Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 18

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

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In the carly "thirties" in addition to the schools already described mention may be made of those of A. M. Bolton on Elm street, Jacob Borton on West Fifth street, J. Jones at Fifth and Vine streets, Andrew Donough on Main street, the Perkins School on Third and the Woodbury School on Fifth street. There was also an Adelpha Seminary with Thomas H. Quinan as principal on Walnut street and a female academy of Mrs. Tallant and Miss Davis on Fourth street and a school of Mrs. Comstock on Sixth street. A little more pretentious was the Cincinnati Acad- emy at Fourth and Walnut streets in which W. Hopwood was the professor of mathematics and languages and J. L. and David L. Talbott, pro- fessors in the English department.

In 1836 appears the name of a more distin- guished man, at the head of O. M. Mitchel's In- stitute of Science and Language at the corner of Broadway and Third.

Deming's Academy was in the basement of the Second Presbyterian Church and that of J. W. Johnson on the northwest corner of Sixth and Race. E. Stone, an accountant, kept a commer- cial academy at the northeast corner of Fourth and Main streets. In the directory of the same year (1836), besides the female academies of Picket, Ryland, Tallant, Dr. Locke, Comstock, Wood, Dutton, and Tappan, are mentioned those of Mrs. Wright on Walnut near Third, Mrs. Hopwood on Walnut between Second and Third and Mrs. Lanphear on Sixth between Walnut and Vine. .

In the school of Milo G. Williams already mentioned, in addition to the usual courses were tanglit manual training and the principles of the United States Constitution. This was the first technical school in the city. Mr. Williams after- wards moved to Dayton where he founded the first professedly technical school in the West.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Of Cincinnati owe their being to Nathan Guil- ford who was not only the author of the laws which made possible their organization, but was the leading spirit in keeping up interest in the

matter. A name to be associated with that of Guilford for all times is that of Micajah T. Will- iams, the father of internal improvements in the State of Ohio. He and Guilford associated themselves together and joined their causes. Another name that should stand with these is that of Samuel Lewis.

Nathan Guilford was a native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Yale, who began the practice of the law in Cincinnati about 1816. He im- mediately took an interest in the matter of public education and joined hands with Samuel Lewis and other advocates of the system. He published a letter in 1822 advocating a general tax for the purpose of supporting schools which was pub- lished by the General Assembly of the next year. By reason of his interest in the matter, he was elected to the Senate for the express purpose of securing the enactment of a law that would create adequate means of education. With the assist- ance of Ephraim Cutler of Marietta he succeeded in passing through the Legislature the act of Feb- ruary 1, 1825, which authorized the assessment of one-half mill on the value of all taxable property. Strangely enough the law was much opposed by the larger tax payers of Cincinnati, by the propri- etors of private schools and by the very class that it was intended to benefit who objected to having their children known as charity scholars. The story is told of a wealthy citizen who upbraided one of those who had voted for the law on the ground that he had sacrificed the interests of his fellow citizens and had mortgaged all their prop- erty irredeemably and forever. Guilford, Lewis and Williams as well as others took up the cause and it was not long until the great majority of thinking people began' to favor the common schools. The bill was however inadequate and no special result came from it. Col. Andrew Mack introduced into the Senate during the ses- sions of 1828 and 1829 a bill to amend the charter of the city. The friends of education took this opportunity to obtain for the city the right to or- ganize her own schools and pay for their main- tenance by local taxation. This bill which be- came a law permitted the Council to divide the city into 10 districts and at the expense of the city to provide for the support of common schools, to purchase land and build school houses and in addition to the tax of a mill on a dollar for the purchase of sites and erection of buildings to levy an additional mill for teachers and fuel. The schools were placed under the direction of a Board of Trustees and Visitors to be chosen an- mnally on the first Monday in April by the quali-

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fied voters of the city and this board was to ap- point six citizens and examiners. The trustees elected for the first year were: Nathan Guilford, David Root, Calvin Fletcher, Oliver M. Spencer and J. Buckley. Oliver M. Spencer became the first president. The examiners appointed were Timothy Flint, Henry Starr, Bellamy Storer, Jesse Kimball, Enos Woodruff and Lewis How- ell. (Directory of 1829.)

According to the official minute book at the City Hall, at a meeting at Guilford's house in July, 1829, Messrs. Flint and Howell were ap- pointed examiners for three years, Starr and Calvin Washburn for two years and Bellamy Storer and Enos Woodruff for one year. Na- than Guilford acted as chairman of this meet- ing

The original buildings were of brick or stone two stories high and intended to contain two school rooms each. One stood on the river bank near the Front Street Pumping Works and the other on Sycamore and Fifth. There were 70 or 80 pupils and two teachers, Stephen Wheeler and J. F. Easterbrook. A little later a building was acquired on Franklin street and one on Con- gress street. Later one on Fourth near Smith was acquired ; this was known as the "Frogtown" school. Another was acquired on Race near Front. The school buildings were utterly inade- quate and were more calculated to encourage the spread of disease than that of education. It was at this time that George Graham, one of Cin- cinnati's most philanthropic citizens, came for- ward and employed an architect to draw the de- sign of a "Model Schoolhouse" which was built by him on his own lot on the west side of Race between Fourth and Fifth streets. In order to catch the public eye the house was surmounted by a cupola. Graham after the completion of the building offered the whole property to the Council for the cost of the building. They re- fused at first to pay the amount but finally ac- cepted the school house, paying for all except the cost of the cupola. This building was com- pleted in the summer of 1833. Nine others pat- terned after it were afterwards built at the cost of a little over $96,000. They were of brick, two stories high and with two rooms on each floor. The boys occupied the lower floor and the girls the upper one. George Graham, too, suggested the cultivation of the public interest in the com- mon schools by having examinations open to the public accompanied with speechmaking and pa- rades. A very successful parade was held on July 4, 1833. Some of the teachers refused to

march and were discharged for obstinancy. The number of pupils in the procession was estimated at less than 2,000. ( There were but 1,900 cil- rolled pupils in the schools.) In 1836 there were 44 teachers and 2,400 pupils and in 1841 nine public school houses, 60 teachers and 5,000 pupils.

There seems to have been no systematic course of study, but each trustee selected such a course of study as he thought proper. The books in use included Hall's "School Companion," Pierpoint's "National Reader," Ruter's "Arithmetic," Tal- bott's "Primary Geography," Parley's "First Book of History," Kirkham's "English Gram- mar," Webster's "Spelling Book and Alphabet."

At first there was no superintendent and the schools were controlled by the Board of Trus- tees composed of one member from each ward. In 1837 the number of members increased to two from each ward. The teachers' salaries were very low, the men receiving from $300 to $500 a year and the women from $200 to $250. No attempt was made at systematic grading or class- ification until 1836 and even then the system was not very definitely carried out.

The teachers formed a faculty association in 1836, which met twice a month to prepare plans for the improvement of the school and to hold conferences with the trustees. About this time the first step was taken towards uniting the com- mon schools and the high schools. The trustees of Woodward High School offered to receive for that year for gratuitous instruction 10 boys from the common schools to be selected by the School Board.

Although the condition of the public schools during this period was somewhat chaotic and the mind of the people had not yet become entirely familiar with the idea of popular education, the progress made was sure and steady and enough to make possible the complete reorganization of the system in the beginning of the second half century of the city's existence upon a plan which has practically continued in operation to the present day.

The presiding officers of the board during this time were Oliver M. Spencer, Nathan Guilford, Peyton S. Symmes and Elam P. Langdon.

A description of the school parade of 1835 is given by Miss Martineau :

"The morning of the nineteenth shone brightly down on the festival of the day. It was the an- niversary of the opening of the common schools. Some of the schools passed our windows in pro- cession, their banners dressed with garlands, and

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the children gay with flowers and ribands. A lady who was sitting with me remarked, 'this is our populace.' I thought of the expression months afterward, when the gentlemen of Cin- cinati met to pass resolutions on the subject of abolitionism, and when one of the resolutions recommended mobbing as a retribution for the discussion of the subject of slavery, the law af- fording no punishment for free discussion. Among those who moved and seconded these res- olutions, and formed a deputation to threaten an advocate of free discussion, were some of the merchants who form the aristocracy of the place ; and the secretary of the meeting was the accom- plished lawyer whom I mentioned above, and who told me that the object of his life is law-reform in Ohio! The 'populace' of whom the lady was justly proud have, in no case that I know of, been the law-breakers, and in as far as the 'pop- ulace' means not 'the multitude,' but 'the vulgar,' I do not agree with the lady that these children · were the populace. Some of the patrons and prize-givers afterward proved themselves 'the vulgar' of the city.

"The children were neatly and tastefully dressed. A great improvement has taken place in the costume of little boys in England within my recollection ; but I never saw such graceful children as the little boys in America, at least in their summer dress. They are slight, active and free. I remarked that several were barefoot, thought in other respects well clad; and I found that many put off shoes and stockings from choice during the three hot months. Others were barefoot from poverty-children of recent set- tlers and of the poorest class of the community.

"We set out for the church as soon as the pro- cession had passed, and arrived before the doors were opened. A platform had been erected be- low the pulpit, and on it were seated the mayor and principal gentlemen of the city. The two thousand children then filed in. The report was read, and proved very satisfactory. These schools were established by a cordial union of various political and religious parties ; and nothing could be more promising than the prospects of the in- stitution as to funds, as to the satisfaction of the class benefited, and as to the continued union of their benefactors. Several boys then gave speci- mens of elocution, which were highly amusing. They seemed to suffer under no false shame and to have no misgiving about the effect of the ve- hement action they had been taught to employ. I wondered how many of theni would speak in Congress hereafter. It seems doubtful to me

whether the present generation of Americans are not out in their calculations about the value and influence of popular oratory. They ought cer- tainly to know best ; but I never saw an oration produce nearly so much effect as books, news- papers, and conversation. * * *

"Many prizes of books were given by the gen- tlemen on the platform and the exercises closed with an address from the pulpit."

LANE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.

An institution whose name is inseparably con- nected with that of Cincinnati and which was or- ganized during this period is Lane Theological Seminary. We are told that as early as 1819 Elnathan Kemper and Peter H. Kemper devoted eight acres of land on Walnut Hills for the sup- port of the Walnut Hills Academy established that year by Rev. James Kemper on the manual labor principle. Here for five or six years the Greek and Latin languages were taught as well as the ordinary branches of education. This circum- stance was an important one in determining the location of the seminary which was finally erect- ed at this point.

In 1828, E. Lane and brother, merchants of New Orleans, and members of the Baptist Church, proposed to the Baptists of Cincinnati to lend assistance to a plan for the education of pious and indigent young men. The Baptists declined the proposition and then the suggestion was made that there should be a partnership affair, the Presbyterians also sharing the undertaking. This proposition the Presbyterians declined. whereupon the offer was made to them alone. At a meeting in the First Presbyterian Church, Sep- tember 27, 1828, the proposition of Messrs. Lane was considered and the plan of the institution discussed. In October of the following year an association was formed to establish a seminary of learning. Samuel Caldwell offered to give 25 10 30 acres near the village of Carthage for a site. Elnathan Kemper offered to sell for the same purpose 100 acres on Walnut Hills for $7,500 and William Cary offered a farm on the pike between College Hill and Mount Pleasant, part of which he would donate and part he would sell for $1,650. While these offers were being considered, Elnathan Kemper on January 1, 1829, donated 60 acres on the north end of his farm and offered to sell 40 more at $4,000. This offer was accepted and the institution was incorporated February 11, 1829. From the outset it was planned to have a preparatory, a collegiate and a theological department. The course in the lat-

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ter department was to be three years. George C. Beckwith of Lowell, Massachusetts, was called to take charge and he accepted and the Seminary was opened in Kemper's school house. Some $15,000 seems to have been subscribed for the institution in this neighborhood and Arthur Tap- pan of New York agreed to give $20,000 to en- dow a chair, provided Dr. Beecher could be ob- tained. John Tappan of Boston subscribed $10,- 000 and Dr. Daniel Waldo and sister subscribed $4,000 more for various professorships. The first building erected was the boarding house, which cost $35,000. This building erected in the summer of 1830 was destroyed by fire in 1868. The next structure undertaken was the dormitory which was begun in 1832 and built with money raised in Cincinnati. The chapel was finished some time before the year 1836.

Professor Beckwith came West but remained a very short time. He was sent East to solicit · funds and in the fall of 1830 he resigned. There- upon Dr. Lyman Beccher was appointed presi- dent and professor of didactic theology but did not accept until 1832. Dr. Thomas J. Biggs was also appointed professor of Christian history in. 1831 and the following year Dr. Calvin E. Stowe was appointed to a professorship. Dr. Beecher retained his connection with the institu- tion until 1850, at which time both he and Pro- fessor Stowe resigned.

Some of the conditions of the early days are interesting. The proposition was made in 1829 to board not less than ro nor more than 25 order- ly well behaved boys from November 10th to the Ist of May following. The table was to consist of a change in bread, vegetables, meats and soups. The lodging room was in the third story and was 40 feet long by 13 feet wide, well plas- tered and, commonly called the garret, was light- ed by four small windows. There was also one large room with a fireplace common to all board- ers and a dining room which the students had to warm at their own expense. The price of this luxury was $1.121/2 a week, candles and bedding not included. Four years later the students pe- titioned for coffee but it was thought inexpedient to make such a radical change. Smoking of cigars was prohibited and students were forbidden to form connections by marriage on pain of dismis- sal. A cemetery was laid out in the neighborhood for the following among other reasons: "Inas- much as those who are studying for the ministry

need time and opportunity for meditation and self- examination, a cemetery in proximity to the insti- tution will afford a favorable retirement for that purpose," The anti-slavery troubles in the in- stitution have been discussed elsewhere.

THIE CATHOLIC SCHOOL.

A Catholic parochial school was founded about 1821. and continued about to years, when Bishop Fenwick merged it into the Athenaeum which was opened October 7, 1831, as a school for higher instruction. This was subsequently, in 1840, placed in charge of the Jesuit Fathers and finally became St. Xavier College.

THE CHURCHIES.

The religious life of the community developed with the other phases of city life. During the year 1827 the First Presbyterian Church was con. siderably remodeled and in the following year a great revival was held in the church. The scene at that time is described in the sermon delivered at the commemoration service a half-century later by Rev. Dr. S. R. Wilson, a son of Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, who officiated in the church as assist- ant and pastor for 20 years, making the continu- ous service of father and son 53 years.

He was a boy of 10 years of age at the time of the revival and recollected vividly the scenes of that early day. "You must dismiss from your mind all the magnificence of to-day; reduce its population, and imagine this beautiful plateau covered to a large extent with trees, dotted with houses and garden-plats, while the environment of hills is covered with woods that form a beauti- ful background. The streets were shaded, and the heat which we now feel from building and pavement was not felt then. Take away this building and the surrounding buildings, and place there to the right a large space surrounded by tombs and tombstones, among which children played till the bell called them into the church. The church building accommodated one thou- sand two hundred persons on the lower floor; five hundred or six hundred more could be given room in the broad and long aisle, while the gal- lery had sittings for one thousand two hundred or one thousand five hundred. The pulpit was almost as high as the choir, and back of it was a vestry-room for prayer-meetings and Sunday- school."

This revival was the outcome of very deliberate

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preparation and to assure its success two Ten- nessee clergymen, Revs. James Gallaher and Frederick A. Ross, were called in. One of them added to his power of preacher great ability as a singer. These two evangelists according to the story of one of them seemed to have been dis- couraged by the lack of interest but subsequently resort was had to the "Anxious Seat" which had never been tried in Ohio and as a result the meet- ings became very successful.

The same church was used again in 1835 for the celebration of the 47th anniversary of the settlement of Ohio where William M. Corry pro- nounced an oration of great power. A dinner was held afterwards at the Commercial Exchange but in deference to the temperance feeling at the time no wine or spirits were served.

In 1829 as already stated the Second Presby- terian Church began the erection of its new building on the lot on the south side of Fourth street between Vine and Race which had been

. purchased from the Bank of the United States for $5,000. The building was to cost $30,000 and the church experienced much difficulty in raising the money to pay its indebtedness. The bank finally obtained judgment, ejecting the church, but it was allowed to remain and was occupied by the church from the day of its dedi- cation May 20, 1830, for 42 years or until April 28, 1872, when the congregation moved to its new church, the one now occupied by it at the south- west corner of Eighth and Elm streets.

Dr. Root, the first pastor, ceased his ministra- tions in the spring of 1830 and was succeeded by Dr. Lyman Beecher, president of Lane Theo- logical Seminary, who occupied the pulpit for II years. During his pastorate the church increased rapidly in influence and eventually became the most powerful and wealthy congregation of Presbyterians in the city. Dr. Beecher, who is regarded by Dr. D. W. Rhodes as the largest figure in the first century of the religious life of Cincinnati, was at that time in the prime of his power and he soon became one of the most respected and influential citizens of the com- munity. Not only this, but his presence in tlie city did much to fix upon it the attention of the whole country and to give to it the intellec- tual preeminence which during the middle part of the century won for it the title of the "Athens of America."

Beccher was born in New Haven, Connecticut, 38

October 2, 1775, and was considered one of the foremost preachers of the day long before he came to Cincinnati. He was a great contro- versialist and had taken a most active part in the war against intemperance, in the Unitarian controversy and in the defection of Dr. Chan- ning and others. Upon the establishment of Lane Seminary, he felt that this could be made a nucleus from which ideas could circulate throughout the whole country. Here could be trained young men who as ministers of the Gos- pel could become propagandists. After his ar- rival here he kept up his controversial writings, publishing among other things a tract calling attention to what he regarded as the danger of Roman Catholic supremacy in the West. His discussions in the Seminary with relation to the slavery question are referred to elsewhere. Hc was formally elected pastor of the Second Pres- byterian Church March 11, 1833, although he had supplied the pulpit since his arrival in the city, November, 1832, and continued there until the fall of 1843, when he resigned. "His high reputation for talents and piety is matter of general history. He was a man of brilliant intel- lect, of untiring zeal in the cause, and of great usefulness. He was original and somewhat pe- culiar, both in manner and thought. In preach- ing, his most striking passages seemed the in- spiration of the moment-when he raised his spectacles to his forehead, and his sparkling eyes to the audience, and something came forth which struck us like electricity. He was deeply reverential at heart, though sometimes his strong, abrupt language seemed almost to belie it; as on one occasion I remember he said in prayer, 'O Lord, keep us from despising our rulers, and keep them from acting so that we can't help it.'" (Wright's Memorial Address, p. 22.)

During his pastorate the Old and New School controversy, so-called, came to its head. The members of his church even before Mr. Beecher's arrival had by reason of sympathy for his prede- cessor, Rev. Mr. Root, drifted into the New School party. Upon Beecher's arrival the posi- tion of the church in this particular was con- firmed and finally Beccher, who had been called a moderate Calvinist, was arraigned for trial for hypocrisy and heresy upon charges preferred by Rev. Joshua I. Wilson, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. The trial which followed took place in his own church and Beecher was

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compelled to defend himself while burdened with the cares of his seminary, his church and his home, where at that time his wife was lying on her death bed. It has been said that the controversy was purely theological, as the ac- cused and accuser had no personal contention. This is always the case in heresy trials, but the fact that there is no personal contention is not so apparent to the lay mind. In this case Beecher was acquitted. An appeal was taken to the General Synod, where he was again acquitted, but the controversy split the Presbyterian Church in twain. "Indeed," says Mr. Wright, "the controversy seems not to have been one be- longing to common people, but rather one of theological science; and, if a layman may be allowed to say it, savored somewhat of the specu- lations of human reason on matters above human ken."

Dr. Beecher, it will be remembered, resigned his presidency of Lane Seminary in 1852, de- feated in the high hopes that had actuated him in coming West. He returned to Boston but shortly afterwards made his home with his son, Henry Ward Beecher, in Brooklyn, where he .. died January 10, 1863, in his 88th year. Dur- ing the last seven or eight years of his life his mind was clouded.

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 18

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