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Gc 977.102 C49cn 1348166
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02481 0878
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https://archive.org/details/cincinnatiin184100cist 0
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FIRE MENS IN. CO.
CLOTHING STORE
PRAZER
FIRE DEPAIT
MAN.INS.CO
INSC. CO
IDAVEY
HOLDEN AYNEN141H HA
1
Engraved & Printed
Dominio & Munson
CINCINNATI LANDING.
FIREMENS INSURANCECO
CN.INS. CO
CINCINNATI IN 1841:
ITS
EARLY ANNALS
AND
FUTURE PROSPECTS.
BY CHARLES CIST.
CINCINNATI: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1841.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, BY CHARLES CIST, In the Clerk's Office for the District Court of Ohio.
Stereotyped by J. A. James, Cincinnati.
E. Morgan & Co. Power Press.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
1348166
Page.
TOPOGRAPHY
-13
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
14
BOUNDARIES AND DIVISIONS - -29
CLIMATE
-30
POPULATION
-32
Census of 1840
-32
Comparative Table
-35
Increase of Population
38
DWELLING-HOUSES AND STORES-
OCCUPATIONS, TRADES AND PURSUITS -
42
Bar, Pulpit, Faculty, Literature, Science and the Fine Arts
42
Commerce and Navigation -
42
Manufacturers and Mechanics
43
Miscellaneous-
43
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT-
44
Courts of Judicature
44
Justices of the Peace
46
Legislative and Executive Authority
46
City Council
47
City Officers
.48
County Officers
48
Township Officers
.48
COMMERCE
49 49
INSURANCE-
52
MANUFACTURES AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS
-54
METEOROLOGY
59
Winds-
-62
Rain-
63
Weather
64
Height of Barometer
65
GEOLOGY
65 70
MAGNETISM
Terrestrial Magnetism at Cincinnati
73
CANALS, RAILROADS AND TURNPIKES Miami Canal -84
76
Whitewater Canal- -86
PUBLICATIONS . -93
CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES .96
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS -99
Orphan Asylums -99
Commercial Hospital, and Lunatic Asylum of Ohio- 101
House of Employment for Female Poor- 102
Intelligence Office 102
iii
No. 1517 P. O. 2053
20.00 3-19-66
Chamber of Commerce
BANKS- 50
Temperature
.59
J. Nece
Elements of Population .38 40
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES
102
MASONIC LODGES
102
ODD FELLOWS
104
SAVINGS INSTITUTION.
107
SCIENCE AND LITERATURE
109
Academy of Natural Science
109
Apprentices' Library
109
Young Men's Mercantile Library Association EDUCATION-
111
Common Schools
111
Private Schools
116
Classical Schools
116
Colleges
116
Theological Schools
118
Law Schools-
119
College of Teachers-
121
LANE SEMINARY -
122
MEDICAL COLLEGE
125
OHIO MECHANICS' INSTITUTE
128
FINE ARTS
133
Musical Societies
136
Arts and Artists
137
Portrait and Landscape Painters
139
Miniature Painters
141
Modelers and Sculptors
141
Societies of the Fine Arts
141
Fire Association
143
Fire Companies
144
Public Cisterns
145
Fire Plugs
146
WATER WORKS
147
STEAM-BOATS-
150
UNITED STATES OFFICES
152
Surveyor General Post Office
153
ANNALS OF CINCINNATI
155
PIONEER SKETCHES
195
CENSUS SKETCHES
233
Manufactures
236
Steam Vessels-
.252
Our Schools-
.256
Reverses of Fortune.
.260
Publications
.262 Value of Property
-263
Improvements in Prospect or in Progress
268
The Catholic Cathedral-
269
The Baptist Western Theological Institute-
270
Fuel - .272
APPENDIX
275
152
FIRE DEPARTMENT
143
110
PREFACE.
I PRESUME that books may always be read to more advantage, if the reader be enabled to enter on the perusal with some general idea of their origin, design and cha- racter, and propose, therefore, in these prefatory remarks, to furnish this advantage to those who peruse these pages.
The reports which I made through the Cincinnati pub- lic prints, of my progress in taking the census of this city for 1840, enlivened and illustrated as they were, with various observations and incidents springing from my offi- cial inquiries, proved of sufficient interest to induce their republication, in whole or in part, elsewhere, in different sections of the United States. When these census labors were finished, suggestions were made to me from various quarters, abroad and at home, that a volume prepared from the materials I had gathered in the fulfilment of my trust, which should embrace what was worthy of record res- pecting Cincinnati, would be acceptable, not merely in the city which it professed to describe, but at various points, particularly to the east, where Cincinnati had long been an object of attention and curiosity, and which sec- tion of country had always appeared greatly deficient in knowledge of our statistics,-local, moral, and political. It was alleged, that although much had been published in the eastern newspaper press respecting this place, it
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PREFACE.
was partial and defective in its character, written by strangers, whose limited time, and still more limited op- portunities, precluded them from seeing any thing but what lay on the surface, or, if the result of actual investiga- tion, confined to detached objects, and individual depart- ments of business. For these reasons, it was supposed no adequate impression had been made on the public mind in the Atlantic cities, in reference to the resources, bu- siness and prospects of Cincinnati. Under these repre- sentations, and ignorant of the difficulties which lay in my path, I decided on preparing " Cincinnati in 1841" for the press, and stated, that it would be ready for the public by the first of April ensuing.
In consulting various persons, who, from their sounder judgment or pursuits in life, I deemed fit advisers as to the general scope and character of the proposed publi- cation, I discovered as many opinions, or shades of opin- ions, as there were individuals. It was thought by some, that the work should be principally historical, furnishing a narrative of the origin and settlement of Cincinnati, and the progress of the city to its present state of prosperity, with such notices of what I had observed in my census inquiries, as would be appropriate and interesting. Oth- ers, who supposed its main value to consist in its being a book of reference, were for confining it to statistical in- formation, with such general inferences and illustrations, as the subject would suggest. Another class proposed that it should form a record of the antiquities of the place, with the biography of the early settlers ; and a portion of my advisers-as numerous, probably, as any others,- suggested, that Cincinnati being known well enough at
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PREFACE.
home, the great object should be to prepare a mass of information suitable for strangers, and enable many per- sons who are constantly receiving inquiries respecting the city, either by transmitting the book, or making use of the knowledge it should impart, to answer them to ad- vantage. It may serve to give a lively impression of the diversity of views which appeared to prevail on this sub- ject, that I received as contributions to these pages, an elaborate essay on the militia system; an article on the condition and character of our colored population ; a sketch of the evils of penitentiary industry ; a chapter on the horse-jockeys in Cincinnati, and a disquisition on the va- rious breeds of hogs. With the desire to conciliate and harmonise, as far as possible, such clashing and discordant opinions, these pages have been compiled for publication.
But my embarrassments in the choice of my subjects, hardly equaled the difficulty in the undertaking itself. It was expected,-and by those not familiar with the em- ployment,-naturally enough, that my census labors pre- sented me with the materials of the very kind, and in the very shape, for the proposed enterprise. But the fact was, that the business statistics were under some twelve or fifteen heads, in the returns to the depart- ment of state; made out under what I conceived a very defective arrangement ; entirely deficient, too, in details ; and, if used in that state, would have been perfectly un- satisfactory to the community. In short, to a great extent, I had again to take my manufacturing statistics, in order to bring them into the shape required for this use. Of the consumption of time in preparing these pages, some idea may be formed when I state, that the table of man-
viii
PREFACE.
ufactures, &c., occupying but five pages, from 54 to 58, of, " Cincinnati in 1841," cost me almost two months, in accumulating the details alone.
On the other hand, I knew that a work of this kind, to fulfil, in any just degree, the expectations it raised, must make its appearance within a reasonable period, and before the information it should afford might be present- ed in other channels to the public ; and thus, with but four months' time for preparing this work, which most · persons would probably think ample space for the pur- pose, I have found myself hurried in my employment, to a degree which must account for, if it may not excuse, that want of order in arrangement, and those defects in composition, which greater leisure would have corrected.
After all, blemishes in style and forms of expression, are of secondary importance in works of this kind; and I trust it will be found that the weightier matters of fact and figures, which were gathered with deliberate care, and finished before the haste of composition occur- red, will be found as accurate as first attempts usually can be made. These pages will serve beyond the present purpose, at any rate, as a nucleus around which to gath- er the later details and incidents of a subsequent enter- prise, and enable the projector to avail himself of advan- tages, and avoid faults which occur to the eye in the condensed form of print, but escape notice in the wide range of manuscript papers and tables.
Most of the defects, however, which exist in this pub- lication, result principally from the attempt to embrace a variety too great to receive justice in a volume of three hundred pages. It was this difficulty which constrained
ix
PREFACE.
me to reduce my manufacturing notices to a meagre sketch of a few establishments, and to exclude many valuable statistics well calculated to illustrate the objects of the work. If, on these accounts, I shall fail in fulfilling pub- lic expectation, my apology must be, a desire to accom- modate all views and gratify, every taste, together with my want of that experience in this line, which would have taught me the consequences.
Of the value of what properly may be termed in these pages, mine, it does not become me to speak ; but I may be permitted to say, that the articles by professor Locke, on geology and magnetism, and on meteorology, by professor Ray, of the Ohio Medical, and Woodward colleges, will commend themselves on their face, as 'contributions of no ordinary value in the statistics of science to Europe and to our Atlantic cities. Nor to the larger class interested in those subjects, will the condensed, but still comprehen- sive views of our canals, rail-roads and turnpikes, and of our schools and colleges, from the pen of E. D. Mans- field, familiar for years with these, among other statistics, prove of less value and interest. As respects other indi- viduals, too numerous to specify or even recollect, who have supplied me with materials, I shall only say, that I have obtained all my information from the fountain head in every department of art, business, or science. A por- tion has been gathered from existing publications, which furnished me with a large share of my historical sketch- es. For these, as I know not the authors, I can not make more direct acknowledgments.
I feel it my duty to call the attention of the reader to the article in the Appendix marked A. It presents a
X
PREFACE.
clear, a startling, and I will take the responsibility of adding, an unanswerable argument on an interesting sub- ject,-the future destinies of Cincinnati,-and reconciles me to the necessity of shutting out, for want of space, an article I had prepared on the prospects before us. It will be seen by the intelligent reader, to be exactly that saga- cious and far-reaching view of the future, which is justified by the past and the present ; but which those will ridicule, who can not appreciate its force and value. All I ask, is, let any man, who thinks himself able, frame even a plaus- ible reply to it. Not a feature in its anticipations is bolder than were considered, here and abroad, the predictions of men still living, who went no farther than to assert that the younger race present, would see steam-boats bring- ing freight up from New Orleans, as low as two dol- lars per hundred lbs. ; that the day would come, when it would take as many as twenty steam-boats, of as much as one hundred tons burthen each, to do the whole bu- siness of St. Louis, Louisville, Pittsburg and Cincinnati ; that the mails would be brought from the eastern cities to this place, in twelve days ; and that property would be sold on Main street, as high as one hundred dollars per front foot. These were the visionaries of those days, who, but for their saneness in other things, and general standing in society, would have been treated with silent contempt, or thought fitted only for straight-jackets: and yet how tame and feeble was their highest flight, com- pared with the sober realities, not which were left to their children to behold, but which they lived to see extended ten, twenty and thirty-fold beyond what they had the sa- gacity to foresee and the boldness to assert. Such has
xi
PREFACE.
been the progress of the west-Cincinnati transcendantly -that if the anticipations of J. W. Scott, of Maumee ci- ty, the writer of this article, be not fulfilled, it will be the first case of the kind, which has not been accom- plished far beyond the measure, and far within the date, for which calculations have been made.
Many of the facts and illustrations of our business, re- sources, improvements, &c., are of such novelty and im- portance, as will probably startle even our own citizens. That a state of things should exist, of which numbers here are unconscious, will not, however, surprise those who reflect, that in this hive of productive industry of ours, as almost every where else, such is the engrossing nature of the avocations of life, that most persons are interested in, and familiar with little else than passes un- der their immediate notice, and lies in the path of their appropriate pursuits. Still they know that while they are busy, their neighbors are not idle; and, although they may not be familiar with the nature and extent of these employments, they will confide in statements made by one who has been long known to them as not likely to deceive, or to be himself deceived by others. I feel, therefore, that the community here will not dispute the facts and inferences of this volume, and am prepared for, as I anticipate, all that the ignorance or rivalry - of other places may suggest, in doubts or denials.
Such as it is, " Cincinnati in 1841" is now committed to the winds and waves of public sentiment. April 1st. 1841.
5
CINCINNATI IN 1841.
TOPOGRAPHY.
CINCINNATI, the largest city of the west, is situated in a gradual bend of the Ohio river, on its northern bank, and im- mediately opposite Newport and Covington, Kentucky. Its latitude was determined by colonel Jared Mansfield in his topographical surveys, 39º 6' 30" north, and its longitude 7º 24' 45" west. It is nearly central between Pittsburg at the head of the Ohio, and Cairo at the junction of that river with the Mississipi, being about 465 miles from each point. Its distance by land traveling is-from Columbus 115; Indiana- polis 120; Lexington 90; Nashville 270, and Pittsburg 298 miles. By steamboat conveyance-from Louisville 138, St. Louis 655, Natchez 1335, and New Orleans 1631 miles. By stage route it is 502 miles from Washington, 518 from Balti- more, 617 from Philadelphia, and, via Lake Erie and the Erie canal, 650 miles from New York.
The upper plane of Cincinnati is 540 feet above tide water at Albany, and 25 feet below the level of Lake Erie: low water mark of the Ohio river here being 432 feet above tide water at Albany or 133 feet below Lake Erie. The descent of the upper part of Cincinnati to low water mark is therefore 108 feet. The city is almost in the eastern extremity of a valley of about twelve miles in circumference, perhaps the most delightful and extensive on the borders of the Ohio The platform of the city is composed of two parts, the second
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13
14
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
table rising considerably above the level of the first, affording, under a regular system of city grading, that desirable medium of slope which permits the drainage to pass off freely, while it affords from the city landing an easy ascent.
The hills which surround this extensive valley, present to the eye of the beholder one continued ridge, irregularly eleva- ted, and of diversified configurations. They exhibit, under no circumstances, an aspect of grandeur; but are always beautiful and picturesque. Their average elevation above the plain, is about three hundred feet ; and, instead of the bold and rocky declivities, which characterize the freestone regions of the Ohio, they present gentle and varying slopes, which are mostly covered with native forest trees. The aspect of the valley from the surrounding hills is highly beautiful. It is various in its character, as it is seen at different seasons, and from different points .* In approaching Cincinnati by water, whether ascending or descending the river, the view is neither extensive nor commanding.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
THE Miami country, on whose Ohio river front this city is nearly a central point, was early known to the whites and an object of admiration for its great fertility. In 1751, Christo- pher Gist, agent for the old English Ohio company, explored the Great Miami river about one hundred miles, and in 1752,
* One of the views most worthy, perhaps, of attention, may be had at an early hour on one of the foggy mornings of August, or September. A spec- tator, under such circumstances, placed upon one of these hills, will find himself elevated quite above the dense vapors of the river: he will behold the sun rising free from all obscurity, while the plain below him is lost in one unbroken sheet of fog, presenting the appearance of an unruffled lake. As soon, however, as the rays of the sun fall less obliquely upon this ex- panse of vapor, it dissipates, and assuming the appearance of fleecy clouds, passes away to rarer regions, gradually disclosing the city, the river, the vil- lages, the numerous steamboats, and all the various objects of the valley.
15
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the English had built a fort or trading station among the Piank- ashaws, a tribe of the Twigtwees or Miamis, whose hunt- ing grounds were in the adjacent region on what is now called Loramie's creek, 47 miles north of Dayton. This post was attacked and taken by the French in the course of the same year. The Miami valleys were subsequently examined by Daniel Boone while captive to the Shawanees in 1778, and by the war parties which Bowman and Clark led against the Indians on the Little Miami and Mad rivers. But Kentucky at this period was barely able to maintain its own various sta- tions or posts, and had neither leisure nor men to spare for effecting a lodgment in the neighborhood of this tribe of In- dians, already well known to be one of the most efficient and inveterate enemies of the Kentucky settlers. 'Treaties with the various savage tribes having been made or renewed in 1784, 1785 and 1786, by which the country upon the Mus- kingum, Scioto and the Miamis was ceded to the whites ; among others whose attention was directed to the settlement of the new country was Benjamin Stites of Redstone-now Brownsville-Pennsylvania. He visited New York to pur- chase from congress for himself and associates, a tract on the Miamis, and there proposed to John Cleves Symmes, a mem- ber of congress from New Jersey, to unite in the enterprize, relying probably on his official influence to effect the pur- chase. Mr. Symmes decided on seeing the country before entering into any contract, and on his return completed the arrangement in his own name. The tract thus purchased was supposed to contain one million acres of land upon the Ohio, and lying between the Miamis. On actual survey, however, this extent was reduced to less than six hundred thousand acres. Of this purchase ten thousand acres at the mouth of the Little Miami were shortly after sold by the patentee to Mr. Stites, and in January, 1788, the entire section No. 18 in the fourth township and first fractional range, and the fraction No. 17 lying between it and the river were purchased by Matthias Denman of New Jersey. These, with the fractional section
16
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
No. 12 in the same township and range, compose the present site of Cincinnati.
In the summer of 1788, several emigrating parties left New York and New Jersey, for the settlement of the " new pur- chase," as it was called. Among these was Denman and his associates, who reached Maysville-then Limestone-Ken- tucky, in August, and an arrangement was entered into there between Denman, colonel Robert Patterson and John Filson of Lexington, by which the three became jointly interested in the project of laying out a town and establishing a ferry opposite the mouth of Licking, being the ground purchased by Den- man. The old Indian war-path from the British garrison at Detroit crossed the Ohio at this point, which was also the usu- al avenue by which the savages on the northern side of the Ohio approached the Kentucky stations.
As an inducement to settlers the new proprietors agreed to give an in lot six rods by twelve, being nearly half an acre, and an out lot, being an entire square in the plat and about four acres in extent, to each of the first settlers, on condition of their making certain improvements to promote the growth of the place.
The proprietors took possession accordingly in the latter part of September, 1788. On this occasion among others who came to see the country or to settle in it, were Symmes, Israel Lud- low and others. They here separated,-Symmes, Patterson and Filson, with a part of the company, going farther back from the river to examine the country, while Denman with Ludlow, who was a surveyor, and a few others, followed the meanders of the Ohio between the Miami rivers and up the Great Miami about ten miles. Three days being thus spent, the two companies met on the site of the future Cincinnati, when it was found that Filson was missing. He was never heard of afterwards, and had doubtless been surprised and killed by Indians.
The Denman party then returned to Limestone, where a new agreement was made in October, to which Ludlow be-
17
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
came a party in Filson's place, and was besides empowered to act as agent for the others in all things relating to the town. The plat of the proposed town was made at this time, dedi- cating for religious and municipal uses the square between 4th and 5th and Main and Walnut streets, and for public purpo- ses, what now constitutes the city landing, reserving only to the proprietors in this last grant, a ferry-right. Denman re- turned at once to New Jersey, and Patterson soon after to Ken- tucky, leaving the new settlement in the hands of Ludlow. Some few years afterwards, Joel Williams purchased the re- maining interest of Matthias Denman, as did Samuel Free- man that of Patterson ; and the proprietors, for the first time, were now all residents of Cincinnati.
On the 28th December 1788,* Israel Ludlow, with about twenty other persons, landed and commenced a settlement. They erected three or four log cabins, the first of which was built on Front, east of and near Main street; and in the course of January following was completed the survey and laying off of the town, then covered with sycamore and sugar trees in the first or lower table, and beech and oak upon the upper or second table. Through this dense forest the streets were laid out, their corners being marked upon the trees. This survey extended from Eastern-row, now Broadway, to Western-row, and from the river as far as to Northern-row, now Seventh street. The population of the place had become by this time eleven families, besides twenty-four unmarried men dwelling
* It is not possible, amidst varying and conflicting testimony, to arrive at certainty as respects this date. Israel Ludlow and colonel Patterson, in their deposition in a chancery case years afterwards, state that they landed opposite the mouth of Licking in the month of January, 1789 ; while Wil- liam McMillen, one of the same party and a very intelligent man, testifies in the same case, " that he was one of those who formed the settlement of Cincinnati, on the 28th of December, 1788." Mr. Denman, in the case " Lessee of the city of Cincinnati vs. First Presbyterian Church," speaks of the settlement as having occurred late in December, 1788. It is agreed by all, that the party left Limestone on the 24th December, and the fact that the river was full of ice at the time, renders all conclusions founded on pro- bability unavailable.
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