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Thursday, July 3, 2025

Rufus Putnam’s Map

     

The Map

CLICK TO ENLARGE
Map drawn by Rufus Putnam showing British forces discovered during his reconnaissance mission north of New York City in October 1776. Map image courtesy of Bill Reynolds, retired historian at Campus Martius Museum.

     Marietta's founder Rufus Putnam was energetic, creative, and persistent. Give him an impossible task and he'd figure out a way to "git 'er done." Early in the Revolutionary War, he served with the rank of Colonel as an engineer. Engineers built structures, fortifications, and roads to support the Army.

     After the Continental Army's disastrous defeat in the Battle of Long Island in late August 1776, Washington skillfully withdrew the Army at night across the East River to lower Manhattan Island. Morale was low; prospects against superior British forces were grim.

     The Army was forced to adopt a new strategy: win by not losing, by surviving. They began a long, fighting retreat, avoided major losses, conserved resources, and lived to fight another day, as the saying goes. The "Retreat to Victory," as historians call it, began with Rufus Putnam's help. Unless noted, quotes (including spelling and punctuation) are from Putnam’s memoir.

     Washington had wanted the Army to remain in New York City on lower Manhattan. He sent Putnam and General Mifflin out  "...to reconnoiter the country between Kingsbridge & Morrisania & eastward (today's Bronx area)..." They reported to Washington and his staff that the Army was in danger of being surrounded and cut off. General Washington ordered a retreat from New York. Putnam: "...this measure was the Selvation of the army," enabled by "the discoveries made by Miflin & my Self."

     The Army then needed a safe area to store supplies and regroup. On October 19, General Washington dispatched Putnam along with Colonel Reed and 20 soldiers to scout areas north of the City. They reached the heights at East Chester but saw little. Colonel Reed had to return to headquarters.

     Putnam continued - alone on horseback. He started towards White Plains where the Army had a large supply depot. He recalls: "I did not then know where White plains was, nor where the road I had taken would carry me." But he figured it out on his own. He disguised himself and learned of British positions by observation and from some friendly local residents. He was cautious but not deterred in his mission; if captured by the British he could have been hung as a spy.

     Enter...the map. Putnam was a skilled surveyor. He made a sketch of the area for Washington showing British units dangerously close to White Plains. Washington was surprised by Putnam’s findings - and frustrated. “He complained very feelingly of the Gentlemen from New York from whome he had never ben able to obtain a plan of the country.” He thought White Plains was a secure area. General Washington immediately ordered troops toward White Plains; they marched through the night. Putnam's observations “and an interposing providence” had saved the Army "...from a probabal total destruction." Putnam was a man of faith, acknowledging God’s  (“Providence”) favor and guidance on numerous occasions during his life.

CLICK TO ENLARGE. Close up of map showing British forces that Putnam learned about, from left to right, Hessian Grenadiers, British Regiments, British guards, 16th and 17th Light Dragoons, and Grenadiers & Light Infantry

     One Army historian: "despite Putnam's lack of (formal) training, the Commander in Chief quickly grew to regard him as his favorite engineer." Washington had appointed Rufus as Chief Engineer just a few months earlier. Putnam recognized the importance of engineers to the Continental Army. He had submitted a detailed plan to create a permanent Corps of Engineers. George Washington sent the plan with his recommendation to Congress, and complimented Putnam, “…he is indefatigable (in his work) and possesses more practicale Knowledge in the Art of Engineering than any other...”

     Rufus Putnam resigned as Chief Engineer in December but accomplished much in other roles during the War. He commanded Massachusetts units at the Battle of Saratoga victory and appears in a U. S. Capitol Rotunda painting of the British surrender, oversaw building of Fort Putnam at West Point, and spent months lobbying the Massachusetts legislature for support of their Army units. He later helped engineer (can’t resist using that term) the creation of the Northwest Territory and settlement of Marietta.

     Special thanks to local historian Bill Reynolds for showing me Putnam’s original map and the story behind it.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Marooned on the Mississippi

    “ ‘Our next misadventure’ came about 11am on December 27, 1935." This was the recollection of Captain E. Clare Carpenter from Meigs County, Ohio. He was then on the crew of the sternwheel towboat ISTHMIAN (try to say it fast) on the Mississippi River. Life on a riverboat could be exhausting, fun, mesmerizing, and dangerous, often all in the same day.

     ISTHMIAN and her crew were on a string of bad luck. A few weeks earlier, a deckhand named Jimmy had fallen overboard and drowned. Next a clicking sound in the sternwheel revealed a crack in the 20 ton steel shaft. They had to call for help. Today, we'd reach for our mobile phone. Then, they had to row a yawl 15 miles, then be driven another 50 miles to Ripley TN - just to find a phone. It took a week to replace the cracked shaft.

     Then came the "next misadventure." They were headed upriver just after a heavy snow. There was ice in the river which was beginning to damage the wooden paddle wheel. Capt. Harry Nichols piloted the boat to some ice-free open water. But the high river level obscured a long sand bar. Carpenter's memoir: "The ISTHMIAN slid gently up on the sand and no one noticed until we stopped."

     Two other boats tried to pull the ISTHMIAN free. No luck. The river had fallen, holding ISTHMIAN even firmer. Lack of flotation put visible stress on the hull. Meanwhile, the temperature fell to 10 degrees and ten inches of snow fell. It was a grim situation.

Towboat ISTHMIAN high and dry near Wolf Island Bar on the Mississippi River in December 1935, copied from Reflector magazine, March 1998. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

     They urgently needed to reduce the weight of the boat to minimize hull stress and make it easier to get free from the sand bar. They crew had to manually offload 100 tons of coal used for fuel. Whew!

     After that they had time to kill. Carpenter: "Well, it can't be all work and disaster,...there has to be some fun, too." They noticed lots of rabbit tracks on the sand bar, using hollow logs as dens. Roasted rabbit meat sounded good; it was a favorite of Clare’s. Once on the towboat G. W. McBRIDE Clare and another crew member went ashore to get water at a farmhouse. They were invited in for breakfast. “No thanks,” they said. But when they heard, “We’re having rabbit,” they changed their mind and sat down to rabbit, biscuits, and gravy. Upon returning to the boat, they caught hell from the captain for holding up the boat while they feasted.

     So, the challenge for the ISTHMIAN crew was how to catch the rabbits. Curtis Morton lived opposite the marooned boat on the Missouri side. He loaned them a shotgun. Meanwhile the clever crew figured out how to snatch the rabbits out of the hollow logs; they never fired the gun once.

     Curtis loved coon hunting and offered to take crew members with him if the weather was good. One frigid night Captain Byrnside suggested they go hunting with Curtis. Clare said, "There won't be a coon out in the whole state of Missouri on a night like this." But they rowed over to Curtis's house anyway. Curtis laughed when they arrived. No way they'd go hunting. Instead they had an enjoyable couple of hours "eating popcorn...and telling tall tales."

          The Corps of Engineers dredge BURGESS started digging through to the boat on December 31. The ISTHMIAN was now 4 feet above water level. Would she capsize sliding down to the water? All crew were taken off. Finally, on January 2, she slid into the water, heeling "so far over her stacks looked like cannons on a battleship," and water washed over her deck. The ISTHMIAN righted herself! No leaks or major damage. Congratulations all around.

     Clare remembered hearing a loud crash on board as the ISTHMIAN heeled over. A large safe on wheels had rolled into a bulkhead. He was relieved the bulkhead had held.  The safe contained an engagement ring he’d bought for Mabel, his wife-to-be.

     January 6, 1936: The ISTHMIAN was back on the river. No more “misadventures.”


OTHER NOTES:

     E. Clare Carpenter (1907-1989) started his time on ISTHMIAN as a coal passer, a tough job shoveling coal into the fire box, like scenes from the Titanic movie. While on the ISTHMIAN, he was promoted to deckhand and later to watchman. He worked on the river for 42 years, the last 32 as pilot and captain. 

     His illustrious career had at least one rough patch; he may have had an “attitude.”Remember the episode on the G. W. McBRIDE when Clare held up the boat while eating breakfast on shore? It may have the beginning of the end for his employment. He later called McBRIDE Captain Otho Jump "an old dough bellied bastard" while conversing with a crew mate. Turns out the captain's son Johnnie had recently joined the crew and happened to overhear the comment. There had been some other friction, too, not all of it Carpenter's fault. He was fired by Captain Jump, given money for transportation home, and left the McBRIDE at Lock 16 on the Ohio River which was located then just east of Marietta at Reno, Ohio. 

     The word ISTHMIAN? It means anything related to an isthmus, a narrow stretch of land connecting two larger land masses. 

     ISTHMIAN is hard to pronounce and spell.  No problem. Her name was changed in 1936 to THOMAS MOSES. The MOSES née ISTHMIAN was owned by Carnegie Steel Company. 

     Local Connection: The W. P. SNYDER JR., moored today at Marietta and originally owned by Carnegie, ran the similar routes as ISTHMIAN. They probably passed each other often on the Monongahela River. Both boats operated until the 1950s when diesel towboats took over.


 


Friday, May 23, 2025

Spring at Fort Harmar

The Fort was built in 1785 on the west bank of the Muskingum River at the Ohio River. It had a pentagonal shape and occupied about 3/4 acre. It was one of several forts built on the upper Ohio River to keep order. Congress planned to sell land in eastern Ohio to new settlers and was having the land surveyed. The soldiers’ mission was to protect surveyors and settlers from Indian attacks and remove squatters living on land they didn’t own. 

Joseph Buell's journal at Fort Harmar gives a first hand account of life at the fort. Springtime was welcome then as now after months of cold, limited activity, and boredom. His reports of daily activities are interspersed with evidence of better weather and morale. Quotes, spelling, and punctuation are from his journal.

Original period drawing of Fort Harmar ca 1790 courtesy Marietta College Special Collections.
CLICK TO ENLARGE and see landmarks labeled in the drawing.


Spring 1786. Buell was then at Fort McIntosh, northwest of Pittsburgh.

March 27 "...the weather continues to be warm & pleasant & there is great prospect of a forward spring." Spring weather is fickle, though. On April 1, "The snow fell upwards of a foot deep."

April 3 "(We) went down the river…to disperse the people from settling on the Indian shore (western shore of the Ohio River)." Evicting squatters was part of the soldiers' mission because present day Ohio was not yet open for settlement.

9 "The troops began to exercise & continued twice a day...The weather is very warm..."

May 8 Joseph Buell arrived at Fort Harmar.

12 "Began to make our Gardens..." There were extensive gardens at Fort Harmar for food and to keep troops busy during periods of light duty. Commandant John Doughty was interested in horticulture. Peach trees planted there produced fruit for eating – and for peach brandy. One hybrid peach was named the "Doughty Peach."

24 "I was tried by a Court Martial for selling a pint of liquor without permission. I was acquitted & ordered to return to my duty" This was a rough start to Joseph Buell’s Fort Harmar duty.

25 "Engreham of Capt Hearths Company died which is the first death by sickness." There was a burial ground near the fort; the exact location is not known.

31 “French was whipped five lashes for insulting a Corporal. We have some very disagreeable weather about this time. yet I employ myself pretty well,...working in my garden...".


Painting of Fort Harmar by Sala Bosworth, ca 1835, based on early sketches
CLICK TO ENLARGE
 

Spring 1787

March 20  "Mr Williams arrived with his family to settle on the other side of the Ohio (River)...which renders our Situation more delightful..." Those settlers were Williamstown founders Isaac and Rebecca Tomlinson Williams.

27 "...some of the inhabitants brought a Buffalo into the Fort, which was 18 hands high & weighed 1000 lbs"

April 1 "The Indians came within twelve miles of the Garrison & killed an old man & took a young boy prisinor..."

3 "We began to lay out our gardens & dig them up"

25 "One of our men discovered two Indians were endeavoring to steal our horses... The weather begins to be warm & pleasant."

May 2: “All the Sergeants at our Garrison crossed the Ohio to Mr Williams’ where we had decent entertainment…we passed the day very happy,

14  “John Stockly deserted & was immediately  pursued & overtaken…& ordered to run the gauntlet Eleven times.

21 “In the evening I sent a young man who cooked for me to Carrs Island…after some milk.” He never returned. “We afterwards heard that (Indians) had killed & scalped him.”

 

Spring 1788

April 7 Gen Putnam arrived here…with 50 men.” These were the first workers to start the settlement at Marietta. “They began with great spirit & there is great prospect of its being a flourishing place in a short time”

23 “The contractors large boat arrived here with a supply of provision & liquor.” Such arrivals were always morale boosters.

May 1 “The weather was pleasant. The trees put forth and all things seem (bright).” May Day was celebrated. “The Sergeants went up to Carrs Island & had a dinner…We live pretty peaceable & happy” - except for delays in getting paid. 


Joseph Buell (1763-1812) left the Army in November of 1788. He settled in Marietta where he operated a tavern. He later served as a judge, State Senator, and General in the Ohio Militia.

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Morgan’s Raid and the Tin Cup Militia

 Captain D. L. Wood’s world had been turned upside down. In July, 1863 he had a Civil War desk job as a mustering officer at Camp Marietta (also called "Camp Putnam"). Suddenly he was leading two companies of mostly untrained militia to fortify a river crossing ("ford") at Buffington Island, 40 miles down river. Why?

     Marietta has been spared the horrors of war in its own backyard. War came close during Morgan's Raid in the Civil War (aka "The War of Rebellion," or in Southerners' understated phrasing, "The Recent Unpleasantness"). In July, 1863 General John Hunt Morgan led 2,500 cavalry on an unauthorized (yes, he violated orders of Confederate General Bragg to not cross north of the Ohio River) raid through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Union cavalry commanded by General Edward Hobson doggedly pursued Morgan but could barely keep up. 

     There were only days - even hours, at times - to counter this raid. Raiders entered Ohio near Cincinnati on July 13. Days later they were racing across the state headed to the Marietta area for an escape across the Ohio River. Defending was a challenge: all able-bodied defenders were already enlisted and fighting elsewhere, such as at Gettysburg 10 days before. The militia, or "home guard," included mostly untrained old men and very young men. The women had a role, too, as we'll see.

CLICK TO ENLARGE Camp Putnam (aka Camp Marietta) May, 1861, from mariettacastle.org

     Camp Marietta became the epicenter of military planning, under the command of Colonel William Rufus Putnam Jr., grandson of Marietta founder Rufus Putnam. 

     July 12: Governor David Tod called out the militia in southern Ohio counties. Most reported to Camp Putnam (also called "Camp Marietta"), then a sprawling complex at the fairgrounds in Marietta. 

     July 14: Putnam reported 175 men in camp. By the 18th, there would be 12,000 men deployed from the Camp.

     July 15: Union Army officer Lieutenant Conine refuses to accept orders from Putnam, who was an Ohio militia officer, not regular Army. Putnam asks Gov. Tod to intervene. He also requests authority to "press" horses (take horses from citizens) for use by the hundreds of cavalry volunteers arriving. Estimates are that 25,000 horses were used by Morgan and defenders during the raid. One reason: horses taken from citizens were often not conditioned to military duty and would last only a few miles.

     July 16: 3,218 men at Camp Marietta. Putnam asks Gov. Tod to authorize Captain Wood, a Union Army officer, to lead a detachment. "He declines unless thus ordered." Units under Wood's command played an important role.

     July 17: Putnam to Tod: "I have sent about 400 infantry and 50 mounted scouts to check Morgans at fords below." He also pleads for arms, "Thousands of men are here impatiently waiting to be armed..." 

     July 18: Putnam reports to General Burnside in Cincinnati that he has deployed 250 men to guard the ford at Buffington island, 250 to guard boats at Mason City (opposite Pomeroy), and 750 men to Chillicothe.

     Morgan's forces were then bearing down on Buffington Island, intending to escape across the Ohio River. Union Cavalry were close behind. Militia defenders were in place; the crossing was fortified. Thousands of volunteers were working to block roads, guard fords, and remove all boats that Morgan could use. 

     Historian S. J. Hathaway: "...while many volunteers had no arms, they could all get axes, shovels, picks and tin cups (for food and drink).  Hence they were called the 'tin cup militia.'" Other citizens willingly supplied equipment, horses, and food. 

     About the food: with no time to set up military supply lines, women from every farm and village in Indiana and Ohio fed the defenders. A popular staple was fried chicken, often passed directly to men in the field. They quenched their thirst with “Sometimes water, sometimes milk; Sometimes applejack, fine as silk," words from a wartime song celebrating camaraderie in a common cause. One unnamed veteran officer observed gratefully, "Gunboats, steamboats, ferryboats, cavalry, infantry, artillery, all joined in pursuit (of Morgan), but none were more helpful than the women with their rations of fried chicken."

     Capt. D. L. Wood reported from Buffington Island: “On July 18th I made a line of entrenchments covering the approach to the ford (and) sent out cavalry scouts….”  Wood’s men had also discovered the steamboat STARLIGHT at Buffington hard aground. The Rebellion Record: “they immediately unloaded the vessel, raised steam, crewed the boat themselves…,” and moved it away from Morgan’s forces. Historian Hathaway concluded that Captain Wood’s actions at Buffington helped prevent Morgan from crossing on the night of the 18th, thus allowing Union soldiers and militia to surround him on the 19th.

      Defenders succeeded. Morgan ‘s second-in-command Basil Duke: “…the militia impeded our progress in every conceivable way.” Morgan’s raiders were stopped at Buffington Island. Almost. Morgan and a thousand raiders evaded capture. Now Marietta was now in the cross hairs as a likely upriver crossing point for Morgan’s remnant.  


CLICK TO ENLARGE
Harmar Bridge over Muskingum ca 1860, then a covered bridge, from flickr.com "Christopher Busta-Peck, courtesy Hidden Marietta," It was fortified during Morgan's Raid.



     Volunteers doubled their efforts. The tin cup militia blocked every river crossing and road in the area. Men under William P. Cutler obstructed roads between the Marietta and Cincinnati rail line and the Ohio River. Cutler: "We accomplished the objective in a thorough manner." 

CLICK TO ENLARGE
Ehpraim Cutler’s “Old Stone House” occupied during the raid by his son William P. Cutler and family. River road and Ohio River are visible on the right edge of painting. 

 
     Cutler’s own farm near near Constitution was occupied by hundreds of militia to guard nearby Bailey’s Ford. That ford and others had been scouted out a few days earlier by Morgan's men. One was seen near Cutler's farm - identified later as a Confederate soldier - riding nonchalantly at dusk along the river road.
 
     Guards were posted at the Harmar Bridge, and bales of hay were placed to block access. Locals later joked about the hay, saying how nice it was that defenders left so much feed for Morgan’s horses. They also pointed out that the Muskingum River was low enough at the time to wade across even if the bridge was blocked. Three companies under John Newton were sent up the Muskingum River to remove all boats, and three more under Capt. Levi Barber blocked roads between Coolville and Little Hocking River.

     The tin cup militia, area women, and the leadership of Col. William Rufus Putnam “got ‘er done.” Morgan was diverted, damage in the area was avoided, and soon he was captured. Hathaway: “There are few men that could have handled so large a body of men so well, under such circumstances, as Colonel Putnam did…”

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Marietta History in One Picture

      Read all about it here, on a single, easy-to-read page - a map full of history facts and features of our "City Beautiful." The web link suggests the map image may have been a postcard. I found this by accident; sometimes history research works that way.

  CLICK TO ENLARGE. 
                 Image from https://www.richard-bence.com/blog/2020/6/6/postcard-from-marietta

Here are some of the facts, factoids, and promotional messages you'll see. Touch or click for a larger image and enlarge to for more detail. See if you can find these notices on the map:

- "Here landed Louis Phillips 1798, Marquis de Lafayette 1825, and Charles Dickens 1842, You will be just as welcome." Note: Dickens' “visit”, possibly when his steamboat stopped here for supplies, has not been documented.

- Marietta is "Now a modern city - delightful to visit - and better yet to live in."

- What date was this map published?

- "There are no one way streets in Marietta," -  apparently true at the time this map was published.

- "Aaron Burr's boats (1805) for Louisiana Conquest built 5 miles up River."

- "Norwood home of many of Marietta's Interesting Industries." There were many over the years, including Remington Rand, Acme Brick, Rich Loaf Bakery, Crescent Supply, Richardson Printing, Broughton Dairy, Pattin Manufacturing, Vanguard Paint, American Cyanamid, and others - employing nearly 1,000. Of those, only Vanguard Paint survives today, along with facilities added in Marietta Industrial Park.

-  "Municipal Bathing Beach" - where was it?

- Which buildings are listed as having public rest rooms?

- "Site of first brick house built by Gen. Joseph Buell" is shown at Greene and Second Street where tire shop is now. I was unaware of that.

- "Almost all the factory grindstones used in America are mined or milled in our near Marietta." Did you know that?


- “A day in such serene enjoyment spent were worth an age of splendid discontent” – Not sure who said this; its an apparent reference to living in Marietta.

Bottom of map notes: "Data by Mrs. D. H. Buell" and "Cartography by Sewah Studios."

Have guests visiting the area and history is not your thing? Keep a photo of this map on your phone or print it for an instant history tour. You’ll impress the visitors.

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Underground Railroad Map

This is an Underground Railroad map of Washington County, Ohio, from historian Henry Burke.  https://henryburke1010.tripod.com/id14.html

CLICK TO ENLARGE


Friday, January 24, 2025

Marietta at President Trump’s Inaugural

    There was a guy from Marietta in the Capitol Rotunda at President Trump's inaugural. You did not hear or see him in the mainstream or social media. He did not speak, but was likely listening and watching. Who was this man? Rufus Putnam, our founder. He stands watch over the proceedings in the Capitol Rotunda, along with other Revolutionary War patriots, in the  painting by John Trumbull "Surrender of General Burgoyne." Putnam is immediately to the right of the man in white, shown in the close-up photo.

“Surrender of General Burgoyne” at the Battle of Saratoga by 
John Trumbull viewed. CLICK TO ENLARGE

Close up showing Rufus Putnam

Trumbull painting in the background; President Trump speaks at bottom of photo (cropped) 
by Andrew Narvik/Pool/Reuters. CLICK TO ENLARGE

     Rufus Putnam is considered the founder of Marietta in 1788. He had a humble beginning in Massachusetts and was self-educated; his stepfather refused to let him attend school. By the time he was 20 years old, Putnam had mastered the skills of farm management, millwright, surveyor, and military engineer – the latter learned from four tours of duty in the French and Indian War. Putnam also served the full length of the Revolutionary War.

     After that, Rufus Putnam lived a comfortable life in Rutland, Massachusetts but was inspired by the opportunity for a new life in the Ohio Country. The creation of the Northwest Territory in 1787 paved the way for western U. S. expansion. Putnam was a prime mover in the purchase of land in southeast Ohio and establishment of the territory’s first settlement at Marietta in 1788. Putnam not only helped organize this new town, he moved his family from “civilized” New England to the rough conditions on the new frontier. He lived the rest of his life in Marietta, serving in many leadership roles.

   Rufus Putnam was an exceptional man. But one attribute stands out to me: his dedication to serving his country and supporting veterans. Rufus not only served in the French and Indian War but for the duration of the Revolutionary War. Historian Samuel Hildreth: “He buckled on his sword when the strife began, and he did not lay it down till liberty was secure and peace again smiled upon the land” - nearly six years later.

   He was a tireless advocate for veterans, donating countless hours and lengthy travel to make sure that veterans got what was due them. In March, 1779, Putnam made great "exertion to prevent a mutiny from breaking out in the Massachusetts line..." From January to April of 1780 he was on leave from the army to "solicit… relief for the Massachusetts line of the Continental Army and for prisoners of war on Long Island." Putnam co-authored a 1783 petition of Revolutionary War officers to Congress asking that land grants promised to soldiers be awarded on land in today’s Ohio. And Rufus Putnam made it possible for veterans to redeem their land grants awarded for military service to obtain land – and a new life - in the Marietta area.

     It is fitting that Putnam and other patriots are represented the United States Capitol rotunda. Mariettans should be proud to see him there.

Friday, January 10, 2025

W.H. Styer Druggist

     Mariettan Ross Thomas showed me an old apothecary bottle and said, "See what you can find out about it." The quart-size glass bottle has a cork and a label: "Wm H. Styer, Prescription Druggist, 240 Front Street, Marietta, Ohio."  The label included space for the name of doctor and prescription number.

Photo of Styer bottle by author. CLICK TO ENLARGE


     Collecting old bottles is popular. There is a Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, one of many organizations of collectors. Just so you know, their national convention this year is in Reno NV.

   This bottle has a story to tell. I found another W. H. Styer bottle for sale (shown below) at worthpoint.com. It is smaller but with a beautiful inscription and monogram. I was impressed that a small-town local business would have such distinctive glassware.

               3 1/2 inch bottle “W. H Styer, the Leading Druggist” from Worthpoint.com. 
CLICK TO ENLARGE

     William H. Styer was a druggist, entrepreneur, and business leader. An excerpt from the 1900 Century Review of Marietta, Ohio: "Styer commenced laboratory work in 1865, clerked in a drug store for several years and in 1881 opened a store at his present quarters 240 Front St…Mr. Styer started a branch store at 124 Putnam st. in 1888, which he still controls. He carries a large line of drugs, medicines, paints and sundries, in fact the full line kept by druggists generally excepting wallpaper. He is a vice president of The Dime Saving Society and Stevens Organ and Piano Company."

       W. H. Styer Drugstore at 240 Front St. CA 1900 copied from Century Review Marietta, Ohio

     Drugstores were a mainstay of retail business and healthcare from the late 1800s to today. A 1903 directory listed ten drugstores: Curtis & Hutchman, A. J. Richard, W. H. Styer, H. N. Curtis, Beagle & Lytle, Union Drug Co., Chas. R. Buchanan, Will Richardson and J. L. Mason. 

     Drugstores filled prescriptions and sold over-the-counter supplements, remedies, and cure-alls for every possible ailment. Some medicines were legitimate; many were not. There was no Food and Drug Administration to monitor contents and no Federal Trade Commission to prevent outlandish claims.

     You could buy many other convenience store-type items, even home improvement goods like paint and wallpaper. Starting in the early 1900s many drug stores added soda fountain counters which dispensed flavored carbonated drinks and milkshakes. No mention of that for Styer, though he opened a "branch" store on Putnam Street which may have had one.

     Ads for drugstores, often a dozen or more in a single edition, were common in newspaper editions. Some examples from late 1800s and early 1900s in the Marietta Register newspaper:

  • Beagle and Lyle's Drug Store sold Halstead's Pepsin-Fruit syrup for babies to "regulate their bowels." 
  • Dr. Bull's cough syrup would cure pleurisy and pneumonia. 
  • Celery King was advertised for constipation and much more. 
  • Multiple drug stores advertised a sale for dozens of remedies: "The Greatest Patent Medicine Sale in the History of Man." 
  • W.H. Styer’s Putnam Street Drugstore sold "Styer's Sarsaparila...a blood purifier." 
  • J. W. Dysle & Co druggists sold Chamberlain's Cough Remedy and....wallpaper, "the prettiest papers ever brought to the city." 
  • Sexine Pills would make you "Strong Again!, New life, strength, and vigor." 
  • Curtis and Hutchman in Marietta sold Dr. Mott's Nerverine Pills which offered to restore "failing or lost manhood,” and 
  • Dr. Peals Pennyroyal Pills would provide "relief for ladies," presumably from menstrual cramps.

     History can be endlessly fascinating. Every single artifact – such as an antique bottle, person, and building has a story to tell.