Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-02-26
A MOdcrn AIphabet InrentOr.

A few months back paragraph in the
New York Tribune stated that literary
relic had been sold in that city.for the
sum of s., 1,130-the highest price any book
has fetched in that country It was g
copy of "Eliot's Indian Bible" a book
that no man living can read. Eliot was
Puritan Englishman, who emigrated to
New England on account of his religious
opinions and died at RoNbury, where
handsome memorial was erected to his
memory by his admirers lss1
This brought to my recollection the
labors of another ingenious mind, known
| by the name OF George Guess among the
| people Of the United States. He was an
Indian, and his name See-quo-lah If ever
a record ofpatient industry, untiring perse-
verance, and natural ingenuity deserves
record, 1t is this. Eliot's Bible was in Mohe.
gan, with the usual Roman letters, with
different signs TO denote the different in
| Elections Of sounds. But See-quo.lah in
vented an alphabet for the use of his tribe.
His idea originated In the early French
and Indian wars. The Cherukees had
white prisoner, on whose person they
| found letter to satisfy his captursrs,
the prisoner had to read il for their edif-
cation. But of course the tenor of his
reading differed greatly from what he pre-
tended to read from.
| luO IhlhlnR lthl ndu ever Deeu
| mystery TO these untutored minds of the
prairie They had long considered it a
| gift of the Great Spirit, and held it in
great veneration. But See-quo. .lah, then
youth, knew better he maintained that
1t was purely mans invention, and the de-
sire to have written alphabet for his
tribe possessed him. For a long time the
idea lay dormant; the migrations of the
tribe or their predatory excursions left
him no leisure. But lamed, and as it
proved, for life, the long hours of his
orced imprisonment brought forth the old
idea. His first sttempt was to gather all
the sounds of the Cherokee tongue but
the result was far from encouraging. He
collected above two hundred. His next
difficulty was to place q sign as equiv alent
to sound. Like the old Egyptians, and
probably like the first alphab inventors,
whoever they may be, he made use of
hieroglyphics. He embodied pictures of
birds, beasts, &C., which approximated
with the sounds, and served best as re-
presentation. But the mind, before it
could realize such category, would re-
quire an immense amount of training.
He looked over the extensive list with
; some dismay, and endeavored TO modify
, it. He was successful enough to abbrevi-
ate it to eighty six. He was able to &C.
complish this, because in Cherokee all syl-
tables have vowel ending. An enumer-
alton and classification Of these syllables
made, and sign for each, would complete
IL. Thus there needed no distinction be-
= tween vowels and consonants. A rather
8 unwieldly affair, no doubt; but when the
. system was learned, easier to spell by than
, by using Eliot's method. The longest
u n word of this system contains but fourteen
a signs or syllables, while the longest words
" | of EliOt's have often over thirty.
y y 1t took the ancient world ages before it
y could entirely discard the picture signs
T. for letters. The idea of simple letters
stole ON imperceptibly, and is enveloped
:, in inexplicable mystery; But this poor
!, Indian at one stroke discarded his picture
y signs, and invented an alphabet almost as
= :, commodious as those of European nations.
y His next difficulty was to make so many
= signs dissimilar to each other. Perhaps
; he might have seen some English printed
= . matter, for some of his signs greatly re-
Z semble our letters. The figure 4 is prUmi-
u nently used. Some signs are like Greek
or Asiatic letters, others like Slavonian.
But they have far different sound from
their prototypes, if such they were The
sign sounds like thu, NJ like Iu, and the
!. rest are equally different. But. most OF
o them are pure inventions All are used
: over again in different postures, so to
2 bDtAk-ulsiOlNCit lnNSAlCu VI dDUiGNidlcu
O His pen WAS a nail; he wrote on bark.
Is Eventually (sbout 1S25) he obtained pen
e and some paper from one of those fronSier
q traders, but the pen was carefully pre-
J, served as a guide to manufacture others
e by. His ink he made himself from bsrks
h His first pupil was his daughter.
9 But, like Roger Bacon, Gutenberg,
!. Calico, and others, his neighbors sus.
e pected him of practising the black art
+ Doubtless he seldom lett his hut his
v mind being in his work, his time would
!, be taken up with it. His tribe Stunned
|. him but his inoffensiVe, as we'll as his
:. pitiable condition, preserved him from any
dire consequences.
@ He was told that they would see the
v fruits of his labors before they judged toe
a hsrshly The following year he brought
r. his invention before the sachems of mis-
e tribe, causing his daughter to write from
n his dictation in an adjoining apartment
;. and riee rersG. The tribe were astonished
O and after little waVering, and his assur
8 ance of using no supernatural power, they
Q allowed him to instruct some OF the youths
d of the tribe. After several months inter
q val, the youths were brought forward
i. and amid great popular excitement, were
i tested and examined in as many ingenious
? ways as the cunning Indians could sug
d gest but the youths proved themselves
|. masters of the new art.
Il His discovery led to the printing of the
I. New Testament in the Cherokee language
e in 1925, the United States cast a fount O
a type from his invention, and even printed
newspaper from it { The Phentr The cap
itals differ from the small letters only II
being a little larger. The missionarie
brought in use the Arabic numerals, al
% though See quo -lah had invented numeral
e to correspond.
D, He afterwards expressed his regret tha
D his invention should have been promoted
!. to undermine the principles of his IndisI
e religion. He never became Christian
3 When his tribe were obliged to move ou
v of Georgia, he accompanied them to thei
a new home in Arkansas We next hea
I of him in Northern Mexico, and then q
o San Francisco, where he died at the age o
a seventy eight, In August, 1S4S. Chamber,
Journal.
= -SoME valiant Cinoinnatians, full G
n the stories which have found their wa
!. into the morning papers of that city, abou
. foot-pads highway robberries, etc, wer
!, out on one of the avenues the other might
= when they discovered dark object NOV
n ing toward them. Instantly they too
A to their heels, but returning, were agai
, attacked, and having discharged their re
!, volVers at 1t, again left the scene precip
q lately. The next morning dead COW
a perforated with several bullets, Was foun
e in the street