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Mr. President, Ladies and
Gentlemen:
Scotch-Irish pertinacity
descends to the remotest generation, and clings to the 'blood, however
much diluted by admixture with other races. The Scotch-Irishman loves to
recount the deeds of his ancestors, and listens with delight to their
laudation. Those traits are exemplified in the unflagging attendance upon
these prolonged ceremonies; and justify the belief that you will listen
with patience to the modestly written record of Scotch-Irish influence,
and achievement, in the Commonwealth of Ohio. To him who, at Columbia last
year, sat spellbound under the burning words of Knott, Mcintosh, Hall,
Henry, Kelley, McClure, and the other eloquent men who poured out their
stores of wit and learning day after day; or who has reveled here for
three days in the scholarly masterpieces of Perry, White, Robinson,
Dalzell, Beyson and their compeers—the story of the Scotch-Irish in Ohio
will sound like a "twice told tale."
The history of the race in
one state is the history of all. The biography of one Scotch-Irishman is
that of his fellow. Wherever the blood is, whether isolated in a single
family, or congregated in an entire community, there will be found the
dauntless courage, the lofty aspirations, the mental and physical
superiority which marked it in the Old World, and have not deserted it in
the New. As it is every-where else, so is it in Ohio. She has four
millions of people. There are no better, richer, happier on earth. In
every hamlet between the lake and the river the Scotch-Irishman has left
the impress of his intergrity, his energy, and his intrepidity. His blood
has furnished the masterful strain which makes the "Buckeye" the most
cosmopolitan of all the assimilated races of the land, and a fitting link
between his "Keystone" brother on the East and his "Hoosier" comrade on
the West.
The printed annals of Ohio
tell comparatively little that has been done in any single locality by the
Scotch-Irish as a distinctive race of early immigrants. We have preserved
in enduring form the history of the Yankee, and his Marietta purchase
under the auspices of the goodly "Ohio Company of Associates." Two years
ago a volume was published to celebrate the centennial of his arrival on
the soil of the state. We read much of John Cleves Symmes and his fellow
Jerseymen who cleared the
incomparable valley of the Great Miami. The thrift of the Connecticut
settlers in the Western Reserve, and the industry of the Teutonic races
who dwell on the sluggish Maumee are duly chronicled; but the Scotch-Irish
are widely scattered over the entire state, and have no similar tale of
large and solid settlements. From this, however, it must not be assumed
that our race has but a small footing in Ohio: or that it has not done its
full share in founding, fostering, and upbuilding the state.
The early history of Ohio,
like much other American history, was written by the New Englander, or his
descendant. This fact has been noted by others who have addressed you. As
one who is half Puritan himself it is not for your present speaker to
complain, nor animadvert upon his brethren; yet, while yielding to the
English Yankee his full meed of praise, it is only fair to say that were
it not for the Scotch-Irish there would be a much less glorious history to
write. Many of the strong men who settled in Ohio, after the Revolutionary
war were of ancestry which came from Ireland and Scotland by way of New
Eng-land. Some indeed claimed to have been descendants of the Mayflower
party, when, in reality, they were the off-spring of those same
Presbyterians once railed against by the Cromwellian Puritans.
The history of Scotch-Irish
influence in shaping the destiny of Ohio goes back farther than is at
first apparent. During the Revolutionary war, while Washington and his
galaxy of Scotch-Irish generals were debating the propriety of founding a
new empire west of the mountains, should disaster overtake the patriot
cause, the territory they talked of was being redeemed from British rule
by a valiant young Scotch-Irishman, born near Monticollo, Virginia, who,
at twenty-six years of age, had achieved such fame that John Randolph
eulogized him as the "Hannibal of the West." George Rogers Clarke was his
name, and the North-west Territory, with its five States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, and its fifteen millions of people, is
his monument. The first exploration of this territory had been made by La
Salle as early as 1680, but the trading posts established by the French as
a result of that expedition had a precarious existence. France, becoming
involved in war with England, finally relinquished her hold on this garden
spot of the earth. By the treaty of Paris the western boundary of the
English colonies was fixed at the Mississippi river; and the territory
north-west of the Ohio was ceded by the British Government to the Colony
of Virginia under the charter of James I—a prince whose perfidy assisted
largely in making Scotch-Irish history in America. When Virginia assumed
the dignity of statehood, the North-west Territory was held by British
troops stoutly entrenched behind strong forts.
The sparse settlements were
constantly menaced by red savages incited by England to make murderous
incursions into Virginia and Kentucky. In 1778 Clarke was commissoned by
the Scotch-Irish Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry, to make a secret
expedition into the Ohio country for the purpose of restoring to Virginia
the territory that had been ceded to the colony after the treaty of Paris.
The soldiers selected to accompany him on this perilous expedition, so
fraught with the destiny of the colonies, were picked men ; the whole two
hundred known for their skill as Indian fighters—men of stubborn
endurance, resolute fortitude and persistent valor. Need it be said that
Clarke found them among the Scotch-Irish in the valley of Virginia?
This expedition by Colonel
Clarke was one of the most successful ever made. Governor Hamilton was
taken, the forts captured and the North-west territory restored to
Virginia.
In 1780 she ceded it to the
United States—Thomas Jefferson, the greatest Scotch-Irishman of America,
being the author not only of the ordinance of cession, but also of the
plan of government for the territory. It was provided by him that after
the year 1800 there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in
any of the five great states carved out of the territory; and thus began
Scotch-Irish influence upon the material and spiritual development of our
state, giving us a force in the maintenance of civilization that will
abide so long as the spirits of Knox and Melville are an inspiration.
Let it be here recorded
that had it not been for the daring courage of Colonel Clarke, it is
possible the Ohio river would now be the southern boundary of Canada.
Thus, as we are indebted to Jefferson for the Louisiana purchase which
gave our country the boundless West; to Polk, another Scotch-Irishman, for
the golden slope of the Pacific; and to big-hearted, Scotch-Irish Sam
Houston for Texas ; so are we indebted to George Rogers Clarke for the
possession of the North-west territory, and to Thomas Jefferson for its
permanent peace and prosperity. In this connection listen to the following
tribute paid their memory by the eloquent Virginian, John Randolph Tucker,
at the Marietta Centennial in 1888. He said, "and so, from the day that
the mountain heights of Monticello stood as sentinel guards over the
cradled infancy of George Rogers Clarke and Thomas Jefferson, Providence
had decreed that the one should conquer by prowess of arms, and the other
by a wise diplomacy, the open water-way for the products of the West to
the markets of the world."
At the opening of this
century the country west of the mountains, the Ohio of to-day, was a
wilderness that required strong arms, resolute wills, and a fixed purpose
to subdue. The advance guard came to the
mouth of the Muskingum in the spring of 1788, to be followed in December
by a settlement "opposite the mouth of Licking Creek," where the "Queen
City" now stands. When the year 1800 came, there were settlements not only
thickly scattered along the Ohio river, notably at Steubenville, but in
the interior where now stand the prosperous cities of Dayton, Chillicothe,
Zanesville, Xenia and others south of the Indian Treaty established by
Wayne.
In this influx of
immigration no race stands more prominent than the Scotch-Irish. It was
aggressive, bold, and sure of action; and in reclaiming the wilderness,
building the home, the village, the church, and the school, none took a
stand more advanced. Locally speaking, the trend of Scotch-Irish
immigration to Ohio was in two main lines; one over the mountains through
New York and Pennsylvania. These settled chiefly in the eastern and
central parts, forming communities usually Presbyterian in religion. The
other came from the Carolinas, and the Huguenot settlements in the South,
that they might be freed from the baleful effects of slavery. These
located in the southern portion of the state, principally between the
Muskingum and the two Miamis. The early settlers were Revolutionary
soldiers seeking the victories of peace. They were, for the most part,
stalwart, God-fearing men, who looked to mental and spiritual as well as
natural development; and they laid broad and deep the foundations of a
moral and intellectual state. They were so constantly harassed by the
Indians that life was one long battle, until General Anthony Wayne
appeared. His undaunted bravery soon gave the patriot pioneers immunity
from savage depredations. Peace was not their boon, however, until after
Wayne's signal victory over the Miamis in 1794. General Wayne was born in
Pennsylvania, but his father was a native of Ulster, and his grandfather
followed the standard of Orange at Boyne Water.
To such noble types of our
race were the intrepid pioneers indebted for deeds that made Ohio a home
of safety. In connection with Wayne should be mentioned that thorough-bred
Scotch-Irishman, Simon Kenton, whose exploits and escapes are familiar to
the readers of pioneer history. Kenton was with Wayne in the Indian wars,
and was also a companion of Daniel Boone and General James Loudon, both of
whom sprung from the race which has so largely shaped the destiny of the
republic. He was with Clarke in his expedition against the British; and at
the call of Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, for troops to fight the second
war of independence, responded with the zeal of a true Scotch-Irishman.
When Ohio was created a territory, who should better become its first
Governor than he who was selected—the native Scotchman, Arthur St. Clair?
He earned his military fame at the Heights of Abraham, in the Indian wars,
and through the long years of the Revolution. In Ohio he found an ample
field for a statesmanship which had been schooled in the Continental
Congress. His classical learning left its impress on the intellectuality
of the state; and his inflexibility of purpose—the birth-right of the
obdurate Scot—mellowed by the suavity of his manner. To his early guidance
the people of Ohio are gratefully indebted. Many of his ablest successors
in the gubernatorial chair were of the race whose deeds we celebrate
to-day. One of the earliest and most noted was Jeremiah Morrow, whose
ancestors figured at the seige of Londonderry. He was the first, and for
ten years, the sole representative in the Federal Congress from the newly
admitted State of Ohio. While serving there he originated the idea of the
Cumberland road, whose benefits to the traffic of that early day can not
be measured, and was active in all internal improvements. Subsequently he
became United States senator, and governor, and lived to the age of
eighty-one, venerated and loved by the entire people of the state. Henry
Clay said: "No man in the sphere within which he acted ever commanded, or
deserved, the implicit confidence of Congress more than Jeremiah Morrow. A
few artless, but sensible words, pronounced in his plain Scotch-Irish
dialect, were always sufficient to secure the passage of any bill or
resolution which he reported."
Of the distinguished
governors of Ohio none stand out in bolder relief than Allen Trimble,
whose ancestors, paternal and maternal, were of the courageous
Scotch-Irish stock that gave to the valley of Virginia those valiant
soldiers who justified Washington's boast that with an army of them he
could defy the world. In the year 1784, Governor Trimble's father, a
Revolutionary soldier, came West with an expedition of five hundred
Scotch-Irish from the valley. Allen, then but eight months old, was
carried on horseback in his mother's arms. The party was accompanied by
General Henry Knox, Washington's Secretary of War. Need we say that he,
too, was a Scotch-Irishman? Young Trimble afterward settled in Ohio, and
was elected governor in 1826. He was a man of liberal and enlightened
views, a statesman of perception and perseverance ; and he stamped upon
the state the strong traits of his character. To him are we indebted for
the public school system which has been so powerful a factor in our
progress. As acting governor, in 1821, he appointed a committee which
formulated the plan upon which the free schools were founded, and to him
this committee was much indebted for intelligent aid in its task. He also
inspired our canal system, which at one time was a great artery pulsating
with the country's commerce.
Duncan McArthur. another
Scotchman, was elected Governor in 1830, his administration being in
keeping with his high character. A soldier of the war of 1812, his daring
won promotion with rapidity. He was of iron will, pushing and energetic;
and, being the son of poor parents, had a hard struggle for his education,
but acquired fame in every station, whether as soldier, lawyer, surveyor,
or statesman; and is honored yet as one of Ohio's greatest governors. He
was a member of the constitutional convention, and twice elected to
Congress.
General Joseph Vance was a
Washington county Scotch-Irishman. These Washington county Scotch-Irish
are to-day filling most of the pulpits and many of the offices in Ohio.
With penetration to discern and energy to perform, Vance early made his
influence felt in the affairs of state. In him the distinctive
Scotch-Irish traits, mental and facial, were indelibly marked. He was in
the war of 1812, member of Congress for eight years, member of the
constitutional convention, and twice elected governor.
Our race gave Ohio her
first native-born governor in the person of William Shannon, a noble type
of manhood, a credit to his ancestry and an honor to the commonwealth
which he served long and faithfully. He was a sedulous student under the
tutelage of such eminent teachers of the blood as Charles Hammond and Dr.
David Jennings; and was no less noted for profound attainments, than for
the boldness and diligence which characterized him as a lawyer. His
influence was national in extent, and wholesome in its direction. He was
an active member of Congress, minister to Mexico, and territoral governor
of Kansas.
Has any governor of Ohio
left a more delightful memory, or was one personally more popular, than
Thomas Corwin, who was also of Scotch-Irish extraction? The eloquence of
his tongue has never been equalled by any son of Ohio; nor do his shining
witticisms grow stale with repetition. As congressman, senator, foreign
minister, and governor, his name is held in fondest esteem by the people
of his state. Another distinguished scion of Scotch-Irish stock, who
occupied the gubernatorial chair, and upon whom yet greater honors were
thrust, is Rutherford B. Hayes—a brave general in war, a faithful
representative in Congress, and an efficient participant now in all the
charitable and benevolent movements of the state.
Others governors who have
shed honor on the Scotch-Irish name might also be mentioned. In the older
days there were Robert Lucas and Seabury Ford; in the latter day, Reuben
Wood, William Medill, whose legal acumen is impressed on the fundamental
law, and the gallant soldier, Thomas L. Young.
There is yet another
Governor of Ohio, the immortal William Allen, whose Scotch-Irish ancestry
is disputed ; but who had in a marked degree the essentially distinctive
traits of that race. But if he were not Scotch-Irish himself, he married
the daughter of Governor Mc-Arthur, and thereby insured undoubted purity
of blood to his progeny. This is in accordance with the eternal fitness of
things. If a man has the misfortune not to be bom in Ohio, he should marry
an Ohio woman upon the first suitable, and lawful, occasion ; and, if he
be not of Scotch-Irish descent, he should imitate William Allen's example
and marry a Scotch-Irish girl. This was done by the illustrious Allen G.
Thurman, a nephew of William Allen, who was careful to marry a noble woman
of good Ohio Scotch-Irish stock. William Allen's statue stands in the
capitol at Washington—one of the two chosen to be placed there by the
people of Ohio. Allen G. Thurman's statue, we trust, may not be called for
these many years. "May he live long and prosper."
The Scotch-Irish gave to
Ohio seventeen judges of the Supreme Court under the old constitution.
Among them was Jacob Burnett, the greatest of the pioneer lawyers. As a
member of the legislative Council he was the author of many salutary laws.
His character was marked by promptness, decision and inflexibility. Later,
as a United States senator, he was noted for his fine presence, and
courtly manners.
Judge John McLean, another
Scotch-Irishman, was a tower of strength in the formation of the
North-west Territory. He was a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court,
Commissioner of the General Laud Office, Postmaster-General under
Presidents Monroe and Adams, and, afterward, judge of the Supreme Court of
the United States. He also entered the field of literature—his most noted
work being ''Notes on the North-west Territory," an invaluable addition to
a historical library. It could not be possible for one of Judge McLean's
moral and intellectual worth to pass in view of a susceptible people, as
he did during the many years of public life, and not exert a great
influence.
Another distinguished
jurist, Joseph R. Swan, for years chief justice of Ohio, came of
Londonderry stock. A conservative judge, a stickler for the constitution,
it is said that none of his decisions were ever reversed. He was the most
voluminous legal author of his day, and his works are high authorities.
John C. Wright was also an
eminent judge of the Supreme Court under the old constitution. His
decisions were published as "Wright's Reports," and it is a standard legal
work. He was an influential congressman also. Under the new constitution
the Scotch-Irish gave the state such eminent Supreme judges as Thomas W.
Bartley, W. B. Caldwell, William Kennon, Hocking H. Hunter, George W.
McIlvaine, W. J. Gilmore, Rufus P. Ranney (whose decisions are of national
reputation), Josiah Scott, John Clark, W. W. Johnston, John H. Doyle, and
others.
The Scotch-Irish of Ohio
have faithfully represented the state in the lower house of Congress, and
nearly all the noted men, from William McMillen, the first delegate of the
North-west Territory, to Major McKinley, now chairman of the most
important House committee, sprang from that stock. We have also sent
numerous representatives to the Senate of the United States, including the
last man elected to that position—the railroad magnate, Calvin S. Brice.
The Scotch-Irish of Ohio
have assisted to furnish the cabinet of almost every President of the
United States. To name them would be a work of superfluity. Yet, as a
specimen of what Ohio can do in that direction, let us recall the elder
Ewing. Thomas Ewing, father of the present Thomas Ewing (late a general
and now a distinguished lawyer) and also of other gallant soldier sons,
was in the cabinet both of William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. He
stood for years in the front rank of American statesmen and jurists, and
served in the upper House of Congress, where his influence was paramount.
Nor is this all; we are indebted to Judge Ewing for General Sherman, whose
energetic mind he trained and whose character he molded; and, if we can
not claim General Sherman's lineage, yet Scotch-Irish influence is
responsible for much of his success.
The list of persons who
have held official position in Ohio discloses the fact that either the
Scotch-Irish are gifted with the power of getting a full share of this
world's honors, or that their pre-eminent merits have been readily
recognized by an appreciative people. For instance, nearly every position
of high trust in the state house at Columbus, today, is filled by persons
having in their veins a greater or less infusion of this good old stock.
Can it be possible that those people who accuse the "Ohio man" with being
a trifle over-willing to hold office, have some slight justification? Lest
this be true let us turn our eyes to other channels, and see what the Ohio
Scotch-Irishman has done outside of office and politics. The first
Presbyterian minister west of the mountains, Dr. McMillen, the founder of
Washington-Jefferson college, in Pennsylvania, was also the founder of
Franklin college. These schools have had an overwhelming influence in
molding the intellectual character and achievements of the people of Ohio.
Their pupils and graduates have gone over the state strengthening the name
and fame of their race. Thus it happens, partially at least, that the
Scotch-Irish have become a great factor in popular education. We have seen
that Governor Trimble, a Scotch-Irishman, gave to Ohio her public school
system, and it remained for that brilliant Scotch-Irishman. Samuel
Golloway, to perfect it. He was known throughout the land as a finished
scholar and orator, a thorough lawyer and teacher, and an active member of
Congress. Robert W. Bishop, a Scotchman of broad dialect and hearty
manner, long ruled over Miami University, the Oxford of Ohio. Robert W.
McFarland, for many years its young president, was also a Scotchman.
To-day its young president-—Warfield—is of thorough Scotch-Irish stock, a
descendant of John Preston Calhoun and the Breckenridges. Colonel John
Johnson, a brave Indian fighter, one of the founders of the Protestant
Episcopal church in Ohio, was active in the establishment of Kenyon
college—the pride of the church. Stalwart in physique and bright in mind,
his influence was wide spread for good. Who stood higher in educational
work than Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, professor of Ethics at West
Point, bishop of the Episcopal church of Ohio, head of Kenyon college,
author and orator? What race but ours gave to the country W. H. McGuffey?
And where is the student who does not know McGuffey's school books? Pay's
arithmetics were the product of an Ohio Scotch-Irishman. Dr. Jeffers,
president of the Western Theological Seminary, is an Ohio-born
Scotch-Irishman, the son of the famous schoolmaster of the early days; and
how much is this renowed institution indebted for its influence to our Dr.
Charles C. Beatty, who in his life-time gave half a million dollars in aid
of colleges? This generous donor was the son of a Revolutionary soldier,
and in no man were the mental traits of the sturdy Scotch-Irish more
distinctly marked. In 1829 he established in Steubenville the first female
seminary west of the mountains. From its walls have gone missionaries to
every clime ; and it is truthfully said that the sun never sets on the
work of these consecrated women.
In art the Scotch-Irish of
Ohio have been no less eminent than in other fields. Has any other race of
any other state produced a sculptor the peer of J. Q. A. Ward, whose
exquisite conceptions and creations adorn the most conspicuous art centers
of our country? His masterpiece, the soldiers' monument to be erected in
Brooklyn, is peculiarly appropriate in design—three of the four heroic
figures being monuments of those typical Scotch-Irishmen, Jackson, Scott
and Grant.
As we might demand and
obtain distinction in warfare by resting our claim on the achievement of
Grant, so might we go before the world with J. Q. A. Ward and obtain
renown in the high arts; but the Scotch and Irish of Ohio do not rest
here. Yesterday was dedicated in the beautiful city of Cleveland one of
the most superb creations of the spirit of art in our great country. I
feel that I speak within bounds of artistic judgment when I say that the
monument created by Alexander Hoyle and erected to the memory of James A.
Garfield, is an achievement in art that should fill the heart with a pride
of race to the degree of exultation. James Wilson McDonald's statue of
Fitz Greene Halleck in Central Park, of Carter at West Point, and of
General Lyon at St. Louis, are but monuments to the achievements of the
Ohio Scotch-Irish in time of peace.
The admired portrait of
Mrs. Jefferson hanging in the White House, is from the brush of E. F.
Andrews, an Ohio Scotch-Irishman. I am also told that Hiram Powers, whose
Greek Slave is one of the best known of American sculptures, was of the
race that never flags in efforts to attain to the top round of the ladder.
The Scotch-Irish of Ohio
have given to journalism its most brilliant writers, men whose influence
in affairs is as extensive as newspaper circulation and powerful thought
can make it. Where is there a more eminent journalist than the successor
of that illustrious Scotch-Irishman, Horace Greeley? Whitelaw Reid, Ohio
born, of stalwart Covenanter stock, with the sticking qualities that made
them famous, and of the highest literary attainments, now represents the
republic in France.
Colonel W. J. Brown, the
amiable and brilliant editor of the New York News, is an Ohio Irishman,
who has won fame in the literary and political world. Colonel Cockerill,
of the New York World, is an Ohio Scotch-Irishman, else how did he reach
the height of fame attained by those who boast the mental and physical
characteristics of our race? We gave Chicago Joseph Medill, the forceful
editor of the leading journal of the West; and to Pittsburg the late Dr.
Alexander Clark, author and writer, one of the founders of the Protestant
Episcopal church, for years the editor of its organ, and the founder of
the "School Day Visitor," from which grew the St. Nicholas Magazine, that
paragon of periodicals for children.
Our own journalists are
from the race that has the courage to fight and the perseverance to win;
among them the Farans and McLeans of the Cincinnati Enquirer, perhaps the
most successful newspaper in the country; W. W. Armstrong, so long with
the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the sturdy editor of the Commerical
Gazette, Richard Smith. Charles Hammond, one of the first editors of the
Cincinnati Gazette, was as profound in law as eminent in journalism, and
the first prosecuting attorney of the North-west Territory. He is regarded
by many as the ablest and most influential editor in the history of the
state.
To the Methodist church we
gave one of the most eminent men in the religious world of his time; one
whose oratorical triumphs thrilled the people, and whose mind conceived
the great enterprises that have planted Methodism on its abiding spiritual
and material foundation. Bishop Matthew Simpson, the friend of Lincoln and
Grant, during the dark days of our country had no little part in
influencing action that is a part of history. He was born and educated in
Ohio, and was led to abandon his chosen profession and enter the ministry
by the sainted mother of a member of our society, Mr. W. H. Hunter, of
Steubenville—a gentleman full of Scotch-Irish lore. The First Methodist
church in the North-west was founded in Ohio by a Scotch-Irishman, the
zealous Francis McCormic. The founder of the Free Presbyterian church of
America was also an Ohio Scotch-Irishman, the intrepid John Rankin.
Indiana is indebted to the
Scotch-Irish of Ohio for her Hendricks and McDonalds. The Scotch-Irish of
Ohio gave to California her Samuel Wilson, the most noted lawyer of the
Pacific slope, to Oregon her Benjamin Potts, to New York Anson G. McCook,
sentry of the United States Senate, and to other states able jurists,
eminent divines, teachers, enterprising men of office, including to New
York Rockefeller, the head of the Standard Oil Company. To Japan we gave
her first postmaster-general; and a Scotch-Irishman, John A. Bingham, a
distinguished ex-congressman, represented the United States as minister to
Japan, his term covering many years of ministerial service.
Passing from the
Scotch-Irish civilian we come to the Scotch-Irish soldier ; and here,
Ohio, though she may glow with pride in the glorious record of each of her
sister states, yet yields to none her own place at. the head of the
column. She wrote three hundred and twenty thousand names on the muster
roll of the Union, and the Scotch-Irish names are written at the top.
Recall some of them and ask yourselves where, without them, would be your
boasted republic with its seventy millions of united people. Instinctively
there comes first the name of that un-conquered soldier, so unyielding in
battle, yet so magnanimous to the defeated that the most illustrious of
his foes bowed their tear-stained faces at his bier. The great captain of
the Union army first opened his eyes on the bank of the "beautiful river,"
in the county of Clermont and the state of Ohio. His are the victories
both of war and peace. Ulysses S. Grant needs no eulogy here. Gallant Phil
Sheridan, "Little Phil"—the very incarnation of war—first, saw the light
in the rugged county of Perry. "Whose monuments, erected by his
comrades—one of them in a beautiful park at the national capital, the
other in his native village of Clyde—bear witness to a nobler hero than
James B. McPherson, the Chevalier Bayard of the Union armies? Where did
the genius of battle ever shine brighter than over the yellow curls of
Custer—the hard-riding cavalryman or the North, and the massacred victim
of the red man's wrongs? When Charleston, the cradle of the war, was
shelled by the destroying "swamp angels," it was Quincy A. Gilmore who
directed their iron hail. What '' Buckeye " is not proud of the "fighting
McCooks?" The father and nine distinguished sons rallied around the flag
together. There was "Bob," whose monument faces the great Music Hail in
the city of Cincinnati ; and Aleck, who commanded a corps; and their five
cousins of the same sturdy stock, who were conspicuous soldiers too. Who
does not love Jim Steadman, the "hero of Chickamagua"; or Durbin Ward,
"the tribune of the people," or "Old Rosy" as the idolizing soldiers
nicknamed Wm. S. Rosecrans? There were the Ewings, of honorable ancestry;
Irvin McDowell, the early leader; George W. Morgan, the hero of two wars;
John Beatty, the hard-hitting foe of shams; O. M. Mitchel, the great
astronomer-soldier; and a legion whose names it would weary you to
count—all, all of that indomitable, unflinching Scotch and Irish stock,
which gave to both sides of the late dreadful struggle names which will
forever "lead all the rest."
This little sketch has been
a meager outline only of what the Scotch-Irish have done for Ohio. They
have accomplished much more than has been told here; and in the future bid
fair to outdo the past. They are the solid conservative basis of the
population. Their fond affection cherishes the family; their conservative
morality buttresses society; and their clannish adhesion to home
government guarantees stability and perpetuity to the state.
History of Ohio
The Rise and Progress of an American State By Emilius 0. Randall and
Daniel J. Ryan in three volumes (1912)
Volume 1 |
Volume 2 |
Volume 3
The History of the
State of Ohio
Edited by Carl Wittke in 6 volumes (1941)
Editor’s Introduction
OHIO has been strangely backward in the preservation of her historical
materials and in the writing of her history. Most volumes hitherto
published and dealing with the history of the State either suffer from
the limitations imposed by the necessity of compressing the narrative
within the limits of a one-volume textbook treatment, or they deal with
only part of the period, fail to meet the standards of modern scientific
historical scholarship or to set the history of Ohio in its proper
perspective, or exalt local pride at the sacrifice of impartial,
scholarly judgment and method.
For many years the responsible officers of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society, the historical guild in Ohio’s colleges and
universities, and various other groups interested in the cultivation and
study of State history have been aware of the need for a new
multiple-volume definitive History of the State of Ohio. Other states,
notably New York and Illinois, have pointed the way by the publication
of notable, cooperative histories of their states, which are not only
readable but meet all the standards of sound historical scholarship and
original and extensive research.
The Ohio project, long discussed, at last came to fruition when a
proposal was submitted by the Board of Trustees of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society and its Committee on Publications
to the legislature of Ohio for the preparation and publication of a
six-volume history of the State in connection with Ohio’s observance of
the 150th anniversary of the organization of the Northwest Territory and
the establishment of civil government within its limits under the
Ordinance of 1787. A bill, embodying the Society’s suggestions, was
passed by the legislature and received the approval of the governor on
May 11, 1937. Work in selecting the authors of the respective volumes
began at once. After more than three years of preparation, the first
volume appeared in 1940.
The present enterprise has as its major objective the production of a
six-volume history of the State which will be so carefully conceived and
so thoroughly performed that it will not be necessary, for many years,
to do the job again. The first five volumes are the work of scholars of
reputation and achievement, who have already carried on research and
published in the field of Ohio history, and who are thoroughly familiar
with the available materials for the study of the periods assigned.
Volume six is the result of the cooperation of a number of competent
contributors who have written chapters on their special fields. Each
volume is based upon a thorough exploration and first-hand examination
of the major sources, manuscript collections, government archives, and
newspaper files, found not only in leading depositories within the
borders of Ohio, but also in well-known centers for Ohio materials
elsewhere in this country and abroad.
Attention has been given in each volume to the more or less familiar
aspects of Ohio’s political history, but in addition, a real effort has
been made to stress the economic, social, cultural and intellectual
progress of the State. Art, architecture, religion, journalism,
amusements, the theater and other phases of cultural and intellectual
activities have received their fair share of emphasis in an effort to
make these volumes record, in a real sense, the life and times of the
people of this Commonwealth.
Finally, the history of one state cannot be written in isolation from
national or regional history. Ohio has affected the affairs of the
Middle West and of the Nation at many critical periods in the life of
the American people, and Ohio’s history has been in turn deeply affected
by the broad currents of national and international events which have
swept across the Mississippi Valley and the Middle West. A history of
Ohio must therefore appear in its proper setting in a history of the
Nation as a whole, and an attempt has been made in these volumes to
develop and emphasize this relationship wherever possible and necessary.
In the preparation of these volumes, from the first sketchy outline for
their contents to the final stages of seeing them through the press, the
editor has had the generous and expert help of many who were interested
in the completion of this project. Special mention must be made of Dr.
Harlow Lindley and Mr. Clarence Weaver of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society who have helped in countless ways with the
details of planning and publishing these volumes. The editor also
desires to express his deep appreciation of the fine cooperation he
received at every stage of his work from the contributors and authors of
the individual volumes. To them must go all the credit for at last
bringing the long discussed plans for a cooperative history of Ohio to
successful fruition.
Carl Wittke
Oberlin College.
Volume 1 |
Volume 2 |
Volume 3 |
Volume 4 |
Volume 5
ElectricScotland Note
Wasn't able to find Volume 6 so if anyone reading this can find a copy
would appreciate you sending it to us. |
