Marietta, Ohio - Some Distinguished Visitors

Some Distinguished Visitors

So Far as is known the first eminent character who visited Marietta was Louis Phillipe, King of France. While in exile he made an extensive tour of the United States, the itinerary for his western journeyings being prepared for him by Washington. He was in Marietta in 1798, probably late in January, as he arrived at New Orleans upon the seventeenth of the following month. It would be very interesting at this day to know what opinion the Bourbon king formed of this pioneer outpost of the young Republic, but his impressions of the place, or the thoughts inspired in him by his visit, if ever expressed, have not been chronicled for our perusal. He met at Marietta a humble countryman, Francis Thierry, the baker, and years after related the incident. It was introduced, with other anecdotes, by General Cass in his book on France* as indicating the remarkable retentiveness of Louis Phillipe's memory. He says:

At Marietta the party stopped and landed; and from a circumstance connected with the king's recollection of this town, it may not be out of place to allude to the faculty of memory which he possesses in a most extraordinary degree. 4 5 The king once asked my informant if he was ever in Marietta. As it happened, this gentleman had spent some years of the early part of his life there, and was able to answer in the affirmative. ''And did you know" said the king, ''a French baker there, named Thierry?" This gentleman knew him verry well, and so answered the inquiry. '' Well," said the king, "I once ran away with him" - and then proceeded to explain that in descending the Ohio he had stopped at Marietta, and had gone into the town in search of bread. He was referred to this same Mr. Thierry, and the baker not having a stock on hand, set himself to work to heat his oven to supply the applicant. While this process was going on the king walked over the town and visited the interesting ancient remains which are to be found in the western part of it, near the banks of the Muskingum, and whose history and objects have given rise to such various and unsatisfactory speculations. The king took a sketch of some of these works, which are indeed among the most extensive of their class that are to be found in the vast basin of the Mississippi. On his return he found the ice in the Muskingum upon the point of breaking up, and Mr. Thierry so late in his operations that he had barely time to leap into the boat with the bread, before they were compelled to leave the shore, that they might precede the immense mass of ice which was entering the Ohio. Their French friend bore his misfortune like a philosopher, and though he mourned over the supposed grief of his faithful wife, he still urged the rowers to exert themselves, in order to place his yogng countryman beyond the chance of injury. They were finally successful, and after some time the good old man was taken ashore by a canoe that they hailed, well satisfied with his expedition. The travellers continued their voyage and met with but one sinister accident

In the year 1825 another illustrious Frenchman and one dear to the hearts of all Americans, made a very brief visit to Marietta. This was no other than General Lafayette. He had left Washington for a tour through the southwest upon the twenty-third of February, and in May was returning. He left Nashville on the sixth of that month, as a passenger on the steamboat Mechanic (the first steamboat built at Marietta), commanded by Captain Wyllys Hall, of Marietta, brother of Joseph Hall. On the night of Sunday, May 8th at 12 o'clock, when near the mouth of Deer creek, one hundred and twentyfive miles below Louisville the boat was wrecked by striking upon a snag, and it was only by a close chance that the passengers escaped. One account says that Lafayette was thrown into the water while endeavoring to reach the yawl; that he narrowly escaped drowning and that he lost eight thousand dollars. However this might be, it is a fact that Captain Hall, who devoted his entire attention to the passengers under his care, lost his secretary, containing thirteen hundred dollars. It was supposed to have fallen overboard during the lurching of the boat. No blame was attached to Captain Hall for the occurrence of the accident and his conduct afterward was highly praised, Lafayette gave him a little testimonial which read: "I eagerly seize this opportunity of doing justice to Captain Hall's conduct and acknowledging my personal obligations to him."

General Lafayette resumed his journey up the river upon the steamboat Herald, which "hove in sight" of Marietta about nine o'clock on the morning of Monday, May 23rd "and fired a gun which was supposed to be a signal that General Lafayette was on board." As she approached his name was seen across her bow in large letters, ''and placed all doubts aside." The American Friend and Marietta Gazette of May 27th, 1825, had the following account of General Lafayette's visit: y No preparations had been previously made for his Tec. tion, in consequence of its being generally believed that he would travel through the interior of the State. The general, however, landed and was escorted to the beautiful mansion of Nahum Ward, esq., (with whom he had become acquainted in Paris) where he continued for about an hour and received all those who chose to call upon him.

The news of his arrival was announced by the discharge of cannon, and the citizens began to flock around him, all eager to seize his hand and welcome him to the soil he so nobly defended - among them a few patriots of the Revolution paid him their respects, whose hands, when he once grasped them, he seemed unwilling to relinquish, and whose irt2rviews were very feeling in themselves and rendered the scenes very interesting to the younger class. After being generally introduced to the citizens and the ladies who flocked to the place ''to see and welcome the veteran," he informed them that he was sorry to part with them so soon and was again escorted by a large concourse of people to the beach from whence he embarked upon the Herald for Wheeling, amidst the acclamations and cheers of the people and the roaring of canon.

Daniel Webster and Thomas Ewing were in Marietta the same year (1837) but not at the same time. The Marietta Gazefle says that upon May 15, 1837, '""Honorable Daniel Webster and lady arrived and landed at this place and after a short promenade passed on down the Ohio. There was no display in their appearance or conversation and Mr. Webster conversed in an easy and affable manner with those who accosted him."

Thomas Ewing was given a pubiie dinner at Marietta September 2, 1837. He had been in Marietta often before, not as the distinguished statesman, but as the poor attorney. In 1816 he had won his first laurels as a lawyer in the old court house, which stood where the jail now is, and had received a small fee, of which he was more proud than of any of the large ones that he obtained in later years. On the occasion to which we have alluded he had just closed a term of seven years' brilliant service in the United States Senate, and was known and honored throughout the land. The dinner was served under the trees by the court house, within a few rods of the spot where the guest had twenty years before, as an obscure young man, won his first suit at law. A large concourse of people was now gathered to pay respect to the great orator and statesman. Judge Ephraim Cutler was president of the day, and the vice-presidents were Arius Nye, Joseph Barker, jr., General Dana, Dr. George Bowen, Judah M. Chamblerlain, William Mason, Thomas F. Stanley, and Major John Clark. The marshall was Captain Francis Devol. Mr. Ewing made an

_ eloquent address, which was listened to by a large proportion of the citizens of Marietta. We will remark in this connection that Thomas Ewing, as a four-year-old lad came to Washington county with his father, George Ewing, from Virginia, in 1793, and lived for two years in the block-house at Waterford. His father was afterward the first settler in Ames township, Athens county. Probably the most distinguished visitor ever entertained at Marietta was John Quincy Adams. His brief sojourn was fraught with the deepest interest, for aside from the eminence of the man whom the people assembled to honor, there was a suggestiveness in the occasion which was very impressive. It became known in the summer of 1843 that Mr. Adams had consented to lay the corner-stone of the Cincinnati observatory, and the citizens of Marietta tendered him an invitation to visit the place, as the first that was settled north of the Ohio. He accepted the invitation conditionally, agreeing to stop on his way up the river from Cincinnati if he should have no duties to perform which would conflict with his so doing. He was in Cincinnati upon the tenth of November. No definite time for his visit to Marietta could be fixed. It was understood throughout the town, however, that his coming would be announced in some unmistakable manner, as by the firing of cannon or the ringing of the Congregational church bell. At two o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, November 15th, the resounding boom of cannon announced the arrival of the steamer Ben Franklin, on which Mr. Adams was known to have left Cincinnati. The day was a little rainy, but that fact did not prevent the people from turning out en masse to greet the patriot whose influence had been potent in the affairs of the Nation from its beginning. A great crowd gathered at the Congregational church, and another at the steamboat landing. Some preparations had been made for the welcoming of the distinguished guest. Nahum Ward was chairman of the reception committee, and A. T. Nye and Noah L. Wilson marshals. Mr. Adams rode to the church in Mr. Ward's carriage, followed and escorted by a great concourse of people. The church was packed to its utmost capacity. The address of welcome was delivered by Deacon William R. Putnam, after which Mr. Adams spoke for half an hour or more extemporaneously upon the pioneers of the Ohio company. _ A graphic writer,* who was present, gives the following account of (and comment upon) the old statesman's remarks:

: He showed a minute acquaintance with the first movements which resulted in the settlement in Ohio. He spoke of the leading men in the enterprise. He had known Rufus Putnam, what part he had borne in the Revolutionary war, and what had been the leading influence he exerted in founding the colony and in raising it through the hardships of its first decade. He paid a noble tribute to the memory of this man, so dear to the Marietta people. He spoke also of bold Commodore Whipple, who ''fired the first gun on the sea at the British in the opening of the Revolutionary war," by heading the party which captured and burned the Gaspe in the waters of Rhode Island. He described Colonel Tupper, Return Jonathan Meigs, General Varnum, Colonel Parsons, the Devols, the Greens, the Putnams, Dr. Cutler and his son, the Fearings, and others. His knowledge of the families of the original settlers, where they came from, what they encountered on the journey, and after landing at the mouth of the Muskingum, their sufferings during the Indian wars, etc., surprised all present. What made it the more remarkable was, that there was then no published book from which he might have gleaned the facts, for Dr. Hildreth did not publish his Pioneers of Ohio until 1848, and his Lives of the Early Settlers of Ohio until 1852. I was afterwards informed that Mr. Adams accounted for his minute acquaintance with the early settlers of Ohio, by stating that he carefully reag the accounts which were from time to time published in the newspapers of the day. Many of the pioneers were educated men, and wrote from the wilderness letters to their friends in New England, detailing carefully all the events transpiring in the colony. These were usually published in the Massachusetts newspapers and were read with as great avidity as a few years since people read the exciting letters from California. From this source Mr. Adams drew the materials of that admirable half hour's address, and the minuteness of his details, and the correctness of his names, dates, and other statements, proved the amazing accuracy and discipline of his memory.

After his remarks had been concluded an opportunity was afforded the people of meeting Mr. Adams personally. He descended from the pulpit, and one by one the congregation were presented to him. The writer from whom we have already quoted continues:

The first settlers were almost all gone, in fact I do not recall one who was present on this interesting occasion. However, there were many there who had come as children with the pioneers, or who had been born soon after the settlement was made. There were descendants of Israel Putnam, of Pomfret, through the line of his son, Colonel Israel Putnam. There were Deacon William Rufus Putnam and his son William Rufus, the son and grandson of General Rufus Putnam. There were the Nyes,

*"Lane" in the Evange/ist. The real name of the writer is not known at this day. The Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, president of Wabash college, wrote a number of years ago a similar article for the Cincinnati Gazette.

grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Colonel Benjamin Tupper. There were Judge Cutler and his son, the sonand grandson of the Rev. Mannasseh Cutler, who negotiated with Congress the purchase of the land for the Ohio company. There were the descendents of Captain Joseph Barker, prominent among whom was Joseph Barker, esq., the first child born in Belpre township, which settlement was made soon after that at Marietta. Captain Barker himself had been dead only two months. The Danas, from Newport and Belpre, came also to welcome the sage of Quincy. One of these, Mr. George Dana, a plain farmer, of uncommon mental parts and acquirements, came up leading his little son, John Quincy Dana, and said to Mr. Adams, '' Here ismy youngest sor, whom I have named to show my esteem for you.'" Mr. Adams immediately put his hand on the lad's head and said, ''God bless you my son." Descendents of Jonathan Stone, Paul Fearing, Ebenezer Battelle, - - Devol, and other pioneers were introduced. It was a singularly impressive sight thus to have the children and grandchildren of the very men Mr. Adams had been speaking of, come up to shake his hand.

When this informal reception was brought to an end, Mr. Adams reentered Nahum Ward's carriage, and was driven to the great mound in the cemetery, the elevated squares and Sacra Via which he viewed with much interest. Before nightfall he had returned to the boat, and was on his way to Pittsburgh, accompanied by Caleb Emerson, Judge Ephraim Cutler and Judge Joseph Barker. Speaking of Mr. Adams and Mr. Emerson (the latter was called the "walking cyclopzdia of Marietta"), the newspaper contributor from whom we have above quoted, says: 'I am told that these remarkable men spent the greater part of the night in conversation," and, he adds, '"'a gentleman who was present told me that the conversation was marvelous, and that the Sage of Quincy did not outshine his plain companion from Marietta, a statement I can easily credit, because few men had greater resources from which to draw than Mr. Emerson."

The Marietta /ntelligencer, in its next issue after the occasion we have described, said that Mr. Adams' "visit to this place will be a day long remembered," and continued:

Old age will love to speak of it, and the family circle will repeat the story of his visit with feelings of gratitude and pleasure one to the other, and those now in the happy days of innocent childhood will tell to another generation that they have seen and shaken hands with the great defender of the rights of man.