Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 1

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048

USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2 > Part 1

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Gc 977.102 C49gr v.l,pt.2 1963885

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

GEN

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02481 0654

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4496

CENTENNIAL

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND

REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

CHARLES THEODORE GREVE, A. B., LL. B.

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples."

V. 1, pt. 2

VOL. I.

PUBLISHED BY BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. GEO. RICHMOND, PRES .; C. R. ARNOLD, SEC'Y AND TREAS. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 1904.

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

ity of 931. He had been a constable and mem- ber of the watch at various times prior to this election. Shortly after his election the Council provided for the appointment of one captain, one assistant and five patrolmen and the captain was empowered to employ additional patrolmen not to exceed four in number, if necessary. Burnet was reelected mayor in 1829 and with him was chosen as city marshal, William Doty, defeating Thomas Heckewelder. Doty served for four years. During his administration an ordinance was passed authorizing the city marshal to or- ganize a night watch of not more than 20 per- sons and to procure a building for a watch house in the central portion of the city. This was intended not so much for the lodgment of pris- oners as a place for the night watch to meet at sundown in the evening and at sunrise in the morning to answer roll call, instead of meeting at the houses of private citizens as theretofore. In 1833 when Samuel W. Davies became mayor, Jesse Justice became marshal and served for one term of two years. During the last year of his terin, the marshal's salary was fixed at $1,000 per annum. He was succeeded in 1835 by James Saffin, who had been connected with the police force such as it was for many years. He held the position for 12 years and seems to have been very successful as an officer. In those days the fees of the office were very large and it was not uncommon for a marshal to make from $15,000 to $20,000 and sometimes as high as $25,000. The police themselves were ridiculously under- paid. The first regular tax provision for a watch fund was made by an ordinance passed June 18, 1834, levying one mill on a dollar for the support of the night watch. It was not until six years later that a watchman's compensation was regu- larly fixed at one dollar per night. It was dur- ing the term of Marshal Saffin that the slavery riots in 1836 took place. Saffin afterwards be- came Police Court judge and at a later time was promoted to the bench of the Court of Common Pleas. (Roe's Our Police. ) 1953885

In 1836 Marshal Saffin's deputies were Ira A. Butterfield and George Whann with their office of course as was their chief's at the mayor's of- fice on Third between Main and Sycamore. In 1840 Butterfield had become captain of the watch and James Wise was lieutenant. The watch it- self consisted of 21 members, three from each ward, whose names are given in the "Cincinnati Almanac" of Glezen & Shepard for that year,

THE WATER SUPPLY.

The progress of the water works has been noted in the extracts from the directories already given. After the erection of the reservoir and buildings by Mr. Davies, who bought out his associates on March 17, 1820, wooden pipes were laid from the reservoir through Martin Baum's orchard down to Deer creek, on the west side of the creek through Baum's fields to Broadway, thence along Fifth street to Sycamore and down Sycamore to Lower Market. Here the first fire plug and wooden penstock were placed and water was lifted for the first time by machinery and dis- tributed to the citizens through the pipes on July 3, 1821. Three years later Colonel Davies bought the engine boiler of the steamboat "Ves- ta" which was repaired by Joseph Dickinson and fitted up in the frame building south of Front street. By means of this, water was lifted to a tank in the same building and forced up the hill 400 fect throughi a five-inch iron pipe and 350 feet through gum-wood pipe into the reservoir. The trees for the pipe were cut in Deacon Wade's woods near Western row (Central avenue) and Everett street. Davies found that his means were inadequate to carry out the scheme in ac- cordance with his original plan and offered the works as they stood to the city for an amount less than what they had actually cost him. This offer was very foolishly refused and thereupon he associated with himself Davis B. Lawler, William Greene, Samuel Foote, John P. Foote, W. A. Ware, and M. P. Cassilly, and a stock company was organized with a capital of $75,- 000, under the name of the Cincinnati Water Company, to which was transferred the entire establishment which included almost 27,000 feet of wooden pipe, 530 hydrants and an income of not less than $5,000. Ware afterwards sold out his share to George Grim and William S. John- ston. Of this company, John P. Foote became president, Greene, secretary and Lawler, treas- urer. S. W. Davies acted as superintendent. In 1832 another attempt to sell to the city was voted down. The company continued to add new pipe to improve the works so that by the year 1834 its iron piping extended 6,800 feet throughout the city and its wooden piping al- most 25 miles. By 1836 the iron piping had in- creased to two miles. In 1828 the engine was re- paired and the entire pumping apparatus was remodeled by Anthony Harkness. The water was thrown by a 12-inch iron pipe into a new reservoir, 100 feet by 50 and 12 feet deep. Un-

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

fortunately, however, for the company, the re- ceipts did not seem sufficient to pay the expense of the undertaking and it was finally determined to offer the entire works once more to the city. This offer was submitted to a vote of the citi- zens and as a result in 1839 the municipality ac- quired, at a price of about half the cost, the work of the entire system of supplying its citizens with water and the private franchise was extin- guished. The amount paid was $300,000, for which bonds were issued by the city. At the time of the purchase the length of pipe is given as 20,423 feet of iron and 117,843 feet of wooden pipe. The iron was of three or four inch bore and the wooden pipe two and one-half inch. A new engine and pumping apparatus had been put up by Harkness in 1833 which continued in use 'for many years. (Cist, Cincinnati in 1841; Di- rectories of 1819-25-29-31-34-36.)

The citizens voted five times on the question of municipal ownership of the water works. In 1824 the vote was 294 to 25 against the pur- chase. In 1832 it was 717 to 303 against the proposition. It was again lost in 1836 by a vote of 1,274 to 956. In 1838 the proposition carried by a vote of 1,573 to 311 and in the following year the vote under a special remedial act, 728 to 553 in favor of the purchase.

TIIE POST OFFICE.

The postmaster at this time was still Father William Burke, who was assisted by Elam P. Langdon. In .1826 we learn that the postage aggregated for the year $8,162 and that within the same period 3.750 free letters were delivered. Twenty mails a week were received and sent from the city. Ten of these were carried in stages, three castward on the Chillicothe route, three on the Lebanon, three on the Dayton and Columbus and one on the Southern route to Georgetown, Kentucky. The other 10 were transported on horseback. The Post Office in the meantime had been removed to the north side of Third street between Main and Walnut at the east end of the Masonic lot. (Cincinnati in 1826, p. 79.)

In 1829 the postage received on letters had in- creased to $12,150, an increase of almost 50 per

cent in three years. Twenty-three mails arrived and departed weekly, of which 18 were conveyed in stages and five on horseback. (Directory of 1829, p. 160.)

A new line of stages had been established by way of Xenia, Urbana, Maysville and Blicyrus to Lower Sandusky from which point letters by boat reached New York in 10 days. There was also a daily line to Wheeling, reaching Baltimore in eight or nine days. By the end of the year the number of mails had increased to 32 per week, of which but three were carried on horse- back. The revenues of the office for the year 1829-30 were $16,251, and in 1833, $26,118, showing again a large increase, this time more than 50 percent in three years. During the year 1833 there were 64 mails received and sent from the office per week. Thirty-six of which were in stages, 10 in stcamboats, II on horse and seven by steamboat and land carriage. (Directory of 1834, p. 255.)

The Directory of 1836 contains a most elab- orate schedule showing the arrival and departure of mails. This included the so-called Eastern inail, Southern mail via steamboat, Northern via Hamilton, Chillicothe, West Union, Southern via Georgetown, Brookville, Cynthiana, Western via Lawrenceburg, Maysville, Newport and Coving- ton, Walnut Hills, Mount Healthy and Cum- mingsville. Many of these mails were daily. others three times a week. There was also a small mail twice a week to Guyandotte, Virginia. The postage on letters for distances below 30 miles was six and one-fourth cents and increased up to 25 cents if over 400 miles, while double let- ters were charged double and treble letters were charged treble and so on.

Shortly after this the Post Office was moved once more, to the north side of Third street be- tween Walnut and Vine, occupying the property owned by the late Samuel Wiggins. This was immediately east of the familiar Foote mansion shown in one of the illustrations of this work. The revenues of the office for the last year of the first half century of the city's life were $55,- 017.32.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE CITY TO THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL-II. THE EARLY CITY DIRECTORIES.

DIRECTORY OF 1819-DIRECTORY OF 1825-CINCINNATI IN 1826-DIRECTORY OF 1829-DIRECTORIES OF 1831, 1834 AND 1836.

Cincinnati has been especially fortunate in the number of contemporary accounts given of it in the shape of directories and similar works. This is particularly true of the period prior to the war. Mr. Cist's labors included in the three books giv- ing accounts of the city in 1841, 1851 and 1859 are quite familiar. The books which appeared before that time and which are equally as valu- able are not so well known. Dr. Drake's two books, one published in 1810 and the other in 1815, have been used liberally in the chapters covering those periods. In the first 20 years of Cincinnati's life as a city, the last 20 of the first half century of her existence, were published a number of other works of somewhat similar char- acter which are invaluable as giving general views of the settlement at the times they were published. This is especially true of the direc- tories of 1819, 1825 and 1829 and of the little book of Messrs. Drake and Mansfield published in 1826. The directories of those days were en- abled by reason of the small size of the commun- ity to give a general view of the town such as would be impossible in a city of the present size of Cincinnati. Possibly it is true that the in- formation in a city directory somewhat resembles that in an unabridged dictionary in that it is niighty interesting reading but a little discon- nected, but to one who is imbued with the fond- ness for the old names and the old places, such books as being the earliest contemporary system- atic records of the progress of the community

contain information of the greatest value and in- terest. At the risk of frequent repetition which the nature of the subject and the manner of treatment,-chronological rather than topical,- makes imperative, a résumé of some of these books will be made the subject of this chapter.

Not the least interesting features of these books are the maps of the city which many of them contain. These are all engraved and print- ed with unusual clearness and the results will bear more than favorable comparison with the maps of the present day.

DIRECTORY OF 1819.

In the year 1819 appeared the first directory which is the third of the historic volumes con- nected with the history of the city. Its full title gives a fair statement of its contents. It is as follows: "The Cincinnati Directory containing the names, profession and occupation of the in- habitants of the town, alphabetically arranged ; with the number of the building occupied by , cach. Also an account of its officers, population. institutions and societies, public buildings, manu- factures, &c. with an interesting sketch of its local situation and improvements. Illustrated by a copperplate engraving, exhibiting a view of the city. By a citizen. Published by Oliver Farnsworth. Morgan, Lodge and Co. printers, October, 1819."

On the back is an advertisement of Mallory Newell, auctioneers and commission mer- &

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

, chants at No. 10 Lower Market street, and also one of the publisher, Oliver Farnsworth, who of- fers school books. He mentions particularly

. Binghanı's "American Preceptor," Daniel Adams' "Scholars' Arithmetic," Webster's "American Spelling Book" and Lindley Murray's "English Reader" and "English Grammar." Very few copies of the work in the original boards are now known to be in existence.

The plan of Cincinnati prefixed to the book shows that some considerable changes must have taken place subsequent to the publication of Dr. Drake's book less than four years before. The township and north corporation line is shown from a point where it touches the river at its castern terminus and also extends westward to the west line of section 24 of the fourth town- ship of the first fractional range. The lots, both in-lots and out-lots, are numbered. The subdivisions of the streets and lots west of Western row and south of Fifth street as far west as Smith street occupy what was a blank space in the earlier map. North of the corpora- tion line on either side of Vine street are shown a number of lots lying on the new streets, Green, New, North, Poplar, Elder, Pleasant and Back. North of Northern row which is now called Seventh street and between Elm and Vine streets all lots are laid off. The streets beginning at the south are Seventh, New Market, Wayne and St. Clair. Beyond this are two more streets which are not named on the map. A number of new lots and streets are laid off cast of Broad- way, Harrison being the only one named. On the opposite side of the river Covington and Newport are indicated. The principal roads that are marked leading from the city are the road to Mill creek lower ford (now Eighth street), the road to Hamilton ( McMieken avenue), the road to Dayton which no longer exists on the line shown. the road to Lebanon. (now Reading road). and the, road to Columbia continuing from East Front street.

The steam mill is still shown and the Broadway wharf is indicated as a feature of prominence. The ferries are still in the places shown four years before. The council house is shown at the west end of the Public Landing at the spot which was the subject of the Williams' litigation.

In addition to the three banks shown before, there is now the bank of J. H. Piatt & Com- pany at the southeast corner of Second and Broadway, and the United States Branch Bank on the west side of Broadway below Third street on lot 108. At the foot of Smith street were the

glass works and considerably beyond at the foot of Mill street the steam saw mill. The Episco- pal Church on the north side of Sixth street be- tween Vine and Walnut and the Methodist Church at the northeast corner of Fourth and Plum are new features, as is also the factory of the Cincinnati Manufacturing Company in the castern part of the town. Three private resi- dences are indicated, that of William Barr on the west side of Mound street, that of General Lytle (still the residence of General Lytle's de- scendants), at the northeast corner of Lawrence and Symmes and that of David Kilgour on East Symmes street. At the southwest corner of Sev- enth street and Western row extending for about two blocks to the west are ropewalks. The all- cient works are still shown on the map and the two levels of the city are indicated, while Deer creek still pursues its uneventful course.

The directory was compiled with unusual care and accuracy and gives a most valuable view of the city at the time. It is preceded by an histori- cal sketch said to have been written by Nathan Guilford. This is followed by a statistical view from which can be extracted a real picture of the community at that time. According to this, thie population as taken during the summer of 1818 numbered 9,120 inhabitants of whom there were 2,364 males of 21 years and upwards and 1,632 females of the same age. The males from 12 to 21 years were 840, while the females of the same age numbered 823. Males under the age of 12 were 1,549, females 1,545, making an excess of males over females of 753. People of color num- bered 367. The population as taken for the di- rectory in July, 1819, was: White males, 5,402, white females, 4,471, a total of 9,873 white per- sons ; and male persons of color 215, females of color 195, making 410 in all. This makes a to- tal population of 10,283. This mixed assembly we are told was composed of emigrants from al- most every part of Christendom, the greater part being from the Middle and Northern States. There were many foreigners however and it was not uncommon "to hear three or four different languages spoken in the street at the same time." As a result the writer claimed that there were few of those provincial traits of character so visible in older settlements as every individual was obliged to sacrifice his prejudices and local pecu- liarities to the general opinion and to adopt a more liberal mode of acting and thinking. A spirit of enterprise and a restless ambition to ac- quire property were prevailing characteristics. "The citizens of Cincinnati are generally temper-

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

ate, peaceable and industrious. Gaming is a vice almost unknown in the city. Under the influence of a strict police, good order is maintained ; fight- ing or riot in the streets is very rare, and is uni- formly punished with rigor. Great attention is paid to the institutions of religion, and the mass of the more respectable citizens are regular in their attendance on public worship. In their parties, assemblies, and social meetings, the great- est ease and familiarity prevail, and many traits are to be met with of that politeness and urban- ity of manners which distinguish the polished circles of older cities." (p. 33.)

The number of buildings at that time was given as 1,890; of these there were of briek and stone (two stories and upwards) 387; (one story) 45; of wood (two stories and upward) 615, (one story) 843. Classified in another way there were "occupied as separate dwelling . houses 1,003, mercantile stores 95, groceries 102, druggist stores II, 'confectionaries' 4, auction and commission stores 5, printing offices 5, 'book and stationary' stores 4, places of public worship IO, banks 5, 'mechanicks'' shops, factories and mills 214, taverns 17, seminary, court house and jail 3, warehouses and other buildings 412." This enumeration was made in March, 1819, and the author states that subsequent to that time many new buildings had been erected so that at the close of the year the number would amount to more than 2,000, among which were a Court House, a jail, seminary, eight churches, two market houses and several manufactories. The Court House, the "Old Court House" so-called, which burned to the ground in 1849 as did its predecessor in 1814, had just been completed. It was 62 feet long and 56 feet wide. Its height to the cornice was 50 feet, to the summit of the dome 120 feet and to the top of the spire 160 feet. It contained two fireproof rooms in which the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Su- preme Court and the register of deeds kept their offices. It had also a spacious court room, jury rooms and offices.

The jail was a new brick building located at the head of Sycamore street about where the canal is now located. It contained seven rooms for criminals and debtors and about the same num- ber for the use of the jailer. Other buildings not previously mentioned were the new brick Methodist Church at the corner of Fourth and Plum, that of Rev. William Burke on Vine street, the Second Presbyterian Church on Wal- nut street and the Roman Catholic Church in the Northern Liberties; these last were all of

wood. An interesting item is the following in the description of the woolen factory building and the Cincinnati Manufacturing Company : "The proprietors have contracted with the Cor- poration of Cincinnati to supply the city with water. The water is to be thrown by a steam en- gine and force pump into a reservoir to be placed on the Hill, 200 feet above the river, and conveyed from thence in aqueducts to the different parts .of the city. The citizens are to have the free use of the water in cases of fire. This important un- dertaking is already commenced, and the propri- etors are bound to complete it the ensuing sea- son. The expense, it is conjectured, will ex- ceed one hundred thousand dollars. There is also connected with this establishment a patent machine for making window sashes."

The glass manufactory already mentioned, a cylindrical building of brick standing on the river at the foot of Plum street, employed 35 workmen in manufacturing various kinds of glass.

The ox saw mill was the first of the kind known to have been established upon the prin- ciple of animal power. The saws were driven by an inclined wheel put in motion by cattle walking on the wheel, an invention of Joseph B. Robinson of this city. The mill eut 800,000 feet of boards annually.

The sugar refinery carried on in a large brick building on the brow of the Hill near Broadway had a capacity of 180,000 pounds a year.

The market houses are described, the one on Fifth street as being 200 feet in length, that on Lower Market, 300 feet and the new one in the western part of the city then being erected, about 200 fect.

Under the head of education, comment is made on the fact that although every neighborhood in the city had its school which generally continued the year round, there were no public funds set apart for the purpose and the schools were sup- ported entirely by private munificence as a result of which it was feared that the children of some of the poorer classes were deprived of the means of education. Institutions mentioned were the Lancaster Seminary which had just been incorpo- rated as the Cincinnati College with Dr. Elijah Slack as president and the Medical College of Ohio which had been established in the summer of 1818 by Dr. Daniel Drake, assisted by Dr. Slaek and Dr. Coleman Rogers.

Another institution which had been established in June, 1818, and had commenced its regular meetings in July, 1819, was the Western Museum

REFERENCES.

PLAN

A. Northern Libertin at Cu

B Newport. Kentucky

C Carington DI

Steam Milt

CINCINNATI,

Broad Way Wharf Fare

Couneil Houtt

Breweries

Bank of Cincinnati

Dt Farmera t- Mechaniet

A D' Viana Frporting Co

O.JEB FAB.YAWORTE,

D'J HLMant.+ (s

Glass Works

6.4

56.

Verbadrat thurche

Frienda Meeting House

OPEN House

9 Ejnacepatran church

[ S Branch Bank

Sugar Refinery

Site of aid S' N'arkingten

8.5

Farten of' Chann' Manº C

Fin Sheet Church

LOL

Ground

.Y .?

1.4

7ª

TOP

Bank

4.7

11.11

LIJ

T ..

Hamilton

Road

Including All the late Additions yo Subdivisions, Engraved for

Boundar

m Prieksterian Cherche

R Cincinnati College

Hemauu of -incient Werks

College

...

R --

527

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

The society had 300 members, and a complete set of apparatus consisting of three large boats with four sets of drags for each boat. Three houses were also provided on the river bank for its ac- commodation. It also owned a movable bed with a stove and apparatus for warming it, and a bel- lows of several nozzles to be used when occa- sion required. The officers and directors in- cluded the following distinguished names: Will- iam Lytle, Jacob Burnet, Daniel Drake, William Burke, Benjamin Drake, Peyton Symmes, Moses Guest, Jesse Embree, Nathaniel Wright, O. B. Baldwin, James Chute, Nicholas Longworth and Elijah Slack. Another imposing list of names is that of the officers of the Miami Exporting Company, whose capital is given as $500,000. Of this the president was Oliver M. Spencer ; cashier, William Oliver; directors, David Kil- gour, Francis Carr, Griffin Yeatman, Samuel Perry, William Barr, David E. Wade, Isaac G. Burnet, William Ruffin, William Ramsey and Jesse Hunt.

William Irwin was president and Samuel W. Davies, cashier, of the Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank, whose capital was also given as a half million dollars. Some of the other directors were Thomas D. Carneal, Stephen McFarland, Nicholas Longworth, Cave Johnson, Jacob Bay- miller and William Woodward.

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 1

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1048

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048