“Mother Goose” on the Panic

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“Mother Goose” on the Panic.

We have picked up the following capital applications of Mother Goose’s melodies to the present conditions of the money market, floating about in our exchanges:

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Sing a song of specie
Gotham all away,
Seven and fifty Bank Birds
Knocked into pi;
When the Banks were open’d
The Cashier tried to sing,
Wasn’t that a pretty dish
To send to Gov’nor King!

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Hark! hark! the Banks do bark,
The brokers have come to town,
Some with “bags” and some with “rags,”
To hunt the specie down.

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There was a man in our town,
Who was so wondrous wise,
He jumped into the Barbary coast
And drew out his supplies.
And when he got his specie out,
With all his might and main,
He rushed into another Bank
And concluded that, all things considered,
he might as well deposit again.

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Ba! ba! Bank sheep, have you any gold?
Yes, marry, have I, three bags told;
One for depositors, one for me,
And one for an old chap that lives across the sea?

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One — Two! What shall we do?
Three — Four! Close up the door.
Five — Six! They are coming like bricks,
Seven — Eight! Ask them to wait.
Nine — Ten! Good friends, come again.
Eleven — Twelve! The deposits we’ll shelve.
Thirteen — Fourteen! Stop exporting.
Fifteen — Sixteen! Ain’t we fixed in?
Seventeen — Eighteen! Keep ’em waiting!
Nineteen — Twenty! Vaults are Empty!

Fort Wayne Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Nov 7, 1857

 

BLOCK QUOTES run a muck again!

Hallowe’en of Yore Ancestors

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HALLOWEEN WILL BE HERE SOON, GET READY

Young People Will Celebrate While the Goblins and Spirits Hower About, Just as of Old.

Get ready, kids. It’s coming. A week from Saturday the goblins, witches, elves and jack-o-lanterns will come into their own for one brief night. All Hallows’ eve — the world belongs to them.

In the old, old days Hallowe’en belonged to the spirits of the Northland, to the spirits and elves of Druid days. There are no witches or fairies now, but Hallowe’en will be celebrated just the same.

Farmers are getting ready for the occasion and are getting their cabbage and pumpkins under cover and before the latter part of next week will have them securely locked in the houses and barns. Corn is also used to a certain extent in celebrating, while tick-tacks** are just as big a favorite as ever.

From Dictionary Encarta:

**2. U.S. something that taps as prank: a device operated from a distance to make a tapping sound on a window or door as a practical joke.

Great changes have taken place in celebrating Hallowe’en in the past decade. It used to be that a boy or girl did not think they were having a good time unless they would burst in a number of doors during the night with cabbage stocks or hang some neighbor’s wagon on the roof of the barn, so it would be hard to remove, while some even went so far as to put cows in the school room and other things in just as ridiculous places. The taking of a buggy or wagon and running away with it was most enjoyed, that is by the celebrators, but it was a trick not enjoyed by the owner. The building of fences across the public highway also afforded the builder lots of fun. People out late at night or those compelled to get out early in the morning always bumped into one of these fences and there was all kinds of trouble. Gates and porch steps were to be found for the next two weeks in unlooked for places — but that was the way they celebrated a good many years ago.

It would not be very healthy to celebrate in this manner now. There are too many police officers. Then if you would happen to get caught or your name learned later on, you stand a good chance of being arrested for malicious mischief. There are too many laws today to permit such carryings on. Of late years the proper way to celebrate Hallowe’en and have a good time is to attend a taffy-pulling. Of course jack-o-lanterns are still used and are a big favorite, but not to the extent they were a number of years ago. In later years the young folks dress up in masque costumes and attend their taffy pullings. Many of the games played when grandmother was a girl, such as ducking for apples, etc., are still in vogue and affords no end of amusement.

It is not known to what extent Mayor Harry Lusk will permit celebrators to go this year; but one thing is sure and that is that he will not stand for destruction of property, so the boys and girls who desire to keep out of the clutches of the law and escape spending a night in the ill-smelling cooler at city hall should confine their celebrating to innocent fun and not try to see how much property they can damage.

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) Oct 23, 1908

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The Good Old Candy Pull.

You kin talk about y’r op’rae y’r germans an’ ali sich,
Y’r afternoon receptions an’ them pleasures o’ the rich;
You kin feast upon y’r chol’lates an’ y’r creams an’ ices full.
But none o’ them is ekal to a good old candy pull.

For ther’ isn’t any perfume like the ‘lasses on the fire,
A bubblin’ an’ a dancin’ as it keeps a risin’ higher,
While the spoon goes stirrin’, stirrin’, till the  kittle’s even full;
No, I reely thin ther’s nothing’ like a good old candy pull.

It’s true we miss the music, an’ the ballroom’s crush an’ heat,
But ther isn’t any bitter that stays behind the sweet,
An’ I think the world’d be better, an’ its cup o’ joy more full,
If we only had more pleasures like the good old candy pull.

— BOSTON BULLETIN.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) Mar 13, 1891

Hemp Seeds (Image from http://www.divavillage.com)

A Potent Incantation.

On All-Hallows eve there is one form of incantation which is known to be extremely, nay, terribly potent when all others have failed. You go out by yourself, taking a handful of hempseed with you. You get to a secluded place and begin to scatter the seed as you walk along the road. You say, “Hempseed, I sow thee; hempseed, I sow thee, he who is to be my true love, appear now and show thee.” And if you look furtively over your shoulder you will behold the desired apparition following you. — William Black in Harper’s.

Davenport Morning Tribune (Davenport, Iowa) Nov 5, 1890

HALLOWE’EN CELEBRATIONS

Its Origin and Customs — How the Small Boy Came to Have a Part Therein.

Many Parties of Social Nature Held — Police Department Busily Entertained.

Hallowe’en or All Hallow’s Eve, the night of Oct. 31, that is the eve of All Saints’ Day, which is the first day of November, takes its origin from the conversion in the Seventh century of the Pantheon at Rome, into a Christian place of worship, and its dedication to the Virgin and all the martyrs.

It was first celebrated on the first of May, but the date was Subsequently changed to Nov. 1st, and under the designation of “Feast of All Saints,” set apart as a general commemoration in their honor, and as such retained by the Angelican and American Episcopal churches.

On this day it is a custom of Roman Catholic countries, and is still practiced in Louisiana, to visit the cemeteries for devotion or for laying floral tributes on the graves of relatives.

The “Hallowe’en” part of it, however, appears to have nothing churchly about it. It is more in keeping with the practices of pagan times or perhaps of medieval superstitions, which set apart the night for a universal walking abroad of spirits, both of the visible and invisible world. On this mystic evening it was believed that even the human spirit might detach itself from the body and wander abroad.

From the above it can be readily seen how members of the younger population have come to distort the customs of this celebration by performing mischievous pranks, dressing in most hideous costumes and working destruction in general to everything animate and inanimate, after the fashion of sprites, or worse than these, perhaps, demons. Here also we discover the origin of the pumpkin ghost or Jack ‘o lanter, the troops of wandering devils, etc.

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Practically so far as recognized at all, as it is still in Great Britain and some of our states, where church usages and traditions survive, it is devoted to sports and practical jokes. Nuts and apples are in requisition, they being not only cracked and eaten, but furnish sport in the way of “ducking” and “bobbing” which often results in damp disaster at the bottom of the wash tub.

The fate of many a lad and lass is also often decided in the signs of the seeds and the kernels, as the renowned Burns put it:

“The old guidwife’s well hoardit ______ nits,
Are round and round devided,
And many lads and lassies’ fates
Are there that night decided.”

A number of parties were held last evening in commemoration of the event. The police department was also obliged to use its entire force and acumen to watch the mischievous sprites who were on the lookout to work destruction to anything and everything which happened to fall in their pathway.

Social Hallowe’en.

Among those who entertained in a social way were Miss Lulu Wolfe, Wisconsin street; Miss Anna Slagsvold, Wisconsin street; Miss Laura Aswumb, Garfield avenue; Rev. and Mrs. Arns, Vine street; and among others something unique in the way of hobo Hallowe’en amusement at the home of Mrs. David Drummond. To say the least, all of the events named above furnished much enjoyment to those who were in attendance, having a part in the quaint games and customs in accord with practices of olden times.

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The Small Boy.

Hallowe’en with the small boy, was not so exciting up to midnight. Dr. Selbach’s buggy was carried with the Leader’s mail wagon. Windows were soaped, gates stolen, every upsetable, upset, a sidewalk in the Ninth ward torn up, with untold and various other depredations. This is all. No lives were lost. Hallowe’en is all over but the swearing.

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Nov 2, 1906

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THIS IS HALLOWE’EN.

Which Has Been Celebrated Through Centuries — The Prince of Mischief Abroad in the Land.

To-night is Hallowe’en and around it clusters more Old World superstitions than begirt the other 364 nights that go to make up the year.

The small boy knows it best as “cabbage night,” and to him it means a round of fun. He has been keeping track of it. He knows it comes with darkness and for days he has been keeping his optics on the cabbage heads in the back yards of his neighbors.

The small boy knows where all the cabbage in the neighborhood, for squares around, is kept, and as soon as night has stolen over the earth he will be out with his companions, carefully climbing over the back yard fences, and stealthfully approaching the mound where the cabbage is buried. It is no use to watch him, for if it is there he will have it if he has to stay up all night, and after he has it in his grasp he is off on his round of pranks.

The readers of THE SENTINEL know how he will put in the night. They were all young once and as they peruse this Hallowe’en article, memories of those old-time days, when they were out on the All Hallows Eve lark, will crowd in on them thick and fast, and when the “bump,” “bump” of the cabbage head comes against the door, they will say, “Oh, it’s boys. They are out for a little fun. Let them have it.”

Gates are carried off from their hinges, and the posts are ornamented with hideous, grinning faces, made of a grotesque pumpkin, hollowed out, and containing a lighted candle. Bonfires are built and potatoes, eggs and apple roasted on the hot coals. Door bells are mysteriously rung and the king of misrule and his retinue are abroad in the land.

But the Hallowe’en is not now what it once was. The boyish pranks of twenty, thirty and forty years ago (many of them) seem to be unknown to the boys of to-day and there isn’t one one hundredth part of the fun crowded into the night now as there was then. Many of the older readers of THE SENTINEL could tell the boys of to-day Hallowe’en stories that would “make their hair stand on end,” but it is best, perhaps, that those olden-time tricks (some of them mean and cruel in their nature) should be discontinued, and we will not tell more of them now for fear the boys will be tempted to repeat them to-night in Fort Wayne.

There used to be a time when the night was full of superstitions, and men, women and children believed that on All Hallows Eve disembodied spirits visited the earth again; that devils, witches and fairies were abroad; that supernatural influences existed everywhere, but these old-time superstitions passed away with the advent of railways, telegraph, and, most of all, with the enlightening influences of the newspapers, and now the night is mostly (among those who desire to celebrate it) given to amusements of a social nature, either at home or in some public hall. Even the boyish pranks grow to be less common, and bye and bye, perhaps, they will cease all together.

Hallowe’en, or more properly All Hallows Eve, is the night before All Saints’ day and comes on October 31st, being kept as a vigil by some churches for the religious ceremonies of the following day, November 1st, when honor is done in the sanctuaries to all the saints. This is its real signification now, and yet in many countries the old superstitions still prevail and we give a few of them.

In the north of England this is “Nutcrack-Night,” and everywhere nuts and apples are in demand for consumption or for divination. In Ireland the same customs exist as in the sister isle; the lads and lasses gather by the blazing fire of peat and bogwood; the hearth is cleanly swept and each pair of lovers put two nuts before the fire; if either jumps the party represented is sure to give the other the mitten.
Ducking for apples is another ceremony peculiar to Hallowe’en.

Apples are placed in a tub of water, and often coins, and the attempts to catch them in the mouth produce tremendous mirth. So. too, does the “snapapple cross”; apples and lighted candles are placed on the opposite ends of a wooden cross, suspended by a string, and the attempts to rescue an apple with the mouth is generally rewarded by catching the twirling candle.

Three plates, containing earth, water and a ring, are placed on the table, the fortune seeker is led blindfolded, and his selection dooms him to death, exile or marriage within the ensuing year. A somewhat similar form of divination exists in Scotland.

“Popping” is a custom as popular in America as in the old country, where it originated. One girl heats a shovel red hot. Two chestnuts are then named after two of the company, as Jennie and Jack. In a few minutes they begin to sputter, and when they pop with much noise and confusion it is judged by the method of popping how the love affair will terminate. If Jennie pops away it is surmised that it is meant as an invitation for Jack to follow and capture her, but if Jack pops he is not for her. If the two pop side by side or away together, it is the happiest of auguries. IF the pair of chestnuts burn up into a flame and consume together it foretells a happy married future.

Eating the apple — This first demands a walk through a long corridor, when, if the young lady does not see her lover, she must return backward, going to her room and eating the apple before a looking glass while she combs her hair. She will then see her future husband’s face over her shoulder.

Paring an apple in one long paring, throwing it over the shoulder and letting it fall is a favorite spell of the night. If it falls so as to resemble a letter, that will be the first letter of a coming lover’s name.

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The Hallowe’en Mirror — This is always a moonlight night performance, as the spell is assisted by the spectral light of the moon. They young woman looking into the glass must munch an apple at the same time. As the moonbeams fall across the glass she will see a face beside her own, which will be that of the man she is to marry. This test is very trying one, and many cases have been known where a delicate girl has fainted from fright, her imagination supplying the expected face.

The Three Leggies — These are three bowls of water placed on the hearth, a custom prevalent in Scotland and referred to by Burns. One is filled with clear water, one with turbid water and one is empty. Whoever dips must be blindfolded and use the left hand only. If it is a maiden and she dips into the clear water she will marry a young man and be prosperous. If she, however, puts her hand in the turbid bowl her husband will be a widower, and she will have more or less trouble, but if she dips into the empty dish, never a husband will she have at all.

A Scottish superstition was: — The girl would take her ball of knitting worsted and at midnight, standing on the edge of an old lime kiln, would throw it down in the devil’s name, and commencing to wind up the end would say, “I wind, who holds?” when a voice was supposed to answer, “I hold.” Many fatal accidents from shock followed these incantations, caused probably by some of the lads who knew that such a visit would be made.

But when all the sports were finished, then came the crowning terror to the rustic mind — the journey home and the possibility of meeting the dreaded “Phooks,” the hairy, misshapen spirit steed that on this particular night was permitted to roam around and decoy wearied pedestrians to mount him.

Some of these sports may be repeated to night among our young folks and much merriement will ensue. All in all, with the repetition of these pranks and the parties, dances and night “raids” of the small boy Hallowe’en will not go unobserved in Fort Wayne.

To morrow will be All Saints day. As early as the fourth century the Greeks kept on the first Sunday after Pentecost the feast of all Martyrs and Saints, and there is still a sermon of St. John Chrysostom delivered on that day. The feast was introduced in the west by Pope Boniface IV. The feast was at first kept on the 13th of May, but the day was changed to the 1st of November by Gregory IV. This feast has been instituted by the church to honor all the saints who reign in heaven.

Next Sunday will be All Souls day. It is a solemn commemoration of and prayer for all the souls in purgatory. This feast is dept on the 2d day of November. This feast owes its origin to Odilo Abbot, of Clugny, who instituted this solemnity for all the monasteries of his order in 998.

Both days will be religiously observed by the Catholics in this city.

The forty hour devotions began at the Cathedral to-day at 9 o’clock. Father Ambrose, of Cincinnati, a Franciscan, preached in the forenoon and will be heard again this evening. To-morrow the principal services will be at 5, 7:30, 10 a.m., and in the evening at 7:30, closing with a sermon, procession and benediction on Sunday evening.

Fort Wayne Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Oct 31, 1890

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HALLOWE’EN [excerpt]

Three things seem to be wrapped up in Hallowe’en rites — silence, salt and apples! Salt and silence worked together, and for dire occasions. Hallowe’en, from time immemorial, seems to have been a special occasion for attempting to lift the veil and peer into the future, especially as regards one’s personal fortunes or the fate of one’s enemies.

For instance, many hundreds of years ago in northern Europe a man who put a spoonful of salt in his mouth, drank no water, and walked away in silence — you cannot imagine him talking much — to “a place where three crossroads met and sat thereon on a three-legged stool” was rewarded at midnight by hearing a supernatural voice announce the name of the neighbor, generally, his enemy, who would die within the year!

In many parts of Scotland to this day, the house-wife will empty a thimble of salt on every breakfast plate before going to bed on All Hallows Eve; and if in the morning the salt has fallen out of shape on any plate, it is believed that individual  might just as well get ready, as the big bell has tolled for him.

In other parts of northern Europe, the girl who eats a salt cake and goes to bed in silence, and without drinking water, will see her future husband in her dreams.

Olean Evening Times (Olean, New York) Oct 30, 1929

The Ignorance of Braggarts and Fools

NOISE AND RESULTS

The fact that one can make a noise,
Is hardly proof of skill, or poise.
Most braggarts, when they’re put to test,
Produce performance not the best.
To boast is easy, but indeed,
It takes some action to succeed.
A donkey has a noisy bray,
But that is all he has to say.
Some blowers are about the same,
In real results, if not in name.
Just listen to the folks who brag,
And see if their attainments lag!

–N.A. LUFBURROW

The Frederick Post (Frederick, Maryland) Mar 16, 1939

THE ARROGANCE OF IGNORANCE

The self complacency of uneducated people is one of the great barriers in the way of improvement. No one can fail to have noticed how dogmatic the man is who knows a very little about any important matter. It is proverbial that the greatest students have only found out how little they know after a lifetime, and another proverb is, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”

IT is a great step upward for a man to break the shell of his self-conceit, so that he can keep his mind in a receptive mood, and discriminate between wheat and chaff. He cannot grow unless he is willing to learn, and he cannot learn as long as it mortifies him to acknowledge that there is anyone wiser than he.

A great many very ignorant men assume an air of superiority, and by their dogmatic impudence override the very people that could teach them something. This sort of thing does the wise no harm but it keeps the fool a fool to his dying day. It is an excellent plan for young men to associate with their superiors. Don’t choose for companions the men who flatter and make much of you, but cultivate the acquaintance of the wise and good, and you will grow to be wise and good yourselves.

The Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Jan 5, 1881

IGNORANCE

He knew Latin and he knew Greek,
But the plumber who came to mend the tap
Thought him a strangely ignorant chap
Who couldn’t fix faucets when they leak.

He stopped with a farmer once to chat
And he looked at straw and called it hay.
And the farmer said as he moved away:
“I’d certainly hate to be dumb as that.”

All the ancient writers he could quote,
But sailors laughed when he went to sea
And said: “What an ignorant fool is he
To call such a splendid ship a boat!”

So in spite of the knowledge man has earned,
There is so much to this worldly scheme
That down to the last a fool he’ll seem
To the man who knows what he hasn’t learned.

The Gettysburg Times (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Jan 21, 1930

I Owe No Man A Dollar

Life Magazine 1937

I Owe no Man a Dollar.

BY THE LATE CHAS. P. SHIRAS

Oh, do not envy, my own dear wife,
The wealth of our next door neighbor,
And bid me still to be stout of heart,
And cheerfully follow my labor;
You must know, the last of those little debts
That have been our lingering sorrow,
Is paid this night! So we’ll both go forth
With happier hearts to-morrow.
Oh, the debtor is but a shame-faced dog,
With the creditors name on his collar.
While I am a king and you are a queen,
For we owe no man a dollar!

Our neighbor you saw in his coach to-day,
With his wife and his flaunting daughter,
While we sat down to our coverless board,
To a crust and a cup of water;
I saw that a tear drop stood in your eye,
Though you tried your best to conceal it —
I knew that the contrast touched your heart,
And you could not help but feel it;
But knowing now that our scanty fare
Has freed thy neck from the collar,
You’ll join my laugh and help me shout
That we owe no man a dollar!

This neighbor whose show has dazzled your eyes,
In fact is a wretched debtor;
I pity him oft from my very heart,
And I wish that his lot were better.
Why, the man is the veriest slave alive;
For his dashing wife and daughter
Will live in style thouge ruin should come —
So he goes like a lamb to the slaughter;
But he feels it the tighter every day,
That terrible debtor’s collar!
Oh, what would he give, could he say with us
That he owed no man a dollar!

You seem amazed, but I’ll tell you more;
Within two hours I met him.
Sneaking away with a frightened air,
As if a fiend had beset him!
Yet he fled from a very worthy man,
Whom I met with the greatest pleasure —
Whom I called by name and forced to stop,
Though he said he was not at leisure,
He held my last note! so I held him fast,
Till he freed my neck from the collar,
Then I shook his hand as I proudly said:
Now, I owe no man a dollar!

Ah now you smile, for you feel the force
Of the truth I have been repeating;
I knew that a downright honest heart
In that gentle breast was breathing!
To morrow I’ll rise with a giant’s strength,
To follow my daily labor;
But e’er we sleep, let us humbly pray
For our wretched next door neighbor;
And we’ll pray for the time when all shall be free
From the weight of the debtor’s collar —
When the poorest shall lift up his voice and cry,
“Now, I owe no man a dollar!”

Fort Wayne Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Oct 24, 1857

Discovery of Gold in California

High Lights of History –  By J Carroll Mansfield

Sutter's Sawmill - January 1848

Valuable Yellow Dust

Gold From the American River!

Rush of Goldseekers

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) Jul 17, 1926

Census Poetry

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THE CENSUS IN BOWERSVILLE.
(Baltimore American)

We’re a-kickin’ on the census count down here in Bowersville,
The ?aggeus? that they give us is a might bitter pill.
They show that Pierce’s Station has a ten per cent increase,
An’ Jimtown — well they must a numerated Jimtown’s geese!
But Bowersville! The census shows she hasn’t grown at all,
An’ there’s rage an’ wrath from Henry’s store clear to the City Hall.

We can’t see how they jiggor it, for it has been our pride
That in the last ten years there’s only been two men died.
One of them was a peddler, who just gaped for breath an’ went,
When Deacon Skinner didn’t ask him to throw off a cent.
The other was a fellow who fooled with some dynamite —
Jest a button an’ a freckle was the only things to light.

But, gee-mun-nee! There’s Higgins’ twins, an’ Kesler’s girl an’ boy
Besides the triplets that has come to Hezeki McCoy,
An’ other babies! Man alive! You can’t walk anywhere’s
Thought bumpin into kerriges with youthful sons and heirs.
It’s jest a kid procession from the school-house to the mill —
But it isn’t in the census that they took o’ Bowersville.

The census man — he needn’t say he didin’t see ’em all,
He might be blind, but surely he could easy hear ’em bawl!
An’ that’s why we’re a kickin’ on the census man’s report —
We got a blame good notion for to take the case to court.
We think the census taker is in danger o’ the law,
Fer classin’ Bowersville along with shrinkin’ Omaha.

San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas) Sep 30, 1900

Census Taker

PUZZLED CENSUS TAKER

“Got any boys?” the Taker said
To a lady from over the Rhine,
And the lady shook her flaxen head,
And civilly answered, “Nine!”

“Got any girls?” the Taker said
To the lady from over the Rhine,
And again the lady shook her head
And civilly answered “Nine!”

“Husband, of Course?” the Taker said
To the lady from over the Rhine,
And again she shook her flaxen head
And civilly answered “Nine!”

“The deuce you have!” the Taker said
To the lady from over the Rhine,
And again she shook her flaxen head
And civilly answered “Nine!”

“Now what do you mean by shaking your head
And always answering Nine!”
“Ich kunn nicht English!” civilly said
The lady from over the Rhine.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXI, Issue 5669,  Nov 13, 1875, Pg 1

Three Venerable Members of the Gray-Beard Regiment

Rock Island Prison

Image from CensusDiggins.com.

THE PIONEERS.

Pioneer Notes and Memorial Sketches for the Month of November, 1884.

Memorial Sketches.

Nicholas Ramey, John Colville and Wayne McCaddon, were well known residents of Licking county, Ohio, who, many years ago, long before the “Great Rebellion,” removed to Iowa, and settled themselves for the remainder of their lives in that thrifty and rapidly growing young State of the Great West. Early in the was the General Government established a rebel prison on Rock Island, in the Mississippi river, on the eastern borders of Iowa, and devolved the duty on that State to furnish a regiment of soldiers to perform guard duty in said prison.

Governor Kirkwood deemed it proper to enlist men for that service who were too old to perform active military duty at the front, and thereby save his young men for the field. He accordingly organized the celebrated “gray-beard regiment,” composed of old men who had passed the military age and mustered them into the service to perform guard duty as above indicated, during the war. The three old citizens of this county above named were volunteer soldiers of this regiment, and served until the war closed. The first named (Mr. Ramey) died early in 1882, aged 90 years, and a notice of him appeared in our memorial sketches for the month of March of said year.

Mr. John Colville, the second of this trio of gray-beard patriots, died December 6th, 1882, aged 86, as appears from our memorial sketches for said month and year. And now we have information recently obtained, of the death of the last named of these veteran Union soldiers, (Wayne McCadden) who died at his residence in Dexter, Dallas county, Iowa, at the ripe age of 77 years. He was the youngest son of Mr. John McCaddon, who, in his youth, was a soldier under General George Rogers Clark, in an expedition against the Shawnee Indians on the Mad River, in 1780, having enlisted under that gallant leader at the Falls of the Ohio. He was subsequently a pioneer settler in Newark, where he for many years conducted a tannery, his son the subject of this sketch, being his partner in said business.

Previous to embarking as the active partner with his father, in 1826, Wayne McCaddon was a clerk in the store of his brother-in-law, Mr. George Baker, who is still remembered by a few of our citizens, as one of the pioneer merchants and produce dealers of Newark. The introduction of his elegant and accomplished bride to the young society of Newark was one of the social events of 1830. The youthful Kentucky stranger-bride of more that fifty years ago, we learn, is still living in her Iowa home, now in dignified, venerated, matronly widowhood. Wayne McCaddon was one of the deputy marshals engaged in taking the census in a part of Licking county in 1840, and not long after that year he permanently located in Iowa. His ailment, which was of a cancerous nature, was painful and protracted.

A number of his children, as well as his aged life partner, survive him.

As will be observed Wayne McCaddon inherited a propensity for soldiering from his patriotic father, and as much may be said of John Colville, who was intuitively heroic, for his father and three brothers actively participated in our last war with England.

And it may be remarked in this parting tribute to these three old-time soldier friends, volunteers in the “gray-beard regiment, of Iowa,” that Nicholas Ramey, who was a native of France, probably also inherited military proclivities, for while a young man he was a soldier in the armies of the great Napoleon, serving with the French army in the campaign in Spain and elsewhere.

Wayne McCaddon’s father reached the age of 90 years, and his mother was not much younger at her death. And of a large family of sons and daughters nearly all attained to a great age, several of whom that are still living have long since been octogenarians, and one, (Mrs. Baker) is nearly as old as her father was at his death. They were probably the most long-lived family, consisting of so large a number of persons, that ever lived in Licking county. Of the five surviving members of this pioneer family the youngest is now seventy-four years old.

Wayne McCaddon and the writer were associates, friends, and companions more than fifty years ago. We were jointly engaged in the performance of some small official duties, too, in 1840, such as enumerating the inhabitants of a portion of our county, by authority of Congress. Soon after that we parted; our almost daily intercourse was suddenly terminated — he seeking a home towards the setting sun, and I remaining as hitherto a sojourner here. We recall but one visit from him after leaving here, and that was a generation ago. A score or more of his old friends, on that occasion, by way of a testimonial of their personal regard tendered him a supper at the American House, Smith & Moody being the proprietors. That evening’s entertainment and services were characterized by hilarity, good cheer and kindly feeling. It was marked by the enjoyment and expression of a degree of good will and fraternity seldom witnessed; indeed it was one of those jestive occasions the recollection of which would long have a lodgement in the memory, serve as a land-mark along life’s journey, and be held in retrospection as an oasis in a barren, dreary waste. Benjamin Briggs, Jonathan Taylor, James Parker, B.B. Taylor, John Lanceford, Lucius Case, Wm. P. Morrison, A.W. Dennis and others were participants in these exercises and festivities, and all of them (except the last named and the writer) preceded our friend McCaddon to “the realms beyond.” Many friends and relatives of the deceased tender their warmest sympathies to the members of the bereaved family.

Mrs. Baker’s Death.

After the foregoing notice of Wayne McCaddon was written, information of he decease of his oldest sister, Mrs. Nancy Baker, was received. She had been living with one of her sisters in Canton, Ohio, for many years, and died there November 18, 1884 at the ripe age of 90 years, 6 months and some days. Mr. George Baker, her husband, was a widely known merchant of Newark, who died here about 40 years ago, and Mrs. Baker did not live here long after that. She was the oldest daughter of John McCaddon, and Wayne McCaddon was her youngest brother. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are often mentioned in terms of commendation in Newark church circles, because of their generous contributions to Trinity Episcopal Church, which Mr. Baker was chiefly instrumental in erecting.

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Nov 28, 1884

Napolean's Army (Image from http://www.life.com)

Iowa Letter.
OSKALOOSA, IOWA, March 10, 1882.

EDITOR ADVOCATE — On the 6th of this month, Nicholas Ramey, a former resident of your county, died at Kirkville, a small town fourteen miles south of here, at the age of 90 years. He was a native of France and a veteran of the wars. Mr. Ramey was a lieutenant in the Grand Army under Napoleon; was captured at Salamanca, Spain, and while he was being transported on a British vessel bound for London, assisted in a mutiny, which was successful, and made his escape to America. He became a soldier of the Republic in the was of 1812. He also served during the war of the late rebellion as principal musician of the 37th Iowa (Graybeard) regiment. The pioneers of Licking will remember him as the great admirer of Napoleon. He organized a company at Newark, headed, I believe, by Moody Smith and went with them to Gibralter, to recover treasures hidden there by his great commander. When the writer was a small boy, Mr. Ramey lived close to Newark on the farm of S.D. King, on the road leading from there to Granville. He has children and grand-children residing in our city and county. Mrs. Anderson, of Chatham, was one of his daughters. He was totally blind before he died. He was buried with Masonic honors on the 8th inst.

J.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Mar 23, 1882

THE PIONEERS.

MR. JOHN COLVILLE.

Mr. Colville was one of our early settlers and a long time resident of this county. He was a son of Major Colville, born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, September 5, 1797, and settled in Licking county in 1824. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of four sons, and his father and three brothers rendered service in the war of 1812, he being too young to “go a soldiering.” His father was a major, and his brother Samuel was a captain, while his brothers Robert and James were in the ranks, and all served during the war.

John Colville in 1828, united in marriage with Eliza Turner, who died in 1841, he surviving her 41 years. He removed to Iowa many years ago, and died at the residence of his nephew, D.H. Colville, near Oscaloosa, Mahaska county, in said State, December 6, 1882, in the 86th year of his age. The Colville family was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, long-lived, vigorous, patriotic.

So patriotic was John that upon the call of his country during the late rebellion, though 65 years old, he (in company with Nicholas Ramy and Wayne McCaddon, both former venerable citizens of Licking county,) enlisted in the celebrated gray-beard regiment of Iowa, and served to the close of the war. His devotion to his country and military services probably led to impaired vision while on duty, which gradually grew more dim with advancing years, so that he endured total blindness during the last four years of his life, but a beneficent government smoothed his pathway to the tomb by granting him a liberal pension.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Dec 27, 1882

Image from http://iagenweb.org/mahaska

Death of a Former Resident of Licking County.

Mr. John Colville, Sr., formerly of this county, died at the residence of O.H. Colville, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, aged 84 years, two months and three days. He was buried at the old cemetery at Oskaloosa.

Mr. Colville removed from Virginia to Licking county, in 1825, where he remained until 1854, when he removed to Mahaska county, Iowa, where he has ever since resided. For the past two or three years he has been entirely blind. It will be with feeling of regret that his many friends in Licking county will learn of his demise.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Dec 13, 1882

Canton, Ohio (Image from http://www.epodunk.com)

MRS. ELIZABETH COCKE.

Included in our memorial sketches for November 1884, were two members of the numerous and long-lived John McCadden family, early and for many years well known people in Newark, of respectability and character. Mr. Wayne McCadden [McCaddon] and his sister Mrs. George Baker, were those of whose decease we made mention then. Another of those aged people has since died, one of the eldest born. Mrs. Elizabeth Cocke was long a resident of Canton, Ohio, where her husband, who was a prominent man, died some years ago. Mrs. Cocke died in that city, January 28, 1885, at the advanced age of 84 years and six months. Mrs. VanHorn, of Zanesville, and Mrs. Marvin, of Newark, are two of her surviving sisters.

Mr. John McCadden there father, who long since deceased, was one of the veterans of our revolutionary war, and was personally identified with Indian warfare on Ohio soil long before the establishment of civil government here serving in the army of Gen. George Rogers Clark on that famous expedition to the Indian towns on the Mad river in 1780. A letter now before me written by the father of the deceased in 1842, when he was eighty-five years of age, gives interesting details of the expedition commanded by Gen. George Rogers Clark, in 1780, of which he was a member, having enlisted in it at the Falls of the Ohio, when he was twenty-three years old. His letter also tells how he was detailed as one of the men that stood guard in protecting those who were at work upon the block house built where Cincinnati now stands, and which was the first structure ever erected upon the site of that city, it being some years before Fort Washington was built.

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Mar 3, 1885

Look Out For The Census Man

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LOOK OUT FOR THE CENSUS MAN!

JAMES HITCHCOCK and WALTER C. HOOD are the Census Marshals for Scioto county. Mr. HITCHCOCK has the townships of Clay, Jefferson, Madison, Nile, Washington, Union, Morgan and Brushcreek. Mr. HOOD takes the city of Portsmouth and the townships of Wayne, Porter, Green, Bloom, Vernon and Harrison. This week we republish the leading questions — and it is hoped that all will try to have the exact answers ready in time for the Marshal when he comes.

*****

Count up Your Cattle, Children, Corn, Acres, &c., for the Census Man.

IN arranging the heading of this item, we have had respect to the relative degree of interest usually taken in the subjects. This year will occur the decennial census of the United States, the first object of which is the apportionment of representatives in Congress. Persons will be appointed for every locality in the States and Territories, to gather statistics of the inhabitants, and of all the agricultural productions, manufacturers, &c. Every cultivator will be asked for a concise, accurate statement of land occupied by him, the number of acres and the amount of each crop raised during the year ending June, 1859. As these reports will be called for in June, it will be necessary to give in the crops gathered last year, and the suggestion we would now make is, that cultivators write down, while fresh in their mind, the number of acres under cultivation, including the wheat, &c., gathered. The number of acres of each kind, the amount per acre, and the gross amount, will be required. The milk products also, and the amount of pork, beef, &c. will be asked for; also, the number of persons, male and female, and their ages, in every house. — Advanced spinsters, and middle-aged bachelors, widows and widowers, will undoubtedly cordially do their best to enlighten the census-takers as to their ages.

*****

THE editor is busy, — taking the Census. Can’t do much in the line of writing this week.

*****

WE have a number of items, touching our experience and observations while taking the census of the First Ward in this city, but must defer their publication to a “more convenient season.” All in time, however.

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Jun 9, 1860

From The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida) apr 5, 1930

The Census-Takers and the Public.

IT would seem that a good many people have not yet got over their fright of 1840. Twenty years have not obliterated from the tablets of their memory the impressions put there by the Opposition papers and stumpers of that day. They were then told that the census-takers were mere spies of the General Government to find out the substance of the people for the purpose of taxing it.

The babies were to be taxed, the ducks were to be taxed, the corn was to be taxed, the pigs were to be taxed, every thing was to be taxed, and if the taxes were not paid, that their property would be seized and sold to pay them.

It seems that the belief they were then scared into sticks to them, and the census-takers now find considerable opposition from ignorant people. They will not give the information required by the law. It is surprising that at this day any persons can be found who would refuse to comply with the requirements of the law by answering the questions put by the census-takers. The object of the law is a good one, and all good citizens will give the census-takers a helping hand.

*****

The Decennial Census.

THE United States Marshals and their assistants began, on the 1st of June, the task of taking the seventh decennial census of our people. The different censuses aggregate as follows:
1790……….3,929,827
1800……….5,305,925
1810……….7,280,314
1820……….9,638,131
1830………12,858,670
1840………17,068,666
1850………23,257,273

Unusual care has been taken in the preparation of the schedules of questions, and it is to be hoped that the aggregate statements will be ready for publication at an earlier day  than those of 1850. A circular containing a list of the queries in Schedule 1 has been prepared for circulation among manufacturers, and will be placed in their hands in time to prepare complete replies, as it is very desirable that as correct a return as possible may be made of every description of articles manufactured with the value of each. In case the information is withheld, or false returns made designedly, the following penalty is affixed by the fifteenth section of the Act of Congress:

“Each and every free person more than twenty years of age, belonging to any family residing in any sub-division, and in case of the absence of the heads and other member of any such family, then any agent of such family, shall be, and each of them is hereby required; if thereto requested by the Marshal or his assistant, to render a true account to the best of his or her knowledge, of every person belonging to such family, in the various particulars required in and by this act, and the tables thereto subjoined, on pain of forfeiting thirty dollars, to be sued for and recovered in an action of debt by the assistant, to the use of the United States.”

The first schedule will require answers as follows:

The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June was in the family.

The profession, occupation, or trade of each person, male or female over fifteen years of age.

Value of all real estate, wherever located, and all personal estate.

Place of birth.

Married within the year.

Attended school within the year.

Persons over twenty years of age who cannot read or write.

The manufacturers’ schedule requires the name of business; amount of capital invested; raw material used, either in manufacture directly or as fuel; the kind and value of raw material; kind of motive power, or resources, as furnaces, bloomeries, etc., number of hands employed; wages paid them; and the quantity, number and value, at the manufactory, of the articles manufactured.

This is the most important schedule, and it is of the utmost importance that all the required information should be fully and accurately given. By this table the entire labor product of the country — its real wealth — is to be determined.

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Jun 16, 1860

Image from http://househistoryman.blogspot.com

THE census takers will soon be around with all sorts of questions, and the ladies are advised to “get their ages ready.”

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) May 28, 1870

The census-taker in Davis county, Iowa, asked a woman at a farm house the age of her oldest child, and the reply was: “You have come around a month too soon.”

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Jun 30, 1870

TWENTY-SIX is the maximum age attained by any unmarried ladies, say the census takers.

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Jul 23, 1870

Image from http://www.digitaljournalist.org

A Southern census taker says:

As for the ages of the negroes, that is almost entirely a matter of conjecture. So far as my experience goes, nineteen out of twenty cannot tell within then years how old they are, nor are their parents more accurate even with regard to their very young children, “John was born in cotton pickin’ time, de year before freedom struck de earth;” “Jenny was two monts old when Massa Charley got wounded in de war;” “Sal was born ’bout de time massa built him new gin house;” “Jime was born in de Christmas week of de year when frost killed de taturs;” such are the data from which to collect the ages of children, while the years of older persons are a matter of more uncertain conjecture.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Sep 21, 1870

The Census.

The census taker complains of difficulty in ascertaining the number of persons in many families, because of the impression that the information is to be used for political purposes…

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Nov 23, 1873

Image from http://img.tfd.com

A SUGGESTION TO THE CENSUS-TAKER.

The work of taking the national census will be commenced in June, and when completed will furnish a great deal of valuable and instructive information, as a comprehensive review of almost everything relating to the material prosperity of the country.

The number of acres under cultivation and the acreage of each particular crop will be given.

The people will also be able to post themselves with regard to the quantity and quality of the weather they have used up in the past, so to speak, and form conjectures as to what they may expect in the future.

All this information can not fail to be useful, and will create a demand throughout the country for more censuses, at shorter intervals than has been customary heretofore.

The field of inquiry might be advantageously extended into other departments of knowledge, and thus the sphere of usefulness of the census-taker widened out very perceptibly.

For instance, a good many believe in the truth of phrenology, and popular parlance sustains this belief. How often we read of a wise man being “a man of brains.” Daniel Webster, Napoleon the First, and almost all other men of remarkable ability had, or are supposed to have had, very large heads. Perhaps, if the census-taker were to present a tabular statement of the exact dimensions of the heads of the members of congress and of our sixteenth legislature, some data might be obtained that would be useful to the state and country, and more than repay the additional expense incurred in obtaining the desired measurements. The people would have some clew by which to go in selecting the next batch of representatives.

Or, let up suppose that the census-taker were to turn his attention to another class of offenders. How instructive, and even amusing, it would be to peruse a tabular statement showing at a glance how many murderers have been tried in Texas during the past few years; how much, in dollars and cents, each murderer was worth; what the action of the courts was in each case; how many lawyers each murderer had to assist him; how long he was in jail before he got his final trial, etc. In that case the relations between big fees, frequent continuances, and foul acquittals could be ascertained. There would be no difficulty in finding out how many wealthy and influential murderers have been executed during the last ten years, and how many indigent and friendless ones honorably acquitted.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Feb 12, 1880

Image from http://globalgenealogy.com

Census Taker — Married or single, ma’am?

Woman — Married.

Census Taker — Any children?

Woman — No.

Census Taker — Husband living?

Woman — Yes.

Census Taker — Has he any children?

Epoch.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Dec 17, 1889

The Brunet of the Species is More Deadly Than the Blond.

A woman in Lowell, Mass. replied to the census taker’s question, “To what race do you belong?” by writing down brunet. — Indianapolis News.

Appleton Post Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) Feb 20, 1920

Frank L. Haralson: Georgia’s State Librarian

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MR. FRANK HARALSON ARRESTED

And Mr. Fry Don’t Wish to be Held Accountable for It.

Mr. Frank L. Haralson the state librarian, was arrested yesterday morning by Patrolmen Thompson and Nolan, and carried to the station house.

The charge entered up the state docket is larceny.

The whole thing seems to have been a blunder, and one of those blunders for which nobody is particularly anxious to be held accountable.

The following statement explains the affair:

The first is that of Mr. Wil Roberts, a son of Mr. W.J. Roberts, the Peachtree street grocer. He says:

“Saturday afternoon last Colonel Frank L. Haralson called at my father’s store, on Peach tree street for some goods. While he was standing in the door with his back to the street, talking to me and laughing, Mr. Abe Fry slapped him on the back and said:

“Frank, I want that colt you won, and I will give you a sixty five dollar watch — gold watch — for him, and you can select it from my show cases.”

“Colonel Haralson said:

“Well, this is a trade is it?

“Mr. Fry said it was and for him to call Monday morning and select his watch.

“Colonel Haralson said:

“I will call Monday morning.

“Mr. Fry went down Peachtree street and Colonel Haralson took his articles and went towards his home.’

Mr. Haralson read this statement last night and says it is a fair statement. He said further:

‘Fry just wanted to back out of the trade I believe I beat him on his own proposition and he just intended to jew out of it. I thought the best way to make him keep his word was to take the watch. But this thing is an outrage. I was arrested in my office for larceny — just think of that. Its a disgrace that such a thing should happen in Atlanta.’

The following is Mr. Abe Fry’s statement:

‘I met Mr. Frank Haralson last Saturday afternoon and he told me that he had a fine colt which he wished to sell. I said, ‘Come around to my store some time and perhaps I’ll trade you a watch for him.’ Yesterday about three o’clock Mr. Haralson called at my store. I was engaged in talking to a friend in a buggy in front of the store. Mr. Haralson went in the store and after looking at the watches in the show case, asked Fritz Allbright, my clerk, to let him look at one. Fritz handed him the watch, when he said, “This suits me I’ll take it –‘ and with the watch he walked out of the store. Fritz tried in vain to get the watch away from him, but he refused to give it up, Fritz told me what had happened, when I said to him “I will hold you responsible if you don’t get that watch.’

Fritz then went before Justice Tanner and swore out a possessory warrant for the watch. I am at a loss to see what right Mr. Haralson had to come in my store and take my property in that manner. We certainly had made no trade. How could I trade with him when I was talking to my friend in the buggy while he was getting the watch from my clerk?”

Judge Tanner said yesterday afternoon:

“This clerk of Abe Fry’s came to my office and said that Mr. Frank Haralson had taken a watch from the store. I made him explain what he meant, and after he did so refused to issue the warrant. The clerk went off and came back presently, insisting upon his request for a warrant. I didn’t want to make myself ridiculous and flatly refused to give him the warrant, explaining to him that his only course was to take out a possessory warrant. He did so.”

The possessory warrant will probably be tried today before Judge Tanner. Mr. Tom Corrigan, acting as the clerk’s attorney, advised this course, and the property was given up at the station house, though against the urgent remonstrances of Mr. Haralson.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 3, 1888

Image from http://grandeleather.com

A RED COWHIDE

Will be Produced in Police Court This Morning.

Colonel Frank Haralson Assaults Mr. Abe Fry With a Cowhide — Mr. Fry Says “Never Touched Me.”

The Hon. Frank Haralson, state librarian, and Abe Fry, pawn shop man and jeweler in the National hotel building on Peachtree street, will appear in police court this morning. The one charged with disorderly conduct and quarreling and the other with using profane language in the station house.

A small cowhide will put in an appearance too.

Early yesterday morning Colonel Haralson was seen walking restlessly up and down Peachtree street between the railroad and Decatur street. Two or three times he passed through the block apparently buried in study so deep that he took no notice of friends who passed him. None of the colonel’s friends, however, who saw him imagined that he was brooding over his arrest Monday, and was contemplating a revenge.

But such was the case.

About 9 o’clock the colonel entered a store on the block, and in a few minutes came out, carrying in his hand a bright silver-mounted pistol. The gentleman was cool, and attracted no particular attention as he passed along to Fry’s pawn shop and jewelry store, in front of which he stopped. For a second he gazed into the store, and then with a firm, slow step walked into the door. Mr. Fry was standing behind the counter, talking to a young gentleman on the outside, and approaching them, the colonel said:

“Abe Fry, you have told a d–n dirty lie on me, and I have come for my revenge.”

As he spoke Colonel Haralson shoved his left hand under the waist band of his breeches and jerking out an ordinary red cowhide raised it above his head. The raw hide cut through the air with a whistling sound and came down toward Mr. Fry, but whether it struck the jeweler or not only Judge Anderson will be able to decide after he has heard the testimony this morning. However, the cowhide went up a second time and a second time it came down, but its second descent is just as uncertain as the first, likewise the third.

The scene was not accompanied by any boisterous or disorderly conduct and was over with before any one knew it. Colonel Haralson walked out of Mr. Fry’s and re-entering the store where he secured the pistol left it. He then appeared upon the street again and seeing Patrolman Anderson on Alabama street walked across the railroad and up to him, saying:

“I have cow hided Abe Fry and want to give myself up.”

The patrolman then heard Colonel Haralson’s story through, and deciding to make a case against him, asked him to go to police head quarters. The colonel readily consented to do so. At the city prison Colonel Haralson reported to Chief Connolly what he had said to Patrolman Anderson. The chief instructed the station house keeper, Mr. Joyner, to make a case against Colonel Haralson, charging him with disorderly conduct and quarreling, and at the same time requested Mr. Fry, who came in just then, to appear as a witness against him. During the conversation Colonel Haralson was standing on one side of the big counter in the office and Mr. Fry on the other side. Both men were anxious to talk and both talked at the same time, but Mr. Fry’s hardest talk came immediately after Colonel Haralson informed the chief that he had cowhided Mr. Fry.

“That is a lie,” yelled Mr. Fry.

Chief Connolly requested the jeweler to remain quiet, but his blood was up to a boiling pitch and in the severest and profanest language he abused the state librarian. The language used was a violation of a city ordinance, and Chief Connolly turned to the stationhouse keeper, saying:

“Mr. Joyner, make a case against Mr. Fry for using profane language in the station-house.”

The case was booked and Mr. Fry made a bond for his appearance in police court — just like the bond Colonel Haralson made. After the bonds were made the two gentlemen walked away, and all along the street they were asked about he affair.

But their answer was very unlike.

To all who asked him about it, Mr. Haralson said:

“Yes, I cowhided him, and I cowhided him well. I hit him three times, and here is the cowhide.”

The cowhide was concealed down the librarian’s left breeches leg, and only the butt end was drawn out.

To all who asked Mr. Fry about it, he answered:

“No, he did not cowhide me. The coward came into my store and putting a cocked pistol in my face struck over the counter at me with a cowhide but he didn’t strike me.”

The two stories, so unlike, soon became general talk, and everybody wanted to know which one to believe. Mr. Fry was at his store when called upon. He was standing in the door looking quietly up and down the street. He was in his shirt sleeves, and a half smoked cigar was between his lips. As he spied a reporter approaching he removed the cigar, saying:

“I know what you are going to ask me. You are going to ask me if Frank Haralson hit me with a cowhide.”

“You have just saved me the trouble.”

“Well he didn’t. He says he did, but he’s a d–m liar.”

“He says he struck you three times.”

“Well, he is a liar, and here is a young man who saw it all.”

Just then a young gentleman attired in a light-colored spring suit came up. The young gentleman was D.M. Davidson, a grocer at 110 Peachtree, and as he was near Mr. Fry that gentleman said:

“Here, Mr. Davidson, wasn’t you in here when Frank Haralson came in?”

“Yes,” answered the gentleman calmly.

“Now, he says he hit me with that cowhide. Did he do it? Didn’t he just strike at me over the counter?”

“Yes.”

“You see, he came in here with a pistol in one hand, and a cowhide in the other, and struck at me across the counter, and he didn’t hit me. Why the cowhide wasn’t long enough. When he struck he had a pistol in my face and I wheeled around and picked up an ink bottle to throw at him. See, here is the ink on my hand. Ain’t that so?” he concluded, turning to Mr. Davidson.

“It all transpired so quick,” answered Mr. Davidson, “that I can hardly tell what did take place.”

“Well, you know he did not hit me, don’t you?”

“I don’t think he did,” answered the gentleman.

“Then when I’d move he would push the pistol in my face. He is a dirty coward and I can whip him, and told him so down at the stationhouse. Why he just wants to bulldoze me like he did, out of that watch yesterday, but the coward can’t do that. He never touched me.”

Colonel Haralson was standing near the New Era saloon talking to Captain Ed Cox.

The raw hide was pulled from its hiding place, as the gentleman remarked:

“Yes I did cowhide the d–n Jew and here is the cowhide and I’ll have it in court in the morning.”

“But he says you never touched him.”

“He’s a liar and I’ll go back and do it over.”

“No, you won’t,” said Captain Cox, “leave him alone.”

“You see,” said the colonel “I said yesterday that I would avenge the insult he heaped upon me in less than twenty-four hours and I have done it.”

“And you are satisfied?”

“Thoroughly. I gave him three good blows.”

“But the young man who was in there says you didn’t.”

“That young man ran out. You see I got a pistol and walked with it in my hand into the store and struck him once with the cowhide. He turned to get a pistol and I raised mine, saying:

“Just stop where you are.”

“Then I put the pistol close to him and struck him twice more and walked out.”

“And you think you hit him?”

“If Fry will look at his back he will find where I put three of them on him, and I will show him the cowhide in court in the morning and dare him to show his back.”

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 4, 1888

John B. Gordon - 1865 (Image from http://www.old-picture.com)

CAPITOL AND CUSTOMHOUSE

The News in the Various Departments Yesterday.

GOVERNOR GORDON’S ORDER suspending Mr. Frank Haralson, state librarian, was the sensation at the capitol yesterday. It will be found written up in detail in this issue.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 7, 1888

THE STATE LIBRARIAN

Governor Gordon Issues an Order Suspending Mr. Haralson.

The Library Placed in Charge of Captain John Milledge — The Law Authorizing the Order.

Yesterday Governor Gordon issued an order suspending Mr. Frank L. Haralson from the office of state librarian.

This action on the part of the governor was not a surprise to the public.
Thursday afternoon, a lively rumor was current on the streets, that Governor Gordon had requested the resignation of Mr. Haralson and that that gentleman had declined to accede to the request. A reporter of THE CONSTITUTION interviewed Governor Gordon on the subject Thursday afternoon, when he merely stated that Mr. Haralson had not declined to resign, but was considering the subject.

The following correspondence, which explains itself, was made public yesterday:

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, April 5th, 1888 — Mr. Frank Haralson, State Librarian — Dear Sir: I regret that a sense of public duty compels me to request your resignation of the off of state librarian. I shall hope to receive it by 12 m. tomorrow (Friday).

Very respectfully, J.B. GORDON.

Thursday night Mr. Haralson held a consultation with a number of his friends at the Kimball house which was strictly private, and on yesterday morning sent the following reply to the governor’s request:

STATE LIBRARY, April 6. — Dear Governor: Your letter of the 5th instant, has been received and after careful consideration I would ask that you state in writing the reason for your action; and in the meantime withdraw your request, that I may be heard in reply.

Yours very respectfully,
FRANK L. HARALSON, Librarian.

Then Governor Gordon made immediate response:

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, April 6th, 1888 — Mr. Frank Haralson, Librarian — Dear Sir: My sense of duty will not permit a withdrawal of my request for your resignation, nor do I consider that a statement of my reasons for such request would be of service to you, or is demanded by the circumstances. I repeat my request for your resignation, and if I do not receive it by 1 p.m. today, I shall place someone in charge of the library.

Respectfully,
J.B. GORDON.

To this last communication, Mr. Haralson did not reply.

Shortly after one o’clock the following executive order was recorded:

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, April 6, 1888 — Frequent complaints having been received at this department that Frank L. Haralson, state librarian, has been neglecting the duties of his office for months past, and the complaints having been recently renewed and enlarged, and having satisfied myself that there is ample cause for them, it is therefore, in the discharge of my duty under the statue, ordered.

That John Milledge and W.R. Rankin, Jr., both of the county of Fulton, he or they, are hereby appointed as agents of the state to examine into and report the condition of the state library to the executive department.

It is further ordered that the said Frank L. Haralson be, and he is hereby suspended from the said office until further order from this department, and that in the meantime the official duties of librarian be discharged by the said John Milledge.

J.B. GORDON, Governor.
By order of the Governor
J.W. WARREN, Secretary Executive Department.

The sections of the code upon which the above order is based are 74 and 122.

Section 74 says, in relation to the powers of the governor:

“He has power to engage the services of any competent person for the discharge of any duty required by the laws, and essential to the interests of the state, or necessary, in an emergency, to preserve the property or funds of the state.”

Section 122 says:

The office of the state librarian is under the general supervision of the governor who may at any time appoint a competent person to examine into and report its condition to him.

As section 114 of the code confers upon the governor power to suspend the state treasurer or comptroller general, for neglect of duty, upon trustworthy information, it is tolerably clear that he has power to suspend the state librarian, a much smaller functionary.

Captain Milledge took charge of the state library yesterday afternoon. What further order Governor Gordon will issue remains to be seen.

Mr. Haralson was approached by a CONSTITUTION man yesterday afternoon, but declined to be interviewed. What Mr. Haralson will do remains to be seen. He received a dispatch from a prominent Georgia lawyer yesterday afternoon to this effect: “Stand firm, act rightly.”

The indications are that Mr. Haralson contemplates making a fight for re-installment — but upon what particular time has not yet developed. The probability is that Mr. Haralson will contend that under the act of 1881 the governor has not the power to remove him. Section 72 of the code of 1882 authorizes the governor to remove the state librarian at his pleasure.

An astute legal gentleman, said yesterday:

“What do I think about it? Well, the governor has not removed Mr. Haralson. He has simply suspended him. Captain Milledge is in, Mr. Haralson is out. To a man up a tree, in the light of that executive order, it looks very much as if a suspension, in this case, amounts to a removal.”

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 7, 1888

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MR. FRANK L. HARLASON

Says That He is in the Hands of His Friends.

An Interesting Interview Showing How He Turned Over the Office to Captain Milledge – The Act of 1881.

Yesterday afternoon just before dusk a reporter of THE CONSTITUTION caught Colonel Frank Haralson on the wing at the corner of Marietta and Broad streets. When first seen Mr. Haralson was in the act of picking up a crutch, which had been dropped by an old gentleman — a cripple — who happened to be passing at the moment. He gracefully handed the crutch to the old gentleman, who thank him most warmly for the kindly act.

Colonel Haralson was all smiles, in the best possible humor, and greeted the reporter with his old-time cordiality.

“Hello, old boy; glad to see you!”

“Howdye, colonel; happy to meet you; very man I want to see. Want to get a little talk with you for THE CONSTITUTION.”

“All right; wait one minute,” said Mr. Haralson, as he turned to shake hands with Mr. J.S. Clarke, the lawyer, who said:

“Well, Frank, Milledge is an old schoolmate of mine and a mighty nice man; but I want to say to you that I am sorry you are out. You were always kind, accommodating and attentive to me when I called at the library, and I am really sorry that you have stepped down and out.”

“I appreciate that,” said Mr. Haralson, as returned the warm pressure of his friend’s hand.

“What are you going to do, Frank — practice law?” asked Mr. Clark.

“Yes, I shall open an office without delay, and I think that I will do well. I was retained today in a case which will give me a $200 fee — pretty good start, ain’t it?”

“It certainly is,” replied Mr. Clark. “I hope that you will get many such fees, and larger ones, too. I wish you all prosperity in your profession,” and the lawyer passed on.

“You may say,” said Colonel Haralson, addressing himself pleasantly to the news man, “You may say that I am under obligations to await the action of my friends in this matter. A number of them will come to Atlanta on Monday and talk it over. I have nothing to say until after they meet. But, by the way, I wish that you would print the act of ’81, authorizing my appointment as librarian. It may be of some interest to the public just at this time. You can say, too, that I bear no hard feelings toward anybody connected with my removal.”

“Tell me about turning over the office to Captain Milledge.”

“Oh, yes. Well, after the order suspending me had been issued yesterday, I walked into the library and said: ‘Captain Milledge, old boy, you are a full-fledged state librarian now (I said this laughingly). I want you to understand, captain, that I do not deliver to you these keys as the librarian of the state, but as a man who wishes to do nothing to stain his honor. Governor Gordon is a gentleman. I like him — but I am willing to leave it all to Hopkins and Glenn. I have some private papers and books in the basement. But Willie Rankin and Jim, the porter, know them as well as I do, and they can deliver them to me.’ I then showed Captain Milledge some valuable books, which I told him would bear watching. I said, ‘Good-bye, Willie; look after everything; stay if you please I have nothing to do with that.’ Just before I walked out Willie Rankin, who is one of the best boys in the world, said: ‘Goodbye, Frank old fellow. I want to say before you go that during all the time we have been together in the library you have never spoken one harsh word to me.”

Here is the act of 1881, and to which Mr. Haralson referred:

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the governor of this state to select and present for confirmation by the senate some fit and competent person (who shall be a citizen of this state) to serve as state librarian, whose term of office shall be four years and until his successor shall have been chosen and confirmed in like manner as herein provided and declared.

Section 2. And be it further enacted that so much of section 72 of the code of 1873 as relates to the appointment and removal from office of the state librarian be, and the same is hereby repealed.

Section 72 of the code of ’73, before the passage of the above law, empowered the governor to remove the state librarian at pleasure.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 8, 1888

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That Possessory Warrant.

An interesting case will be heard in Justice Tanner’s court this morning at 8:30 o’clock. It will be remembered that Mr. Fred Allbright, the clerk at Mr. Abe Fry’s, swore out a possessory warrant for a watch which it is alleged that Mr. Frank Haralson took out of the store. That watch is in possession of Justice Tanner, and he will decide this morning whether it belongs to Mr. Fry or Mr. Haralson.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 16, 1888

THROUGH THE CITY.

Yesterday morning Judge Tanner delivered to Mr. Abe Fry that watch. Mr Frank Haralson concluded not to resist the possessory warrant which was sworn out by Fred Albright, Mr. Fry’s clerk.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 22, 1888

Abe Fry Advertisement 1884

A MISTRIAL.

Frank Harralson Tried in the City Court for Pointing a Pistol at Abe Fry.

A good deal of interest was shown in the case of hte state against Frank Harralson, indicted for pointing a pistol at Abe Fry, which was tried yesterday morning in the city court.

The defendant was in the court with his attorneys, Messrs Sibley and Newman, and Abe Fry was present as prosecutor.

It was proved that the defendant, with a cowhide in one hand and a pistol in the other, went into Abe Fry’s establishment and that he pointed the weapon at Mr. Fry’s head. The prosecutor did not charge the defendant with striking him with the whip, in fact, he stated distinctly that Harralson did not strike him.

Several witnesses explained how the difficulty happened, and they gave the details which were published in THE CONSTITUTION the morning after the row.

Mr. Haralson was permitted to make his statement. He admitted having sought Fry for the purpose of chastising him with a rawhide, and confessed having carried a pistol in one hand and a cowhide in the other. He also admitted that it was his purpose to lash Fry and if he resisted to kill him.

After all the evidence was in it seemed doubtful whether Haralson had actually pointed the pistol at Fry, and this was the rock upon which the jury split.

The jury stayed out two hours, and decided that it was impossible to agree upon a verdict. Thereupon Judge Van Epps ordered that a mistrial be marked on the docket.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) May 23, 1888

Ulster Overcoat (Image from http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com)

SAYINGS ON THE SIDEWALK

Frank Harralson, lawyer and ex-state librarian, wears a heavy, long ulster. One night about a week ago he lost that overcoat, and the next day began hunting for it.

For three or four days he kept up the search, but without any success.

All of his friends knew that he had lost the ulster, and every one had an eye open for it.

Yesterday morning the colonel turned up with the big, warm ulster on his back.

Of course his friends were surprised.

“Where did you find it?” he was asked.

“Well, last night,” he replied, “I dreamed I had left it at Snook’s furniture store and early this morning I went there. Sure enough, I found my coat. Mr. Snook had picked it up the day I left it there and put it in one of the magnificent wardrobes of his.”

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Jan 9, 1889

PECULIAR WORD BLINDNESS ATTACKS FRANK HARALSON

Frank L. Haralson, at one time a prominent attorney in the city, and a man who let the tempter wreck what would have been a good and useful life, was taken from a saloon at the corner of Decatur and Ive streets last night in an unconscious condition and carried to the Grady hospital in the ambulance.

He was suddenly stricken down and now lies at the hospital afflicted with the strange disease known to some physicians as “word blindness.” Some nerve tissue of the brain has given away and when he talks he uses the wrong words to express himself, the same mental disease which it was said had attacked Admiral Sampson. He seems to know what he wishes to say, but when he tried to talk his tongue refuses to articulate the words he wishes to use.

Some fifteen years ago Frank Haralson was state librarian and a man with an education and in intellect bright enough to have made himself a leader in the legal profession. He was warm-hearted and numbered his friends by the hundreds. His convivial nature led him to indulge in drink to excess. He fought for a while against the habit, but it slowly worked his ruin. During his gradual downfall and even now he has never lost his innate goodness of heart, and however he may have harmed himself, he was never known to harm a fellow man. Those who knew him in his better days and those who know him now never express aught save a sincere pity that his life should have been what it is, that his life should be as it has been.

At times he would throw off the habit which had been his ruin, but old associations, and perhaps, a memory of the life he had sacrificed, drove him back into dissipation.

Last night he was standing in a saloon, but was not drinking. He was seen to reel and fall heavily to the floor. There he lay in violent convulsions until the ambulance bore him to the hospital.

The physicians say he is seriously ill and may die. His brain is affected, the mind having given away under the long strain which had been placed upon it. He seems to realize his condition, but when he tries to speak to those about him he utters words entirely, foreign to what his mind would have him say. It is a peculiar malady and one that is rarely ever known. He may recover and he may regain his mental power, but the physician think the chances are against him.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Jan 14, 1902

Image from http://www.bynelawenforcement.com

It seems Mr. Haralson did survive, and evidently recovered from his episode of “word blindness.” He continued to work as a lawyer, and it seems, over time, regained the respect (maybe he quit drinking?) of the people. I found several references to him as a divorce lawyer and other “domestic” type cases.

LAWYER CALLS “COP” A LIAR.

Attorney Haralson Imprisoned One Hour for Contempt of Court.
Gunn and Negro Fined.

Frank Haralson, an attorney, called Policeman Dobbins a liar in the recorder’s court yesterday morning and he was imprisoned an hour in a cell for contempt of court. He was given the alternative of either serving the sentence or paying $5.

H. Percy Gunn, of Petersburg, was on trial for writing an insulting note to a young woman, and Dave Dorsey, a negro who delivered the note, was also on trial.
Attorney Haralson was defending Gunn.

“I would like to know how you came to be retained in this case?” remarked Policeman Dobbins, who had made the arrests. He was speaking to Attorney Haralson.

“That’s none of your business,” replied the lawyer.

“I understand that you have been hanging about he police barracks,” continued the officer, “trying to pick up just such cases as this.”

“You are a liar,” snapped out the attorney.

Before the policeman could reply, the recorder interfered and find Lawyer Haralson $5 for contempt of court. Later he said he would either collect the fine or imprison the lawyer for one hour. Attorney Haralson decided to stay in a cell one hour and make $5.

The cases against Gunn and the negro were again called in the afternoon. Gunn claimed he was a stranger and the negro got him to write the note. The negro said he only obeyed the white man’s order. The recorder fined each of them $10.75.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Nov 23, 1902

Oscar W. Underwood (Image from http://www.vernacularphotography.com)

UNDERWOOD RALLY HELD AT THE CHASTAIN HALL

An enthusiastic Underwood [Oscar Wilder Underwood] rally was held at Chastain hall, at Tenth street and Hemuphill avenue, last night.

Frank Haralson, a well-known Atlanta lawyer, with offices in the Kiser building, was the principal speaker at the meeting. The crowd was a most enthusiastic one.
The meeting was presided over by Hon. James L. Hollowell, who introduced the speaker.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) May 1, 1912

Hugh M. Dorsey (Image from wikimedia)

MASS MEETING HELD IN DORSEY’S INTEREST

A mass meeting was held last night in Norman’s hall, at Lakewood Heights, in the interest of the candidacy of Hugh M. Dorsey for solicitor general of the Atlanta circuit. About 100 citizens of this section were present.

Judge P.B. Hopkins presided and addresses were made by Colonel Frank L. Haralson, Captain Thomas B. Brown, W.C. Mundy, E.G. Nable, president of the Machinist’s union, and H.L. Watts and Mr. Dorsey.

The meeting was most enthusiastic.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Aug 8, 1912

Image from http://www.netstate.com

From:

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MEN NOW IN PUBLIC LIFE
BY H.W.J. HAM
SAVANNAH: MORNING NEWS PRINT. 1887

HON. FRANK L. HARALSON,
STATE LIBRARIAN.

FRANK L. HARALSON, the present efficient State Librarian, a son of Hon. T. J. HARALSON, of Union county, his mother having been before marriage Miss MARY A. LOGAN, of White county, was born in Union county, Georgia, January 8,1853.

He received the rudiments of an education in the common schools of the county, and subsequently attended the North Georgia Agricultural College, at Dahlonega, being the first student enrolled when that institution was established. He subsequently graduated at the University, Athens, Georgia, in 1875.

Mr. HARALSON, after completing his education, entered upon the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1875, and entered upon the practice at Cleveland, White county.

In January, 1877, when Gov. COLQUITT came into office, Mr. HARALSON was appointed by him to the office of State Librarian, and has held the position continuously since that time, having been reappointed by Gov. COLQUITT, again by Gov. McDANIEL, and lastly by Gov. GORDON.

On March 26,1883, Mr. HARALSON was married to Miss LULA SMALL, sister of Rev. SAM W. SMALL, the evangelist, a most lovely and accomplished lady. No man who has ever held the position has given more general satisfaction to those having business with the department over which he presides.

Sent Out In Stripes

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SENT OUT IN STRIPES

A CONVICT’S DEBUT INTO LIBERTY.

A Burglar on His Own Confession, a Good Record Within Walks, an Early Discharge and an Effort to Wear His Convict Stripe in Peace, in which He Comes to Grief.

This is a hard old world we live in. It has a philosophy which declares it is man’s first duty to take care of number one, and his second duty to go against every poor wretch who especially needs help. It is not at all fashionable to help an unfortunate, and charity is fading into the sickly hues of romance and sentimentality. It is rather hard to say so, but once in a while some little incident comes to light and makes such accusations just. Yesterday we happened on one of these incidents.

The reporter met a negro with not too good a face, but with a dejected, cowed look which at once appealed to one’s sympathies. He was talking to some gentlemen, and from his few remarks we gathered his history for the past three years. It may be worth telling.

His name is Leonidas Lambeck and he is a mulatto of thirty. In May, 1876, he was arraigned in August for burglary. He was guilty, and said so. The judge sentenced him to three years of penal servitude, and soon he was hustled about from one to another of our “model convict camps.” He was made to do his full share of work and managed to get his full share of rations. He does not seem to have been very villainous, for his papers show that he was discharged three months before his time was out because he had behaved so well. His penitentiary record is very good therefore.

Last Tuesday morning he was discharged. At that time he was working on the Marietta and North Georgia railroad, twelve miles beyond Marietta. He was human enough to rejoice in his liberty regained after three years of hard penance, and when he spoke of it yesterday he looked happy. When he left his fellows he went out a free man in a felon’s garb. He had worn a decent suit when he went to put on the stripes, but he had long since lost sight of that. He says he did not like to go out in the convict’s stripes, but no other garb was given him and he had to march out a sort of wandering advertisement of the penitentiary system of Georgia.

It was a hard story he told of his troubles in that disgraceful attire. He started to walk to Atlanta in hope of finding here the means of obtaining decent clothes and transportation to Augusta. But his woes began soon after he left the camp. He was arrested before he had gone a mile and with difficulty escaped even after he showed his discharge. Again and again he was stopped and sometimes rudely. Some of his captors could not read his discharge, and insisted that he was an escaped felon. Everywhere people looked on him with scorn, and jeered at him as he passed, even when they did not attempt to halt him. He had a desolate tramp to Atlanta. Not a kind word fell in his way. After being stopped forty times he reached the city, and here had a hard time. At length some kind-hearted person procured him a decent suit and burned up the stripes.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. Frank Haralson, the state librarian, kindly interested himself and raised enough money to send him to Augusta. He left on the 6 o’clock train.

Is it right for convicts to be set free in their stripes? Can the state provide no better way of liberation than that of sending forth a man without a cent in the world, marked with a badge of shame? It does not seem humane or just. It appears cruel and unjust.

Perhaps this is the custom, but, like many other customs, it is “more honored in the breach than the observance.”

Daily Constitution, The (Atlanta, Georgia) Feb 15, 1879