Part 13
A monument to the great Indian Chief Red Jacket, Chief of the Senecas and the renowned orator of the six nations was dedicated at Waterloo, N. Y. on Oct. 14th. President Welles of the Waterloo Historical Society under whose auspices the monument is erected presided. The Hon. W. C. Bryant of Buffalo delivered an historical address. The monument is unique in design, being carved from a block of granite to represent the trunk of an oak tree, and stands on the west shore of Cayuga Lake near the spot where Red Jacket was born. The base bears four descriptive bronze tablets, and around the base are clustered six small bowlders bearing the names of the six nations of the Iroquois. Red Jacket was one of the unique figures of his time, his character a peculiar mixture of the noble and the ignoble, a sagacious statesman, a cunning demagogue, but always an Indian.
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A gathering both important and unique was held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, on the 12th of October. The occasion was the reunion of a committee which has undertaken to organize a Pan-Republic Congress and Human Freedom League, and to arrange an international meeting in connection with the anniversary ceremonies of 1892. The leaders of the movement claim that their ideas have been gradually disseminated through organized societies in all civilized countries. Their meaning and purpose they broadly state to be: That the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of this continent should be celebrated by a convocation, first of the representatives of all governments based on an acknowledgment of the rights of man, and secondly, of representatives of the people of high purpose everywhere, independent of the form of government under which they live. That these two bodies acting in concert on the soil of the greatest of the governments founded upon freedom, should consult together on the means of widening the domain in which the earth’s dwellers may enjoy the rights claimed for us by our immortal Declaration of Independence.
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Youngest among the sisterhood of the States of our Union stands Washington, on the borders of the far Pacific. It is very gratifying to observe the citizens of a community of such regent origin, amid the eager competitions of life and the pressure of material interests, turning aside from these practical pursuits to secure for future generations a record not only of their own achievements, but of the humbler and more heroic doings of the pioneers of their State. Such is the aim and purpose of the Washington State Historical Society, organized during the present month in the city of Tacoma, and the latest to join the ever widening circle of these societies. In the words of its president, the Hon. Elwood Evans, “the State of Washington has reached a time when the need of collecting original historical material has become imperative since the history of the State and Territory runs back 38 years, and most of the early settlers are dead. The hardships and heroism of the pioneers should be handed down and recorded as material for the historian of later years.”
NOTES FROM THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES.
The quarterly meeting of the Chicago Historical Society, (Illinois,) was held on Tuesday evening, Oct. 20. A paper was read prepared by Samuel C. Clarke of Marietta, Ga., entitled “Some recollections of Chicago in the Forties.”
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The Pejepscot Historical Society (Brunswick), Maine, are considering the erection of a fireproof building.
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The Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore), are discussing with active interest the successor to John H. B. Latrobe, Esq., late President of the Society, S. Teakle Wallis, Esq., and Gen. Bradley T. Johnson are the most prominent names mentioned.
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The Wakefield Historical Society, Mass., at its monthly meeting in October, received some valuable donations, the most interesting of which was the diary of Capt. Natl. Cowdrey, kept by him during the campaign in New York which included Arnold’s treason and the attempt to capture West Point.
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The annual meeting of the Beverly Mass., Historical Society was held on the evening of Oct. 14th. The occasion was the 223rd anniversary of the settlement of the Town of Beverly.
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The Old Colony Historical Society, (Taunton) Mass., held a large meeting on Thursday, Oct. 15. Geo. Fox Tucker, Esq. of New Bedford, gave an elaborate address on the Quaker element in New England, and the Old Colony life in the middle of the seventeenth century.
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The Cape Ann Historical Society (Gloucester) Mass., was formed on the evening of Oct. 7th. Joseph L. Stevens was elected president and Alfred F. Stickney corresponding secretary.
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The Suffolk County Historical Society N. Y., held its annual meeting at Riverhead on Oct. 6th. A committee was appointed to consider the erection of a suitable fireproof building for the use of the society and the preservation of its treasures, many of which are original parchments and manuscripts which could not be replaced.
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The Westchester County Historical Society, N. Y. held its annual meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 28th—the anniversary of the battle of White Plains—Judge J. O. Dykman gave an address on County Affairs during the Revolutionary War.
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Waterloo Historical Society N. Y.—_See Editorial Notes._
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The Dauphin County Historical Society, (Harrisburgh) Pa., held an interesting meeting on Oct. 8th, and received many valuable documents connected with the war. A paper on “Historic Localities” by Mr. E. J. Stackpole was read.
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The Ohio Historical Society (Columbus), with characteristic enterprise and timeliness has appointed a committee of three into whose hands will be placed the arrangements for the historical and archeological display of Ohio at the Columbian Fair.
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The October meeting of the Rhode Island Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society (Providence), was held on Oct. 20. Several interesting historical donations were received. Gen. Viall read a paper entitled “Sketch of the 14th R. I. Heavy Artillery.”
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The Rhode Island Veteran Citizens Historical Association (Providence) held one of their regular meetings on Oct. 20th. It was announced that Noah J. Arnold, Esq., was preparing a paper on “Adrien Block and Block Island” which should prove very interesting.
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The Tennessee Historical Society (Nashville), held its monthly meeting in the Watkins Institute on Oct. 13th. The noteworthy event of the meeting was their action in formally requesting their senators and members in Congress to lend their aid to the erection of the proposed national gallery of history and art in commemoration of our 400th anniversary. It is hoped that other societies will support the Tennessee Historical Society in this object.
The Vermont Historical Society (Montpelier), held their annual meeting at their rooms in the State House on Oct. 20th. President Hiram Carleton, presided. The old officers were re-elected.
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The Washington State Historical Society was organized at Tacoma on Oct. 8th. Hon. Elwood Evans was made President and C. H. Hobart, Secretary.
RECENT HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS.
“HISTORICAL ESSAYS.” By Henry Adams. Chas. Scribners’ Sons.
In this volume are gathered a number of essays, chiefly on historical subjects, which have appeared at various times in magazines. They are characterized, as might be expected, by the clear and attractive style and the incisive thought that belongs to all of Mr. Adams’ literary work.
Some of the essays are of pronounced value and interest. Notably the essay on the Gold Conspiracy, which to any one who is at all familiar with the details of one of the most remarkable episodes in American financial history, will prove absorbingly interesting. It contains a sketch of Jay Gould, which, in the light of recent occurrences, has a peculiar interest.
In no field of investigation at the present time is the skeptical spirit more active than in the historical, and the essay on Capt. John Smith will provoke some criticism and more regret, as it is an effort to cut away the historic basis from the beautiful story of Pocahontas. As Dr. Schliemann has lifted Troy and its legends to the dignity of history, perhaps some historical explorer may be inspired to undertake the same task for the Pocahontas incident.
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We have received in pamphlet form, as one of the published collections of the Minnesota Historical Society for 1891, the account of the ceremonies of the two hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Falls of St. Anthony by Father Hennepin in 1680, and the different papers read on that interesting occasion. This “Part” is a continuation of the series of short sketches and papers which had been interrupted, and makes a valuable addition to the data for Western History. It is a real pleasure to praise the beautiful typographical appearance of this pamphlet.
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“BEGINNINGS OF LITERARY CULTURE IN THE OHIO VALLEY.” By W. H. Venable, L.L.D. Robert Clarke & Co., 1891.
Dr. Venable has been very successful in his undertaking to show the progress of literature, education, art, politics and religion in the Ohio Valley, from the days of the early settlers until the present time. He has done this by sketching the careers of those who have been conspicuous in these fields of culture and practical interest, and has gathered a great fund of information, anecdote and biographical detail, which has made his narrative very interesting as well as full.
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“JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE.” Edited by Edward Everett Hale. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1891.
A book on James Freeman Clarke, by Edward Everett Hale, encourages “great expectations,” and these expectations are not disappointed.
It is a delightful mixture of the handiwork of two bright thinkers and recognized lights in our native literature. After a modest account of himself, the subject of the sketch is delineated still further by a fond and appreciative friend. The man, broad and free and catholic in his thinking and in his feeling, opens his heart to us in diary and letters. And what he fails to tell, as eminently improper for himself to tell, Dr. Hale gives to us, so that the picture may be complete. The keynote to the book, and the real use of it, are indicated on the first page by Dr. Clarke himself: “I have lived in an important period; have known many eminent men and distinguished women; have seen great changes in social life, in religious opinion, in private morals and public manners. If I can succeed in making a few suggestive pictures, or memory sketches, it may be a gratification to my children and friends, and possibly contribute matter for the future historian of this period.”
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“HISTORICAL COLLECTION OF OHIO.” By Henry Howe, L.L.D.
The two concluding volumes of the Historical Collections of Ohio are now published together, and complete a monumental work. Dr. Howe has given many years to this undertaking, and is said to have personally visited every locality of which he treats, and collected his facts from the lips of living men and women as well as from written records. The work is more than a formal history. It unfolds before the reader the whole life and annals of Ohio, from the earliest settlements to the present day. Geography and statistics go hand in hand with narration, reminiscence and details of social life and customs.
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“OHIO ARCHÆOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, VOL. III.”
We have received the third volume of the publications of The Ohio Archæological and Historical Society. This volume is mainly concerned with the anniversary exercises connected with the centennial of the settlement of Gallipolis. Exhaustive papers on “The French Settlement and Settlers of Gallipolis,” “The Scioto Company and its Purchase,” and the “Early Judiciary of Ohio,” attest the historical value of this volume. It also contains a report of the sixth annual meeting of the society, February 19th and 20th, 1891. The secretary (Mr. A. A. Graham), very pertinently says in his preface, “The State is now indebted to the Ohio Archæological and Historical Society for three valuable historical volumes, and if the society had done nothing else, its existence is more than justified.”