Ghost Stories: The winter of 1873-74 and the Temperance Crusade

“Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle, see his banners go!”

– Sabine Baring-Gould

Ladies and gentlemen, the winter of 1873-74 was undoubtedly a memorable one for uptown Hillsboro business owner William Henry Harrison Dunn.

W.H.H. Dunn was born July 16, 1840 in Erie County, Pa., and would have been a young man of 33 years of age when the Temperance Crusade swept through Highland County and other areas of the state that winter.

The Temperance Crusaders of dozens of Hillsboro women were waging a war on alcohol and were pushing local business owners to sign various pledges, such as:

“We the undersigned, druggists of ____, hereby pledge ourselves, upon our honor as businessmen, that from this date we will under no circumstances sell or give away, or allow to be sold or given away by any of our agents or employees, any alcoholic or intoxicating liquors, wine, beer, or ale, except upon satisfactory evidence that the liquors are to be used for medicinal or mechanical purposes.”

An appeal that was presented by the ladies to the liquor sellers often was as follows: “Knowing, as you do, the fearful effects of intoxicating drinks, we, the women of Hillsboro, after earnest prayer and deliberation, have decided to appeal to you to desist from this ruinous traffic, that our husbands, brothers, and especially our sons, be no longer exposed to this terrible temptation, and that we may no longer see them led into those paths which go down to sin, and bring both soul and body to destruction.

“We appeal to the better instincts of your hearts, in the name of desolated homes, blasted hopes, ruined lives, widowed hearts, for the honor of our community, for our prosperity, for our happiness, for our good name as a town, in the name of God, who will judge you as well as ourselves, for the sake of your souls, which are to be saved or lost, we beg, we implore you, to cleanse yourselves from this heinous sin, and place yourselves in the ranks of those who are striving to elevate and ennoble themselves and their fellow-men; and to this we ask you to pledge yourselves.”

After hearing the appeal, W.H.H. Dunn issued his verdict:

“Ladies: In compliance with my agreement, I give you this promise, that I will carry on my business in the future as I have in the past; that is to say, that in the sale of intoxicating liquors I will comply with the law; nor will I sell to any person whose father, mother, wife, or daughter, sends me a written request not to make such sale.”

In the 1876 book, “Fifty Years of History of the Temperance Cause,” the “notorious” and “invincible” Dunn was described as “a man of frank, open disposition, and a high sense of honor, which rendered the people unprepared for the violent opposition which he manifested. He was moved by no prayers, and would listen to no entreaties.

“For a while, he made no objection to the ladies coming into his store, and carrying on their devotions; but at length, one Friday morning, they found the door locked upon them, and were thereafter inexorably excluded. But this neither detracted from their ardor nor diminished their numbers. Prayer meetings were held on the walk in front of his door, while hundreds of sympathizing listeners stood about.”

Led by Eliza Jane Trimble Thompson, the daughter of a former governor of Ohio, Allen Trimble (1783-1870), and surrounded by “the wives and daughters of statesmen, lawyers, bankers, physicians and businessmen,” the ladies knelt before the store in the bitter cold and piercing wind with voices raised in hymns and earnest prayer.

In the 1876 temperance book, a Hillsboro merchant is quoted as advising a local reporter, “I tell you, my young friend, the women have more power in favor of temperance, ten times over, than the men. They are free from political entanglements. They don’t have to vote for anybody for office, and they ask nobody to vote for them. So they can exert their moral power without hindrance. We are hampered in business and politics; they work for the pure love of humanity. A hundred women can do more good for a moral reform than ten thousand voters. We can only make laws, but they can touch the heart. It must be a hard-hearted man who can stand in his saloon and resist the pleadings of a good old mother whose son was ruined by liquor, when she comes with tears in her eyes and prayer on her lips. Yes, sir, if the women in each town would take hold as they have done here, Ohio could be made a temperance state in six months…”

William Henry Harrison Dunn, however, was not swayed, and as we discussed earlier, was not at all amused at the daily “siege of Fort Dunn” and the “tabernacle” that was erected in front of his drugstore located where the old Fifth Third building now stands. He decided to hire a lawyer in an attempt to get a temporary injunction and restraining order against the local Temperance Crusaders.

Let’s pause for now and we’ll continue next week.

Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company and a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.