Pittsburgh until 1822, six years after Mrs. Dickinson maintains, is that HurlSpaulding's death. Another example of the increasing definiteness of the tradition may be found in a volume just published at Cincinnati, giving an account of the various religious sects. Speaking of the 'Book of Mormon,' the writer says: "Rigdon, who afterwards became Smith's right-hand man, is known to have copied this (Spaulding's) manuscript. A comparison of the 'Book of Mormon' with the original manuscript of this novel, satisfies all, except professing Mormons, that the. Mormon bible is simply the old novel revised and corrected by Smith and Rigdon "—an illustration of the facility with which a shadowy tradition becomes definite history. It does not appear that Smith and Rigdon had any acquaintance with each other until after the publication of the Mormon book. In Howe's book we have a full account of Rigdon's conversion to Mormonism at Mentor, in the autumn of 1830, when Parley P. Pratt introduced to him two Mormon missionaries from Palmyra, New York. In a pamphlet published by Pratt, in 1838, he gives a similar account of Rigdon's conversion and states positively that Smith and Rigdon never saw each other until early in 1831. So far as I am aware, there is nothing to disprove this statement. A somewhat prevalent theory, which but took two manuscripts from the old trunk in Hartwick, New York-one the genuine 'Manuscript Found,' which he treacherously sold to the Mormons, the other which he delivered to Howe, and which is present this evening. Of this there seems to be no proof. Howe intimates no such thing in his book. It is true that Mrs. Dickinson reports an interview of her own with Howe, in 1830, in which he expresses the opinion that Hurlbut had two manuscripts, one of which he sold to the Mormons, but in the appendix to her book (page 259) she publishes a letter from Howe to Hurlbut, written two or three months before the interview, in which he disclaims any such suspicion. There are those who claim to know that the last manuscript is still in existence, and will be brought to light at some future day. It would not seem unreasonable to suspend judgment in the case until the new light shall come. Professor Whitsitt of the Southern Baptist Theological seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, has given much attention to the internal structure of the Book of Mormon,' and is about to publish a life of Sidney Rigdon in which he will maintain, and expects to prove, that Rigdon is responsible for the 'Book of Mormon,' and that he had Spaulding's manuscript as the basis of his work. JAMES H. FAIRCHILD. Oberlin, Ohio. BANKS AND BANKERS OF CLEVELAND. WILLIAM A. OTIS. William A. Otis, who was one of the pioneer merchants of northern Ohio, one of the early iron makers of Cleveland, and a moving spirit in many lines of usefulness, had so potent an influence on the banking interests of this city, that a consideration of this question with no mention of him would be an over sight beyond excuse. One of the organ izers of the Commercial National bank and for five years its president, one of the originators of the Society for Savings and its first president, and for some time a member of a prominent private banking house, he was from 1845 to 1868 a leading spirit in financial circles, and did much to give Cleveland that high repute for integrity and business honor she has so well maintained. Mr. Otis was descended from a family that has for many years held an honorable position in America. John Otis, the earliest ancestor of whom trace can be discovered, was born in Barnstable, Devonshire, England, in 1581, and came to Hingham, New England, in 1635. Among his descendants was James Otis, the great orator and patriot of Massachusetts, of whom it has been said that he, perhaps, did more than any other man of his time "to place colonial resistance upon its true ground before the III. world, namely, the rights of Englishmen under the British constitution as declared in the great instruments of English freedom from magna charta 'down." The subject of this sketch was a direct descendant of this great patriot and brilliant man. Himself of New England birth, he combined with high moral character and a natural honesty, the elements of courage, industry and business sense, so necessary in making headway in a new and undeveloped land. Equipped with such advantages as were given to the New England youth of those days, he left home in 1818, on foot, to seek a location and to make himself a future in the west. He was ready and willing to enter any useful and honorable occupation that should command the service. of his hands or head, and accordingly. on reaching Pittsburgh, then the gateway to the west, he went to work in an iron foundry at Johnston, in the Alleghany mountains. He began in the simplest forms of the business, but did so well whatever he undertook that he was soon promoted to the higher grades of labor, and was paid what was a generous salary in those times. He remained there for over two years, leaving his savings in the hands of the firm. The failure of the company at the end of the time specified above not only deprived him of a situation, but swept away all his hard-earned savings. The blow was a severe one, and yet the time was by no means lost, as the knowledge he had gained of the iron business was of great aid to him in after years, when he started one of the first iron-making establishments of Cleveland, and did much for the upbuilding of that great industry in this city. Mr. Otis decided to make his second trial at some point further west, and accordingly proceeded to Bloomfield, Trumbull county, where he formed the acquaintance of Ephraim Brown, one of the chief owners of the place. In 1816 Mr. Brown had brought a stock of goods from Boston, and opened a store in the pioneer village. When the young man fresh from the labor of the iron mill, strong physically, with a pleasant address, and full of self-reliance, formed the acquaintance of the merchant, the latter was so taken with him that he persuaded him to remain and try his fortune at that point. The result was that Mr. Otis obtained an interest in the store, and thus became the second merchant of that township. He worked with a steady purpose and will, and while winning his way to material success, also gained the good will and confidence of all the people of that section. As a picture of his life and varied duties in those days, I quote the following, written only a short time after Mr. Otis' death, by one who knew him well -giving as it does, at the same time, some idea of the commercial methods of those days: His physical constitution was equal to the labors of a new country, which had nothing to recommend it but a rich soil, and which required above all things perseverance and hard work. He cleared land, furnished the settlers with goods, for which they paid in ashes or wheat, and kept a comfortable tavern for the accommodation of travelers. The ashes were manufactured by himself into "black salts," or impure potash, more often styled "pots," which was the only strictly cash article in the country. It was necessary to haul the casks of potash to the mouth of the Beaver river, or to Pittsburgh, from whence they drifted on flat-boats down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, and from thence were shipped to New York. Much of the teaming he did himself. The "pots" were exchanged at Pittsburgh for goods, or if shipped, furnished a credit for the purchaser, with which his wagon was loaded on the return to Bloomfield. Currency did not in those days enter into the course of trade, because there was barely enough of it in the country to pay taxes. Mr. Otis was frequently obliged to furnish his customers with cash for this purpose. When the Erie canal was finished to Buffalo, the wheat of the settlers on the Reserve for the first time beacme a cash article. They had an abundance of grain which they were glad to dispose of at twenty-five cents a bushel, payable principally in goods. The canal furnished a better outlet for potash than the river. While engaged in these labors, Mr. Otis decided to venture a consignment of flour to New York, a thing not then attempted from the Reserve. He had his own barrels made from the oak direct, bought his grain and had it ground in a grist-mill near by, and then hauled his flour through the mud to Ashtabula creek, thirty-five miles distant. It was then loaded aboard a schooner, on which Mr. Otis also took passage. At Buffalo the cargo was transferred to the canal, and from thence onward to New York. The merchants of that city were surprised and pleased, as they thus saw the possibilities of a new wheat region opened up on the |