Various

“ At the obsequies of General Strong the fact was made apparent that a man had passed away whom a great busy community, felt called upon to honor, and the tenderest tributes of love, respect, and admiration were laid on his grave. Said one who paid tribute to his character and worth as a man and patriot: “It is befitting to preserve in memory and hand down to the generations something about a man who has helped to make citizens heroic soldiers, and to render possible the triumph of liberty and manhood. ”

“ In view of the long catalogue of [65] wrongs that slavery has inflicted upon the country, I demand to-day in the Congress of the United States the death of slavery. We can have no permanent peace while slavery lives. It now reels and staggers in the last death struggle. Let us strike the monster this last decisive blow. Pass this joint resolution and the Thirty-eighth Congress will live in history as that which consummated the great work of freeing a continent from the curse of human bondage. ”

“ His connection with so many financial institutions as director or president, further attests the confidence of the public in his integrity and marked ability.
While his business qualifications are of very high order, there are other traits in the character of Col. Strong that are no less marked. He is a man of the people, and his sympathies are wholly with the people. No worthy object to relieve or to make the struggling masses happy, ever fails to receive from him the substantial sympathy which his broad mind and liberal heart so freely give. He is an American, in every sense of the term. ”

“ On the eastern slope of the Andes are a thousand springs from which the slender rills, half hidden at times by the grass, scarcely at any time seen or heard, trickle down the side of the immense mountain range, here and there falling into each other and swelling in volume as they flow, until at length is formed the mighty Amazon, that drains the plateaus and valleys of half a continent. So the beginnings of our literature, like the beginnings of every literature, are small, indistinct, half hidden ”

“ He was soon one of the recognized leaders of the bar of Kansas, and it was inevitable that he should soon be called to a commanding place in the field of politics as well. It was a time and place where no man could be silent, and when the most sluggish was compelled to become partisan. The young advocate from Ohio left no one in doubt as to which side he took in the struggle to make Kansas a free State. He bore an active and conspicuous part in the struggle on the side of freedom, and was one of the Republican leaders of the West. ”

“ Historians will recall, when this much has been said, the events that were pressed close upon each other, before the soil upon which Ohio now stands, was declared the property of the nation, disentangled from the conflicting claims of jealous States, and how New York by her self-renunciation, led the way to harmony. For a century had Virginia and Connecticut made their claims to the vast westward territory; vaster than the imagination of any living man then conceived. ”

“ While Colonel Evans had long been prominent in the politics of the State and had had much to do with shaping its legislatures for a dozen years or more, no other event in his life has brought him so conspicuously before the public as the determined stand which he took against, what could not have been regarded in the future, as anything else than a sacrifice of the political integrity of his party. ”

“ Politics alone occupied the moments of leisure. When, finally, authority had crystallized into definite government the people were not allowed to be at rest. Murderous wars with the Indians on the frontiers; the machinations of French emissaries; British oppression of American commerce, and at length another long and bloody war with England, harassed the minds of the people, and prevented them [30] from giving themselves up more generally to the kindly and refining influences of literature and art. ”

“ George Hoadly, Ex-Governor of Ohio.
George Hoadly, who has won at the bar of New York, a position of eminence equal to that he for years maintained in Ohio, is, in all the essentials of affection and personal loyalty, yet an “Ohio man,” for he remembers the home of his youth, the scene of his early labors and professional advancement, and the State that chose him to the highest position within her gift. Like General Ewing and Col. Strong, he is already a well-known figure in the metropolis, and is one of the men by whose labors the Ohio Society has been made what it is. ”

“ In the sketches of the two distinguished Ohioans which accompany this, the law has been so well represented that one might imagine that the chief purpose of Ohio in the metropolis was to interpret the law, and see that equal justice was done between man and man; but from that which follows, it will be seen that the mission of the Buckeye in New York, is as varied as his numbers are many, and that in the walks of business and financial operation, he has won honor for his mother-state, and the evidences of deserved success for himself. ”

“ EXPLORATIONS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COAST PREVIOUS TO THE VOYAGE OF HENRY HUDSON.
One of the earliest Greek dreams, prominent in the classic literature, was that of a beautiful island in the ocean at the far West. Perhaps, nevertheless, we have been accustomed to think of the conception too much as a dream, a piece of pure imagination; for it is absolutely certain, as Pliny and Strabo prove, that bold Phenician navigators passed far beyond the Pillars of Hercules into the vast Atlantic, discovering and naming the Canary Islands, pushing their observations far and wide. ”

“ In conclusion, gentlemen, I venture to express the hope that our Society may be from the outset, and continue to the end, so aristocratic that wealth can not buy a membership for vice, and so democratic that none will be excluded by needless cost of membership from an association which their virtues and talents would adorn. ”

“ This done, the magnificent Hudson would have become the objective point of Spanish enterprise, and a Spanish fortress and castle would to-day look down from the Weehawken Heights, the island of New York yielding itself up as the site of a Spanish city.
The mistake of Columbus, however, was supplemented by what, perhaps, may properly be called a series of blunders, all of them more or less fortunate, or at least in the interest of a type of civilization very unlike that of Spain, especially as expanded and interpreted in Central and South America. ”

“ Vermont was admitted in 1791, Kentucky in ’92, Tennessee in ’96 and Ohio not until the 29th day of November, 1802. But these three older States begun life as Colonies of Colonies, each exclusively owned by and settled from its parent colony—Vermont from New York, Kentucky from Virginia, and Tennessee from North Carolina. ‘The territory northwest of the Ohio river’ was the first land ever owned by the United States. It was a vast and pathless wilderness—an Empire in embryo—when, in 1784, Virginia, with magnificent generosity, presented it to the Union. ”

“ The natural surroundings of his youth—the romantic scenery of Otsego County, with its beautiful lakes and extensive forests, so delightfully picturesque—were well calculated to develop a strong and noble manhood. Amidst this beauty of nature and comparative solitude, the man who was to make such a success of life drank in inspiration and learned to love the pure and the beautiful. Early thrown upon his own resources, self-made and self-reliant, he reached a position of greatness, through a career of usefulness, honor and integrity. ”

“ And here, also, is an American society which has at several crises in the last fifty years exerted a considerable influence on public opinion, and the annual reunions of which are watched with eagerness everywhere throughout our land where the sons of New England, from their distant homes, look proudly and fondly back on their grand old mother.
“But the New England Society is composed of the sons of six States. This is a society of the natives or former residents of a single State—Ohio, the State first born of the American Republic. ”

“ To draw a comparison, or to make an illustration—the Puritans were Episcopalians—the low-church wing of that period. In another sense there was a difference or distinction between Puritans and Pilgrims: The Puritans had among their number, as influential persons, many of the nobility, men of business, capitalists and educated, fashionable and accomplished people. Indeed, during the entire reign of James I, they formed a majority in the House of Commons, and no person not a communicant of the Church of England could then sit in that body. ”

“ While Verrazano was abroad on his voyage, Gomez attended the nautical congress at Badajos, in Spain, when, we are told, Sebastian Cabot was present. At this congress Portugal opposed the plan presented for an expedition to the Indies, being very jealous, as usual, of the power of Spain. The differences of the two powers were nevertheless reconciled, and the king of Spain, with the aid of several merchants, fitted out a caravel and put Gomez in command. Gomez, if he did not stand as high as some men of his time, was a navigator of experience. ”

“ Of Judge Hoadly’s professional life in New York, much might be said, were this the place to say it. Outside of that, little can be said, for he has had time for little else. As “an Ohio [57] man” he is always at home to any Buckeye neighbor, or impression, or memory that connect him with the days and scenes of his youth and early manhood. He may be seen occasionally in the gatherings of the Ohio Society, and when there, he is not allowed to remain in his seat unheard. Few men are as approachable in any walk of life; few men more companionable when he can command leisure for companionship. ”

“ Strong is the visible head, may be truthfully repeated of himself in his personal relations. His connection with many enterprises of importance in the business community and his prominent position in the same, are evidences of the business ability which he possesses and which his associates have so practically recognized. Modest and unassuming, his clear and analytical mind grasps the problems of business with such skill that fortune has smiled upon every enterprise with which he is or has been associated. ”

“ Our authority is no less a personage than Governor Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, whose office and inclinations led him to challenge all unfounded claims that might be put forth by the Dutch. Nevertheless, writing to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the father of New England colonization, who likewise was hostile to the pretensions of the Dutch, Bradford says, under date of June 15, 1627, that the Dutch on the Hudson “have used trading there this six-or-seven-and-twenty years, but have begun to plant of later time, and now have reduced their trade to some order.” ”

“ I am a Republican, and I am for a Republican. I was elected and sent here to vote for a Republican for United States Senator, and that I will do to the end of this contest. But I do not think we should humiliate the glorious old Republican [100] party of Illinois, by bartering away our independence for the sake of sending to the Senate a political nondescript for whose official action we must be responsible.”
This was the ringing declaration of an honest and courageous representative of well defined political principles. ”

“ She is a focus of all the great forces of American life. Much that is best and worst in it is developed here; and the struggle of a new comer for a footing is always severe, and generally unsuccessful. But New York is more truly cosmopolitan than any other city in the United States, or, perhaps, in the world; and there is little of race or sectional prejudice to bar the path of merit from whatever quarter it may come.
“We found this Society because we love Ohio, and would cherish her history, her traditions, her recollections of home and camp and forum. ”

“ There has been neither design nor desire, in what has been said, to reflect on the character of the Pilgrims, or to detract from the high fame and renown to which they are justly entitled. No one has more appreciation of their virtues or greater veneration for their memories than the writer. A train of thought only has been followed which led in a channel that seems to be altogether reasonable and intelligent. ”

“ Many States have been created, many important acts have been passed by the various Congresses that have sat in New York, in Philadelphia, and in Washington, but there was in this measure something that saved the nation from being sometime all slave; that reserved for freedom an empire that by mere stress of moral example if in nothing else, was a menace forever before the slaveholder. In that ordinance was one little clause that made Ohio and Wisconsin and Illinois what they afterwards became. ”

“ The very fact that a certain headland, valley, mountain or river has a legendary interest is not undeserving the attention of the scholar and is a matter of legitimate historical interest if not value. A country as new as ours can well afford to jealously preserve whatever of such legendary and historical lore it may have. ”

“ Navigating northward, Verrazano reached the neighborhood of the present site of Charlestown, South Carolina, describing the country substantially as it appears to-day, bordered with low sand-hills, the sea making inlets, while beyond were beautiful fields, broad plains, and vast forests. On landing they found the natives timid, but by friendly signs the savages became assured, and freely approached the French followers of Verrazano, wondering at their dress and complexion, just as, in 1584, Barlow, in the same locality, said that the natives wondered “at the whiteness of our skins.” ”

“ It has also been said that the Pilgrims, as we speak of them, would scarcely have been heard of had it not been first for Robinson and Brewster and Bradford, and there can be no doubt that the great majority of them came to this country that they might find homes and advance their worldly circumstances.
An American of high historical standing and learning has said: “Here lay a new world for the most part unoccupied, inviting colonization, and it was as natural for men to come and settle here as to embark in any other enterprise in life. ”

“ The ties of religion, charity, politics, science, art, literature and common occupation draw and hold people together in numberless associations which have filled Manhattan Island with splendid edifices. ”

“ The house has ever been recognized as one of the solid institutions of New York. It has made but one removal since its organization, beginning business on the corner of Church and Leonard streets, and moving several years later to the spacious double store which it still occupies, in the center of the dry goods district at Nos. 75 and 77 Worth street.
Some of the qualities that have made his firm what it is to-day, are suggested in the above. Mr. Strong is a man of decided views, and great force of character, and at the same time one of the most approachable and genial men in the business. ”

“ That the same Providence reached out and extended its ruling and benignant hand on the journey and after the arrival is certain.
“There is no doubt, a great over-ruling power in all human affairs, but our concern (the emigration) is with second causes, and it is to be believed that we often deceive ourselves when we attempt to recover general principles from which things remarkable in the acts of men have sprung.” ”

“ Now [95] the Indians might indeed have forgotten a visit made so long ago as 1524 or 1525, if Verrazano and Gomez really did discover the Hudson then, making but a brief stay and a rapid examination of its banks at best, but an habitual resort to its shores, or even one winter spent on the island at its mouth, in forts built to repel their attacks, only eleven years before Hudson came among them, the Indians could not possibly, it would seem, have so utterly forgotten in 1609. ”

“ The young man was not merely a reader—he was compelled to think, and often talk for himself. He must know something of public life, and he usually had a personal acquaintance with the public men of his day and neighborhood. In the case of General Ewing, one of the chief men of Ohio history was a member of his own household—his father, Thomas Ewing, the Senator from Ohio, and Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinets of the elder Harrison and Tyler, and Secretary of the Interior under Taylor. ”

“ Those who have attended the meetings of the Ohio Society with any degree of regularity, have not failed to notice that the genial presiding officer, Gen. Swayne, whose genius for his position is universally recognized is never so well satisfied as when he can so twist or change the current of business as to bring upon the floor a gentleman who always talks entertainingly, and whose appearance and speech justify the efforts of the presiding officer to “draw him out.” Col. William L. Strong has been so many years in New York, that people generally suppose him to be of New York origin ”