History of Marietta, (Washington County) Ohio United States of America

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Local History Notes:

MARIETTA, a flourishing town, capital of Washington county, Ohio, is beautifully situated on the left (E.) bank of the Muskingum river, at its continence with the Ohio, 62 miles below Wheeling, and 115 miles S.E. from Columbus. The town is regularly laid out on level ground, and in the midst of highly picturesque scenery. Many of the houses are constructed with great neatness, and embellished with fine gardens and ornamental trees. Marietta has the distinction of being the oldest town in the state, having been settled in April, 1788, by a company of New-Englanders, under the command of General R. Putnam. Fort Harmar was built on the opposite bank of the Muskingum in 1786. It is also distinguished by the excellence of its schools. The town contains 7 or 8 churches, 2 public libraries, 2 academies, a branch of the State Bank, and is the seat of Marietta College, founded in 1835. Two newspapers are published trope. The Muskingum is navigable by steam as high as Zanesville, and also affords extensive water-power. A railroad has been commenced, leading from Cincinnati vi? Marietta to Wheeling, &c. A great impetus has been given to the growth of the town during the last 5 or six years, by the establishment of manufactories of various kinds. Population, in 1850, 3175; in 1853, about 4000.

Biographies:

Return Jonathan Meigs, cabinet officer, was born in Middletown, Conn., Nov. 16, 1764; son of Return Jonathan and Joanna (Winborn) Meigs. He was graduated from Yale college in 1785, studied law, and in 1788 he accompanied his father to the lands of the Ohio company and located at Marietta, where he engaged in the practice of law and aided in the formation of the first territorial government. He was a territorial judge in 1802-03; and when the state government was formed, Feb. 19, 1803, he was appointed chief-justice of the supreme court, serving 1803-04. He was brevetted colonel in the U.S. army and commanded the St. Charles district in Louisiana, 1804-06. He was judge of the supreme court of Louisiana, 1805-06, and judge of the U.S. district court of the newly formed territory of Michigan, 1807-08. He was elected governor of Ohio in 1807, but declared ineligible; was elected to the U.S. senate to fill the unexpired term of John Smith, who resigned in 1809, and was re-elected for a full senatorial term, but resigned in 1810, in order to accept the governorship of Ohio, to which he had been a second time elected. He filled the office, 1810-14, and during the war of 1812-15 he aided materially in organizing and recruiting troops and in garrisoning the exposed outposts of Ohio. He was appointed postmaster-general by President Madison in 1814, and re-appointed by President Monroe, serving until December, 1823, when he resigned and withdrew from public life. He was an original corporator of the Columbian college, Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 1821, and a trustee. 1821-24. He married Sophia Wright. He died at Marietta, Ohio, March 29, 1824.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Parker Cutler, representative, was born in Marietta, Ohio, July 12, 1812; son of Ephraim and Sally (Parker) Cutler, and grandson of the Rev. Manasseh Cutler. He attended Ohio university, but owing to ill health was not graduated. He engaged in farming and was elected a representative in the Ohio legislature in 1844, 1845 and 1846, officiating as speaker during the last term. He was a prominent candidate for the nomination by the Whig party for governor in 1848, and was the defeated candidate for representative in the 81st congress the same year. He was elected a member of the state constitutional convention in 1849, declined the nomination for governor in 1850, and was chosen president of the Belpr? and Cincinnati railroad company, known after 1851 as the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad. In 1857 he was elected vice-president and in 1858 president of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. He was a representative in the 37th congress, 1861-63, where he was active in forwarding Ohio volunteers to the front, in providing for soldiers in the field, and in advocating the abolition of slavery as a war measure. He was defeated in the election of 1862 for representative in the 38th congress, and thereafter devoted himself to railroad interests and to developing the coal industries of Ohio. In 1885 he was made a cooperative member and a trustee of the Ohio historical and archaeological society, and was a chief promoter of the centennial celebration of the settlement of Ohio at Marietta, April 7, 1888. Both Marietta college and Ohio university conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1845, and he was a trustee of the former institution, 1849-89, and of the latter, 1849-53. In conjunction with his sister, Julia P. Cutler, he prepared Life, Journals and Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler (1888). He died in Marietta, Ohio, April 11, 1889.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Francis Butler Loomis, diplomatist was born in Marietta, Ohio. July 27, 1861; son of Judge William Butler and Frances (Wheeler) Loomis; grandson of Christopher C. Loomis, of New London, Ct., and a descendant from Joseph Loomis, 1638. He was graduated at Marietta college, Ph.D., 1883, and engaged in journalism in Marietta, 1883-84, and in New York city and Philadelphia, 1884-85. He was state librarian, Columbus, Ohio, 1886-87; a journalist in Washington, D.C., 1887-90; U.S. consul at St. Etienne, France, 1890-93; and editor-in-chief of the Cincinnati Daily Tribune, 1893-97. He was married April 29, 1897, to Elizabeth M. Mast of Springfield, Ohio. He was appointed by President McKinley, U.S. minister to Venezuela, S.A., June 30, 1897, where he protected American interests through several revolutions, commenced negotiations for an extradition treaty, urged a reciprocity convention, and arranged for parcel-post communication. He was promoted to Lisbon, Portugal, June 17, 1901, in recognition of his work.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Eliakim Hastings Moore, educator, was born in Marietta, Ohio, Jan. 26, 1862; son of David Hastings and Julia Sophia (Carpenter) Moore. He attended the Woodward high school at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1883, Ph.D., 1885. He was instructor in mathematics in the preparatory school of Northwestern university, 1886-87; tutor in mathematics at Yale, 1887-89; assistant professor of mathematics at Northwestern university, 1889-91; associate professor, 1891-92; professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, 1892-96, and in 1896 became head of the department. He was married, June 21, 1892, to Martha Morris, daughter of Col. William Henry Young of Columbus, Ohio. He was elected vice-president of the American Mathematical society and co-editor of its transactions in 1899; a member of the American Mathematical society, the London Mathematical society, the Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung, and the Circolo Matematico di Palermo. He became a contributor to leading mathematical journals of Europe and America.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor