CHAPTER XVI.
OHIO.
CLEVELAND MEETING - DR. PENNINGTON -
EXTRACTS FROM ORATION OF WILLIAM H. DAY -
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF BUCKEYE PROGRESS
[Page 277]
THE colored citizens of Ohio held a Mass Convention at
Cleveland, September 9th, 1852. I cull the
following incidents and tributes, as "peculiarly
appropriate to a military history of Colored Americans.
At sunrise, a salute was fired in the public square, in
honor of the day, by the "Cleveland Light Artillery,"
and another at nine o' clock, as the procession formed,
of which the orator of the day subsequently said: —
"They are the first thunders of artillery that ever
awoke the echoes of these hills in honor of the colored
people. But they shall not be the last."
Rev. Dr. J. W. C. Pennington delivered a speech,
of which Mr. Howland, a colored phonographic
reporter, says, — "The Doctor took the stand and
delighted the Convention with a short, brilliant and
instructive address on the history of the past, and the
part which the colored people have taken in the
struggles of this nation for independence, and its
various wars since its achievement."
Says the Daily True Democrat, — "The principal
fea-
[Page 278]
ture in the ceremonials of this jubilee was the address
of our fellow-citizen, Mr. William H. Day, a
performance worthy of its great purpose, and, therefore,
most creditable to the author. Not often have we
heard an address listened to with so absorbing an
attention, nor observed an audience to be more deeply
moved, than was Mr. Day's, by some parts of that
address. After noticing the day, the 9th of
September, which had been selected for their jubilation,
and illustrating its preeminent suitableness to the
occasion, by happy references to many illustrious events
of which it was the anniversary, Mr. Day
addressed himself to an able vindication of the claims
of his race, in this country, to an equalparticipation
in the exercise and enjoyment of those American rights
which large numbers of that race, in common with the men
of fairer complexion, had fought, suffered, and died to
establish. Behind the orator sat seven or eight
veteran colored men. Mr. D.'s apostrophe to those
veterans was as touching as admirable, and produced a
profound sensation."
Happily, it is in our power to furnish extracts from
the speech thus referred to, as follows: —
"'Of the services and sufferings of the colored
soldiers of the Revolution,' says one writer,' no
attempt has, to our knowledge, been made to preserve a
record.' This is mainly true. Their history
is not written. It lies upon the soil watered with
their blood: who shall gather it? It rests with
their bones in the charnel-house: who shall exhume it?
Their bodies, wrapped in sacks, have dropped from
[Page 279]
the decks where trod a Decatur and a Barry, in a calm
and silence, broken only by the voice of the man of God
— 'We commit this body to the deep;' and the plunge and
the ripples passing, the sea has closed over their
memory for ever. Ah! we have waited on shore and
have seen the circle of
that ripple. We know, at least, where they went down;
and so much, to-day, we come to record.
"We have had in Ohio, until very recently, and if they
are living, have here now, a few colored men who have
thus connected us with the past. I have been told,
recently, of one in the Southern portion of the State.
"Another, of whom we all know, has resided, for many
years, near Urbana, Champaigne county. He was
invited to, and expected at, this meeting.
Father Stanup (as he is familiarly called)
has lived to a good old age. He has been afflicted
with recent sickness, and it may have prostrated him
permanently. The frosts of a hundred winters will
shrivel any oak; the blasts of a century will try any
vitality. The aged soldier must soon die. O!
that liberty, for which he fought, be bequeathed to his
descendants! The realization of that idea would
smooth his dying pillow, and make the transit from this
to another sphere a pleasant passage. I am
credibly informed, that the age of Mr. Stanup
is one hundred and nine; that he was with General
Washington; and that his position, in this
respect, has been recognised by officers of the
Government." ---------------
* A correspondent of the National Era says of Mr.
Stanup., that he witnessed most of the battles of
that era, was wounded at the battle of Stony Point, and
[Page 280]
"So much for the Revolution. I could add other facts
bearing upon this particular, but do not deem it
necessary. We have adduced proof sufficient to
show any American who breasted the tide of death
sweeping over this country in '76. We hold it up,
that men who have denied its truth may observe, that the
ignorant may be enlightened, and that white Americans
may be divested of excuse for basing their exclusive
liberty upon the deeds of their fathers. We,
to-day, advance with them to the same impartial
tribunal, and demand, that if the reason be good in the
one case, it be made to apply in the other.
"In May, 1812, the American people again engaged in
conflict with Great Britain.
"The naval engagements of that war are, perhaps,
unsurpassed by any other; and that on the 11th of
September, on Lake Champlain, of that war perhaps the
most brilliant of any. Hear what the Common
Council of New York city said of that battle to
Commodore Macdonough. I read from a
newspaper of 1815: —
" 'Having approached the chair, his Honor, the Mayor,
addressed the Commodore as follows: — "When our northern
frontier was
was left for dead on the field of
conflict The scars from wounds then received he bears
upon his person still, not without evident consciousness
that they are regarded "honorable scars," as his details
denote clearly enough. He is a member of the
Baptist church, which he joined eighty years ago; and
yet he talks, with the aid of a vivid recollection,
seemingly, of his conversion, and his baptism in the
Potomac, while "blessing the Lord" for it. His
character has not belied his early profession,— it
having been markedly exemplary.
He has certainly not disregarded, during his long life,
the scriptural injunction to increase and multiply and
replenish the earth, for he is the father of
thirty-three children, by two wives only. The
youngest of these is now about twenty years of age.— w.
c. x. [Page 281]
invaded by a powerful army, when the heroes who have
immortalized themselves on the Niagara were pressed by a
superior force, when the capital of the nation was
overrun by hostile bands, when the most important city
of the South was attacked by the enemy, and when he
threatened to lay waste our maritime towns with fire and
sword, — at a period so inauspicious and gloomy, when
all but those who fully understand and duly appreciate
the firmness and resources of the American character
began to despair of the Republic, you were the first who
changed the fortune of our arms, and who dispelled the
dark cloud that hung over our country. With a
force greatly inferior, you met the enemy, vaunting of
his superior strength, and confident of victory; you
crushed his proud expectations, you conquered him; and
the embattled hosts which were ready to penetrate into
the heart of our country, fled in dismay and confusion.
* * * *
" 'As long as illustrious events shall be embodied in
history, so long will the victory on Lake Champlain,
obtained under your auspices, command the respect of
mankind. And when you, and all who hear me, shall
be numbered among the dead, those who succeed us, to the
most extended line of remote antiquity, will cherish
with exultation those great achievements which are
indissolubly connected with the prosperity and glory of
America. —
Special Meeting of Common Council, Jan. 7th,
1815. "To colored men, I
remark, as much as to any others, belongs the honor of
that battle."
[Mr. Day here exhibited a copy of an old
newspaper, the organ of the Government, dated Jan. 12th,
1815, containing the only full account given any where
of the names and equipment of the six larger vessels and
the ten galleys, and added —] [Page 282] "I
recollect something of one of the men on board the
row-galley Viper. That man enlisted under
Commodore Macdonough, was apportioned to a
row-galley, stood like a man at his post in the thickest
of the fight, and where the blood of his fellows
literally washed the deck. The honormarks of that
battle he carried to his grave. He sleeps in a
secluded grave-yard, yet not entirely unhonored by those
for whom he perilled all. I hold in my hand 'a
List of Acts passed by the Thirteenth Congress at its
third session,' the first of which is a series of '
Resolutions, expressive of the sense of Congress of the
gallant conduct of Captain Thomas Macdonough,
the officers, seamen, marines, and infantry serving as
marines, on board the United States squadron on Lake
Champlain.'
"This same man was shortly afterward drafted to go to
the Mediterranean with Commodore Bainbridge's
Relief Squadron.* Says Dr. Frost, in
his History, —'Commodore Bainbridge proceeded,
according to his instructions, to exhibit his force, now
consisting of seventeen sail, before Algiers, Tunis, and
Tripoli, and to make arrangements for the security of
American commerce in the Mediterranean. Having
settled all for the honor and interests of his country,
he returned to the United States.' So, according to
Dr. Frost, colored men have been of service,
where 'the security of American commerce,' and 'the
honor and interests of the country' were concerned.
The colored marine to ---------------
* The colored marine here referred to is
MR. JOHN DAY, father of MR. WILLIAM H. DAY.—
W. C. N. [Page 283] whom I have referred
received an honorable discharge, March 16th, 1816."
On the platform on this occasion were MR. JOHN
JULIUS, who served under General Jackson at New
Orleans; MR. JOHN BOYER VASHON, who has since
deceased, who was in the Jersey prison-ship; and MR.
L. C. FLEWELLEN, who enlisted in Georgia. Mr.
Day also alluded to MR. ROBERT VAN VRANKIN,
who marched, in 1815, to Plattsburg; and several others,
now residing in the West, whose names escape us, were
also mentioned. Mr. Day, in
concluding, remarked: — [Page 284]
who fought for you, equal privileges. We bring to
you, to day, the tears of our fathers, — each tear is a
volume, and speaks to you. To you, then, we
appeal. We point you to their blood, sprinkled
upon your door-posts in your political midnight, that
the Destroying Angel might pass over. We take you
to their sepulchres, to see the bond of honor between
you and them kept, on their part, faithfully, — even
until death." A colored
military company has been formed in Cincinnati, —
pronounced by competent judges to be well manned, well
officered and well drilled. They have chosen the
appropriate historic name of "Attucks Guards."
July 25th, 1855, Miss Mary A. Dames, in behalf of
an association of ladies, presented the company with a
flag. Among the sentiments expressed by her were
the following: — "Should the
love of liberty and your country ever demand your
services, may you, in imitation of that noble patriot
whose name you bear, promptly respond to the call, and
fight to the last for the great and noble principles of
liberty and justice, to the glory of your fathers
and the land of your birth.
"The time is not far distant when the slave must be
free; if not by moral and intellectual means, it must be
done by the sword. Remember, Gentlemen, should
duty call, it will be yours to obey, and strike to the
last for freedom or the grave.
"But God forbid that you should be called upon to
witness our peaceful homes involved in war. May
our eyes never behold this flag in any conflict; let the
quiet breeze ever play among' its folds, and the fullest
peace dwell among you!" [Page 285]
In the State of Ohio, the average property owned by
white citizens is $5.90; that of the colored citizens,
$6.71. Net property of colored people in
Cincinnati, $800,000; in the State of Ohio, $5,000,000.
In Cincinnati, among the colored citizens, are to be
found three bank tellers, a superior artist in landscape
painting — who has visited Rome to perfect his
education; besides carpenters, cabinet makers,
stucco-workers, hotel-keepers, shop-keepers, nine
daguerreotype artists, — the gallery kept by Mr.
Ball (a colored man) being acknowledged the best
in the Western country. In Cleveland, a city
institution has employed a colored librarian, William
H. Day, Esq. |