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 74
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HAMILTON.
witnesses were Henry S. Earhart, George W. Tapscott, and Robert Harper.
But on Sunday, February 28, 1836, Michael Delorac, instigared, doubtless, by the devil and an inordinate great of gain, sold a grindstone for the sum of one dol- lar and fifty cents. He was arrested "for being found on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, sporting and at common labor, in violation of the stat- utes," etc., and fined one dollar and costs.
On the same day John B. Weller, John Woods, and William Bebb were arrested on a similar warrant for Sabbath breaking. The facts in these cases are as fol- lows :
"The said defendant (Weller), on Sunday, the 28th of February last, in company with others, left Hamilton on horseback for Eaton, in Preble County, with the avowed intention of attending the Court of Common Pleas in that county, which commeneed its session on the ensuing Monday.
"The defendant, John B. Weller, moved the court to be discharged, upon the grounds that the facts, as proved, do not bring the case within the section of law under which he is arraigned, to wit, the first section of an act entitled, 'An act for the prevention of immoral prac- tices,' because the charge, as proved, is no violation of the laws of Ohio, and not recognized as an offense. Which motion was overruled by the mayor, who refused to discharge the defendant on the grounds above stated, whereupon the said defendant tendered his bill of excep- tions, which was signed by the mayor, and the mayor assessed a fine of one dollar for the offense and costs of suit."
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Daniel Skinner, who had the temerity to engage in the sport or amusement of sleigh-riding on the Sunday of February 28, 1836, was summarily arrested, and, on the testimony of W. H. Bartlett, Jesse Corwin, John Eichel- berger, Israel Gregg, and John G. Ritter, vindicated his reputation and succeeded in obtaining a verdiet of not guilty.
The amiversary of our national independence was appropriately celebrated by the citizens in 1830. An impressive address to the throne of grace was offered up by the Rev. Mr. J. Bradley, of Middletown. The Declaration of Independence was read by W. Murray, Jr., and an eloquent oration pronounced by James Reily. The procession was again formed and marched to Ross- ville, where an elegant dinner was prepared by Mr. Ingersoll, for which the company appeared to have ex- client appetites.
The political contest between General Jackson, Henry Clay, and John Q. Adams for the Presidency produced great excitement in the county of Butler, dividing the people into pasties, which opposed and assailed each other with ali the violence of party rancor. On the success of General Jacksou, in the Fall of 1828, great rejoicing was made by the successful party. A celebration was
had, and barbecue made in Rossville on the 4th of March, 1829, being the day on which General Jackson was inaugurated. A fatted ox was furnished by Jacob Webr, which was roasted whole, on the common of the river bank, in the lower part of Rossville, which, with bread furnished from the bakery, formed the bill of fare. Two or three hundred persons were present, who, with their knives, each cut off such part of the ox as suited their taste. This, with bread and an abundance of whisky, obtained from the neighboring groceries, consti- tuted the repast. The day was somewhat rainy and the ground muddy, and the liberal potations of whisky used at the feast rendered the appearance of the assemblage in the evening like any thing else. than a temperance meeting.
In July, 1830, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, paid a visit to Hamilton, in accordance with an invitation re- ceived from the citizens of the place, communicated through a committee who had been appointed to wait on him for that purpose. He arrived at Hamilton on Thursday, the 29th of July, and on the next day par- took of a publie dinner provided on the occasion. The dinner was prepared by Thomas Blair and served up in elegant style under the shade of the locust trees in the public square, on the east side of the court-house, about two o'clock, at which two hundred and eleven persons sat down, being all that the table would accommodate. John Bigger, of Warren County, officiated as president of the day. After the dinner was over toasts were given and drank with great glec. After the toast complimen- tary to Mr. Clay had been given and drank, he addressed the assembled multitude from the east door of the court- house in a speech of great eloquence and effect, which occupied about two hours in the delivery. There were about one thousand persons present to hear him.
In the evening a brilliant party was given in honor of Mr. Clay, at the house of John Woods, then men:ber of Congress from this district.
The house and yard were brilliantly illuminated and crowded to overflowing, and all the beauty and elegance of the town and neighborhood were present to welcome and take by the hand their celebrated guest. On Satur- day Mr. Clay bade farewell to Hamilton, and proceeded to Cincinnati, on his way to Ashland.
HAMILTON BASIN.
In the year 1826 and 1827 that portion of the Miami Canal between Cincinnati and the Miami fields above Middletown was constructed, passing on the east side of the town of Hamilton at the distance of nearly a mile from the Miami River, and about half a mile front inlots of the town. On the first day of July, 1827, the water was let into the Miami Canal by the feeder, two miles above Middletown. The first boat on it was built at. Middletown by Robert L. Campbell, and called the Samuel Forrer. On the fourth day of July, the water
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316
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
having reached Middletown, the canal-boat made several trips from Middletown to the eanal feeder. The eanal filled slowly, so that it took more than a month before the water reached Hamilton. In Angust the canal-boat Sumuel Forrer came down to Hamilton, and remained some time, making trips with ladies and gentlemen for pleasure to Middletown and to the neighborhood of the big pond below Hamilton.
In December, 1827, the citizens of Hamilton and . Rossville had a publie meeting at the court-house in Ham- ilton, at which they passed resolutions setting forth their grievances in consequence of the location and construction of the Miami Canal, and appointed Robert B. Millikin, John Reily, and Thomas Blair their agents to memorialize the board of canal comunissioners on the subject of a lat- eral canal and basin, and perform such other matters as miglit be deemed necessary. A survey and plan with an estimate of the expense of constrneting a side eut or lateral eanal from the main canal to the town of Hamilton was made by Jesse L. Williams, an engineer on the Miami Canal, and now living at a good old age in Fort Wayne, which was forwarded to the board of canal commissioners, together with a memorial by the agents on behalf of the citizens, praying that the board would, on behalf of the State of Ohio, make a location of a lateral canal and basin at Hamilton, and grant the citizens the privilege of its construction, and give them such pecuniary aid as they might deem proper. Jesse Corwin was appointed by the citizens to proceed to Colnn:bus and lay the memorial be- fore the board of canal commissioners, and represent the ease as well to the board as to the Legislature. Dr. Dan- iel Millikin was afterwards associated with him to seeond him in his efforts.
On the presentation of this memorial, the board of eanal commissioners, at a meeting hell at Columbus, on the fifteenth day of January, 1828, passed the following resolution :
" Resolved, That in the event of the General Assembly granting to the board of canal commissioners the author- ity to lay out and construet side cuts, or lateral canals, as suggested in the last report of the board, the aeting eom- missiener be authorized to lay out and establish a side eut from the Miami Canal to the town of Hamilton, and upon the construction of it by the inhabitants of said town, in the manner he shall prescribe, to pay towards the cost of the same to the persons properly authorized to receive it, a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars."
In compliance with the request of the citizens of Ham- iltou, the Legislature of the State of Ohio, on the eleventh day of February, 1828, passed a law authorizing the canal commissioners " to construct, or permit to be constructed, a navigable communication between the Miami Canal and the town of Hamilton, in the county of Butler, and if they should deem it inexpedient to construct such com- munication at the expense of the State, they may permit it to be done at the expense of individuals desiring such
communication under such regulations and restrictions as will secure the interest of the State."
On the passage of this law subscription papers were immediately put into cireulation, and a sum deemed sufficient to complete the work was soon subscribed. When this was accomplished, on the application of the citizens, Mieajah T. Williams, aeting eanal commissioner on the Miami line, on the thirty-first day of March, 1828, entered into a contract with Andrew MeCleary, of Rossville, to construct the basin at seven and three- fourths cents per eubic yard for the embankment.
The length of the Hamilton side cut, or basin, from the main eanal was fifty-thirce ehains and sixty-two links. The natural surface of the ground on which the basin was constructed being some four or five feet lower than the bottom of the main canal, it was laid out of such a width as to admit of the earth and gravel being taken from the center to constrnet the banks. The basin was one hundred and twenty feet wide at the bottom, and one hundred and forty-eight feet wide at the surface of the water, having an average depth of about eighteen: feet. On each side was a towing path eight feet wide, which, with the slope of the banks, made the whole width occupied by the basin from the outside base of one bank to the outside base of the other bank about two hundred and six feet. The surface of the water in the basin being about five feet above the general level of the town, it prescuted a beautiful appearance.
Mr. MeCleary, the contractor, commeneed the work immediately on his elosing the eoutraet, and prosecuted it with vigor, so that the whole was completed by the 13th of Deeember, 1828, and the water let into the basin a few days afterwards. The bottom of the basin being a very loose gravel and the banks also gravel, it required a consider- able length of time to fill it and some care to prevent the banks from giving way. The water leaked through the banks and at the bottom, rising up in High Street and the low ground on the north so as to overflow to the depth of three or four feet in the street in the front of Mrs. Caldwell's residence, doing considerable damage to property in that part of the town, until a drain was dug down Basiu Street to convey the water to the river. The leakage continued for several months. Mr. MeCleary paid at that time for a man and two horses and a seraper only seventy-five cents per day ; for a stout, able-bodied man, thirty eents per day, and, notwithstanding the cheap labor, he lost over one thousand and five hundred dollars.
The whole cost of constructing the Hamilton basin amounted to the following sum:
For 80,413 cubic yards of embankment, at 72 cents per yard. . $6,232 00
For grabbing, safety-gate, bridges, and other work. 575 52
For puddling, securing safety-gate, digging ditch to drain water to the river, and other ex- penses necessarily incident to the construction of the work, . 695 50
$7,503 02
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HAMILTON.
Two thousand dollars of which was paid by the State of Ohio and the remaining sum by the citizens of Ham- ilton and Rossville.
Au office for the collection of tolls was established at the east end of the Hamilton basin, on the main line of the canal, in March, 1828, and Pierson Sayre appointed collector, with a salary of two hundred dollars per year. He then lived in East Hamilton, and continued in office until the 1st of April, 1830, when he resigned, and Wil- . liam Blair was appointed in his room, with a salary of three hundred dollars per year.
In March, 1832, the office was removed to the west end of the basin. On the first day of March, 1832, William Blair resigned the office and Robert Harper was appointed in his stead, who served until the first day of March, 1836, when he resigned, and John Crane was appointed, who continued in office to 1844. On the 27th of January, 1844, the Legislature passed a law declaring that the collectors of canal tolls should be entitled to receive such compensation as shall be allowed by the board of public works, not exceeding two-thirds of the amount now allowed. The salary of the collector of Hamilton was reduced to two hundred dollars per year.
The following persons succeeded Mr. Crane: William C. Howells, Daniel Skinner, James George, and James Dougherty.
The following is the list of original subscribers:
Isaac Anderson, $10 00 Hunter & Nutt, $10 00
A. P. Andrews,
10 00 Peier Helwig, 1 00
Jonas Ball, . 3 00 John Hunter, 5 00
John Beach, 10 00 Robt. J. Howard, 20 00
Thomas Blair, 100 00 Isaac Ilowe, 10 00
James Boal, . 100 00 Robert Hewes, 5 00
William Blair, 50 00 Matth. Hueston, 10 00
Geo. P. Bell, . 25 00 Henry Jacoby, . 5 00
Thomas Burns, 25 00 William Jones, 10 00
C. & HI. Bowers, 20 00 John Johnston, 5 00
Russel Burrows, 10 00 Aaron Jewell. 50 00
Jas. Broadberry, 1 00
Geo. Burnap, 5 09
Jacob Burnet, 51 00 Joel Kennedy. 50 00
Morris Crane, 25 00
Wm. A. Krug, 10 00
Est. of Caldwell,
50 00 Josepil Lashorn, 20 00
David Clark, . .
3 00 Joseph Landis, . 100 00
Jas. B. Cameron, . 15 00 Philip Landis, 5 00
Jesse Corwin, 25 00 Jas. C. Ludlow, 40 00
O. S. Caldwell, .
10 00 Andrew MeCleary, 25 00 John C. Dnnievy,
John MeKeen .. 15 00
William Daniels,
150 00 Benjamin Moses, 10 00
30 00 James McBride, 100 00 Annuel Dick,
Richard Easton,
5 00 Dav. MeMechan, . 5 00
11. S. Earhart & Co 10 00 Dan. Millikin, 100 00
Win. J. Eller & Co., 10 00 Jobe MeChie, 5 00
Thos. Enyvart, .
5 00 Robert Martin. . 10 00
David K. Este, .
44 00 Thos. & Wm. MeMilh
10 00
I-aae Falcoher,
10 00 Sam. Millikin, 10 00
Daniel Flonner, 150 00
Jos MeMechaa. 10 00
Thomas D'aweett,
5 00 Phil. Mattonigal, 5 00
Isaac Fisher, .
5 00 Sam. MeClone, . 10 00
Jacob Flickinger,
5 00 Thomas Melone
John D. Harrison, 100 00 John Moorehead. 10 00
Israel Grogg,.
5 00 Azur R. Mills. 5 00
Jas. O'Conner, . $25 00 Chas. Snider, $5 00
Isaac Overpeck, 1. 50
Jasper Snyder, 5 00
Isaac Paxton, 10 00
Samuel Scott, 10 00
Isaac Poiner, . 10 00 William Taylor, 25 00
Thos. Peterkin, 5 00 John Traber. 25 00
Jonath. Pierson.
15 00 Thomas M. Thomas. 25 00
John Reily, 500 00 Benj. Vangorden, 5 00
Loammi Rigdon,
25 00 Edward Vickroy, 3 00
John Rinehart,
5 00 Geo. Vandegriff, 20 00
John L. Ritter,
1 00 Win. B. Van Hook, . 100 00
Jacob Sandoe, 5 00 I. P. Vanhagan, 5 00
Morris Seely, 10 00 Hiram Wright, 10 00
Wm. H. Spalding,
5 00 Samuel P. Withrow, 5 00
Lawrence Smith, . 5 00
Hugh Wilson, 100 00
Silas Smith, 350 00 John Winton, 200 00
Thos. Siunard.
25 00 John Woods, 100 00
Chas. K. Smith, 25 00 Charles Walker, 10 00
Oliver Stevens, 25 00 Isaac Wiles, . S 00
John Sutherland, in
Isaac Watson,
5 00
cloth, 100 00 Mieliael Yeakle, 8 00
The basin did a very useful work for many years, and it was a mistake to have done away with it so soon. Undoubtedly the canal, of which it was a branch, will some day, not far in the future, also be disused and filled up. But that time has not yet arrived, nor in our judgment had it arrived for the basin in 1877. There were many complaints of disease said to have originated from its exhalatious, and it did comparatively little busi- ness. The business men, as a rule, opposed its removal, but the question was submitted to the people of the city, and they voted against retaining it.
An act was passed by the General Assembly, April 27, 1872, for cutting it off, which provided that the measure should be approved by two-thirds of the voters . of the city; that the city council should procure the written consent of the lessees of the public works to the cutting off, and obtain a release from them of all claims for damages from the State; the city of Hamilton to be liable for all damages to property occasioned by the fill- ing up. To ascertain what these damages might be, council was required to give thirty days' notice of its intention to cut off, and within thirty days afterwards persons claiming damages were required to present to council a written application clearly setting forth the. ground on which damages were claimed, and the amount.
On the application of council, the judge of the Court of Common Pleas was to appoint three commissioners, who should have anthority to examine witnesses under oath, to audit the claims for damages, and within one month after their appointment, make a report to council of the amount of damages, if any, awarded.
Under the requirements of this law, an election was held on Tuesday, May 18, 1875, with the following result :
FOR CUTTING OFF.
YES.
NO.
First Ward .
183
SĄ
Third Ward.
Fourth Ward 420
Total
1,516 402 -
Total vote 1,91%
Majority for entting off 1,114
Or more than two-thirds in favor of entting off.
Samnel Dick, Jr.,
Caleb DeCump,
25 00 Stafford Morgan, 10 00
25 00 David MacDifl .. 10 00
Nicholas Davis, 15 00
75 00 Thos. Kenworthy 15 00
Sunuel S. Cole,
M. & A. Conner,
25 00 John Line, 10 00
10 00 Willian Moore, 100 00
David Conner, .
Robt. Jones and John Eichelberger, 75 00
5 00 Robert B. Millikin, 50 00
Second Ward
318
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
The lessees of the public works withholding their writ- ten consent to the proposed cutting off, Mr. Neal, at the next session of the Legislature, introduced a supplemen- tal bill to remedy this defect.
About 9 o'clock Tuesday night, June 19, 1877, a force of a hundred men appeared at the neck of the basin with wheelbarrows, picks, shovels, etc., and pro- ceeded to fill up the basin at that point. The men were divided into squads and thoroughly organized, as if they . had prepared themselves for the work some time before. At the meeting of council, the night before, the matter of cutting off the basin was laid over indefinitely. This was done in order to mislead those who were opposed to it. If any time for the filling had been fixed, the oppo- sition would have been ready with injunctions to stop the work, and might probably have delayed it for months. As soon as filling up the neck was commenced, a report that the work was in progress spread like wild-fire through- ont the city. and it was not many minutes before a crowd of two thousand people was collected on the basin banks. The men worked well, and a little after 12 o'clock the job was completed.
It is said that some of the men opposed to the cut- ting off made an effort to procure an injunction, but the judges of both the Cominon Pleas and Probate Courts were out of town.
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The citizens generally were pleased, and in a short time the excavation was filled up. The expectations of those who favored its removal have not been realized; fevers still exist in Hamilton, and the land is entirely waste.
TAYLOR WEBSTER.
Taylor Webster was born in Pennsylvania, and when a child immigrated, with his father and mother, to But- ler County, Ohio, in 1806. He received a limited edu- cation in the schools of that carly day, and for a time pursued his studies at the Miami University, when that institution was in its infancy.
Mr. Webster was identified with the press of Butler County for a long time. From about the year 1828 until the year 1836, he edited and published the Western Tel- egraph, which was the organ of the old Jackson Demoe- racy. Subsequently the Telegraph was carried on by John B. Weller. During the first part of this period the Hamilton Intelligencer, the opposition paper, was ed- ited by John Woods, and subsequently it was edited, printed, and published by Lewis D. Campbell. These four, Hamilton editors all represented the district in Congress-Mr. Woods four years, Mr. Webster six years, Mr. Weller six years, aud Mr. Campbell, the only sur- vivor, eleven years.
In 1829 Mr Webster was elected clerk of the House of Representatives of the Ohio Legislature. In 1830 he was the representative of Butler in the Ohio Legislature, and was elected speaker. In 1832, 1834, and 1836 he was elected representative to Congress from the district
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composed of the counties of Butler, Preble and Darke. In 1838 he was succeeded by John B. Weller. Subse- quently he was the successor of John Reily, deceased, as clerk of the Conrt of Common Pleas, and of the Su- preme Court of the State of Ohio for Butler County.
During the administration of Jackson and Van Buren, when he was actively in the field of Ohio politics, he was not such a leader as were William Allen. John Brough, or John B. Weller. He was not an orator, but in a less ostentatious way he performed more telling ser- vice than either of them. Their great powers were displayed in haranguing the multitude and exciting their friends to action without, perhaps, making very many converts from the opposition. Mr. Webster's great strength lay in his indefatigable industry, and his princi- pal strength was in what was called the button-hole and fence-corner system of electioneering. He had no supe- rior in the Miami Valley in organizing political forces in detail during a campaign, and bringing them into action when a decisive battle was to be fought. He was nat- urally of a mild and unassuming disposition-calm, dis- creet, and considerate in action. He was always temper- ate, industrious, and persevering, and he discharged with honesty and fidelity the functions of the various official positions with which he was intrusted. He died on the 27th of April, 1876, at the residence of his son, in New Orleans.
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CYRUS FALCONER.
Cyrus Falconer, physician and surgeon, was born Jan- uary 21, 1810, in Washington County, Penn. His par- ents, Isaac and Nancy (Wilkins) Falconer, were natives of the same place. In 1812 the family removed to Ohio, passing down the Monongahela to Pittsburg, and thence on flat-boats down the Ohio to Cincinnati. Rossville (now West Hamilton) being their point of destination, they started for that place, crossing the Big Miami by ferry-boat where the iron bridge now spans it. The doc- tor's father rented a hotel opposite to where the Straub House now stands. The building was erected as early as 1806, and still remains a land-mark. Mr. Falconer con- ducted this hotel and the ferry till 1816, when he erected the frame building now occupied by W. C. Miller as a drug-store. It was known as the " Falconer House, " and was conducted by Mr. Falconer until 1838. Besides his hotel business, he for several years carried on the cabinet- maker's trade, which he had learned while young, in company with Mr. Thomas Enyeart. He was among the first to build flat-boats on the Miami, and for many years carried on an extensive trade down the Ohio and Mississippi. He made several trips to New Orleans, the last one being in 1827. with a load of furniture of his own manufacture. Mr. Falconer built one of the first saw-mills in Hamilton (Rossville), which he carried on for a short time. He also was engaged in farming, to some extent. He was drafted, in 1814, for the second war with Great Britain, but before reaching the seat of
Synes Halcones
319
HAMILTON.
hostilities the conflict was over. He served for several years afterwards as captain of a military company. He died in 1840, aged sixty, while his widow survived him fourteen years, dying at the age of sixty-four. But one brother of Dr. Falconer's, John H. Falconer, ever grew to manhood. He was a tailor and hotel-keeper in Ross- ville for several years, and afterwards a farmer in Illi- . nois, where he died in 1866. His only sister was Mrs. Louise M. Deshler, widow of the late Jolin G. Deshler, of Columbus, who was a very prominent and wealthy banker. Dr. Falconer received his primary education in the schools of Hamilton. At the age of fourteen he began studying Latin and the higher branches in a select school conducted by John L. Watkins. In 1826 he en- tered Miami University (then in its infancy), and was in the class with General Robert C. Schenck. He re- mained at this institution until the Fall of 1827. To add a little experience and knowledge of the world to his book learning, he accompanied his father on his last trip to New Orleans on a flat-boat down the Ohio and the Mississippi. It was on this romantic trip that he be- came instilled with abolition principles. He witnessed slavery in its worst form; and the cruelties and degra- dation seen by him made a lasting impression upon his mind. Upon his return in the following Spring he be- gan the study of medicine in the office of Dr. R. B. Millikin, father of Mr. Thomas Millikin, at present the oldest practicing lawyer of Hamilton. During 1830 and 1831, he took a course of lectures at the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati. In 1832 he was licensed to prac- tice medicine by the Second Senatorial District Medical Society, and immediately opened an office in Hamilton. In the Fall of 1834 he entered into partnership with Dr. L. Rigdon, brother of Mr. Sidney Rigdon, made famous by his association with Joseph Smith, of Mormon noto- riety. The Winter of 1837 was passed by the doctor in traveling through Texas on horseback, shortly after the capture of Santa Anna by Sam Houston, prospecting for.a new location. A tour was also made through Illinois and Iowa, when he returned to Hamilton, and in the Antumu of 1838 he entered the Cincinnati Medical College, from which he graduated in 1839. He now re- sumed his practice in Hamilton, opeuing an office on the grounds where his residence now stands. In 1846 he took as assistant Dr. L. J. Smith, and in 1850 received him as partner. In 1859 this relation was dissolved, and it was not uutil 1878 that another and last partuership was formed, when Dr. Lec Corbin became associated with him in practice for one year.
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