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No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 05:25:05 -0500 From: "Maggie Stewart" > To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <07d301bf6330$9edc9720$0300a8c0@local.net > Subject: Fw: Abbott's History of Ohio - Chapter 39 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Kay L. Mason > Chapter XXXIX Lives of the Governors - Continued Hon. Ethan Allen Brown On the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound, about half war between New York and New Haven, there is now a beautiful region whose green-embowed and silent eminences are decorated with the summer mansions of New York merchants, and from whose fertile fields much produce is carried by the thrifty farmers to the great city. A hundred years ago this region was solitary in the extreme, there being but a few farm houses scattered over the wide expanse, which was mostly covered with forest. Here Roger Brown lived, an intelligent farmer of ample means for that region and those times. On the 4th of July, 1766, a son was born to him, to whom he gave the name of Ethan Allen Brown. This boy early developed a mind of unusual activity and great eagerness for learning. But in that sparsely settled country there were no schools. Mr. Brown, anxious for the welfare of his children, employed a scholarly man to instruct them privately a few hours each day, the same man probably assisting the remainder of the time in work upon the farm. Young Ethan proved an apt scholar, and having an unusually retentive memory, became quite a proficient in the French, Latin and Greek languages. With his mind thus excited and his powers enlarged, he became weary of the manual labor of the farm, and, upon attaining his majority, decided to study law. He obtained some books and commenced the study in the farm house, by side of the winter's evening fire, still assisting his father in all those arduous labors which the tillage of New England soil demands. After a time, feeling deeply the need of some intellectual guide, he went to New York and entered the law office of Hon. Alexander Hamilton, who was then at the height of his celebrity as a lawyer, an orator and a statesman. New York opened to the young and ambitious student a new world. The city then contained but about fifteen thousand inhabitants. But here Brown, fresh from the farm, was introduced to the most refined and cultivated families, and to the ablest men in our land. This intercourse roused to intensify his ambition to excel. He soom won the esteem and warm friendship of Mr. Hamilton. If our information is correct, Mr. Brown was not admitted to the bar until 1802, he being then thirty-six years of age. This indicates protracted studies, many interruptions, and probably the necessity of devoting much time to business matters, that he might raise funds to meet his expenses as a student. In some way Mr. Brown had, by this time, acquired considerable property. Taking quite a sum of money with him, he set out, in company with a cousin, Captain John Brown, to seek his fortune in the Far West. The two men mounted their horses for this long journey, and, through old Indian roads, traversed the vast solitudes of interior and western Pennsylvania until they reached Brownvilee, on the east bank of the Monongahela River. The little settlement there, where emigrants usually took boats to float down the river, was then called Sandstone. Here the adventures purchased two large flat-bottom barges which they loaed with flour for the New Orleans market. Having engaged a sufficient number of boatmen, they pushed out from the shore and embarked on their arduous and somewhat perilous enterprise. In that day, such an inland voyage of nearly two thousand five hundred miles must have been full of interest to any one possessed of poetic sensibilities. The barges floated sixty miles down the winding, forest-fringed stream of the Monongahela. Then entering "La Belle Riviere," they were borne placidly along over those smooth waters, through enchanting scenery, with antlered deer upon the banks, and water fowl of varied plumage sporting upon the mirrored surface of the river, a distance of more than nine hundred and fifty miles, when their boats emerged from the mouth of the Ohio, upon the majestic Father of Waters. There was then still before them a voyage of about one thousand two hundred miles. As they swept rapidly along they passed forests sublime in solitude and gloom, prairies, ocean-like in their expanse, enameled with the most gorgeous flowers and picturesque bluffs, whose pinnacles, cliffs and towers, seemed fashioned as by a divine hand in shapes of beauty. At one time the river would expand into an almost shoreless lake. Again, contracted between the bluffs, whose pinnacles, cliffs and towers, seemed fashioned as by a divine hand in shapes in beauty. At one time the river would expand into an almost shoreless lake. Again, contracted between the bluffs, the mighty volume of water would rush on with accelorated velocity. The Indian's birch canoe, floating like a bubble, would be often seen skimming over the surface of some sheltered cove, while Indian children would be gamboling upon the beach, and a cluster of Indian wigwams would cheer the eye with those charms which distance ever lends to such a view. About one hundred miles below Cincinnati they came to a rude hamlet of a few log huts, at a place which was called Rising Sun. It was in what is now the State of Indiana, but was then merely a portion of the boundless waste called the Northwestern Territory. Here the voyagers moored their boats for a few hours. They were much impressed with the salubrity of the climate, the fertility of the soil, the grandeur of the forest, and with what is called "the lay of the land." Continually their voyage for two or three weeks, they at length reached New Orleans in safety. Here they found, much to their disappointment, that so much flour had been brought down the river that they could not sell their cargo but at a loss. With enterprise characteristic of the men, they shipped their flour for Liverpool, England; and took passage themselves, on board the same vessel, for that distant port. Here they sold their flour, we believe to advantage, and returned to the United States. They landed at Baltimore, Maryland, after a long and circuitous route, late in the Autumn of that year. Mr. Roger Brown, of Darien, wrote to his son requesting him to go on an exploring tour down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to select a spot of several thousand acres, to which he wished to remove with his family. Ethan Brown at once embarked on this new enterprise. Having already traversed the whole region, and with a watchful eye, his thought at once reverted to the tract of country which had already so charmed him, around Rising Sun. Here the purchase was made, and Mr. Brown, for comparatively a small sum of money, became a large landowner. An elder brother of Ethan was sent out first to clear the land, prepare it for crops, and make those general arrangements essential for the reception of a family accustomed to all the comforts of life. Mr. Roger Brown did not remove to his new possessions until 1814 just as that portion of the Northwestern Territory was being incorporated into the State of Indiana. Ten years before the removal of the family, in the yaer 1804, Ethan Allen Brown took up his residence in Cincinnati, and entered upon the practice of his profession. His energy was crowned with immediate prosperity, and he was soon in receipt of a large income. He at once took a high position among the leading members of the bar. In 1810, he was elected, by the Legislature, Judge of the Supreme Court, and for eight years he performed the duties of that important office with distinguished success. In the year 1818, Judge Brown was chosen Governor of Ohio. His inaugural address honored the man and his constituents who had the intelligence to elect him. His administration gave a new impulse to internal improvements. In this respect it has been said that Ethan Allen Brown was to Ohio what De Witt Clinton was to New York. He took a very active and efficient interest in the construction of that great work, the Ohio Canal. It was called at the time, by the opponents of the measure, Brown's folly. But it proved, like the great Erie Canal, to be a work of consummate wisdom. In 1821, Governor Brown was promoted to a seat in the United States Senate. Here again he won high commendation for his ability, and his untiring industry. In 1822, he was appointed Canal Commissioner. In 1830, President Jackson entrusted him with the responsible office of Minister to Brazil. At that time there were several important questions pending, which Mr. Brown caused to be settled, much to the satisfaction of both parties. In 1834, Mr. Brown, then sixty-eight years old, retired from the Brazilian Court, and sought repose, after twenty years of unremitted public labor, in his bachelor home at Cincinnati. But a few months passed ere President Jackson again sought his services, and, inviting him to Washington, urged him to accept the position of Commissioner General of the Land Office. Retiring from these arduous labors two years later after this, he repaired to Rising Sun, where was the grave of his father, and where many of his kindred still dwelt. Here, in the gentle employments of agruculture, and in literary pursuits, for which he had a decided taste, he passed the serene evening of his days. He died very suddenly, after the brief sickness of half an hour, on the 24th of February, 1852. He was then attending a Democratic Convention at Indianapolis. He had been remarkably healthy throughout his life. It is said that all his sickness would not have amounted to one week of time. His remains were conveyed to the beautiful cemetery at Rising Sun. A fine marble shaft rises over his ashes, with this inscription: "Ethan Allen Brown. "A man distinguished during a long life, by devotion to the service of his country, in the office of Judge of the Supreme Court, Governor of the State of Ohio, Senator of the United States, Commissioner of the United States Land Office, Envoy to Brazil, etc., and more highly distinguished as one whose unblemished character, whose truthfulness, and purity of heart and life, reflected honor on offices which are supposed to confer honor on their incumbents. "Was born in Connecticut "In the year 1766. "Died at Indianapolis, February 24, 1852." Hon. Allen Trimble In the north of Ireland there is a community possession remarkable characteristics from the blending in their characters of the peculiarities of the Scotch and Irish. Their ancestors emigrated from Scotland, and they are almost all stauch Protestants. In consequence of their origin they are called the Scotch-Irish. Many of the most valuable emigrants from the Old World to this, are these Scotch-Irish, from the north of Ireland. Somewhere about the year 1750 a young man of this community named John Trimble crossed the Atlantic, seeking a new home in the wilds of America. We know but very little respecting him save that he was a man of Puritanic integrity and of indomitable energy. About one hundred and fifty miles from the sea-coast of Virginia, there is a range of the Allegheny Mountains called the Blue Ridge. Beyond this ridge there is one of the most beautiful valleys on this globe, bounded still farther west of other ridges of these gigantic mountains. This magnificent Valley of Virginia had been, from time immemorial, one of the favorite abodes of the Indians. The climate was mild and delightful, the soil fertile, the forests and prairies magnificent in extent and luxuriance, and the game abundant. It was an Indian elysium. To this remote yet attractive region, John Trimble, with his wife and one or two small children, boldly directed his steps. He reared his log cabin, planted his corn, ranged the streams with his fishing rod, and the fields with his rifle. The Indians were friendly. Other emigrants repaired to the valley, and settled not far from him. Summers and winters came and went with all the vicissitudes of joys and griegs which are the inevitable lot of humanity. At length an awful storm of darkness and woe descended upon his dwelling. The savages became hostile. One night the family was startled from its slumber by the awful war whoop. A band of demoniac savages came rushing upon them. The fiend-like deed was soon perpetrated. Mr. Trimble, fighting valiantly, was killed and scalped. So far as we can learn, all the family perished excepting one son, James, a little boy who was taken captive. The torch was applied, and the cabin with its murdered inmates, was reduced to ashes. The morning dawned, revealing one of the most cruel of those deeds which man's inhumanity has ever been inflicting upon his brother man. The neighbors from many miles around rallied, and hotly pursued the retreating band which perpetrated this bloody deed. It was not difficult to follow their trail through meadow and forest. Colonel Maffit, who led this party of avengers, had married a daughter of John Trimble. With tireless energies he pursued them beyond the western ridge of the Alleghenies, struck them by surprise when they supposed that they were beyond the reach of danger, shot several of them, dispersed the rest terror-stricken, and recovered James Trimble and several other prisoners whom the Indians had taken. James grew up to manhood. He never forgot that midnight scene of terror and of blood, in which his father and others of the family perished. The memory of that awful hour often nerved his arm in many a subsequent sanguinary battle with the Indians. In the year 1774, being then twenty-one years of age who took part in the terrible battle of Point Pleasant, which has been described in previous pages of this work. It will be remembered that this battle was fought between troops from the Valley of Virginia and a coalition of several Indian tribes, under the renowned chief, Cornstalk. In the Revolutionary War, when England was hurling the savages against our defenseless frontiers, James Trimble was in command of a company of border troops to range the wilderness, and beat back their fiend-like foes. Heroically he acted his part. At the close of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Trimble married Miss Jane Allen, and in 1784 removed to what is now Kentucky, settling upon lands which he received in payment for military reasons. A company of emigrants was organized to establish a colony in those vast wilds over which countless Indian tribes were roving. As they were to go beyond the reach of organic laws, or of governmental protection, it was necessary for them to combine for mutual protection, and form themselves into somewhat of an independent community. Major General Henry Knox, who, during the war, had acquired much reputation, not only as a soldier but also as a statesman, was the chosen leader of this band. This little band of adventurous pressed forward on their long journey through the almost trackless region, until they reached a spot called McConnell's Station, where the City of Lexington now stands. Mrs. Trimble made this arduous journey on horseback, carrying in her arms her little son Allen, then a babe eleven months old. It was late in the Autumn when they set out. The journey occupied several weeks. There were days of rain, when no shelter could be obtained. It was necessary to camp out every night. Their food had to be cooked on the way, and most of it to be taken by the fishing rod or the rifle. In the month of November they reached their home. These men, of Scotch-Irish descent, were intelligent, energetic, upright, and were endowed with that worldly wisdom which was pretty sure to secure for them pecuniary prosperity. Mr. Trimble, in the course of eighteen years, became a wealthy man for that region. He was a large landholder, and owned quite a number of slaves. As there were no schools, he employed a private teacher to instruct his children. Gradually he awoke to the consciousness, not only of inexpediency, but of the enormous wrong of slavery. Often he wistfully cast his eyes across the Ohio River to the soil beyond, consecrated forever to freedom. We know not how long or how intense the struggle, but it must have been both long and intense before he fully made up his mind to abandon so much of what the community around him regarded as legitimate property, and again, in his declining years, to seek for a new home. He might have sold his slaves for a large sum of money. But nobly he resolved not to do this, but to give them their freedom. In the year 1802, he took his son Allen with him, who was then about nineteen years of age, and explored the Valley of the Scioto, then mostly an unbroken solitude. In this lovely region he purchased a large quantity of land, and following up the Paint River, one of the important tributaries of the Scioto, to its upper waters, he bought, on Clear River, in what is now Highland County, twelve hundred additional acres, in an admirable location. Upon this purchase, on the banks of Clear River, he decided to locate his family. The next year, in 1803, this noble man presented his slaves with their deeds of manumission. They were handed in to the county court of Woolford County for record. So great was the reluctance of the authorities, at that time, to encourage emancipation, that the record would have been refused but for the powerful interposition of Henry Clay. In the Autumn of this year, Mr. Trimble, still remaining in the old homestead, sent his son Allen and his brother in law, Mr. Lewis, to purchase, at the scattered farmhouses, four hundred swine, on speculation. Mr. Allen furnished the funds. This herd was to be driven six hundred miles to Central Virginia, two hundred of which were through an uninhabited mountain wilderness. It was a long and tedious journey, for the slow-paced animals could never travel more than fifteen or twenty miles a day. They lived upon such nuts and roots as they could pick up on the route. This was the first speculation of the kind. It proved eminently successful. The hogs cost in Kentucky two dollars each, or eight hundred dollars for the whole. They were sold in Virginia for nine dollars per head, being three thousand six hundred dollars for the whole. That left a profit of two thousand four hundred dollars. From this was to be deducted only the wages of the drovers, who could be hired for a few dollars a month. Young Allen Trimble, who went in charge of this herd, spent the Winter with his relatives in Virginia. Upon his return to Lexington, in the Spring, he found that his father had gone to his new purchase on Clear River, where he was erecting a house and planted an orchard. While engaged in these labors, the good man died, in the year 1804, at the age of fifty. Thus Allen, before he had attained his majority, became the responsible head of the family. Through the kind care of his father, he had received a good English education, and a thorough knowledge of surveying. Both by nature and education he was a good business man. His Scotch-Irish blood gave him strong self-reliance, great decision of character, and unyielding integrity. He had an intelligent and noble mother, and the intelligent son well knew how to appreciate his virtues. The success of the speculation with the swine induced young Trimble, in partnership with a Mr. Bell, to make another similar purchase. The enterprise occupied his time for nearly half a year. In the Spring of 1805, the family took possession of the estate in Ohio. Days of tumult, terror, and demoniac war soon came. The exasperated Indians rushed, in frenzies of despair, upon our frontier settlements. The British government supplied them with arms and ammunition, and the savage bands were often led to their most inhumane deeds by British officers. Allen had two younger brothers, William and Cary. They accompanied General Hull on his disastrous campaign, and at his surrender became prisoners of war. When exchanged, they again joined the army, and proved brave and efficient soldiers. William subsequently became a member of the United States Senate, and also received from Ohio the important appointment of Indian Commissioner. Allen Trimble rapidly gained reputation in the ever increasing community where he had found his new home. Several offices were conferred upon him, such as Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and County Recorder. For seven years he occupied these positions, taking up his residence at Hillsborough, the county seat of Hillsborough County. He thus became familiar with the practice of the courts, and being a large landholder and an excellent surveyor, he soon became one of the most prominent men of that region. General Hull's disastrous surrender had exposed the whole Northwestern frontier to the depredations of the Indians. With abundance of ammunition, and armed with the best of English rifles, the injury which these roving bands were able to inflict upon lonely cabins and scattered settlements was awful almost beyond conception. Tales of woe were circulated through the land which caused the ear which heard them to tingle. Mr. Trimble, though a civilian, and having a small family now dependent upon him, volunteered his services to face these perils, and, if possible, to drive back the savages. In two campaigns he rendered efficient service. In 1812 he was appointed colonel of one of the regiments raised in southern Ohio. Valiantly leading this band, he marched to the relief of far distant Fort Wayne, with orders to attack and chastise with the utmost severity the hostile bands on the waters of the Upper Wabash and Eel Rivers. He executed this commission with so much military ability as to merit and receive the warm approval of General Harrison. Upon the expiration of his term of enlistement he returned to his home, to engage in the more congenial occupations of peace. Again, in the year 1813, he promptly responded to a call from Governor Meigs to repair to the cruel fields of battle. A regiment was raised from his own county and the adjoining County of Adams, of which regiment Colonel Trimble was chosen Major. With these troops he marched a couple of hundred miles to the Upper Sandusky. Little does the reader appreciate the significance of such a campaign. The hunger, the fatigue, the exposure; the dreary march through bogs and streams with ragged shoes and dripping clothes; the midnight bivouac on the wet soil swept by chill winds and deluged with rain; the hours of languor, sickness, pain, with no possibilities of relief; all these circumstances were combined to render this expedition through the wilderness one of extreme suffering. Such was the price which the fathers of Ohio paid for their beautiful domain which they have transmitted as a legacy to their children. Upon the conclusion of this direful war, Colonel Trimble returned to his home, his agricultural pursuits, and to the varied duties of an influential civilian. In 1816 he represented Highland County in the Legislature of the State. The next year he was promoted to a seat in the State Senate. His popularity was great and he was returned to this position by large majorities for four successive terms. In the year 1818 he was chosen Speaker of the Senate, and occupied that chair of honor for eight years by almost unanimous consent. In the year 1826, Allen Trimble was chosen Governor of Ohio. It is said that he retired from the Senate with the reputation of having been the most able presiding officer who had ever occupied the Speaker's chair. His popularity was so great that seventy-one thousand four hundred and seventy-five votes were cast in his favor at the gubernatorial election. This gave him a majority of over sixty-two thousand above three other candidates. The United States Government, interested in the promotion of all those internal improvements which were deemed of national importance, had granted to Ohio five hundred thousand acres of the national domain within the state, to aid in the construction of the great canal. Governor Trimble, aided by Mr. Lewis Davis, of Cincinnati, was commissioned to the performance of the difficult and delicate task of selecting these lands. They spent several weeks in the careful exploration of the Valleys of the Maumee and the Sandusky. The choice they made received the hearty approval of the Legislature. In the year 1828 the State of Ohio was greatly agitated, as was also our whole nation, by one of the most stormy political conflicts our country has ever experience. The two great parties were arrayed against each other in the most vehement strife. Andrew Jackson led the Democrats; Henry Clay the Whigs. In this exciting canvass, Governor Trimble was re-elected as the representative of the Whig party. His administration was conducted with wisdom and impartiality which secured the approbation of all candid men. Just before this last election there occurred infinitely the most important event in the earthly life of Governor Trimble. There is no thinking man who can reflect without awe upon the eternal existance which reaches out so sublimely beyond the grave. Compared with it in this life, with all its joys and griefs, is indeed but a dream; an empty show. Governor Trimble was always a man of the strictest integrity, and of the highest sense of honor. He valued his good name above all price. But for many years he lived without any distinct recognition of his accountability to God. Like many other men, whose consciences will not allow them to do a mean or dishonorable thing, he was living without God in the world. In the year 1821 he buried three brothers within twelve months. This led him to reflect very seriously upon his own departure to the spirit land and his preparation to stand before God's bar in judgment. One of his sons had become a Christian and entered the ministry. The father went to hear his son preach when the young man was still a member of the Ohio University. The proclaiming by his son of salvation, through faith in our atoning Savior, moved the father's heart as it had never been moved before. This sermon was preached in Hillsborough in the Spring of 1828. The Governor did not make his feelings known at the time. He was then a candidate for the governorship, and the election was near at hand. He feared that his open espousal at that time of the cause of religion might be attributed to a wrong motive. He, however, wrote to his son, referring to the sermon which had roused him to so keen a sense of his own unworthiness in the sight of God, and declaring his earnest desire to become a Christian and to consecrate his energies for the remainder of his days to the promotion of the cause of Christ. After his re-election he, as required by law, repaired to Columbus, to be present at the counting of votes for the President and Vice President of the United States. It so happened that at the time there was a very powerful revival of religion in connection with the Methodist Church. Governor Trimble, in a letter to his on, dated November 19, 1828, gives an account of what followed. The reader will be interested in receiving the narrative in the Governor's own words: "Though I was exhausted with the ride and not very well, I determined to go immediately to the church. The house was full to overflowing. Fathers Collins and Elliot were there. The latter was preaching, and half through his sermon, which was animated and powerful. Father Collins gave an exhortation and invited mourners to the alter. I had to pass through a long and narrow way, but resolved to go. When I kneeled I found myself beside my son C., who had no knowledge of my being in the house, for none of the family at church knew of my arrival home. "After a prayer, we were requested to occupy a seat. Not until he arose did C. discover me; and then his surprise and joy were equally great. He threw his arms around my neck, and when the invitation was given to unite with the society on probation, he proposed to me to go with him and to join the church. I advised him to wait until the next day, and that his mother would probably then go with us. The next morning your sister E. insisted upon being permitted to go with us. After the first sermon, an invitation was given by Father Collins. C. led the way, and we all, your mother, sister, and myself followed. In the evening, after another sermon, mourners were again invited to the alter. No tongue can describe the deep solemnity which pervaded the congregation. "My own feelings I shall never forget. A darkness hung over my mind which produced unutterable anguish. Before the meeting closed I felt a partial gleam of hope, and my mind became more calm. But in the night my fears returned, and I thought I was deceiving myself. Sleep left my eyes and I was in great distress until morning, when Father Collins came in and prayed for us, collectively and separately, in a most tender and effecting manner. I told him the state of my mind, and he said that it was no doubt a device of the Devil to throw me back into despair, and that I ought not to indulge in such thoughts, but think only of God's goodness, in providing a Saviour, and by faith lay hold of the promised, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ; that if I did so God would pardon all my sins. I have felt very much relievd since then, and ready, I trust, to take up my cross and follow Christ through evil and through good report." From that time, Governor Trimble, having become "a new creature in Christ Jesus," entered upon the life of a consistent, uniform, and exemplary Christian. Openly and energetically he engaged in the service of his Redeemer. Fully convinced that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God for the salvation of this lost world, he did everything in his power by his words and his example to win others to the Saviour. He took a lively interest in every thing which related to the progress and purity of the church. For many years he was a trustee of the Ohio Weslyan University, and a Vice President of the American Bible Society. Governor Trimble's first wife was Miss Margaret McDowell, to whom he was married in the year 1806. The happy union lasted but three years, when death separated them. Soon after he married Miss Rachel Woodrow. For sixty years they shared together the joys and griefs of this momentuous life. Amidst all the cares and agitations of time's stormy battle-field, Governor Trimble ever found refuge in his peaceful home, and in the love of his gentle, intelligent and congenial wife. "The chamber where the good man meets his fair. Is privileged above the common walks of virtuous life, Quite in the verge of heaven.' The dying hour came; that hour of indescribably sublimity, when the "chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof" are in attendence, to transport the redeemed soul, through the constellations, to its Father's home, where it is received as a son and an heir. The patriarchal saint had attained the age of eighty-seven years. It was the third of Februaru, 1870. As he reposed upon that peaceful pillow of death, which Jesus can make "soft as downy pillows are," he turned his eyes to the weeping group standing around and said: "The Lord has been my God. It is my earnest prayer that he may be the God of my children, and my children's children to the latest generation. Bless the Lord! O, my soul. How thankful I am for the victory." Soon after he sweetly fell asleep. "Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep, From which none ever wake to weep." Eight months after the death of Governor Trimble his beloved wife followed him to the paradise of God. A very beautiful sketch of Governor Trimble's life and character appeared, soon after his death, in the Ladies Repository, of Cincinnati. It was from the pen of Rev. J. Marley, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Hillsborough, at the time of Governor Trimble's death. he was intimately acquainted with the governor. To this sketch we are indebted for several of the most interesting incidents in the above narrative. Very appropriately he closes his article with the verse, "O, may we all like him believe, And keep the faith and win the prize; Father, prepare, and then receive Our hallowed spirits to the skies, To chant, with all our friends above, Thy glorious, everlasting love." Hon. Jeremiah Morrow Gettysburg, Orleans County, Pennsylvania, will in all future time be renowned for one of the most terrific battles whose thunders ever reverberated upon this war-cursed globe. Neither Marengo not Austerlitz nor Waterloo has witnessed a more direful and sanguinary conflict. One hundred years ago, upon these then silent fields, a very worthy man of Scotch descent and Scottish intelligence, energy and virtue reared his humble dwelling, and cultivated his silent and lonely yet fertile fields. His son, Jeremiah Morrow, was born on the 6th of October, 1771. The early days of the boy were passed on his father's farm. He worked diligently through the Summer months in the fields, and in the Winter attended a private school which the inhabitants of the little hamlet had established. He was a bright boy and made rapid progress, particularly in his favorite branches of mathematics and surveying. In the year 1795, young Morrow, then twenty-four years of age, left the paternal roof for the boundless field of enterprise for energetic young men, the "far West." He first directed his steps to a cluster of a few log cabins at the mouth of the Little Miami River. Only six years before a few emigrants had reared their huts upon that spot and called the place Chilicothe. It was six miles east from Cincinnati, and was the second place settled in that state. Here the new emigrant, with nothing to depend upon but hand and brain, picked up such jobs at he could find. He taught school. He surveyed land. He worked on farms. At length, having saved a little money, and those wild lands over which the savages were roaming being very cheap, he ascended the Little Miami River about twenty miles, into what is now Warren County, where he purchased a large firm. In this profound seclusion he reared a log cabin, and was so fortunate as to persuade Miss Mary Packhill, a young lady of piety, intelligence and amiability, to share his lonely cabin with him. The buds of the Spring of 1799 were swelling when he led his bride into their humble home. Ere long quite a flood of emigration commenced, and the increasing community rapidly appreciated the intelligence and moral worth of Jeremiah Morrow. In 1801 he was elected to the Territorial Legislature, which held its session at Chilicothe. During this session arrangements were made to call a Constitutional Convention to organize the State of Ohio. Mr. Morrow was chosen a delegate to this convention. He was then thirty years old. Nearly half a century after this, in the year 1850, another convention was assembled, in the opulent City of Columbus, the capital of the majestic state. Mr. Morrow, a venerable man of three score years and ten, was then visiting the capital. The convention passed the following resolution: "Resolved. That the President of this Convention be requested to extend to the Hon. Jeremiah Morrow, of the County of Warren, one of the surviving members of the convention which framed the present Constitution, an invitation to a seat within the bar of this convention during his stay in the city." In 1803 Mr. Morrow was elected to the Senate of Ohio. In June, of the same year, he was chosen the first representative, in the United States Congress, of the new state. Ohio then, and for the ten subsequent years, was entitled to but one member in the lower house of Congress. During that period of five terms. Mr. Morrow worthily represented the state of his adoption. Though making not the slightest claim to oratorical display, his sound common sense ever secured the attention of the House to his remarks. As chairman of the Committee on Public Lands he rendered signal service to Ohio, and to the country at large. The insolent encroachments of the British Government, in arresting and imprisoning on board their men-of-war, without trial, citizens of the United States, upon the simple declaration of a naval officer that such citizens were subjects of Great Britain, roused his indignation. Cordially he sustained the United States Government in the War of 1812, into which it was driven by these outrages. In 1813 the Legislature of Ohio conferred upon Mr. Morrow the honor of a seat in the Senate of the United States. In this august body he was also appointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Lands. With so much wisdom did he discharge these duties that he acquired the reputation of knowing more about the public lands than any other man in the country. He drew up most of the laws for the survey of the public domain. Henry Clay, in one of his most eloquent speeches in the Senate, alluding to Jeremiah Morrow, said: "A few artless but sensible words, pronounced in his plain Scotch-Irish dialect, were always sufficient to insure the passage of any bill or resolution he reported." In 1814 Mr. Morrow, while a member of the United States Senate, was appointed Indian Commissioner, to treat with the Indian tribes west of the Miami. These tribes, having received great provocations from vagabond white men, were very restless. Mr. Morrow, eminently a fair-minded man, did every thing in his power to conciliate the deeply-wronged savages. He discharged his difficult duties to the perfect satisfaction of the government. Upon leaving the Senate, Mr. Morrow retired to his farm, which had far more charms for him than the agitating scenes of public life, He was an earnest Christian. In his early youth he had become a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and throughout his whole life he continued to take an active interest in its welfare. He was ever ready to contribute of his time and money to promote the religious and intellectual interests of the community. He had no ambition to accumulate property, or to seek posts or honor. In his old age he had been known to walk to church over dusty roads and beneath a blazing sun for a distance of four miles. He is now doubtless reaping the reward which follows the sentence, "Well done, good and faithful servant." The community will not leave such a man undisturbed in his retreat. In 1822, the almost unanimous voice of the people called him to the Chief Magistrate of Ohio. In 1824 he was re-elected. So popular was he, where best known, that, at his first election, but a single vote, in his own township, was cast against him. During his administration the distinguished Governor of New York, De Witt Clinton, by special invitation, visited Ohio. The New York Central Canal, the great achievement of De Witt Clinton's lief, was just completed. He was invited to be present at the commencement of the work upon the Ohio Canal, and to deliver an address upon the occasion. During the same year, General La Fayette, the nation's guest, visited Ohio. The enthusiasm of the whole Northwest was roused on this occasion, to confer honor upon the distinguished Frenchman who had so signally aided us in obtaining liberation from the thraldom of Great Britain. He descended, in a flat-bottomed boat, the beautiful river - "La Belle Riviere", which his own enterprising countryman had first discovered. At Cincinnati the whole population of the thriving town, with thousands from the surrounding region, flocked to welcome their great benefactor. Governor Morrow met La Fayette at the wharf, and, in a few touching, unaffected words, assured him that a nation's heart greeted him with its love and homage. Upon Governor Morrow's retirement from the executive chair, he was still so earnestly solicited to fill several responsible public offices, that he could not well decline, though his inclinations urged him to enjoy the tranquility of an unambitious home. On the 4th of July, 1839, he, being then in the sixty-eighth year of his age, was selected as the most appropriate person to lay the corner stone of the new State Capital, at Columbus, and to deliver an address on the occasion. In 1840 he was again found in the National House of Representatives; first, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Hon. Thomas Corwin, and, soon after, he was chosen for the whole of the succeeding term. The good old patriarch, revered and beloved by all, full of years and honors, then again sought the retreat of the acres which his own hand had hewn from the wilderness. Here the sun of his earthly life gently sank in cloudless serenity and splendor. A plain marble tombstone marks the spot where his body reposes. It bears the simple inscription which, probably, he himself, with characteristic modesty, had directed should be placed upon it: "Jeremiah Morrow, "Died March 22, 1853. "Aged 80 years, 5 months and 16 days." Governor Morrow's treasures were not in this world. He left but little property. His energy was indomitable. No obstacle, not absolutely insurmountable, could swerve him from his purpose. He was of medium stature, compactly built, and with a boundless kindness of heart, was endowed with much vivacity and cheerfulness of spirit. He was a delightful companion, a deep thinker, and was blessed with a memory which was well stored with anecdotes and with reminiscences of distinguished men. He was proverbially generous and hospitable. Of a family of seven children, his eldest son only survived him. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V00 Issue #24 ******************************************