Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/276

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��of the Union, foremost in war. and foremost in the councils of the nation.

•Tlie original settlers of Richland ('Ounty, for tlu; most part, haxe passed away, but their childri'n. nurtured in the wilderness, are largely with us yet. and to them we of the second gen- eration owe a delit of gratitude which we can only repay hy imitating their A'irtues. and by perpetuating in our children, and through them in the generations of the futiu'e. the free insti- tutions and the (Christian civilization which they have bestowed upon us. I say Christian, because our institutions are the outgrowth of Christian- ity, as much as the oak is of the acorn.

" The pioneers of Ohio, for the most part, were (irod-fearing, Christ-loving, serious-minded men ; their courage w^as a Christian courage, rooted and grounded in the hope of a life that lies beyond. Wherever they went, churches went with tliem ; and, wherever log cabins were gathered, there also was the meeting-house and the schoolhouse.

" Men and brethren, fellow-citizens, young men and maidens, each and all, old or young, who have gathered here to-day, as we stand this hour at the threshoh] of a new century, let us not mistake the cause of all our gi'eatness, or the secret of its continuance. It is not in money ; it is not in railroads, or telegraphs, or architect- ure, or art ; it is not in the pride and pomp and circumstance of tramping armies ; or in a vast array of iron-clad vessels, or cannon-mounted forts. These are all well enough in their place, provided they are the l>attlements and bulwarks and ornamentation of that faith in (lod and humanity, that heritage of liberty and law and righteousness, which our fathers have bequeathed to us from their struggle in the wilderness. So long as the Repuljlic shall i-e- member and cherish the faith of its founders it will live. ])ut whenever it forgets it and shall recognize no God but the blind evolving forces of nature, and shall have no l)elief of life, or reward, or retribution l)evoud. it will die.

��'' Long before another centennial day shall be celebrated in this place, you and I, who are gathered here to-day, will have passed away ; and our children also will have passed away ; even our tombstones will be moss-grown and crumbling, but we may, if we will, keep our memory green by transmitting to that genera- tion unimpaired the faith and liberty we received from our lathers.

■' For myself I desire to put on record now, in the full maturity of every mental and vital power, the convictions I have given as to the perpetuity of the Republic.

•'In their lifetime but few men are judged rightly, and, therefore, when we die the wisest epitaph, perhaps, that can be written is. ' he was born and he died.' Still if a hundred years hence there are any living who care to remem- ber me, and, in looking back through the per- spective of a century gone, they can come to an honest conclusion that the facts will warrant it, there is nothing I can think of that I would desire more than that they would add to the inscription given, and grave it deeply in the granite. ' He loved his country ; he endea\'red in his day and generation to be helpful to his fellow-men ; he lived and died in the faith of the Divine Nazarene.' "

The next meeting of the Society was held in September, 187S, at the fair grounds in 3Ians- fiehl. and was largely attended and very enthu- siastic. At this meeting J. H. Cook. James R. (lass, Thomas B. Andrews, Samuel McCluer, Calvin Stewart, E. W. Smith and (len. R. Brin- kerhoft' were appointed an Executive Commit- tee for the purposes of keeping up the organiza- tion and arranging for future meetings. C'om- mittees were also appointed for each township.

The next spring the P]xecutive Committee met at the savings l)ank, and arrangetl for a meeting of the Society- to l)e held July 4. 1 879. This meeting was held accordingly, was largely attended and very interesting. Addresses were delivered by some of the aged pioneers present.

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