History of Ohio Methodism : a study in social science

Preface

THERE are jioints of time in the life of a Church, as well as the individual, when one may look back and feel that something of the past is secured. Whatever has been good or profitable, naturally awakens feelings of gratitude and pleasure. This is emphatically true of the Centennial of Ohio Methodism.

The planting and growth of the Church, with its thrilling history, is secured. Her effective methods of work and Scriptural doctrines, formulated to meet all human needs, are secured. The rich heritage of religion and education are bequeathed to us. The noble examples of the pioneer preachers and Church members, inspired as they were with lofty purposes, true devotion, and unsurpassed heroism, are likewise secured. \Ve have entered into the labors of these brave Christian heroes. The gratitude of t4iis generation may be expressed in more earnest efforts to emulate their virtues and to imitate their deeds of valor.

The limits of our work do not permit us to sketch, only in a brief manner, a few of the lives among the great number of gifted preachers and noble laymen. Their self-sacrificing devotion and untiring labors read more like romantic stories than real events in actual life. We hope the Church w^ill not permit their memories to be entombed in the fleeting past.

For nearly a decade the author has had unequaled opportunities to travel throughout Ohio, and observe the general development of the Church, and gather materials of real historic value. It is impossible to

4 PREFACE.

appropriate at the present more tlian a fragment of the materials at our command.

The author is indebted to many friends for their vahiable assistance. They have rendered great service to the Church in their dihgent search for facts and incidents relating 'to the local Church histories in more than forty cities of Ohio. Special mention is due to Professor Samuel W. Williams for the chapter on Methodist Literature, and for the historic sketch of Methodism in Cincinnati.

No attempt has been made to write the annals of Ohio Methodism, but simply to present a general survey of the work, giving only a sufficient number of incidents and facts to illustrate some fundamental principle. The aim has been to trace the historic forces that serve to account for the extraordinary success of the Church and the social progress of the State.

Ohio Methodism began a century ago, and numbered less than one hundred persons. To-day the membership numbers nearly three hundred thousand. The historic interpretation of the living Spirit which operates back of all facts naturally enlists the attention of the thoughtful student. Methodism has been one of the most powerful forces at work through the evolutionary process of modern society. The laws and processes of social development have not been elaborated, but sufficient emphasis has been given the subject to show that the Christian spirit, as embodied in the character of the Methodist, has produced a more healthful growth of society. The review of our historic environment and present condition can not be otherwise than helpful, and we hope will lead the Church to a fuller consecration and a more determined and aggressive warfare against sin.

THE AUTHOR.

Oak WOOD Cottage, Dela7vart\ Ohio.

Introduction

OHIO is the seventeenth State admitted to the Union. She ranks thirty-fifth in size among her sister States. She is not located at the East, serving as the gateway through which population, wealth, intelligence, and religion passed from the Old World to the New. She is without a Greater New York, which, as the gateway to the continent, belongs to the whole country rather than to a single Commonwealth. She is without the advantages of two hundred years of intellectual and religious development which contribute to the leadership of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. How, then, can we account for the fact that Ohio ranks third in population and wealth, and among the first of her sister States in education and religion? Ohio produced Grant, the greatest general the world has yet known; Sherman, the greatest campaigner; Sheridan, the greatest cavalryman; Rosecrans, the tactician; Mitchel, the scholar; and Garfield and Hayes, who later rose to the leadership of the Nation. Ohio has produced a Rockefeller, who has acquired more wealth personally than any other man in history, and Edison, the most fertile inventor in the world. Ohio produced W. H. Bancroft, whose thirty-nine volumes embrace the finest collection of historical materials made by an American writer. Ohio developed McGufYey, whose readers and spellers reached every schoolhouse in the Alississippi \^alley, and she fosters the largest publishing-house for school-books upon the globe. A resident of Ohio produced Uncle

6 ixTRonrcTioN. •

Tom's Cabin, which was planned and largely written in Cincinnati. Ohio has given "Nasby" (to wit, J. R. Locke), Rcid, and Halstead, and Edwards to journalism; Howclls and Harriet Beecher Stowe to literature; J. G. Woollev and Lucy Stone and James G. Birney to reform; McLean and Chase and Waite to the Supreme Court; Corwin and Ewing to eloquence; Sherman, Thurman, and McKinley to statesmanship. Ohio has fostered such educators as Mann and Thomson, McCabe and Merrick, Payne and Fairchild, Williams and Hancock and Harper. Ohio has produced such philanthropists as Lewis A tiller, the financial founder of Chautauqua; and Case, of the School of Applied Sciences ; and Stone, of Adelbert College ; and Rockefeller, of Chicago University. The Underground Railroad ran through Ohio, and Calvin Fairbanks and other Buckeyes were heroes in that unknown struggle for the freedom of the slaves. Ohio has given the pulpit Finney and Mcllvaine, Gunsaulus and Bigelow, Durbin and Simpson. Ohio has produced, or else trained in political life for the Presidency, the two Harrisons, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and McKinley, and is thus supplanting Virginia as the Mother of Presidents. Through the influence of the Ohio Wesleyan University and of Oberlin College, Ohio has sent out more men and women to evangelize the world probably than any other State in the Union. The Scotts and Lowrys, Thomson, Tubbs, LaFetra, Allen, JNIansell, INIary Reed, James and Isabella Thoburn, and a princely host are creating civilizations in Mexico and South America, in Korea and Japan, in India and in China.

How can we account for our goodly heritage? I have not time to mention, much less discuss, all of the forces which have contributed to the greatness of the Commonwealth. I can not enter upon a philosophical discussion of the question raised. A Taine or a Buckle would find rich resources in Ohio for his contention lATK'OnUCTION. 7

that our material advantages have produced our intellectual and moral prosperity. Upon the other hand, a DeTocqueville or a Bryce would find ample reasons for the view that the material and poHtical pre-eminence of Ohio, as of the Nation at large, is chiefly due to the spiritual and intellectual life of her citizens. I can not discuss the question at all. I can only express of my adopted State the conviction that her character accounts for her conquests. Ohio was settled by people from New England, Pennsylvania, the A'irginias, the Carolinas, and Kentucky. As Europe was ' sifted to produce the original Colonists, so the Colonies were sifted to produce the Buckeyes. Thus the citizens of Ohio are Americans of the Americans, as Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Puritans, Quakers, Cavaliers, and Huguenots contributed the spiritual and mental vigor, which accounts, in part at least, for the social and material advancement of our Commonwealth. The Ordinance of 1787 — second only in its influence upon our continent to the Constitution of 1789 — saved the State from the moral and material blight of African slavery. Above all, Christian missionaries— Catholic, Quaker, Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Methodist — accompanied and often preceded the pioneers, and the early settlers of the State were molded by religious influences.

Among the religious forces which have contribut ^d to the leadership of Ohio. ]\Iethodism has plaved inconspicuous part. Indeed, so intense and pervasive has been the influence of this Church, that Methodism is not only the leading denomination in Ohio, but Ohio is the leading Methodist Commonwealth upon the globe. Ohio furnishes one-tenth of the membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the world, and more than one-tenth of her contributions to Christian charities. Ohio has nurtured the greatest preachers of Methodism. She has trained her missionaries and educators. She has given birth to the ^Missionary

8 INTR OD UCTION.

Society, to the Woman's Home Missionary Society, to the Freedmen's Aid Society, and to the Epworth League. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the most influential woman's organization upon the globe, was founded in Ohio by Methodist women. Of the bishops of Methodism, Ohio has produced Simpson and Harris, Foster and Merrill, Walden and Joyce, Cranston and McCabe and Thoburn. In addition to these, who were born upon her soil, she has trained for their high responsibilities Hamline and Morris, Ames and Clark, Thomson and Kingsley, Ninde and Hartzell and Wiley. Thus out of the forty-nine men selected during the century to lead the militant hosts of Methodism, Ohio has produced or nurtured eighteen.

It is to narrate the history of the Methodist Church in Ohio; it is to trace the influence of religion upon the social and public life of our citizens; it is to explain in some measure the secret of the Commonwealth's greatness, that ''Ohio Methodism" is written. The volume is prepared by those having a knowledge of the facts, and a love for all that is noblest in our Commonwealth; it depicts incidents of thrilling interest, and presents principles upon which the future growth of our State depends; hence I count it an honor to bid the book Godspeed.

T. W. BASHFORD.

Chapter I. I'age

CHAPTER n. • Mission of Methodism, 49

CHAPTER HI.

Introduction of Methodism, 79

CHAPTER IV.

Growth of Methodism, 105

CHAPTER V.

Pioneer Preachers, 129

CHAPTER VI.

Experiences of Itinerants, 171

CHAPTER VII.

Organizations, 191

CHAPTER VIII.

Higher Edication, 221

CHAPTER IX.

Literature, 265 lO CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

PAGE.

CHAPTER XL Methodism ix Cities: 301

Akron,

Allian'ce, Rev. T. W. Lane.

Athens, Rev. D. C. Tho.mas.

Barnesville, Rev. J. D. Tai.bott.

Bellekontaine, Rev. C. R. H.avighorst.

BucYRUs, Rev. M.J. Keyes.

Canton, Rev. C. E. Manchester.

Cambridge, ... Coi.. C. P. B. Sarchet.

Chillicothe, Hon. Wm. T. McClintick.

Cincinnati, S. W. Williams.

Clevel.and, Mary Bigelow Ingh.a:\i.

Columbus, J. C. Jackson, Jr.

D.ayton, Rev. W. A. Robinson.

East Liverpool, Rev. J. H. Husto.n.

FiNDLAY, Rev. J. ]\L Avann.

Gallipoi.is, Rev. P. A. Baker.

Hamilton, Henry Mallorv, M. D.

HiLLSBORO, L. Detwiler.

M.^nsfield, Rev. F. A. Gould.

Massillon, , Rev. Geo. B. Smith.

Mt. Vernon, Mrs. C. A. Agnew.

Newark, Lucy AL Connel.

Norwalk, E. L. Young.

Painesville, Rev. R. M. Freshwater.

Ravenna, A. B. Grifitn.

Sandusky, Rev. L. K. Warner.

Sidney,

Springfield, Miss Kate Kauff.man.

Urbana, Rev. C. W. Rishell.

Vernon, John L King, M. D.

Warren, B. J. Taylor.

Youngstown, Rev. A. i\L Billingsley.

Zanesville, Hon. John W. King.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

I'AGE.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio, Frontispiece.

Ohio River, 17

Campus Martius, 23

Arthur St. Clair, 26

Epworth Rectory, 52

John Wesley, 57

Church where the General Conference was Held, 1784, 67

Francis McCormick, 85

McCormick's Grave, near Milford, Ohio, 87

R. R. Roberts, 97

Alfred Brunson, 99

Bishop Asbury, no

Conference Map, between 114, 115

Rev. William Nast, 116

William McKendree, 119

Henry Smith, 135

John Collins, 138

William Burke, 140

Edward Tiffin, 146

James Quinn, 154

James B. Finley, I57

Charles Elliott, 160

Thomas A. Morris, 161

David Young, 162

Jacob Young, 163

John P. Durbin, 165

II 12 Illustrations

PAGE.

Miss Isabella Thoburn, 197

Bishop D. W. Clark, 199

Eliza J. Thompson, 205

Lucy Webb Hayes, 208

Christ's Hospital, 213

Epworth Memorial Church, 215

Mount Union College Buildings, 238, 239, 240

Ohio Wesleyan University Astronomical Observatory, 243 Gray Chapel and Administration Building, ,...,, 246

Slocum Library, 248

Monnett Hall, 252

Presidents of the Ohio Wesleyan University, 255

Western Methodist Book Concern Building, 283

First Methodist Episcopal Church, Norwalk, Ohio, . . 409 Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington C. H., Ohio, . 443

Chapter I.

'HERE must be somewhere a plan in history which shall take account of the near and the far, of the ancient, the modern, and even of peoples yet to be; which shall recognize and regulate the moral forces which build up states, or which work their decay; which shall anticipate tendencies, occasions, men, and take cognizance of arts, inventions, knowledges, even before society has reached them, that all may be confederated in systematic interact'on for a final effect." — R. S. Stores.

C^HE history of the Church shows us that out of the organization ^^ for religious worship have issued successively all the greater organizations of society, systems of constitutional government, education, art, the festivals and jubilee of social intercourse. The sys= tera of worship begat them all." — JV. H. Fremantle.

**j^OCIAL Philosophy may be regarded as concerned with the

^^ relations of men to each other, with their relations to the

material world, and with the development of individual character

in so far as that is affected by these relations. "^^. S. MacKenzie.

.UR inquiry is not merely or mainly concerned with the increase of the material satisfaction of life, with enlarged cities, growing populations, expanding commerce, . . . but with the character and sway of ideas. For ideas are real forces. Ideas are our real world ; institutions, laws, events, are the changing garments in which that world appears ; so that the progress of a city, of a country, or of a generation is to be tested by the comparative strength and dominion of true conceptions of the universe and of nature, of life and death, of duty and right, of the individual and of the village, town, city, state, and race in which the individual lives, and moves, and has his being; of institutions like Marriage and Home, School and University, Pulpit and Press, Church and State." — Dr.JoJm Cliford.

CHAPTER I.

OHIO presents a splendid field for Christian activity. It is (luite true tiiat a Christian's responsibilities and sympathies can not be confined by any boundaries arbitrarily fixed; yet Providence has placed us in this portion of his moral vineyard to cultivate it. If, without forgetting the greater and broader field of the world's parish, we study the peculiar physical and moral conditions under which we are placed, and consider our noble ancestry, and recall the soulinspiring traditions of the pioneers, we may better serve our day and generation. The inspiration and glory of former days should certainly stimulate our faith and encourage our effort to perpetuate the noble inheritance of our fathers, and fulfill in some degree the wonderful possibilities which a kind Providence lays before us.

The phenomenal growth of the commonwealth of Ohio awakens interest and devout thankfulness in the most casual observer of events. The remarkable progress is brought more closely to our attention since we are about to close our first century, and enter upon the eventful times of the twentieth century. It is four hundred years since Columbus opened up to the Old World the dim vision of the New World and its possibilities. Nearly one century and a fourth afterward, the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock. Half a century later La Salle, the first white man, sailed down the beautiful Ohio River, and brought back glowing reports of what is now the State of Ohio. One hundred and nineteen years after these occurrences, and one hundred and sixty-seven years after the landing of the Mayflower, a colony of immigrants landed at Marietta, and inaugurated a new civilization. ■More than a century has elapsed; and we see the State making rapid progress toward a fuller and grander civilization and an integral part of a great Nation, ranking third in a Union of forty-eight.

The epochs marking the discovery of America and the settlement of the Pilgrim Fathers, the successful struggle for independence, the opening of the great Northwest territory, and the founding of the State of Ohio, are among the mountain peaks of our national history, radiant with the new light of hope for the world, and indicating that the drift of history is forward and onward to a higher and better life. From the course of these events we may trace the steppings of a Providence that "shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will."

Ohio is favorably located bejtween the Ohio River, which forms its southern boundary for four hundred and thirty-six miles, and a chain of lakes on the north, with a shore-line of two hundred and thirty miles. The State has a land area of forty thousand seven hundred and sixty square miles.

The topography of the State reveals a variety of landscapes. The noble forests, flowing rivers, beautiful lakes, rolling hills, rich and fertile valleys, combine to form a picture which produces the most pleasant impressions. A ridge of hills, forming the backbone of the State, extending nearly diagonally, divides the val-

1 8 OHIO 2rETH0DIS.V.

ley of the Ohio from the lakes on the north. These table-lands and hills, furrowed by rich valleys, are drained by numerous streams and rivers. The equable climate and temperature, together with a variety of soil and products, make it one of the most desirable places for residence. "The river, the lake, and the inland combined to form a country which the red man and the white man alike admired and coveted as a garden of delights. No wonder that the savage died rather than yield it; no wonder that the enterprising spirits in the old settlements were eager to enjoy a land, so attractively pictured by all who came back from it."

Great changes have been wrought during the first century of Ohio's history. The lands have been mostly cleared of forests, and drained, and made ready for ripening fields of grain, luscious fruits^ and homes of peace and plenty. The Indian wigwams and villages have retreated before the inventions of civilized men. Farms, factories, churches, and schools have rapidly multiplied until now we enjoy more privileges and better environments than many of the oldest civilizations of the world.

It will repay the time and effort to review briefly some of the leading events in the history of the settlements and the present achievements of Ohio, and, if possible, trace the effects back to the underlying causes, and discover the far-reaching results.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Jesuits, with their subtle and sinister system, were belting the globe with their missions. Through their heroic spirit and self-sacrifice they were gaining new triuniphs on this continent. The missionary enthusiasm of the Jesuits for the Indians deserves praise; but the Christianity which they planted did not strike deep root. The h>ench missionaries and explorers were the first to penetrate the Northwest Territory, embracing the present territorial limits of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, ]\lichigan, Wisconsin, and a part of Alinnesota. For more than two hundred years the French held sway through the entire Mississippi A'alley, by right, as they claimed, of discovery and settlement. They erected numerous forts from the mouth of the Alississippi to Canada, in order to maintain their possessions. The French had established their colonies chiefly for the purpose of trading with the Indians.

The English had claimed the right of possession to the territory lying west of the coast through the right of discovery by Cabot in 1479; and a portion of the Ohio V'alley by a treaty with the Indian Confederacy of Six Nations. The English explorers in the meanwhile were establishing themselves in the great West, which was claimed by the French. Pickawillany, an English trading station, situated on the Great Aliami River, at the mouth of Loramics Creek, was built in 1479. ^t was the first point of English settlement in Ohio. In 1748 the Ohio Land Company, composed of English and Virginian merchants, was formed. Tw^o years later, Christopher Gist conducted an exploring party which followed the Ohio River to its falls. Gist was the first white man of Anglo-Saxon descent to visit, m an official capacity, the country now^ comprised within the limits of Ohio. Through his favorable report the beauty and richness of the Ohio \'alley were brought to the attention of the EngHsh.

George Washington's first military exploit was to rescue the Ohio \^alley, and to uphold the right of the Colonists to this disputed territory. In 1754 he was sent to Pittsburg, the gateway of Ohio, to hold the fort for the English. Here there was already a small English settlement. The results that followed this action opened up the way for a prolonged conflict of nine years. The scattered French and English colonies, as well as each nation, were jealous of the possessions of this almost boundless domain. The Erench girded themselves for the supreme struggle against the extension of English power in America. They were finally defeated, and in 1763 ceded to the English all their claims to the Ohio Valley. Thus their sovereignty on this continent was destroyed, and this prepared the way for the English-speaking race and the great epoch of American independence.

'This was a conflict," says W. H. Withrow, '^not merely between hostile peoples, but between Democracy and Eeudalism, between Catholic superstition and Protestant liberty. The issue at stake was whether mediaeval institutions, the principles of military absolutism, and the teachings of Gallican clericalism should dominate, or whether the evolution of civil and religious liberty, of free thought, free speech, a free press, and the universal genius of free institutions should find a field for their development as wide as the continent. The problem was whether, on the banks of the Hudson and the MississipiM, on the shores of the Great Lakes, and amid the vast prairies of the far West should grow up a number of free commonwealths, or whether an intellectual atrophy and religious superstition, such as we behold to-day on either side of the lower St. Lawrence, should characterize also the whole, or greater part, of what is now the American Ljiion and the Canadian Dominion."

The Ohio \^alley remained in possession of Great Britain twenty years. After the war for independence all rights were surrendered. The States of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Mrginia likewise ceded all their claims to the territory, and so it passed under the complete control of the Federal Government. Congress in 1787 passed an ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio. This famous ordinance was a masterpiece of statesmanship. It vindicated the principles of the thirteen Colonies and became a model for all subsequent laws of the States and Territories. It provided that "there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory otherwise than as the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." It also contained the following famous article: "Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means for education shall forever be encouraged." These were placed by the ordinance among the fundamental principles of civil and religious li1)erty. Daniel Webster, in speaking of the ordinance, said: "We are accustomed to praise the learning and efforts of men of ancient times; w-e help to perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has had a more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787."

The colonization of Ohio and the struggles of the early settlers read like an Arabian tale. The pious Moravian missionaries were among the first settlers. They founded a mission among the Delaware Indians of the Muskingum Valley in the year 1761. Several missions were founded from time to time among the Indians of Eastern Ohio. They were unfortunately located between hostile forces; and in 1781 they were obliged to remove, and many of their Indian followers were massacred in the most shameful and brutal manner. Five years later a mission was established on the Cuyahoga River. This mission ceased to exist in 1824, when the lands of the Indians passed over to the General Government. In 1786 the Ohio Company was formed in Boston to purchase and settle lands west of the Alleghanies. They purchased from the Government about a million and a half of acres situated in the present counties of Washington, Athens, Meigs, and Gallia.

The following year a' colony for its settlement was organized, and started on its journey to a new home in the West. General Putnam, with forty-eight colonists, landed, on April 7, 1788, at the mouth of the Aluskingum River, at the present site of Marietta, wdiere they erected temporary huts, wdiich contained the germs of a great civilization, although there was no large prophecy in these early beginnings.

Bancroft says of this company: *Tt interested

THE FIELD.

every one. For vap;-ue hope of colonization here stood a hardy band of pioneers, ready to lead the way to the rapid absorption of the domestic debt of the United States; selected from the choicest regiments of the army, capable of self-defense, the protectors of all who should follow them; men skilled in the labor of the field, and artisans, enterprising and laborious,

CAMPUS MARTIUS.

trained in the severe morality and strict orthodoxy of the New England villages of the day."

The civil government of the Northwest Territory was established in 1788. In September of this year the first Court of Common Pleas in the Territory was opened at Marietta with imposing ceremonies. Eighty-four new colonists joined the number before the year closed.

Other settlements followed this one. In 1792 about five hundred settlers from France reached the Ohio River and founded Gallipolis. Soon after the purchase of the Ohio Company, John C. Symmes, of New Jersey, purchased one million acres between the Great and Little Miami Rivers. This purchase was subse- (juently modified by Congress to three hundred and eleven thousand six hundred and eighty-two acres. This territory was settled mostly by people from New Jersey. The \ irginia military settlers occupied the Scioto Valley. Another stream of immigration poured in from Pennsylvania, and located in Central-East Ohio, and covered what is known as the backbone of Ohio, which is the great wheat-belt of the State. These colonists were Scotch-Irish and Pennsylvania German. The Connecticut settlements came in on the north, and settled what is now known as the Western Reserve territory. They brought the New England ideas. These streams of immigration met and eddied about each other. There was a marked distinction in the manners, customs, and ideas of these early settlers, which to the present day is not entirely effaced. These lines of demarkation are growing fainter each year. The railroads and various avenues of trade have led men to move about more readily. The provincialism of thirty or forty years ago has been in a great measure broken up, and the population of Ohio is now a homogeneous body. This mingled stock and life of various peoples found a common exhibition, and made possible a richer and more progressive civilization. The social and unifying principle of political freedom and Christianity has operated favorably in bringing about these resuUs.

Ohio furnishes the theater of the story of the most thrilhng- incident and heroic valor. Its history abounds in experiences of the deepest pathos and the grimmest tragedy. The feats and hairbreadth escapes of the daring bordermen read hke a romance. The Inchans resisted every encroachment of the pioneers upon their territory, and with daring and barbaric cruehy they captured and sacked the villages. They did not hesitate to perpetrate some of the most daring atrocities on the frontier settlements. The pioneers retaliated by making frequent expeditions among the Indians to destroy their crops, burn their towns, and capture and kill the inhabitants. It is to be regretted that such a deep hatred existed between the Indians and pioneers, which continued until the treaty concluded by General \\'ayne in 1795. Several attempts were made to check the depredations of the savages upon these frontier settlements, but with varying success.

General St. Clair organized an expedition against the Indians, and with less than two thousand soldiers came to the Wabash River, where his army was encircled by a thousand and fifty Indians; and a terrible battle ensued, eight hundred and ninety-four of his men being killed within a few hours; and the others fled. The result of this battle greatly emboldened the Indians. General Anthony Wayne, a heroic soldier of the Revolution, organized an army of three thousand men, and marched from Cincinnati to Greenville, the rendezvous of the hostile savages. He made

OHIO METHODISM.

o^enerons proposals of peace, but they were rejected. On Aiici^nst 20. 1794, near the present site of Alau-

\l I n R ST. CLAIR.

mee City, he attacked and signally defeated the Indian tribes of the Northwest. He and his army retired to rireenville, and arrani^ed and concluded a treaty upon August 3, 1795, which was participated in l)y eleven hundred and thirty Indians.

This treaty established peace on the frontier, and opened the way for a more rapid settlement of Ohio. The Territory in 1798 had five thousand male inhal)itants of full ap^e. They were now entitled to elect a legislative assembly, and this was done the December following. The Territorial Government continued until 1803, when Ohio, with a population of sixty thousand, was admitted to the sisterhood and Union of the States, where her career was to be an important factor in the history of the Union. At the close of the first century of the history of Ohio we see the imperfect alliance between the early settlers succeeded by an organized union of eighty-eight counties, "exuberant with vigor, proudly independent in local affairs, but for national concerns compacted into a unity which nothing but the splitting of the continent can disturb."

This short review of the early settlement and the formation of Ohio will prepare us in some measure to consider the resources and industrial agencies which exist at the present time. The feeble and remote beginnings in Ohio's history hardly prepare us to comprehend the remarkable growth in everything that goes to make up civilized life. For several years the cost of transportation checked the settlers by limiting them to a domestic market. The only means they had of communicating with accessible markets was by pack-horses, which w^re soon displaced by Pennsylvania wagons, drawn by four or six h3r3es. The roads at first were only obscure and winding paths in trackless forests. But Congress in 1806 ordered the construction of a national road between Ohio at Wheeling, and Cumberland, Maryland. The road was completed in 1825 at a cost of more than two million dollars. Almost two-thirds of this amount was provided from the proceeds of Ohio land-sales. The sum of one million two hundred and thirteen thousand dollars was likewise expended by Ohio on that part of the road lying within the State's domain. This road became the highway of national activity, and gave an outlet for the immense productions of the State, and helped to relieve the depression created by the absence of commerce, as well as to bring a great influx of population.