Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 15

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

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dren to be supported by a widow with slender property (Chase's father had died in 1817) and Bishop Chase although so poor that he envied a friend his "good fat living of a thousand dol- lars a year as clerk in the navy department" took the boy Salmon to the West with him. He did farm work and studied Greek at the Bishop's school at Worthington near Columbus, In 1822 when Bishop Chase was appointed president of the Cincinnati College, he entered that institu- tion as a sophomore, although but 15 years of age. The Bishop resigned at the end of the year and Salmon returned to New England to begin to support himself. In 1824 he entered Dartmouth College as a junior, teaching school during vacations, and graduated in 1826. Again his uncle Philander appeared on the scene and gave him letters of introduction to 'Washington where his uncle Dudley was at that time United States Senator. He started a "select classical school" and one pupil entered the school. A request for government employment addressed to his uncle, the Senator, resulted in a warning never to enter the services of the government and the offer of 50 cents to buy a spade. The Bishop, however, once more came to the front and Chase became the head of a boys' school and for three years was a schoolmaster. He min- gled much in Washington society and met many notables, among others Daniel Webster whom he saw toss off a full glass of whiskey suppos- ing it to be wine. ( At least that is what Webster said.) He began the study of the law in 1827 buit was more interested in attending concerts or conversing with artists and inhaling the gen- eral atmosphere than in study and when he pre- sented himself for admission to the bar, his friend Justice Cranch objected at first but fin- ally admitted him on December 14, 1829. Not the least of Judge Burnet's services to Cincin- nati was the advice given by him in February, 1830, while Senator from Ohio in Washington, to Chase to come to Cincinnati on the ground that "on the whole it offers to you stronger in- (lucements than any other place in the West." This idea had been in his mind for some time as four years before a friend in Cincinnati felt called upon to advise him against the place where there were "about sixty lawyers, about thirty ministers and doctors without number" and it was this determination to go West which in- duced Justice C'ranch to feel that he was suffi- ciently prepared to be admitted to the bar. He arrived in Cincinnati on March 30th just at the time described with so much severity by Mrs.

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Trollope. His letters to the Burnets, Long- worths and others of the social leaders of the city gave him an entrance into a delightful so- ciety, particularly agreeable to a young man who had devoted so much time to the social life of the capital. For a couple of years progress at the bar was slow. His first client paid him half a dollar for drawing a deed and the sec- ond client borrowed the half dollar and cleared out. His office was in the well known building on the north side of Third between Main and Syca- more and he lived at boarding houses, at one time at the corner of Symmes and Lawrence and at another at the northeast corner of Fourth and Broadway. He at once took a large part in the intellectual life of the city and was prominent in the founding of the Cincinnati Lyceum, in the fall of 1830. His name appears in the Directory of 1834 as one of the two managers of this in- stitution, Elwood Fisher being the other. He himself delivered four of the lectures for the Cincinnati Lyceum. In 1832 he formed the project of publishing a collection of the laws of Ohio with notes and references, to which he pre- fixed a brief historical sketch of the State. This work which became the standard collection of laws at the time and which so far as its his- torical part is concerned is still one of the best ever written on the subject added much to his reputation but nothing immediately to his pocket- book. As already stated, Chase boarded for a time on the northeast corner of Fourth and Broadway at the residence of John P. Garniss which gave him plenty of opportunity for court- ing Catherine Jane Garniss to whom he was married on March 4, 1834. His wife died in December of the following year, leaving him a little daughter .who lived but four years longer. He had formed a partnership with Gen. Edward King and Timothy Walker in 1830 but a few months later entered into a partnership with D. J. Caswell, at that time solicitor for the United States Bank. In 1834 he had separated from Caswell, retaining however the bank business. He had also been made solicitor of the Lafay- ette Bank, whose president had been so promni- nent in the anti-abolition meeting. It was ap- parent from this that Chase had already be- come a prominent figure in the life of Cincin- nati with every motive to be conservative and to not ally himself too strongly with an unpopu- lar agitation. Despite claims made by many biographers it is apparent that up to this time Chase had taken no violent partisan view of slavery. It was an academic question to hin

and not one that called for any special action on his own part. The conduct of the mob which destroyed Birney's property was probably the one thing needed to bring elcarly before his mind not only the wrongs of the slaves but the danger to free white men and it is to this in- stance therefore that the cause of freedom is indebted for Chase. The autobiographical frag- ment referred to is as follows :

"At this time I had come to regard the Slavery question as among the most important questions of the day; and I was not long in discovering it to be the most important. I heard with dis- gust and horror the mob violence directed against the Anti-Slavery Press and Anti-Slavery men of Cincinnati in 1836. My own sister was the wife of one of the most worthy and respectable of these Anti-Slavery men, Dr. Isaac Colby. Through them I had become personally acquaint- ed with most of them, though I did not at this time know Mr. Birney, the Editor of the Paper. I knew them to be as pure, upright, and worthy citizens as Cincinnati contained. Yet against these men and their families the fury of a mob, stirred up by politicians and by emissaries from Slave States, was directed. My own sister left her house and took refuge in mine. I was op- posed at this time to the views of the abolition- ists, but I now recognized the Slave Power as the great enemy of freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of the person. I took an open part against the mob. Of the prominent citizens very few stood decidedly on that side. Charles Hammond, a man who had some faults and many virtues, among which last were true greatness of soul and intense horror of cow- ardice and meanness, was chief among these few. I drafted and he with others signed a call for a meeting of those opposed to mobs. He and I drafted the resolutions intended to be presented in the meeting : but when the hour came and we repaired to the Court House we found the mob there and a meeting organized. A committee was appointed and I was named upon it. In the committee I read the resolutions we had pre- pared, but they were voted down, and others reported in their place which, under the cir- cuinstances, were justly regarded as approving rather than censuring the inob. Shortly after the meeting adjourned, I, was for a time in a good deal of personal danger in consequence of a declaration that I would sooner give ten thou- sand dollars than see the press destroyed by a mob. But my assailants contented themselves with denunciation, without proceeding to a per-

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sonal attack. On the night of one of these days, a mob . gathered around . the door of the Franklin House, determined to enter and make search for Mr. Birney. I stood in the doorway, and told them, calmly but resolutely, no one could pass. They paused. One of them asked who I was. I gave my name. One, who seemed a ringleader, said I should answer for this. I told him I could be found at any time. The mob did not choose to attack me in my position, and after a while, to my great relief, the Mayor, who had been in the House, came out and de- clared to the mob that Mr. Birney was not there, upon which they drew off.

"From this time on, although not technically . an abolitionist, I became a decided opponent of Slavery and the Slave Power: and if any chose to call me an abolitionist on that account, I was at no trouble to disclaim the name. I differed from Mr. Garrison and others as to the means by which the Slave Power could be best overthrown and Slavery most safely and fitly abolished' under our American Constitution; not in the conviction that these objects were of para- mount importance.

. "In 1837 I first publicly declared my views in respect to Legislation under the Constitution for the .Extradition of Fugitives from Service." (Hart's Chase, p. 48.)

From this time until the time of the war Chase's history is the history of Cincinnati, of Ohio and of the country. His prominence was never merely local. He was the leader of the abolitionist party of Ohio from 1841 to 1849; Senator from 1849 to 1855; Governor from 1856 to 1860 at a time when he came perilously near lining Ohio up against the national administra- tion. He was the second most prominent op- ponent against Lincoln for the presidential nom- ination in 1860; Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864 and Chief Justice of the United States from that time until the time of his death in 1873.

Chase was married on September 26, 1839, to Eliza Ann Smith of Cincinnati, who died Sep- tember 29, 1845. Their daughter Kate (Kate Chase Sprague) alone of three children sur- vived. On November 6, 1846, Chase married Sara Bella Dunlop Ludlow, the granddaughter of Israel Ludlow and the niece of the wife of Justice John McLean of the United States Su-

preme Court. But one of their children, Jean- ette (later Mrs. W. S. Hoyt), lived to maturity. On June 13, 1852, Mr. Chase's third wife died so that in 17 years he buried three wives and five children. He remained a widower from that time until his death more than 20 years later.

Among the minor events of the year 1836 worthy of mention were the debate between Alexander Campbell and Archbishop Purcell al- ready referred to, the visit of General Jackson to the city and the departure of a volunteer company headed by Capt. James Allen the editor of the Republican to join in the struggle for Texan independence.

The "panic" year of 1837 was naturally one of great depression throughout the country. The reckless speculative tendencies of the time, the unreasonable extension of credit, the vast sales of public lands paid for by the notes of local banks throughout the country followed by the demand of the government for payments in specie of all amounts due on account of the sales of lands drove the banks and the people to the wall. This necessarily reduced the values of lands which accompanied by the failure of the wheat crop made matters very serious. Cincin- nati had her share of the general suffering, but her progress was not seriously impeded. Three hundred and five new buildings this year brought the total to 5,981 in the city. In 1838 there was a slight business revival to be followed by still greater depression the next year which was to continue until 1843.

THIE MATILDA CASE.'

In March, 1837, occurred the first of many celebrated causes connected with slavery in which Chase acted as counsel. Matilda, the daughter and slave of a Missouri planter named Lawrence, while traveling down the Ohio River on a steamer in May of the preceding year left the boat when it touched at Cincinnati. She was so light in color that she passed generally as a white girl and had been treated by her owner as a per- sonal attendant or companion. She obtained e111- ployment as a servant in the house of the Bir- neys. It was said that she was regarded by them as a white girl, although this hardly seems prob- able. In March, 1837, a man Riley, an agent

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of Lawrence, seized her and took her before a magistrate for action under the Fugitive Slave Law. Birney employed Chase with whom he had become intimate to apply for a writ of habeas corpus before a State court on the ground that she was a free person because her master had brought her voluntarily to the Free State of Ohio. The court held against the claim and the magistrate finally remanded her back into slavery and she was carried across the Ohio and sold down the river. This seemed the oppor- tunity for the slavery sympathizers in Cincin- nati to show the abolitionists the danger of har- boring a slave and Birney was indicted. Chase . defended him but the court and jury decided against him and the case was taken to the Su- preme Court of the State where Birney was freed on a technicality. The main question was dodged.

In October, 1836, a monument was erected in memory of William McMillan by the lodge which he had founded, Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge, No. 2. This was placed on the farm of William M. Corry in what is now Avondale. A eulogy was pronounced by Mr. Corry. The monument was afterwards removed to Spring Grove Cemetery. One of the distinguished vis- itors of this year, Prof. Frederick Hall, likened the city in its appearance to Genoa.

THE EXPLOSION OF THE "MOSELLE."

A remarkable incident in the history of Cin- cinnati was the explosion of the new and elab- orate steamboat, the "Moselle," which took place on April 26, 1838.

"The Moselle was regarded as the very para- gon of Western steamboats; she was perfect in form and construction, elegant and superb in all her equipments, and enjoyed a reputation for speed which admitted of no rivalship. *

* Her last trip from St. Louis to Cincinnati, seven hundred and fifty miles, was performed in two days and sixteen hours ; the quickest trip, by sev- eral hours, that had ever been made between the two places.

"On the afternoon of April 25, 1838, between four and five o'clock, the Moselle left the land- ing at Cincinnati, bound for St. Louis, with an unusually large number of passengers, supposed to be not less than two hundred and eighty, or, according to some accounts, three hundred. It

was a pleasant afternoon, and all on board prob- ably anticipated a delightful voyage. * * The Moselle proceeded about a mile up the river to take on some German emigrants. At this time it was observed by an experienced engineer on board, that the steam had been raised to an un- usual height; and when the boat stopped for the purpose just mentioned, it was reported that one man who was apprehensive of danger went ashore, after protesting against the injudicious management of the steam apparatus. When the object for which the Moselle had landed was nearly accomplished, the bow of the boat was shoved from the shore, and at that instant the explosion took place. The whole of the vessel forward of the wheels was blown to splinters; every timber (as an eye-witness declares) 'ap- peared to be twisted, as trees sometimes are, when struck by lightning.' As soon as the ac- cident occurred, the boat floated down the stream for about one hundred yards, where she sunk, leaving the upper part of the cabin out of water and the baggage, together with many struggling human beings, floating on the surface of the river.

"It was remarked that the explosion was un- precedented in the history of steam; its effect was like that of a mine of gunpowder. All the boilers, four in number, burst simultaneously ; the deck was blown into the air, and the human being's who crowded it were doomed to instant destruction. It was asserted that a man, be- lieved to be a pilot, was carried, together with the pilot-house, to the Kentucky shore, a dis- tance of a quarter of a mile. A fragment of a boiler was carried by the explosion high into the air, and descending perpendicularly about fifty yards from the boat, it crushed through a strong roof and through the second floor of a building, lodging finally on the ground floor.

"Captain Perrin, master of the Moselle, at the time of the accident was standing on the deck, above the boiler, in conversation with another person. He was thrown to a considerable height on the steep embankment of the river and killed, while his companion was merely prostrated on the deck, and escaped without injury. Another person was blown a great distance into the air, and on descending he fell on a roof with such force that he partially broke through it, and his body lodged there. Some of the passengers who

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were in the after-part of the boat, and who were uninjured by the explosion, jumped overboard. An eye-witness says that he saw sixty or seventy in the water at one time, of whom comparatively few reached the shore. There were afterward the mutilated remains of nineteen persons buried- in one grave.

"It happened, unfortunately, that the larger number of the passengers were collected on the upper deck, to which the balmy air and delicious weather seemed to invite them, in order to expose them to more certain destruction. It was under- stood, too, that the captain of the ill-fated steamer had expressed his determination to out- strip an opposition boat which had just started; the people on shore were cheering the Moselle, in anticipation of her success in the race, and the passengers and crew on the upper deck re- sponded to these acclamations, which were soon changed to sounds of mourning and distress.

"Intelligence of the awful calamity spread rap- idly through the city; thousands rushed to the spot, and the most benevolent aid was prompt- ly extended to the sufferers, or rather to those within the reach of human assistance, for the majority had perished. The scene here was so sad and distressing that no language can depict it with fidelity. Here lay twenty or thirty man- gled and still bleeding corpses, while many per- sons were engaged in dragging others of the dead and wounded from the wreck or the water. 'But,' says an eye-witness, 'the survivors pre- sented the most touching objects of distress, as their mental anguish seemed more insupportable than the most intense bodily suffering.'

"Death had torn asunder the most tender ties; but the rupture had been so sudden and vio- lent that none knew certainly who had been taken or who had been spared. Fathers were distract- edly inquiring for children, children for parents, husbands and wives for each other. One man had saved a son, but lost a wife and five chil- dren. A father, partially demented by grief, lay with a wounded child on one side, his dead daughter on the other, and his expiring wife at his feet. One gentleman sought his wife and children, who were as eagerly seeking him in the same crowd. They met and were reunited. "A female deck passenger who had been saved seemed inconsolable for the loss of her relatives. Her constant exclamations were, 'Oh! my father !

my mother ! my sisters!' A little boy about five years old, whose head was much bruised, ap- peared to be regardless of his wounds, and cried continually for a lost father, while another lad. a little older, was weeping for a whole family. One venerable man wept for the loss of his wife and five chidren. Another was bereft of his whole family, consisting of nine persons. . touching display of maternal affection was evinced by a woman, who, on being brought to the shore, clasped her hands and exclainied. 'Thank God, I am safe!' but instantly recollect- ing herself, she ejaculated in a voice of piercing agony, 'Where is my child?' The infant, which had been saved, was brought to her, and she fainted at the sight of it.

"Many of the passengers who entered the boat at Cincinnati had not registered their names, but the lowest estimated number of persons on board was two hundred and eighty. Of these eighty-one were known to be killed, fifty-five were missing and thirteen badly wounded.

"On the day after the accident a public meet- ing was called at Cincinnati, at which the mayor presided, when the facts of this melancholy oc- currence were discussed, and among other reso- lutions passed was one deprecating the great and increasing carelessness in the navigation of steam vessels and urging this subject upon the consid- eration of Congress.

"The Moselle was built at Cincinnati, and slie reflected great credit on the mechanical genius of that city, as she was truly a superior boat, and under more favorable auspices might have been the pride of the waters for several years. She was new, having been begun the previous December and finished in March, only a month before the time of her destruction." (Western Annals, p. 971.)

At a meeting of citizens called by a proclama- tion of the mayor, Samuel W. Davies, the mayor himself presided and the well known journalist Edward D. Mansfield acted as secretary. Judge Fox offered a resolution providing for the ap- pointment of a committee of five to inquire into the causes of the disaster and to make a report. In accordance with this a' committee, composed of Charles Fox, Jacob Strader, Thomas J. Mat- thews, Joseph Pierce and Dr. John Locke, was appointed and prepared an elaborate report of some seventy odd pages which was transmitted

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by the mayor to the Council. Strangely enough some of its recommendations aroused a spirit of opposition on the part of citizens interested in steamboat traffic and the members of the Coun- cil took it upon themselves to criticise the re- port. Thereupon the report was withdrawn by the committee and Dr. Locke addressed a com- munication to the citizens of Cincinnati calling attention to the fact that a report had been made and that the committee had discharged its duty. This resulted in a letter addressed to Dr. Locke, signed by the mayor and prominent citizens, over 200 in number, requesting a copy of the report for publication. The list of names signed to this petition seems to include almost every person of prominence in the community at the time. The second name is that of Jacob Burnet, followed closely by Mor- gan Neville, R. R. Springer, E. D. Mansfield, P. S. Symmes, Joseph Ray, Robert Punshon, Josiah Lawrence, Timothy Walker, Dr. John Moorehead, Dr. Lawler, E. S. Haines, A. L. Voorhees, Benjamin Drake, Micajah T. Williams, David T. Disney, Joseph Graham, W. H. Mc- Guffey, Robert T. Lytle, William Criswell, Elam P. Langdon, George Graham, Nathan Guilford, James Hall, Bellamy Storer, J. W. Piatt, James F. Conover, Crafts J. Wright, Alexander H. Mc- Guffey, William Burke, Joseph Longworth, J. II. Beard, Larz Anderson, Nicholas Longworth, Salmon P. Chase, Edmund Dexter, Daniel Drake, Samuel Wiggins and many others.

Dr. Locke complied with the request and the report was published. In his letter presenting the report, he disclaims any intention to injure the feelings of those immediately concerned in steam navigation but insists that the facts and conclusions contained in the report were justified. The report is prefaced by a narrative of the event from the pen of Judge Hall, from which much of the sketch given above seems to be taken. The main body of the rest of the report was prepared by Dr. Locke himself and was quite detailed with regard to the causes of the ex- plosion. The report concludes with a recom- mendation by the committee pointing out the in- adequacy of the act of Congress relating to steam vessels and suggesting proper legislation which should provide for adequate inspection and the proper training of engineers.

Among the events of the year 1838 were the

mechanics' and citizens' ball given in February at the National Theatre and the fair held in the last days of May at the Bazaar in the in- terest of the Ohio Mechanics' Institute.

THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLE- MENT.

On December 26, 1838, was celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first settlement of Cin- cinnati. This date was chosen by reason of the impression prevailing at that time that the pion- eers landed on the 26th of December, 1788, in- stead of two days later as seems now to be the generally accepted view. This celebration clos- ing as it did a half century of civic life with but few parallels in the history of the world naturally is regarded as a very important event in the history of our city and an account of it seems appropriate to close the chapter on the period ending at that time.

At sunrise the Cincinnati Independent Artil- lery's Invincibles fired a salute of 13 guns in honor of the original States and at noon one of 50 guns, one for each year of the city's life and at sunset one of 26 for the number of States in the Union at that time. At ten o'clock in the morning a committee of arrangements, the mayor and City Council met at the council cham- ber and proceeded to the Pearl Street House ac- companied by the Cincinnati Greys, the Citizens Guards and a large number of citizens. Here they were joined by the invited guests,-the pioneers who had come to this region before 1801, a list of whom is printed in an earlier chapter. A procession was then formed and under the charge of the marshals of the day, George Graham, Jr., and James Saffin, marched down Walnut to Front and then over to Main and up Main to the First Presbyterian Church. Here an opening prayer was offered by Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, followed by music by Profes- sor Mason's Eclectic Choir and the Buckeye Band, a discourse on the carly history of the city by Dr. Daniel Drake and a closing prayer by Rev. William Burke. Dr. Drake's oration was most exhaustive and although it occupied three hours and 20 minutes in its delivery it was received with enthusiasm. At the conclusion of the exercises in the church, the committee of ar- rangements, the invited guests, the Council and a large number of citizens dined together at the

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 15

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