USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 1 > Part 70
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MURRAY'S RECOLLECTIONS.
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When William Murray was a boy, or from 1810 to 1820, the business of the town was done along the river bank, between the two ferries, one of which crossed the river at the foot of what is now known as Dayton Street, and the other at that point where the old bridge was situated. This ground is now covered with shops. A large market-house also stood on High Street. Ross- ville contained but a very few houses.
The first printing-office was opened and the first paper printed in 1814 in the old building then standing on the south-west corner of Dayton and Water Streets. This paper was the Miami Intelligencer.
This house of Mr. Murray stood on the It opposite Snider's paper-mill, and the lot is now used by that mill. It was destroyed by fire in 1839. Colonel Campbell's present residence was built by John Reed in 1808. Mr. Reed was at that time boarding with Mr. Murray's father. The Sutherland corner, now occupied by Rothenbush & Ratliff, was built in 1810-11. The court-house was com- menced in the year 1813, and completed in 1815.
Schmidtmanu's corner, now called the Central Honse, was built in 1816, a portion of the original structure still standing.
The first brick houses were built in 1817-18 on High Street, near Frechtling's new store, and were known as the " brick row."
The covered bridge, washed away in 1866, was com- meneed in 1818, but was not completed until the latter part of the next year.
Masonic Hall, corner of Third and Dayton Streets,
was our first school-house. This building was put up in 1817. There was a little log cabin, standing near where the United Presbyterian Church now stands, which was taught by a Presbyterian preacher. The village of Ham- ilton never attained to the dignity of a town until the Miami Canal was dug. Soon after this was cut through, in 1826, the place began to grow, and became mach healthier. Before, it was no nncommon thing for every body to be sick with chills and fever, so that often there were not enough well to take care of the sick.
EDWARD MURPHY.
In the year 1800, when about twenty years old, Ed- ward Murphy came to Hamilton, then a village contain- ing but a few rudely constructed buildings of wood, and commenced work at blacksmithing. At this time there were but two smith shops in the place, the one owned by Samuel Doreus, the other by Mr. Wiles. After peace was declared in 1815, he engaged in blacksmithing in Hamilton, where for fifty years he followed his voca- tion. Prominent among those with whom he was early associated in the business relations of early life were Isaac Watson and Jeremiah Mausur. Other names with whom he was associated were John Reily, John Suth- erland, Joseph Hough, Thomas Blair, John Pierson, Ludlow Pierson, Anderson Spencer, Sheriff MeClellan, Michael Delorac, and James Mill, who built the first brick house in Hamilton.
THE BIGHAMS.
The Bigham family was an important and influential one in this county at a very early period. The father of the family, William Bighan, was born in Williams- burg, Virginia, November 1, 1752, and was marrie:] to Mary Reed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1779. He made two trips to the West; first, in 1795, and again in 1801, purchasing, in the first expedi- tion, land in Cincinnati and near to it, and also in Hamilton. He came West to reside in 1809, when he brought to Cincinnati his wife, four sons -- David, George R., James, and William ; and two dangh- terx, Mary and Judith. One daughter was married in Pennsylvania, and two near Cincinnati. In- the Spring of 1810 he settled on a large tract of land on the Miami River above the town, where he died on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1815. He was a member and an efficient ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church in Hamilton. and was considered the father of that denomination in this place. By his will he gave a considerable sum to the Presby- terians to aid in erecting a house of worship, which, two years after his death, was done.
David Bigham, his son, was born in Pennsylvania, April 3, 1788, and came out here with his father on his second visit. He intended to study for the ministry, but was prevented by a cancer, which, however, was snl se- quently cured. He was twice married. His first union
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
was to Miss Beardsley, of Westchester, and his second to Mrs. Susan Cummins, daughter of John Ludlow, by whom he had six children. He was a man of high moral and intellectual character, and was ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church for thirty-one years, having been elected in 1815, at the time of the death of his father. His home was the resort of the first men of the country. His house was noted for its hospitality, and it was ever open for his friends. He kept up his studies, and his knowledge of Latin and Greek rendered his society use- ful and much sought after by the clergy and others. He built a residence and a woolen factory, which he con- ducted till his death, February 17, 1847. The city of Hamilton afterwards bought a large traet of the old homestead, and it is now used as Greenwood Cemetery.
George R. Bigham, his brother, resided with his father, inheriting the homestead and a portion of his father's land, where he remained until the year 1834, then removing to a house previously ereeted in Hamil- ton. In June, 1822, he accepted the appointment of county surveyor, to succeed James Heaton, who had been appointed in 1803. These duties he filled until Octo- ber, 1836, when he was succeeded by Ludwick Best. He was remarkable for the minute accuracy of his sur- veys, and spent much time, after his office had expired, in practice. He was one of those employed to make the first survey of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Rail- road. In 1838 he entered into partnership with William Wilson, but after eight er nine years the firm failed for a large amount. The debts were paid in full, but it took Mr. Bigham's entire fortune to do it. In October, 1852, he was taken ill, and died on the 14th of that month. He had all his life long been a Presbyterian, being one of the members who organized the first Pres- byterian Church, and at the time of his death was the last survivor of those who aided in its formation, and who still lived here. He was twice married; first, to Margaret Gormley. and second, to Margaret Cook. The daughter of the first marriage, Margaret, married Dr. A. B. Nixon, now of California.
Of George R. Bigham's brothers and sisters, Mary married Robert Taylor, of Rossville, and soon after died; Judith married David Dick; James was married, first, to Catherine Scobey, and, second, Martha Dick ; and William married Martha C. Ross. He was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, being the third from the same family.
EDUCATION.
No record has been preserved of the earliest teacher in Hamilton, nor of the school over which he presided. The town had lasted fifteen years before any pedagogue now remembered came upon the scene. Mr. Ritchie, whose first name has not been preserved, came here about the year 1810, and taught upon Front Street, in the Third Ward, upon lot No. 174. Hle afterwards re- moved to a log house, upon the site of St. Mary's
Church. There he continned teaching for several years, and being a bachelor, kept his own house. One morn- ing the pupils came at the usual hour, and found him dead. He was a rigid disciplinarian, and did not spare the rod. A school was carried on for some time after his death by another teacher, but the name is forgotten.
In 1812 the Rev. Matthew G. Wallace, who had been preaching occasionally in Hamilton, came to the place to live, and organized a Presbyterian Church. Hle also opened a school for instruction in the usual English branches and the classics, in the old court-house. A drawing of the building hangs in the present court-house. The next school was on Second Street, on a part of lot No. 188, where the Benninghofen residence now is. Here, about the year 1815, Benjamin B. Pardee gave instruction. Very nearly at the same time there was a school in Rossville, near the river, half-way between the present suspension and railroad bridges. It was con- dueted by Mr. Elder, and was attended by pupils from both sides of the river.
At abont the same time Alexander Proudfit, who had been classically educated, came to study medicine with Doctor Daniel Millikin, and at the same time to teach. Doetor Millikin built him a school-house on the north side of Heaton Street, between Second and Third Streets, on lot No. 203. It was of hewed logs. Doctor Milli- kin's own children attended, and in course of time many from other families.
In 1818 the Hamilton Literary Society erected, at the south-west corner of Third and Dayton Streets, the first story of a briek building, twenty-two by thirty-six feet, the Masonie fraternity afterwards adding a story for the use of its order. Here taught the Rev. James McMechan aud Henry Baker. Joseph Blackleach fol- lowed them, remaining for two years, and having ser- enty or eighty pupils. He died in 1819 or 1820, while on a visit to Oxford. After him came Hugh B. Haw- thorne.
In 1819 Ellen A. MeMech .n, daughter of Rev. James MeMechau, who was then dead, opened a school on the north-east corner of Third and Buckeye Streets, lot No. 181, teaching there for one year. Removing from this location, she continued her school on Ludlow Street, ucar the north-west corner of Third, where she taught for seven years. She had about seventy pupils, of whom Mrs. L. D. Campbell and Mrs. John M. Millikin, and perhaps others, are still alive. She had been thoroughly trained, and to have been in her school was regarded as being itself a compliment. She charged three dollars for each term of five months, teaching five and a halt days each week. There were other teachers who did not ask as much.
The Rev. Francis Moufort taught between the years 1820 and 1822, in a frame house on the corner of Third aud High Streets, let No. 103, being the one now ocen- pied by Hughes Brothers. He gave instruction in the
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HAMILTON.
classics and higher mathematics, besides the ordinary English branches.
Benjamin F. Raleigh taught from 1825 to 1830. He was township clerk of Fairfield Township for several years, and was township superintendent of common schools. This is the first notice we find of the common school system. He was a large, powerful man, and ad- ministered the government of the school with vigor.
Greer, another school teacher, whose place was on lot No. 72, was also a believer in the strong mode of teach- ing. "From the center of the room where he sat he would reach and remind his scholars with a hickory rod ten feet in length."
The most important school for the instruction of young ladies ever here was originated by John Woods in 1832. He drew up articles of association for the foundation of a seminary, designed to give a more thorough education than was then possible, to be entitled the Hamilton and Rossville Female Academy. Subscriptions to the amount of two thousand five hundred dollars were soon obtained, and the stockholders met and elected John Woods, the Rev. Doctor David MacDill, the Rev. Augustus Pom- eroy, James McBride, and Caleb DeCamp, directors of the association. Let No. 247 was purchased, on Water Street, and a school-house erected, being the one now ocenpied as a city building, and in which the fire re- cently occurred. This was finished in the year 1834, and on the 7th of March, 1835, a bill was passed by the "Legislature incorporating the academy. The bill was drafted by William Bebb, afterwards governor of the State.
Miss Maria Drummond was the first teacher. On the 8th of October, 1835, Miss Georgetta Haven took charge of the school at a salary of four hundred dollars a year, but this was afterwards increased to five hundred dollars. Miss Amelia Locker and Miss Eliza Huffman were em- ployed as assistants at salaries of four hundred and three hundred dollars respectively. The academy soon. became very prosperous, and in the Summer of 1836 there were one hundred and twenty-seven pupils upon the daily roll.
At the close of Miss Haven's administration, which lasted several years, the academy was conducted by Doc -. tor Giks, Mr. Batchelder, Mr. Marchant, Mr. Furman, and others. But the common schools had now gone into operation, and they interfered with the success of the academy. In 1856 it was closed, and the building and site sold. The directors had an idea that the location of the building interfered with it, and determined to try a new location, but, although twenty-six years have since elapsed, they have not found it. The school had worthily fulfilled its mission, and from its balls many of our best lulies received their instruction.
From an old circular of the academy, in 1841, we take the following names of the young ladies who attended! :
Margaret Abbot, Eliza Bebb, Margaret G. Bigham, Re- Wwwva Beaty, Mary D. Budd, Catharine Brietenbach, Sarah
F. Crawford, Dorcas Couch, Mary E. Curtis, Isaphine Crane, Sarah A. Conner, Caroline Cornell, Susan Daniels, Lydia A. Dunn, Julia Durrough, Mary E. Elmer, Keziah Elliott, Eliza- beth Fisher, Jane Hunter, Mary Jane Hunter, Eleanor Hueston, Emma Ingersoll. Sarah Jones, Amanda Kline, Caroline Keyes, Amanda Louthan, Emma Leffer, Marietta McBride, Lydia M. McDill, Mary MeCleary, Amanda McDonald, Ellen M. Matthias, Emily E. Matthias, Elizabeth C. Meyers, Caroline Millikin, Elizabeth Meredith, Sarah Morris, Jane Payne, Aun Payne, Emma Payne, Charlotte P'otter, Lucy Rigdon, Ellen Rigdon, Laura Rigdon, Isabella Suther- land, Elizabeth Traber, Marcella Smith, Nancy A. Stearns, Sarah Sinnard, Angelina Smith, Dell Scott, Martha Traber, Mary A. Taylor, Catharine Taylor, Sophia Thomas, Martha Woods, Rebecca Woods, Rachei Woods, Caroline M. Wil- liams, Elizabethi Watkins, Mary Van Hook, Susan Van Hook,
Another institution which had considerable celebrity in its day was the Rossville Presbyterian Academy, then under the direction of the. Rev. Thomas E. Thomas. An advertisement of his in 1848 reads:
This Institution, established a year since, under the direction of Oxford Presbytery, may now be regarded as upon a permanent basis. The experiment of the past year has proved entirely successful; more than fifty pupils having been in attendance during that period. The Institution is founded upon the principle of connecting careful religions training with intellectual education. The Bible is studied systematically, and recited daily, by every scholar. Our de- sign is both to prepare young men for College, and to afford a good academical education for those who desire nothing more.
The course of study will embrace Rhetorical Readings, Geography, Grammar, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geom- etry, Ancient and Modern History, particularly that of the United States, the Constitution and Government of the Uni- ted States; Natural History, including Anatomy, Physiology, etc .; the Latin and Greck Languages; Old and New Testa- ment History, the Episties and Prophecies, Biblical Antiqui- ties, and an abridgment of Horne's Introduction to the study of the Scriptures, together with stated exercises, in Declamation and Composition.
Terms per Session, five, seven, or ten dollars, in propor- tion to the advancement of the pupils; to be paid invariably in advance.
Boarding may be had, in private families, for one doliar and fifty cents per week.
THOMAS E. THOMAS. Principal. JOHN THOMAS, Assistant.
By order of Presbytery,
THOMAS E. THOMAS, Chairman of Committec. October 2, 1848.
The common school system was inaugurated in 1825, but met with much opposition. From the time it went into effect down to 185! the schools of what are now the Second, Third, and Fourth Wards were under the con- trol of the school authorities of Fairfield Township, and those of the First Ward were under the directors of St. Clair Township. The Second and Third Wards were then School District No. 1, and the Third Ward was District No. 10. It appears from the records that sharp bargains were made with the teachers whenever practica- ble, and they were frequently eugaged by the day.
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
The first school-building for the use of common schools was erected not far from 1837. In this Mr. Bebb took great interest. He suggested the plan, ad- vanced a large portion of the money needed, and devoted much time to the completion of the work. This is now a part of the Third Ward School, on Dayton Street.
April 19, 1851, an election was held in which the electors voted for or against the adoption of the act of February 21, 1849, providing that cities and towns may be formed into one district, to be governed by a board of six directors and three examiners. It was adopted, and the officers chosen soon after took their position. Two of the directors, John W. Erwin and John W. Sohn, are still living in Hamilton. The examiners, Isaac Robertson, Doctor Cyrus Falconer, and William Huber, all are alive, and in the active practice of their profes- sions. June 21, 1851, the first tax was levied by the board, being one and one-fourth mills on the dollar. June 30th, the township funds were transferred to John W. Sohn, treasurer. In 1852 the schools were classified. In 1853 Mr. J. W. Legg, of Piqua, was engaged, at a salary of fifty dollars per month. In 1854, after the union of Rossville and Hamilton, Alexander Bartlett was appointed superintendent of schools, at a salary of eighty dollars per month. The ladies employed as teachers, who this year received twenty-five dollars per month, petitioned for an advance, but it was not granted.
It had been a condition of the union of the two towns that a school-house should be erected in the First Ward, and on the 29th of May, 1856, the board of education adopted a resolution requesting the city council to ad- vance sufficient money to build the house. On the 14th of August the council passed an ordinance appropriating eleven thousand dollars in aid of the work. The build- ing was put up, but its cost fair exceedled this amount. In June of this year the pupils were classified. In 1857 the office of superintendent of schools was sepa- rated from the duties of principal of the high school, and G. E. Howe was chosen superintender t, at a salary of one thousand a year, and on January 12, 1858, S. A. Norton was placed in charge of the high school, at a salary of eight hundred dollars per year. This was the time at which the First Ward school-house was com- pleted, the force of teachers having in the meantime been increased from eight, employed in 1854, to seventeen.
In 1861 the schools were under the superintendency of John K. Chamberlin, now of Cincinnati. Doctor W. W. Caldwell became a member of the board of educa- tion in 1859, and was president in 1861. In 1862 he was elected treasurer of the board, holding that office until 1875, making a total of sixteen years' service. The German-English department was organized in 1851, the first teacher being Matthew Pfaetllin. The superin- tendent continued to hear lessous, as a part of his duty, until 1870. Mr. Chamberlin was succeeded by Mr. I. T. Wheeler, and he by John A. Shank, John Edwards,
and E. Bishop, the latter retiring in 1871. Little is known about their labors.
The colored school was organized in September, 1853, and was taught in a dilapidated old shanty, situated on the site now occupied by the colored church. In 1867 a building was finally erected, at a cost of two thousand dollars.
In 1871 the public schools passed under the manage- ment of Mr. Alston Ellis, and he was succeeded by Mr. .L. D. Brown, the present superintendent, March 1, 1879. . In 1873 it was resolved to build a school-house in the Fourth Ward. A lot had been purchased three years before, at a cost of four thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight dollars. The plans and specifications of the building were prepared and approved in June, 1873, and the contract was awarded in July. The house was first occupied in September, 1874, and had ten commodious, well ventilated school-rooms, each having a seating capac- ity for fifty-six pupils, and a large room for general ex- ercises on the third floor. The building is very thoroughly put up, and every thing was done in the best manner. When completed and the bills brought in a very severe criticism was indulged in, on account of the cost, which was much beyond what had been expected. The following are the details:
Main Building-Erection of the building, $66,025 65
Lightning rods, . 270 00
Architect, 1,866 00
Total cost of main building, 68,161 65
Janitor's House-Erection of the building, 6,732 67
Furniture, Stores, etc .- School-desks, stoves, and other furniture, 2,277 45
Fence-Putting up fence and painting the same, . 1,904 00
Grading Lot-Filling up and grading school-lot. . 1,979 38 Miscellaneous-Negotiating bonds issued by the board of education, 10,800 36
Well and Pump, 193 00
GRAND TOTAL.
Issued in bonds, 90,372 51
Cash, 1,176 00
$91,548 00
There are now in Hamilton five school-buildings, one for each of the first four wards, and one for the colored schools. The Fifth Ward, being lately organized, has no school-house. School is taught 200 days in the year, 2,008 children being enrolled, with a supposed number of a thousand children in the private and paro- chial schools. There were 5,058 children of school age, showing that two thousand do not attend school any- where. The valuation of school property in the district is $5,600,525, on which the tax levied is five mills ou the dollar. The school property is valued at $125,000. Thirty-six teachers are employed, 13 of whom are in the German-English department, and one in music. The average pay of teachers per year was 8540. There were 51 teachers in the public schools. On the whole, the schools seem to be conducted in a very satisfactory manner.
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HAMILTON.
BANK OF HAMILTON.
On the 19th of December, 1817, the Legislature of the State of Ohio passed a law incorporating the Bank of Hamilton, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars.
In the Spring of 1818 books for the subscription of · stock opened, and an amount sufficient to authorize the bank to go into operation being subscribed, an election for directors was held. On the 11th of July, 1818, the board of directors elected met for the first time, and ap- pointed John Reily president and William Blair cash- ier of the bank. Bank notes having been engraved and prepared for eireulation, the directors met on the 30th of July, made their first discounts, and the bank went into operation. The bank was kept north of the Public Square, immediately opposite the court-house, in the front room of Dr. Jacob Hittel's brick house, then owned by William Blair.
The capital stock paid into the bank was $33,062.68, on which they continued' to discount and do a small but respectable business for several years. In the Fall of the year 1818, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States required all payments due the United States to be made in gold or silver or bills of the Bank of the United States, in consequence of which the banks of the State of Ohio, and the banks in the West gener- ally, suspended specie payments about the 1st of Novem -. ber. The Bank of Hamilton suspended specie payments on the 9th of November, 1818.
In May, 1819, the Farmers' and Mechanies' Bank of Cincinnati, by an agreement with the treasury depart- meut, became a depository of the public moneys, on which they resumed specie payments. Under these eir- eumstances application was made to the Bank of Hamil- ton on the 27th of May, 1819, by their agent, Nicholas Longworth, for a loan of $10,000 in specie, in order to enable them to sustain themselves and carry out their agreement with the treasury department. . This, it was represented, they were abundantly able to Go, as they were to have a permanent deposit from the govern- ment of $100,000 which, it was stated, exceeded tlie amount of their paper in circulation, consequently they could only be pressed for a short period, the specie to be returned at any time, on a moment's warning, and not to be affected by any amount of the notes of the Bank of Hamilton which they might have in hand at the time. It was also proposed to make the notes of the Bank of Hamilton receivable in the land office, if desired, on terms that would be mutually satisfactory, and on the general resumption of specie .payments they proposed to reciprocate the accommodation in any way that might be most advantageous for the Bank of Hamilton. The proposition was acceded to by the directors of the Bank of Hamilton, and the sum of $10,000 in silver paid over to the Farmers' and Mechanics Bank on the 15th of Jime, 1819. A few weeks afterwards the Farmers' and
Mechanics' Bank suspended specie payments and closed their doors. A correspondence was commeneed with the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank on the subject of the loan, which they were unable to return or seeure. Finally, in May, 1820, a deed was made by the Farmers' and Me- chanics' Bank to the Bank of Hamilton, for their banking house and lot, being the three-fourth parts of lot No. 103, on Main Street, between Front and Columbia Streets, in the city of Cincinnati, which was accepted in full for the loan of $10,000, including interest.
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