English poem
April, 1888
by William Henry Venable (1836–1920)
The footsteps of a hundred years Have echoed, since o’er Braddock’s Road Bold Putnam and the Pioneers Led History the way they strode.
On wild Monongahela stream They launched the Mayflower of the West, A perfect State their civic dream, A new New World their pilgrim quest.
When April robed the Buckeye trees Muskingum’s bosky shore they trod; They pitched their tents and to the breeze Flung freedom’s star-flag, thanking God.
As glides the Oyo’s solemn flood So fleeted their eventful years; Resurgent in their children’s blood, They still live on—the Pioneers.
Their fame shrinks not to names and dates On votive stone, the prey of time;— Behold where monumental States Immortalize their lives sublime!