - -If this country ever becomes a Dalmatia--changed from a healthful, -fruitful and salubrious habitation to a sterile, sickly waste, with -decayed cities and crumbling greatness, history will not say “the -Romans did it.” - -Man should ever remember prevention is better than cure. The worst of -evils is prevented by the removal of the cause. And when the apathy and -improvidence which now threaten the destiny of a rich and prosperous -nation are removed, then, and not till then, can it truly be said that -the lost Paradise of the Eastern Continent has been regained in the New -World of the West. The people should understand, also, the inspired -influences of living forests--trees--those musical mutes, upon those -who breathe their sweet ennobling influence. - -The finest agricultural climate, perhaps, in the world, fell to the lot -of Ohio. But this state will soon be obliged to do something to offset -the destruction that is still going on with the little groves. When -it came into the Union, it presented the grandest unbroken forest of -forty-one thousand square miles that was ever beheld on this continent. -A forest interspersed with hills and valleys, springs, brooks, and -rivers; with a soil most inviting to the aspirations of agriculture. - -The natural conditions of things were such that the possessors of this -inheritance soon desired occupation of the soil, and looked upon its -trees with less favor than they did upon those who disputed their -titles with the tomahawk. Indians could be induced to move out of the -way, but trees were all disposed to stand their ground and take the -consequences. Both were considered too numerous for easy advancement of -civilization, and in the contest both got the worst of it. - -Forests may flourish independent of agriculture, but the latter can not -prosper without the former. This was not so evident, however, to the -early inhabitant, who felt he had thrust upon him more than his share -of perpetual shade, and every owner and occupant of the soil combined -with his neighbor in a warfare of destruction upon trees, and millions, -the best of their kind ever produced were killed by cutting a circle -around the trunk and left to decay. These deadenings were to be seen -all over the country, as fast and as far as settlements were made or -contemplated. And now, in less than a hundred years, more than eighty -per cent. of this great forest has disappeared, and only small clumps -in agricultural sections can be seen in any part of the state. - -The older trees that occupied their places in these remnants of woods -have nearly all fallen by the hand of the axman, and the younger -growths are being appropriated for various purposes, greatly in excess -of possible reproduction to the remaining stock; and the time is not -far distant, if things continue without change for the better, when -the salubrious climate, with summer showers and productive soil, will -become changed to one of uncertainty. The entire North-west is now on -the very border of forest limit. Still thousands of portable saw-mills -are moving over the states, destroying the remaining needful trees, and -the rural districts will discover, when too late, that private interest -is insufficient to protect forest lands in quantity enough to maintain -climatic and sanitary influences without the aid of state government. - -Some years ago the legislature of Ohio passed a law, now in force, -which lost the state many millions of growing forest trees that stood -on the public grounds. The act reads: “Supervisors shall cut down _all -bushes_ growing within any county or township highway, the same to be -done within the months of July and August of each year.” Thus a clean -sweep was made of every tree, bush and plant, as the word “bushes” was -legally defined to mean places “abounding in trees and shrubs.” Trees -of all kinds, sizes and ages, bordering and within the legal limits of -the highways, met their doom under this act. And every growing scion -that dared since to raise its head along the border lines of Ohio roads -has met a similar fate in the months of July and August of each year. - -If laws can be enforced to destroy trees along the borders of public -highways, it is reasonable to suppose laws may be made and enforced -to restore and protect them in such locations. Ohio has approximately -forty thousand miles of good public highways and ways that could -well subserve the use of trees along their borders, at sufficient -distances to give them room and opportunity to grow. A tree on either -side at thirty feet distant would make in the aggregate a forest of -ordinary distribution of several million trees, that could be owned, -cultivated and protected by law. At the same time, an act of this kind -would maintain the lawful width of roads and prevent encroachments by -adjoining land-owners, and make all highways and byways avenues of -beauty, health and pleasure. - -A fraction of a mill added to the tax assessment as a “forestry fund,” -and expended in planting and protecting trees, would soon accomplish -the work. Trees similarly arranged along railroads, canals and -water-courses, and around district school-houses, with a law exempting -from taxation all lands devoted exclusively to woods, would, in the -combination, form an important factor in preserving the true ratio -of timber to farming lands, the humidity of the atmosphere, and the -healthful condition of the country. - -Trees are to be prized for many reasons, and admired for their -longevity. There is, perhaps, no limit to the life of a tree. No -inquest has ever rendered a verdict “_caused by old age_.” They are not -dependent upon the heart for their systemic vitality. The potency of -the living principle lies near the periphery and most distant roots and -branches from the surface of the ground; and grow on and on, subject -only to accidents that may end life. The expression may have seemed -extravagant for even an enthusiast, when that slip from a cypress -tree of Ceylon was planted, to say it would “_flourish and be green -forever_.” It is now the historical and sacred Bo-tree of two thousand -one hundred and eighty-three years, and still green and growing. - -While the Bo-tree is perhaps the oldest tree found in human records, it -is not likely by any means, that it stands at the head in longevity. -For trees keep their own books, and write their own history, in which -may be found an account of passing years, from the beginning to the -ending of life--a true autobiography--the eucalyptus of Senegal, the -chestnuts at Mount Ætna, the oaks of Windsor, the yews at Fountain -Abbey, the olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, or the mammoth trees in -California are much older, making it quite probable that some of the -first seedlings that grew after the last remodeling of the earth took -place, are still green and growing. - -[Illustration: Sequoia Park.] - -It is stated on good authority that one of those ancient Jumbos blown -down at Sequoia Park, California, was forty-one feet in diameter and -showed six thousand, one hundred and twenty-six annual rings, or yearly -growths. - -In the explorations and surveys, under act of Congress, 1853 and 1854, -Dr. J. M. Bigelow, in his report says: “It required five men twenty-two -days,” with pump augers, to get one of these Sequoia Gigantea -down--costing for labor at California prices, $550. “A short distance -from this tree was another of larger dimensions, which, apparently, -had been overthrown by an _accident_ some forty or fifty years ago.... -The trunk was three hundred feet in length; the top broken off, and by -some agency (probably fire) was destroyed. At the distance of three -hundred feet from the butt, the trunk was forty feet in circumference, -or more than twelve feet in diameter, ... proving to a degree of moral -certainty that the tree, when standing alive, must have attained the -height of four hundred and fifty or five hundred feet! - -“At the butt it is one hundred and ten feet in circumference, or about -thirty-six feet in diameter. On the bark, quite a soil had accumulated, -on which considerable-sized shrubs were growing. Of these I collected -specimens of currants and gooseberries on its body, from bushes -elevated twenty-two feet from the ground.” - -Ohio abounded in large forest trees of many varieties--the sycamore, -oak, poplars, chestnut, black walnut, etc. The writer made partial -notes at the time, of a large yellow poplar that was cut down in 1844, -and taken to a saw mill, receiving from it over eleven thousand feet -of lumber, which was sold at the mill for one hundred and two dollars. -The tree was large at the base, measuring three feet above the ground, -forty feet in circumference. The axemen built a scaffold twelve feet -in height to stand upon, and by means of the axe and saw, they made -a stump fifteen feet in height. Some distance above this point the -center was decayed and when down, ten feet was discovered as unsuitable -for boards. Four sound logs of ten feet each were cut below the two -branches, and each branch made also a good saw-log. The four logs cut -from the trunk of the tree were, on the average over seven feet in -diameter, and were obliged to be quartered in order to handle them, and -consequently there was more than ordinary waste at the mill, as well -as where the tree stood. The outside appearance of the tree bore no -evidence of decay and those who had taken the contract to cut it down -were greatly rejoiced to find over four feet of the diameter useless as -support. - -Many coon-hunters had followed tracks in snow for miles to bring up at -this tree, which was selected for safety or other _instinctive reason_; -probably from its long standing it became a favorite resort or stopping -place for traveling raccoons. A portion of both main branches of the -tree was hollow. One was occupied by coons and the other by “the little -busy bee.” But neither the bee-hunters nor hunter for coons could be -induced to cut the tree for what it contained, and for forty years it -defied the axemen of the surrounding settlement. - -Another of the first crop of trees that has passed away without mention -is a sycamore that stood on the banks of the Scioto, in Pickaway -county. It became quite noted and familiar to generations of hunters, -who used the interior for camping purposes on hunting excursions for -nearly half a century. It was also known and visited by others, from -the fact, in 1872, a newly married couple commenced housekeeping in -its spacious quarters, and enjoyed the seclusion amidst a forest of -other mammoth trees. July 4, 1855, the dimensions of this sycamore were -taken, which showed--Circumference three feet above ground, forty-five -feet, and diameter of the hollow chamber, fourteen feet; door-way, -three feet wide at base, terminating in a point seven feet above. - -The large trees existed in abundance in many portions of the state, -showing ages of four to five hundred years. Trees sometimes are found -in such close proximity as to be termed “wedded,” as those shown in the -following page, which are near the line of the towing path of the canal -in Miami county--an elm and sycamore--girt six feet from the ground -measures twenty-four feet. - -[Illustration: Conflict in Pre-Emption Claims.] - -One of the surveys of the Military District, in Pickaway county, is -known as the “Seven Oaks.” In 1793, while Nathaniel Massie was making -surveying tours in the country yet covered by hostile Indians, his -assistant, Duncan McArthur, ran around a tract located in Pickaway -county, covered it with warrants, and named it, “The Seven Oaks.” The -trees were said to be large one hundred years ago and still growing. -From measurements made June 21, 1895, the circumference of the main -undivided trunk, three feet from the ground measured twenty-five feet -ten inches; height of common trunk, three feet six inches. At the top -of the common trunk is an opening eighteen inches wide into a circular -inclosure, with a floor thirty-six inches in diameter, formed by main -trunk and surrounding trees. The four trees, forming the west and north -portions of the circle, remain united for ten feet, while those forming -the south and eastern portion separate at six feet from the ground. -Each of the seven trees is one hundred feet in height, and measures a -little over eight feet in circumference at bisections. - - “Grandeur, strength, and grace, - Are to speak of thee. This mighty oak-- - By whose immovable stem I stand and seem - Almost annihilated--not a prince, - In all that proud old world beyond the deep, - E’er wore his crown as loftily as he - Wears the green coronal of leaves with which - Thy hand has graced him.” - -Great trees and great men and women are too numerous to obtain -more than a mention. Every thing in Ohio has shown a tendency to -superiority. It may seem almost fabulous, though true, a grape-vine -near Frankfort, in Ross county, was cut down in 1853 that measured -sixteen feet in circumference, ten feet from the ground; twenty feet -up it divided into three branches, each measuring eight feet in -circumference; height, seventy-five feet, and spread one hundred and -fifty feet; and when cut up made eight cords of fire-wood. - -[Illustration: Chillicothe Elm.] - -It has been shown by actual measurements that the “big elm” of -Walnut street, Chillicothe, Ohio, is much larger than the famous -Boston elm, or any one at Cambridge, New Haven, or the great tree at -Wethersfield. The Chillicothe elm measures twenty-eight feet six inches -in circumference three feet above ground, with boughs covering an area -of fifty-five square rods. As late as 1840 the remnants of this olden -forest crop could be numbered by the dozen on an area of almost any -square mile of woods. They were left because it meant work to get them -off their pre-emption claim. But an advance in lumber and improvements -soon diminished the number having a lumber value, leaving those -unfitted for boards to the destruction of campfires and girdling, or to -be utilized as houses of various kinds and purposes. A large, hollow -sycamore in Pike county, near Waverly, made a commodious blacksmith -shop and horse-shoeing establishment for many years. - -[Illustration: The Logan Elm.] - -“The Logan Elm” is the most interesting historic tree in Ohio, -testifying of thrilling incidents in colonial times--military -achievements of Lord Dunmore, unsurpassed ability of the red man, and -the trying period of the earliest pioneers--each giving great interest -to the spot where stands this living monument. - -During the fall of 1774 Lord Dunmore fitted out an expedition of three -thousand men, hoping to destroy the Indians and their numerous towns -along the Scioto valley. His army moved westward in two sections. The -larger division, commanded by Dunmore in person, crossed the mountains -by way of the Cumberland Gap, and arrived at the Ohio river near where -Wheeling now stands, and the smaller corps, under command of Colonel -Andrew Lewis, followed the Kanawha to its confluence. Before reaching -the villages of the plains and along the borders of the Scioto river, -in Pickaway county, the divisions had planned to form a junction. - -Colonel Lewis arrived on the Ohio river at the point designated October -6th, and encamped on the grounds now occupied by the town of Point -Pleasant, awaiting dispatches from Lord Dunmore. After remaining three -days without intrenchments or other works of defense, he was, on the -10th, attacked early in the morning by one thousand chosen braves of -the tribes belonging to the confederacy, under the great chieftain, -“Cornstalk,” hoping to destroy his enemies before they should have an -opportunity to unite their forces. The battle lasted all day and ended -with the cover of night. The Indians felt they received the greater -disaster, having two hundred and thirty-three killed and severely -wounded. Here Colonel Charles Lewis lost his life, with the lives of -half of the commissioned officers. - -Chief Cornstalk felt the failure, and to save the towns and people of -the Scioto valley, something must be done immediately, and hurried -to Lord Dunmore with petitions for peace. Previous to this, and in -ignorance of the bloody battle, Dunmore had transmitted orders to Lewis -to move on and enter the borders of the enemy’s country on the Scioto. - -Elated with the idea of slaughtering the “redskins” in their camps and -country, the enraged Virginians marched eighty miles through a rough, -trackless wilderness, without bread or tents, and on the 24th day of -October encamped on the banks of Congo, under the spreading boughs of -the historic tree, and within less than four miles of the great town -of the Shawnees, located on the west bank of the Scioto river, now -known as “Westfall.” Chief Cornstalk had been scouting Colonel Lewis’s -movements, and he, with the chiefs of other tribes, were beseeching -Lord Dunmore to stop Colonel Lewis and save their towns and women and -children. - -[Illustration: _LORD DUNMORE’S CAMPAIGN._] - -Thrice had Lewis received orders to halt, but on he went; and when near -the Indian town, he was intercepted by Dunmore, who drew his sword -upon Lewis and threatened him with instant death if he persisted in any -further disobedience, and marched the army back to Camp Lewis, where -the treaty went on to a satisfactory conclusion, in the presence of two -thousand five hundred troops and all the confederate chiefs and their -warriors. - -There was one chief absent whom Dunmore much desired present--Logan, -the great warrior of the Mingoes--who felt his people had been very -unfortunate in their attempts at peaceful relations with the whites; -and in order to secure his presence, John Gibson, an interpreter and -friend of Logan’s, was detailed as messenger with dispatches to the -chief, who resided at Old Chillicothe (Westfall), about four miles -distant from Camp Lewis. - -Of this matter Captain Gibson says, under oath, he found Logan at -his home, but refused to attend the council, and that at the chief’s -request they walked out some distance into the woods and sat down. -Logan appeared much affected, and after shedding many tears and showing -other manifestations of sorrow, told his pathetic story in reply to the -request from Lord Dunmore, and which Gibson translated into English and -delivered to Dunmore in the council assembled under the boughs of this -noble tree on the banks of the Congo--and was read as follows, to wit: - - “I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered Logan’s cabin - hungry and I gave him not meat; if ever he came cold or naked and I - gave him not clothing. - - “During the course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained - in his tent, an advocate for peace. Nay, such was my love for the - whites that those of my countrymen pointed at me as they passed by - and said, ‘Logan is the friend of the white man.’ I had even thought - to have lived among them, but for the injuries of one man--Colonel - Cresap--who last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, cut off all - the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There - runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature. This - called on me for revenge--I have sought it. I have killed many. I - have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the - beams of peace. Yet do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of - fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his - life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.” - -The authorship of this message has been doubted and disputed by reason -of its greatness. But it is well known that many of the native men of -America have shown an ability for expression of thoughts surpassed by -no people or nation in the world. Who could have thought it--who could -have said it so effectively, by every gesture and living fiber--as -it was expressed by Tecumseh, after finishing a speech at Vincennes -holding, contrary to the United States Government, that no one or two -tribes could make treaties conveying away lands without the consent -of others equally interested? When done speaking, an aide of Governor -Harrison, pointing to a vacant chair, said to Tecumseh, “Your father -requests you to take a seat by his side.” Drawing his mantle around -him, the chief proudly exclaimed: “My father! The sun (pointing upward) -is my father, and the earth my mother; on her bosom I will repose,” -and seated himself on the ground where he had been standing. And it is -unusual, at least, that one with learning and general acquaintance with -the high standard of natural ability of the Indian, and after so many -years, should enter into a voluminous correspondence to prove that he -(Jefferson) did not write “Logan’s reply.” - -Some years since, a partial investigation of the papers of Lord Dunmore -was made. While the original Gibson translation was not discovered, -there was much to confirm the statements here given. - -The expedition of Dunmore with an army of three thousand men into the -heart of an Indian country, with mountains and wilderness hundreds of -miles between him and supplies, at that early date, with that existing -animosity between the Indians and his Virginia soldiery, makes it -appear now, as it did at the time to many of his soldiers, of singular -significance. When the military expedition reached the point of -destination it found the enemy praying for peace. And while the chiefs -were entertained in council, and the braves and soldiers were listening -to Virginia oratory, small bands of maddened and vicious troops stole -away and murdered Indian women and children, fired their towns, and -with stolen horses discharged themselves from the army and fled the -country. - -The Indians were helpless, and the treaty fixing the Ohio river the -boundary line went on, while the soldiers put in the time making -speeches and passing resolutions. The following should be ever -preserved as the thoughts of men in a far country, by a captain: - - “GENTLEMEN--Having now concluded the campaign, by the assistance of - Providence, with honor and advantage to the colony and ourselves, it - only remains that we should give our country the stronger assurance - that we are ready at all times, to the utmost of our power, to - maintain and defend her just rights and privileges. - - “We have lived about three months in the woods, without any - intelligence from Boston, or from the delegates at Philadelphia. It - is possible, from the groundless reports of designing men, that our - countrymen may be jealous of the use such a body would make of arms - in their hands at this critical juncture. That we are a respectable - body is certain, when it is considered that we can live weeks without - bread or salt; that we can sleep in the open air without any covering - but that of the canopy of heaven; and that we can march and shoot - with any in the known world. Blessed with these talents, let us - solemnly engage to one another, and our country in particular, that - we will use them for no purpose but for the honor and advantage of - America, and of Virginia in particular. It behooves us, then, for - the satisfaction of our country, that we should give them our real - sentiments by way of resolves at this very alarming crisis.” - -Thereupon the committee presented the following resolutions, which -carried, and ordered printed in the _Virginia Gazette_: - - “_Resolved_, That we will bear the most faithful allegiance to His - Majesty, King George the Third, while His Majesty delights to reign - over a brave and free people; that we will, at the expense of life - and every thing dear and valuable, exert ourselves in the support of - the honor of his crown and the dignity of the British Empire. But as - the love of liberty and attachment to the real interests and just - rights of America outweigh every other consideration, we resolve we - will exert every power within us for the defense of American liberty, - and for the support of her just rights and privileges--not in any - precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly called - forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen. - - “_Resolved_, That we entertain the greatest respect for his - excellency, the Rt. Hon. Lord Dunmore, who commanded the expedition - against the _Shawanese_, and who we are confident underwent the great - fatigue of this singular campaign from no other motive than the true - interests of the country. - - “Signed by order and in behalf of the whole corps. - - “BENJAMIN ASHBY, _Clerk_.” - -All of which shows political and personal resolutions have maintained a -due degree of hypocrisy to the present, without material change. - -Captain John Boggs and family located on this place in 1798, before -the lands were surveyed or in market. And from Captain Williamson, an -officer under Lord Dunmore, Captain Boggs procured many important facts -in regard to Camp Lewis, Logan, and the noted tree. This large and -valuable tract of land, on which the tree stands passed from the United -States into the hands of Captain John Boggs, and is still owned by his -descendants. - -[Illustration: Monument of the Boggs Family.] - -In memory of the family settlement and historic events of the spot, -John Boggs the third erected a handsome monument where stood the -cabin in which three generations were born. The monument is within -one hundred and fifty feet of the Logan Elm, is of pure granite, -twelve feet square, base six feet, shaft fifteen feet, tapering. On -each side are cut letters in commemoration of events connected with -that spot. On one side is firmly set in the granite a bronze tablet, -thirty by fifteen inches, bearing the picture of the capture of Captain -Boggs’ son, William, in bas-relief. The figures depicted represent a -thrilling and vivid scene which on that spot actually once occurred in -view of the agonized family. - -[Illustration: Indian Raid.] - -The landscape is an exact representation of the surroundings. In the -left-hand corner is a log cabin, at the corner of which is the figure -of an Indian with a gun to his shoulder; to the left, and fronting the -cabin door stands an Indian. At the right of this is a field of wheat -surrounded by a rail-fence. Several panels have been thrown down in the -night, and the cattle are in the field eating the grain. Near the fence -is seen a boy running up a slight ascent, making his way to a palisade -on the elevation beyond--after him are two Indians in hot pursuit. - -The Indians, under cover of darkness, had torn down the fence and -turned the cattle upon the growing grain; then secreted themselves for -events that might occur in the morning. The decoy was successful. The -boy, awakening early, found the destructive scene, and, unsuspecting -the authors of the mischief, proceeded at once to drive out the herd -and to restore the fence. Suddenly an apparition of a hostile foe rises -before him. He at once retreats toward the cabin, but there too he sees -a redskin awaiting his approach. He turns, and, with the speed of dying -fright, vainly endeavors to make the palisade on the elevation; but his -course is beset with increasing pursuers on all sides, and at length, -exhausted, is overcome and made captive to Indian cunning. - -All this time, Captain Boggs stood sentinel at the cabin’s corner, -guarding the family, while the son is relentlessly pursued by the -hostile enemy. The whole is depicted and for the time preserved in -bronze and granite; and as generations of the future stand before -this consecrated record, it will extort thoughts of the pioneer--his -pleasures and his sufferings--with venerated admiration for those whose -lives marked out the pathway of our civilization. - -Every nation, every country, and every town has historic trees. They -are not without influence on the destiny of individuals, societies, -and nations. They are objects of reverence--works of time--homes of -generations--and the manifest wisdom of creation. In the _tree_ is -beheld in perfection an enduring living principle, exceeding all -other forms of life--beginning in the morning of creation and ending -only with the end of time. When moth and rust have corroded memorial -in bronze, and years of the unseen future have crumbled the granite -to dust, there will still be standing noble, historic trees, with all -their lessons fresh and green. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[18] Barr’s Buffon, Vol. VII, page 175. - -[19] Stevens’s Report. - -[20] Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. - -[21] Hon. J. M. Rusk, Secretary Agriculture Report, 1889. - -[22] Minneapolis Journal. - - - - -CHAPTER V. OHIO--HER COACH, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT ERA. - - -At the close of the Revolution, a majority of the people cheerfully -trusted to the wisdom and integrity of those who led the way to a -country and conditions on which to found a republic. The patriots -who unfurled the Declaration of Independence were glorified in the -name of “United States of America.” And with thirteen stars, the red, -white, and blue came forth a government strong and vigorous, honored -and respected, amidst an epidemic of European wars. In the formation -of the republican government, so few precedents were at hand that -could be used as guides to the organization, the work was rendered -herculean in character. But with General Washington, John Adams, -Jonathan Dayton, Alexander Hamilton, and other patriotic Federalists, -at the head, the people had no fears for the accepted Constitution. -Still, the first President and his advisers were not blind to the -dangers that surrounded the new republic. The First Congress (1789-90) -assembled with but a small and uncertain majority favorable to the -Constitution as adopted; and the combination of disaffected and -opposing elements wore loud in their denunciations of the President -and “_that instrument_;” and it required great wisdom, moderation, and -concession to obtain the necessary contemplated amendments[23] and acts -of Congress necessary to carry on and regulate the working operations -of the several departments of the new government. - -The citizens of the South, and those of the North were equally jealous -of their interests. New England demanded a protective tariff, and the -South “free-trade.” That which suited one locality was the policy not -desired in another. Consequently, some states felt they were treated -unfairly in _this_, and others in _that_, and a Congress failing -to legislate special benefits to all found denunciations common -with a disregard for law and order, occasionally amounting to open -rebellion.[24] - -At the very commencement of President Washington’s second term, -things became stormy and taxed the wisdom of the man who had crowned -a successful revolution, to manipulate the new machinery of a complex -government into satisfactory running order. The cabinet and both -branches of the legislative department were pretty evenly divided on -the distracting questions of the times. France and England were at -war--the French Republic expected reciprocal help from the United -States. The Secretary of State (Mr. Jefferson) and Mr. Randolph, -Attorney-General, contrary to the views of the President, espoused -the cause of France, and were suspected of aiding Genet, the French -minister, in issuing commissions to vessels of war to sail from -American ports and cruise against the enemies of France. - -Notwithstanding this, and the violent opposition of both houses of -Congress, the President remained firm, that the people of the United -States, under the circumstances, should not become involved in a war -with Great Britain, and issued his neutrality proclamation, had the -French minister recalled and accepted the resignation of the Secretary -of State. Congress, however, persisted in doing all it could to -strengthen the opposition to the President and bring on a war with -England. When foiled in this, attempted by resolution to adopt the -substance of Mr. Jefferson’s final report--“to cut off all intercourse -with Great Britain, and as good _republicans_ or _democrats_, either -wear the ‘national cockade’ as evidence of opposition to _neutrality_ -and _friendship_ for _France_.” - -The resolution passed the House but was defeated in the Senate, by -the casting vote of Vice-President John Adams, and saved the nation -from disgrace. The common people had been partially persuaded by the -doctrines of Jefferson that federalism meant the establishment of a -limited monarchy, and want of confidence in the people. This was giving -the position of Washington and his followers a coloring much below -their patriotic conceptions. They held a government of laws must have -principle of energy and coercion; and it was the concentration of this -energy in a federal government which the convention gave, and which, to -carryout into perfection, induced the Washington policy. - -Had it been otherwise, had Mr. Jefferson’s ideas of government been -placed in his own hands for organization, with his unlimited confidence -in the virtue of the people, and their capacity for self government -in the final experiment, the Constitution would have crumbled to -pieces in his own hands. At the end of eight years of Washington’s -administration, 1797, the nation was at peace at home and abroad--all -disputes had been settled amicably excepting that of France--the credit -of the government was never better--ample provision had been made for -the payment of the public debt--“commerce had experienced unexampled -prosperity--American tonnage had nearly doubled--the products of -agriculture had found a ready market--the exports had increased -from nineteen millions to more than fifty-six million dollars--and -the amount of revenues from imports exceeded the most sanguine -expectations, and the prosperity of the country was unparalleled, -notwithstanding great losses from belligerent depredations.” How -different the story when Mr. Jefferson turned the high office over to -Mr. Madison, March 4, 1809, as given in the report of a committee of -the legislature of Massachusetts, January previous to the close of Mr. -Jefferson’s administration. - -“Our agriculture is discouraged, the fisheries abandoned, navigation -forbidden; our commerce at home and abroad restrained, if not -annihilated; our navy sold, dismantled, or degraded to the service of -cutters or gunboats; the revenue extinguished; the course of justice -interrupted, and the nation weakened by internal animosities and -divisions, at the moment when it is unnecessarily and improvidently -exposed to war with Great Britain, France and Spain.” - -The most peculiar and damaging political view held by Mr. Jefferson -was that appropriations by the government for national internal -improvements were unconstitutional. This was enforced as a -cardinal principle of his “_Republican-Democratic_” party, and so -influenced his party successors, Madison and Monroe, that during -their administrations, appropriations and surveys were refused on -constitutional grounds. However good, influential and honest the actors -may have been, it is quite evident the political influences of those in -power, from the commencement of the administration of Thomas Jefferson -in 1801 to the end of Monroe’s in 1825, blocked the wheels of progress -in civilization under the pretext of reverence for the Constitution. - -It was generally rumored in Ohio politics that the Jeffersonian party -were opposed to expenditures for national internal improvements, and -before entering the Union the state presented her influence with the -Eighth Congress for a national highway, from Cumberland, Maryland, -to the Ohio river at Wheeling, Virginia, and from Wheeling westward -across the proposed State of Ohio. The measure passed Congress and was -approved by President Jefferson as “a _war measure_ and bond of union,” -instead of an “_unconstitutional improvement_.” - -This, however, was not considered, by Mr. Jefferson nor his party, -binding in policy as a precedent; but Ohio politicians thought -differently, and from necessity and importance of the subject kept -it agitated in and out of Congress. And in 1816, after an able and -full discussion of the constitutionality and expediency of a system -of internal improvements by the general government, both houses of -the Fourteenth Congress passed a bill appropriating the bonus which -the United States Bank was to pay the Government for the charter, to -purposes of internal improvement; but the bill was returned to Congress -by the President (Mr. Madison) with his veto involving constitutional -scruples, and the measure failed to become a law. - -Notwithstanding both houses of Congress were at times favorable to -improvements, the majority was not often found conservative, and in -1822 killed a small appropriation to repair the Cumberland road, built -and controlled by the Government. - -A small majority of the Eighteenth Congress, in 1823 and 1824, came -around partially to the grounds occupied by the Ohio people on the -subject of improvements, and made an appropriation of thirty thousand -dollars, authorizing the expenditure on surveys, plans and estimates -of such roads and canals as the President might deem of national -importance. - -President Monroe, after mature deliberation, gave the bill his -approval. At that date, a portion of the New York and Erie Canal was in -operation, and as an orator was very convincing and converting. This -could not justly be called a “war measure,” nor a “bond of union;” and -was universally accepted as a second precedent in favor of “internal -improvements,” and ended the Jeffersonial dynasty as far south as the -City of Washington; and in 1829 Andrew Jackson, in direct opposition -to his supporters in the South, New England, and in New York, followed -the precedent of Ex-President J. Q. Adams, indorsing the action of -the Twentieth Congress, which declared the _constitutionality and -expediency_ of such improvements. - -This fixed the policy of the Government for all future time, Ohio, -feeling proud in the active part she had taken, having the honor of -bringing about the first national internal improvement in the United -States. - -[Illustration: Spinning-Wheel.] - -Although the Government had changed its policy, the political education -of the people had been such that many good citizens had little or no -desire for changes or improvements that might destroy or disregard the -sanctity of the constitution; nor could it be claimed they were much -in favor of improvements of any kind--things were good enough. They -did not expect to have every thing in the world, and were satisfied if -things would remain as they were; they did not want any thing better -than the easy routine in which they had spent much of their lives. The -New York Canal was talked of as a private enterprise; but for what -purpose above the cost of labor could not be stated, as there were no -_surplus productions_ in the country calling for a market, and so far -Ohio people were “high _protectionists_ of _home industries_,” and -did not favor the introduction of “_cheap foreign goods, nor imported -labor_.” They raised flax and wool, and, with the spinning-wheel and -loom, manufactured the wearing apparel and household goods, and so sure -as - - “Man wants but little here below, - Nor wants that little long,” - -the average citizen felt amply supplied with the necessaries of -life, and could not well ask for more. He plowed his little piece of -cleared ground with a “bull-plow,” having a wooden mold-board and -cast-iron share; harrowed in his wheat, rye, oats, and turnips with a -wooden-toothed harrow; dropped his corn by hand, and covered it with -the hoe. Every spring he made enough maple-sugar for home consumption, -and to exchange for tea, coffee, and salt; and if he had a few spare -bushels of grain, they were taken to some one of the many copper-stills -scattered over the country. And to him there was no encouragement -for the improvement in wealth of state by establishing a commerce or -trade that would sap the foundations of its home industries. And he -feared for the future prospects of the North-west should the existing -prohibitory tariff be removed between the East and West by cheap -transportation, believing it would destroy home manufactures, diminish -the price of labor, and produce “_panics_ and _paupers_” beyond state -ability and charity to maintain. The “flax-breaker’s” occupation would -be gone; carding-machines, spinning-wheels, and looms, would no longer -be manufactured or used, and the vast multitude of laborers carrying -on these “infant industries” would be thrown out of employment and be -“obliged to _steal_ or _starve_.” Even the young woman, who makes an -honest living by spinning sixteen “cuts” daily, at fifty cents a week -and boarded, would be thrown upon the cold embraces of the world, and -thousands of other honest poor would be ruined for want of _protection_ -against such an influx of “pauper labor and foreign manufacture.” And -the man of _one idea_ considered the condition of “home industries,” -under contemplated internal improvements, as discouraging, as a -“prospective repeal of a protective tariff.” - -As early as 1807, Jesse Hawley conceived the idea of a canal from -the Hudson river to Lake Erie--a distance of three hundred and fifty -miles--believing it would be a profitable investment for the state -and nation, that it would populate the North-west and establish -important commercial relations with western states. But the newspapers -pronounced Jesse “_a crank_,” and refused to make public his thoughts -upon the subject. But this did not change the opinions of practical -business men, whose talk of canals and intersecting canals did not meet -with much favor among legislators, which, perhaps, represented the -sentiments of their constituents. And it took nearly half as long as it -did the people of New York to build the Erie canal, for those of Ohio -to understand that a canal, commerce and free trade, would increase -labor and enrich a state. And for the timely commencement of the great -work the people of Ohio are much indebted to W. Steele, of Cincinnati, -for his trial surveys and intelligent letters upon the subject at an -early day, when few persons entertained the practicability of such an -undertaking. - -The following extracts from a letter published in the Olive Branch, -February 27, 1821, on the “Project of a Canal,” is but a fair specimen -of the philanthropy of the times, and says: - - “Nothing can be of more importance to the State of Ohio than the - making of a navigable canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. That - it is practicable to make such canal admits not of a doubt. Were - it made, and the Hudson and Erie canal finished, we should have an - easy and cheap highway on which to transport our surplus produce to - the New York market. I have had the level between the Scioto and - the Sandusky bay at Lower Sandusky. From the summit level on the - most favorable route for a canal that I am acquainted with, to Lower - Sandusky, the descent, agreeable to the report of Mr. Farrer, whom - I employed for the purpose of taking the levels, is 318 feet.... And - by the report of the engineers employed by the State of Virginia, - they make the Ohio river at the mouth of the Great Kanawha river - 83 feet lower than Lake Erie. If those levels are to be relied on, - and we ascertain what is the amount of descent in the Ohio river - from the mouth of the Great Kanawha to the point where the canal - is intended to communicate with the Ohio, we will then know what - will be the whole amount of lockage required. If we allow 50 feet - for the descent, the lockage will be as follows: From Lake Erie to - the summit level, 318 feet; and from summit level to Ohio river, - 433 feet; making the whole amount, 751 feet. I do not know how near - this estimate is to the truth, but I am satisfied in my own mind the - lockage would be between seven and eight hundred feet. - - “The estimate of the commissioners for making the New York canal is - $13,800 per mile. Owing to the reduction in the price of labor it is - found it can be made for much less money. The ground for making a - canal across the State of Ohio is much more favorable than that over - which the New York canal is now making. Although there would be more - lockage on the Ohio canal than on the New York, yet it is believed - it can be made at less expense than an equal distance of the New - York canal. When we take into consideration the low price at which - labor can be had, and the advantage to be gained by the employment - of experienced engineers now employed on the New York canal, I think - I hazard but little in saying that a canal can be made across this - state for $12,000 a mile.”... “I am aware that some will say that - ‘the State of Ohio is too young and too poor to undertake this mighty - project.’ But I deny that the State of Ohio is either young or poor. - She contains at this time more than 500,000 souls, and ranks fourth - or fifth state in the Union. Can a state with such a population (of - industrious people, too) be poor? It has been justly remarked, ‘_That - population is power_; and _industry is wealth_,’ so I contend that we - are both _powerful_ and _rich_. - - “The inquiry of some will be, how is the money to be raised to dig - this ‘mighty ditch?’ Raise it in the same way New York does--borrow - it on the credit of the state. Many there are, I have no doubt, who - will _doubt_ whether money can be borrowed on the credit of the - state. To such I would say, go and try. If we stand at the base of a - hill and look up, without making an effort to ascend, we will never - reach its summit.... - - “Although it cost $2,400,000 (to make 200 miles), it might not be - necessary to borrow any thing like that sum. The distribution of - the sum required would go to the people of the state, and give more - relief from their present pecuniary embarrassments than can be had - from any laws enacted for that purpose. As the lands in the vicinity - of the canal belonging to the general government would be greatly - enhanced in value, I think it not improbable that Congress will make - a donation to the state of a body of land in the vicinity, so far as - it passes through their territory; if so, it would aid very much in - making it. - - “A member of the House of Commons once asked an eminent engineer - for what purpose he apprehended ‘rivers were made.’ His answer was - ‘to feed navigable canals.’ Such was the opinion of a great man, - and such indeed must have been the opinion of many others, for we - find canals in Great Britain in many places running parallel with - navigable rivers. Persons unacquainted with the cheapness at which - goods are transported on canals, are surprised when they learn that - a ton weight can be transported at the rate of one cent a mile. The - illustrious Fulton, but a short time previous to his death, gave it - as his opinion that goods could be transported on the New York canal, - when completed, at the rate of one cent a ton per mile. We find him - supported in this by Col. C. G. Haines, corresponding secretary to - the New York association for the promotion of internal improvement. - - “Mr. Phillips, in the preface of his history of ‘Inland Navigation,’ - says: ‘All canals may be considered as so many roads of a certain - kind on which one horse will draw as much as thirty horses do on - ordinary turnpike roads, and the public would be great gainers were - they to lay out upon making every mile of canal twenty times as much - as they expend upon making a mile of turnpike road.’ And Sutcliff, in - his treatise on canals, says: ‘That within the last twenty-five years - there has been expended on canals in England more than one hundred - and thirty million dollars.’ A country is never made poor by making - internal improvements, even if the people are taxed to make them. If - money be taken from the people, it is again paid out among them, and - kept in circulation. - - “When the canals through Ohio and New York are finished, I have no - doubt but that two-thirds of the surplus produce of all the country - watered by the Ohio and its tributary streams above the falls, would - pass through them to the New York market. That it would be to the - interest of every shipper to give the preference to New York is - obvious.... The amount of produce that perishes on the way and at New - Orleans every fifteen years, would itself more than pay for building - a canal across the State of Ohio. During the spring tides, when the - principal part of the produce of the western country is carried to - New Orleans, that market is glutted, and the shipper is very often - pleased at being able to return home with half the money his cargo - cost him. - - “If Mr. Fulton’s estimates as to the expenses at which goods can be - transported on canals be correct, the expenses of transporting a - barrel of flour to the City of New York (allowing ten barrels for a - ton), will be as follows: - - From Ohio river to Lake Erie, 200 m. 20c - Down the lake, 260 m. 20c - New York canal, 353 m. 35c - Down the Hudson, 160 m. 15c - - “Total nine hundred and seventy-three miles for ninety cents. To this - must be added the tollage of both canals. The lowest rate at which - flour at present is freighted to New Orleans from the falls is $1.25 - per barrel. Nor is it probable that the price will be reduced, as the - boat which cost $100 to $150 is generally thrown away at New Orleans, - or sold for a sum not exceeding the tenth part of their cost. - - “It will be recollected, that while our produce is carried to New - York at the cheap rate quoted above, that our foreign goods can be - brought through the same channel at the same rates, from sixty-seven - cents to one dollar and twelve cents per ton. More or less of these - goods the people will have, and the cheaper the rates at which they - can be furnished, the better for the country. And besides, it must - be recollected if they are brought across the mountains, by way of - Pittsburg, or from New Orleans by way of the Mississippi and Ohio, - that the expense of transportation is paid to citizens of other - states; if brought over the Ohio canal, the money saved in the state - thereby, would, in twenty five years, amount to more than the whole - cost of the canal. - - “It must be admitted that the risk on the canal and lake is much less - than on the Ohio and Mississippi, and the time required to carry the - produce that way much less. By turning the trade from New Orleans - to New York, we would save thereby the lives of many of our most - enterprising and useful citizens, who would otherwise fall victims - to the diseases of the lower Mississippi. The State of Kentucky has - lost more of her citizens by the New Orleans trade within the last - fifteen years than she lost by the late war, and it is known she bled - at every pore. - - “Lateral canals may be made from the main canals in many places, which - will serve to collect to the main canal the rich products of the - soil through which they pass, and at the same time afford means of - furnishing the country with many of the necessities of life at prices - greatly below what they now cost without the canal. I will only name - the article of salt, which by means of the canal may be furnished to - people in the interior of the state from the salines of New York at - a price but little, if any thing, exceeding fifty cents per bushel. - It is impossible to calculate the benefits that may be derived to the - people of this state by the making of the canal. In its progress - it will, no doubt, lay open rich beds of minerals. It will lay us, - as it were, alongside the Atlantic. It will, in short, _elevate the - character of the state, and put it half a century in advance of her - present situation_.... - - “It only remains for the legislature of Ohio to apply the means - within their reach to accomplish this desirable object. When - accomplished, there can be no doubt but that it will produce a - sufficient revenue to defray the expense’s of the state government. - - “W. STEELE. - _Cincinnati, Ohio, 1820._” - -The arguments made for internal improvements were good; but to the -child of nature such talk became a source of alarm. To destroy the -forests would diminish the game supply, and he soon began to feel the -country was becoming too highly civilized for good and easy living; -that buckskin breeches and tow trowsers were already being discarded -for imported goods. And when the spirit of advancing civilization came -within sight, he who had no fence around his cabin, or little else -besides sunflowers or a peach tree to indicate manual labor near the -unbounded premises, sold his land at a small advance, and, with family -and dogs, moved out to “Ingianny.” - -Previous to 1820 the inhabitants of the North-west had very little -prospect that agriculture would ever be the “road to affluence.” The -natural barriers to transportation were viewed as permanent obstacles. -A water-way was ridiculed by high authority, which pronounced it -little short of madness, and the newspapers in the East had shown the -impracticability; and the Western land-owner manifested but little -dissatisfaction. He found his way to this country in order to live, -and was happy in finding enough to make it easy. He anticipated but -little from agriculture as a source of profit. In the Eastern states -it had not given satisfaction. But with the population increasing and -foreign demand improving, and facilities for transportation better, -things showed they were undergoing a change in the older states; and -the markets were becoming better, with better management of farms and -farming, than at any period since colonial times. - -In 1823 Charles A. Goodrich, of Hartford, Conn., wrote: “Until within -a few years agriculture, both as a science and art, is receiving -much of that attention which its acknowledged importance demands. It -is beginning to be regarded, as it should be, not only as the basis -of subsistence and population, but as the parent of individual and -national opulence.” - -At this date corn was selling to feeders at six cents per bushel in -Ohio, and wheat at twenty-five cents. But a few years later agriculture -in the North-west was beginning to be regarded as the “basis of -subsistence and parent of individual and national opulence,” also. - -The idea of a prospective market for the products of the soil, that -would well remunerate the labor of production, was already being felt, -and creating an enthusiasm and preparation for farming on a larger -scale. Labor was plenty and wages fair, and the work of destruction -of timber and increasing the acreage for cultivation went on rapidly. -Large areas were deadened to facilitate the removal, and the sunshine -in many places found its way to earth, where it had been excluded -for ages. And the common squirrel hunter soon underwent an expansion -of character that led on to eminence in agriculture, art, science, -commerce, courts, congress, and cabinet. The things said and done -caused the legislature, in 1822, to pass an act authorizing the -employment of engineers to examine and report the “practicability -of making a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio river;” and in 1825, -after four years of the most arduous labor and discussion, the work -was determined upon, and Governor De Witt Clinton and others, among -whom were Solomon Van Rensselaer, of Albany, and United States Judge -Conkling and Mr. Lord, of New York, were invited to be present at the -commencement of the great work, which was to have its beginning three -miles west of Newark, July 4, 1825. - -The people of the entire state were under high excitement at the new -era which seemed approaching so rapidly, and acted quite differently -from what they likely would at the present day on the commencement of -a public enterprise. Then many thousands assembled to see “The Father -of Internal Improvements,” and to hear what “the best-looking man the -nation had ever produced” had to say on the subject of which he was the -reputed father. - -The time was near at hand, and on the arrival of the great Governor -of New York at Cleveland, the ovation was grand; he was welcomed by -Governor Morrow, state legislature, officials, military organizations, -and by the people. And flags, and guns, and noisy display were beyond -the power of description. And before the sun had risen, July 4, 1825, -every thoroughfare to Newark was crowded with all kinds of loaded -vehicles; men and women on horseback, and men, women, and children -on foot--many of whom had traveled all night in order to reach the -appointment on time. And the wonder was, where all the immense, -uncounted, and unaccountable mass of human-beings came from. - -The day was fair and the air cool and balmy, as Ohio atmosphere is -after recent July showers. Newark at this time had less than one -thousand inhabitants, but the country surrounding was amply large to -accommodate the crowd which desired to pay their respects to the man -whose influence, energy, ability, and perseverance were able to advance -civilization, at once, half a century, by the magic wand of public -improvements. And when Governor Clinton’s carriage appeared on the -public square at Newark, thousands of voices rent the air with loud -and long huzzas of welcome; and to which was added, the firing of one -hundred guns. And the immense procession at once began moving for the -spot prepared for the ceremony of the “_spade_ and _barrow_,” three -miles in the country. Governor Clinton took the first spadeful amid the -enthusiastic shouts of thousands. The Ohio Governor, squirrel hunter, -statesman, and farmer, next sunk the implement its full depth. And so -from one to another the spade passed, until the wheel-barrow could hold -no more, and was taken to the designated dump by Captain Ned King, of -Chillicothe, amid one wild, indescribable, and continuous cheering. - -Hon. Thomas Ewing was orator of the day, and when the Governor of New -York attempted his reply, the bursts of applause were so great he was -obliged to pause, “and being unaccustomed to such demonstrations and -tokens of respect, shed tears in the presence of his worshipers.” -After the addresses the entire audience, estimated at not less than -ten thousand, dined in the shade of the wide-spreading beech trees, -the underbrush having been cleared off from several acres for the -purpose, and seats arranged and tables spread with a sumptuous dinner -for all, furnished by the liberality of one man, Goetleib Steinman, of -Lancaster, Ohio. - -The regular toasts were limited to thirteen, but the volunteers were -still going on when the editor of the Olive Branch retired late in the -evening. - -1. General George Washington. - -2. The President of the United States. - -3. The Governor of Ohio. - -4. The man who guided by the unerring light of science with vigorous -and firm mind, has led and now leads his countrymen in the splendid -career of “internal improvements”--our honored guest. - -5. The great State of Ohio. - -6. Legislature. - -7. The Canal Commissioners. - -8. Ohio Canal--The great artery of America, which will carry vitality -to all the extremities of the Union. - -9. State of New York--She has given to the world a practical lesson -what freemen can do when determined to secure their own happiness. - -10. Henry Clay--the able supporter of “internal improvements.” - -11. General Bolivar--The Washington of South America. - -12. The power of free government. - -13. The fair sex of our country--In prosperity the partners of our -joys, and in adversity our greatest solace. - -VOLUNTEER-- - -By De Witt Clinton--The Ohio Canal--A fountain of wealth, a chain of -union, a dispenser of glory. - -By General Van Rensselaer--The memory of General Wayne--By his sword, -the way was cleared for the settlement of the country. - -By I. Johnston--National Improvements--A fit subject for national pride. - -By Wm. Lord--Thomas Jefferson--A man with one mistake. - -[Illustration: Canal Era. 1825.] - -The 4th of July, 1825, only a few months prior to the completion of -the New York Canal, machinery was put in motion to revolve until the -end of time. On this day the policy of the state government in favor -of internal improvements was permanently inaugurated. Even the few -opposing minds of those who had never seen the walls of China, but -wished to maintain the state secluded from the commercial world by -means of the high tariff (the barriers nature had vouchsafed to the -inhabitants), weakened in their ideas of “home protection,” or at -once became favorable to the doctrine of _reciprocity_, which at that -early date was the “soft” or synonym for _free trade_. And when it -became satisfactorily demonstrated that improvements would increase -the amount and price of labor, as well as the values of its products, -such individuals changed to vociferous advocates of a canal, saying: -“If the canal can secure such prices for the products of the soil, and -in return furnish foreign cheap supplies, we can afford to abandon -looms and spinning-wheels, and let supply and demand take care of -themselves.” And the energetic boards of construction were unanimously -supported by the people, and soon completed eight hundred miles of -canals and one thousand miles of toll-roads, with a disbursement of -over fifteen million dollars, borrowed money. The state, however, -suffered no inconvenience on this account; its credit was good, and all -that was necessary to obtain funds as fast as needed was to call upon -the Lord who came to Ohio with Governor Clinton at the opening. - -[Illustration: Log-Cabin Luminary.] - -Among the multitude of great men assembled on this occasion, no one did -more or was nearer and dearer in the hearts of the people than the man -who mastered mathematics, Greek, Latin, and law, while a “hireling” -at the Kanawha Salt Works; the man who did his reading at night by -the light of the furnace or a “log-cabin luminary,” a lard lamp; the -man who received the first collegiate degree of A.M. ever issued in -the North-west; the orator of the day, Hon. Thomas Ewing. No such -universal and intense enthusiasm was ever before, or again will be, so -overwhelmingly manifested in Ohio as that of the opening of the canals; -no other object for public demonstration is likely will ever approach -it in importance. - -Governor Clinton and party were escorted from Newark to Columbus by -the state militia, legislature, county and state officers and eminent -citizens. And in reply to Governor Morrow’s reception, Governor Clinton -said: - - “I find myself at a loss for language to express my profound sense - of the distinguished notice taken of me by the excellent chief - magistrate of this powerful and flourishing state, and by our - numerous and respected fellow citizens assembled in this place, I - feel that my services have been greatly overrated, but I can assure - you that your kindness has not fallen on an ungrateful heart--that I - most cordially and sincerely reciprocate your friendly sentiments, - and that any agency I may have had in promoting the cardinal - interests to which you have been pleased to refer, has been as - sincere as it has been disinterested. - - “When Ohio was an applicant for admission into the Union, it was my - good fortune to have it in my power, in co-operation with several - distinguished friends, most of whom are now no more, to promote her - views and to assist in elevating her from a territorial position - to the rank of an independent state. This was an act of justice to - her and duty of high obligation on our part. At that early period - I predicted, and indeed it required no extraordinary sagacity to - foresee, that Ohio would in due time be a star of the first magnitude - in the federal constellation; that she contains within her bosom the - elements of greatness and prosperity, and that her population would - be the second, if not the first, in the confederacy. - - “The number of your inhabitants at the next census will probably - exceed a million. Cultivation of the soil has advanced with gigantic - strides--your fruitful country is teeming with plenty, and has a - vast surplus beyond your consumption of all the productions of - agriculture. Villages, towns and settlements are springing up - and extending in all directions, and the very ground on which we - stand, but a few years ago a dreary wilderness, is now a political - metropolis of the state, and the residence of knowledge, elegance and - hospitality. - - “I have considered it my solemn duty in concurrence with your - worthy chief magistrate, your very able canal board of finance and - superintendence, and other patriotic and enlightened citizens of - this state, to furnish all the resources in my power in aid of the - great system of internal navigation so auspiciously commenced on the - fifteenth anniversary of our national independence. - - “This is a cause in which every citizen and every state in our - country is deeply interested; for the work will be a great - centripetal power that will keep the states within their federal - orbits--and an adamantine chain that will bind the Union together - in the most intimate connection of interests and communication. It - therefore secures, not only the prosperity of Ohio, but the union of - the states and the consequent blessings of free government; and now - I think it my duty to declare that I have the utmost confidence in - the practicability of the undertaking, and the economy and ability - with which it will be executed. In five years it may, and will be - completed, in all probability, and I am clearly of the opinion, that - in two years after the construction of this work, it will produce - an annual revenue of at least a million dollars, and hope this - remark may now be noted, if any thing I say shall be deemed worthy - of particular notice, in order that its accuracy may be tested by - experience. - - “I beg you, sir, to accept the assurance of my high respect for your - private and public services, and to feel persuaded that I consider - your approbation and the approbation of patriotic men an ample reward - for my service, that a benevolent Providence may have enabled me to - render to our common country.”[25] - -From Columbus the party was escorted to Springfield, Dayton, Hamilton, -and Cincinnati, receiving public dinners and the most extravagant and -enthusiastic demonstrations of appreciation and respect by thousands -of citizens. At Cincinnati the party were invited guests to an -entertainment given in honor of Henry Clay. - -While Governor Clinton was in Cincinnati, he yielded to the pressing -invitation to go to Louisville and render an opinion on the question -then in dispute between Kentucky and Indiana, as to which side of the -river was the better adapted for a canal around the falls. His decided -opinion was in favor of Kentucky, to which all parties assented, and -the canal was constructed accordingly. - -On returning home, the Governor passed through Portsmouth, Piketon, -Chillicothe, Circleville, Lancaster, Summit, and Zanesville, via -Pittsburgh, receiving every-where the most distinguished attention. - -All business for the time was suspended. He and his party were -every-where treated as Ohio’s invited guests; and the Governor was -attended by all the county officers, eminent citizens, and multitudes -to the next county line, where a like escort was in waiting with the -best livery the country could produce; halting at each county town, -for a grand reception, ornamented with speeches, toasts, flags, and -firearms. - -Thus the benefactor of the nation passed from one county to another, -across a great state, and as soon as the advance-guard came in sight of -any town, the bells of all the churches, public buildings, and hotels, -gave their long and merry peels of welcome--the cannon roared and a -vast crowd of waiting citizens of town and country marched forward with -huzzas and banners of “Welcome--welcome--to the Father of Internal -Improvements.” - -The following extract, written at the time by a cool-headed -representative of the state, is expressive without coloring or -exaggeration: - - “The grave and the gay, the man of gray hairs and the ruddy-faced - youth; matrons and maidens, and even lisping children, joined to - tell his worth, and on his virtues dwell; to hail his approach and - welcome his arrival. Every street, where he passed, was thronged with - multitudes, and the windows were filled with the beautiful ladies of - Ohio, waving their snowy white handkerchiefs, and casting flowers on - the pavement where he was to pass on it.” - -No king, emperor, president, or statesman; no manufacturer of personal -or political enthusiasm, even of palace-car order, ever obtained that -intensity and spontaneous manifestation as was shown “The Father of -Internal Improvements,” on his passage through the state. - -And it is yet a sorrowful reflection to memory, that such magnetism, -ability, and influence for good did not live to see the Lake Erie and -Ohio Canal completed; that his life’s sacrifices, in physical and -mental efforts for the advancement of civilization in the North-west, -have been so soon almost forgotten. But more; that his good works -should have been so cheaply recognized at his death by a state he had -enriched by making himself so poor. But it is never too late to be -just, nor too long to right a wrong. - -About this time, an era of “_prosperity_” had already dawned in the -East, and was heralded from mouth to mouth--from the Ohio river to Lake -Michigan--that the “Erie Canal” was completed, and the first fleet of -boats left the Hudson, October 26, 1825, laden with emigrants for the -North-west. - -On the banners this fleet carried were the significant words, “The -Star of Empire Westward Takes its Way,” and the cannons were heard and -answered from Buffalo to New York City. - -This canal proved a success even beyond the expectations of the -most sanguine; and a line of commerce was at once established from -tide-water to the western chain of lakes, and soon filled the new -states with population and their ports with merchandise. And the Ohio -protectionist, who had been so fearful of an influx of “pauper labor” -and the products of “_foreign industries_,” found his own state, while -discussing it, ready to disburse fifteen million dollars for day labor -in the construction of internal improvements. And the Squirrel Hunter, -whose life was one of education, development, power, and progress, -hailed with delight the opportunity to work on the Lake Erie canal, -twenty-six dry days of twelve hours each, for the sum of eight dollars. -It was the first privilege ever offered in Ohio to obtain so much money -in so short time, without encroachment upon his store of squirrel and -coon skins. - -In 1824, the year before the completion of the Erie canal, prices of -produce still ranged low: twenty-five cents for wheat and six cents for -corn, with no market or demand excepting for making whisky with copper -stills. But when the Erie canal was finished and the Ohio and Lake -Erie under way, prices on all kinds of produce advanced more than two -hundred per cent, with such an unlimited demand that the improvements -converted every body into favor with public works. And times became -better in Ohio than ever before--corn advanced to forty and fifty cents -and wheat to seventy-five and one dollar per bushel; and with the state -distribution of millions of money, and her rich and productive soil, -she was lifted out of the groove of idle content into the bright -sunshine of prosperity and improvement. - -It soon became manifest that internal improvements increased the demand -and prices of the products of the soil, with a diminution in value of -most all kinds of manufactured articles used in exchange. The salines -of New York killed the salt manufacture in Ohio as effectually as -free trade did the business of the wheelwright, the reelwright, the -manufacturer of looms, reeds, flyers, hackles, plows, nails, and other -“infant industries.” All were ended by the canal; and a man or boy who -desired a new hat had, no longer than 1825, to go to a “_hat shop_” and -have his head measured with a tape-line, and diagram registered, with -full directions of minor matters--material, color, and price--and then -wait the making. - -By means of the New York canal, peddlers were offering for sale almost -every thing enjoyed in the East, “at unprecedented low prices;” and -even the meridian mark in the south doorway was of no use any longer, -except to regulate a Yankee clock. These Connecticut time-pieces were -distributed to nearly every resident landholder in the state at sixty -dollars or less, on a year’s credit, in the form of a note with six -per cent interest--a clock that cost the peddler two dollars and fifty -cents at a New England factory. - -Traveling merchants of all kinds flocked into the North-west like -squirrels at moving time, and the epidemic struck Pennsylvania so -disastrously that the Hon. John Andrew Schultz, at the time governor -of that state, is reported as having memorialized the legislature for -a law preventing this class of non-residents from perambulating the -country, selling articles of no value, and often base counterfeits of -things of domestic use, saying that in his neighborhood, “They were -palming off counterfeit basswood nutmegs, when every body knows the -genuine are made of sassafrac.” - -The opening of the canal trade gave interest and amusement to thousands -of persons. On the day appointed citizens came long distances to -witness the filling of the ditch with water, and the floating of -boats as they came along in the pride of the names they bore in -honor of favorite citizens living along the line, as “The James -Rowe,” “The Dr. Coats,” “The James Emmitt,” “The Sam Campbell,” “The -General Worthington,” etc., lettered in gold, all of which was purely -complimentary to the individual, and not thought of as an advertising -dodge, although it may have suggested afterwards its advantages in this -line to members of the Board of Public Works. - -The remarkable advancement in the prosperity of the state resulting -from the canals exceeded the expectations of their best friends so -far that it will probably ever remain as the most notable era in the -history of the state. Increased prosperity and rising civilization -advanced step by step. From the pack-saddle to the freight-wagon, -stage-coach, canal-boat, steamboat and railroad, each served or is -serving a good purpose in the elevation of the social, intellectual and -moral faculties of American citizens. - -[Illustration: Ohio Stage Coach.] - -From the organization of the state until the introduction of canals -and railroads, inland transportation of merchandise and travel was -done by means of stage-coaches and freight-wagons. The coaches were -stoutly constructed, with leather suspensions for springs, with -inside dimensions for nine persons, and somewhat like a Chicago -street-car--enough room outside for all who were able to find a place -to “hang on.” At the rear each coach was provided with a capacious -boot for the accommodation of Saratoga trunks and U. S. mail-bags. The -driver had an elevated outside seat in front, and proudly pulled the -strings on four spirited horses, which were driven in relays of ten -miles, and under favorable circumstances would, in this way, make -eight miles an hour, including stops for changes, and times of arrival -and departure at the stations were very punctually made on good roads. - -Often it became amusing to see how easy a good-hearted driver who loved -his team, as many drivers did, could favor it by letting the horses -walk up each little ascent, but when in sight of the change would blow -the horn and crack the whip, and go in flying, with a mark “behind -time” for the next driver and relay to make up. But the “make up” -seldom came, and it was nothing unusual in a distance of two hundred -miles to find the coaches fifteen to twenty hours behind the schedule -time. - -There were no improved roads north of Columbus for nearly fifty years, -and during the wet season, or thawing of the frozen road-bed, staging -became slow and laborious. If not mixed with pleasure, it was the only -means of inland intercourse of a public character the inhabitants could -look to. - -Charles Dickens, on his way from Columbus, Ohio, to Buffalo, N. Y., -_via_ Sandusky City, in 1842, accurately describes the roughness of -traveling by stage-coach and the jolting of the corduroy roads over -bogs and swamps, and says: “At length, between ten and eleven o’clock -at night, a few feeble lights appeared in the distance, and Upper -Sandusky, an Indian village, where we were to stay till morning, lay -before us. They were gone to bed at the log inn, which was the only -house of entertainment in the place, but soon answered our knocking, -and got some tea for us in a sort of kitchen or common room, tapestried -with old newspapers pasted against the wall. - -“The bed-chamber to which my wife and I were shown was a large, low, -ghostly room, with a quantity of withered branches on the hearth, and -two doors without any fastening, opposite to each other, both opening -upon the black night and wild country, and so contrived that one of -them always blew the other open, a novelty in domestic architecture -which I do not remember to have seen before, and which I was somewhat -disconcerted to have forced on my attention after getting into bed, -as I had a considerable sum in gold for our traveling expenses in my -dressing case. Some of the luggage, however, piled against the panels, -soon settled this difficulty, and my sleep would not have been very -much affected that night, I believe, though it had failed to do so. - -“My Boston friend climbed up to bed somewhere in the roof, where -another guest was already snoring hugely. But being bitten beyond his -power of endurance, he turned out again, and fled for shelter to the -coach, which was airing itself in front of the house. This was not a -very politic step as it turned out, for the pigs scenting him, and -looking upon the coach as a kind of pie with some manner of meat -inside, grunted around it so hideously that he was afraid to come out -again, and lay there shivering till morning. Nor was it possible to -warm him, when he did come out, by means of a glass of brandy, for in -Indian villages the legislature, with a very good and wise intention, -forbids the sale of spirits by tavern-keepers.” - -For want of roads, traveling by coach was slow and laborious, in all -the north-western states. In 1840, the writer was treated to a five -cents per mile ride across the State of Michigan, from Detroit to New -Buffalo, now Benton Harbor, on Lake Michigan, a distance of two hundred -miles. It was mid-winter, but not frozen hard, and required nearly -three days and two nights of joltings and fatiguing monotony. The joys -felt on arriving in sight of steamboat navigation are still fresh in -the recollections of the past. - -Stage coaches had their centers for distribution in Columbus, Cleveland -and Cincinnati, and were used in the principal mail lines over the -state. Here too, the African skin became a perplexing question. The -dictum of slavery had to be respected. If a colored person desired to -be carried to a given point, he could prepay to such--his money was -never refused on any account but for his color there was no time-table -of departure or arrival. If no objections were raised by a passenger, -he would at once be started on his way as an outside incumbrance. -But if at any time while on the route, at a station or “change,” a -passenger should be added who objected to riding in the same coach with -a “_free nigger_,” as was no unusual thing, the colored passenger would -be obliged to stop off and wait for a coach containing more liberal -sentiments, or take the road on foot. This treatment on all the coach -lines was witnessed so frequently that it ceased to call forth marks -of disapproval. The principle in a milder form appears to have been -transferred from the old stage-coach to the great railroad Cincinnati -built South, by ignoring the constitution of the state, and as some -thought at the time, subsidizing the Supreme Court. On this road the -American born citizen with African blood, however remote the descent, -or great the admixture, is refused admittance to coaches accorded to -all other nationalities. Why? it is not necessary to state. - -The wagons for freight were large and strong, and, having a cover of -white canvas, gave them the name of “Prairie Schooners.” They were -usually drawn by six horses, and on long routes traveled in companies; -and trains could be seen moving slowly along in line, all laden with -merchandise of the East, or on their way East, carrying the products of -Ohio industry to an eastern market. The style of the “schooner” and the -wagons themselves have “been out of print” so long, not one appeared -on exhibition at the Centennial World’s Fair. They were all of the same -pattern, and as “near alike as peas;” differing in every respect from -the emigrant wagon of later date. - -[Illustration: Prairie Schooner.] - -The bed or body of the “schooner” was formed by a stout frame-work of -the best seasoned bent-wood, and put together as immovable and durable -as any railroad coach body of the present day. The shape, covering, -etc., is shown by annexed illustration. The teams were composed of -large draft-horses. The “near” wheel-horse carried a saddle, in -addition to his harness, for the accommodation of the driver. This -saddle-horse, with the near front animal, or “leader,” constituted the -managing horses of the whole team. All orders were given, as required, -to these; they were always wakeful, watchful, and obedient. A good -leader and a reliable near wheel-horse were boastful prizes of their -owners; and most teamsters in those days owned their entire outfits, -and were exceedingly kind to their animals. - -What may seem peculiar, whether having four or six animals in the -team, the driver used only a single line--one string attached to the -“leader,” and to him, with the aid of the “saddle-horse,” safety and -correct actions of all the members of the team were assured. - -Many were the thousands of tons these lines carried over the mountains. -But the tread of the caravan and the crack of the “black-snake”[26] -were no longer heard on the Alleghanies after the completion of the -Erie Canal (in 1825); and ceased entirely as a system of transportation -on the operation of the Ohio Canal (in 1832). The “schooners” and -“Branches of the United States Bank” wound up and quit business in Ohio -about the same time. It was an off year for political speculators. -President Jackson vetoed the bill to renew the charter of that monster -monopoly entitled “The United States Bank,” an institution owned and -controlled by a few wealthy foreign and American citizens, who were -receiving exclusive privileges, favors, and support from the government. - -Ohio did not feel the suspension of this great monopoly with its -thirty-five millions so severely. Millions of money had just been -distributed over the state for labor in the construction of internal -improvements, and with canals, coaches, and steamboats, and agriculture -in a nourishing condition, the prosperity that seemed lost in the ruins -of speculation and bankruptcy, proved a small impediment in line of -progress or march of empire. - -The people did not become idle or discouraged; farming interests were -increasing all the time, and more attention was directed to schools -and education than ever before; and civilization was manifestly and -permanently on the advance. Still the conditions of trade suffered -serious embarrassments connected with the unstable condition of the -currency or money of the country. Bank-notes of one state were at a -heavy discount in every other. This, with bank and individual failures, -caused much inconvenience for a time, but things soon grew better. -Population and aggregate wealth of the state increased, and in 1847 -gave the greatest yield of produce ever previously harvested, and -which, owing to the “Irish famine,” was disposed of at speculation -prices, and the state went on to prosperity and comparative excellence -and influence. - -The mass of descendants of pioneers in Ohio looked forward to -agriculture as the source of subsistence and independent competency. -“Millionaire,” in early days, was a word seldom used, and entirely -unknown in biography. The pioneer saw the necessity for the promotion -and advancement of true civilization, that every citizen should own -a home--a place he might call his own--a place to live and labor for -the good of himself and others. And not until the introduction of -the railroad president, private palace cars, trusts, combines, and -transformation of the public service into party machines for becoming -suddenly rich, did the more observing recognize the true estimate and -sound brotherhood existing with the gold bags of the nation. Nor did -the poor suspect that combined wealth would ever dream as did the -thirsting Turk at midnight hour--“that Liberty, her knee in suppliance -bent, should tremble at its power.” - -FOOTNOTES: - -[23] Sixteen articles of amendment to the adopted Constitution were -approved by Congress, September, 1789, ten of which were approved by -the states. - -[24] Excise act in Pennsylvania in 1794. This revolt required fifteen -thousand armed men to quell, and cost the United States $1,000,000. - -[25] Editor “Olive Branch” (No. 2). - -[26] Whip. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. OHIO--HER RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH ERA. - - -The canal era proved so satisfactory that people took their steps more -rapidly than ever before, and began measuring the hours by dollars and -cents, and the value of life by the amount of labor performed. The -feeling that something should be done to increase time and diminish -space became universal, and not a few prospectors had their eyes open -for the “old stone” that turned all it touched to gold. - -The application of steam as the coming motor power for transportation -and travel was pictured in the minds of many inventors in this country -and in Europe; and trials of engines and their working abilities became -the all-absorbing subject of the times, and as early as 1835 it could -be seen that provincialism was passing away and that the citizens -of Ohio felt that coaches, wagons and canal-boats were too slow and -insufficient for advanced civilization. - -The opening of a road between Manchester and Liverpool, September -15, 1830, and one in South Carolina the following January, gave the -subject increased interest, although the efforts were exceedingly -crude, and often bordering on the ridiculous. It was, however, a -problem that had to be worked out, and every one having a mind for -construction became a model maker of locomotives and railroad tracks. -Even Peter Cooper built an engine and named it “Tom Thumb,” and in his -attempt to test its superiority over horse-power was beaten owing to -that “if” which always catches the rear contestant. It appears that -in 1830 the Baltimore & Ohio road had a double track finished from -Baltimore to Ellicott’s Mills, a distance of fifteen miles, and was -utilized by means of horse-power. Mr. Cooper, who had built a small -locomotive after his own mind to demonstrate to his own satisfaction -the possibilities of steam as a motor power on roads, after making a -number of successful trips to the mills and return, a race was proposed -between “Tom Thumb” and its light open car, and a car and one horse of -those run by the company occupying the road. The race was to start at -the Relay House and end in Baltimore, a distance of nine miles. - -On the 28th day of August, 1830, just seventeen days before the -Manchester and Liverpool Exhibition, the start was made, and, as -reported at the time: - - “At first the gray had the best of it, for his steam would be applied - to the greatest advantage on the instant, while the engine had to - wait until the rotation of the wheels set the blower to work. The - horse was perhaps a quarter of a mile ahead when the safety valve of - the engine lifted, and the thin blue vapor issuing from it showed an - excess of steam. The blower whistled, the steam blew off in vapory - clouds, the pace increased; the passengers shouted, the engine gained - on the horse; soon it lapped him; the silk was plied; the race was - ‘neck-and-neck, nose-and-nose;’ then the engine passed the horse, - and a great hurrah hailed the victory. But it was not repeated, for - just at this time, when the gray’s master was about giving up, the - band which draws the pulley which moved the blower slipped from the - drum, the safety-valve ceased to scream, and the engine, for want of - breath, began to wheeze and pant. While Mr. Cooper, who was his own - engineer and fireman, lacerated his hands in vain attempts to replace - the band upon the wheel, the horse gained on the machine and passed - it, and although the band was presently replaced and steam again did - its best, the horse was too far ahead to be overtaken, and came in - the winner of the race.” - -The numerous excursions, trial trips of engines, and public -demonstrations made in the interests of improvements, from 1830 to -1840, on roads chartered in 1825-26-27-28, did not inspire confidence -as good investments. They were looked upon chiefly as curiosities, -mixed with great discomfort and danger, and received huzzahs and new -patrons at each juncture, those making the trip one day surrendering -their places with admiration to others, much after the plan of those -who took in the curiosity show of the horse “having his tail where -his head ought to be.” A railroad excursion of governors, senators, -judges, lawyers, divines, doctors, and other good people--special -guests of several hundred--to ride on strap-iron rails, housed in -old coach bodies or on open platform boxes, with the bumping and -jerking of trucks attached to each other by abundance of slack chain, -a beer-bottle engine and pine knots to make steam, enables the -imagination to see the likeness of the unfortunate colored fireman -with respect, though a slave, for the exhibition of a sense of comfort -before, if not after, he “punched up the fire and closed down the lever -to the safety-valve and sat upon it to keep the steam and smoke out of -his eyes.” - -While great enthusiasm existed in favor of railroads every-where during -the thirties, the moneyed man and the man who desired to travel with -comfort regardless of time did not take much stock in the enterprise. -And the gentleman who wrote the following in his diary was one of a -large class who viewed the present as complete, and that they could -not endure pleasantly any discomfort that might repay to others in the -future great pleasure: - - “_July 22, 1835._--This morning at nine o’clock I took passage in a - railroad car (from Boston) for Providence. Five or six other cars - were attached to the locomotive, and uglier boxes I do not wish to - travel in. They were made to stow away some thirty human beings who - sit, cheek by jowl, as best they can. The poor fellows who were not - much in the habit of making their toilet squeezed me into a corner, - while the hot sun drew from their garments a villainous compound - of smells made up of salt fish, tar and molasses. By and by, just - twelve--only twelve--bouncing factory girls were introduced, who were - going on a party of pleasure to Newport. ‘Make room for the ladies!’ - bawled out the superintendent. ‘Come, gentlemen, jump up on the top, - plenty of room there.’ ‘I’m afraid the bridge knocking my brains - out,’ said a passenger. Some made one excuse and some another. For my - part, I flatly told him that since I belonged to the Corps of Silver - Grays, I had lost my gallantry, and did not intend to move. The - whole twelve were, however, introduced, and soon made themselves at - home, sucking lemons and eating green apples. The rich and the poor, - the educated and the ignorant, the polite and the vulgar, all herd - together in this modern improvement in traveling. The consequence is - a complete amalgamation. Master and servant sleep heads and points on - the cabin floor of the steamer, feed at the same table, sit in each - other’s laps as it were in the cars; and all this for the sake of - doing very uncomfortably in two days what would be done delightfully - in eight or ten. Shall we be much longer kept by this toilsome - fashion of hurrying, hurrying, from starting (those who can afford - it) on a journey with our own horses, and moving slowly, surely - and profitably through the country, with the power of enjoying its - beauty, and be the means of creating good inns? Undoubtedly a line - of post-horses and post-chaises would long ago have been established - along our great roads had not steam monopolized every thing. - - “Talk of _ladies_ on board a steamboat or in a railroad car--_there - are none_. I never feel like a gentlemen there, and I can not - perceive a semblance of gentility in any one who makes part of the - traveling mob. When I see women whom, in their drawing-rooms or - elsewhere, I have been accustomed to respect and treat with every - suitable deference--when I see them, I say, elbowing their way - through a crowd of dirty emigrants, or low-bred homespun fellows in - petticoats or breeches in our country, in order to reach a table - spread for a hundred or more, I lose sight of their pretentions - to gentility, and view them as belonging to the plebeian herd. To - restore herself to her caste, let a lady move in select company at - five miles an hour, and take her meals in comfort at a good inn, - where she may dine decently. After all the old-fashioned way of five - or six miles, with liberty to dine decently in a decent inn, and be - master of one’s movements, with the delight of seeing the country - and getting along rationally, is the mode to which I cling, and which - will be adopted again by the generations of after times.”[27] - -Information in regard to railroading in its true sense, was -circumscribed to experiment, which retarded the progress of -improvement. The belief in lasting solidity, making the expense of -building the road-bed more than necessary, so much so that it was -estimated in the Eastern States, that about ten miles a year were all -one company could properly construct. - -Most engineers at first fell into the same error--making heavy stone -walls for the road-bed. The blocks into which the wooden plugs were -driven for the spikes to hold the rails were frequently resting upon -solid masonry, four feet high and two and a half feet wide. After done, -it was discovered a mistake; that an inelastic road-bed and speed were -incompatible and disastrous to the machinery, and the intelligent State -of Massachusetts, from the time the first locomotive was put upon the -track (March, 1834) until 1841, had shown little advancement in the -proper application of steam, as well as construction of road-beds and -rails. - -Robert Fulton expected his discovery would find its highest usefulness -as a motive-power on railroads, as it has done; but his brother-in-law -and partner did not deem the thing practicable as long as the -insuperable objections named existed, and all attempts were passed to -others, as the following letter shows, with day and date: - - “ALBANY, March 1st, 1811, - - “_Dear Sir_: I did not until yesterday receive yours of February - 25th; where it has been loitering on the road I am at a loss to - say. I had before read of your very ingenious proposition as to - the railway communications. I fear, however, on mature reflection, - that they will be liable to serious objection, and ultimately more - expensive than a canal. They must be double, so as to prevent the - danger of two such bodies meeting. The walls on which they are to - be placed should at least be four feet below the surface and three - feet above, and must be clamped with iron, and even then would hardly - sustain so heavy a weight as you propose moving at the rate of four - miles an hour on wheels. As to wood, it would not last a week. They - must be covered with iron, and that, too, very thick and strong. The - means of stopping these heavy carriages without great shock, and of - preventing them from running on each other--for there would be many - running on the road at once--would be very difficult. In cases of - accidental stops to take wood and water, etc., many accidents would - happen. The carriage of condensing water would be very troublesome. - Upon the whole, I fear the expense would be much greater than that - of canals, without being so convenient. - - “R. R. LIVINGSTON.” - -Ordinary business men, and even accomplished engineers, manifested as -little knowledge in regard to the principles of science in railroading -as they did in regard to the telegraph. Both were new fields for -experiment, and both operators made many ridiculous mistakes. - -When William D. Wesson announced he would demonstrate the -practicability of sending and receiving messages over his wires -stretched on poles from Chillicothe to Columbus, and _vice versa_, -many persons had business into the city on that day, but ostensibly to -witness the wonderful performance. - -Early in the morning advertised for free messages, an honest patron of -science living on the line a short distance out of town went up one of -the poles and hung a letter on the wire, and secreted himself in view -of the missive and in vain watched it all day, that he might obtain the -secret of the process. - -Another individual of inquiring mind on his way to the city boasted -he intended to know before he returned how the thing was done. On -his way home he was accosted by a neighbor who wished to know how -it was possible to send a message to Columbus with safety on one of -those little wires. The Squire said to _himself it was no longer a -mystery_--he was a justice of the peace, and above the average as a -lawyer--saying: “You see, they have a machine that rolls and compresses -a letter into a little bit of an oblong roll, which just fits into a -little brass cylinder, and when ready to send it is pushed up to a kind -of machine all full of cog-wheels and ticking clock-work, and the man -at the head says, ‘All ready--go’--and he touches a button, and the -electricity runs out on the wire, and strikes the head of the cylinder -in which the letter is placed, and it goes, _chebang_, to the other end -of the wire, and drops into a basket.” - -All this was worked out by the mental process of the Squire, who -actually believed he had solved the process of telegraphing, as much as -the engineers did that of railroading when they constructed the track -of solid masonry. - -In 1837, the horse-car running from Toledo to Adrian, Michigan, on -oak rails was remodeled, road-bed improved in grades, rails strapped, -an engine to take the place of horses, “and a beautiful new passenger -coach to supply that of the old coach bodies.” It was also advertised -the road would be “running regularly on and after October 1, 1837,” and -that the “speed would be greatly increased, and would be able to carry -passengers and the United States mail at the rate of fifteen miles an -hour, making the entire distance, thirty miles, in two hours.” - -[Illustration: New Passenger Car on the Toledo & Adrian Ry. 1837.] - -A fair likeness of the new passenger coach is here given, which, in -days of primitive railroading, was looked upon as a step in the -right direction. But this road was soon obliged to again suspend -operations, temporarily, for other changes--many discouragements stood -in the pathway to prosperity. Strap-iron rails on parallel timbers and -stonemasonry and solidity proved failures, and the locomotive added no -advantage over the horse, as existing conditions would not tolerate -great velocity, the very thing in chief that would insure supremacy -over a canal. - -And England was twenty years in search of an adjustment of road and -machinery by which velocity could be increased without an increase of -danger. But the discouragements were so numerous, many hopeful workers -abandoned the field. Only six years previous to George Stephenson’s -locomotive, “Rocket,” making twenty-nine and a half miles in an hour, -a book was published on “Railways,” in which the author says: “That -nothing could do more harm toward the adoption of railways than the -promulgation of such nonsense, as that we shall see locomotive engines -traveling at the rate of twelve, sixteen, eighteen, and twenty miles an -hour.”[28] - -This may have been intended for Americans as well as Mr. Stephenson, -for the “promulgation of such nonsense” did not cease, and power and -speed increased with the increase in size of the parts of the machinery -insured. So rapidly was this increase, that strong attempts were made -from time to time to fix a legal limit at some point below twenty -miles--in England. - -In the United States, however, the faster the better, and from five -rose to fifty, and then began looking around for rails and road-bed -that would withstand the racket. - -All the expense and experiments were not thrown away; true, investments -and results failed for many years to inspire that confidence which -opens the money vaults of the capitalists, but, not in the least -discouraged, artisans, scientists, and genius, under any and every -name, worked on and on, and when asked gave the coalminer’s answer -to the House of Commons: “I _can’t_ tell you _how_ I’ll do it, but -I _can_ tell you I _will_ do it.” The engineers, machinists, and -model-makers kept at work, and so many improvements had been suggested -to Peter Cooper’s locomotive that the first thing of the kind that -had ever been made in the United States became transformed from a -little competitor of the horse into a mammoth institution breathing -impatiently for a track on which might be tested its speed and wondrous -power. - -The locomotive came--the heavy iron rails were in sight--but no one had -yet suggested a satisfactory road-bed and rests for the rails. It had -baffled the attempts of engineers. At this critical juncture a voice -was heard from the wilderness--an axman, an Ohio “Squirrel Hunter”--one -who had constructed many miles of substantial wagon roads through new -sections of marshy country by means of “corduroys”--placing pieces of -split timber, or sections of a younger growth, sixteen feet long, in -close contact at right angles to the line of intended road-bed, then -pinning long pieces of split saplings on the upper surface near the -ends of the cross-ties on either side, and filling the interstices with -earth, gravel, rotten wood, or other material, making a substantial and -elastic track. - -At a meeting of the president and directors of a section of -unsatisfactory strap-iron road, this man appeared before the board -with a model showing the relations of road-bed, cross-ties, and rails -as now in use, claiming the plans proposed would insure the desirable -essentials to safety, speed, cheapness, and durability, by giving -elasticity and securing an absolute gauge at high rates of speed. - -Seeing the model, and hearing the common-sense arguments and -practicable philosophy of the “Squirrel Hunter,” all present clapped -their hands and cried--“Eureka!” - -Before the close of the session, a resolution was adopted in favor -of “cross-ties and heavy iron rails.” With the correct idea for -construction, it required but little time to satisfy the most -credulous that velocity and power could be obtained with safety, and -_time_ saved; for _time_ was fast becoming an important factor in the -prosperity of the state. Charters were granted for roads in every -direction, and each important village had aspirations for “a railroad -center;” and capital, by millions, flowed into the state, and in a -short period Ohio found herself with eight thousand five hundred miles -of railroad, representing a capital of more than five hundred and fifty -million dollars. - -The officers of the first railroads felt or seemed to feel and act like -ordinary people. This, however, was long before the procuration of a -prohibitory tax on foreign steel rails. On one occasion, in 1849, the -passengers on the line of coaches from the South, bound for Cleveland, -Ohio, found on arrival at Columbus that “a new and expeditious route” -had just been opened to Sandusky City, and thence to Cleveland, -Buffalo, and other points east and west. - -This “new and expeditious line” consisted of stage-coaches from -Columbus to Mansfield, from Mansfield to Sandusky _by the new -railroad_, and thence by boat to all other points. The railroad was -part of the incomplete first through line from the lakes to the Ohio -river, and was completed from Sandusky to Mansfield, fifty miles. The -writer was one of the second installment of passengers sent over the -new route. Four coaches left Columbus at an early hour, loaded with -passengers and baggage, to make the connection at Mansfield, nearly -seventy miles, over rough mud roads. - -All went well until the Delaware county corduroys were reached. Here -the leading coach got off the track and was down, with one wheel in the -mud up to the hub. Getting out of this difficulty caused the time-table -to be broken, and on reaching Mansfield in the evening we found the -train to Sandusky had just left--so recently that the smoke of the -motor was still visible in the direction of the lake. - -The arrival of this caravan created no little excitement in the small -town of Mansfield (Secretary Sherman’s home). Thirty angry passengers -to be detained until the next day at a fifth-class hotel, destitute of -accommodations, was not considered in the storm of invectives that were -hurled in every direction, after taking in the situation. Accusations -were publicly made that the landlord and the directors of the railroad -were in partnership to rob the public by assertions enticing them into -this trap. - -The party was in no mood to remain idle, and at once took possession -of the large room called “the parlor,” elected a chairman, adopted -resolutions, and made a report and placed it in the hands of the -printer, headed with familiar English epithets, warning the public -to shun this impious swindle--making the most imposing specimen of -literature, on large sheets, ever printed in that highly-intelligent -town. - -Before eleven o’clock that night the bill-posters had finished their -work, as no more space could be found on which to spread the attractive -sheets. About this time four good-looking, elderly gentlemen appeared -and announced that they represented the president and directors of the -road; that they were sorry the break of connection had occurred; that -such a thing would not occur again, and asked, if they should reimburse -all the fares paid at Columbus and give each a through ticket to place -of destination, and pay the hotel expenses while detained in Mansfield, -would the party surrender all the posters in their possession and call -it even? - -This was agreed to--posters surrendered and fares adjusted, and the -whole party invited to a well-prepared but unexpected supper, which -wound up with a jolly good time, and the dissatisfied were sent on -their way next morning in full praise of the “new arrangement,” which -became the most popular and best-patronized through fare route of any -previous combination of the kind ever made in Ohio. - -Railroads developed their importance rapidly, as did also the officers -and employes. The systematic training and experimental management of -roads have accomplished wonders in nationalizing the people of the -United States. And by the reports of the Commissioner of “Railroads -and Telegraph,” no necessity exists any longer for Ohio roads to -_compromise_ or give _drawbacks_ to patrons in order to hold their -influence and business. At least it would seem so, when the roads -within the state, in 1894, carried twenty-seven million, two hundred -and thirty-one thousand passengers, and fifty-nine millions, six -hundred and thirty-nine tons of freight--earning sixty million, one -hundred and forty thousand, eight hundred and thirty-one dollars; -giving employment to fifty-four thousand, seven hundred persons, whose -salaries amounted to a fraction less than thirty million, six hundred -thousand dollars in aggregate. All this great wealth and industry has -arisen from exceedingly small and crude beginnings. - -Profitable private enterprises resulting from railroad investments -in the states, at the commencement of the fifties, awakened a dozing -Congress to the national importance of the subject, and in 1853, -the Government commenced a road at an estimated cost that would -have made the head of a Thomas Jefferson swim with constitutional -objections--involving an expenditure of one hundred and thirty -millions, with an additional five millions for engineering. It proved a -success; the expenditure of _labor_ enriched the people, and the road -helped save the United States as a nation. - -With canals, railroads, turnpikes, large crops, quick and cheap -transportation, growing cities and increasing knowledge, wealth -and happiness, to Ohio the sky was clear overhead, and every thing -prosperous, West, East and North, until 1860. Something was transpiring -South--Northern men were returning from the slave states with the -belief the country was on the verge of a civil war--a gigantic -insurrection. Some, to whom such opinions were rendered, believed, but -most Northern men made light of the idea of the South seceding, as -there appeared no justifiable cause for secession or rebellion. - -But there was that quarrel about the black spot on the face of the -Goddess of Liberty, which had grown large and was giving pain and -mortification to all her Northern friends. It was evident the disease -was destroying the life as it had the beauty, unless something was done -to remove or check its growth. - -Consultation after consultation had from time to time been made by -the wise men of the nation, ending in disagreement in regard to the -etiology, pathology and treatment. Still it was evident, to both North -and South, that something must be done. And the South, claiming the -patient, assured the country the affection and disaffection could be -removed by the law of nature Samuel Hahnemann made--“_similia similibus -curantur_,” and retired with the intention to capture Washington before -the North could make resistance, and then proclaim the slave-power, the -true and lawful friend of Liberty, and insist upon a hasty recognition -of the Government of the United States, by the foreign ministers at -the federal capital and the leading powers of Europe. But the Southern -blood could not be restrained, and the premature overt acts defeated -the scheme, saved Washington, and led to the recovery of universal -freedom in the United States through a prolonged and bloody law. - -General Sherman says in regard to the cause of the War of the -Rebellion, that “The Southern statesmen, accustomed to rule, began -to perceive that the country would not always submit to be ruled -by them;[29] and they believed slavery could not thrive in contact -with freedom; and they had come to regard slavery as essential to -their _political_ and _social existence_. Without a slave caste they -could have no aristocratic caste.... That the northern politicians, -accustomed to follow the lead of their southern associates generally, -believed that the defeat of Fremont, in 1856, as the Republican -candidate for the presidency, had insured the perpetuity of the Union; -the southern politicians, generally, believed that the date of its -dissolution was postponed during the next presidential term, and that -four years and a facile President were given them to prepare for it. -And they began to do so. - -“Accordingly, during Mr. Buchanan’s administration, there was set -on foot throughout the Southern States a movement embodying the -reorganization of the militia, the establishment and enlargement of -state military academies, and the collection of arms, ammunition, and -warlike materials of all kinds. - -“The Federal Secretary of War, Mr. Floyd, thoroughly in the interests -of the pro-slavery conspirators, aided them by sending to the arsenals -in the slave states large quantities of the national arms and military -supplies; the quotas of the Southern States under the militia laws were -anticipated in some cases by several years; and he caused large sales -of arms to be secretly made, at low prices, to the agents of those -states.[30] - -“The pro-slavery leaders then began, quietly, to select and gather -around them the men whom they needed and upon whom they thought they -could rely. - -“Among the men they fixed upon was Captain Sherman.... It was -explained to him that the object of establishing the State Military -Academy at Alexandria, was to aid in suppressing negro insurrections, -to enable the state to protect her borders, ... and to form a nucleus -for defense in case of an attack by a foreign enemy.” - -Captain Sherman did not remain long in his high salaried office before -he saw enough to convince an intelligent mind war was near at hand, and -on January 18, 1861, he sent in his resignation to the Governor, as -follows: - - “SIR: As I occupy a quasi-military position under this state, - I deem it proper to acquaint you that I accepted such position - when Louisiana was a state in the Union, and when the motto of - the seminary, inserted in marble over the main door, was: ‘By the - liberality of the general Government of the United States--the - Union--_Esto Perpetua_.’ Recent events foreshadow a great change, and - it becomes all men to choose. If Louisiana withdraws from the Federal - Union, I prefer to maintain my allegiance to the old Constitution - as long as a fragment of it survives, and my longer stay here would - be wrong in every sense of the word. In that event, I beg you will - send or appoint some authorized agent to take charge of the arms and - munitions of war here, belonging to the state, or direct me what - disposition should be made of them. - - “And furthermore, as president of the board of supervisors, I beg - you to take immediate steps to relieve me as superintendent the - moment the state determines to secede, for on no earthly account will - I do an act, or think any thought, hostile to or in defiance of the - old Government of the United States.” - -Up to this date, Captain Sherman was not much known as a lawyer -or statesman, and as a military genius, the South found they had -mis-measured his patriotism and that which constituted his make-up. -Few, if any, had heard the reply of the little fatherless boy to -the minister who hesitated to give him the name of “a heathen,” -(_Tecumseh_,) in baptism. - -“My father called me Tecumseh, and Tecumseh I’ll be called--If you -won’t, I’ll not have any of your baptism.” - -This was the character of General Sherman, whose talents were as bright -as was his life, pure and courageous. At the commencement of the war he -was assailed on all sides, by the petty jealousies indigenous to public -life; but nothing could retard his progress to the front, any more -than it could his march to the sea--one of Ohio’s legitimate “Squirrel -Hunters” born with his hand on Esau’s heel. - -The war came, and on the 12th day of April, 1861, the first gun -was fired. The Government was not alarmed, but was firm in the -determination to preserve the Union at all cost, and looked upon the -prospects of final success of secession as impossible against the will -of the vast population and resources of the North-western States, and -held to the truth of General Jackson’s answer to Calhoun: “Secession is -treason, and the penalty for treason is death.” - -At the outbreak of the Rebellion, the State of Kentucky had a governor -named Beriah Magoffin. He had by some unknown means escaped the -familiar Kentucky military title, and was known simply as “Beriah -Magoffin, the Secessionist.” Beriah concocted a brilliant scheme, and -gave out a manifesto that “Kentucky will not sever connection from the -National Government, nor take up arms for either belligerent party, but -arm herself for the preservation of peace within her borders, and a -mediator to effect a just and honorable peace.” - -But when the President of the United States called on Kentucky -for volunteers to defend the Union, he received the reply: “I say -emphatically that Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked -purpose of subduing her sister Southern States.” On hearing of the -reply of Governor Beriah Magoffin, the Governor of Ohio immediately -telegraphed the War Department, “If Kentucky will not fill her quota, -Ohio will fill it for her.” And within two days, two regiments were -on the road to the credit of Kentucky, and other regiments came in so -rapidly, that within a few days after the announcement of quotas, the -Adjutant-General stated the offers of troops from Ohio were enough to -fill the full quota of seventy-five thousand men allotted to the entire -country. - -The people of Ohio, and especially some in Cincinnati, became indignant -at the muddle in which Kentucky had placed herself, causing Cincinnati -to occupy an extra-hazardous position. The Governors of Ohio, Indiana -and Illinois foresaw the tempting prize Cincinnati would be to the -Confederates, and early urged the policy of seizing Louisville, -Paducah, Columbus, Covington, Newport and the railroads. But this wise -suggestion was postponed in its execution for want of troops, until the -opportunity became lost. Columbus was strongly garrisoned, Buckner had -committed his treason, Bowling Green was fortified, Tennessee was gone, -and Kentucky held back all the armies of the West until March, 1862.[31] - -Still, for the kindness, Kentucky came near getting Ohio into trouble -during the second year of the war. And this, too, at a time when the -Union forces were scattered and disseminated by disasters, disease, and -desertions until the War Department showed an inability to maintain -many important positions, especially in the border states. Rebel raids -were moving in several directions. John Morgan, with his cavalry, found -the City of Cincinnati defenseless and virtually besieged. Rough -secession citizens were rioting, mobbing, and destroying property of -peaceable persons of African descent, requiring “one thousand” extra -policemen to save enough of the boodle to make an inducement for rebel -raiders to call that way. - -The cultivated hatred and unlawful acts toward the colored race -prevailed to such a large extent by Cincinnati rebels and sympathizers, -that the sentiments of officials were so uncertain that, when danger -was in sight and the city came under the management of men who had -actually taken side with the Federal Government, the police were -required to take the oath of allegiance in a body as their official -certificate of loyalty. - -The rebel element was disappointed that John Morgan and cavalry did -not attempt to take the city, which was joy and gladness to the Union -portion of the inhabitants. But new and more alarming trouble to the -loyal citizen was approaching. The Union forces had just met with -disaster at Richmond, and General Kirby Smith had entered Lexington -with Morgan and started an army for Cincinnati. - -Bragg was just crossing the Kentucky line for Louisville, and no time -could be lost. Cincinnati was without preparation or means of defense, -and all was literally blue around recruiting offices; government troops -were powerless, for want of time, and the emergency was great, for the -rebels were near at hand. - -If the Federal forces were ever at any time subject to despondency and -discouragements it would have been excusable during July and August -of 1862. General McClellan had been recalled from the Peninsula, Pope -driven back and forced to seek refuge in the defenses of Washington, -raids were menacing the borders of the free states, and many were -claiming the war “a failure.” - -General Wallace had been placed in command for the protection of the -cities of Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, and arrived in Cincinnati -at nine o’clock at night, September 1st. And after consultation with -Governor Tod and the mayors of the above-named cities, wrote his -proclamation of _martial_ law, and after midnight sent it to the city -papers. - -While this was going on, the Governor was busily engaged at the -telegraph station. He knew the power and the loyalty of the “Squirrel -Hunters.” As one of their number, he asked them to come--to come -without delay, and to come armed--and then telegraphed to the Secretary -of War, that a large rebel force was moving against Cincinnati, “but -it would _be_ successfully met.” He had faith in the expected troops. -Though fresh from the rural districts, they all knew how to shoot; all -fellow “Squirrel Hunters,” never known to turn their backs to the -enemy with the trusty rifle in hand. - -History tells the result. Whitelaw Reid says of the next morning: - - “Before daybreak the advance of the men that were thenceforward to - be known in the history of the state as the ‘Squirrel Hunters’ were - filing through the streets.” - -The citizens knew little or nothing of what had been transpiring -throughout the night, and when aroused by the tramp, tramp, tramp, and -as they gazed out upon the dimly-lighted streets, the greater their -wonderment grew. Armed men, with all shades, colors, and kinds of -uniforms! No one, awakening from sweet slumber, could say from what -country, place, or planet, such a vast multitude could have dropped -during the night. It could be seen the army was not _blue_ enough for -federals, nor _gray_ enough for rebels; and “good Lord, good devil,” -was about all that could be said. - -In due time the morning papers came, announcing the city under martial -law and protected by the “Squirrel Hunters” of Ohio, and the excitement -became so great that many expressed themselves much after the fashion -of “the little woman who went to market all on a market day.” - -For patriotism, executive ability, and business talents, Governor Tod -had few equals. With him the line of duty was always clear. Before -General Wallace had written his proclamation of martial law the -Governor was on his way to Cincinnati. From this point he at once -telegraphed to the people, press, and military committees, saying: “Our -southern border is threatened with invasion.... Gather up all the arms -and furnish yourselves with ammunition for the same.... The soil of -Ohio must not be invaded by the enemies of our glorious government. Do -not wait. _None but armed men will be received_.” - - * * * * * - -“From morning till night the streets resounded with the tramp of armed -men, marching to the defense of the city. From every quarter of the -state they came, in every form of organization, with various species of -arms. The ‘Squirrel Hunters,’ in their homespun, with powder-horn and -buckskin pouch, ... all poured out from the railroad depots and down -toward the pontoon bridge. The ladies of the city furnished provisions -by the wagon load; the Fifth-street market-house was converted into -a vast free eating saloon for the ‘Squirrel Hunters.’ Halls and -warehouses were used as barracks.” - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: Pontoon Bridge, Ohio River.] - -As soon as it was known the city was under martial law, the sounds of -hammers and saws came up from the river, and in a few hours a pontoon -bridge was stretched across to Covington, and streams of wagons loaded -with lumber and other materials for fortifications were passing over; -and on the 4th of September Governor Tod telegraphed to General Wright, -commander of the department: “I have now sent you for Kentucky twenty -regiments. I have twenty-one more in process of organization,” and the -next day said to the press: - - “The response to my proclamation asking volunteers for the protection - of Cincinnati was most noble and generous. All may feel proud of the - gallantry of the people of Ohio. No more volunteers are required for - the protection of Cincinnati.” - -The exertions of the city were, however, not abated. Judge Dickson -organized a colored brigade for labor on the fortifications. This -with the daily details of three thousand white citizens, composed -of judges, lawyers, merchant princes, clerks, day-laborers, artists, -ministers, editors, side by side, kept at work with the ax, spade, -pick, and shovel, and all promised the same wages--a dollar per -day--went on most enthusiastically. - -The engineers had given shape to the fortifications. General Wallace -was vigilant night and day, as the rebel forces gradually moved up -as if intending an attack. The Squirrel Hunters were drilled during -the day and manned the trenches every night, and it was no longer a -possibility that the forces under General Kirby Smith could take the -city. But, owing to a few skirmishes, Major-General Wright, commander -of the department, thought it prudent to call for more “Squirrel -Hunters,” as it was believed a general engagement was near at hand. The -papers of the city, September 11th, announced that before they were -distributed the sound of artillery might be heard on the heights of -Covington, and advised their readers to keep cool, as the city was safe -beyond question. - -It was under these circumstances Governor Tod sent the following -telegram to “The Press of Cleveland”--“To the several Military -Committees of Northern Ohio: - - “COLUMBUS, _Sept._ 10, 1862. - - “By telegram from Major-General Wright, commander-in-chief of Western - forces, received at two o’clock this morning, I am directed to send - all armed men that can be raised immediately to Cincinnati. You will - at once exert yourselves to execute this order. The men should be - armed, each furnished with a blanket and at least two days’ rations. - Railroad companies are requested to furnish transportation of troops - to the exclusion of all other business.” - -The expected attack did not come. “General Wallace gradually pushed out -his advance a little, and the Rebel pickets fell back. By the 11th, -all felt that the danger was over. On the 12th, General Smith’s hasty -retreat was discovered. On the 13th, Governor Tod checked the movements -of the Squirrel Hunters, announced the safety of Cincinnati, and -expressed his congratulations. - - “COLUMBUS, _September_ 13, 1862. - Eight o’clock A. M. - - “_To the Press of Cleveland_: - - “Copy of dispatch this moment received from Major-General Wright, - at Cincinnati: ‘The enemy is retreating. Until we know more of his - intention and position, do not send any more citizen-troops to - this city.’” And the Governor’s dispatch to the Cleveland Press, - accompanying the good news from Major-General Wright, says: “The - generous response from all parts of the state to the recent call, has - won additional renown for the people of Ohio. The news which reached - Cincinnati, that the patriotic men all over the state were rushing - to its defense, saved our soil from invasion, and hence all good - citizens will feel grateful to the patriotic men who promptly offered - their assistance.” - -The clear-minded Governor Tod, without troops, guns or works of -defense, telegraphed the Secretary of War that a large Rebel force was -moving on Cincinnati, “_but it, would be successfully met_;” thirteen -days after wired the following: - - “COLUMBUS, _September_ 13, 1862. - - “_To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, - Washington, D. C_. - - “The Squirrel Hunters responded gloriously to the call for the - defense of Cincinnati--thousands reached the city, and thousands - more were en route for it. The enemy having retreated, all have - been ordered back. This uprising of the people is the cause of the - retreat. You should acknowledge _publicly_ this gallant conduct.” - -The entire North-west resounded with praises for Governor Tod and his -thoughtful and successful expedient. To the “Squirrel Hunters,” it was -not an entirely new thing; they had often heard of the times when their -fathers were the actors at Cleveland, Fort Meigs and the Miamies, and -bore their honors with a degree of modesty becoming their military -equipments. When Lewis Wallace, Major-General commanding, bid these -gallant men farewell, he said: “In coming time, strangers viewing the -works on the hills of Newport and Covington, will ask, ‘Who built -these intrenchments?’[32] You can answer--‘We built them.’ If they ask -‘Who guarded them?’ You can reply--‘We helped in thousands.’ If they -inquire the result, your answer will be--‘The enemy came and looked at -them, and stole away in the night.’ You have won much honor; keep your -organizations ready to win more. The people of Ohio appreciated this -noble act of the ‘Squirrel Hunters,’ in saving the City of Cincinnati, -by turning back the Rebel army and prevented the destruction of -property by a dissolute and desperate army.” - -And the Ohio Legislature, at its next session adopted the following -resolution: - - “_Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the - State of Ohio, That the Governor be and he is hereby authorized and - directed to appropriate out of his contingent fund a sufficient sum - to pay for printing and lithographing discharges for the patriotic - men of the state who responded to the call of the governor and went - to the southern border to repel the invader, who will be known in - history as ‘The Squirrel Hunters,’ - - “JAMES R. HUBBELL, - _Speaker of the House of Representatives._ - P. HITCHCOCK, - _President pro tem. of the Senate._ - COLUMBUS, _March 11, 1863_.” - -[Illustration: Governor’s Certificate of Honorable Membership.] - -To this joint resolution of the legislature the governor responded with -a handsome souvenir entitled - - THE SQUIRREL HUNTER’S DISCHARGE. - -[Illustration: Honorable Discharge.] - -A year after the services were performed, fifteen thousand seven -hundred and sixty-six were issued to Squirrel Hunters, which, however, -did not embrace more than one-third of the number that responded to the -call and took part in the defense of Cincinnati and the Kentucky cities. - -Those with certificates and those having none, but who responded to -the call, are no less “Squirrel Hunters,” descendants of the Spirit of -’76--a chosen people to maintain and perpetuate the model government of -the world. - -From the Declaration of Independence to the present time the power -of this free people has been as manifestly directed by unseen forces -as ever was that of the favorite nation which came out from Egypt -under a cloud; and the influences which dictated the dedication of -the North-west to freedom will not likely permit the purpose to be -compromised or changed. - -That which was considered a long duration of the war, with frequent -calls for troops, became exceedingly discouraging. And it was evident, -after two years, that the strength of the federal army was inadequate -for successful offensive operations. At the beginning of 1863, it -required nearly four hundred thousand recruits to fill the companies -and regiments then in service up to the standard enumeration. Death, -disaster, and desertion begat inactivity, with an apparent exhaustion -of former volunteer supplies; and secession was becoming more noisy -and defiant in all the loyal states. This condition of things brought -out the conscript act, and under it the Provost-Marshal General’s -Bureau was organized June 1, 1863, by James B. Fry, and early in 1864, -this efficient officer and his assistants had the loyal states well -canvassed, and thoroughly organized, to obtain all the men necessary -to put down the Rebellion. Each state was divided into districts; each -district was placed under the management of commissioned officers, -termed a Board of Enrollment, consisting of a provost-marshal, -commissioner, and surgeon, whose business it was to make a full and -exact enrollment of all persons liable to conscription under the law of -March 3, 1863, and its amendments, showing a complete exhibit of the -military resources in men over twenty and under forty-five years of -age, with the names alphabetically arranged, with description of person -and occupation in each sub-district. - -The enrollment being cleared of persons having manifest disability -of a permanent character, each sub-district (township or ward) was -required to furnish its assigned quota under calls for men, whether -the able-bodied individuals enrolled continued to reside in that -sub-district or not. Unless it could be shown such person or persons -were correctly enrolled in another sub-district, were in the service -uncredited or credited to another sub-district, the removal of -residence could not relieve the obligation of the sub-district where -such person or persons were enrolled. - -This new arrangement at first was exceedingly unpopular with rebel -sympathizers in the loyal states, but the bureau soon established a -business that impressed a belief in secession circles that it was an -energetic war measure that would soon end the _unpleasantness_. This -system of furnishing soldiers showed many advantages over that of -voluntary enlistments. Large demands for men could be met immediately, -and at the same time it made every citizen, whether loyal or disloyal, -equally interested in having the quotas filled by means of bounties in -order to avoid sub-district drafts. - -And from an enrollment of two million two hundred and fifty-four -thousand persons liable to do military service, the bureau, in a brief -period, forwarded under calls of the government one million one hundred -and twenty thousand six hundred and twenty-one able-bodied soldiers, -and with these, and those already in the field, the would-be Southern -Confederacy crumbled before the federal power. - -It cost the government for raising troops from the commencement of -the war until May 1, 1863, the date the recruiting service was turned -over to the Provost-Marshal General’s Bureau, forty-six million one -hundred and twenty-four thousand one hundred and sixty-two dollars, -or _thirty-four_ dollars for each man, exclusive of pay or bounty, -while putting soldiers in the service under the conscript act cost -the government nothing. The Provost-Marshal General neither asked nor -received an appropriation, but under the law he made the bureau pay all -attendant expenses, and after paying out sixteen million nine hundred -and seventy-six thousand two hundred and eleven dollars for recruiting -over one million men and capturing and forwarding seventy-six thousand -five hundred and twenty-six deserters (now wards), General Fry turned -into the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the bureau, -nine million three hundred and ninety thousand one hundred and -five dollars, all of which proved a matter of great economy to the -government, while the recruiting of the army cost less than one third -as much as that adopted previous to the organization of the bureau, and -that without cost to the government. - -The draft-wheel and its uses were not the most pleasant things to -contemplate, and to soften down the enactment Congress authorized -recruiting in Southern states, regardless of color or previous -condition, that by means of agents and liberal bounties very little -drafting would likely be necessary. And it was soon discovered that -blue suits and muskets were quite becoming to the colored man. “The -shape of the cranium, the length of the forearm, thinness of the -gastrocnemius muscles, and flatness of the feet,” all disappeared at -the War Office, and for which was substituted, “He can be made a -mechanical soldier to great perfection, skilled in the use of arms, -and the machinery of tactics; and, by reason of the obstinacy of his -disposition and the depth of his passions, may become most powerful in -a charge or in resisting the onset of an enemy.” - -[Illustration: Draft Wheel--Twelfth District, Ohio. - -BOARD OF ENROLLMENT: - - CAPT. GEO. W. ROBY, Provost Marshal. - A. KAGY, Commissioner of Enrollment. - DR. N. E. JONES, Surgeon Board of Enrollment. - -] - -The race was tried and showed the better predictions true. Slavery -had woven prejudices around the name and color, until the government, -under Lincoln, Stanton, Chase, and a Congress of loyal states, could -find no place or mustering officer (previous to the operation of the -Provost Marshal General’s Bureau), short of Massachusetts, that could -make the man of color ready to obey orders and use a gun. Nothing in -history gives a clearer view of the height and depth of the degrading -influences of the institution upon those who were free than the -treatment of the loyal colored man and citizen during the efforts -of the government to save the Union. Through fear or cowardice his -proffered aid was rejected at government recruiting offices, while -Massachusetts was procuring colored credit from the loyal states at -unusually small bounties. - -It may have been so ordered; the diet may have contained enough meat -to offend. Still, the colored troops got to the front before the war -was over, and did much in reinforcing the wasting armies and lifting -anxious sub-districts out of the draft, as well as covering their race -with glory by their bravery and efficiency. - -Persons placed in the service by means of the draft-wheel generally -procured substitutes--persons not liable to draft--aliens and under-age -individuals, who, for three years’ service or during the war, -commanded one thousand dollars, while the bounty for enlistments of -those liable to draft varied from three to five hundred dollars. During -the war much of the territory of Ohio was unimproved woods, though -thickly settled with cabin civilization. These new settlements were -made by the descendants of original Squirrel Hunters--persons born in -the state, and with this legacy generally established homes in new -counties, in the woods, with like primitive beginnings to those of -their ancestors. At the announcement of secession they were ready to -serve their country, and it was from these newer and poorer sections -that Ohio obtained her volunteers--from a hardy and efficient class of -young men, accustomed to active life and the use of the gun. - -The recruits from Ohio were chiefly volunteer enlistments. This -was manifestly so in the Twelfth district, in which the author was -personally and officially interested. The district was composed of -Ross, Pickaway, Fairfield, Hocking, Perry, and Pike counties, embracing -sixty miles in length of the fertile Scioto valley, containing in -1860 one hundred and thirty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty-six -inhabitants, with a corrected enrollment of eighteen thousand three -hundred and seventy-one persons liable to military service. Of this -enrollment, thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty-eight were -farmers, and the remaining four thousand seven hundred and forty-three -comprised persons of other occupations. - -Taking this district as an average of the other districts in the state, -it shows the volunteers sent to the front from Ohio were chiefly young -men born in the state--hardy and well-developed _Squirrel Hunters_. -Of seventeen hundred and fifty-five volunteers forwarded by this -district, from July 4, 1864, to April 30, 1865, one thousand, two -hundred and twenty-nine were Ohio boys, with an average of 23.77 -years--the remaining five hundred and twenty-six were from twenty-four -states and fifteen foreign countries, with an average of 27.13 years. -Notwithstanding the more favorable age of the latter group for physical -development, the measurements stand decidedly in favor of the Ohio -born, and if adding to the latter the nine hundred and eighty-seven -drafted men, natives of Ohio, the favorable difference becomes still -more apparent. - -The Provost-Marshal General, in his report to the War Department, -states there was not a single district in all the loyal states in which -the board of enrollment was free from the annoyance of evil disposed -persons hostile to the Government, who were ever ready and willing -to embarrass its operation by stimulating resistance to the draft or -discouraging enlistments. It was when the disloyal element experienced -the firmness and earnestness of the boards, and felt the power behind -them for the enforcement of the law, that they became co-laborers and -most successful recruiting agents. This was exceedingly gratifying -to the Government, and caused the Provost-Marshal General to say to -the Secretary of War: “_I am confident there is no class of public -servants to whom the country is more indebted for valuable services -rendered than the District Provost-Marshals and their associates, -comprising the Boards of Enrollment, by whose efforts the army of the -Union, which suppressed the Rebellion, was mainly recruited._” Still, -Hon. Hoke Smith, ex-Rebel and Secretary of the Interior, published the -information that these recruiting officers are not pensionable under -the disability act of Congress, June 27, 1890, for the reason “_these -officers were not in the war_,” and so says the present Commissioner -of Pensions, Hon. Henry Clay Evens. Autocratic decisions are sometimes -quite at variance with sound sense as well as suggestive of one of -ex-President Lincoln’s best stories. - -It can not be said that the Ohio Squirrel Hunters were not in the war, -for not a few of them were pensioned long before the ex-secretary -surrendered his arms of rebellion against the Government he now -fosters. The oppressors of slavery in their wicked attempts to destroy -the Union, induced a war that brought with it incalculable sorrow and -suffering--a war that words and figures fail to give an approximate -realization of its magnitude. Dollars can be measured by millions, -but the tears, heart aches and loss of two hundred and eighty-seven -thousand, seven hundred and eighty-nine loyal men who gave their lives -for liberty, and are historically represented by head-stones that -whiten the national cemeteries, can no more be estimated than can the -good that must forever flow to the United States in wiping out the -iniquitous chattel slavery. - -Some persons are inclined to look upon the evils following the -war--dissolute legislation, moral turpitude, and political party -profligacy, as neutralizing much if not the entire national benefits -acquired at the enormous cost of the Rebellion. While it is possible, -the corruption following in the wake of protracted wars with large -armies may more than counterbalance the good accomplished by successful -military achievements, it is to be hoped that the subjugation of -southern rebels, giving freedom to millions of slaves, and showing to -credulous monarchs the ability of a republic to coerce obedience to the -constitution and laws, may ever for good outweigh the evils following -the war that accomplished such everlasting benefits. That the laxity -complained of has greatly increased within the last three decades can -scarcely be questioned. Every department of the government has been -more or less criticised for want of faithful performance. No department -has perhaps suffered more in the confidence of the people than that -political plum styled “The interior.” - -The just and honorable cause for pensioning disabled soldiers soon -became merged into politics, and from head to foot the distance was -made short from fact to fraud. Noah’s Ark did not exceed in variety -with all the species of beasts, birds, and creeping things, that of -the contents of the Pension Building with a single species of ex parte -creation. Applications of all kinds, shapes, and forms. This has never -appeared unsatisfactory to that unscrupulous, unmentionable, who is -paid per head by the bureau for the art of filing claims. He knows by -experience the wonderful ability of the institution and its consulting -politicians to overcome objection and get the most angular cases -through the hole that leads to the public treasury. - -If stated, it would scarcely be believed that absolute fraud could -find unrequited favor in an office devoted to the most deserving of -the nation--cases as groundless as the following: After enlisting, a -_soldier_ changed his mind, and when called upon to report forwarded -a joint affidavit of himself and physician, in which was stated said -soldier had before and at the date of enlistment permanent disabilities -(naming them), which disqualified him for military service, and that -he should have been rejected. (Soldiers at that date were sent forward -without regulation examination.) Soldier received a discharge on the -affidavit and was happy. - -In due time an application was made under the arrears act, giving the -diseases named in the joint affidavit as having “occurred in the -service in line of duty.” In days of honest administration, in looking -up the history of the applicant in the War Office, the affidavit was -found and placed with the file in the Pension Office. - -This ended the case, and under several administrations it slept with -attempts at fraud. Perseverance is said to be the road to success, and -by the stimulant of contingent fees intercession was secured, and by -management of _good_ legal advice the case was placed in the hands of -a “special examiner,” and went through without the loss of a dollar, -securing a small fortune in _arrears_, but claiming the rating too low, -and making immediate application for _increase_. - -It would seem improbable for the heads of the bureau not to know and -fully understand some of the many instances of perjury and fraud that -passed current through the office. It is the old rejected or suspended -cases with large arrears that are attractive and are _thoroughly -investigated_ for new evidence. In this attempt parties generally -receive the courteous assistance of those officially connected with the -office. Even a medical referee has been known to show great interest -in barefaced fraud, and give tips to aid in getting such through the -bureau successfully. General Phil Sheridan, who was well informed -in regard to the contents of the great Pension Office, was told the -contents were safe, as the building was fire-proof, and could never -burn down, replied: “That would be my serious objection to it.” - -Notwithstanding reports of corruption, fraud, avarice, and greed for -public plunder, which may slow the advancing pace of civilization, -there are enough common people to preserve the nation--people who -worship not at the feet of the God of Aaron; poor people; people who -pay legal tribute to the government; honest, stalwart standard-bearers -of morality, intelligence, and patriotism; supporters of common-schools -and churches; people who are ever watchful of the interests of the -nation, protect the sanctity of the ballot-box, and direct the legal -machinery for the protection of virtue and suppression of vice, -possessing _salt_ with the savor of moral honesty that passes current -in business and social life. - -The expressed will of the people is the law of the land. It has made -and amended constitutions; by it black has become white; the bond free; -slaves, citizens. It has erected monuments; built towns and cities; and -in war and times of peace has accomplished much for the good of all. -It has muzzled many of the national vices, and given civilization long -strides in the right direction. And the spirit of the age should by law -hasten the end of growing political struggles for place regardless of -qualification. - -It has become a matter of common report, and one that is generally -believed, that successful applicants for office by the suffrage of -the people are but seldom as much interested in the welfare of their -constituents as they are in their own sycophantic obedience to selfish -bosses, who, under party cover, willingly contribute of their wealth to -perpetuate a party power that assures the gratification of their own -greed for ill-gotten gain. - -Qualification is recognized as essential by law, and lies at the -foundation of civil and military service. State laws require that -teachers of common schools furnish legal evidence of qualification -for the position. The commander of an army must have a military -education and qualification; so, too, every appointment made through -the civil departments of the government, for a short distance up the -base, requires of the applicant a certificate from a qualified board -of censors, stating that said applicant is in all respects fitted to -perform the duties of the position applied for. This is termed _Civil -and Military Service_, and has been declared constitutional. - -If so, why may not the people demand more? If a little civil service -meted out to those filling subordinate positions is a benefit, why may -not the like treatment be accorded to all candidates seeking national -positions, by appointment or directly from the people? It is admitted -that civil service is a matter of safety and efficiency in subordinate -civil positions. If so, it is not unreasonable to suppose the salutary -effects would be infinitely greater if applied to the more responsible -positions. Education and qualification for all positions is the law -of military government; and most certainly similar requirements -might be made equally advantageous to the civil government. Military -government could not long sustain existence without the service of -prescribed regulations. The commanding general of the army obtains the -high honor of the position from his education and certified ability, -and efficiency as master of the science of war. The President of -the United States, being over all as commander-in-chief, should be -thoroughly versed in the civil and military, as _Master of the Science -of Government_, not only of our own, but that of every nation on earth. - -There does not appear to be any sufficient reason why a government -civil service should not exist and be as open to the election of coming -generations as that of law, medicine, literary or other pursuits; -and it is not saying a word too much to urge the necessity for an -institution adapted to the civil as West Point is to the military -power, where persons having taken the degree of A.M. may matriculate -and qualify themselves for the civil service, and obtain a certificate -of such qualification from the institution, having a prescribed -curriculum, requiring four years of study to entitle one to examination -for the honors of graduation. - -Individuals highly educated in the science of government and the art of -governing, fitted for a field exclusively their own, would promote an -agreement upon the complex questions that now agitate and endanger the -peace of society by keeping at fever heat party differences that are -magnified by designing politicians. - -The high authority of the teachings of the court of instructions, would -define the policy and give stability to the Government, and would -remove party press for office by incompetency. It would also determine -the exact relations between the several departments of the Government, -especially how far the President has power to involve the country -in war against the will of Congress by recognizing belligerency or -independence in cases in which Congress refused such recognition. - -As the nation increases in population and number of states, it requires -increased wisdom and knowledge to rule and make the people prosperous -and happy. The great central region lying between the Ohio river, Lakes -and Mississippi will ever be the _heart_ of the Republic. Within it are -the life springs of three-fourths of our country’s whole area. Nowhere -in the United States is there a basin of such vast extent, capable -of feeding so great a population. “_Hence its destiny is to hold the -balance of power between East and West, hence it is truly regal._”[33] - -When the first-born of the states of this great basin came into the -Union (Ohio), it brought with its baptism the inauguration of _National -Internal Improvements_--a policy _that has enriched the nation by -liberality_ of expenditures, improving harbors, water-ways and roads, -in building custom-houses, post-offices, and in assisting the states -in many laudable undertakings, while like the miser, in all its vast -wealth has been wearing old, unbecoming, unfashionable clothes and -doing the business of the nation in rented and other ill-begotten -shops, located here and there, as best suited real-estate sharks -and speculators in a sickly city.[34] But the dawn of day is coming -by which the people of the North-west now see it is high time the -Government should make for itself a permanent home--a place of security -for all the valuable records of the nation. A spot for the Government -_alone_, called “_The Capitol of the United States_,” near the center -of population controlling representation, free from private property. -A capital with capacious senatorial, representative and judicial -halls, contiguous to the several departments, with state dwellings -for senators and representatives of the several states, and other -necessary buildings, all to be owned and controlled by the Government, -each constructed with reference to the intended uses, large enough to -accommodate an ordinary peaceable assemblage of American citizens, with -room to spare. - -The most celebrated speaker now living in America, on reciting a -visit to the present capital during the sitting of Congress, states: -“Another thing that impressed me was, that the hall of the House of -Representatives was built in defiance of all laws of acoustics. There -are more echoes than can be counted to play havoc with a speech, and -turn the finest oratory into a senseless gabble.” A capital situated on -the border of an inland sea, with large grounds, parks, lakes, lagoons, -gardens, and fountains, in beauty all that art and nature is able to -make one place on this continent fitly dedicated to the keeping of the -charter of the best government on earth. And, then, if the crowned -heads of the world have a desire to see the majesty of a _Republic_, -owned and preserved by the people, let them come and look upon “The -Capital of the United States”--where just laws are made and interpreted -alike for _all the people_. - -A capital with the architectural requirements of so great a nation, -bristling with “peacemakers” and a _floating_ navy in sight, would -increase American pride and attachment, and do more to advance the -arts, sciences, and sound civilization than all other national -improvements combined. It would “copy the Monroe Doctrine into -international law,” and secure peace over the entire world. - - The Squirrel Hunters - of - Ohio and North-west will do it. - Good Night. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[27] Recollections of Samuel Brock, pp. 275-7. - -[28] Wood’s book on Railroads, 1825. - -[29] Sherman and His Campaigns. - -[30] W. T. Sherman. - -[31] “Ohio in the War.” Reed. - -[32] Ten miles in length. - -[33] “The Making of the Ohio Valley States.” - -[34] The death rate per 1000 of the inhabitants of the present capital -is nearly double ordinary mortuary statistics of other cities. A single -fatal disease--consumption--shows a death ratio per 1000, seven times -greater than any city west of the Alleghany Mountains.--_Hess._ - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled -consecutively through the document. - -Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are -mentioned. - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - -Captions were added to illustrations for text in the illustration as -follows: - -p. 95: THE OLIVE BRANCH - -p. 109: SEAL - -p. 110: SEAL - -p. 111: SEAL - -p. 256: _LORD DUNMORE’S CAMPAIGN._ - -The following changes were made: - -p. 40: ” inserted (had existed.” Without) - -p. 47: Scoth changed to Scotch (sable Scotch Collie) - -p. 219: Lo changed to Love (nature. Love had) - -p. 333: deciminated changed to disseminated (and disseminated by) - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio, by N. E. Jones - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SQUIRREL HUNTERS OF OHIO *** - -***** This file should be named 55809-0.txt or 55809-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/8/0/55809/ - -Produced by MFR, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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