HISTORICALLY SPEAKING March 2016 the Newsletter of the Pioneer & Historical Society of Muskingum County
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING March 2016 The Newsletter of the Pioneer & Historical Society of Muskingum County As more of our architectural heritage is being demolished (look at downtown Zanesville and the MUSEUMS OF THE PIONEER & former AE Tile factory) we are seeing an increase in HISTORICAL SOCIETY interest in our history by those who follow social me- OF dia. Perhaps it is caused by ageing baby boomers MUSKINGUM COUNTY wanting to relive their past or it could be that as we see the physical reminders of our past turn into park- The Stone Academy Historic Site & Museum ing lots we have more of a need to strengthen our 115 Jefferson Street memories so that we do not lose track of our roots. Zanesville, Ohio Whatever the cause, our Facebook following con- Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 1:00-4:00 tinues to increase and we will use it to reach out to May through September people who might not have visited our museums and who might not have lived in Muskingum County Dr. Increase Mathews House Museum 304 Woodlawn Avenue for decades but who still have an interest in this ar- Zanesville, Ohio ea. Hours: Sunday 1:00-4:00 May-September Museum attendance is down at many muse- ums, including ours. Some have attributed this to a Both museums are open to groups at other times surplus of museums in this country with the National by appointment. Call the museum office at the Trust for Historic Preservation calling for some small Stone Academy at 740 454-9500 or contact us historical societies to close their museums and sell through our website their buildings to owners who can do a better job of www.Muskingumhistory.org. maintaining them. In the past few years we have Like us on Facebook increased our maintenance budget and both of our museums are in good shape. We wish we had more visitors but rather than fight the inevitable, we have found ways to reach out to the public with pro- gramming and exhibits that complement each oth- er. For our celebration of the anniversary of Za- nesville as state capital we had speakers and exhib- its related to Ohio’s early statehood period. For the 1913 flood centennial we participated in several PRESIDENT’S REPORT very successful programs and installed a new per- MARCH 2016 manent exhibit at the Stone Academy. Last year, as I thank the Board of Trustees for allowing me to part of the On the Same Page Muskingum reading serve another term as president of our venerable program we had a concert on the lawn of the In- organization. The times are rapidly changing for so- crease Mathews House, Chris Hart’s living history in- ciety and for organizations such as ours and I look terpretation of Zane Grey and a small Zane Grey forward to being a part of our efforts to stay rele- exhibit at the Mathews House. All of these programs vant as we go against the grain and spend more brought first-time visitors to our museums. This year time exploring our collective past rather than focus- we have several programs planned on the subject ing on the present and looking ahead to the future. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 2) (PRESIDENT’S REPORT, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2) of the Underground Railroad and Abolition, topics Ohio University, Sunday Morning Jan. 30th that are vitally connected to the Stone Academy. People attending these programs will be able to Dear Father -- hear about our history in the actual physical loca- Last Evening. I rec’d your Welcome letter, and as an tion in which it took place. Opportunity for sending a letter presents itself, alt- Good things are planned but we need your hough I have nothing interesting to say yet I write. help in making them happen. In order for people My health is as usual, good, though at times there is to visit our museums we must be open and to be a premonitary pain in my breast, which tells me I open we need volunteer docents. Building and must take exercise; but the weather is & has been grounds maintenance is an ongoing responsibility very disagreeable, and I have not had a chance to that provides many volunteer opportunities, both in a supervisory capacity and in grunt labor. Our con- walk out. It is now colder, it is very cold this morn- tact with the outside world is frequently in the form ing. Mr. Mather's thermometer was at 0 at 5 this of requests for information. If research is your inter- morning. I shall endeavor to keep a regular system of est, you can volunteer to take on some of these exercise, for there is yet a weakness in my lungs & requests. Most importantly, you can show your sup- breast, which I feel sensibly, if I speak long or loud. I port for the cause by maintaining your member- endeavor to improve every particle of Time - a person ship, attending our programs, commenting on our cannot know how valuable time - a hour, or a half, or Facebook posts and visiting our museums. Our col- quarter is, until they are situated properly to im- lective history will live on because of our collective prove it, & then every moment is in demand. From efforts to keep it alive. daylight till sunset, there is one continual going, if you are regular in your studies, and it seems the very Mitch Taylor, PRESIDENT, PIONEER & HISTORICAL SOCIETY regularity acts as a preservation on the health, by keeping the mind active & awake. I read a good little NO MON, NO FUN, YOUR SON… work through, on the ‘Philosophy of Living’, which I Despite Zanesville’s prominence during Ohio’s want you to read. It is written by Calbe Ticknor, early statehood period, when it’s population was A.M. M.D. It is no piece of quackery; it condemns in second only to Cincinnati, and again during the toto, your whole system of doctoring, dieting, study- post-Civil War era when it was a major industrial ing your own diseases, and shows the remarkable center, Zanesville has produced few nationally affinity between the mind and body. It scouts at the known politicians. One native who did achieve ultra-ism of the day, both in politics & morals, as national recognition was Samuel Sullivan Cox. He well in Diet....What were the good things of the world served four terms in the US House of Representa- placed around us for? Would God tantalize us? Thus tives representing districts from Ohio and eight he reasons, but moderation nevertheless he enjoins, terms representing districts in New York. and he agrees with your views in everything as to Cox enrolled at Ohio University about 1841, exercise, &c. I will not review it farther. I wish you leaving there for Brown University in 1844. He wrote the following letter home to his father Ezekiel Taylor would read it in [illegible], As to “Domestic Econo- Cox, editor of the Muskingum Messenger. The letter my”, I know that from my former habits & associa- was copied from the internet when it was for sale tions, I was not inclined to value money as much as on eBay so we do not have the original to which the filthy lucre should be - Yet, I know that I have we may refer. We do not know the year it was writ- done the best down here. You are not aware, and ten and in some areas the handwriting was difficult couldn't be, till you were here, how easily money goes to decipher. Copying but not purchasing the letter here, without too, a single useless thing, or without might have been somewhat unscrupulous but Mr. that which is necessary. Now, I left my umbrella at Cox was a politician and if the present political cli- home, and would not buy any for 3 weeks, but there mate is any indication, he would have approved. is such continual wet weather, that I must have it. We can summarize the letter as, “I’m OK but suffering, I am trying to watch my spending but I am broke, send me to a better school.” Has much (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3) changed in 170-some years? 2 (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2) nature, you will have a chance by this man. There’s coal too, and the bill for the horses at Gen. I know that young Cushing, by hearsay only. I read a Brown’s, & Society expenses paying for my house [?] little of his Rhymes in the Gazette, and as I profess to in advance, A Rent (I never used once, but as George pass some odd moments at the Muses myself. I will left it in his Room & the man expected me to take it venture to say, they were very good. He is pretty for the year. I took it at $1.00 a session) and all those smart. So much the better if he goes with me to Dart- little things summed up, I find my $10 gone almost mouth. I have not “Scribbled any more the Whats-You imperceptibly, and yet I know I have not paid out -Call-em”. I have not time, nor inclination, to touch up money, except when needed. I trust and hope you will the lethargic spirits of this soulless community, had I be enabled to send me the remaining time at an East- time. I did not get into any difficulty, though I come ern Institution. I prefer Dartmouth, though Brown near having a little breeze with a law student, but it would probably be as well.