300 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY now occupied by the Mosel-Johnson wholesale Grocery, Fitzimmons Lumber Company and Alexander Storage Company. William J. Fox, of Pittsburgh, who came here in 1884, built a small establishment on Slack street at the P. C. & St. L. crossing for the manufacture of blown glassware. At his death the plant was sold to a company headed by Alexander Humphrey, from whom it took the name of Humphrey Glass works. In June, 1897, it was again sold to S. G. Robinson and W. T. Garrett, of Martin's Ferry under the name of The Steubenville Glass works. They remodeled the works and added a tank furnace to the nine-pot furnace already there. They turned out blown table and bar glassware and employed a hundred hands. They finally gave up the business however, and the plant was operated for a while as a decorating factory, the ware being purchased elsewhere. After that it was purchased by The Steubenville Marbles Company for the manufacture of glass marbles. The company turned out enough glass balls to supply, it would seem, every boy in the country; but the enterprise was not a financial success. The buildings are now occupied by the Union Lumber Company. Charles Henderson and others in 1880 organized the Brilliant Glass Company and built a factory at what was then Lagrange. In a couple of years it was entirely destroyed by fire but was soon rebuilt. It passed through various hands making a good grade of tableware, and finally turning out a beautiful line of work, the product of French artists. The fire fiend again devoured it in 1895, and this time it was not rebuilt. In the latter part of 1904, N. H. McGee and W. E. Deiters formed a corporation under the name of McGee, Deiters Glass Company, and built a plant at Brilliant for the manufacture of fine decorated ware and especially ruby lantern globes. A good trade was carried on but insufficient capital necessitated the appointment of B. W. Mettenberger, as receiver, early in 1909. Mr. Mettenberger and others are now operating the plant. OTHER INDUSTRIES. Among the earliest of the city manufactories, and the only one with the exception of the Means .foundry which has had a continuous existence from previous to 1815 to the present day, was the Clinton Paper Mill established on the river bank at the north end of the city in 1813 by Scott and Bayless. They were succeeded by Henry Holdship, Holdship & Hanna, J ames Turnbull and Hanna Brothers, who conducted operations during the Civil War, who also had a mill .for the manufacture of brown wrapping paper on the opposite side of the river which burned down' finally The Clinton mill was entirely destroyed by fire in the fifties, but was rebuilt larger and better than ever. After the war it was run by a corporation under the name of Pittsburgh Paper Manufacturing Company, and was then purchased by A. Hartje, of Pittsburgh, who had it for several years. At his death it was taken by his sons who still operate it under the name of Hartje Bros. Repeated enlargements have made it one of the most extensive mills in the country. It has run with remarkable steadiness day and night, employing some 200 hands. The product is news print, wrapping paper, straw and pulp board, with a capacity of over one hundred tons per day. The largest roll of paper in the world has been turned out here, being fourteen miles in length and weighing over 2,700 pounds. About the year 1800 Bezaleel Wells engaged in the production of copperas on the stream which bears his name at the south end of the city, afterwards haying in partnership a German named Augustine Koelb. This concern operated until 1843, the sulphur water from coal banks being utilized in its manufacture. About 1830-35, John Fisher went into the same business, in which lie was succeeded by his son, these plants running many years, and making as high as 1,500 barrels a season. Benjamin Johnson had the last copperas works west of the city. and when he died the business died with him. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 301 James Turnbull conducted a book bindery and blank book manufactory as early as 1816, and also published some books. He was followed by A. L. Frazier, Alexander McDowell, John Mills, W. R. Allison, P. B. Conn, Slack & Way, Sprague & Carnahan, The Herald Publishing & Printing Companies, A. Niederhuber and H. C. Cook Company. Dr. McDowell in 1818-20 raised Castor beans in large quantities, and built a castor oil factory near Stony Hollow, but finding the frost came too early, cutting off the beans before they matured, the enterprise was abandoned. Incidentally the boatyard of Elijah Murray above Washington street has been mentioned in connection with the steamboats built there. Starting in 1819, it was one of the town's most important industries until 1832, when the buildings were detroyed by fire, which has certainly worked havoc among Steubenville's industries. David Cable and James McKinney subsequently built a sawmill on the same premises, afterwards adding a planing-mill. They were succeeded by Robert and George McKinney, and in 1867 it was burned to the ground, being set on fire, as it was claimed, by sparks from a C. & P. locomotive. After several years of litigation a judgment of $20,000 was recovered against the railroad company. The mill was rebuilt in 1869 by George McKinney, with John Tweed as partner in the lumber business, the latter being succeeded by A. J. McCray until about 1873 when the Economy Society purchased the property. It was afterwards sold to Charles Staples who carried on quite a business in the way of building barges for coal and sand. The Mill was operated a while by John Scott, and then used by parties named Lappe for a hide warehouse. Subsequently it was acquired by Wagner & Heuser who made a specialty of cutting up walnut logs and shipping the product to Europe. On the organization of the Steubenville Electric Light Company in 1886 it was used as a power plant until the erection of their building on lower North street. As mentioned elsewhere George McKinney also ran a planing-mill on South Seventh street which passed to Lewis Anderson about 1860, and is now the site of the wall paper factory. A cotton wadding factory was operated by B. D. and 0. A. Worthington at the corner of Market and Liberty Streets during the fiftys, and afterwards a two-story frame establishment was built at the corner of South Street and S. & I. Railroad. Refuse from the manufacture of cotton goods was used as raw material, and as this was difficult to procure during the Civil War, the concern ceased to be profitable, and its operation uncertain. The structure was finally destroyed by fire, and the site afterwards procured by the Steubenville Pottery Company. John McFeely & Company built a planing-mill in 1.867 on outlot 15 between Market and Washington streets west of Seventh, which, after running there for five years, was moved to the corner of Seventh and Washington and was operated thereafter until 1877, when it was converted into the California flour-mill. Benjamin Travis built a frame planing-mill on South Seventh street directly opposite the Anderson mill in 1868-69. It was burned a couple of years after, but was soon replaced by a substantial brick structure, which was afterwards purchased by Robert Hyde who enlarged the same. At his death it was purchased by Joseph McFeely & Company, afterwards McFeely Brothers, whose increasing business required them to add to it the old McDevitt mill property, giving them the largest plant of the kind in the city, facing on three streets. C. Massey had a planing-mill on South Sixth street afterwards McDowell. The Cavitt mill was located on North Third, site of Red Lion and Fourth Ward House. J. C. Fitzimmons Lumber Company, originally located on North Third has just completed a new mill on North Seventh. J. O. Goodlin & Son and Guy Johnson & Son operated planing-mills in Toronto. 302 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY Frank Shane had a boatyard at Empire, and Moses Campbell a saw-mill. Dr. Benjamin Tappan started a chemical works in the lower end of Steubenville in 1831, which he sold three years later to Alexander, son of Bezaleel Wells and an English chemist named Simmons. They manufactured Prussian blue, acids, copperas, etc., for several years. In 1877, W. D. McLaughlin and W. A. Long converted the old Wells saw-mill at the mouth of Fairy Glen across the river into a factory, of which bone fertilizers were the leading product. Frederick Misselwitz, a .German, started a soap factory on Water street near Adams in 1838. He was successful, but used up his profits in a western speculation, returning in a couple of years and reopening business at the old stand with John Sellers as partner, they operated two years longer. Misselwitz then moved to the site of the present Odd Fellows building on North Fourth street, and began business there in 1846. Christopher Hineman learned the business with him here, and J W. Mandel came in as a partner, during which time they bought a lot further north where the Masonic building now stands, and erected a frame building. Mandel retired in a couple of years, and A. H. Dohrman came in who only remained about the same length of time. In the meantime Sellers had been conducting a successful business at the old stand on Water street and Misselwitz went back there, the two going into the manufacture of soda ash. 11 r. Hineman acquired the Fourth street property and Mandel, who resided immediately north, again came in. They remained together about twelve years or until 1862, when they dissolved. During this time a branch was run on South Fifth street. George M. Cummins then became a partner and remained until 1870, when Hineman took the business himself and was succeeded by his son until the property was sold to Mr. Floto. Wyatt's steam dye works were started about 1835 and operated for half a century or more. Murphy's carriage factory was started about the same time on Third, then moved to north west corner of Fourth and Washington streets, then to Fifth between Washington and Market, where it remained until after the death of the proprietor. Clark & Curfman established a second factory on Market Square in 1866, which was operated for about forty years. Muldoon & Company established marble works in 1856, on north side of Market just west of Fourth, succeeded by Evans & Irwin and by J. H. Bristor. They are now conducted by Archer Brothers on upper Market. A similar establishment was started on South Fourth street in 1843, acquired by George Swords in 1864, and now conducted by his son. Mr. Curn has an establishment where stood the original plant. J. C. Huff and his son Richard, succeeded to the Murphy carriage works, and subsequently James Workman and son who have a large plant on the east side of the street. William Denmead conducted a brass foundry on Washington street for several years beginning with 1864 on site of Second Presbyterian church, and subsequently at his residence property on North Seventh street. As far back as 1830, John Odbert had a hat factory on North Third street, and after the water works started, opened a plumbing shop. Later J. O. Davidson had one on Fourth street just above Market. John Orr had a chair factory in 1830, in a frame building on the corner of Market street and Alley D between Fifth and Sixth, which was run by a tramp wheel. William Robertson had one at the same time on the same street below the present W. & L. E. R. R. track. Samuel Sproud had one on Third street below Market, present site of Burgoyne's drugstore. Joseph Walker had a saddler shop next door, and Frank Osborne had a similar one a block farther north on same street. George Pearce opened an establishment on South Fourth street adjoining St. Paul's church lot in 1855, which developed into a large furniture factory. It was burned in 1872. but was rebuilt larger than ever and carried on by his sons and son-in-law, Mr. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 303 Caswell. Subsequently the plant was converted into a manufactory of telephone booths and boxes, which was a financial failure, and the property is now the Alexander storage house. About 1873, M. Hayes built a cider vinegar manufactory in the rear of his residence on North Fourth street, with a capacity of 1,000 barrels per year, which he carried on during his lifetime. About the same time other parties conducted a match factory at the corner of Centre avenue and Alley D. Edward Winning and Mr. Smallwood about the year 1876 purchased a tract of 255x120 near the Jefferson Iron Works and built a keg factory which found a market at its door. Mr. Smallwood retired in 1877, but Mr. Winning continued in business here until the erection of the Spaulding works at Brilliant when he removed to the latter place and remained several years. He also had a machine shop and dry kiln, giving employment to twenty men, his establishments being among the largest of the kind in the state. There was also a keg factory at Mingo. James Young, of Glasgow, appears to have been the discoverer that kerosene, the best oil illuminant known up to that time, could be produced in paying quantities from the distillation of cannel coal, and by 1854 it had become an article of commerce in England. In June of that year the first works in America were built on Long Island, opposite New York City, to be operated under Mr. Young's patent with coal brought from Nova Scotia and other distant points. It happened that soon after the Market street shaft began regular operations in 1858, it was discovered to contain pockets of fine cannel coal which came out in nice clean blocks. This was a suggestion to our local people. John Orr and others forthwith formed a company under the leadership of Mr. Fulton, master mechanic of the S. & I. R. R. and built a factory for the manufacture of kerosene, then generally called carbon or coal oil, near Stony Hollow, on what is now the Riverside furnace property. The production was satisfactory and the works a success. In the meantime, however, natural petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania, and it was soon recognized that competition with nature's laboratory was out of the question. The next best thing to do was to convert the factory into a refinery, which operated steadily for some months when it caught fire and was burned down. In 1869, John Orr and E. F. Andrews built a refinery below the Jefferson Iron Works. It was operated until 1876 when it was purchased by the Standard Oil Company, and of course, closed down. A tract of land south of the Mingo Iron Works property was purchased by Matthew Hodkinson in the latter part of 1869, and a refinery put in operation the following year. He was succeeded by his son, Samuel Hodkinson, and quite a business was carried on here for several years, but the Standard competition was too strong and a planing-mill and keg factory were started on the premises which remained until the property was absorbed by the ironworks. Harry Risher conducted the planing-mill here. Previous to the general use of petroleum there was a manufactory at Hammondsville for the production of oil from cannel coal. In 1899 a company was organized in Toronto for the manufacture of shoes under the leadership of John Burger, a practical manufacturer. A substantial brick building, two stories high was erected, and the plant began operations on August 1, 1899, with an output of 350 pairs of shoes per day. The latest improved machinery was in use, but for some reason the works failed to prosper, and the building was converted into a glass decorating works, which operated only a short time. The uncertainty of the natural ice supply in the Ohio Valley, especially during and after a mild winter naturally directed attention to the production of artificial ice. Accordingly in March, 1891, a number of Steubenville and Cincinnati people organized The Steubenville Ice Manufacturing 304 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY and Cold Storage Company with a capital stock of $75,000. It purchased the Means property west of the Pan Handle railway tracks between Market and Washington streets for $12,000. A long brick building which had been used in connection with the railroad car shops, and subsequently as a cooperative nail factory, was converted into a cold storage house, and immediately north was erected a large ice manufactory containing the latest improved machinery. The company made an assignment in 1894, and the property was purchased by the Miners' & Mechanics' Bank which on February 10, 1896, sold the same to George and James Koehnline. They immediately went to work s, ending $15,000 in changing from the plate to the can system, making blocks of a more manageable size and inaugurating other improvements. On May 10, 1897, a public opening was held and nearly 4,000 people visited the works. In the meantime the Ohio Valley Ice & Cold Storage Company had been organized, and built a mammoth brick structure at Toronto, with a cold storage house and a capacity of 40 tons per day. In the early part of 1899 this company purchased the Steubenville plant, more than doubling its output. Both plants were operated under this organization for a year or two when the Steubenville factory caught fire and burned down. The house was rebuilt, but only used for storage purposes, ice being supplied from the Toronto plant alone. Two new ice factories were built in 1909, one by Eli Castner and others south of the Steubenville paper-mill, and the other by John Yocum on his natural ice farm near the mouth of Wills Creek. Martin & Brown have a natural ice plant farther up the same creek, so there seems to be no danger of this community suffering from what has come to be considered one of the necessaries of life. The State Dye Works, Mahan & Nicholson Laundry once burned down and re built, J. C. Butte Laundry and Star Laun dry of Steubenville are contributing their share to the local industries. Two things are noticed in connection with Jefferson County's resources and industries.. First the variety and inexhaustible quantity of the former, and second the enterprise of the people in utilizing those resources, despite the almost unexampled ravages of fire, panic and business depression. We doubt if any other community can produce such a record, and it is a satisfaction that at no time in the country's chequered history have its industrial enterprises been so prosperous or apparently resting on a more secure foundation. It is hoped that this condition of affairs will long continue. CHAPTER XVI I I THE PRESS A Long and Honorable History—Close Relation to National Events—Numerous Array of Publications. If the spirit and intelligence of a community is to be gauged by the character of its newspapers, Jefferson County will not suffer by any comparison which can be brought. It not only claims to have the oldest newspaper in the state in the order of continuous publication, but its journals generally have had an influence considerably beyond its own borders. The difficulties attendant upon starting and conducting a newspaper west of the mountains at the beginning of the nineteenth century, can hardly be overestimated. The expense of the long cartage made the first cost of the plant out of proportion to its value as a revenue producer, and the price of paper and other necessary stock was calculated to absorb pretty much all the current receipts. Facilities for news gathering did not exist, local matters were not regarded as of special importance, and foreign intelligence was weeks old when it arrived by the slow process of mail. The population of Steubenville in 1806 probably did not exceed 500, and the rural population was exceedingly sparse. Undeterred by these drawbacks there came to Steubenville at the beginning of the century William Lowry and John Miller from Berkely County, Virginia. They were brothers-in-law, Lowry having married Miller's sister, and both were men of considerable prominence, possessing more then average ability and force of character. Miller inherited a little one-story frame building on the east side of Third street above Washington where Turner Hall now stands, from where in January, 1806, the first number of the Western Herald was issued. Miller did not remain long with the paper, and when the conflict of 1812, which had been so long portending, broke out, he joined the volunteer forces against the British, and afterwards became a member of the regular army. For distinguished services at Fort Meigs he was promoted to a colonelcy. After the war he received the appointment of register of lands in the territory of Missouri and became the second governor of that territory. Many years after, when it was decided to place two statues of Missouri's prominent men in the capitol at Washington, a factor in determining the choice of a sculptor was that one of the competitors was a great nephew of Governor Miller, Alexander Doyle, of New York, to whom the work was awarded. In the meantime, the paper was conducted by Lowry at the old location, he occupying the brick dwelling on the south, still standing, as a residence until the sale of the establishment to James Wilson in 1815. During his career he filled other positions, having been elected a justice of the peace during the War of 1812, and was a member of the lower house of the legis- - 305 - 306 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY lature in 1823-24, and of the state senate in 1825-26. Mr. Lowry was also a civil engineer, and surveyed the first road from Steubenville to Alikana, then known as Speakersburg, a regularly platted hamlet with a hotel, now occupied as the Castner residence. He died in 1843, leaving among his daughters, Mrs. Alexander Doyle, and the second Mrs. John Copeland, descendants of whom, William Wilkin, Mrs. J. W. Evans and Mrs. M. J. Urquhart,. still reside here. His other children removed from Steubenville at an early date: The little office building which has become historic, was occupied as a school house by Delle Hunt in 1828, and subsequently by John Dudley, whom some of our old citizens will remember, not only as a thorough teacher but a strict disciplinarian. The house was demolished to make way for Turner Hall in 1881, and the view herewith published was photographed at that time. Mr. Lowry retired from the Herald in 1815, and was succeeded by James Wilson, of Philadelphia, who seems to have been influenced by Judge Wright to come out here. The paper remained in his family for 30 years, during which it was declared to have "flopped" from the Democratic to the Whig party, afterwards the Republican. The fact was it simply followed itb old traditions in favor of the Adams wing of the party against the high-handed proceedings of Andrew Jackson, in which it had the authority of Jefferson and other Democratic leaders. A full review of this period by the present writer will be found in the Centennial number of the Herald, from which we take the following: The first daily newspaper published in this country was the American Advertiser, issued in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin Bache, a nephew of Benjamin Franklin, who afterwards conducted the Aurora. Although Washington was chosen president for two terms practically without opposition, yet a new political party was fully organized during his term of office under the lead of Thomas Jefferson. This party called itself Democratic-Republican, acting more generally, however, under the latter name. The fact that Washington appointed Jefferson his first Secretary of State did not prevent him conspiring against his chief. And cabinet differences became so marked that on December 31, 1793, he resigned his position and was succeeded by Edmund Randolph. The National Gazette of Philadelphia, having expired in October of that year, its place as Jefferson's personal organ was taken by the Aurora, which attacked federalism and Federalists from Washington down, with a virulence unknown at the present day, if we except* certain phases of New York journalism. When Washington left Philadelphia for his home at Mt. Vernon on March 5, 1797, the Aurora published a lengthy diatribe, rejoicing that "the man who is the source of all the misfortunes of our country is this day reduced to a level with his fellow citizens, and is no longer possessed of power to multiply evils upon the United States. If ever there was a period of rejoicing, this is the moment. Every heart in unison with the freedom and happiness of the people ought to beat high with adulation that the name of Washington from this day ceased to give a currency to political iniquity and legalized corruption. Nefarious projects can no longer be supported by a name. It is a subject of the. greatest astonishment that a single individual should have carried his designs against public liberty so far as to have put in jeopardy its very existence." Bache died of yellow fever in 1798, and his widow placed the paper tinder the management of William Duane, and its partisanship was as bitter as ever, even more so if that were possible. Duane was born in this country, but both his parents were Irish. He went to Ireland and learned the printing trade, and from thence went to India where he made a fortune. There he came in conflict with the East India Company, a trust that makes Standard Oil appear sickly in comparison, and was immediately AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 307 hustled out of the country without a dollar, all redress denied, and he came back to Philadelphia as poor as when he left. He naturally needed no probing to make the paper as anti-British as possible, and as pro-English was one of the favorite charges which the Republicans were constantly bringing against their antagonists, the Federalists, he had plenty of opportunity for gratifying his natural predilections. His office was mobbed, he was brutally beaten, and had it not been for the arrival of political friends there would have been an end of him if not of the Aurora, and the Herald might have_had a different editor. On November 6, 1799, the New York Argus published a letter from Philadelphia to the effect that Alexander Hamilton was at the bottom of an effort to suppress the Aurora, and that Mrs. Bache had been offered $6,000 down in part payment, the remainder to be paid on delivery of the property but she declared she would never dishonor her husband's memory or her children's future fame by such baseness, when she parted with the paper it would be to Republicans only. This statement would not be considered specially libelous in these days, but the spirit of the alien and sedition laws was still in full force, and back of the statements was the innuendo that the government secret service fund was to be used in this purchase. Suit was brought by Hamilton, and the Argus editor being convicted, he was fined $100 and sentenced to four months' imprisonment. Duane died in 1835. Such was the preceptor of James Wilson, who had emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, for Philadelphia, and when Judge Wright wrote for him to come and take charge of the Herald he probably had little, if any, doubt as to the future political course of the paper. But times and men both changed. John Adams was the last Federal president, and the election of 1800 resulting in a tie in the Electoral College between Jefferson and Burr, the choice fell to the house of Representatives, where, by the advice of Hamilton, the Federals mainly refrained from voting, allowing Jefferson to be chosen, regarding him as a lesser evil than Burr. The second war with Great Britain had come and gone almost the only creditable work outside of Harrison's victory at the Thames and the battle of New Orleans had been accomplished by the little navy created by Adams and the Federalists at the very time they were charged with being British sympathizers, just as at a later period the Whigs saved the honor of the Nation in the war with Mexico forced on the country by their political opponents. So when Mr. Wilson took charge of the Herald there was peace at home and abroad, and he had been here but a short time until he was elected a member of the legislature in 1816, where he served one term. The Herald establishment was moved to upper Market street, nearly, opposite the present site of the Imperial hotel. Mr. Wilson had a beautiful and spacious home, bounded by what is now Logan and Clinton streets and Alley C. Here he reared a large family, but previous to disposing of his homestead to Col. James Collier, after the latter's return from California in 1849, lie built a one-story brick cottage on the east side of his lot where he lived until his death by cholera in 1852. Very little of the original home is left, and the land. is occupied by numerous dwellings but the little cottage still stands intact. James Monroe was elected President in 1816, receiving 183 electoral votes to 34 for King, the Federal candidate, and in 1820 he was re-elected without opposition, the period being characterized as the "era of good feeling." It was not a time for savage partisan editorials, as there seemed to be but one political party in the country, and a copy of the paper before us whose full name at this time was Western Herald and Steubenville Gazette, seems to partake of the general calm, as there is not a single editorial utterance in it, if we except a mild dissent at the head of a long communication from Cincinnati to the effect that they 308 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY were getting along fairly well with wildcat money, and arguing that if they could buy foreign goods to better advantage than the home-product there was no reason why they should not do so. The paper before us is a little five-column folio, with an absolute dearth of local news, unless. a lengthy poem on the Wells mansion, quoted below, can be considered such. There are over two columns of sheriff's sales which would be equivalent to more than a page of the present day, which does not argue strongly in favor of good times. The list of local advertisers is interesting, including B. Wells & Co., Robert. Thompson, Dike & Raguet, M. Johnson, Steubenville Brewery,. by William Shiras, Jr., James Turnbull, Adams & Hutchinson, David Larimore, James Means, John M. Goodenow, Humphrey. Leavitt, Samuel Stokely, Wright & Collier, P. Wilson, Robert Hales, Steam Paper Mill, by J, C, Bayless, Jacob Nessley, Sr., J. G Herring, John Clark and Daniel Thomas. Thomas Orr is sheriff, John Milligan auditor and John Patterson clerk. David Larimore is postmaster at Steubenville, and Henry Crew at Richmond. Magistrates' blanks were then as now "for sale at this office." Advertising rates were for the first three insertions $1 per square (little under an inch), and each subsequent insertion 259 by the, year $10, not differing widely from present rates. A paragraph about that time indicates that search for silver and lead ore in Jefferson County is not a modern freak exclusively. The political calm existing from 181.6 to 1820 could not last. The growth of the country and the advent of a new generation could not but make new issues. There was a little cloud, no .larger than a man's hand, but it existed. Five states came into the Union during the-first four years of Monroe's administration, but it was not the number alone which. was significant. When the Union was first Organized the existence of slavery- in the southern section was accepted as a necessary evil. Nobody thought of its extension, and many of those inter: ested in the matter believed that it would gradually become extinct. When Missouri, on March 6, 1818, asked admission to the Union as a slave state, it startled even Mr. Jefferson "like a fire bell in the night." The ordinance of 1787 forbade slavery forever in all that part of the United States north and west of the Ohio River, but Missouri came in with the Louisiana purchase, and was not covered by this act. After two years' discussion the matter was settled by the famous Missouri compromise by which the territory was admitted with its slaves, but providing that all the rest of the Louisiana purchase north of latitude 36:30, or north of the :mouth of the Ohio River, should be free. The repeal of this compromise led to the Kansas-Nebraska troubles. Then there was the tariff, the North favoring and the South opposing. The latter section was still agricultural and stationary, while other parts of the country were manufacturing and progressive. A report of the Fourth of July celebration in 1822 at Jenkinson's Arbor contains some significant intimations that the people were sitting up and doing some thinking. Outside the usual patriotic toasts there were advocates of home industry, internal improvements, the sovereign people (not states), "Our next President, no slave-holder, no doughface, a. friend of domestic manufacturers, an enemy to aristocratic monied institutions," etc. One toast was for state rights but that was evidently understood very differently from the southern idea of state sovereignty. The issue of the Herald of .November 16, 1822, contains the announcement that Mr. Wilson had Proposed to purchase the Philadelphia Aurora, .but being unable to dispose, of his Steubenville property, the arrangement fell through. This 'issue contains quite a long editorial on the Presidency, as it' was apparent that 1824 would witness an animated contest. The aspirants discussed were Clinton, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Jackson, Calhoun and William H. Crawford, of Georgia, then secretary of the treasury. It will be remembered that there was still but one AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 311 dominating political party, the Federalists having ceased to be a power, and no other organization having sufficient crystalization to take their place. The paper takes decided ground against the nomination of any southerner, or any man who has aided in the extension of slavery, or who is an enemy to domestic industries and internal improvements. Clinton and Adams are considered the only available candidates so far as this section is concerned. In another issue the editor urges that New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio act together, whereby they can oppose united influence to southern combinations. The Missouri case is still fresh, and it rankles. It is seen that the line of cleavage between the two sections of the party is already pretty clearly marked. There was no doubt of the position of the Herald, and those "Democratic-Republicans" who supported it. The meeting in 1822 reported above was along precisely the same lines, and that is all there was in the reported "flop" from "Democracy" to "Whigism." There was never any flop in the ordinary sense of that term, there was simply a parting of the ways. The election of 1824 resulted in Jackson receiving 90 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41 and Clay 37. None having a majority, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, which not being inclined to choose the man whom Jefferson had declared "one of the most -unfit men I know of for the place," refused to select Jackson and chose Adams. In 1828 the new tariff bill passed which brought out South Carolina's nullification protests. The campaign of that year was exceptionally bitter, the newly crystalizing Whig party supporting Adams while the "Democrats," who took that name alone for the first time, supported Jackson, who was elected. It is not necessary to, nor have we space, to enter into a history of the stirring political turmoil which followed. Jackson was re-elected in 1832, defeating Henry Clay, the Whig candidate, and followed in 1836 by Martin Van Buren, whom Woodrow Wilson, in his history, seems to consider Jackson's "wicked partner." During this period the position of the Herald was not in doubt. It opposed Jackson and his new Democracy, which, by its usurpations, violations of the Constitution and bad management, had brought the country to the very verge of financial ruin. William Henry Harrison, the hero of the Thames, who was defeated by Van Buren in 1836, was renominated by the Whigs in 1840, and the reaction swept him into office as in a whirlwind. Shortly before this Mr. Wilson had associated his son, Robert C. Wilson, with him in the conduct of the paper. In addition to the regular issues of the Herald they published a campaign paper from April to November, 1840, called the Log Cabin. A typical log cabin view ornamented the front page, and the little sheet bears every appearance of having been an important factor in that lively campaign. The looseness with which the party names continued to be used as late as that date is found in a paper dated July 29, 1840. The Van Buren followers were not allowed the name of Democrats by their opponents, but were designated as Federalists and Loco-Focos, the first not so much a perversion of the original term as might be imagined, when Jackson's centralizing acts are considered. The latter name originated from a meeting; in Tammany Hall, New York, when, during a quarrel between contending factions, the lights were turned out and relighted with matches, then called loco-focos. Tam many is not a young kitten. In the same edition the senior editor expresses himself as "under many, many obligations to the mud machine for proving him a sterling and sound Democrat at all times." The "mud machine" was doubtless the American Union, then published by J. G. Morris and A. L. Frazier. Impersonal journalism was yet in the future. In this issue also is a correspondence between Edwin M. Stanton and John A. Bingham, in reference to a joint debate, and the matter was 312 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY referred to a committee consisting of James Means, A. J. Leslie and W. B. Kerlin on behalf of the Democrats, and Roswell Marsh, James Turnbull and John B. Doyle for the "Democratic Whigs." The parties were unable to come to an agreement concerning details and the debates never came off. Robert C. Wilson succeeded his father as editor of the Herald, and was associated with John Worstell, but this arrangement existed but a short time, when the paper was purchased by Amos T. Purviance, in connection with his Cousin, who was an attorney, in 1845. Robert Wilson went to New Lisbon, where he died. There were s seven children in the Wilson family, two of the boys—Henry and Edward—and a daughter—Margaret—being triplets. The story of their birth is somewhat amusing, and is given for what it is worth. The pater-familias was sitting in his parlor awaiting the expected event, and when the advent of a son and heir was announced his countenance wore a satisfied smile. Shortly after a second birth was announced, when his face became more serious. Almost immediately came the third, and the muchly supplied father began pulling his hair and wondering where this thing was going to stop. The other children were Joseph Princeton, Elizabeth, James and Robert. James became an M. P. preacher and went to Cincinnati, where he joined the M. E. body and went to New York, where he died. Joseph became a Presbyterian minister, and went to South Carolina, where he became the father of Woodrow Wilson, the historian, now presi-. dent of Princeton University. He visited his mother's grave in Union Cemetery about thirty years ago. Henry married 'a daughter of General Medary, of Columbus, and moved to New York. Mrs. Wilson moved to New Lisbon, after her husband's death, where she died shortly after the Civil War. In 1844 Polk was the Democratic candidate for President and Clay the Whig. It is related that at a big meeting at the foot of Seminary Hill in Allegheny, Dr. McCook, of Steubenville, was making an address in which he charged Mr. Wilson, of the Herald, with having published untruthful charges against the Democrats, knowing that they were lies, when a young man on the stand struck him and got away on a horse that was conveniently near. He was supposed to have been Wilson's son. The doctor was not seriously injured and the instance was only an illustration of the strenuous politics of those days. Mr. Purviance was a native of this county, having been born near Smithfield, on March 6, 1823. At the age of sixteen he entered the Herald office as an apprentice, receiving his board and clothes for salary during the first three years. During the brief period that it was under his control Mr. Purviance conducted the Herald along very similar lines to those of his predecessors. Its title had been shortened to the central name, and it was once more, with the exception of the prefix, the same as that with which it originally started, Steubenville no longer being western in the old sense. On August 7, 1845, Mr. Purviance married Miss Mary Ong, of Smithfield Township, and after selling the Herald he went West and located in Purviance, in Putnam County, Illinois, removing to Hennepin, the county-seat, in 1854. He served a term as sheriff and in 1857 he was elected county clerk, and filled that office for forty-one consecutive years. He died at his home near Hennepin on January 14, 1904. Two children—Margaretta and Frank—survived him. William R. Allison, of Cadiz, purchased the Herald in 1846, and secured property on Market Street, now the east half of the Mansfield block, to which the Herald plant was removed from South Fourth Street. Here, with its job printing establishment and book bindery, it remained until 1876. Here, on March 16, 1847, was issued the first number of the Daily Herald. The paper continued to be Whig in politics until the organization of the Republican party, since which it has been the Repub- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 313 lican organ of the county. R. B. Allison and W. T. Campbell were city editors. On September 4, 1871, John Palmer, with the assistance of a number of citizens, inaugurated a daily paper called the News, which was located in the Scott block on South Fourth Street. There was associated with him as editor A. W. Cook, formerly of the Erie Dispatch. Edward C. Slack was local editor and reporter, but after a week's service accepted the foremanship of the composing room, and was succeeded by Joseph B. Doyle. The News imparted new life to local journalism, and was the first to receive the President's message by telegraph and publish it the day on which it was read. Its extra Sunday editions during the great Boston fire and Pittsburgh riots of 1879 were also special features. Shortly after the paper started, Mr. Cook became part owner, but left the paper in the fall of 1872 and was succeeded by Mr. Doyle. During this period Gen. Anson G. McCook, now of New York, was a frequent contributor. Early in 1873 P. B, Conn purchased the interest of Mr. Doyle, who remained with the paper in his editorial capacity. Mr. Conn formed a partnership with Mr. Palmer and Joseph Carnahan, and the paper was consolidated with his job office and bindery in the Salmon, now Sinclair block, at 317 Market Street. In the fall of 1873 Mr. Conn arranged with Mr. Allison for the purchase of the Herald, which was consummated on October 1 of that year. It was at once consolidated with the News under the name of Herald and News, and the other interests having been extinguished, Mr. Conn became sole proprietor. Mr. Campbell, of the Herald local force, was retained in the same position, and in 1876 the paper was removed back to the old quarters in the Salmon block, a commodious addition in the rear fronting on Court Street having been erected for the accommodation of the mechanical department. After selling the Herald Mr. Allison removed to St. Louis, where he purchased the Post-Dispatch, and with his son, conducted it for several years. As a financial venture it was not successful, and after the death of his son he returned to Steubenville and started a new weekly paper called the Ohio Press, which, with the assistance of his daughter, Mrs. Ida Allison Means, he carried on until his death January 2, 1898. After her father's death Mrs. Means conducted the publication of the paper, making it a special authority on social and society news. In 1901, a corporation was formed by C. J. Davis and others called the Ohio Press Company, which purchased Mrs. _Means' paper, and started-a new daily of that name in the McConville block on North Fourth Street. The new production was a live newspaper and had branch publications in Irondale, Toronto and Mingo, but suspended operations after a few months. Among the editorial contributors to the Herald from 1876 to 1896 were Richard Ralph, of the Pittsburgh Commercial staff, a gentleman of exceptional literary ability and a poet of more than average character, and William J. Lampton, the well known .magazine writer, who came here from Ashland, Ky., in 1879. Of the local writers there were W. A. Urquhart, William McD. Miller, W. R. Johnson, Robert Love, George B. Huff, John H. Andrews, Chalmers C. White, Herbert W. Wells and perhaps one or two others whose names may have escaped the writer. During a portion of this period the paper enjoyed the distinction of publishing the largest four-page weekly in the United States. It was a monster, but had finally to give way to the more manageable quarto. In the spring of 1896 J. J. Gill purchased the Evening Star, which had been started by W. W. Mackay in 1889, and shortly after negotiations were opened with Mr. Conn for the purchase of the Herald. These were successful, and on April 20 of that year he became proprietor of this paper. Mr. Doyle remained as editor and manager, and J. H. Andrews was appointed city editor. The daily was almost immediately enlarged and improved, and did 314 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY not keep merely abreast of the times but kept ahead of them. In February, 1897, it was decided to make a consolidation of the Herald and Star forces, and for greater convenience a corporation was formed under the name of The Herald Publishing Company, with William McD. Miller, president ; J. W. Gill, vice president, and Joseph B. Doyle, secretary and treasurer, carrying also the position of manager. This corporation took over the Star and its effects, and tilt office was moved to its present location it. Odd Fellows' block, North Fourth Street. The experiment was tried for ten months of publishing the Star as a morning paper, Mr. Huff remaining as city editor of that paper. At the end of ;en months the Star was discontinued as a morning paper and merged into its evening associate, under the title of Herald-Star, which name it still retains. A perfecting press, linotype machines and other modern improvements were installed, making an up-to-date printing and book manufacturing establishment, and the staff was increased by the addition of C. C. White, and afterwards by T. M. Lewis and Charles D. Simeral. .In the latter part of January, 1905, Charles D. Simeral, who had been Mr. Gill's private secretary while he (Mr. Gill) was in Congress, organized a new company and purchased the entire plant of the Herald-Star for $62,000. Simeral was made president of the company and editor and manager of the paper, Carl H. Smith was selected as vice president and Herbert W. Nichols, who had been connected with the Herald-Star for several years, was made secretary and treasurer. The property was taken over on February 1, 1905, and the intervening years have been marked by an unusual development along all lines, the paper having a large circulation in the city and surrounding country. Mrs. Ida A. Means and Edward Worstall have since been added to the reportorial force. Mr. Conn on disposing of the Herald retired from active business and died October 8, 1908. The Herald Company has lately acquired valuable property on North Fourth Street and begun the erection of a $60,000 building, equipped with all modern improvements. When the Herald declined to follow the Jackson wing of the Democratic party it was concluded by the admirers of Old Hickory to start an opposition paper, in a building on upper Market Street directly across from the Herald office. It was called the Relniblican Ledger, although advocating Jacksonian Democracy, another illustration of the looseness of political terms in those days. Frew & Laird were the proprietors, and the first number was issued September 20, 1826. Rev. J. P. Miller, a. minister of the Seceder denomination, was a leading editorial writer, and his articles were trenchant and forcible. Samuel Frew remained with the paper but a short time when he removed to Elizabeth, Pa., where he died in 1859. His partner, Mr. Laird, continued the paper until 1830 when he sold out, and went to Greensburg, Pa., where he edited the Argus for many years, dying at the age of ninety. The purchasers of the Ledger were Joseph Cable, born in Island Creek Township in 1800 of Huguenot descent, and a Mr. Rippey. They changed the name of the paper, adopting the somewhat comprehensive, if not strictly accurate, title of The Jeffersonian Democrat Sand Farmers' and Mechanics' Advocate. Hon. L. Harper, late of The Mt. Vernon Banner, learned the printer's trade in this office, and in 1832 went to Pittsburgh with James Wilson, then the publisher of The Herald, and established the first daily published in that city. It was a Whig paper and was named The Pennsylvania Advocate. The Advocate was in opposition to The Gazette, which was an Anti-Masonic organ. Mr. Cable sold The Jeffersoniax Democrat to John S. Patterson and James Scott, who changed the name to The American Union. Mr. Cable went to New Lisbon, where he published The Patriot for some years, going from there to Carrollton, where he pub- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 315 fished a Democratic paper, and in 1848 was elected to Congress, serving two terms, and was distinguished for efforts that secured the passage of the Homestead Act, in this work dividing honors with Sarmon P. Chase, who was in the Senate. He afterwards went to Paulding, where he continued his newspaper work almost up to the time of his death, which occurred May 10, 1880. Although an old man, he took a very active part in the campaign of 1873, when William Allen was elected governor by the Democrats. He was noted for a long time as an infidel, but he was converted and became an ardent Methodist. Patterson and Scott continued the publication of The Union. Scott was killed while on a pleasure excursion to Wellsburg with a party of young folks from Steubenville. The publication of the paper was continued alone by Mr. Patterson up to 1837, when it was purchased by Col. W. C. McCauslen and Lecky Harper, who were succeeded by A. L. Frazer and Justin G. Morris. Colonel McCauslen went to Congress, as did also his successor, Andrew Stuart. Stuart was succeeded by Mr. Sheridan, who, during the war left the Democratic ranks and made a Union party organ of the paper, and the enterprise failed. In 1863 the Democrats established The Courier, which was edited by Mr. Logan, but it had a short life, the Democrats who furnished the money for the enterprise lost all they invested in the paper. About that time a little paper called The Bulletin was published by Mr. Donovan. On September 1, 1865, C. N. Allen, of Cadiz, established The Gazette, which he published as a weekly until October 1, 1873, when he added a daily which he continued until February, 1875, when the plant was purchased by H. El. McFadden and William H. Hunter. The Gazette was first printed in a building on the west side of Third Street between Market and Washington, and then removed to the Watson block opposite the present National Exchange Bank building, and then to the present Ruddicks shoe store on Fourth Street just north of Market. McFadden & Hunter purchased the Murray dwelling on the east side of Third Street south of Market, which was afterwards replaced by a modern structure with perfecting press, linotypes and other improved machinery. On February 1, 1900, just twenty-five years after the firm was formed, Mr. Hunter sold out his interest to Mr. McFadden and engaged in the newspaper 'business at Chillicothe, where he died six years later. During his Steubenville residence Mr. Hunter took considerable interest in artistic and historic subjects, particularly the latter. He was a member of the State as well as the local historical society, to which he contributed much valuable matter in a form which has been very useful to the writer in preparing this history. Mr. McFadden conducted the paper under his own name until August 1, 1901, when he formed a joint stock concern under the title of The Steubenville Gazette Company, with an authorized capital of $25,000, afterwards increased to $50,000. Mr. McFadden has held a number of appointive state offices, has been the Democratic nominee for congress and other important positions, and he and his paper have always been recognized as important factors in the councils of his party. The journal is one of the leading Democratic papers in the state, and wields an influence only exceeded, if at all, by one or two of the large city dailies. The editor has his convictions and does not hesitate to express them. The news department of the paper is also up to the standard, and consequently, it has a large and increasing circulation. The office force is composed of H. H. McFadden, manager editor; C. A. Aten, city editor ; D. W. Case and John Nolan, reporters ; J. F. McFadden, bookkeeper ; J. II. Andrews, advertising agent. Rev. Z. Ragan established a weekly Republican and anti-slavery paper in 1855 at the northwest corner of Fourth and Market streets, which he published under the title of True American until he entered the army as chaplain in 1861. About the same time Mr. Conn published the Dollar (week- 316 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY ly) and Daily Messenger and the Steubenville Democrat previously. He owned and published the Beaver Star for one year. He with Dr. Reed and Charles A. Mantz founded the St. Louis Post, afterward consolidated with the Dispatch. R. Schnorrenberg established a weekly German paper on August 1, 1876. For awhile the firm was Schnorrenberg & Gescheider, but on April 1, 1879, the former retired, leaving Max Gescheider the sole proprietor. Joseph Niederhuber subsequently purchased the paper and conducts it in connection with his job office and book bindery on Court Street. After retiring from the Herald in 1874 John Palmer cur about a year conducted a weekly paper under the name of Palmer's News, but it was discontinued. Subsequently in the same building another paper called the Steubenville News was operated between 1898 and 1900. During the later seventies the Wbol Growers' Bulletin?, was issued from the Tri-State woolhouse, giving the latest information concerning that industry. Several efforts were made in the way of starting Sunday newspapers in Steubenville, the first being the Local by A. M. Matlack in 1876, which operated about three years, Chronicle by E. A. Elliott in 1879, News by G. G. Nichols the same year, Life by G. B. Huff and A. F.-Beach, and Leader by B. Hipsley and others. The latest addition to the city press is the Union Leader, published in the interest of the labor organization. A local Italian paper has also been published here. Other enterprises of this character have been inaugurated from time to time, but they died and left no sign. The community is well served in this respect at present by the regular publications and parish and other smaller periodicals, to which has been added the Saturday Evening Journal. Mount Pleasant having been settled by a class of people above the average in the way of education and refinement was naturally the first community in the county outside of Steubenville to publish a newspaper. The first paper produced here was the Philanthropist, a small quarto of eight pages, issued every Saturday at $3 per year. Charles Osborne was the printer, and the first number made its appearance on September 8, 1817. It printed the news of the day and discussed moral ethics. On October 8, 1818, Elisha Bates purchased the paper and converted it into a sixteen-page octavo on December 11. Its last issue was April 27, 1822. Here also was conducted the first abolition paper published in the United States, The Genius of Universal Emancipation. Benjamin Lundy was the editor. He would set up his matter in his office at Mt. Pleasant and take the forms across the country to Steubenville, where the paper was printed at the Herald office. On these visits to Steubenville he was a welcome visitor to the homes of those who sympathized with his cause, especially at the house of Dr. David Stanton, father of the great war secretary. He subsequently removed with his paper to Jonesboro, Tenn., and then to Baltimore in 1824. The Village Banner, published in 1835, lasted one year. Elisha Bates' published a religious paper in 1837-8, and later John B. Wolf a temperance paper, the Life Boat. On September 16, 1822, Mr. Howard started the Juvenile Museum, a semimonthly magazine of eight pages. With the eleventh number it changed to a monthly of sixteen pages, but the last issue was on September 27, 1823. Elisha Bates published a monthly periodical called the Miscellaneous Repository from July, 1827, to about 1832. There were other publications of which there is no record. There was also something doing in the book line, among the publications being Barton's Poems; 12mo. 1823; The Juvenile Expositor, or Child's Dictionary, by Elisha Bates, square 12mo., 1823; Sacred History, or the Historical Part of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, by Thomas Elwood, 2 vols., 8vo., sheep, 1854, with many others. C. M. Hayne started a job printing office in Smithfield in 1875, and on February AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 317 14, 1876, inaugurated the Smithfield Independent. It was published regularly until December, 1877, when it was discontinued. Several papers have been started at Iron-dale, under the names of Record, Courier, Eagle, etc., but they were short lived. In 1879 a little paper called The Banner of Zion was published at Knoxville by Stokes Bros., who had a small job office. The same year T. M. Daniels started the Weekly Tribune at Toronto, and in 1880 Frank Stokes moved there and entered into partnership with him, under the firm name of Daniels & Stokes. Mr. Daniels died in 1884 and Mr. Stokes became sole proprietor, starting a daily on August 17, 1890. Mr. Stokes being elected county clerk in 1894 he leased the plant to C. H. Stoll, but at the expiration of his term again took charge. The paper was recently sold to H. P. Boyer and John Bray, who are making a very successful publication. Richard A. Bryant conducted a paper at Mingo in the later nineties under the title of Mingo Advocate. There was also the Mingo News, and a paper of the same title at Brilliant operated by W. J. Murphy. At Richmond there were the Radiator and one or two others. CHAPTER XIX THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY Controlling Position of the County—Hundreds Helped to Freedom—An Experiment in Colonization—Its Partial Success. That a strong; anti-slavery feeling should have prevailed in Jefferson County was quite natural. In the first place it was on the border line between the free and the slave states. True the visible signs of slavery in this section were not very numerous. In 1860, Hancock, the upper county of the Virginia Pan 'Handle only contained two slaves, and Brooke County, immediately south, had eighteen. The former county had one free colored man, and Brooke fifty-one, the white population of the two counties being 9,687. These two counties, which fronted Jefferson nearly their full length, had a smaller colored population than the latter, which at that time reported 707. The upper end of Ohio County, just below Brooke, also fronted on Jefferson, and that portion of it may have had half a dozen slaves out of the one hundred in the county. But although the "peculiar institution" cut little or no figure in the industrial development of the community it did not fail to furnish an object lesson. Wheeling had a public slave market where human beings were publicly sold at auction, and from accounts which have come down to us, the scenes there were fully as horrible and repulsive as any related of New Orleans or St. Augustine. To visitors from the Ohio side this was a festering sore, for, however it might be regarded from a legal point of view, it was impossible to stifle the feelings of morality and humanity. Then the lower end of the county as well as the upper end of Belmont County adjoining had been largely settled by members of the Society of Friends, who accepted the words of the Declaration of Independence as meaning just what they said, amid many of them had migrated from North Carolina and other slave states for the express purpose of getting out of the slaveholders' domain. Had slavery continued to decline in the South, as the framers of the Constitution expected, until there was a prospect of its gradual extinction, there never would have been any Abolition party, but the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 and subsequent enormous development as a consequence put a different face on matters, and the prospect was not only of the indefinite continuance of slavery within its original territory but extension, if not without limit, yet so great as to make this republic practically a nation of slaveholders and slave catchers. Hence while the great majority of the people here as elsewhere in the northern states were sincerely in favor of adhering strictly to all the compacts which had been made for the benefit and protection of slave-owners there was a small minority whose consciences did not permit them to do anything of the kind. As we have said this sentiment, although not confined to the - 318 - AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 319 Friends, was particularly strong among them. So it was perfectly natural and in accord with the fitness of things that the first Abolition paper in the United States should have emanated from Jefferson County .(it will perhaps have been noticed by this time that Jefferson County was first in a good many things), and that the first Abolition convention in Ohio should have been held at Mt. Pleasant in the same county. An account of Lundy's newspaper enterprise has already been given but a reference to the man himself will not be out of place. He was a Friend, and was born at Handwich, N. J., January 4, 1789, dying at Lowell, Ill., August 22, 1839. He went to Wheeling at the age of nineteen, and thence to Mt. Pleasant, going from there to St. Clairsville, Belmont County, where in 1815 he formed the first anti-slavery society under the name of Union Humane Society, writing an appeal based on his experience with slavery at Wheeling, where, like Lincoln at New Orleans, "I heard the wail of the captive, I felt his pang of distress, and the iron entered my soul." Ever after he was slavery's determined and persistent foe. He engaged in newspaper work in St. Louis for two years, and then returned to Mt. Pleasant where, in January, 1821, he began the publication of the Genius of Universal Emancipation. In 1825 he visited Hayti to arrange for the settlement of emancipated slaves. He met William Lloyd Garrison in 1828, and in 1829 removed to Washington. He was assaulted for his attacks on slavery and incidentally censured by the court. He traveled in Canada and Texas in 1830-31, also in 1833, and also visited Mexico in the interest of his work. As stated, the first Abolition convention in Ohio met at Mt. Pleasant in the spring of 1837 with Gamaliel Bailey, afterwards of the Cincinnati. Herald and Washington National Era,, as secretary. Among the others at that convention were James G. Birney, candidate of the Liberty party for Pr4ident in 1840, John Keep, William Donaldson, Christian Donaldson, John . Rankin, A. A. Guthrie, Major Nye, George Whipple, President Finney, of Oberlin, Asa Mann and others. As another protest against slavery the people of Mt. Pleasant established in 1848 a free labor store which should contain no product of slave labor, which was conducted for about ten years. But the war against slavery was not confined to newspaper publications, passage of resolutions or boycotting of slave products. What was known as the fugitive slave law was to these men a nullity and abomination. Not only was it regarded as morally wrong in itself, but its abuse by which free negroes had been kidnaped from the North and sold into slavery, and the increasing demands of the slave power, were intensifying the opposition to it. Back of all was the "higher law" which commanded assistance to any human being seeking freedom. Hence arose what was known as "The Underground Railroad," a general name given to the systematic aid extended to negroes fleeing from the South to Canada in search of freedom. A favorite point of crossing the Ohio was at the northern end of Wheeling to Martin's Ferry, and the first "stations" were the residences of Joel Wood in that town, Jacob Van Pelt on the hill, and Joshua Cope at the head of Glen's Run in Belmont County. One line diverged from here towards Mt. Pleasant, and Judge Cochran in his little book, Bonnie Belmont, relates that at one time a party in pursuit of a runaway slave surrounded the Charles Wright (now Linley Bracken) house and demanded the right to search it. This was refused by Wright until they should secure and produce a search warrant, which they had to do by one of the parties going more than a mile to a justice of the peace. This took up considerable time and in the meantime the fugitive, who was really not at the Wright mansion, was taken to the Millhouse place of concealment, a mile or two distant, which had a concealed clothes press built in a chimney recess. The searching party was directed to Mt. Pleasant, and it is needless to say they never 320- HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY found their property. To the slave hunters, when a fugitive once reached Mt. Pleasant, the language applied to a certain bridge seemed most appropriate : "Who Enters Here Leaves Hope Behind." The underground railroad was not confined, however, to Mt. Pleasant and Smithfield townships, but extended the whole length of the county, and its officers were not confined to the Friends but included men and women of every religious faith. The starting points, however, were generally in the Short Creek Valley, its headwaters being just over the divide from the headwaters of Wheeling Creek in Harrison and Belmont counties. There were several stations at the mouth of Short Creek, one kept by George Craig and one by William Hogg. One was kept by Joseph Medill (grandfather of W. L. Medill, Esq.), on Warren Ridge, near Hopewell M. E. Church. There were many in Mt. Pleasant, the slaves being kept during daylight in any of the houses in the village, and there is authority for the statement that one good Friend kept a number of strong negroes on his farm from corn-planting until after harvest ! The house of Rev. Benjamin Mitchell was a noted station, there being a trapdoor in the kitchen floor through which runaway slaves reached a large hole in the ground when slave hunters were searching the premises. The Updegraff house, a mile west of Mt. Pleasant, and that of David Robinson, west of Trenton, were also well known. The Bracken house in Mt. Pleasant was so constructed that the negroes could enter an attic by means of a trapdoor in the roof after climbing a ladder. Benjamin Ladd (the Quaker philanthropist) kept the Smithfield station. Over the line one at Lloydstown, named for Jesse and Isaac Lloyd, was kept by Eli Nichols ; one at Unity kept by Rev. John Walker, Seceder minister ; at Hammond's Cross' Roads, Alexander and John Hammond, John Hammond, Jr., and Joseph Rodgers being conductors between that point and Hopedale ; one at the house of Cyrus McNeely (founder of Hopedale College) between Hopedale and Unionvale, house of Judge Thomas Lee near Cadiz; one at Miller's Station by David Ward; one at Richmond by James and William Ladd. From there the line ran across the country to the home of Judge Thomas George on Yellow Creek, and then to Salem, Columbiana County, from which point it followed the line of least resistance to the lakes and Canada. James George, of Ross Township, grandsbn of Thomas George, gives additional particulars as follows in rela. tion to this line : "Judge Lee was station agent at Cadiz; .James Ladd and brother at Richmond; David Ward at Miller's Station (then Works Postoffice) ; Dr. A. Lindsay, Salem; Thomas George, Moore's Salt Works; James and William Farmer, Salineville; _____ Horton, Salem. There was another line through from Cadiz by way of Scroggsfield and Mechanicstown, Carroll County, Dr. Lindsay having removed from Annapolis (Salem) in Jefferson County to one of these places. "We were located about half way on the line from Cadiz and Mt. Pleasant to Salineville. Henry Crabbs kept a station on the hill overlooking the George station in the valley. The Richmond station kept by the Ladds was on a sidetrack, which was used in emergency. "The line on which Moore's Salt Works was located was in operation from 1827 to 1837, but some of the older citizens say the first date should be earlier. Station agents rarely knew beforehand that fleeing slaves were to arrive, and they were received because conveyed by known friends. In 1830 Old Man Work brought through two slaves, arriving at the house of Judge George a little before daylight. They were secreted in the barn, fed and cared for by George until opportunity gave chance to take them to Salineville. In 1830 the writer has knowledge of a gang of five males and three females going through. This party was conveyed to George's by the Ladds, kept until night and conveyed to Farmer station at Salineville. In 1834 a gang com- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 321 posed of seven men, two women and a child, was brought to George's station, and hidden in the loft of a brick house occupied by Robert George. They were conducted to Salineville by the conductors, Robert, Thomas and A. W. George. "A remark which may not be out of place : On the line to Salineville was a small village, on the corner of whose street lived a man antagonistic to abolitionism, who was dreaded by the conductors. The night the last mentioned party went through, the village was very dark and the rain poured until after they passed this residence, after which the clouds broke and the night was clear. No doubt a Providential interference. In an old diary I find mention of many fugitives passing through, but no incidents are mentioned. In 1837 a woman was brought to George's from Ladd's and covered with straw in the barn, and was jabbed with a pitchfork by a hired man who was feeding the stock. Another incident occurred in 1840. A gang of twenty was conveyed from Crabbs'. Arriving at about daylight, he ran them into a pine hollow. Early in the morning, a laborer on his way to work, seeing the negroes, reported at Judge George's that the hills were covered with d—d niggers ; they would all be killed if something was not done.' The Judge joked with him and assured him that it was all imagination ; but the Judge took in the situation and gave the laborer employment. [Those who harbored fugitive slaves ran great risk, the penalty in Ohio being $1,000 fine and imprisonment.] During the day these slaves were removed to Crabbs' barn, where they were fed by Mrs. Annie Crabbs, and during the night they were conveyed to Salineville and then. to Salem. Shortly after this came three robust negroes armed with revolvers. They were on foot and claimed they had purchased their freedom. In 1847 a mother, daughter and son came to our station, conveyed by conductors under David Ward. Judge George, taking a fancy to the boy, concluded to keep him, and sent the mother and daughter to North Salem. A party from New Lisbon wanting help, employed the mother and daughter. Jacob Clinton, working for George, got an idea there was reward for information of fugitive slaves. He succeeded in corresponding with the owner, the result of which proved beneficial to all concerned. A plot was concocted ; Clinton was to go to New Lisbon (now Lisbon) and represent himself as a son of Judge George and convince the mother that her son, who was at George's, was very lonesome and wanted his sister for company. After some persuasion the mother yielded, and the daughter was given up. Clinton had scarcely got out of sight when suspicion arose. A runner was sent to Salineville. The runner, returning, reported the suspicion well based. At once a company was organized at New Lisbon, headed by David George, which followed Clinton to Wellsville, but too late to catch him, the boat having gone. In the meantime the negro boy kept by George was hidden in a coal bank. While Dr. Farmer and Judge George were talking the matter over, a fine team drove up, a stylish person alighted and came into the house. He asked if a colored boy was there, and being informed there was, said : `I am So and So, from New Lisbon ; the mother sent me after the boy; the little sister is very lonesome and wants her brother for company.' Farmer and George, taking in the situation, made things so hot for the gentleman that he was glad to drive off toward Steubenville. The mother and boy were immediately sent to Canada." Whence came the name Underground Railroad? Prof. W. H. Siebert, of Akron, answers as follows : "A fugitive named Tice Davids traveled one of the Ohio routes in 1831 from Ripley to Sandusky. The slave set out upon his journey under unusual circumstances, no doubt,. for his master, a Kentuckian, was at his heels from the start till the Ohio River was reached. There the master was delayed by search for a skiff, but found one in time to keep the runaway in sight, now 322 - HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY swimming his best, and to land only a few minutes later than he. His subsequent hunt failed to secure his property, and the master was mystified. At his wits' end, he said, 'That nigger must have gone off on an underground road. The aptness of the title was seen at once, and the rapid transmission of the story within and beyond the state soon fixed this designation on the 'system.' " The change of title from "road" to "railroad" was very easy and natural after the latter became a familiar term. This "system" had at least twenty-three "ports of entry" along the Ohio River front, that is recognized points of crossing. The 'outlets along the lake were Toledo, Candusky, Cleveland, Fairport and Ashtabula. The aggregate length of the recognized roads or trails in Ohio has been figured at 2,800 or 3,000 miles, of which Jefferson County furnished 117. As to the total number of slaves rescued through their means the guesses are all the way from 40,000 to 80,000. Certain it is that the number is very large. It is stated on what is claimed to be good authority that William Lambert, who died in Detroit a number of years ago, helped 30,000 to freedom in thirty-three years, or nearly a thousand a year. There is no way of verifying these figures, and they are given for what they are worth. In connection with the Abolition movement Jefferson County became the seat of not only the first, but so far as the writer is informed, the only enterprise of the kind in the country. In 1825 Nathaniel Benford, of Charles City County, Virginia, liberated seven of his slaves and sent them to Benjamin Ladd at Smithfield, who had been a neighbor of Mr. Benford, leaving there in 1814. They were placed on a farm on Stillwater Creek, Harrison County, but eventually scattered. Mr. Benford, who was a Quaker, was said to have been influenced in his actions by David Minge, another neighbor who had freed eighty-seven slaves and sent them to Cuba. The problem with Mr. Benford, as it was with all who desired to free their slaves, was whether their condition would really be improved thereby. He concluded to try the experiment of a colony and in 1829 gave manumission papers to nine families of slaves on his plantation and sent them to Smithfield. He furnished Mr. Ladd with funds, and the latter, under his instructions, purchased from Thomas Mansfield two hundred and sixty acres of land in Wayne Township about two miles from Smithfield, erecting cabins and furnishing the immigrants with farming implements. The settlement was on McIntire Creek, from which it took its name, sometimes called Hayti from the West Indian black republic. The heads of the original families were : Nathaniel Benford, who took the name of his master; Ben Messenburg, Collier Christian, Lee Carter, Paige Benford, David Cooper, William Toney, Fielding Christian and Fitzhugh Washington. Nathaniel was sort of a chief in the colony on account of the confidence reposed in him by his master in Virginia. By reason of his large family he received more property, all of which property was divided into parcels of from three to fifteen acres and distributed according to number of children in each family. The longevity of all the original settlers has been something remarkable. William Toney died at the age of a hundred a few years ago, and even when far advanced in years was a man of imposing stature—well-knit muscles, capable of almost any physical exertion. Fielding Christian was called "Old Fielding," for fifty years, and at his death, in 1883, the surviving members of the settlement claimed that he was over one hundred and ten. Others died at advanced ages and in so far as known none of the original colonists are now living. All of the original colonists were known for miles around. Many were gardeners who received their instructions from old Benny Messenburg, who displayed remarkable taste in laying out flower plats and had great success in raising vegetables. He had a time for everything and the moon had to he just so, together with certain