HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 525 ship and used thereafter jointly for church and school purposes. The first Fourth of July spent by the settlers in their new home was appropriately celebrated. Seventeen huge trees, the same number as that of the states then constituting the federal union, were chopped nearly through so that a few blows of the axe would topple them over, and at sunrise on the Fourth this unique national salute was fired without any burning of gunpowder. Colonel Kilbourne in 1811 established the Worthington Manufacturing Company, which was regularly incorporated and which did a diversified business, including the manufacture of woolen cloth and shoes, the tanning of hides, the making of furniture and hats, and general blacksmithing. The company continued operations for eight years and attracted a considerable number of operatives to the village, but the enterprise was too pretentious for the pioneer conditions and it failed. There were other business ventures, such as sending boatloads of merchandise down the Olentangy, Scioto, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the markets in the South, and mills, worked by water power, a necessity of pioneer existence, were built, but Worthington was never a great commercial or manufacturing center, although it has always enjoyed a good local trade and its inns and latterly, since the advent of the automobile, its hotels have had a considerable vogue. The most prominent business man in the earlier history of Worthington and Sharon Township was Orange Johnson, who came to Ohio from Connecticut in 1813. He was a maker of combs and, arriving in Worthington with a capital of but sixteen dollars, he established a business which he kept up for sixteen years, amassing what was in those days a considerable fortune. He then engaged in the enterprise of building the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike Road, in which he added to his wealth, and later helped make the survey for the Columbus and Xenia Railroad, now part of the Little Miami division of the Pennsylvania system. The organization of the original Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company, despite its retirement from public notice, is still in existence and the stock of the corporation has long paid good dividends and been held carefully together by its owners. Mr. Johnson moved to Columbus in 1862 and was for many years a director of the Franklin State and National 526 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Bank. His daughter married F. C. Sessions, who succeeded to the management of the bank. It is largely due to the munificence of Mr. and Mrs. Sessions that the city of Columbus is to enjoy the splendid new home and endowment of the Columbus Art Society, Mrs. Sessions having left to that society by her will her handsome home, with its spacious grounds, on East Broad Street, for the establishment of an art school and museum. Another successful business man among the earlier residents of Sharon Township was John Snow, who came from Rhode Island and went into the drug business in Worthington. He was the first grand master of the Masonic order in Ohio, his jurisdiction extending throughout the West and South. He and Thomas J. Webb systematized the work of the order in the West. Mr. Snow at one time held the third office in the Grand Chapter of the United States and also the second office in the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar in the United States. While large business enterprises did not thrive in Sharon Township, educational enterprises were always to the fore, despite the pioneer conditions. An academy was one of the first establishments of the village and it continued in existence and activity until within a very few years, its home standing on High Street after the school itself had been abandoned. Rev. Philander Chase, a minister of the Episcopal Church, removed to Worthington in 1817 and was immediately made principal of the academy. He also officiated as rector of the little Episcopal Church. The next year, 1818, Mr. Chase was elected the first Episcopal bishop of Ohio. Thereafter his name was conspicuously coupled with the cause of his church and of education in the state of Ohio. Bishop Chase owned a farm of 150 acres just south of Worthington, which is now a suburban subdivision known as Chaseland. For the sum of $2,050 he purchased and partly cleared this tract of land, which is now worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was then made to furnish some part of the support of the Worthington Academy. A movement was put afoot to establish a college in Ohio for the education of aspirants to the Episcopal ministry and Bishop Chase went to England and raised funds to that end. In 1825 the academy became the Ohio Theological Seminary, but its headquarters remained at Worhtington only a short time, for Bishop HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 527 Chase in 1826 purchased a new site for the college where the town of Granville in Knox County is now located and in a short time the seminary was removed to that place, where it has grown into the well known Gambier College. This school has graduated one man who afterward became President of the United States, General Rutherford B. Hayes, who was valedictorian of the class of 1842. Bishop Chase was the uncle of Salmon P. Chase, afterwards United States Senator from Ohio, governor of the state, a member of the cabinet of President Lincoln and finally Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, probably the most exalted position that can be attained by any lawyer in the world. When a boy Salmon P. Chase spent a year and a half with his uncle in Worthington and there still linger in the traditions of the place tales of youthful pranks perpetrated by the future great man. The boy's father was dead and his mother found it difficult to make both ends meet for a large family. The lad was therefore turned over to his uncle the bishop for a short time. Elias Lewis, who was a bricklayer and employed in the construction of a building for Bishop Chase, used the youthful Salmon P. as his assistant. Mr. Lewis lived to an extreme age and was accustomed to boast that in his prime he had had as the carrier of the hod in his mechanical activities no less a person than the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court—in embryo, of course. Worthington was a station on the Underground Railroad and it was said that one man alone, Ozem Gardner, who arrived in Worthington from New York in 1817, passed more than 200 fugitive slaves along toward freedom in the Canadas. It is claimed that no slave that was ever under his care was ever recaptured. The settlement was from the beginning a hotbed of abolition sentiment. The first postoffice in the township was established in Worthington in 1805 and the first postmaster was a remarkable character, William Robe, who was a dwarf, his weight never exceeding sixty pounds. He was, however, a man of culture, being a teacher in the Worthington Seminary and afterwards a clerk in the office of the auditor of state. The first newspaper published in Franklin County appeared in Worthington in 1811. It was known as the Western Intelligencer 528 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY and was founded by the ubiquitously active Rev. Colonel Kilbourne. In 1812 it supported James Madison for the presidency and in 1814 it was removed to Columbus, where it appeared as the Western Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette. Through many mutations it has come down to the present time and is now known as the Ohio State Journal. According to the federal census of 1930 Worthington had a population of 1,240. It is one of the really beautiful small towns of the state. Just north of Worthington there is a flourishing institution for the nurture and education of orphans under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It comprises commodious buildings and a large farm. TRURO TOWNSHIP. Truro lies in the middle tier of townships in the eastern part of Franklin County. It is bounded on the north by Mifflin and Jefferson Townships, on the east by Licking and Fairfield Counties, on the south by Madison Township and on the west by Marion Township. It is traversed from east to west by three great highways, the Columbus and Granville Road, the National Road (the Main Street of the nation) and by the extension of Livingston Avenue, all wide and paved with permanent hard surface material. The Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad also passes through it. Alum Creek touches its southwest corner and Big Walnut and Black Lick flow through it from north to south. Until recently the Ohio Electric Railway had a line along the National Road, but this means of travel, after serving a purpose in building up the rural community through which it passed, has been abandoned. The soil is not so uniformly productive as that in Madison Township, immediately south, but for the most part it is fertile and in the creek bottoms is as rich as can be found anywhere in the state. Two prosperous villages are located within its limits—Reynoldsburg, on the National Road where it crosses Black Lick, with a population in 1930 of 569, and Brice, on the T. & O. C. Railroad, whose population was not recorded by the census takers, as the village, although it lies on a railroad and has a grain elevator, is not incorporated. The travel on the National Road and the Columbus and Granville Road is so great as to give those high- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 529 ways the appearance of city streets, and the National Road is building up with residences so as to be almost a continuous street from the city limits to Reynoldsburg. On Broad Street, as the Granville Road is called, the residences are becoming more and more numerous and they are all of a high grade. Just east of Reynoldsburg is a state farm on which serums for men and animals is prepared, and on Broad Street, just east of Black Lick, in Jefferson Township, the Columbus Railway, Light and Power Company has a power plant to reenforce the lines which stretch throughout the territory. Broad Street and the National Road have the advantage of electric lighting throughout their course and are as well illuminated as city streets. The township, organized in 1810, was named after a township in Nova Scotia, from which the Taylor family, to whom was given the privilege of naming the new political division, originally came. This family, members of which owned land in Jefferson Township also, was one of the foremost in the county and furnished several distinguished lawyers to the bar at Columbus, one of them representing the district in Congress for several terms. There is a peculiar jog in the southeastern corner of the township, which was caused by the transfer of a number of half-sections between Franklin and the next county east in 1858. The surface of the township is generally level. The Pugh family, another family that has been prominent in the county and city's political and social life, descended from an original settler of Truro Township, David Pugh. The first settlement in Truro Township was made in 1805, and the following were among the first arrivals : John and Charles Medford, Thomas Palmer, John Edgar, John Lynch, Benjamin Cornell, Matthew Long, Robert Taylor, William McIntyre, Zachariah Paul, William Thompson, Captain John Hanson, Daniel Ross and his six sons, Richard Rhoads, David Graham, John Cambridge, George Powell, David Pugh, John Enlows, Daniel Whetsel, Jacob Wolf, Benjamin V. Lunn, William E. Bulen and Basil Batchelor. A school was built of logs on the east bank of Big Walnut as early as 1820, and grist and saw mills were constructed on Big Walnut just south of Broad Street and at Livingston Avenue and on Black Lick near Reynoldsburg, besides a steam power mill in the village itself. All of these water power mills have long since been aban- 530 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY doned and there is hardly a vestige of them remaining. A valuable stone quarry near Reynoldsburg was discovered and opened by Henry Besse and stone from it was shipped to many parts of the stato. It is a free stone, twenty inches to two and a half feet thick, and is used for bridge and building purposes. Most of the abutments on Broad Street and National Highway bridges were formerly made of this stone, but its use has been naturally largely displaced by concrete construction. Mr. Besse sold the quarry to William A. Forrester, who in the seventies built a mill for the sawing of the stone into proper dimensions for building purposes. Members of the Besse family are found along the National Road and Broad Street from Columbus to Pataskala in Licking County. A tile factory in Reynoldsburg was owned by Hiram Dysart & Company, but it has not been running for some years. Reynoldsburg was laid out in 1831 by John French, who named it Frenchtown in honor of his own family. Later, however, there arrived in the village from Zanesville a young man, James C. Reny-olds, who became the foremost citizen of that part of the county and, being interested in military matters, arose to the rank of a general in the militia. He had a store and prospered through the patronage of the laborers on the National Road, which was then in course of construction. The local people did not like the name of their town and they changed it to Reynoldsburg in honor of their new and popular fellow-citizen, who subsequently moved to Fairfield County. Other stores were opened by B. B. Bronson, Rhoads and Clendenning, Metler and Clendenning, Rhoads and Hutson and Elias Weaver. A postoffice was established in Reynoldsburg in 1833, with General Reynolds as the first postmaster, and a long line of physicians settled there. The village was incorporated as a municipality in 1839, the first mayor being Abram Johnston. An effort was made to establish a village on the National Road where it crosses Big Walnut Creek, but it never progressed far, although a hamlet at that point is known as Hibernia. The Columbus Railway, Light and Power Company has built a power "booster" plant here, which reenforces the many lines of light and power wire that extend over the country. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 531 The United Presbyterian Church was the first formally organized in the township, although, as was usual in pioneer communities, there had been meetings for religious service at the homes of the more pious settlers. A Baptist Church was formed five years later, in 1823. The Methodists followed with organization two years later and in 1836 a Presbyterian congregation was formed in Reynoldsburg through the missionary activity of Rev. James Hoge. Their church was built in 1840 and was burned in 1861, but the congregation put up a new building. The First Universalist Church of Reynoldsburg and the Disciple Church came later. Truro Township, like other territroy lying within the influence of the Capital City, is fast succumbing to the suburban residence habit and much of its old farm land is being broken up into allotments for homes where city workers can enjoy the advantages of country freedom and large gardens. The city limits are reaching out steadily in its direction and it would not be surprising to see part of this one-time purely agricultural community become a part of the state's capital. The influence of the city is seen in the building of handsome residences on East Broad Street and the extension of the city limits beyond those of the suburban city of Bexley. The Columbus Country Club, an exclusive social organization, owns a beautiful tract, with fine buildings and a good golf course, on the south side of Broad Street at Big Walnut, and just east of Big Walnut, on the line between Truro and Jefferson Townships, a new cemetery for the use of the city of Columbus has been laid out and already contains a number of graves. Norton Field, the first aviation field in the vicinity of Columbus, is situated on Broad Street, in this township. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. Washington Township occupies the northwestern corner of Franklin County. It is bounded on the west and north by Union and Delaware Counties, on the east by the line of the Scioto River and on the south by Brown and Norwich Townships. It was set off and organized in 1809, being parts of the original townships of Liberty, Franklin and Darby and including all of what are now Perry 532 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY and Norwich and a part of Brown Township. Its present proportions were finally established in 1820. The first settlement was made on the site of the village of Dublin, which is situated on the west bank of the Scioto River, on a road running directly west from Worthington. The road which runs through the village north and south is the outgrowth of an ancient Indian trail running from the Indian village at Upper Sandusky down the Scioto River to Franklinton. Until the sentiment for good roads changed its character it was through most of the township rather rough, the surface being cut up by gullies running to the river, but it had a foundation of limestone and was seldom muddy. The road is now a beautiful highway, a favored driveway from the city of Columbus. The township is cut by but one railroad, the Toledo and Ohio Central, which traverses it from about the middle of the south to the middle of the west boundary line. This district has always, however, been closely connected with the capital city through omnibus service. It has never had a suburban electric railway. Bluffs and hills of considerable sight border the streams which run through the township to empty into the Scioto, principal of which is Indian Big Run, and the scenic effects of these diversities of surface give the district an attractive appearance, besides offering the more utilitarian advantage of specially good facilities for orchard cultivation. This has been taken advantage of and the rougher parts of the township have been converted largely into profitable fruit bearing districts. Most of the township, however, is level and very fertile. Some of the best developed farms and handsomest farm houses in Franklin County are to be found in Washington Township. At the southeastern corner of the township is one of the most picturesque spots in Ohio, Hayden Falls, about ten miles northwest of Columbus. The rock formation is of limestone, and Hayden Run, about 100 rods west of its outlet into the Scioto, has worn through the stone and formed a cataract which has a perpendicular fall of sixty feet. As the spot is easy of access from the city, lying between the Scioto River and the Dublin Pike, Hayden Falls is a popular place of resort for picnickers. It was in Washington Township that the famous execution of Leatherlips, a Wyandotte Indian chief, occurred. The cause of the HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 533 execution is a mystery, although there is very good authority for the belief that it was ordered by the famous Prophet, brother of Tecumseh, because of Leatherlips friendship for the whites and his opposition to the war against them that was being preached by the two able brothers. General William Henry Harrison entertained the opinion that the party which executed the old chief went directly from Tippecanoe to the banks of the Scioto, where the tragedy occurred. The explanation was given by some Indians that Leather-lips was supposed to be guilty of witchcraft. The execution was witnessed by some white men, who tried to intervene to save the old man's life, but, as Leatherlips himself seemed to accept the situation and made no objections to the carrying out of the sentence, their efforts were unavailing. In memory of this friend of the white race the Wyandotte Club, a social organization of Columbus, some years ago arranged for the erection of a monument at the scene of the execution. The village of Dublin, which at the census of 1930 had a population of 224, was settled very soon after Franklinton, among the first inhabitants being Ludwick Sells and his four sons from Pennsylvania, George Ebey, Alexander Bassett, Augustus Miller, James Hoey, John Wyandt, James Slosson, Jacob King and Jacob Sladle. They were followed in a short time by the ancestors of the Tullers, the Davises, the Grahams and other families prominent in the community. From the Sells family sprang the brothers who, as proprietors of the Sells Brothers circus, became known throughout America, Australia and the continent of Europe. The town itself was laid out by John Shields, a gentleman of Irish extraction, who gave it the name of his native city and was the founder of a family prominent in Franklin County. Joab Hayden, one of the early settlers of the township, was a famous man in his day. He took a farm on Hayden Run, which was named after him, and soon attracted attention by his daring and dangerous exploits. He was either very lucky or very skillful. As he was a jack at all trades and seems to have been an adept in all, his long life was probably due to his skill rather than to his luck. It was recorded of him that, on the occasion of a trip taken by him to the Kanawha salt works, whither it was necessary to go for a supply 534 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY of salt, he won a barrel of salt by climbing a very high tree and standing on his head on a limb of the tree nearly 100 feet from the ground. He found no takers when he offered to bet another barrel of salt that he could fall into the river, remain there a certain time without effort to save himself and then come out alive. Samuel Sells bought a farm in the township and moved there in 1909. A large body of Indians made a habit of camping on his land, but, as they were friendly to the white and many of them, under the noted warrior, Captain Tuttle, enlisted under General Harrison for the War of 1812, they were permitted to remain in peace. While, isolated from the centers of traffic, trade and manufacture never flourished to a great degree in Washington, there were early and at the time successful efforts to establish small manufacturing concerns. The postoffice at Dublin had been established for twelve years when John Swain bought a mill site on the Scioto River. He put up an oil mill and afterward added to his equipment a carding machine and a cloth-fulling machine. This business he conducted until 1855, when he sold out to Lorenzo Holcomb, who changed the structure into a flour mill. This mill could be seen, a picturesque sight, until a very few years ago. Holcomb Tuller, one of the early members of that family which has been so prominent in the affairs of the county, built an ashery in Dublin in 1840. He made black salts and saleratus, sending his products for sale to Cincinnati and conducting a profitable business. Blacksmith shops were early established by Edward Eberly and the versatile Joab Hayden. The latter also was a beehunter of note, being able to "line" a wild honeybee to its hive in some hollow tree and always having on hand a stock of honey for sale at the larger settlements. A sawmill was built on Indian Run in 1818 by Henry Shout. The country was covered with a forest of oak, beech, maple, hickory, walnut, ash, elm and other trees of less value, and the Shout mill was kept busy turning out lumber that was floated down the river to Franklinton and later to Columbus. Products of the mills and farms were shipped by river to much greater distances at that time. In the spring of 1821 John Sells started for New Orleans from Dublin in a flat bottomed boat loaded with 500 barrels of flour and great quantities of bacon. He was accompanied by Enoch Evans, Abraham Sells, John Sells, Moses HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 535 Davis and Fletcher Sells. Most of the settlers did not believe it possible for the boat, which was sixteen feet wide and sixty feet long, to negotiate the dams, which were quite numerous in the Scioto at that distant day. The Argonauts of the expedition selected a time when the spring floods were at their height and succeeded in shooting the dams. They adopted the plan of crowding into the extreme stern of the boat and thus lifting the bow as they approached a dam and had no serious difficulty even at the Marble Cliff Mills, where the dam was seven feet high. The cargo was sold at Maysville, Kentucky. The early settlers had one or two causeless scares from the Indians, but never experienced any serious perils at the hands of the original settlers. In fact, they saw a great deal of them, as the Indians passed frequently along the old Upper Sandusky trail, now the Dublin Pike, and traded extensively with the whites. The township has never grown in commercial importance, but remains a strictly agricultural community. In that respect and socially it stands very high. The beautiful cemetery just west of Dublin contains monuments on which are carved names of men and women prominent in the life of the county. Among those silent citizens are veterans of all the wars of the United States, from the American Revolution to the World War. CHAPTER XXXIV MISCELLANEOUS. COUNCIL OF SOCIAL AGENCIES AND COMMUNITY FUND-THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA IN FRANKLIN COUNTY. COUNCIL OF SOCIAL AGENCIES AND COMMUNITY FUND. (By Stockton Raymund) Some twenty years ago, at the request of a group of people deeply interested in and closely identified with the social service agencies of the city, Mr. Francis M. McLean, field secretary of the Charity Organization Department, Russell Sage Foundation, spent ten days in Columbus making a survey of the social work. As a result of his investigation, Mr. McLean presented a report and made suggestions which were laid before representatives of the social agencies on October 10, 1910. Mr. McLean's major recommendation dealt with a form of federation for the social agencies of Columbus in order to foster a higher degree of co-operation, prevent duplication, and impart a higher efficiency to the work. In accordance with his suggestion, a committee of five was appointed to work out such a scheme as might be practicable for Columbus. As a result, the Central Philanthropic Council was organized on December 28, 1910, in the assembly room of the Chamber of Commerce, seventeen societies being represented by twenty-six delegates. During the next decade, the Central Philanthropic Council was an active one, monthly meetings were held, the membership increased, and many activities were undertaken with gratifying results. Among the achievements were: - 536 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 537 1. A report on conditions in the state penitentiary was used by the Governor and Legislature in bringing about improved conditions in that institution and providing for a prison farm. 2. A committee on conditions in the city prison and county jail led to definite reforms and improvements in both places. 3. A committee on medical and dental inspection in schools resulted in the installation of medical inspection in the schools and the organization of a free dental clinic for the poor of the city. 4. The work of the committee on educational advantages for tubercular children led to the equipment of a complete and modern department for children in the County Tuberculosis Hospital. 5. The building of shelter houses in the public parks and the supervision of play, together with the strengthening and developing of the recreational department of the city were definitely the outcome of the activities of the committee on recreation. 6. A survey of the Columbus pool rooms published in pamphlet form, with illustrations, was the direct and immediate cause of improved city ordinances improving pool rooms. 7. The committee on child welfare acting jointly with a county children's committee brought Dr. Hastings Hart to Columbus, resulting directly in a complete remodeling of the Detention Home. 8. Beginning March 1, 1912, the Council sponsored and developed a General Registration Bureau, which was conducted by the Associated Charities until such time as a central office could be provided. Quoting Mr. J. H. Frantz: "In 1919 following the war, a flood of requests came from all social agencies of Columbus for support of peace time activities. Each day witnessed new calls, and there was created in the minds of the public of Columbus, a great confusion, because of an inability to discriminate between those agencies which should be most generously supported, agencies which perhaps because of personnel were being supported beyond their necessity, and in some few instances agencies which should not be given support at all. As a result of this confusion, a survey of the activities of all social agencies in Columbus, both public and private, was suggested by the Chamber of Commerce, and financed by a group of citizens. The survey was undertaken under the auspices of the Ohio Council of Social Agencies and the Ohio Institute for Public Efficiency and 538 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY under the direct supervision of Mr. Fred C. Croxton. The survey committee was made up of a group of men and women representing all phases of life of the community and the work took quite a few months to complete. The work was well done and showed convincingly to those interested a lack of team work among agencies both public and private." Upon the request of the Central Philanthropic Council, the Survey Committee made a report to that body on November 23, 1920. This report met with many expressions of approval, and the Central Philanthropic Council asked that a copy of the report and recommendations be sent to each of the agencies surveyed, and also expressed the hope that each agency would give the report official consideration at an early meeting of its Board of Directors. The Survey Committee recommended : (1) That a Council of Social Agencies be created, provided with a competent secretary or director, who would be qualified to represent the viewpoint of the public and community at large and report to the community on its social needs and the work being done. (2) That a cooperative or centralized financial organization be created when the time seemed advisable. The Committee did not feel that the time was opportune for the launching of a centralized financing plan, as there existed in Columbus on the part of some people a slight misunderstanding of the plan and operation of a community chest, along lines which had been successful in other Ohio cities. It had long been the hope of the Philanthropic Council that some time a central office might be established for the coordination of the work of the agencies, but no money had been available for such purpose. Many conferences of various groups were held making preliminary plans, and two tentative constitutions were prepared—one for the Council of Social Agencies, the other for the Columbus Advisory Council, the two constitutions being interdependent. On March 29, 1921, the Central Philanthropic Council held its last meeting, and at that time adopted the Constitution of the Columbus Council of Social Agencies, which became effective on April 11, 1921, when the first meeting of the Council of Social Agencies was held. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 539 At this meeting on April 11th, an Executive Board of fifteen members was created, in accordance with provisions of the new constitution. Special emphasis was placed upon the securing of an Executive Board which would have a cross section representation both of the various sections of the city and of the varied interests—social, religious, civic and commercial. The constitution provided that not less than five members must be social workers, and not less than five must be contributors to some member agency. The Central Philanthropic Council had two classes of membership : (1) representatives appointed by its constituent agencies (2) individual members. It was the mutual understanding that the member agencies would automatically become members of the Council of Social Agencies and that the individual memberships would automatically continue until the annual election in 1922. The purpose of the Council of Social Agencies, as stated in the constitution, was : 1. To promote joint effort of civic, charitable, benevolent and philanthropic organizations—both public and private—and thereby to strengthen the efforts being made to eliminate and prevent such social conditions as tend to create disease, dependency and delinquency. 2. To build up and promote normal standards in living, citizenship, and health. 3. To cooperate with the Advisory Council in promoting studies, plans, and programs which will secure a wider interest in social and civic problems and more effective work in dealing with such problems. Any organization or agency, public or private, interested in the work of the Council and recommended by the Executive Board of the Council was eligible to membership and entitled to appoint two delegates on the Council, one a member of the governing body and the other the executive social worker. (Or similar positions). The delegate members of the Council were entitled to elect individual members not to exceed in number one-tenth of the delegate members. On March 17, 1921, the Columbus Advisory Council formally came into existence, its purpose being, according to the constitution adopted at that time : 540 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY 1. To promote studies, plans and programs which will secure a wider interest in social and civic problems and more effective work in dealing with such problems. 2. To cooperate with the Columbus Council of Social Agencies in promoting joint effort of civic, charitable, benevolent and philanthropic organizations—both public and private—and thereby strengthening the efforts being made to eliminate and prevent such social conditions as tend to create disease, dependency and delinquency. 3. To cooperate with the Columbus Council of Social Agencies in building up and promoting normal standards in living, citizenship and health. This group had for its concrete purpose the financing of the central office, and its membership consisted of all subscribers to a fund raised for this specific purpose. (A total of eighty-seven). An Executive Committee of nine was elected at this organization meeting on March 17, 1921, and that committee on March 25, 1921, elected its officers :—Judge Oscar W. Newman, chairman ; Mr. James L. Hamill, vice chairman ; and Mr. S. D. Hutchins, treasurer. The Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies held its first meeting on April 21, 1921. At this time it also elected officers for the year: Mr. John W. Pontius, president; Mrs. Linus B. Kauffman, first vice president ; and Mrs. J. E. McNally, second vice president. According to the constitutions of the two newly-created Councils, the Director was to be chosen jointly by the Executive Committee of the Columbus Advisory Council and nine members of the Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies. A meeting of this joint group was held on April 22, 1921, and Mr. Fred C. Croxton was formally elected to this position. Mr. Croxton had been informally approached by the various interested groups, had been urged to accept this leadership, and had been busily engaged in the organization work prior to his formal election. In April, 1921, a central office was opened at 16 South Third Street. The first year of the two Councils was devoted to the development of team-work. The Central Registration Bureau became a part of the Council of Social Agencies, its value became more widely appreciated, and registrations very noticeably increased. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 541 Early in 1922, central financing began to be discussed very earnestly by the various groups. The Executive Committee of the Advisory Council was anxious to do whatever was best, but they felt that if central financing was to be brought about in Columbus, it could be successful only if the agencies themselves desired it. On March 31, 1922, the Executive Committee, by resolution, requested the Director to present the matter to the Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies, asking for such expression of opinion as that Board or the constituent agency members of the Council might see fit to give. This was taken up with the Executive Board by the Director on May 4, 1922, and on May 10th, the Executive Board presented the question to the regular meeting of the Council of Social Agencies. At that meeting, by unanimous action, the Council of Social Agencies requested the Advisory Council to proceed with an investigation of those cities where Central Financing had been in progress and to report results, and at the same time to submit a plan of central financing which they would favor for Columbus. At this same meeting, it was also agreed that the Boards of the various agencies which sought funds from the public be asked to consider this matter promptly and render an opinion. Following favorable action by these Boards and agencies, the Advisory Council secured Mr. W. Frank Persons, formerly vice-chairman of the American Red Cross, to conduct a study of Central Financing and prepare a report. Ten weeks was given to the study and preparation of the report. Mr. Persons visiting personally, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Rochester, Philadelphia, and Louisville, in which central financing was established and Pittsburgh, where at that time central financing had not been established, but a study had been made along that line, without reaching an agreement. August 3, 1922, Mr. Persons presented a summary of his report to the Council of Social Agencies, and various questions incident to central financing were discussed. When completed, the report of Mr. Persons was published, through the generosity of several members of the Advisory Council, and was furnished without charge to any local person interested. In November, 1922, a copy of the report was sent to all members of the Council of Social Agencies, together with an outline of a suggested plan for Columbus. 542 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY In January, 1923, a letter was sent out to contributors of the Social and Philanthropic Agencies from a sub-committee of the Advisory Council, enclosing copy of suggested plan, offering to send complimentary copy of Mr. Persons report upon request, and asking an expression of opinion from each contributor on a small perforated form which was attached to the communication. The Chamber of Commerce, upon its own initiative, asked for an expression of opinion, by ballot, from its entire membership in regard to the adoption of central financing in Columbus. In July, 1923, the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council presented a communication to the Council of Social Agencies expressing their willingness to go ahead with a central financing plan for 1924 and subsequent years, and presenting their recommendations. This report was unanimously approved and adopted. This recommended that a campaign be held in November, 1923, for the operating expenses of 1924; that Dr. Chauncey, president of the Council of Social Agencies, be urged to accept the chairmanship of a campaign committee ; that a campaign committee of approximately fifteen members be selected at once, jointly by the Executive Committee of the Columbus Advisory Council and Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies ; that under the campaign committee a Budget Committee of nine members, an Endorsement Committee of five members, and a Finance Committee be created, etc. At a joint meeting of the Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies and the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council, on July 11, 1923, a Campaign Committee of fifteen was chosen, and a committee of four—two from each of these groups—was appointed to make nominations to fill any vacancies which might occur. In July and August, 1923, the various standing committees were created. The Budget Committee was composed of nine members, five elected by the Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies and four members by the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council ; the Endorsement Committee by the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council, ratified by the Executive Board of the Council of Social Agencies ; and the Finance Committee elected by the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 543 The Campaign Committee also gave approval to these standing committees. It is also interesting to note, that all members of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Council were also elected members of the Campaign Committee. The first campaign was held in November, 1923, for the operating expenses of thirty-seven agencies. The campaign goal was $477,396.44 and was over-subscribed. During 1924, the organization remained practically the same with slight changes, of course, in personnel ; but in January, 1925, new constitutions were adopted, the old Columbus Advisory Council passed into history, and the Community Fund of Columbus and Franklin County took its place, the personnel of the old organization being absorbed in that of the new. Both the Council of Social Agencies and the Community Fund are county-wide in their scope, and both are operating under the constitutions as adopted in January, 1925, with the addition of a by-law and an amendment in regard to the Endorsement Committee. THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA IN FRANKLIN COUNTY. (By C. E. Shriner) With the development of our twentieth century civilization, has come the need for organizations designed to provide activities for the leisure time of youth. Among those in Franklin County, the Boy Scout movement with its character-building and citizenship-training objectives has grown and now ranks as the leading boys' organization. Even before the issuance of a Special Charter to the Boy Scouts of America by Congress in February, 1910, several citizens of Columbus had heard of the movement in England and a score of boys were following a program that was a combination of the hiking club, the Boy Pioneers originated by Daniel Carter Beard, and the Baden-Powell Scouting Idea. John F. Carlisle, the first Scoutmaster in Columbus, organized eight boys into the "Bee" patrol in the latter part of 1909. This group enjoyed varied out-door activities as hiking, and camping, going out as far as twelve to twenty miles and camping along the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers. They bought a tent and other equipment, but wore uniforms made by their mothers at home. 544 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY After the incorporation of the National Organization in early 1910, Col. Byron L. Barger organized Troop 1 of the First Presbyterian Church. This Troop was soon increased by the addition of seven or eight more after the arrival of Edgar S. Martin from Racine, Wisconsin, as Director of City Recreation in July. Mr. Martin was vitally interested in the new movement and his efforts were directed toward organizing a Council as soon as there were enough Troops to warrant it. On a Sunday afternoon in October, 1910, J. F. Stone of Ohio State University gave an illustrated lecture on his recent trip through the "Grand Canyon" with the proceeds amounting to $1250, thereby making possible complete organization as a Council. The officers elected for the Franklin County Council were: President, H. M. Blair ; Secretary-Treasurer, Fred Lazarus, Jr.; Scout Commissioner, Edgar S. Martin. The other members of the Council were as follows. W. T. Wells, E. R. Weinland, J. M. Sherman, Frederick Shedd, A. M. Miller, Rabbi Jos. S. Krafeld, J. A. Shawan, W. F. Taylor, J. J. Staley, J. G. Price, 0. W. Davies, C. T. Menoher, F. A. McKenzie, J. W. Wheeler, Col. C. H. Murray, Father F. W. Howard, Rev. Chas. E. Burton, Father J. H. O'Neil. Great activity attended the formation of the Council. Before the close of the year 1910, a handbook had been compiled and printed by local men with the permission of National Headquarters. These books with information on Scouting were at once placed in the hands of every member of the different Troops and greatly interested many adults as well as boys in the new movement. Great publicity was given when the organization turned out 150 strong with uniforms and staves to greet President Taft on a visit here February 11, 1911. On June 3, 1911, a big Scouting demonstration of camping, tracking, fire-building, cooking, bridge-building, first-aid, etc., attracted two hundred to Glenmary Park. Fifteen Troops took part under the direction of M. G. Baily. In the next month, Columbus lost to Washington, D. C., and eventually to National Scout Headquarters, the services of E. S. Martin who became Director of the Editorial Department of the National Council. On his departure, the control HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 545 of the Franklin County Scouting was largely taken over by the Y. M. C. A. being directed by H. M. Blair and R. C. McKenzie. During the next six years the number of Troops gradually increased up to twelve or fifteen and the membership was approximately 300. Many of the Troops as Troop 1, under the leadership of E. S. Thomas and Phil Weaver and Troop 16 under A. G. Field secured quantities of equipment and became very well established. In 1917, a representative of National Headquarters, H. L. Eddy. came to Columbus and re-organized the Council, becoming the first Scout Executive in the city. Under the new organization an Executive Board numbering among its members Max Stearn, Chas. Fisher, Walter Jeffrey, and Dr. Andre Crotti, assumed the responsibility as a board of directors for the Council. Mr. Eddy stayed for a few months and was succeeded in the capacity of Scout Executive by J. P. Fitch. The World War did much to emphasize the value of Scouting and the activities of Scouts was centered on selling War Savings Stamps and Liberty Bonds. The Scouts impressed themselves as necessary in Columbus during the war period. Other civic service of a valuable nature began to be rendered at the State Fair by Columbus Scouts while Mr. Fitch was Executive. Two outstanding achievements were recorded for Scouting by splendid service at the G. A. R. encampment here and at the Methodist Centenary held at the State Fair Grounds. Over a hundred Scouts assisted on both of these occasions. Promotion of the camping program was increased by Mr. Fitch. Encampments were held at Mt. Sterling at a place called Camp Anderson, at Waw-wil-a-wig on Paint Creek, and at Chillicothe. Tents and baggage used at these camps were mostly borrowed from the different Troops. However, in spite of poor facilities, nearly a hundred Scouts secured the advantages of a camp program. On January 1, 1920, Perry A. Lint succeeded J. P. Fitch as Scout Executive. Mr. Fitch won promotion by his good work in Franklin County and is at present the Regional Scout Executive for the states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. On Mr. Lint's arrival he found approximately 1,000 boys enrolled in thirty-five Troops. The period 1920-1926 is a period of great expansion and activity. The enrollment 546 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY of Scouts mounted to 2,150 and 600 men were serving as adult leaders of the eighty-eight Troops in 1926. Camping, too, greatly advanced in the Council. Test passing used to be greatly stressed, but it was broadened out into a well balanced program including all out-of-door activities, even to horse-back riding. The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company loaned the Council a camp for eighty boys at Paint Creek in 1920. W. T. Henderson was the Director of the camping which was done by Troops under their own Scoutmasters. Camp Burroughs, named for John Burroughs, north of Westerville and east of Big Walnut was used in 1921. In its last year, 1924 under the management of B. S. Mason, the camp had an enrollment of 691 different boys during the summer, a high water mark for camping in the Council. Max Stearn as a member of the Camp Committee aroused great enthusiasm in the camp program. The need was felt for a Council-owned camp, and diligent search revealed an ideal site near the Olen-tangy River, south of Delaware. It was given to the council with equipment valued at $75,000 by Jeffrey Lazarus in memory of his parents Rose and Fred Lazarus, largely through Mr. Stearn's untiring efforts to interest the public in camping. The camp was dedicated Camp Rose and Fred Lazarus, and has been used ever since 1924. From 1922 till 1925 when 1,000 people were present, Father and Son Banquets were held each year. 1922 also marks the first birthday dinner in the Council. Ushering at the Ohio State football games was taken over by the Scouts at the dedication of the new stadium in 1922 and their services has increasingly aroused favorable comment as the years go on. Monthly Courts of Honor for granting advancement were held in the Chamber of Commerce and the Court House in 1917 and for two years thereafter. Later the system was changed to a Court of Review and now we find a combination of the two with a big central ceremonial held every quarter of the year. Mr. Lint resigned as Scout Executive in 1926 to become Regional Executive over Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. He was succeeded by E. J. Bath. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 547 Since 1926 Scouting has been spreading farther and farther in Franklin County and has been intensified, as better procedure is found out and as the leaders of the individual Troops have become better trained. Many additions and improvements are being made to the camp equipment each year. In 1928 the Exchange Club of Columbus constructed on the reservation site a log lodge 70 feet x 40 feet. A system of volunteer District and Deputy Commissioners in addition to the paid office staff, keeps the Troops informed of coming events and carries out the council activities of rallies, circuses, Merit Badge shows, and achievement round-ups. The use of Deputy Commissioners was started in 1922, but has been very highly developed since 1928. C. E. Shriner arrived from Shreveport, Louisiana, in April, 1929, to become Executive, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Bath in November, 1928. Experts in the various trades and vocations throughout the county, to the number of ninety are serving as Counselors to Scouts interested in Merit Badge subjects. The latest development, in November, 1929, was the expansion of the Franklin County Council. The new Council, the Central Ohio Area Council includes the counties of Ross, Pickaway, Fayette, Madison, Union, Delaware, Franklin and Hocking. This organization will unite and correlate the efforts throughout the area and will result in more benefits of Scouting to more boys. Scouting is a volunteer organization primarily and since becoming a First Class Council there have always been able leaders. Gov. Jas. E. Campbell, F. A. Miller, Lowery F. Sater, Max Stearn, and in 1929 Dr. W. O. Thompson have been presidents. Hundreds of other men have done their part in serving as Scoutmasters, Commissioners, Troop Committeemen, and Merit Badge Counselors all of them pledged to the same high ideals as the individual Scout when he takes the Scout Oath. On my honor, I will do my best : 1. To do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law. 2. To help other people at all times. 3. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.