Thomas Porter

Marietta Register (Tri-Weekly), September 18, 1890

Shameful Treatment of an Old Man, a Pioneer of This County.

The Sunday Capital of Columbus has the following pitiable story about an old resident of Marietta:

On Tuesday there was released from the City Prison a patriarchal looking old gentleman, ninety years of age, named Thomas Porter [1800-1891, son of Amos Porter, one of Marietta's first 48 pioneers]. He had been locked up since the previous Friday night. The old man had committed no crime, but had simply been received for safe-keeping, and was taken away in charge of his granddaughter, Mrs. Congdon [Hettie Congdon Nussel, daughter of Buell Congdon] of Montgomery Street, who came to his rescue as soon as she learned of his imprisonment.

The old man, in spite of his years, except for a deficit in hearing and sight, appears to be in possession of his faculties. The story he and his granddaughter told a Capital representative was truly heartrending and furnishes an example of cruelty almost past belief.

Mr. Porter stated that he had been living in Columbus for some five years past, having come here with his daughter [May D. Smith, also called Mary] and her husband, Mr. John Smith [John Ezra Smith], who is a carpenter and has charge of a gang of men at the Panhandle shops. His daughter and her husband had previously lived with him [1870 and 1880 census in Belpre, Washington County, Ohio], in fact they had always been together since her marriage, some sixteen years before [Wood County, WV, 12 Oct 1873] . 

The old gentleman was worth some property at the time, the proceeds of which afterwards going to the son-in-law and his family, it being the tacit understanding that they were to care for him the rest of his days, in return for which they were to receive all he had. Mr. Porter says he had never been an idle man and up until a short time ago contributed his full share and even more to their joint support and never refusing them money out of his past savings when they needed it.

Some time ago he states they bought a lot in partnership at 393 Denmead Avenue, he paying $320 and Smith $180. The latter he claimed had the deed made out in his own name. Finally the old gentleman becoming too feeble to work except to tend his garden, in which he took great pride, and Smith having possession of all his money, as he and the granddaughter state, they began to grow tired of him and to mistreat him in many ways, feeding him refuse crusts and giving him to understand that he was a burden upon them. The old man said, "I have sometimes been compelled to satisfy my hunger by taking broken victuals from the slop fed to the cow and have taken the bones fed to the dog and cut the meat off of them."

The climax was reached some ten days ago when Smith's son [Don Carlos Smith] took the garden hose and began to despoil some of his grandfather's vegetables. The latter protested and young Smith turned the hose upon the old man. A bitter altercation ensued between the two when the boy's father interfered in his son's behalf. A scuffle ensued in which all three took part, and Mr. Porter says that in the melee he was thrown against a fence and his arm badly hurt. That member, as show to the reporter, was a mass of scabs on one side from the wrist to the elbow.

The old gentleman was thereupon refused admission to the house, and he spent a number of nights in the cow shed, sleeping on some old chests and subsisting as best he might. Friday night Smith had him taken to the station house for safekeeping, stating to the officer that he was out of his mind and was liable to wander away. He remained there without knowing the cause of his arrest, helpless and without any knowledge as to when he would be relieved until his granddaughter accidentally heard of it by the merest accident.

That lady was very much incensed at the treatment given her aged relative. She said they were trying to get the old man in the poor house, but that he should not go as she would care for him. He has a married daughter in Marietta who is well-to-do. She was as yet ignorant of the affair, but would make a home for him when she learned of the situation.

Mr. Porter is a man of excellent character, a member of the Methodist church of many years standing and enjoys the distinction of being the oldest temperance man in the country, having helped to organize a total abstinence society in Washington County, this state, which anti-dated the famous Washingtonian movement into which it was finally merged. The question of priority was disputed by a Massachusetts society, but was finally settled in favor of the Ohio organization. All the members are dead except Mr. Porter.

Suit is to be brought against Smith for assault and battery, also for the recovery of the old gentleman's interest in the Denmead Avenue property. 

This is the story as related by the old gentleman and his granddaughter.

A reporter called at the Smith residence to ascertain what the man upon whom this cruelty was charged had to say in his defense. Mr. Smith was not at his home, but his wife, upon being interviewed, denied that there had been any assault upon Porter. On the contrary, she stated they had always treated him kindly and had cared for him without compensation for a number of years. She said that he lost about all the little property he possessed in the Ohio River flood of 1884, while they were living in Marietta, having but $300 left. She furthermore said that she was not his daughter, but his granddaughter. She said the old man was childish and would not remain with them, often wandering away, and that he was locked up for safe-keeping upon advice of the mayor and police. He was welcome to a home with them, she stated, whenever he would return. It was learned that the daughter referred to, Mrs. Cox [Harriet Porter Cox, wife of Joseph], is in the city and will probably take the old gentleman home to live with her.

*  *  *  *  *

 See also:

http://historicalmarietta.blogspot.com/2007/03/thomas-porter.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17612630


 

 

 

 

Farmerettes Real Thing - Go to Work at 5:30 in Morning and Earn 85 Cents Per Day

Marietta Daily Times, August 13, 1918

"Farmerettes are a reality and not an experiment," H. G. Chamberlain of Muskingum Road told Mrs. George H. Matson Tuesday morning as she and her two daughters left for their home at Columbus. Mrs. Matson is the chaperone of the Dorothy Dawes farmerettes unit of Columbus, which has been working this summer on various farms up the Muskingum.

Here is Mrs. Matson's story:  "My two daughters, Ethel and Louise, were not even allowed to touch the lawn mower to cut the grass on our small lawn in Columbus, but when the farmerette question was raised, since it was a patriotic move, all were in favor of it.

"Miss Dawes and her family are friends of ours and we came to Marietta and to the truck farms. There were about 12 of the girls all together. They began working on June 24."

Mrs. Matson went on to explain that the girls each received 85 cents per day which went toward paying railroad fares. An additional small amount was received for lunches and board.

"The girls were in the field at 5:30 in the morning" said Mrs. Matson, "and quit work at 2:30 in the afternoon. Twenty minutes was allowed for lunch. At 8:30 all lights were ordered out and suitors were required to leave for their houses."

"I picked 4,000 pounds of tomatoes each day I worked in the patch," said Miss Louise Matson, pretty and sun-burned. "And one day," she added, "I helped pitch straw."

"And we worked in the morning dew until our overalls were soaked with water and people said we would have colds," said Miss Ethel. "But we just kept on," she continued, "and paid no attention, but just worked."

The girls who have been working at the truck farms are nearly all students of the Ohio State University. Some were from the Smith College, Lake Erie College, Bangs Whiton School, and National Park Seminary.

There are still two girls employed on the farms, one from this city and one from Indiana. The latter is working until she has gotten together enough money to return to her home. She is also a student of the Ohio State University.

 

Reminiscences of Slavery

The Marietta Register, March 29, 1894

A writer has said that "Volumes filled with hair-breadth escapes, thrilling adventures and heroic deeds might be written concerning runaway slaves. Humanity and letters have both suffered loss for lack of a pen adequately to record the feats of noble daring achieved by the African in pursuit of freedom. All things considered, there is nothing in our revolutionary annals that surpasses such heroism. Our fathers sought liberty in company. They fought an enemy three thousand miles distant. The solitary fugitive sought freedom with an empire for his foe and himself in its midst. The very attempt has in it all the elements of the great and sublime.

I am indebted to Mr. Kean of Macksburg for the particulars of the following narrative. I shall mention no names, as the parties, or some of them, are still alive and it was known to but few until after the war.

A man whom I shall call Mr. B. lived four miles south of Stafford. While at work upon his farm, he saw a colored man running toward him, but who did not see Mr. B. until he had come within a few steps of him. The colored man was carrying a fine gun. He told Mr. B. that he was a runaway slave, that he had crossed the Ohio River near Newport the night before, that he had traveled without a guide and without food or rest, and that he was pursued by men who had been pressed into service and that his owner, or the man who had purchased him from his master, was urging on the pursuers.

He told B. that the rifle he carried was the property of his former master, that when he learned that he had been sold to a trader, he took the rifle and succeeded in making his escape. He was discovered crossing the river in a skiff that he found tied to the willows. Since he landed upon the Ohio side he had been so closely pressed that he could not stop for a moment. He offered B. his gun if he would direct him as to the best route to take to elude his pursuers. B. directed him in the direction of Summerfield and advised him to follow through large tracts of woodland and avoid certain houses, the homes of men who were not friendly to his race.

The slave took to the woods and was scarcely out of sight before two of B.'s neighbors came on the hunt, telling B. that the man who captured the runaway was to get ten dollars reward. B. was ready to join in the pursuit. He suggested that they each take a different direction, reserving for himself the one taken by the slave. He knew if the slave followed the woods as directed, he could cut him off at a certain point, which he could reach by traveling over much smoother ground. 

When B. reached the place he waited but a few minutes and the slave came to him, as he was hid behind a tree. The gun was pointed at him and he commanded him to follow or be shot. The slave told him to shoot if he wished, as he could not take him alive. Before B. was aware of it, his prize had bounded away and was lost to sight.

The fugitive losing sight of B., changed his course and hid in a brush fence. He remained there until dark. After lying upon the cold ground, he became so stiff that he could not walk He worked his way to a house in which he saw a light. Nothing was left him now but power to plead for help. This power he used so effectually that he secured the sympathy of the man who was known as a most ultra pro-slavery man. The part of the story which affected him most was that of the treachery of B. He told the slave that he should have his help. He assisted him to his barn, covered him over well with hay and told him to remain there until his return. 

This man had promised the use of his horse to a neighbor to go to Barnesville. He was to start before daylight and was to return the next day with a friend. Our man lost no time in seeing his friend and telling him of the meanness of B. and proposed to him that if they saw the slave they would assist him to escape. Having secured this promise, he told the story of the slave and arranged plans for his neighbor to start at midnight and take the slave as far as he could toward Guinea.

Years after, those men would tell to their most intimate friends that at midnight one of them was seated upon a very restless horse while the other was down upon his knees rubbing the stiff limbs of a slave until he could stand alone and have use of himself to enable him to ride the horse, saddled ready for his use.  While the horse's hoofs were clattering away, the gate posts, trees and other objects seemed to be whispering "negro thief, woolly-head," such words as those men used when referring to Cleveland, Steele, Hughes, Markey, and others.

The next day the hunt was renewed, but no trace of the runaway could be found.  B. said the ground must have swallowed him. The roads leading from certain houses were watched for several days and nights. The woods and barns were searched. No one but a well known pro-slavery man had been away from the neighborhood. He would not even allow a colored man to be in his company, so he was not suspected. B. could not understand how two men that had not even seen the slave had found out how he came in possession of the gun.

Mr. Tuttle wishes to know the name of my father. His name was Joseph H. Markey. He was a minister of the M. E. church, which he left and joined the Wesleyan Church after its organization. Many fugitives found shelter in our house. The tales of suffering told by those oppressed people deepened the impressions made upon my mind by reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which was published in The National Era.

The friends of slavery asserted that the condition of the colored race was better in slavery than it would be if they were emancipated. I have often heard my father referred to in a way that caused me much trouble. I was often told that while he was preaching, he was violating the laws of the land by breaking the Fugitive Slave Law.

Since I have heard some of the messages sent to him by those fugitives after reaching a land of freedom, and learning the prosperity of many of them, I was then able to understand the words, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in." As Christ promised this blessing to all those "who have done it to one of the least of these His brethren," I know he has been rewarded for all his labors in behalf of the despised race.

M. A. W.
[Mary A. Wolfe?]

 

Look Out for Rogues

Marietta Intelligencer, September 5, 1839

Our town is infested with a gang of thieves who go about seeking what they may lay their hands on and put their feet in.

On Thursday night last, the cellar of Slocomb & Buck's Boot & Shoe Store was broken open and two pair, with six left foot boots were taken. The rascals were probably frightened and decamped before they could select mates for the odd boots. The property was found the next day under a bridge between Messrs. Hall's and Brophy's.

Numerous articles of clothing &c. have been taken from dwelling houses in different parts of the town.