The year 2004 has had both a good and bad beginning here at the Sedgwick House Museum. The Martins Ferry Rotary has given us money so that we can again hire Betty Douglas as a guide for the museum from April until September. The Belmont County Tourism Council has agreed to grant us $2,000 to help with our window preservation project. We hope to finish that next year. Once again, all fourth and eighth grade students visited the museum as part of our local history program.

     The bad news has come because of the death of our friend, Annie Tanks. She has meant much to the community of Martins Ferry and has been a staunch supporter of the school’s sports program. Also, her knowledge of local history has become almost legendary and her work for the Martins Ferry Area Historical Society has been long and greatly beneficial. She will be truly missed.

     The museum has been the recipient of many donations of memorabilia and various historical items. The picture below shows me receiving a milk bottle that was used in the operation of the Sommer Dairy located at 613 Jefferson Street. From left; Ralph Sommer, Betty Sommer Thomas, and Ken Sommer make the presentation. Please call 633-5559 or 633-3430 if you have anything that we might use at the museum.

     A Martins Ferry woman credited with being the “city historian, archivist, and researcher of the highest caliber,” died Wednesday May 12, 2004.

     Miss Tanks was born in Punxsutawney, Pa., on March 25, 1912, the daughter of the late David L. and Annie M. (Cromley) Tanks.

     She was a retired Librarian at Martins Ferry High School and a member of the Martins Ferry Historical Society.

     “When an old person dies, the library burns down.” That was the phrase that came to mind when Barbara Shrodes learned of the death of Martins Ferry historian Annie Tanks.

     Annie Tanks was widely said to have known more about Martins Ferry history than anyone. She was a “city historian, archivist, and researcher of the highest caliber,” according to former Martins Ferry Public Library Director John W. P. Storck. She was also a former Martins Ferry High School librarian, an integral member of the Martins Ferry Area Historical Society, a member of the choir at First Baptist Church, a sports fan and a loving friend.

     “I think if there is an individual that I would say represents Martins Ferry, it would be Annie,” said the Rev. Joseph Sanders of First Baptist Church.

     Upon learning of her death Wednesday, many commented that a part of Martins Ferry history was now gone. But, because of the work Tanks did to preserve the history of her adopted home town, it is not gone. In fact, it is there to be discovered in her book, “A Town of Grandeur: Essays on the History of Martins Ferry, Ohio;” in the museum operated by the historical society, for which she did so much; or in the records she kept for the historical society, for which she had been the historian since the mid-1960s.

     Tanks, according to Storck, believed the history she was preserving was “a manifest and essential prelude to the Martins Ferry of today.”

     It is possible that, when Tanks died, not just a library was gone, but also a church, a school and a house of friendship. But because of the way she lived her life, her spirit of history, learning and love will go on in the lives of the many people she touched.

     Martins Ferry saw its second historical marker dedicated Saturday April 17, 2004 at Hanover Street and James Wright Place. The dual marker honored the achievements of Martins Ferry natives William Dean Howells and James A. Wright. Presented by the Martins Ferry Public Library, the ceremony was attended by several dignitaries as well as others who were in town for the 24th annual James Wright Festival.

     The text of the marker reads:

     Author, editor, and social critic William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was born in Martins Ferry, the son of an itinerant printer and publisher. Self-educated, Howells learned the printer’s craft early and took up journalism, rising to city editor of the Ohio State Journal (Columbus) in 1858. From 1871 to 1881, he was editor of the Atlantic Monthly magazine, a position of enormous influence in American literary tastes. Howells championed the work of Emily Dickinson, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Stephen Crane, as well as several others A prolific writer himself, he published over one hundred works. Howells is best known for his realistic fiction, including a Modern Instance (1882) and The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885).

     Many of his novels reflect his Ohio roots.

     James Arlington Wright was born in Martins Ferry on December 13, 1927. Wright’s early life during the depression years was difficult, but he graduated as valedictorian from Martins Ferry High School in 1946. Wright later taught at the University of Minnesota and Hunter College (NY). A prolific writer, Wright published numerous books and volumes of his poetry, of which, many included people and settings from Martins Ferry. In 1972, Wright was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Literature. Wright died on March 25, 1980. Every April, Martins Ferry celebrates the James Wright Poetry Festival.

     Elections today are tame affairs: snippets on the TV news about candidates speaking to crowds in towns that look like the crowds in the towns on last night’s news (and the candidate must have the same impression); 60-second commercials which we regard as skeptically as other commercials, or welcome as a chance to escape from the screen; columns by half a dozen columnists every day.

     Political campaigns, especially presidential ones, could generate much welcome excitement in a small town where there was little entertainment. Such a story is told in a thin, battered ledger found among the museum’s old papers, the secretary’s minutes for the Cleveland and Hendricks Reform Club of Martinsferry, Belmont Co., Ohio.”

     First meeting of the club as held July 15, 1884, at the city hall, corner of Second and Hanover. Perhaps it seemed impolitic to be so closely associated with the seat of government, for the club moved the next week to Medill Hall across the street. (Deduced from an old map. Can anyone confirm the guess?) Enthusiasm must have run high, for the hall was decorated and after a few meetings a committee was formed to secure more seats. Apparently it never did. Most of the activity was transferred outdoors, once the organization was functioning.

     The constitution declared that the object of the club was “to promote the interest of the Democratic party and to labor unceasingly for its triumphant success at the approaching election thereby insuring general prosperity and greater happiness amount the people.” President was R. C. Swartz, first vice-president, J. R. Shrodes, second vice-president, J. J. Smith, Dr. Garrison, secretary, corresponding secretary, J. T. Gray, and treasurer, Thomas Halperin. Dr. Garrison was replaced the following week by J. Wilson. The officers’ duties were the usual ones except for the two vice-presidents, who were to organize the school districts to “turn out every Democrat and conservative who would vote for Cleveland on Election Day,” to “distribute Democratic papers, speeches and documents where they will do the most good and reason with the wavering and doubtful.” Three columns of signatures approved the constitution.

     A busy session on July 30th appointed a committee to secure a flag, decided to organize a marching club, named one member to find drums, selected a speaker for the next meeting and directed delegates to the county convention to line up candidates as speakers for future meetings and rallies.

     The marching club, captained by Thomas Irwin, soon filled up its quota of 50 members who had paid for their uniforms. The outfit included a hat “with red top, blue brim, and white trim,” a white shirt with red shield, duck leggings and a Chicago torch, all for $2.04. A long list of the purchasers was kept in the back of the ledger. Several bought two uniforms and one supporter paid for five.

     The club built a speaker’s stand on Washington Street near the ferry landing and decorated it for weekly rallies (special thanks in the minutes to Mr. John and Frank Kelly who donated Chinese lanterns.) Torchlight parades were held on Friday nights, ending at the speakers’ stand where the crowd could hear a rousing oration. Other clubs were invited to join, and the poster committee was kept busy plastering the town with rally notices. For one parade the club had to buy 50 extra torches. At least twice on Saturday night the club paraded and then boarded a flatboat pushed by the ferryboats (specially chartered for $5) to cross the river, where Wheeling’s First Ward Club met them and escorted them to their place in the Wheeling parade.

     The entry for October 15th announced that “every good Democrat will stop taking the Wheeling Register” and that other Belmont County clubs were invited to a big torchlight procession on Saturday night.

     Grover Cleveland won the election.