Benjamin Douglass: The Man Behind the Book

Local history is everywhere.

First image: “William Sidle House.” Wayne County Public Library, CC 4.0. Second image: Untitled, Laura Murrell, Wooster Digital History Project. Rights granted. Third image: “Location of First House Built in Wooster by John Larwill in 1808.” Elizabeth Abell. Wooster Digital History Project, Rights held by creator. Fourth image: This image shows streets in Wooster, such as Larwill Street, named after early settlers John and Joseph Larwill. “Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio.” Sanborn Map Company, May 1923. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection, Public Domain.

Communities across the United States have local historical societies dedicated to recording and preserving their communities’ pasts. Street signs named after prominent citizens and “on this spot” markers dot cities and towns. Articles detailing interesting stories from years past appear in our local newspapers. Local history also makes appearances on our nation’s bookshelves. In Wayne County, one of the most comprehensive sources on the area is History of Wayne County, Ohio: from the Days of the Pioneers and First Settlers to the Present Time by Benjamin Douglass (1878). Even though the book is almost 150 years old, it still influences how we write local history in Wayne County.

Given the way that it narrates Indigenous history, this creates a problem. This section takes a deep dive into the world of local history, why people like Ben Douglass wrote local history, and why this story is important today.

About the Book

In 1878, Douglass published History of Wayne County Ohio. At the time, he was 46 years old. Apparently, another young man attempted to write a history of Wayne County in 1852 but for whatever reason, did not finish. The process of writing the book took about 8 years of painstaking research.¹

For research help, Douglass enlisted many of the town’s most prominent citizens, including some of the men he hails as the “first settlers” of Wooster.² Together, these men constituted an organization that they called the Wayne County Historical Society. Today’s Wayne County Historical Society however was established in 1954.

Each of the men who lent their help received complimentary biographies in Douglass’s final draft. These include:

Ephraim Quinby, Jr.

Ephraim Quinby Sr. was an early Ohio legislator and participated in border conflicts with Indigenous people in Trumbull County in the 1790s.³ Ephraim Quinby Jr. helped to finance the creation of The College of Wooster ⁴ and helped to finance Douglass’s book.

From History of Wayne County, Ohio by Benjamin Douglass (1878). Internet Archive, Public Domain//No Known Restrictions on Copyright.

Hon. John Larwill

Larwill was a judge and the man dubbed one of the “first settlers” of Wooster by Douglass. Douglass also notes the hardships Lawwill endured as a pioneer, his “severe dignity” and lack of pretension.⁵

Ohio F. Jones

Jones’ father, Benjamin, settled in Wooster in the early 1810s. He represented Wayne County in the Ohio and national legislatures and became a Jacksonian Democrat. Ohio became a lawyer who practiced in Ashland and Wayne counties. Douglass compliments his hardworking nature, his studiousness, and his social attitude.⁶

From History of Wayne County, Ohio by Benjamin Douglass (1878). Internet Archive, Public Domain/No Known Restrictions on Copyright.

Hon. Joseph H. Downing

Downing’s parents came to Wayne County in 1826 to start a farm. He married Ben Douglass’s sister Elizabeth in 1850.⁷ Downing was a judge of the court of common pleas and the Captain of the Ohio 120th Volunteer Infantry Company A during the Civil War. Douglass notes that Downing is well-respected in the community and is known for his sense of morality.⁸

Benjamin Eason

Eason’s father helped to build the Stibbs Mill in the early days of white settlement in Wooster. Douglass paints Eason as a hardworking man who sought an education while living on his parents’ farm.⁹

John P. Jeffries

A lawyer and author of Natural History of the Human Races who came to Wooster in 1836. In his biography, Douglass compliments his “integrity and purity of character.”¹⁰

Many of these men had connections to the early white settlers of Wayne County and Ohio.

They were also all professionals who had the time to dedicate to the preservation of local history. Oftentimes, elite citizens supported the writing of local historical books with their money and research, which caused these books to be written in their favor.¹¹ We can see this both in how Douglass chooses to write about the men who helped to put the book together and in how Douglass generally portrays the early white settlers as the heroes in the story of Wooster’s white settlement.

While the Wayne County Democrat claims that Douglass’s book did not sell as many copies as Douglass anticipated, it still got glowing reviews.¹²

Read the quotes below to find some examples of what folks thought about Douglass’s book:

From the Wayne County Community History Archive, Public Domain.

“…The work is received with satisfaction by all, and it’s pronounced one of surpassing merit in quality of facts gathered together, the superior style in which it is written…which contains nearly 200 pages more than was originally promised to subscribers.”
Wayne County Democrat, May 15^th, 1878. Accessed from the Wayne County Public Library Community History Archive.

“…As everyone knows who has given it an impartial examination is one of, if not the very best, county histories in the country…It contains more facts, dates, historical incidents, closely and carefully selected general and local matter perhaps than any other county history in the State. Had this book not been written, would have put forever a large amount of material now contained in this history beyond the reach of any author…”
Wayne County Democrat, August 28^th, 1878. Accessed from the Wayne County Public Library Community History Archive.

From the Wayne County Community History Archive, Public Domain.

“This desirable work has proven a welcome addition to the history of the Great West which is invested with so much thrilling interest, having already received not only somewhat widely flaudations of the press, the commendation of historical students. The title should not mislead one to the erroneous supposition that the work is continued to the local limits of a single county. It…presents, from the constituent part taken by a pioneer and important settlement, the history of a contribution portion involving the history of the whole section…”
Wooster Republican quoting the Richmond Standard, April 29^th, 1886, page 1. Accessed from the Wayne County Public Library Community History Archive.

People within and outside the community valued Douglass’s work.

While some viewed it as a work about their community, others thought it generally provided important information on the American West. Interestingly, subscribers came from not only Wayne County, but other parts of Ohio and even other states. The Wayne County Democrat noted on May 5^th, 1880, that the states other than Ohio that had the most subscribers were Wisconsin, Connecticut, and “Old Virginia.” Virginia and Connecticut both have ties to Ohio through the Ohio Company, founded by Virginians, and the Connecticut Western Reserve, which northern Ohio was a part of before it became a state.

Were there other books like Douglass’s out there?

By the 1870s, there were a handful of other county histories published, including a history of Ashland County, Wayne County’s next-door neighbor, published in 1869. However, Douglass was on the front end of local history. Outside publishing companies were behind most of the state’s county-level historical books, and most books were published between 1880 and 1889.

The interactive map below shows local historical books from across Ohio.

Click the icon in the bottom left corner of the map to see the map key, or click on an individual point to read about an individual county.

Click the “+” in the bottom right corner to view Ohio in detail.

Why did Benjamin Douglass write History of Wayne County, Ohio?

This is a more complicated question. When Douglass wrote his book, his own background, Indigenous affairs at the time, and the longer tradition of writing local history influenced him. Douglass himself says that his main motivation had to do with the pioneers, and how quickly they were dying off in the 1870s. As a prominent member of the community, he was looking to write a history of the area that would gain the approval of his fellow residents and memorialize the pioneers:

“…and it was but due to the intelligence of our citizens that it be produced at the earliest possible opportunity. Wayne County…demanded that her traditions and her history be written. In the name of her pioneers that their memories be not lost…”
Benjamin Douglass, History of Wayne County, Ohio (1878), 14.