Summit County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 9 of those read), 1881

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 9 of those read)

N June, 1812, war was declared against Great Britain. Before this, an act was passed by Congress, authorizing the increase of the regular army to thirty-five thousand troops, and a large force of volunteers, to serve twelve months. Under this act, Return J. Meigs, then Governor of Ohio, in April and May, 13812, raised three regiments of troops to serve twelve months. They rendezvoused at Dayton, elected their officers, and prepared for the campaign. These regiments were numbered First, Second and Third. Duncan Me- Arthur was Colonel of the First ; James Findlay, of the Second, and Lewis Cass, of the Third. Early in June these troops marched to Urbana, where they were joined by Boyd's Fourth Regiment of regular troops, under command of Col. Miller, who had been in the battle of Tippecanoe. Near the middle of June, this little army of about twenty-five hundred men, under command of Gov. William Hull, of Michigan, who had been authorized by Congress to raise the troops, started on its northern march. By the end of June, the army had reached the Maumee, after a very severe march, erecting, onthe way, Forts McArthur, Necessity and Findlay. By some carelessness on the part of the American Government, no official word | had been sent to the frontiers regarding the war, while the British had taken an early precaution to prepare for the crisis. Gov. Hull was very careful in military ctiquette, and refused to march, or do any offensive acts, unless commanded by his superior officers at Washington. While at the Maumee, by a careless move, all his personal effects, including all his plans, number and strength | of his army, etc., fell into the hands of the enemy. | His campaign ended only in ignominious defeat, | and well-nigh paralyzed future efforts. All Michigan fell into the hands of the British. The com- | mander, though a good man, lacked bravery and | promptness. Had Gen. Harrison been in command no such results would have been the case, | and the war would have probably ended at the outset. Before Hull had surrendered, Charles Scott,

State Resources

Governor of Indiana Territory, to visit Frankfort, to consult on the subject of defending the Northwest. Gov. Harrison had visited Gov. Scott, and in August, 1812, accepted the appointment of Major General in the Kentucky militia, and, by hasty traveling, on the receipt of the news of the surrender of Detroit, reached Cincinnati on the morning of the 27thof that month. On the 30th he left Cincinnati, and the next day overtook the army he was to command, on its way to Dayton. After leaving Dayton, he was overtaken by an express, informing him of his appointment by the Government as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Indiana and Illinois Territories. The army reached Piqua, September 3. From this place Harrison sent a body of troops to aid in the defense of Fort Wayne, threatened by the enemy. On the 6th he ordered all the troops forward, and while on the march, on September 17, he was informed of his appointment as commander of the entire Northwestern troops. He found the army poorly clothed for a winter campaign, now ap-

' proaching, and at once issued a stirring address to | the people, asking for food and comfortable clothing. The address was not in vain. After his appointment, Gen. Harrison pushed on to Auglaize, where, leaving the army under command of

State, and establishing his headquarters at Franklinton, began active measures for the campaign. Early in March, 1812, Col. John Miller raised, in July assembled his enlisted men at Chillicothe, where, placing them - only one hundred and forty in number - under command of Captain Angus They erected a block-house at Piqua and then went on to Defiance, to the main body of the army.

| months' duty. Under orders from Gen. Winchester, they marched through Chillicothe and Urbana, on to the Maumee, where, near the lower end of the rapids, they made an ineffectual attempt to attacked Tupper and his troops, who, though worn down with the march and not a little disorganized through the jealousies of the officers, withstood the attack, and repulsed the British and their red allies, who returned to Detroit, and the Americans to Fort McArthur.

In the fall of 1812, Gen. Harrison ordered a detachment of six hundred men, mostly mounted, to destroy the Indian towns on the Missisineway River, one of the head-waters of the Wabash. The winter set in early and with unusual severity. At the same time this expedition was carried on, Bonaparte was retreating from Moscow. Theexpedition accomplished its design, though the troops suffered greatly from the cold, no less than two hundred men being more or less frost bitten.

Gen. Harrison determined at once to retake Michigan and establish a line of defense along the southern shores of the lakes. Winchester was sent to occupy Forts Wayne and Defiance; Perkins' brigade to Lower Sandusky, to fortify an old stockade, and some Pennsylvania troops and artillery sent there at the same time. As soon as Gen. Harrison heard the results of the Missisineway expedition, he went to Chillicothe to consult with Gov. Meigs about further movements, and the best methods to keep the way between the Upper Miami and the Maumee continually open. He also sent Gen. Winchester word to move forward to the rapids of the Maumee and prepare for winter quarters. This Winchester did by the middle of January, 1813, establishing himself on the northern bank of the river, just above Wayne's old battle-ground. He was well fixed here, and wasenabled to give his troops good bread, made from corn gathered in Indian corn-fields in this vicinity.

While here, the inhabitants of Frenchtown, on the Raisin River, about twenty miles from Detroit, sent Winchester word claiming protection from the threatened British and Indian invasion, avowing themselves in sympathy with the Americans. A council of war decided in favor of their request, and Col. Lewis, with 550 men, sent to their relief. Soon after, Col. Allen was sent with more troops, and the enemy easily driven away from about Frenchtown. Word was sent to Gen. Winchester, who determined to march with all the men he could spare to aid in holding the post gained. He left, the 19th of January, with 250 men, and arrived on the evening of the 20th. Failing to take the necessary precaution, from some unexplained reason, the enemy came up in the night, established his batteries, and, the next day, sur- prised and defeated the American Army with a terrible loss. Gen. Winchester was made a prisoner, and, finally, those who were intrenched in the town surrendered, under promise of Proctor, the British commander, of protection from the Indians. This promise was grossly violated the next day. The savages were allowed to enter the town and enact a massacre as cruel and bloody as any in the annals of the war, to the everlasting ignominy of the British General and his troops.

Those of the American Army that escaped, arrived at the rapids on the evening of the 22d of January, and soon the sorrowful news spread throughout the army and nation. Gen. Harrison set about retrieving the disaster at once. Delay could do no good. A fort was built at the rapids, named Fort Meigs, and troops from the south and west hurriedly advanced to the scene of action. The investment and capture of Detroit was abandoned, that winter, owing to the defeat at Frenchtown, and expiration of the terms of service of many of the troops. Others took their places, all parts of Ohio and bordering States sending men.

The erection of Fort Meigs was an obstacle in the path of the British they determined to remove, and, on the 28th of February, 1813, a large band of British and Indians, under command of Proctor, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-water, and other Indian chiefs, appeared in the Maumee in boats, and prepared for the attack. Without entering into details regarding the investment of the fort, it is only necessary to add, that after a prolonged siege, lasting to the early part of May, the British were obliged to abandon the fort, having been severely defeated. and sailed for the Canadian shores.

Next followed the attacks on Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, and other predatory excursions, by the British. All of these failed of their design; the defense of Maj. Croghan and his men constituting one of the most brilliant actions of the war. For the gallant defense of Fort Stephenson by Maj. Croghan, then a young man, the army merited the highest honors. The ladies of Chillicothe voted the heroic Major a fine sword, while the whole land rejoiced at the exploits of him and his band.

The decisive efforts of the army, the great numbers of men offered - many of whom Gen. Harrison was obliged to send home, much to their disgust - Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813 - all presaged the triumph of the American arms, soon to ensue. As soon as the battle on. the lake was over, the British at Malden burned their gallant commander, followed them in Perry's vessel to the Canada shore, overtaking them on the River Thames, October 5. In the battle that ensued, Tecumseh was slain, and the British Army routed.

The war was now practically closed in the West. Ohio troops had done nobly in defending their 'northern frontier, and in regaining the Northwestern country. Gen. Harrison was soon after elected to Congress by the Cincinnati district, and Gen. Duncan McArthur was appointed a Brigadier General in the regular army, and assigned to the command in his place. Gen. McArthur made an expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 1814, destroying considerable property, and driving the British farther into their own dominions. Peace was declared early in 1815, and that spring, the troops were mustered out of service at Chillicothe, and peace with England reigned supreme.

The results of the war in Ohio were, for awhile, similar to the. Indian war of 1795. It brought many people into the State, and opened new portions, before unknown. Many of the soldiers immediately invested their money in lands, and became citizens. The war drove many people from the Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, for awhile, circulated. Labor and provisions rose, which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the conclusion of Wayne's war in 1795, probably not more than five thousand people dwelt in the made in " flush"' times, found no alternative but to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of the West, Congress, about 1815, reduced the price of public lands from $2 to $1.25 per acre. This measure worked no little hardship on those who owned large tracts of | lands, for portions of which they had not fully paid, and asa consequence, these lands, as well as all others of this class, reverted to the Government. The general market was in New

Orleans, whither goods were transported in flatboats built especially for this pupose. This commerce, though small and poorly repaid, was the main avenue of trade, and did much for the slow prosperity prevalent. The few banks in the State found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradually becoming drained of their specie, either closed business or failed, the major part of them adopting the latter course.

The steamboat began to be an important factor in the river navigation of the West about this period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was the Orleans, built at Pittsburg in 1812, and in December of that year, while the fortunes of war hung over the land, she made her first trip from the Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, was called the Comet, and made a trip as far south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and went to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth, built by Daniel French at Brownsville, Penn., made two trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The next vessel, the Aitna, was built by Fulton & Company in 1815. So fast did the business increase, that, four years after, more than forty steamers floated on the Western waters. Improvements in machinery kept pace with the building, until.in 1838, a competent writer stated there were no less than four hundred steamers in the West. Since then, the erection of railways has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is altocether probable the number has increased but little.

As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, | a period of depression set in, as a result of too | Gradu- | ally a stagnation of business ensued, and many , who found themselves unable to meet contracts | ous times. If only the waters of the lakes and the Ohio River could be united by a canal running through the midst of the State. thought the people, prosperous cities and towns would arise on its banks, and commerce flow through the land. One of the firmest friends of such improvements was De Witt Clinton. who had been the chief man in forwarding the "Clinton Canal," in New York. He was among the first to advocate the feasibility of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River, and, by the success of the New York canals, did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the day all urged the scheme, so that when the Assembly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, offered by Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, for the appointment of a committee of five members to take into consideration so much of the Governor's message as related to canals, and see if some feasible plan could not be adopted whereby a beginning could be made, was quickly adopted.

The report of the committee, advising a survey and examination of routes, met with the approval of the Assembly, and commissioners were appointed who were to employ an engineer, examine the country and report on the practicability of a canal between the lakes and the river. The commissioners employed James Geddes, of Onondaga County, N. Y., as an engineer. He arrived in Columbus in June, 1822, and, before eight months, the corps of engineers, under his direction, had examined one route. During the next two summers, the examinations continued. A number of routes were examined and surveyed, and one, from Cleveland on the lake, to Portsmouth on the Ohio, was recommended. Another canal, from Cincinnati to Dayton, on the Miami, was determined on, and preparations to commence work made. A Board of Canal Fund Commissioners was created, money was borrowed, and the morning of July 4, 1825, the first shovelful of earth was dug near Newark, with imposing ceremonies, in the presence of De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York, and a mighty concourse of people assembled to witness the auspicious event.

Of Ohio

is in the eastern part of Mercer County, and is about nine miles long by from two to four wide. Tt was formed by raising two walls of earth from ten to thirty feet high, called respectively the east and west embankments; the first of which is about two miles in length ; the second, about four. These walls, with the elevation of the ground to the north and south, formed a huge basin, to retain the water. The reservoir was commenced in 1837, and finished in 1845, at an expense of several hundred thousand dollars. When first built, during the accumulation of water, much malarial | disease prevailed in the surrounding country, owing | to the stagnant condition of the water. The citizens, enraged at what they considered an innovation of their rights, met, and, during a dark night, tore out a portion of the lower wall, letting the | water flow out. The damage cost thousands of dollars to repair. All who participated in the | proceedings were liable to a severe imprisonment, but the state of feeling was such, in Mercer County, where the offense was committed, that no jury could be found that would try them, and the affair gradually died out.

The canals, so efficacious in their day, were, however, superseded by the railroads rapidly find- | ing their way into the West. From England, where they were early used in the collieries, the transition to America was easy.

The events were important ones in the history of | belonging to the Bunker Hill Monument Associathe State, and, though they led to the creation of | tion to the wharf landing, three miles distant. The the main canals had branches leading to important towns, where their construction could be made without too much expense. The Miamiand Maumee Canal, from Cincinnati northward along the Miami River to Piqua, thence to the Maumee and on to the lake, was the largest canal made, jand, for many years, was one of the most important 'in the State. It joined the Wabash Canal on the eastern boundary of Indiana, and thereby saved the construction of many miles by joining this great canal from Toledo to Evansville.

The largest artificial lake in the world, it is said, was built to supply water to the Miami Canal. It exists yet, though the canal is not much used. It road was a slight decline from the quarry to the wharf, hence the loaded cars were propelled by their own gravity. On their return, when empty, they were drawn up by a single horse. Other roads, or tramways, quickly followed They were built at the Pennsylvania coal mines, in South Carolina, at New Orleans, and at | Baltimore. Steam motive power was used in 1831

To transfer these highways to the West was the question of but a few years' time. The prairies of Illinois and Indiana offered superior inducements to such enterprises, and, early in 1835, they began to be agitated there. In 1838, the first rail was laid in Illinois, at Meredosia, a little town on the Hlinois River, on what is now the Wabash Railway.

some two years old then, situated near the mouth of Maumee River. The road extends westward into Michigan and is some thirty miles in length. There is a road about to be made from Cincinnati to Springfield. This road follows the Ohio River up to the Little Miami River, and there turns northwardly up its valley to Xenia, and, passing the Yellow Springs, reaches Springfield. Its length must be about ninety miles. The State will own one-half of the road, individuals and the city of Cincinnati the other half. This road will, no doubt, be extended to Lake Erie, at Sandusky City, within a few short years."

It is unnecessary to follow closely the history of these improvements through the years succeeding their introduction. At first the State owned a share in nearly all railroads and canals, but finally finding itself in debt about $15,000,000 for such bors' experiences, that such policy was detrimental to the best interests of the people, abandoned the plan, and allowed private parties entire control of After the close of the Mexican war, and the return to solid values in 185+ or thereabouts, the increase of railroads in all parts of Ohio, as well as all parts of the West, was simply marvelous. At this date there are more than ten thousand miles of railroads in Ohio, alongside of which

This latter did as much as any enterprise ever enacted in building up and populating the West. | ' sume a tangible shape, in 1840, occurred the cele- : brated political campaign known in history as the about to be built from Cincinnati to Springfield, was what was known as the Mad River Railroad. It is commonly conceded to be the first one built | in Ohio.* Its history shows that it was chartered March 11, 1836, that work began in 1837; that it was completed and opened for business from Cincinnati to Milford, in December, 1842; to XNenia, in August, 1845, and to Springfield, in August, 1846. about 1848, when the present form of rail was adopted. | One of the earliest roads in Ohio was what was | known as the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Rail- | road. It was chartered at first as the Monroeville & Sandusky City Railroad, March 9, 1835. March 12, 1836, the Mansfield & New Haven road was chartered; the Columbus & Lake Erie, March 12, 1845, and the Huron & Oxford, February 27, 1846. Monroeville, then from Mansfield to Huron. These

* Hon. E. D. Mansfield states, in 1873, that the " first actual piece of railroad laid in Ohio, was made on the Cincinnati & Sandusky Railroad; but, about the same time we have the Little Miami Ruil- If this, the generally in several State legislatures: its forcible seizure of slaves in the free States, and the enactment and attempted enforcement of the " fugitive slave" law all tended to awaken in the minds of the Northern people an antagonism, terminating only in the late war and the abolishment of that hideous system in strenuously urged the abridgment or confinement of slavery in the Southern States, and in the contest the party took 2 most active part, and elected William Henry

Harrison President of the United States. As he had been one of the foremost leaders in the war of 1812, a resident of Ohio, and one of its most popular citizens, a log cabin and a barrel of cider were adopted as his exponents of popular opinion, as expressive of the rule of the common people represented in the cabin and cider, in turn representing their primitive and simple habits of life. He lived but thirty days after his inauguration, dying

The building of railroads; the extension of commerce; the settlement of all parts of the State; its growth in commerce, education, religion and | population, are the chief events from 1841 to the ' Mexican war. Hard times occurred about as often | as they do now, preceded by " flush" times, when | speculation ran rife, the people all infatuated with | an insane idea that something could be had for nothing. The bubble burst as often as inflated, ruining many people, but seemingly teaching few

Part In The Conflict

HE Mexican War grew out of the question of | disease and laid down his life. The regiment's the annexation of Texas, then a province of | Colonel, who had been wounded at Monterey, came Mexico, whose territory extended to the Indian | home, removed to Minnesota, and there died. Territory on the north, and on up to the Oregon | Lieut. Col. Weller went to California after the Territory on the Pacific Coast. Texas had been | close of the war. He was United States Senator settled largely by Americans, who saw the condi- | from that State in the halls of Congress, and, at tion of affairs that would inevitably ensue did the | country remain under Mexican rule. They first | took steps to secede from Mexico, and then asked the aid of America to sustain them, and annex the country to itself.

The Whig party and many others opposed this, - chiefly on the grounds of the extension of slave territory. But to no avail. The war came on, Mexico was conquered, the war lasting from April 20, 1846, to May 30, 1848. Fifty thousand volunteers were called for the war by the Congress, and $10,000,000 placed at the disposal of the President, James K. Polk, to sustain the army and prosecute the war.

The part that Ohio took in the war may be briefly summed up as follows: She had five volunteer regiments, five companies in the Fifteenth Infantry, and several independent companies, with | her full proportion among the regulars. When war was declared, it was something of a crusade to | many; full of romance to others; hence, many | more were offered than could be received. It was | a campaign of romance to some, yet one of reality, ending in death, to many.

When the first call for troops came, the First, | Second and Third Regiments of infantry responded | at once. Alexander Mitchell was made Colonel of | the First; John B. Wellerits Lieutenant Colonel ai and Major L. Giddings, of Dayton, its Major, Thos. L. Hamer, one of the ablest lawyers in Ohio. started with the First as its Major, but, before the regiment left the State, he was made a Brigadier General of Volunteers, and, at the battle of Monterey, distinguished himself; and there contracted

The Second Regiment was commanded by Col. George W. Morgan, now of Mount Vernon ; Lieut. Col. William Irwin, of Lancaster. and Maj. Will- After the war closed. Irwin settled in Texas, and remained there till he died. Wall lived The regiment was never in active field service, but was a credit to the State.

The officers of the Third Regiment were, Col. Samuel R. Curtis; Lieut. Col. G. W. McCook and Maj. John Love. The first two are now dead; the Major lives in McConnellsville.

At the close of the first year of the war, these regiments (First, Second and Third ; were mustered out of service, as their term of enlistment had expired. : and again enter the service. William Irwin. of the former organization, was chosen Colonel; William Latham, of Columbus, Lieutenant Colonel, and William H. Link, of Circleville, Major. Nearly all of them are now dead.

The regular army was increased by eight Ohio companies of infantry, the Third Dragoons, and the Voltigeurs - light-armed soldiers. In the Fifteenth Regiment of the United States Army, there

United States Infantry, was made Major; but was afterward succeeded Mill, of Vermont. The Fifteenth wasin a number of skirmishes at first, and later in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco and Chapultepec. At the battle of Cherubusco, the Colonel was severely wounded, and Maj. Mill, with several officers, and a large number of 'men, killed. For gallant service at Contreras, Col. Morgan, though only twenty-seven years old, was made a Brevet Brigadier General in the United States Army. Since the war he has delivered a number of addresses in Ohio, on the campaigns in Mexico seventy-five thousand men from the United States went into that conflict, less than ten thousand now survive. They are now veterans, and as such delight to recount their reminiscences on the fields of Mexico. They are al) in the decline of life, and

After the war, the continual growth of Ohio, the change in all its relations, necessitated a new organic law. The Constitution of 1852 was the result.

From this time on to the opening of the late war, the prosperity of the State received no check. Towns and cities grew; railroads multiplied; commerce was extended; the vacant lands were rapidly

Chase; one who never faltered nor lost faith; and who was at the helm of State; in the halls of Congress; chief of one the most important bureaus of the Government, and, finally, Chief Justice of the United States. When war came, after the election of Abraham Lincoln by the Republican party, Ohio was one of the first to answer to the call for troops. Mr. Chase, while Governor, had re-organized the militia on a sensible basis, and rescued it from the ignominy into which it had fallen. When Mr. Lincoln asked for seventy-five thousand men, Qhio's quota was thirteen regiments. The various chaotic regiments and militia troops in the State did not exceed 1,500 men. The call was issued April 15, 1861; by the 18th, two regiments were organized in Columbus, whither these companies had gathered; before sunrise of the 19th the first and second regiments were on their way to Washington City. The President had only asked for thirteen regiments; thirty were gathering; the Government, not yet fully comprehending the nature of the rebellion, refused the surplus troops, but Gov. Dennison was authorized to put ten additional regiments in the field, as a defensive

In the limits of this history, it is impossible to trace all the steps Ohio took in the war. One of her most talented sons, now at the head of one of the greatest newspapers of the world, says, regarding the action of the people and their Legislature:

A | dontest almost. without 2 parallel tn the annala OF | ««¢That fierce and sudden flash across the rugged blackhistory ; a contest between freedom and slavery; |

Pierce's term, in 1855. cipally, the restriction of the slave power; ultimately its extinction. One of the chief exponents and supporters of this growing party in Ohio, was Salmon P.

stitutional law; on the other side stood a resolute, and determined people, though divided in minor matters, firmly united on the question of national supremacy. The people of Ohio stood squarely on this side. Before this her people had been divided up to the hour when - preserved. The white heat of patriotism and fealty to the flag that had been victorious in three wars, and had never met but temporary defeat 'then melted all ies, and dissolved all hesitation, and, April 18, 1861, by a unanimous vote of ninety-nine Representatives in its favor, there was passed a bill appropriating $500,000 to carry into effect the requisition of the President, to protect the National Government, of which sum $450,000 were to purchase arms and equipments for the troops required by that requisition as the quota of Ohio, and $50,000 as an extraordinary contingent fund for the Governor. The commissioners of the State Sinking Fund were authorized, by the same bill, to borrow this money, on the 6 per cent bonds of the State, and to issue for the same certificates, freeing such bonds from taxation. Then followed other such legislation that declared the property of volunteers free from execution for debt during their term of service; that declared any resident of the State, who gave aid and comfort to the enemies of the Union, guilty of treason against the State, to be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for life; and, as it had become already evident that thousands of militia, beyond Ohio's _ quota of the President's call, would volunteer, the Legislature, adopting the sagacious sugzestion of Gov. Dennison, resolved that all excess of voluntcers should be retained and paid for service, under direction of the Governor. Thereupon a bill was passed, authorizing the acceptance of volunteers to form ten regiments, and providing $500,000 for their arms and equipments, and $1,500,000 more to be disbursed for troops'in case of an invasion of the State. Then other legislation was enacted, looking to and providing against the shipment from or through the State of arms or munitions of war, to States either assuming to be neutral or in open rebellion; organizing the whole body of the State militia; providing suitable officers for duty on the staff of the Governor; requiring contracts for subsistence of volunteers to be let to the lowest bidder, and authorizing the appointment of additional general officers. "Before the adjournment of that Legislature, the Speaker of the House had resigned to take command of one of the regiments then about to start for Washington City; two leading Senators had been appointed Brigadier Generals, and many, in fact nearly all, of the other members of both houses had, in one capacity or another, entered the military service. It was the first war legislature ever elected in Ohio, and, under sudden pressure, nobly met the first shock, and enacted the first measures of law for war. Laboring under difficulties inseparable from a condition so unex : and in the performance of duties so' novel, it may be historically stated that for patriotism, zeal and ability, the Ohio Legislature of 1861 was the equal of any of its successors; while in that exuberance of patriotism which obliterated party lines and united all in a common effort to meet the threatened integrity of the United States as a nation, it surpassed them both.

"The war was fought, the slave power forever destroyed, and under additional amendments to her organic law, the United States wiped the stain of human slavery from her escutcheon, liberating over four million human beings, nineteen-twentieths of whom were native-born residents.

"When Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Ohio had two hundred regiments of all arms in the National service. In the course of the war, she had furnished two hundred and thirty regiments, besides twenty-six independent batteries of artillery, five independent companies of cavalry, several companies of sharpshooters, large parts of five regiments credited to the West Virginia contingent, two regiments credited to the Kentucky contingent, two transferred to the United States colored troops, and a large proportion of the rank and file of the Fifty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Massachusetts Regiments, also colored men. Of these organizations, twenty-three were infantry regiments furnished onthe first call of the President, an excess of nearly one-half over the State's quota ; one hundred and ninety-one were infantry regiments, furnished on subsequent calls of the President - one hundred and seventeen for three years, twentyseven for one year, two for six months, two for three months, and forty-two for one hundred days. Thirteen were cavalry, and three artillery for three years. Of these three-years troops, over twenty thousand re-enlisted, as veterans, at the end of their long term of service, to fight till the war would end."

As original members of these organizations, Ohio furnished to the National service the magnificent army of 310,654 actual soldiers, omitting from the above number all those who paid commutation money, veteran enlistments, and citizens who enlisted as soldiers or sailors in other States. The count is made from the reports of the Provost Marshal General to the War Department. Pennsylvania gave not quite 28,000 more, while Illinois fell 48,000 behind; Indiana, 116,000 less;

Kentucky, 235,000, and Massachusetts, 164,000. Thus Ohio more than maintained, in the National army, the rank among her sisters which her population supported. Ohio furnished more troops than the President ever required of her; and at the end of the war, with more than a thousand men in the camp of the State who were never mustered into the service, she still had a credit on the rolls of the War Department for 4,332 soldiers, beyond the aggregate of all quotas ever assigned to her; and, besides all these, 6,479 citizens had, in lieu of personal service, paid the commutation; while Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York were all from five to one hundred thousand behind their quotas. So ably, through all those years of trial and death, did she keep the promise of the memorable dispatch from her first war Governor : left dead on the field of battle. They fought on well-nigh every battle-field of the war. Within | forty-eight hours after the first call was made for troops, two regiments were on the way to Washington. An Ohiobrigade covered the retreat from the first battle of Bull Run. Ohio troops formed ' the bulk of army that saved to the Union the territory afterward erected into West Virginia ; ' the bulk of the army that kept Kentucky from

When Sherman started on his famous march to | the sea,someone said to President Lincoln, "T hey . will never get through; they will all be captured, ~ and the Union will be lost." 'It is impossible," replied the President ; "it cannot.be done. There is a mighty sight of fight in one hundred thou-

' at Wagner. They helped redeem North Carolina. ' They were in the sieges of + 1cksburg, Charleston, Mobile and Richmond. At Pittsburg Landing, ; at Antietam, Gettysburg and Corinth, in the

Ohio's soil gave birth to, or furnished, a Grant, a Sherman, a Sheridan, a McPherson, a Rosecrans, - a McClellan, a McDowell, a Mitchell, a Gilmore, a | Hazen, a Sill, a Stanley,a Steadman, and others - all | but one, children ofthe country, reared at West Point | for such emergencies. Ohio's war record shows - one General, one Lieutenant General,twenty Major | Generals, twenty-seven Brevet Major Generals, and - thirty Brigadier Generals, and one hundred and fifty Brevet Brigadier Generals. Her three war | Governors were William Dennison, David Todd, and John Brough. She furnished, at the same time, | one Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, and one Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. Her Senators were Benjamin F. Wade and John | Sherman. At least three out of five of Ohio's | able-bodied men stood in the line of battle. On | the head stone of one of these soldiers, who gave | his life for the country, and who now lies in a |

The close of the war and return of peace brought | a period of fictitious values on the country, occa- , sioned by the immense amount of currency afloat. - Property rose to unheard-of values, and everything | with it. Ere long, however, the decline came, and with it "hard times." The climax broke over the | country in 1873, and for awhile it seemed as if , the country was on the verge of ruin. People , found again, as preceding generations had found, |

The effect was felt everywhere. Busi- A feeling | of confidence grew as the times went on, and now, | on the threshold of the year 1880, the State is en- |

Union the best products of her soil, factories, and In that exhibit Ohio made an ex- | cellent display. Her stone, iron, coal, cereals, | woods and everything pertaining to her welfare were could produce. The State nobly stood the test | delivery of an address on the history, progress and and ranked foremost among all others. Her cen- | resources of his State. Gov. Hayes named the tennial building was among the first completed | Hon. Edward D. Mansfield for this purpose, and and among the neatest and best on the grounds. | August 9th, that gentleman delivered an address During the summer, the Centennial Commission | so valuable for the matter which it contains, that extended invitations to the Governors of the several | we here give a synopsis of it.

NE hundred years ago, the whole territory, | the mountains, bore these tens of thousands to the from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains | wilds of Kentucky and the plains of Ohio. In was a wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and | the spring of 1788 - the first year of settlement - Indians. The Jesuit and Moravian missionaries | four thousand five hundred persons passed the were the only white men who had penetrated the | mouth of the Muskingum in three months, and wilderness or beheld its mighty lakes and rivers. | the tide continued to pour on for half a century in | While the thirteen old colonies were declaring | a widening stream, mingled with all the races of their independence, the thirteen new States, which | Europe and America, until now, in the hundredth now lie in the western interior, had no existence, | yearof America'sindependence, the five States of the | and gave no sign of the future. The solitude of | Northwestern Territory, in the wilderness of 1776, | nature was unbroken by the steps of civilization. | contain ten millions of people, enjoying all the The wisest statesman had not contemplated the ' blessings which peace and prosperity, freedom and probability of the coming States, and the boldest | Christianity,can confer upon any people. Of these patriot did not dream that this interior wilderness | five States, born under the ordinance of 1787, Ohio should soon contain a greater population than the | is the first, oldest, and, in many things, the greatest. thirteen old States, with all the added growth of | In some things it is the greatest State in the Union. one hundred years. | Let us, then, attempt, in the briefest terms, to Ten years after that, the old States had ceded | draw an outline portrait of this great and remarktheir Western lands to the General Government, | able commonwealth. -and the Congress of the United States had passed Let us observe its physical aspects. Ohio is the ordinance of 1785, for the survey of the pub- | just one-sixth part of the Northwestern Territory lic territory, and, in 1787,the celebrated ordinance | - +0,000 square miles. It lies between Lake Erie which organized the Northwestern Territory, and | and the Ohio River, having 200 miles of navigable dedicated it to freedom and intelligence. waters, on one side flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, Fifteen years after that, and more than a quarter | and on the other into the Gulf of Mexico. Through of a century after the Declaration of Independ- | the lakes, its vessels touch on 6,000 miles of ence, the State of Ohio was admitted into the | interior coast, and, through the Mississippi, on Union, being the seventeenth which accepted the | 36,000 miles of river coast; so that a citizen of Constitution of the United States. It has since | Ohio may pursue his navigation through 42,000 grown up to be great, populous and prosperous | miles, allin his own counfrv, and all within navigaunder the influence of those ordinances. At her ble reach of his own State. He who has circumnaviadmittance, in 1803, the tide of emigration had | gated the globe, has gone but little more than begun to flow over the Alleghanies into the Valley | half the distance which the citizen of Ohio finds of the Mississippi, and, although no steamboat, no | within his natural reach in this vast interior. railroad then existed, nor even a stage coach helped | Looking upon the surface of this State, we find the immigrant, yet the wooden "ark" on the | no mountains, no barren sands, no marshy wastes, body of arable land, intersected with rivers and would sooner settle than in this Western region." streams and running waters, while the beautiful | Ohio flows tranquilly by its side. More than three | whole of Italy, it has more natural resources in proportion than either, and is capable of ultimately supporting a larger population than any equal sur- | face in Europe. Looking from this great arable surface, where upon the very hills the grass and

All this vast deposit of metal and fuel does not interrupt or take from that arable surface at all. There you may find in one place the same machine bringing up coal and salt water from below, while the wheat and the corn grow upon the surface above. The immense masses of coal, iron, salt and freestone deposited below have not in any way diminished the fertility and production of the soil.

acter of a people is shaped or modified by the character of the country in which they live. If the people of Switzerland have acquired a certain air of liberty and independence from the rugged mountains around which they live; if the people of Southern Italy, or beautiful France, have acquired a tone of ease and politeness from their mild and genial clime, so the people of Ohio, placed amidst such a wealth of nature, in the temperate zone, should show the best fruits ot peaceful industry and the best culture of Christian civilization. Have they done so? own labor and arts and culture come up to the advantages of their natural situation? Let us examine this growth and their product.

The first settlement of Ohio was made by a colony from New England, at the mouth of the Muskingum. officers of the Revolution. Of this colony no praise of the historian can be as competent, or as strong, as the language of Washington. He says, in answer to inquiries addressed to him: '" No col- | ony in America was ever settled under such favor- | able auspices as that which has just commenced at | 9 Information, prosperity and | strength will be its characteristics. I know many | of the settlers personally, and there never were ,

This colony, left alone for a time, made its own government and nailed its laws to a tree in the village, an early indication of that law-abiding and peaceful spirit which has since made Ohio a just and well-ordered community. The subsequent flowed on to the plains and valleys of Ohio and Kentucky. Kentucky had been settled earlier, but the main body of emigrants in subsequent years

United States Government. Soon the new State grew up, with a rapidity which, until then, was unknown in the history of civilization. On the Muskingum, where the buffalo had roamed; on the Scioto, where the Shawanees had built their towns; on the Miami, where the great chiefs of the Miamis had reigned; on the plains of Sandusky, yet red with the blood of the white man ; on the Maumee, where Wayne, by the victory of the " Fallen Timbers," had broken the power of the Indian confederacy - the emigrants from the old States and from Europe came in to cultivate the fields, to build up towns, and to rear the institutions of Christian civilization, until the single State of Ohio is greater in numbers, wealth, and when the Declaration of Independence was made. Let us now look at the statistics of this growth | and magnitude, as they are exhibited in the cen- United States. Taking intervals of twenty years, Ohio had: In 1810, 230,760; in 1830, 937,903; in 1850, 1,980,329; in 1870, 2.665,260. Add to this the increase of population | in the last six years, and Ohio now has, in round | numbers, 3,000,000 of people - half a million | more than the thirteen States in 1776; and | her cities and towns have to-day six times the | population of all the cities of America one hund- , red years ago. This State is now the third in | numbers and wealth, and the first in some of mankind. That a small part of the wilderness of 1776 should be more populous than the whole Union was then, and that it should have made a social and moral advance greater than that of any nation in the same time, must be regarded as one of the most startling and instructive facts which attend this year of commemoration. If such has been the social growth of Ohio, let us look at its physical development; this is best expressed by the ageregate productions of the labor and arts of a people applied to the earth. In the census statistics of the United States these are expressed in the geregate results of agriculture, mining, manufactures, and commerce. Let us simplify these statistics, by comparing the aggregate and ratios as between several States, and between Ohio and some countries of Europe.

The aggregate amount of grain and potatoes - farinaceous food, produced in Ohio in 1870 was 134,938,413 bushels, andin 187+, there were 157,- 323,597 bushels, being the largest aggregate amount raised in any State but one, Illinois, and larger per square mile than Illinois or any other State in the country. The promises of nature were thus vindicated by the labor of man; and the industry of Ohio has fulfilled its whole duty to the sustenance of the country and the world. She has raised more grain than ten of the old States together, and more than half raised by

Great Britain or by France. I have not the recent statistics of Europe, but McGregor, in his statistics of nations for 1832 - a period of profound peace - gives the following ratios for the leading countries of Europe: Great Britain, area 120,324 miles; amount of grain, 262,500,000 bushels; rate per square mile, 2,190 to 1; Austria - area 258,603 miles; amount of grain, 366,300,000 bushels; rate persquare mile, 1,422 to 1; France - area 215,858 miles; amount of grain, 233,847,300 bushels ; rate per square mile, 1,080 to 1. The State of Ohio - area per square miles, 40,000; amount of grain, 150,000,000 bushels ; rate per square mile, 3,750. Combining the great countries of Great Britain, Austria, and France, we find that they had 594,785 square miles and produced 863,147,300 bushels of grain. which was, at the time these statistics were taken, 1,150 bushels per square mile, and ten bushels to each one of the population. Ohio, on the other hand, had 3,750 bushels per square mile, and fifty bushels to each one of the population; that is, there was five times as much grain raised in Ohio, in proportion to the people, as in these great countries of Europe.

As letters make words, and words express ideas, so these dry figures of statistics express facts, and these facts make the whole history of civilization.

Let us now look at the statistics of domestic animals. These are always indicative of the state of society in regard to the physical comforts. The horse must furnish domestic conveyances; the cattle must furnish the products of the dairy, as well as meat, and the sheep must furnish wool.

Let us see how Ohio compares with other States and with Europe: In1870, Ohio had 8,818,000 domestic animals ; [llinois, 6,925,000; New York, 5,283,000; Pennsylvania, 4,493,000; and other States less. The proportion to population in these States was, in Ohio, to each person, 3.3; Lllinois, 2.7; New York, 1.2; Pennsylvania, 1.2.

Let us now see the proportion of domestic animals in Europe. The results given by McGregor's statistics are: In Great Britain, to each person, 2.44; Russia, 2.00; France, 1.50; Prussia, 1.02; Austria, 1.00. It will be seen that the proportion in Great Britain is only two-thirds that of Ohio; in France, only one-half; and in Austria and | Prussia only one-third. It may be said that. in the course of civilization, the number of animals | diminishes as the density of population increases ; | and, therefore, this result might have been expected in the old countries of Europe. But this does not apply to Russia or Germany, still less to other States in this country. Russia in Europe has not more than half the density of population now in Ohio. Austria and Prussia have less than 150 to the square mile. The whole of the north of Europe has not so dense a population as the State of Ohio, still less have the States of Illinois and Missouri, west of Ohio. Then, therefore, Ohio showing a larger proportion of domestic animals than the north of Europe, or States west of her, with a population not so dense, we see at once there must be other causes to produce such a phenomenon.

Looking to some of the incidental results of this vast agricultural production, we see that the United States exports to Europe immense amounts of grain and provisions; and that there is manufact- ..ed in this country an immense amount of woolen goods. Then, taking these statistics of the raw material, we find that Ohio produces one-fifth of all the wool; one-seventh of all the cheese; oneeighth of all the corn, and one-tenth of all the wheat ; and yet Ohio has but a fourteenth part of the population, and one-eightieth part of the surface of this country.

Let us take another - a commercial view of this matter. We haveseen that Ohio raises five times as much grain per square mile as is raised per necessities of life, and, therefore, so much in the commercial balance of exports. This corresponds with the fact, that,in the shape of grain, meat, liquors and dairy products, this vast surplus is constantly moved to the Atlantic States and to Europe. The money value of this exported product is equal to $100,000,000 per annum, and to a solid capital of $1.500,000,000, after all the sustenance of the people has been taken out of the annual crop.

We are speaking of agriculture alone. We are speaking of a State which began its career more than a quarter of a century after the Declaration of Independence was made. And now, it may be asked, what is the real cause of this extraordinary result, which, without saying anything invidious of other States, we may safely say has never been |! surpassed in any country?

by immense vrants of public lands for the purpose | of education; but neither the blessings of nature. | nor the wisdom of laws, could obtain such results | without the continuous labor of an intelligent | Such it had. and we have only to take | people. the testimony of Washington. already quoted, and the statistical results I have given. to prove that no people has exhibited more has any people directed their labor with more intellizence. ?

is its mineral products; its capacity for coal and iron, the two vreat elements of material civilization. If we were to take away from Great Britain her capacity to produce coal in such vast quantities. we should reduce her to a third-rate position, no longer numbered among the great nations of the earth. Coal has smelted her iron, run her steam engines, and is the basis of her manufactures. But when we compare the coal fields of Great

] , Britain with those of this country, they are insignificant. The coal fields of all Europe are small compared with those of the central United States. The coal district of Durham and Northumberland, in England, is only 880 square miles. There are 'other districts of smaller extent, making in the whole probably one-half the extent of that in Ohio. The English coal-beds are represented as _ more important, in reference to extent, on account of their thickness. There is a small coal district in Lancashire, where the workable coal-beds are in all 150 feet in thickness. But this involves, as is well known, the necessity of going to immense depths and incurring immense expense. On the other hand, the workable coal-beds of Ohio are _ near the surface, and some of them require no excavating, except that of the horizontal lead from the mine to the river or the railroad. In one | county of Ohio there are three beds of twelve, six and four feet each, within fifty feet of the surface. At some of the mines having the best coal, the lead from the mines is nearly horizontal, and just high enough to dump the coal into the railroad cars. These coals are of all qualities, from that | adapted to the domestic fire to the very best quality for smelting or manufacturing iron. Recollecting these facts, let us try to get an idea of the coal district of Ohio. The bituminous coal region deescending the western slopes of the Alleghanies, occupies large portions of Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia. Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. I | suppose that this coal field is not less than fifty thousand square miles, exclusive of Western Maryland and the southern terminations of that field in (xeorgia and Alabama. Of this vast field of coal, exceeding anything found in Europe, about onefifth part lies in Ohio. Prof. Mather, in his report on the geology of the State (first Geological Report of the State) says:

" The coal-measures within Ohio occupy a space of about one hundred and eighty miles in length by i eighty in breadth at the widest part. with an area of about ten thousand square miles, extending along the Ohio from Trumbull County in the north to near the mouth of the Scioto in the south. The regularity in fhe c',, and the moderate incli- | nation of the strata, afford facilities to the mines not known to those of most other countries, especially Great Britain, where the strata in which the | coal is imbedded have been broken and thrown out of place since its deposit, occasioning many slips ; and faults, and causing much labor and expense in | again recovering the bed. In Ohio there is very

Now, taking into consideration these geological facts, let us look at the extent of the Ohio coal field. It occupies, wholly or in part, thirty-six counties, including, geographically, 14,000 square miles ; but leaving out fractions, and reducing the Ohio coal field within its narrowest limits, it is | 10,000 square miles in extent, lies near the surface, © and hasonan average twenty feet thickness of workable coal-beds. Let us compare this with the coal mines of Durham and Northumberland (England), the largest and best coal mines there. That coal | district is estimated at 850 square miles, twelve | feet thick, and is calculated to contain 9,000,000,- 000 tons of coal. The coal field of Ohio is twelve times larger and one-third thicker. Hstimated by that standard, the coal field of Ohio contains 180,- : 000,000,000 tons of coal. Marketed at only $2 per ton, this coal is worth $360,000,000,000, or, | in other words, ten times as much as the whole valuation of the United States at the present time. | But we need not undertake to estimate either its | quantity or value. It is enough to say that itis a : quantity which we can scarcely imagine, which is tenfold that of England, and which is enough to supply the entire continent for ages to come. After coal, iron is beyond doubt the most valuable mineral product of a State. As the material of manufacture, it is the most important. What are called the " precious metals" are not to be compared with it as an element of industry or profit. But since no manufactures can be successfully carried on without fuel, coal becomes the first material element of the arts. Iron is unquestionably the next. Ohio has an iron district extending from the mouth of the Scioto River to some point north of the Mahoning River, in Trumbull County. The whole length is nearly two hundred miles, and the breadth twenty miles, making, as near as we can ascertain, 4,000 square miles. The iron in this.district is of various qualities, and is. manufactured largely into bars and castings. In this iron district are one hundred furnaces, forty-four rollingmills, and fifteen rail-mills, being the largest number of either in any State i. the Union, except | only Pennsylvania.

Although only the seventeenth State in its admission, I find that, by the census statistics of 1870, itisthe third State in the productionof ironandiron | manufactures. Already, and within the life of | one man, this State begins to show what must in future time be the vast results of coal and iron, applied to the arts and manufactures. In the year 1874, there were 420,000 tons of pig iron produced in Ohio, which is larger than the product of any State, except Pennsylvania. The product and the manufacture of iron in Ohio have increased so rapidly, and the basis for increase is so great, that we may not doubt that Ohio will continue to be the greatest producer of iron and iron fabrics, except only Pennsylvania. At Cincinnati, the iron manufacture of the Ohio Valley is concentrating, and at Cleveland the ores of Lake Superior are being smelted.

After coal and iron, we may place sa/t among the necessaries of life. In connection with the coal region west of the Alleghanies, there lies in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, a large space of country underlaid by the salt rock, which already produces immense amounts of salt. Of this, Ohio has its full proportion. In a large | section of the southeastern portion of the State, salt is produced without any known limitation. | At Pomeroy and other points, the salt rock lies about one thousand feet below the surface, but salt water is brought easily to the surface by the | steam engine. There, the salt rock, the coal seam, and the noble sandstone lie in successive | strata, while the green corn and the yellow wheat bloom on the surface above. The State of Ohio produced, in 1874, 3,500,000 bushels of salt, being one-fifth of all produced in the United States. The salt section of Ohio is exceeded only by that of Syracuse, New York, and of Saginaw, Michigan. There is no definite limit to the underlying salt rock of Ohio, and, therefore, the production will be proportioned only to the extent of the demand.

Having now considered the resources and the products of the soil and the mines of Ohio, we may properly ask how far the people have employed their resources in the increase of art and manufacture. We have two modes of comparison, the rate of increase within the State, and the ratio they bear to other States. The aggregate value of the products of manufacture, exclusive of mining, in the last three censuses were: in 1850, $62.692.000; in 1860, $121,691,000; in 1870, $269,713,000.

The ratio of increase was over 100 per cent in each ten years, a rate far beyond that of the increase of population, and much beyond the ratio of increase in the whole country. In 1850, the manufactures of Ohio were one-sixteenth part of the aggregate in the country; in 1860, one-fifteenth this, we find, from the returns of Cincinnati and Cleveland, that the value of the manufactured products of Ohio in 1875, must have reached $400,- 000,000, and, by reference to the census tables, it will be seen that the ratio of increase exceeded that of the great manufacturing States of New York, | Massachusetts and Connecticut. Of all the States admitted into the Union prior to Ohio, Pennsylvania alone has kept pace in the progress of manufacture. | Some little reference to the manufacture of leading articles may throw some light on the cause of this. | In the production of agricultural machinery and | implements, Ohio is the first State; in animal and vegetable oils and in pig iron, the second; in cast iron and in tobacco, the third ; in salt, in machinery and in leather, the fourth. These facts show how largely the resources of coal, iron and agriculture have entered into the manufactures of the State. This great advance in the manufactures of Ohio, when we consider that this State is, relatively to its surface, the first agricultural State in the | country, leads to the inevitable inference that its people are remarkably industrious. When, on forty thousand square miles of surface, three mill- | ions of people raise one hundred and fifty million | bushels of grain, and produce manufactures to the | amount of $269,000,000 (which is fifty bushels | of breadstuff to each man, woman and child, and | $133 of manufacture), it will be difficult to find | any community surpassing such results. It is a testimony, not only to the State of Ohio, but to » the industry, sagacity and energy of the American ; people. | Looking now to the commerce of the State, we - have said there are six hundred miles of coast line, which embraces some of the principal internal ports of the Ohio and the lakes, such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and Portsmouth, but whose commerce is most wholly inland. Of course, no comparison can be made with the foreign commerce of the ocean ports. On the other hahd, it is well known that the inland trade of the country far exceeds | that of' all its foreign commerce, and that the larg- | est part of this interior trade is carried on its rivers and lakes. The materials for the vast consumption of the interior must be conveyed in its - vessels, whether of sail or steam, adapted to these | waters. Let us take, then, the ship-building, the navigation, and the exchange trades of Ohio, as elements in determining the position of this State | in reference to the commerce of the country. At. the ports of Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky and Cin- | cinnati, there have been built one thousand sail and steam vessels in the last twenty years, making an average of fifty each year. The number of sail, steam and all kinds of vessels in Ohio is eleven hundred and ninety, which is equal to the number in all the other States in the Ohio Valley and the Upper Mississippi.

When we look to the navigable points to which these vessels are destined, we find them on all this vast coast line, which extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Yellowstone, and from Duluth to the St. Lawrence.

Looking again to see the extent of this vast interior trade which is handled by Ohio alone, we find that the imports and exports of the principal

000,000; and when we look at the great trade of Cleveland and Toledo, we shall find that the annual trade of Ohio exceeds $700,000,000. The lines of railroad which connect with its ports, are more than four thousand miles in length, or rather more than one mile in length to each ten square miles of surface. This great amount of railroads is and thence to Europe, the immense surplus grain and meat in Ohio, but in carrying the largest part of that greater surplus, which exists in the States west of Ohio, the granary of the West. Ohio holds the gateway of every railroad north of the Ohio, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, and hence it is that the great transit lines of the country pass through Ohio.

wealth or power, will compensaie for the want of moral or intellectual stability in the minds of a nation. Hence, it is admitted that the strength and perpetuity of our republic must consist in the intelligence and morality of the people. A republic can last only when the people are enlightened. This was an axiom with the early legislators of this country. Hence it was that when Virginia, Connecticut and the original colonies ceded to the General Government that vast and then © .- known wilderness which lay west of the Alleghanies, in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, they educated people. The Constitution was not formed when the celebrated ordinance of 1787 was passed. * That ordinance provided that, " Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged;" and by the ordinance of 1785 for the survey of public lands in the Northwestern Territory, Section 16 in each township, that is, one thirty-sixth part, was reserved for the maintenance of public schools in said townships. As the State of Ohio contained a little more than twenty-five millions of acres, this, together with two special grants of three townships to universities, amounted to the dedication of 740,000 acres of land to the maintenance of schools and colleges. It was a splendid endowment, but it was many years before it became available. It was sixteen years after the passage of this ordinance (in 1803), when Ohio entered the Union, and legislation upon this grant became possible. The Constitution of the State pursued the language of the ordinance, and declared that "schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision." The Governors of Ohio, in successive messages, urged attention to this subject upon the people; but the thinness of settlement, making it impossible, except in few districts, to collect youth in sufficient numbers, and impossible to sell or lease lands to advantage, caused the delay of efficient school system for many years. In 1825, however, a general law establishing a school system, and levying a tax for its support, was passed.

This was again enlarged and increased by new legislation in 1836 and 1846. From that time to this, Ohio has had a broad, liberal and efficient system of publicinstruction. The taxation for schools, and the number enrolled in them at different periods, will best show what has been done. In 1855 the total taxation for school purposes was $2,672,827. The proportion of youth of schoolable age enrolled was 67 per cent. In 1874 the amount raised by taxation was $7,425,135. The number enrolled of schoolable age was 70 per cent, or 707,943.

As the schoolable age extends to twenty-one years, and as there are very few youth in school after fifteen years of age, it follows that the 70 per cent of schoolable youths enrolled in the public sehools must comprehend nearly the whole number between four and fifteen years. It is important to observe this fact, because it has been inferred that, as the whole number of youth between five and twenty-one have not been enrolled, therefore they are not educated. This is a mistake; nearly all over fifteen years of age have been in the public schools, and all the native | youth of the State, and all foreign born, young enough, have had the benefit of the public schools. But in consequence of the large number who have come from other States and from foreign countries, there are still a few who are classed by the census statistics among the "illiterate; the proportion of this class, however, is less in proportion than in twenty-eight other States, and less in proportion than in Connecticut and Massachusetts, two of the oldest States most noted for popular education. In fact, every youth in Ohio, under twenty-one years of age, may have the benefit of a public education; and, since the system of graded and high schools has been adopted, may obtain a common knowledge from the alphabet to the classics. The enumerated branches of study in the public schools of Ohio are thirty-four, including the classics. Thus the State which was in the heart of the wilderness in 1776, and was not a State until the nineteenth century had begun, now

In what is called the higher education, in the colleges and universities, embracing the classics and sciences taught in regular classes, it is the popular idea, and one which few dare to question, that we must look to the Eastern States for superiority and excellence; but that also is becoming an assumption without proof; a proposition difficult to sustain. The facts in regard to the education of universities and colleges, their faculties, students and course of instruction. are all set forth in the complete statistics of the Bureau of Education for 1874. They show that the State of Ohio had the largest number of such institutions; the largest number of instructors in their faculties, except one State, New York; and the largest number of students in regular college classes, in proportion to their population, except the two States of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Perhaps, if we look at the statistics of classical students in the colleges, disregarding preparatory and irregular courses, we shall get a more accurate idea of the progress of the higher education in those States which claim the best. In Ohio, 36 colleges, 258 teachers, 2,139 students, proportion, 1 in 124; in Pennsylvania, 27 colleges, 239 teachers, 2,359 students, proportion, 1 in 150; in New York, 26 colleges, 343 teachers, 2,764 students, proportion, 1 in 176; in thesix NewEngland States, 17 colleges, 252 teachers, 3,341 students, proportion, 1 in 105; in Mli-

This shows there are more collegiate institutions in Ohio than in all New England ; a greater number of college teachers, and only a little smaller ratio of students to the population ; a greater number of such students than eitherin New York or Pennsylvania, and, as a broad, general fact, Ohio has made | more progress in education than either of the old ' States which formed the American Union. Such | a fact is a higher testimony to the strength and the beneficent influence of the American Government than any which the statistician or the historian can advance. ;

Let us now turn to the moral aspects of the people of Ohio. No human society is found without its poor and dependent classes, whether made . so by the defects of nature, by acts of Providence, | or by the accidents of fortune. Since no society is exempt from these classes, it must' be judged not so much by the fact of their existence, as by the manner in which it treats them. In the civilized nations of antiquity, such as Greece and | Rome, hospitals, infirmaries, orphan homes, and asylums for the infirm, were unknown. These are the creations of Christianity, and that must be esteemed practically the most Christian State which most practices this Christian beneficence. In Ohio, as in all the States of this country, and of all ' Christian countries, there is a large number of the ~ | infirm and dependent classes; but, although Ohio | is the third State in population, she is only the fourteenth in the proportion of dependent classes. The more important point, however, was, how does she treat them? Is there wanting any of all the varied institutions of benevolence? How does she compare with other States and countries in this respect? It is believed that no State or country can present a larger proportion of all these institutions which the benevolence of the wise and good have suggested for the alleviation of suffering and misfortune, than the State of Ohio. With | 3,500 of the insane within her borders, she has | five great lunatic asylums, capable of accommodat- , ing them all. She has asylums for the deaf and | dumb, the idiotic, and the blind. She has the best hospitals in the country. She has schools | of reform and houses of refuge. She has "' homes" for the boys and girls, to the number of 800, who | are children of soldiers. She has penitentiaries , and jails, orphan asylums and infirmaries. In | every county there is an infirmary, and in every | public institution, except the penitentiary, there is a - school. So that the State has used every human means to relieve the suffering, to instruct the ignorant, and to reform the criminal. There are in the State 80,000 who come under all the various forms of the infirm, the poor, the sick and the criminal, who, in a greater or less degree, make the dependent class. For these the State has made every provision which humanity or justice or intelligence can require. A young State, developed in the wilderness, she challenges, without

| any invidious comparison, both Europe and America, to show her superior in the development of humanity manifested in the benefaction of public institutions.

Intimately connected with public morals and with charitable institutions, is the religion of a people. The people of the United States are a Christian people. The people of Ohio have manifested their zeal by the erection of churches, of Sunday schools, and of religious institutions. So far as these are outwardly manifested, they are made known by the social statistics of the census. The number of church organizations in the leading States were: In the State of Ohio, 6,488; in the State of New York, 5,627: in the State of Pennsylvania, 5,98+ ; in the State of Illinois, 4,298. It thus appears that Ohio had a larger number of churches than any State of the Union. The

Baptists. Long before the American Independence, the Moravians had settled on the Mahoning and Tuscarawas Rivers, but only to be destroyed ; and when the peace with Great Britain was made, not a vestige of Christianity remained on the soil of Ohio; yet we see that within ninety years from that time the State of Ohio was, in the number of its churches, the first of this great Union.

In the beginning of this address, I said that Ohio was the oldest and first of these great States, carved out of the Northwestern Territory, and that it was in some things the greatest State of the American Union. Ihave now traced the physical, commercial, intellectual and moral features of the State during the seventy-five years of its constitutional history. The result is to establish fully the propositions with which I began. These facts have brought out: of the American Union; this, too, notwithstanding it has 800,000 in cities and towns, and a large development of capital and products in manufactures. ,

2. That Ohio has raised more grain per square mile than either France, Austria, or Great Britain. They raised 1,450 bushels per square mile, and 10 bushels to each person. bushels per square mile, and 50 bushels to each one of the population ; or, in other words, five times the proportion of grain raised in Kurope.

3. Ohio was the first State of the Union in the production of domestic animals, being far in advance of either New York, Pennsylvania or IIlinois. The proportion of domestic animals to each person in Ohio was three and one-third, and in New York and Pennsylvania less than half that. The largest proportion of domestic animals produced in Europe was in Great Britain and Russia, neither of which come near that of Ohio.

4, The coal-field of Ohio is vastly greater than that of Great Britain, and we need make no comparison with other States in regard to coal or iron; for the 10,000 square miles of coal, and 4,000 square miles of iron in Ohio, are enough to supply the whole American continent for ages to come.

6. Notwithstanding the immense proportion and products of agriculture in Ohio, yet she has more than kept pace with New York and New England in the progress of manufactures during the last twenty years. Her coal and iron are producing their legitimate results in making her a great manufacturing State.

7. Ohio is the first State in the Union as to the proportion of youth attending school; and the States west of the Alleghanies and north of the Ohio have more youth in school, proportionably, than New England and New York. The facts on this subject are so extraordinary that I may be excused for giving them a little in detail.

The proportion of youth in Ohio attending school to the population, is 1 in 4.2; in Illinois, 1 in 4.3; in Pennsylvania, 1 in 4.8; in New York, x 5.2; in Connecticut and Massachusetts, 1 in ing; and it is here that we see the stimulus given by the ordinance of 1787, is working out its great and beneficent results. The land grant for education was a great one, but, at last, its chief effort was in stimulating popular education; for the State of Ohio has taxed itself tens of millions of dollars beyond the utmost value of the land grant, to found and maintain a system of public education which the world has not surpassed.

We have seen that above and beyond all this material and intellectual development, Ohio has provided a vast benefaction of asylums, hospitals, and infirmaries, and special schools for the support and instruction of the dependent classes. There is not within all her borders a single one of the deaf, dumb, and blind, of the poor, sick, and insane, not an orphan or a vagrant, who is not provided for by the broad and generous liberality of the State and her people. A charity which the classic ages knew nothing of, a beneficence which the splendid hierarchies and aristocracies of Europe cannot equal, has been exhibited in this young State, whose name was unknown one hundred years ago, whose people, from Europe to the Atlantic, and from the Atlantic to the Ohio, were, like Adam and Eve, cast out - " the world before them where to choose." i

Lastly, we see that, although the third in population, and the seventeenth in admission to the Union, Ohio had, in 1870, 6,400 churches, the largest number in any one State, and numbering among them every form of Christian worship. The people, whose fields were rich with grain, whose mines were boundless in wealth, and whose commerce extended through thousands of miles of lakes and rivers, came here, as they came to New England's rock-bound coast -

The church and the schoolhouse rose beside the green fields, and the morning bells rang forth to cheerful children going to school; and to a Christian people going to the church of God.

Let us now look at the possibilities of Ohio in the future development of the American Republican Republic. The two most populous parts of Europe, because the most food-producing, are the Netherlands and Italy, or, more precisely, Belgium and ancient Lombardy ; to the present time, their population is, in round numbers, three hundred to the square mile. The density of population in England proper is about the same. We may assume, therefore, that three hundred to the square mile is, in round numbers, the limit of comfortable subsistence under modern civilization. It is true that modern improvements in agricultural machinery and fertilization have greatly increased the capacity of production, on a given amount of land, with a given amount of labor. It is true, also, that the old countries of Europe do not possess an equal amount of arable land with Ohio in proportion to the same surface. It would seem, therefore, that the density of population in Ohio might exceed that of any part of Europe. On

American people will not become so dense as in Europe while they have new lands in the West to occupy. This is true; but lands such as those in the valley of the Ohio are now becoming searce in the West, and we think that, with her great capacity for the production of. grain on one iron to manufacture with on the other, that Ohio will, at no remote period, reach nearly the density of Belgium, which will give her 10,000,000 of people. This seems extravagant, but the tide of

With population comes wealth, the material for | education, the development of the arts, advance , in all the material elements of civilization, and the | still grander advancements in the strength and | new realms of material and intellectual power, | acquiring in the future what we have seen in the | past, a wealth of resources unknown and undreamed | of when, a hundred years ago. the fathers of the republic declared their independence. I know how easy it is to treat this statement with easy incredulity, but statistics is a certain science; the : elements of civilization are now measured, and we | know the progress of the human race as we know .

art processes, its power of education, and the undefined and illimitable power of the human mind | for new inventions and unimagined progress. With | this knowledge, it is not difficult nor unsafe to say ' that the future will produce more, and ina far greater ratio, than the past. The pictured scenes | of the prophets have already been more than ful- | filled, and the visions of beauty and glory, which | their imagination failed fully to describe, will be more than realized in the bloom of that garden which republican America will present to the eyes of astonished mankind. Long before another century shall have passed by, the single State of Ohio will present fourfold the population with which the thirteen States began their independence, more wealth than the entire Union now has; greater universities than any now in the country, and a development of arts and manufacture which the world now knows nothing of. You have seen more than that since the Constitution was adopted, and what right have you to say the future shall not equal the past ?

I have aimed, in this address, to give an exact picture of what Ohio is, not more for the sake of Ohio than as a representation of the products which the American Republic has given to the world. A State which began long after the Declaration of Independence, in the then unknown wilderness of North America, presents to-day the fairest example of what a republican government with Christian civilization can do. Look upon this picture and upon those of Assyria, of Greece or Rome, or of Europe in her best estate, and say where is the civilization of the earth which can equal this. Ifa Roman citizen could say with pride, " Civis Romanus sum," with far greater pride can you say this day, "I am an American citizen."