Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 35

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

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THE WESLEYAN CEMETERY,

A beautiful tract of 25 acres situated in the northwestern part of the city on the east bank of the west fork of Mill creek at what is now the northwest corner of Colerain avenue and Hoffner street, was opened in 1843. By 1842 the old cemetery back of Wesley Chapel had become too small for the Methodists of the city and this lot at that time about five miles from the city, but now in the midst of a thickly settled com- munity, was purchased. The site was a beautiful onc and the plan of the burying ground in ac- cordance with the best ideas of the time. Origin- ally a small chapel was built on the grounds which was displaced in 1855 by a handsomer edifice of brick.

THE MILLERITES.

The year of the presidential election of 1844 is remarkable for an extraordinary religious agitation, that of the Millerites. The delusion of these people had been spreading for some 18 months through the West and had been propagated here with great zeal by Revs. Himes, Jacobs and many others. Religious services were carried on at first in the Cincinnati College

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Building but afterwards a tabernacle was erected on the southeast corner of Seventh and John, a broad building 80 feet square but capable of seat- ing 2,000 persons. A newspaper, The Midnight Cry, was also established. Miller, the author of this movement, had predicted that the second advent would take place with the close of 1843. Unfortunately for the prophet the assigned period came and nothing happened. A recalculation showed that the divine author had made a mistake and he fixed a day in March, 1844, as the proper date. Once more the world continued after the day set for its destruction and finally October 22, 1844, was selected as the critical time. So con- fident were the disciples that for several days before the day of prophecy the faithful adventists gave up all labor. An amusing story is told of one whose wife did not sympathize with his views. He had abandoned work and on the fol- lowing morning remained at home, and after sitting for sometime and seeing no signs of break- fast he made inquiries and was told in scriptural language that if a man will not work neither shall he eat and reminded of the fact that as he was about to be translated to another sphere he would not need food. The gnawing pangs of hunger produced a compromise and on the promise of returning to work he obtained breakfast. Mr. Cist gives an account of the final disappointment of these deluded enthusiasts :

"All these periods were referred to in succes- sion in The Midnight Cry, and so firmly was the faith of the Millerites fixed on the last calcula- tion that the number published for October 22d was solemnly announced to be the last communi- cation through that channel to the believers. In this progress of things, both in the press and tabernacle, as might have been expected, deeper exercises of mind among the Millerites was the result, and within a few days of the twenty- second all the brethren had divested themselves of their earthly cares, eating, drinking and sleep- ing only excepted. Chests of tools which cost forty dollars were sold for three. A gold watch worth one hundred dollars was sacrificed for one- fifth the value. Two brothers of the name of Hanselmann, who owned a steamboat in company with Captain Collins, abandoned to him their en- tire interest in it, alleging they had nothing far- ther to do with earthly treasures. John Smith, an estimable man, once a distinguished member of the Baptist Church and a man of considerable property here, left it all to take care of itself. A distinguished leader in this movement shut up his shop and placed a card on the door, 'Gone

to meet the Lord,'-which in a few hours was irreverently replaced by some of the neighbors with 'Gone up.

"One of the believers, the clerk of one of our courts, made up his business papers to the twen- ty-second, and left later business to those who were willing to attend to it. Another, a clerk in one of the city banks, resigned his position in order to devote his entire attention to the sec- ond advent preparations; and others settled up their worldly business, paying their debts so far as was in their power, and asking forgiveness of their unpaid creditors, when they were unable to discharge the account. Others, again, spent weeks in visiting relations and friends for the last time, as they supposed. In short, after all these things, all ranks and classes of the be- lievers assembled at the tabernacle on the nights of the twenty-second and twenty-third successive- ly, to be ready for the great event.

"In the meantime considerable ill-feeling had been engendered among the relatives of those who had become infatuated with these doctrines, as they saw their wives or sisters or daughters led off by such delusions, to the neglect of family duties, even to the preparing of ordinary meals or attending to the common and everyday busi- ness of life. The spirit of lynching was about to make its appearance. Crowds upon crowds, increasing every evening, as the allotted day ap- proached, aided to fill the house or surround the doors of their building. A large share were ready to commence mischief as soon as a fair oppor- tunity should present itself. On last Sabbath the first indications of popular displeasure broke out. Every species of annoyance was offered to the Millerites at the doors of the tabernacle, and even within its walls, on that and Monday evening -much of it highly discreditable to the actors. At the close of an exhortation or address, or even a prayer by the members, the same tokens of approbation, by clapping of hands and stamp- ing of feet, as are exhibited at a theatre or a public lecture, were given here, interspersed with groans of 'Oh Polk!' 'Oh Clay!' shouts of .Hur- rah for Clay!' 'Hurrah for Polk!' 'Hurrah for Birney !' and loud calls of 'move him.' 'yon can't come it,' varied occasionally with distinct rounds of applause. A pigeon was let into the taber- nacle also, on Monday evening, to the general annoyance.

"On Tuesday the crowds in and outside the building, still increasing, and not less than twen- ty-five hundred persons being within the walls. and nearly two thousand in the street adjacent,

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a general. disturbance was expected. But the mayor and police had been called on, and were upon the ground and distributed through the crowd. The clear moonlight rendered it diffi- cult to commit any excess irresponsibly ; and above all, Father Reese, venerable for his age, erudition, and skill in theology, and his magnifi- cent beard, occupied the great mass outside the doors, as a safety-valve to let off the superfluous excitement. At nine o'clock the Millerites ad- journed-as it proved sine die-going home to watch all their respective dwellings for the ex- pected advent. They held no tabernacle meet- ing on Wednesday evening, to the disappoint- ment of the crowd, which assembled as usual, and to which, by way of solace, Reese again held forth. At nine o'clock the out-door assembly dispersed, also without day. Wednesday even- ing having dissipated the last hopes and con- founded all the calculations of the Adventists, they have since, to a great extent, resumed that position in the community which they previously held. The carpenter has again seized his jack- plane, the mason his trowel, and the painter his brush. Eshelby has tied on anew the leather apron, and Brother Jones again laid hold of the currying-knife. The clerk in the bank, whose post was kept in abeyance until he should re- cover from his delusion, is again at his desk, and John the Baptist, by which well-known sobriquet one of the principal leaders is desig- nated, has gone back to his houses and his farms, content to wait, as other Christians are waiting, for the day and hour to come, as the chart has pointed it out." (Cist's Miscellany, Vol. I, p. 42.)

Among the entertainments offered in 1844 was Winter's Chemical Diorama which had been ex- hibited throughout the country with great suc- cess. His pictures which were exhibited on Fourth below Main in the Miller Building were four in number; they included a view of the "Milan Cathedral at Midnight Mass," the "Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem," "Belshazzar's Feast" and the "Destruction of Jerusalem." The coloring, perspective, light and shade and the successive changes under the various lights were extremely striking and im- pressive and the scenic illusion was said to be most striking. "You see the Cathedral at Milan in the moonlight of midnight. Mass is celebrat- ing within the walls. A bell faintly tinkles in the great distance apparently before you in tones of perfect keeping with the scene. It is difficult to realize that you are behokling a picture-so

perfectly are the eye and ear led captive." (Cist's Miscellany, Vol. I, pp. 50 and 72.)

Other events of the year 1844 was the erec- tion of the first cotton factory of the city by Jacob Strader, Samuel Fosdick and Anthony Harkness, the purchase of the first ground for Spring Grove Cemetery, and the opening of the Little Miami Railroad to Xenia.

Towards the end of the year 1844 a vessel named the "Muskingum" of 350 tons burthen was built at Marietta and during the winter was loaded at Cincinnati with a cargo for Liverpool. She finally reached that city in January, 1845, and her arrival was regarded as of sufficient im- portance as to call for a special mention in the Times of that city which recorded the receipt of a file of Cincinnati papers brought by the first vessel that ever cleared out of this city for Europe. The success of this vessel induced the building of a number of other sea-going vessels, three of which were built before 1850 by . John Swasey & Company.

THE CINCINNATI HISTORICAL SOCIETY,

In August, 1844, was organized the Cincin- nati Historical Society with James H. Perkins as its first president. The transfer in 1849 of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio from Columbus to Cincinnati and the uniting of the two kindred societies resulted in the organ- ization which to-day stands among the first in- stitutions of the kind in the country. The first president of the new organization was the poet W. D. Gallagher.

CINCINNATUS.

An event which called for a special note in all the newspapers was the arrival in April, 1845, of drawings of the well known statue of Cin- çinnatus which was modeled by Nathan F. Baker at Rome the year before. This statue had ex- cited the admiration of so great a sculptor as Powers who was then at Florence and was highly spoken of by other artists in Rome. Mr. Baker's own description of the statue which can be compared with the work itself which now stands in the City Hall says that he represented Cincinnatus in the attitude of a mediator when he was called for the first time to act in a public capacity and that he endeavored to give the action of the speaker before the Roman citizens. He thought the statue would express the first posi- tion as well as the last although he was acting more in the character of a warrior than as a judge. He was dressed simply in a Roman toga

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which was worn by all classes of the time. A plow was merely indicated in the sketch. Baker had already executed the "Egeria" which, exhib- ited at the residence of J. Baker at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, had attracted general at- tention.

In 1845 a meeting of the Southern and West- ern Anti-Slavery Convention was held in the city. A celebrated visitor of this year was Sir Charles Lyell who was the guest of Dr. John Locke and also of Robert Buchanan and others. In his work subsequently published he gave a description of the geological formation of the city. He speaks of the discovery of teeth of the extinct giant elephant similar to those found on the banks of the Thames and in the ice of Siberia. Near the city some teeth of mastodons had been found as well as other remains of this extraordinary animal. He spoke with enthusiasm of the collection of fossils then owned by Messrs. Buchanan, Anthony and Clarke.

A visit of President James K. Polk was an interesting episode of the year 1845.

SPRING GROVE CEMETERY.

On August 28, 1845, occurred the consecra- tion of the new cemetery grounds known as Spring Grove Cemetery. This event was the practical result of an agitation which had con- tinued for a number of years and had culmin- ated in an organization about a year before at a meeting at the house of Robert Buchanan at which were present a dozen or more of the most prominent citizens. The ceremonies of the conse- cration were in charge of Rev. J. T. Brook and in them took part Judge John McLean, W. D. Gallagher and Lewis J. Cist.

A disastrous fire of this year (January 19th) destroyed the well known College Building on Walnut street near the corner of Fourth.

THE CINCINNATI LAW LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.

An organization fruitful in results, certainly to the lawyers of the community and probably to all interested in the administration of justice, iş the Cincinnati Law Library Association which dates from the year 1846. The principal spirits in the movement were the well known lawyers, William R. Morris, William M. Corry, Daniel Van Matre, Alphonso Taft and George E. Pugh, who formed a committee appointed at a bar meet- ing held in the old Superior Court room at that time. As a result of the organization begun so modestly, Cincinnati is possessed of a Law Li- brary which in spite of many vicissitudes is one of

the few great law libraries of the country and which with the library of the United States Cir- cuit Court of Appeals affords assistance to the lawyers in both State and Federal courts of the city such as few communities are possessed of.

The first annual meeting of the New England Society took place in 1846. It was held at that time on January 6th. During the same month the Post Office was removed from the Henrie House to the Masonic Building at the corner of Third and Walnut. This also was the year of the opening of the Merchants' Exchange in the Col- lege Building. In July of this year Colonels O. M. Mitchel and Curtis led two regiments of infantry, the First and Second Ohio, to take part in the war against Mexico. A notable man, Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, died on the 14th of Au- gust of this same year.

THE FIRST RAILROADS.

The most noteworthy event in the city life of 1846 was the opening of the first railroad, the Little Miami, to Springfield, an event that almost paralleled in importance the opening of the Miami Canal two decades before.

By 1841, 35 miles of the road had been graded and more under contract. The iron rails for 15 miles had been bought and the locomotives to run on the road procured. Thirty miles of the road were opened to public traffic in 1843. At this time the rolling stock consisted of one eight- wheeled locomotive, two passenger coaches and eight freight cars, all of which had been built in Cincinnati. So primitive were the ideas of the day that it is said that a locomotive was not allowed to enter the city for fear the sparks might set fire to the houses and the cars were drawn into town by mules. On the 17th of July, 1844, the road was opened to Xenia, 68 miles and the first train over the completed road to Spring- field went through August 10, 1846. There had been expended by this time in the construc- tion of the road the sum of $1,232,000, although the property of the road had to be assigned to trustees before reaching Springfield. A dividend on its capital stock had been declared in 1845. Dividends averaging 10 per cent per annum were paid regularly until the time of its lease in 1870, to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Its dividends of course were not so large at first and the stock did not reach par until 1852 but it finally went to 125 before falling. Its bonded in- debtedness was incurred for the purpose of re- building and the money raised,-one and a half million dollars,-was put into the road. The con-

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vertible bands were turned into stock. The strap rail of the early road was very soon displaced by rails of more modern character and the road has been the subject of constant improvement up to the present time. It is now regarded as one of the best constructed roads in the world. The Sandusky connection was completed in 1848, giv- ing Cincinnati the first communication with the coast by water and rail. The same year connec- tion for Columbus was made at Xenia by the Columbus and Xenia road over which the first passenger train traveled February 20, 1850. Shortly after this the first legislative junket was taken by the members of the General Assembly over these roads to Cincinnati. In 1851 the office of the company was at the corner of Con- gress and Kilgour streets. Jacob Strader was its president ; John Kilgour, secretary; Archibald Irwin, treasurer; and W. L. Clement, its super- intendent and engineer. Other directors were Griffin Taylor, Reuben R. Springer, John H. Groesbeck, Nathaniel Wright, William McCam- mon, John Bacon, Larz Anderson, Alphonso Taft, Abraham Hivling and James Hicks, Jr. It was at that time the only railroad leaving Cincinnati actually in operation although the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and the Ohio & Mississippi had been organized. Since May I, 1849, one train a day each way had been run- ning between Cincinnati and Springfield and passengers for Sandusky, Buffalo, Boston and New York were provided by P. W. Strader, agent, with tickets via the Little Miami, and Mad River & Lake Erie railroads to Sandusky, steamboat line to Buffalo and thence via railroad to Albany and steamer to New York. On and after the opening of the New York & Erie Rail- road, steamboats could be taken to Dunkirk and thence to New York. In 1851 there were two daily trains leaving Cincinnati, one at 5:20 in the morning and the other at 2:30 in the after- noon. 'Passengers leaving on the afternoon train reached Sandusky at six o'clock in the morning, left at seven for Buffalo by steamer where the morning express was taken for Albany and the evening steamer for New York. Connection was also made by means of the steamer "Arrow" with Detroit and at Buffalo by the Niagara Falls and Ontario route with Toronto, Montreal and Quebec. Connection was made at Albany with Boston and at New York with Philadelphia and Baltimore. The fare from Cincinnati to Spring- field was $2.50, to Sandusky $6.50, to Detroit $8.00 and to Buffalo $8.80. The fare from Buffalo to New York was $7.50 making a total

fare of $16.30. No extra charge for meals or staterooms was made to passengers while on the boats. Passengers could also go by the Cleve- land route under the spring, summer and fall arrangement, reaching New York in 48 hours. This route included the Little Miami, Columbus & Xenia, and Columbus & Cleveland roads to Cleveland whence steamboats took passengers to Buffalo who proceeded by railroad to Albany and by steamer to New York. The express train leaving at 5:20 in the morning reached Columbus at II :30, and Cleveland at six o'clock that night. Passengers slept the first night on the lake steamer and the second night on a steamer on North River, "making the trip from Cincinnati to New York without loss of sleep." The tickets by this route were a little more ex- pensive; the rate to Buffalo being $10.00, the rate to Cleveland was $7.50, to Columbus $3.50, to Xenia $1.90. The office of the company was on the east side of Broadway the first door north of Front. The road during the year 1850 car- ried 144,486 passengers, of whom 52,288 were through passengers between Cincinnati and Springfield. The total receipts from through passengers were about $125,000 and altogether $204,589.87. The receipts for freight were: Way freight $157,607.38, through freight $35,000 and carrying the mail $8,500, making the total re- ceipts of the road $405,697.24. November 30, 1853, the two companies, the Little Miami and Columbus & Xenia, entered into an agreement by which the roads were operated as a single line. On January 1, 1865, these roads became the lessees of the Dayton & Western and the Richmond & Miami railways and later in the same year purchased parts of the Cincinnati, Dayton, Xenia and Belpre roads. On November 30, 1868, the Little Miami became the lessee of the Columbus & Xenia and all the rights of that corporation in the roads mentioned and in 1870 leased its own road and all its property to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company ( Pennsylvania system). The lease is for 99 years renewable forever at an annual rental of eight per cent on the capital stock, be- sides interest on the funded debt and payment of expenses of organization.

The present depot at the corner of Pearl and Butler streets was considered at the time of its erection in 1881 one of the prominent structures of the city.

The second railroad to make an entrance into Cincinnati was the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton. This was chartered March 2, 1846, as the

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Cincinnati & Hamilton Railroad Company. Its present name was given to it by an act passed March 15, 1849. It was opened for business Sep- tember 19, 1850, but a little more than a year after work had been commenced upon it. The road was built without the aid of township sub- scriptions and its stocks and bonds sold at par from the start both in New York and Cincin- nati. In less than a month after the opening of the subscriptions for stock, three-fourths of a million dollars in cash was paid in by Cincinnati investors. The rest of the stock and the first issue of bonds were taken in New York at par. This is supposed to be the first instance of the kind in the history of railroading. On May I, 1863, the road from Dayton to Toledo belonging to the Dayton & Michigan Company was leased to the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and on February 18, 1869, it became the lessee of the Cincinnati, Richmond & Chicago Railroad Com- pany, which covered also the Richmond & Miami Railway. In 1872 the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis Railroad was added to the system. S. S. L'Hommedieu from whom so much has been quoted concerning the history of the city was for many years director of this road. The chief engineer during its construction was Rob- ert .M. Shoemaker.

Mr. L'Hommedieu in an address before the Pioneer Association spoke of it as follows :

"It may be expected I should say something of the second railroad built in our city -- the Cin- cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton, or the Great Miami Railroad.

"When this road was commenced, in 1848, the question as to the superiority of railroads over canals had been settled in the public mind, and there was no such difficulty in raising funds as had been experienced by the Little Miami Company. The bonds of roads then under way -- such as the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincin- nati, Cleveland and Pittsburg, Lake Shore and others-were negotiated in New York, so as to net from eighty to eighty-five cents on the dol- lar. County, town, and township subscriptions to capital stock were readily obtained, and rail- roads were built with comparative case.

"The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Rail- road, however, was built without the aid of any such subscriptions. Its stock and bonds were sold at par, without the employment of New York or other brokers. Such was the faith at home in the enterprise, that within a month a cash subscription of three-fourths of a million was made by our merchants, manufacturers, and

other citizens. New York capitalists took the remaining stock and the first issue of bonds at par.

"This was the first instance in which Western railroad securities had found a market in New York without making heavy sacrifices, and it took the New York City brokers by surprise at its presumption and success.

"The road was placed under contract, and built in a little over a year's time. It was opened on the 19th of September, 1851, and for twenty years or more promptly met all its obligations, and, after paying interest on bonds, made fair average dividends to its stockholders." ( Cincin- nati Pioneer, No. III, p. 18.)

The third railroad to enter Cincinnati was the Ohio & Mississippi which connects Cincinnati with East St. Louis opposite the city of St. Louis. This was built by three companies,-the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad Company of Indiana incor- porated in 1848, a corporation of the same name of Ohio chartered in 1849 and one of the same name of Illinois chartered in 1851. It was com- pleted and opened in May, 1857. It originally had a broad gauge of six feet and connected with the old Atlantic & Great Western ( subsequently the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio) and the Erie lines, giving a broad-gauge route between St. Louis and New York. Ormsby M. Mitchel did much of the carly surveying for this road. The road has passed through many vicissitudes of fortune but now is a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system.

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 35

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