Washington County, Ohio - Chapter 23: Reminiscences by Hon. George M. Woodbridge, 1902 (part 2 of 2)

FnnH the commencement of the settlement, the Sahlrath was observed as a day ')f rest, anil fron;i, and after, 1789, regnlar religions services were kept up in the Northwest Blockhouse at the Campus Martins. After the war commenced, and large block-houses were built in the garrison at "The Point," religious worship was held there part of the time: Rev. Daniel Story officiated as clergyman. The law legulating the militia required a muster of the troops every Sabbath day at 10 o'clock a. mi., when they were paraded by the beat of the dnmt, the roll-call, and their arms inspected, after which a procession was formed, headed by Colonel Sproat, with his drawn sword, the civil officers and the clergyman, with life and drum, marched to the hall for divine ser\-ice. All the Xew Englanders being vei sed in psalmody, there was no^ lack of good singing tO' aid in the solemnities of the day. On these occasions, nearly all of the population attended. The arms of the soldiers were setting by their side, or kqjt near themi during the ser\-ice, ready for use if need.

The latter part of September, on a Sabbath morning, Peter Neiswanger, one of the rangers, went up to visit a field of corn and potatoes he had cultivated on the east side of Duck Creek, near the mouth. He had some fat hogs in a pen, one of which he found killed, and a portion of the meat cut out and carried off. Several hills of potatoes had been dug, and in the loose earth he discovered fresh moccasin tracks, a proof that Indians had been there and done the mischief. He hurried back to the garrison at "the Point" and gave the alarm. It was in the midst of the forenoon service, when the inhaliitants were i;enerally assembled in the large lili'ck-hiiu>c, listening to the sermon. The instant the word was heard "Indians in the vicinity," the drummer seized his drum, and rushing out at the door beat the long roll as the well-known signal for every man to hasten to his post. The place of worship, so quiet and calm a few moments before, was filled with confusion and alarm. Tbe women caught up their little children, and hastened to their homes, and the place of pra}er was abandoned for that day. Anxiety ami fear for the fate of their brothers and husbands who had gone in pursuit of the dreaded Indians banished all holy thoughts, but the silent prayers for their safe" return. A party was soon mustered, -made up of five or six of the rangers, 10 volunteer citizens, and 12 United States soldiers from the company stationed at "the Point." The men went up in canoes to the month of Duck Creek, where they left their water craft. The more experienced rangers soon fell upon the trail, which they traced across the wide bottom to the Little jMuskingum. At a point about half a mile below where Corner's Mill now stands, the Indians forded the creek.

In the above, the reader will see that from the difficulties and dangers of cultivating crops, that the scarcity oif potatoes is easily accoun.ted for as referred to by our quondam traveler. McAIaster's authority for these declarations as he himself, acknowledges, is based upon the statement found in the hurriedly written journal of two illiterate and irresponsi- Ijle tra\-eler, who touched the shores of Alarietta during or soon after the Indian war. T'beir statements I give you as follows :

"Friday, November 6th, 1795. Nothing material occurred this day, except shooting" eight or ten wild turkeys, killed by the Ixsat's creui Thei-e are still many fine tracts of land on both sides of the Ohio, Ijetween \\'heeling and Marietta, where we arrived on Saturday at 12 o'clock. This town is situated on the Great Muskingum River, near 200 miiles beloav Piltsliurgh. It contains about twO' lumdred \\ooden houses, and commands a delightful view' up and down and across the Ohio. Here also is a stockade-garrison, where soldiers are kept to protect the inhabitants from the incursions of the Indians, who are ver}- troublesome during the war, and stole a great number or horses from the settlers, Which is the only reason why this town is not near so large as it otherwise would have been, as the land all about, and for a considerable distance is level and very rich. We could get no supply of provisions here, except a bushel of red potatoes, which a poor, starved-looking Frenchman spared us for eighteen pence sterhng, which is ver)- surprising and betrays an inscrutable indolence in the settlers, who chiefly live upon venison, wild turkeys, and bread niiade of Indian corn.

The reader of the above statement will notice that the writer was one short hour in Marietta - a stranger, and obtaining information from, strangers, and recording his conclusions from what he heard in the grog-shop of Frenchmian Thierry, which stood near the bank of the Also, not long ago, appeared in print, the following:

"The proverbial old fogies have been taking themiselves to a better land quite rapidly in the last few years, and with their departure the city has fallen into the hands of modern hustlers who are gi\'ing Marietta new life and new tone."

These statements, and such as these in print and otherwise, ha\'e been so long allowed to go uncontradicted or unexplained, that the rising generation, as well as newcomers may be wrongly impressed. In this article it is proposed to examine the facts and the authorities upon which these statenjents are made.

First, then, in order to read our purpose at once, we will examine the facts connected with the lives of those entitled ''Old fogies." My recollections may not serve me right, but I have endeavored to bring to mind names and deeds of those who have been called by Death fromj among us, in the few }-ears immediately preceding the appearance of the above article, and I can but feel that the insinuations of the writer are very unjust and untrue. For reasons that will be obvious to the reader, I will avoid, for the most part, giving the naines of those thus brought to mind, but will speak of the deeds O'f some whose li\'es were useful, and whose memories will be cherished. I can but name Capt. \\'illiam Knox, who for 70 years Wxtd ampng us. each year tO' honor his profession, and by strict integrity, untiring industry, and a com,pd-ehensive mind, greatly adding to the business of the place, and its reputation elsewhere.

Next to follow him, one who spent his money and time probably more than an)- other man living in Southern Ohio in battling slavery'and its institutions. The grave, within these few years, has called to its embrace two honored and useful messengers of the Gospel, one of whom., more than 70 years ago. began his toilsome work. Another commenced life as a boy in a shipyard, lived in our midst in old age, and probably had as much to do with the improvements of our tO'wn for 2^ }-ears, as anv man living. Another, who-, by a life of great economy and constant industry, accumulated considerable property, gave to the cause of education and suffering humanity more than half the savings of his life.

There comes another - I wish I dare mention his name - a man of no pretensions, a mechanic of great merit, who. by his soljer, toilsome life, set an example which I am glad to know is followed by his sons who live after him, wlhose homes, as well as his, indicate thrift and enterprise. I will speak of one other: much do I wish that he had continued to live but Death took him in the prime of life, in the midst of his usefulness. For over 20 years he had been a resident among us, and during the last 15 years of his life had paid out from $20,000 to $50,000 each year to the working men of the country, in conducting- his business.

Were it not that a newspaper article must ha\-e its limits, the deeds and worth of others of our citizens, who have passed from life to death in the last few years, very properly could be spoken of. These men, and such as those described in the above article, controlled Marietta and its destinies, for at least its first 50 years, furnishing much of the means to the building of roads and bridges, school houses' and churches, throughout the then sparsely settled co'untry, beside the 'building in their own midst the Court Hbuse. Academy, a church to acconmiiodate all the people (a building which still stands, a monument of tlie liberality and religious purposes of the early residents here). They lent pecuniary aid to those who cleared the ground, and fitted it tor cultivation ; they built rope-walks, and factories, and ships tO' navigate the ocean. Their enterprise was not bounded b}' the limits O'f State lines, but as far East as the Blue Ridge cf the Alleghanies, and West as the Rockies, they pursued the purchase of peltries which were brought here, packed and shipped to foreign countries.

Neither were the i^'oincn of that day idle, for we find that in the year iSoS there were possessed and used, in Washington County alone, over i,ocxj spinning-wheels. The early women not only spun the early flax, and to\A-, and wool, but wove and made nearly all the garments worn by the men, women, and children of that day. Nor did they lack in enterprise, and the ability tO' accumulate. The writer has in mind the doings of one woman who, in 1789, landed here with her family fronii a canoe, in which she and they had navigated the Ohio. Soon engaging in business, she aided her husband in paying the debts wfiich he had left behind. She lived and prospered until the year 1817, when, as the records of the Court House will show, she distributed anijong her children property worth $17,000.

The array of testimony to controvert the statements of ]Mc]\Iaster made upon the authority O'f his one-hour visitor, is si: \iiluminous, and of sO' high a character, we are at much loss tO' know which to select ; but in order to complete our work, we are coir^ipelled to leave unused much material of this character and be content with but a few of these testimonials.

George \\'ashington wrote frc/m Alount Vernon, on the 19th of June, 1788. to Richard Henderson, an inquirer in regard to Western lands, the following eulogium of the Ohio Company's settlement : "No colonv in America was ever settled under such favorable aus-

; pices as that which has just comanenced at the mouth of the Muskingum. Information, property strength will be its characteristics. I know many of the settlers personally, and there never were men better calculated to pro- i I was a young man, just preparing to begin the world, or, if in advanced life and had a family to make a provision for, I know of no djuntry where I should rather fix my habitatii.n than in some part of the region for which the writer of the queries seems to have a pre-

Williams, the historian, saj-s : "}iIorally, ^Marietta was, for a pioneer settlement, far in ad\-ance of any other in the West. The people of Marietta, as a rule, were New Englandj ers, and fully abreast with the New England-

1 of its existence, ^Marietta had to contend with many adverse circumstances. The Indian war continuing almost five years, the many trials to which the inhabitants were subjected, several years of marked, malignant sickness, and other causes too numerous to mention in an article such as this, much retarded the onward n-uarch j school houses and churches erected, and in addition to all this the settlers upon farm lands had to be aided. During all those years from $30,000 to $50,000 of credit annually extended by the business men of ^Marietta to the culti- early times, was transacted by barter or on credit. Almost the first act of the early settler after he had selected a piece of land on which to dwell, upon which he had mlade a small payment, was to arrange for a credit \\-ith the" merchants. The laborer who had helped to clear his land, build his fences, erect his log cabin in which tO' dwell, was to be paid in wihole or in part in store goods. Perhaps it here should be said, that the early mierchant kept in their early store-house,s almost everything. They solcl fish-hooks, pen-knives, barirtni. irdn kettles, bake-ovens, shovels and tongs, and-irons, plows, gun-flints, powder, ghot and lead, salts, British oil, wool hats, country-m.iade shoes, ax-handles, hoes, hatchets, hammers, saws, whip-saws, boat-cables, groceries of every kind, drugs, medicines, meats of all descriptions, butter, eggs, and lard, as well as every \-ariety O'f dry-goods. '

Thus, it may be seen, that with a store order could be obtained all the necessities of life. Acco-unts thus contracted, sometimes small, but more generally large, were for the most part closed at the end o.f the year. The debtor recei\-ed credit for the bear, wolf, or deer skins which he may have delivered, ' and the ginseng, snakeroot, hay, country linen or jeans, which the family may have suijplied the merchant with. Notes given for balances, thus contracted, at times might remain on file for years. Don't suppose for a moment that transactions of this kind w;ere only of advantage to the debtor; on the contrary, the creditor ^\-as becomiing more and more independent each year as the records of the Marietta merchants will show, their Eastern creditors, not losing a dollar in the first 50 years of th.e settlement. I must here be allowed to say that in these latter years the tables have been turned ; farmers being the money-lenders, the Imsiness men advantaged thereby.

But I must hasten on and briefly speak of the educational history of this region of country, in which the citizens of this town bore a leading as well as a prominent part. The celebrated ordinance of 1787 paved the way for the colonization of the Northwest Territory.

The sale of a large traxt of land to the Ohio Company of Associates naturally followed. The veterans of the Revolution were anxiously waiting an opportunity to take possession of the promised bounty land. When Gen. Rbfus Putnam, with the first New England emigrants to Obio, landed at the mouth of the M'uskingumi River, he carried in his pocket a commission from the national government "to establish an Uni\-ersity" in this wilderness. The contract between the Associates and the government contained a clause reserving two townships of land as an endowment for an institution of that sort. If Harvard is justified as fixing as its birth-year the date wlien it received John Harvard's library, Ohio University can claim 1787 as its natal year.

Little progress was m&de in the enterprise until after the Indian war, but as early as 1795 the townships of Athens and Alexander.' Athens County, had been named the university townships. General Putnam remained the man in authority amiong the colonists. As surveyorgeneral, he usually led all reconnoitering expeditions.

The Ohio Uni\'ersity was the first institution oif its kind in the Nortlnvest, liut it long maintained supremacy over the colleges founded at a later date. For the first 30 years in its history, a large majority of its trustees were Marietta mien, notably : Judge Elijah Backus, Gen. Rufus Putnam, Judge Dudlev Woodbridge, Rev. Daniel Story, Dr. S. P. Hildreth, Joseph Buell, Gov. R. J. Jtleigs, and Benjamin Ives Gilman. General Putnam was well known as the champion of the institution, and with others abo\'e namied contributed time and mone_\- to the furthering of the cause of the institution. It may with truth be said that this_ institution was cared for and fostered by Marietta nien. Here ^\-!as educated Thomas Bwing, one among America's greatest statesmjen. John Brough was for a time a student at this university: afterward an orator of great power and Governor of the State of Ohio, Riev. Joseph M. Trinible received his degree as B. A. in this institution, becamje financial secretary and collector of furds of Delaware

College, which institution now numbers 1,200 students. Edmund Sehon, one of the most eloquent of pulpit orators, was of the graduating class of 1827. He soon took hold of Augusta College, which under his individual mtuiagftnent soon arose from the ashes to bless the winid. His eloquence gave him access to the pulpits of all denominations. Here also was educated Bishop Edward R. Ames, the oft-called-in advisor and confidential friend of the ' lamaited Lincoln. This institution gave training to some of the best pulpit orators. Rlichmond, Virginia, ever felt proud of the lamented Hogue. Pitts'biu"g, ColumJbus. Cincinnati, Louisville, N'tash\-iile, as also mlany other cities were 'blest with the intellectual services of the graduates of this institution. Today, at the head of the Ohii> State University, is one \y\\o claims that institutiun 'as his alma mater. I might go on enumerating college presidents, professors and distinguished divines who, under instructions received, went forth to bless the world, and add an armament tO' this institution, but I forbear. Next we come to our own academy, established in 1800, employing the most competent teachers from the beginning. The oft-repeated history of Marietta College I do not propose to enlarge upon, but I do^ propose to speak of the liberality of two men whose acts in connection with tliis institution should be held in lasting rememjbrance. I refer to the oftrepeated munificent gifts of Douglas Putnam, Esq., and oi Col. John Mills. I can in no way find out the exact sums thus contributed by each, but this I know full well, - ^loiit for the liberal gifts of these gentlemen, the success oi the institution would not have been assured. The sums contributed by these parties I have unsuccessfully attempted to ascertain. \\'hen approached upon tlie subject Mr. Putnam, who was probably the largest contributor, courteously evaded an answer, but I think it may safely be said that his contributions for this laudalile purpose exceeded $50,000. As truthfully may it be said that the contributions of Colonel Mills exceeded the earnings of twenty of the most prosperous years of his successful business life. The priceless value of this institution has recently been greatly enhancecf by the liberal and large acts of its Board of Trustees, by including within their domain an institution in which to educate the daughters of the land.

In continuation of the remarks on education as found in the last article, should be added a brief history of the common schools of the town, which first were confined to three rooms and as many teachers ; the rooms nowoccupied for the purpose numbering 21, with 22, teachers.

In looking back, it occurs to the writer that the attacks of ^MtJMaster and others have been fully met, and without going into a detailed history, will enumerate some of the evidences of enterprise, ability and resolve, which occur to niie as I \\'rite, \\-ithoait paying special attention to chronology.

The first settlers here were chiefiy of Xew, England origin. They knew what slavery was, as its l)lighting effects had been seen by them in their own midst, and the severance of families which certainly followed its diffusion was not unknown to them. JMost of them had been soldiers for freedom from a foreign yoke, and to tliis new world they came to enjoy the largest freedom. The sixth article of the ordinance of 17S7 was their "Day Star," and its rccn-iiitidn they had resolved upon. In supp<irt 111 thi^ inalienable right, they had determined to fight for every inch of ground, every blade of grass, and if need be that the last intrenchmcnt of constitutional liberty should be their graves. . No other resolves had a higher seal in their hearts than that the largest liberty siiould be the birthright of every dweller. M;inifestly was their purpose developed when called on to elect delegates for the fortifications of the first State Constitution. Th(»e who were chosen to represent this population, strongly backed by others of like opinions.

placed 'in that first declaration of sentiment those words which I pray God may ever govern our population, the substance of which was that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should ever be known to our people.

The boldness and firmness of our little band impressed all and soon a barrier like the Rock of Gibraltar extended along the border, saying to ?Ia\ery, "Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther." i

A most interesting history of this whole subject might be written, but this is not the place for it; suffice it to say, the laivs of our fathers never enshrred one luiiiian being.

I may here add, what I believe tO' be true, thiat the firm anti-slavery stand taken by the handful of pioneers, shaped the destiny of the nation.

Churches of all denominations and creeds soon abounded, and every man had the right to worship under his own "vine and fig tree," with none to make hiuT afraid.

Did it show lack of enterprise, when in the early years of the settlements, a road was surveyed and cut through the forests to the seaboard, and at a subsequent date, before there was a miile of railroad in the States, to raise the money for and complete the survey of a route from the mouth of the Muskingum across the Allegheny ]\Iountains? (See papers in the hands of Edward M. Booth. Esq.. Citizens National Bank.)

In later years go to the regions of Northern ;\l/ichig"an. and find there conducting the exploration Oif the copper mines, bringing to its stockholders untold wealth, a Marietta man.

Go to the Pacific Coast, and find there a graduate of our shipyards, having laid down his adze here, the widely-known and able conductor of the then largest steam navigation company in California. This is Capt. James Whitney, a Marietta man.

and home funds were exhausted, and the most hopeful of its friends almost hopeless, we see in the city of Berlin a man who in full confidence of the value O'f the bonds which he proposes to sell, satisfying the money lenders of Europe of the value of the offered security, bringing back to this country millions of dollars, which enabled the directors to tunnel the hills and trestle the gaps, and lay the rails, and thus complete an enterprise, which has gi\-en us connection with the outer world. This man was no other than Noah L. Wilson, who spent most of his days in the nvidst O'f us.

General \Varner, it is admitted on all hands, I believe, gave us the Cleveland & Marietta Railroad, the value of which to our city and county cannot be estimated. This railroad supplanted to a great degree another enterprise, which has not by any mieans lost its value to the Cduntry through which it passes, and the business prosperity of our city. This road was projected and built, and called the Marietta & Duck Creek Plank Road. John O. Cram, one of the live men of Marietta, was the father of this enterprise.

'- Toda}- w,e find ourselves connected with the North and West by the Toledo & Ohio Central Extension, an enterprise bringing deservedly much credit to our fellow citizen, T. D. Dale, for its construction and completion. It is said that this road brings more trade to Marietta than any other.

An end I must reach, fully convinced that a volume could be written filled with the narration of commendable acts of those who lived before us. I shall necessarily pass over much of the history of the past.

The building and conduction of our manufacturing establishments, notably the chair factory, which, in the past, as I ami creditably informed, fed and clothed, and gave good iiomes to 1,500 souls. Grafton, Mills and Stanley should write this history.

William, L. Rolston, Esq., better than any one I know, can give a history of other years ; the tannery, where hundreds of thousands of dfjllars were ijrobablv used and manv hands employed. He also' can tell you, better than anyone living, of the woolen factory, where miiich real capital was lost in an attempt to build up the manufacturing interests of Marietta.

In this connection, allow me to say that A. T. Nye should write up the history of iron manufacturing in this region. I know of no one so competent to do it.

In m[y- boyhood days I used to look with veneration upon the faces and forms of those who planted our institutions here; their names were hotisehold words, their deeds were recorded in memory; their children were my playmates and schoolmates and after companions. I feel exultant to have had such a companionship. ,