this article with the complete files of the Philanthropist before him.

The writer obtained and examined almost complete file of Bate's Philanthropist and Lundy's Genius.

Earle's Life of Benjamin Lundy, compiled from Lundy's letters to his friends and from his publications, is the best source of information concerning the life and work of the editor of the Genius.

James G. Birney and His Times contains (in appendix) useful information concerning Osborn's and Lundy's attempts to establish anti-slavery papers. The writer's aim was to prove that Lundy and not Garrison was the founder of Abolitionism in the United States.

Benjamin Lundy, the Founder of Abolitionism is the title of a paper by William C. Armstrong read October 21, 1897, before the Historical Club, Rutgers College, New Jersey.

Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, the History of Ohio, by Randall and Ryan,1 and the county histories1 give a few facts concerning Lundy but almost nothing concerning the other two editors.

In the Reminiscences of Levi Coffin are to be found interesting facts concerning the abolition movement in Ohio at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and in the Liberty and Free Soil Parties, by T. C. Smith, are to be found some brief references to the early anti-slavery press.

Ohio State Library, Columbus, O.

By William Birney, son of James G. Birney.

Ohio State Library, Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State Library, Columbus, Ohio.

Library of the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society.

OHIO STATE ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

BY THE EDITOR

THOMAS BARTLEY,

ACTING GOVERNOR AND JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO.

Singular though it may seem, the biographies of Judge Bartley that have appeared from time to time in Ohio publications are without exception incomplete. Beyond the record of the fact that he served a short time as governor to fill out the unexpired term of Wilson Shannon who had been a ppointed minister to Mexico, and had served two terms on the Supreme Bench of Ohio, these sketches contain practically no information in regard to the life of this eminent jurist. An extended search recently for the date of the death of Judge Bartley led to the discovery that a biography of him satisfactory in every particular except one has been found in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 40, pages 119-120. Through some oversight unexplained, this sketch fails to mention Judge Bartley's service as a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He was elected to this position in 1851 and served continuously until 1859, rendering on the bench his most distinguished service to the state of Ohio. The sketch in the Register is as follows:

*

Judge Thomas Wells Bartley, of Washington, D. C., * was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, Feb. 11, 1812, and died in Washington, D. C., June 20, 1885, aged 73.

"His father was Hon. Mordecai Bartley, of Mansfield, Ohio, who was born in Fayette County, Pa., Sept. 8, 1787, and his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wells, of Brownsville, Fayette County, Pa. She was born in 1789. They were united in marriage in 1806. His grandfather Elijah was born in Virginia in 1753, and married Rachel Pearshall. After marriage they removed from Loudoun County, Va., to Fayette County, Pa., where all their children were born. The earlier ancestors of this Bartley family (spelled also Barklay and Barclay) lived in Virginia from the early colonial days.

"Mordecai Bartley was a prominent man in Ohio. He was a military officer in the war of 1812, was member of Congress eight years, from 1823 to 1831, and was governor of the state two years, 1844-46.

"The subject of this sketch, after his boyhood days were passed, was fitted for college, and was graduated at Jefferson College, Pa., in 1829, and received the degree of A. M. in 1833. After studying law one year with Hon. Jacob Parker, of Mansfield, and one year with Elijah Hayward, Esq., of Washington, D. C., he was admitted to practice in all the judicial courts of Ohio in 1833. He soon became a public man, serving in the Ohio General Assembly and in the Senate. As speaker of the Senate, he became, in 1844, ex-officio governor of the state, and in December of that year was succeeded by his own father, who had just been elected governor.

"He was united in marriage, October 5, 1837, with Julia Maria, daughter of William Larwill, of Wooster, Ohio. She was born March 30, 1818, and died March 1, 1847. He married again, November 7, 1848, Susan Sherman, daughter of Hon. Charles R. Sherman, Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. She was a sister of Senator John and General William T. Sherman. By his first marriage he had four children, and by his second two.

"Judge Bartley was a man eminent for his legal learning and his great power of thought. Some of his decisions occupy a high place in the estimate of his brethren of the legal profession. He was a member of the Jackson Democratic Association in Washington, and the resolutions passed by that body, after his death, are very strong in their testimony to his ability and worth of character. The last words of Judge Bartley, as reported to us by one of his friends, were these: 'I have done my duty to my country, to my countrymen, to my children, to all. The world, the material world, I am going out of it. But there is a spiritual world we cannot see with our material senses.' He had lifted himself upon his elbow to utter these words, when he dropped back upon his pillow and died.

OTHNIEL LOOKER

For many years the biographies that have appeared from time to time of Governor Othniel Looker have been far from satisfactory. The text of the sketch which has appeared in many publications is reproduced in the note below.* As will be seen, it is incorrect in almost every particular. The editor recently learned that Governor Looker died in the village of Palestine, Illinois. A very obliging correspondent was found in the person of Mrs. Manford E. Cox of Robinson, Illinois. Through her assistance data has been gathered for a satisfactory biographical sketch. An interesting and helpful letter has also been received from Mrs. Angeline Alexander, a great-granddaughter of Governor Looker who lives in Palestine, Illinois. Among the papers and letters furnished is a copy of the Palestine Weekly Register of February 13, 1919, containing a sketch compiled by A. D. Gogin. This sketch in the main has been found correct. A mistake was made in regard to the service of Governor Looker in the New York Assembly. This has been corrected by informttion furnished through the Legislative Reference Section of the New York State Library. Following are

*"Othniel Looker was born in the State of New York, of humble parentage, in 1757. He enlisted as a private in the Revolutionary Army; serving through the war. In 1784, having received a grant of land in the wilderness of the Northwest, he crossed the Alleghenies, and locating his grant, built his cabin, and commenced ris life labor as a hard working farmer. He devoted himself strictly to the business of a farmer, and on the organization of the state was elected a member of the Legislature. Here he availed himself of the advantages such a school afforded, and so rose in public esteem as to be sent to the Senate. He became Speaker of that body, and when Governor Meigs resigned the Governorship in 1814, he became the fourth Governor of Ohio. He served but eight months, returning to his farm, respected by all as a man of clear mind, much intelligence and peaceful disposition. Strange to say, no records are available to make a more satisfactory sketch. He died unmarried."

the facts in regard to the life history of Governor Looker:

Othniel Looker was born at Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey, October 4, 1757. He died at Palestine, Illinois, August 29, 1864.*

In 1777 at the age of twenty years he volunteered in the New Jersey militia, Obadiah Kitchel's company, Colonel Martin's regiment, and served through the Revolutionary War. His services as a soldier, it is asserted by those associated with him, developed the high qualities that later gained him the confidence of his fellowmen. In his long and useful life he was "guilty of no act which tarnished the high reputation thus early acquired."

After the close of the war, he, in 1782, moved to New York where he became a member of the Assembly of that state in 1803 and 1804, serving in the twentysitxh and twenty-seventh sessions of that body as representative from Saratoga County.

In 1804 he moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, which he served in the House of Representatives from 18071809. He was a member of the state Senate from 1810 to 1811 and again from 1813 to 1816. He was speaker of the Senate when Governor Meigs resigned in 1814 and thereupon became acting governor, a position which he filled from March 24, 1814, to December 8 of that year. At the conclusion of his service he returned to his farm in Harrison Township, Hamilton County. He was afterwards Associate Judge for seven years.

*This is the date on his tombstone at Palestine, Illinois. Strange to say, however, the Cincinnati Gazette of July 31, 1845, contains an obituary notice with the statement that Governor Looker died July 23, 1845. This difference of dates is yet to be reconciled.