The K. K. K.'s In Marietta!

 The Marietta Register, November 16, 1871

Fearful Doings - A Citizen Attacked - One of the Klan loses some Blood at the hands of another.

The K. K. K.'s have at length made their appearance in Marietta. No need of being startled, reader. Ours is not the much-feared Ku Klux Klan that spread such terror in the South. Our Klan would never attempt to harm anybody, except in case they could strike at a fearful disadvantage to the party they would attempt to injure.

Ours is known as the Kiss-me-Katy Klan - is of very recent origin - and thus far embraces only two members.

These two, within the past week issued an infamous card against one of our citizens and his household. On being interviewed in regard to the slander, they flew into a passion, showed fight two to one, and actually assailed one of our citizens with bricks! 

The older member of the Klan, being a little more courageous than the other, pressed the citizen a little too closely and was promptly floored on the pavement. The other member of the Klan, standing at a safe distance, bravely exclaimed: "Let us go into him, father!" But the old man was powerless to "go in," being held firmly in close contact with the pavement.

The son, to relieve the father, came forward, striking frantically with a brick, and in his wild rage made a mislick, striking his father a violent blow in the forehead and laying him out so effectually that the melee came to an abrupt end. Blood flowed profusely, and the sight of this chilled the courage of the unhurt member of the Klan, who had pressing business down town in search of a physician.

A burly magistrate appeared on the ground just in the "niche of time," and order was restored, and the wounded cared for. All is peace now on Second Street, above Scammel, but the battle ground will ever remain a memorable spot - to the Klan.

Seriously, is it not time that this business of slandering citizens, which the Kiss-me-Katy Klan have so long indulged in from their safe lodge in the third story of a building should be stopped by the Klan, or otherwise? We submit this question to a long-suffering community.

A Circumcision

The Marietta Daily Times, Monday April 10, 1905

The Ceremony Performed In Local Hebrew Family.

The home of Mr. Wulf Beren [Wolfe Beren], at No. 121 Fourth Street, was the scene this morning of ceremonies which accompany the circumcision of a newly born son in a Jewish family.

Rev. Perleman of Hart Street officiated at the ceremonies, after which a sumptuous feast was enjoyed by about thirty-five Hebrews, besides some ten others of the neighborhood. Everything that one could desire was spread before them.

Henry [Israel Henry Beren] was the name given the new member of the large Beren Family.

Disorderly House

The Marietta Daily Times, Monday, April 10, 1905

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Smith and Mrs. Hattie Martin, who live together at the former's home in the upper end of the city, were placed under arrest Saturday afternoon and are now in the county jail.

For several years complaint has been made by people living in their neighborhood that the women, who were the Tucker sisters before their names were changed by marriage, were conducting a disorderly house. On that charge the prisoners were arraigned this morning. All three of them plead not guilty and they were locked up to await a hearing Wednesday morning at 8:30 o'clock.

A large number of witnesses for the prosecution and several for the defense will be subpoenaed.

Smith made a statement in court this morning protesting his innocence and that of his wife and declaring that they are being persecuted and tormented by the people of their neighborhood.

"Over the Hill to the Poor House"

The Marietta Times, Thursday, January 20, 1881

A  Day Among the Inmates.

Dilapidated condition of the Buildings, &c.

"Rattle his bones, over the stones,

Only a pauper, whom nobody owns."

Last Thursday morning, on invitation of Director John Strecker, Jr., the writer, in company with J. W. Fitch, Esq., of the Register, passed the day among the paupers at our county Infirmary. The journey to and from the institution was made in Mr. Strecker's sleigh, to which was harnessed his fast nag, which skimmed over the crisp snow and landed us at the institution in short order. 

It would be difficult to describe one's feelings as he enters the wooden archway which spans the main entrance. Only those who have experienced that pleasant grave-yard feeling on entering institutions of this kind can appreciate it. We found everything pertaining to the management of the Infirmary in apple-pie order. Mr. and Mrs. Willis, the Superintendent and Matron, having had years of experience in conducting institutions like this, everything necessarily moved with clock-like precision.

After thawing out before the large fire in the sitting room, which was very comfortable after our ride, and would have been much more enjoyable had we known just when the loose plastering overhead was going to fall, we started on a tour of inspection headed by Mr. Strecker, with the following result.

The Main Building,

which is used as living rooms by the superintendent and employees, was built some fifty years ago. It is a frame structure two stories high and far advanced in rottenness and decay. The roof is leaky, while the ceilings in every room are literally falling to the floor, and a vault-like smell prevailed throughout that strongly reminded one of subterranean abodes. The floors are rotten and rickety and the greatest care was necessary as we picked our way through the rooms to avoid an accident. 

In the parlor, the fire-place had secured a divorce from the balance of the building and was slowly but surely leaving it; a fire in the grate we were told was impossible on account of the smoke which crawled through from the thousand and one cracks and crevices. How a family raised and nurtured in the midst of home comforts could stay for any length of time in this old death trap was a mystery which I could not understand.

A visit to the cellar disclosed the fact that the building was kept perpendicular by a series of props placed so close together as to render navigation extremely dangerous in the dark. Light shone through here and there from innumerable cracks and gaps made by the settling of the building. During the cold weather a few days back, everything in the cellar and house was frozen through, even a bucket of water before the fire in the Superintendent's sleeping room being frozen to the depth of several inches. 

The sash in the building are rendered useless by age, and even putty refuses to associate with the decayed old frame, hence the greatest of care must be exercised in placing the glass in position or left out altogether. How in the name of humanity the officers of the institution are expected to survive in this mildewed, rotten old hulk is more than our philosophy could explain. 

In a little 8x10 room adjoining the main building we found three old ladies whose combined ages reached 260 years, all helpless, huddled together in this illy-ventilated pen with scarcely room to move about. In the next room, without fire of any kind, was two beds, but only one was occupied by an old lady; still farther along in the same building we find a larger room occupied by five old men whose combined ages are 407 years, among them John Springer, who is now in his 111th year. These folks were comfortably fixed, having a stove in the room and plenty of space for exercise, but the lack of ventilation was evident and the same old peppery smell noticeable elsewhere was found here. Leaving the main building we enter a

Low, Squatty Brick Building,

which contains six little rooms or cells, all of which are heated by a stove in the hall. The inmates of this building are quite a study. An old negro, 82 years old, crazy as a loon, sits by a stove and preaches while another, a born idiot, with unmeaning eyes, stares at the floor.

Here in one room is an old Lutheran minister, scrupulously clean and neat, unable to speak a word of English - a pauper - we thought as we looked at the dejected and care-worn countenance of the old man that there must be a screw loose in the religious society that would allow a man to spend the best years of his life in their service and when old and helpless turn him over to the tender mercies of a county infirmary among idiots and half-wits. Another building adjoining this contained several old men and women, most of them in their dotage. Everything was clean and tidy, but all complained of the cold; their bed rooms were heated by a stove in the hall. 

From this building we follow a plank walk and come to what is called the new jail building which is two-story high, and the only decent building on the grounds. The lower story is occupied by idiots, one particular sad case being a little girl who is confined by a leather strap around her waist. Upstairs we found ten old men, most of them in bed; all of them complained of the cold. The same sickening smell was noticeable here as elsewhere. From this building we cross the yard, pass the kitchens, and reach the 

Old Jail Building,

a 2-1/2 story brick, which is fast crumbling away. The corners have dropped out, and the yawning gaps are filled with rags to keep out the biting cold. This building is the most wretched and squalid of any we have yet examined. The inmates pay no attention as we enter; they are mostly idiots, and long imprisonment in this loathsome place, crawling with vermin, has in a manner blunted what little sensibility they had left.

Of the 78 inmates now provided for, nearly two-thirds are too old and feeble to help themselves or leave their rooms.

We thought as we looked upon the misery huddled together in this putrid atmosphere, can it be possible that in a civilized community where plenty is found in almost every household, and want is comparatively unknown, that this is what we call charity? Can it be possible that you, the tax-payers of Washington County, that while you enjoy the peace and comfort of your cozy firesides, you are aware that out in the Infirmary are scores of helpless men, women, and children suffering and dying for want of proper accommodations, living in buildings in which no tender-hearted tax-payer would quarter his dumb animals? Shame on the economy that tramples the life out of our worthy poor. Shame on the economy that places human beings on a level with brutes.

Think of it my friend while you sit in ease and comfort in the midst of your family. The day may not be far distant when adversity and sickness may overtake you and yours, and as a last refuge you may have to enter the Washington County Poor House - poor in more than name. Think of these things and then enter your vigorous protest against such monstrous inhumanity now and forever more. Give the pauper at least a decent shelter in which to eke out the few remaining days of his life.

Pen fails to describe the utter helplessness of  these poor people. But for the vigilant care of Mr. and Mrs. Willis during the late cold snap, the news would have gone out to the world "that quite a number of paupers had perished from the cold in the Washington County Poor House" and yet at one time in their lives these people were just as much respected as any of today.

We learned that it required about 200 cords of wood and 3600 bushels of coal to keep the institution comfortable. The barns, pig-pens, cattle sheds and outhouses generally are in splendid condition, the dumb brutes receiving far better shelter than the poor humans. The buildings as they stand today are a disgrace to every tax-payer in the county, and efforts should be made at once to secure new ones.

The Directors and Officers

do all in their power to make the inmates comfortable, but comfort in such houses is nearly impossible. We watched the poor creatures eat their dinner, after which, sick at heart, and sorry that we had made the trip, we returned home, thankful that Providence had given us health and strength, and that we were not an inmate of the Washington County Poor House.

  

"Fourth"

Marietta Daily Leader, July 6, 1898

Picnics and Excursions On All Railroads and Boats.

Everywhere the Report of Patriotic Gun, Pistol and Cracker Rent the Air.

The Day Born, was Not Without Its Sad Accidents, and We are Called Upon to Report Death, Whose Sting Will Last forever, and Injury, Whose Hurt Will Last a Lifetime.

Old King Sol rose bright and early Monday morning and July 4th, 1898, was born. Not, however, without its casualties. A light shower about seven o'clock cooled the scorching rays of the sun and the day started off one of patriotism and pleasure. Daylight found many a young patriotic boy on the street with cap and pistol, doing honor to Uncle Sam's birthday.

The day was a fitting one to celebrate. One hundred and twenty-two years ago last Monday was United States declared herself to be a free and independent country. Today we are in the midst of a war with Spain, fighting for the freedom and independence of the poor, half-starved, imposed upon people of Cuba.

In the midst of shot and shell at Santiago de Cuba, aboard the men-of-war in the harbors and on the high seas, amid the noise of paper cap and pistol along the streets of the cities, in the fields, the valleys and on the hill tops, in fact everywhere that the stars and stripes float, the American people are with one accord. All hail Columbia! The land of the free.

Early in the day excursions began to arrive on the different railroads and boats. The T. & O. C. E. brought in about 800 people, the B. & O. S. W. 300, the Z. & O. 200, the C. & M. 345, the Ohio River 150. The steamer Barnsdall brought down about 50, Oneida 100, and the Sonoma about 100. The streets in the early morning were crowded with people, some with baskets, some without, all going according to their various desires, to the different places of amusements, all with one thought, a bright and pleasant holiday, one of rest and vacation.

Trades and Labor Picnic

Promptly at seven o'clock the steamer William Duffy left the wharf boat with the first load of picnicers for the Buckeye-Eureka Park at the head of the island, where the Trads and Labor Council of Marietta gave a large picnic.

The steamer Ollie Neville, the ferry boat at New Martinsville, had also been chartered to assist the Duffy in getting the large crowd to the picnic. The boats, alternating, left the wharf about once an hour, making it possible to catch a boat about every half hour.

Everything possible was done by the members of the order to make this a gala day long to be remembered. How well they carried out their part we all know. Refreshments of all kinds, swings, hammocks and amusements galore were to be found on the island.

Schlicher's full reed band led the procession early in the morning to the boat. The orchestra accompanied them to the picnic and furnished music for the dance loving people throughout the day and evening.

About 3,000 people enjoyed the day at the island and late in the evening returned to their homes, reporting a good time.

German M. E. Sunday School

The members of the German M. E. church and their families left at ten o'clock on the steamer Sonoma for Bartlett's Grove, where they put in the entire day. About 100 enjoyed the picnic and all report a very pleasant day spent in the beautiful woods at Bartlett's. Nothing happened to mar the pleasure of the day and all returned late in the afternoon, a happy crowd.

Colored Knights of Pythias

The Colored Knights of Pythias, Marietta Lodge, held a large picnic at Fountain Park on the T. & O. C. E. R. R. to which was invited a large number from Parkersburg, Belpre, Rainbow and from different points along the T. & O. C. E. The Marietta train left at 7:00 and by 10 o'clock the grounds were packed. About 1,500 people were present. Sports of all kinds were indulged in. Th wheelbarrow race was won by Charles Strawder, bicycle race by Otto Singer. No one was able to reach the top of the greased pole.

Band Wagon Picnic

The Misses Dye, Curtis, Cooke, James Clerc, Smith, Grafton, Leeper, and Messrs. Torpy, Hutchison, McClure, Reed, Harper, Leeper, Payne, and Bay, chaperoned by Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Reeser, enjoyed a bandwagon picnic at Devols Dam Monday, where they took supper and returned late in the evening. 

The Misses Florence Dye, Mary Brigham and Mr. J. Herbert West and Mr. Will Brigham drove up the Ohio and took supper for their Fourth of July.

The Misses Helen Chamberlain and Minnie Leeper and Mr. Walter Sniffen and Eugene Minshall took their Fourth of July supper up the Muskingum River.

Several families drove to the different parts of the country and enjoyed either their dinner or supper.

The Races

The races at the Fair Grounds were not a success either for speed or in a financial way. The crowd was small and but little interest was taken. Rather than disappoint the few people that attended, the owners of the horses gave a free blow-out. They gave two races, both mixed, in which the following horses entered:

    Spanish Boy, owned by F. B. Biszantz

    Elmer D., owned by Robert Gates

    Oudan, owned by Ellenwood & Smith

    A gray from Parkersburg 

 

Spanish Boy won in three straight heats in 2:25, 2:24-1/2; 2:28. In the second race were Billy H., owned by Kelly; Walter B., owned by Curry & Holdren; and a bay mare. Race won by Walter B. in 2:35.

Business in the city was generally suspended. In the evening from all parts of the city could be seen displays of fire works of all kinds. The heavens were bright with skyrockets and roman candles. A large number of balloons were also sent up.

At the St. Cloud Hotel, a large crowd of people, men, women and children, gathered to witness the display there.

The Chinamen on Butler Street also had a patriotic turn of mind and lent a hand in celebrating the day.

Casualties of the Day

The steamer William Duffy had the misfortune to break a hog-chain in the morning on her first trip up. The damage was quickly repaired, however, and the boat continued on its way.

The Ollie Neville Ashore

The Ollie Neville, the New Martinsville ferryboat, after landing a large party of picnicers at the head of the island and had started back to the city with about twenty-five passengers, in attempting to make a landing at Buell's, ran on a rock and tore a hole in her hull. The Duffy happened near and put her pumps at work. The water was soon pumped out and the hole stopped up without serious damage.

Burnt By a Fire Cracker

Charlie, the seven-year-old son of Mrs. Charles Loomis, Third Street, while shooting fire crackers was badly burned on the hand. It is a painful, though not dangerous, wound.

Hurt By a Torpedo

James Ancell, while on his way to Marietta from Parkersburg, was hit on the arm by a torpedo thrown by some unknown person. His arm was badly lacerated and his nose cut. It was a very painful accident and will keep him from his work for some time.

Foot Badly Hurt

Mrs. Charles Frantz, 117 Fourth Street, while standing across the street from the St. Cloud hotel watching the display of fire works, was hit on the foot by a skyrocket, which had broken and flew across the street, part of it going through the plate glass window of Charles Peddinghaus' and the other hitting Mrs. Franz on the foot. The foot is badly cut, but will result in nothing serious. 

William King was slightly hurt by a roman candle.

We have heard of no other accidents. Drunkenness on the streets was conspicuous by its absence. There was no lawless ness and everybody seemed to carry themselves in good form.