USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2 > Part 39
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A curious note in the newspaper account of the proceedings during one of the days of this trial states that the court was obliged to suspend for a time to permit certain fugitive slaves to be taken through the room by the marshal. These slaves were the luckless Margaret Garner party.
THE CINCINNATI PIONEER ASSOCIATION.
On November 23, 1856, at a meeting at the Dennison House was organized the Cincinnati Pioneer Association. William Perry who arrived in the city on July 2, 1805, was chosen presi- dent and J. L. Vattier, a native of the city born in the same year, was selected as secretary. This organization was formed for the purpose of gath- ering and preserving reminiscences and informa-
tion connected with the settlement and history of the city previous to 1812, and only those were eligible who could show a residence in the State prior to that year. At a later time as the ranks were thinned by the deaths of many of the older members, the year 1815 was fixed upon as the date to determine eligibility and again at a still later time a residence of 55 years became the test. The society incorporated in its mem- bership many of the most prominent pioneer citi- zens and held regular meetings for a period of almost 40 years. Its secretary during most of the time was the veteran John D. Caldwell, to whom as much as to any other man the city is indebted for the preservation of the details of its carly history. Under the auspices of this or- ganization, Mr. Caldwell printed a number of interesting contributions concerning the history of Cincinnati. At its meetings the most distin- guished citizens of the State delivered addresses, many of which are of permanent value. The minutes of the society, largely in Mr. Caldwell's handwriting, extend from the period of the or- ganization to the meeting of December 28, 1889, and contain not only much information of great value but hundreds of signatures of pioneers to- gether with genealogical and historical notes. These minutes have recently become the property of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio.
THE CONVENTION OF 1856.
The National Democratic Convention met at Cincinnati June 2, 1856. There were three prom- inent candidates before the convention: James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce and Stephen A. Douglas. The Southern delegates favored Pierce at the outset because of his policy in the Kansas struggle, but subsequently changed to Douglas. The Northern delegates were in the main for Buchanan. The convention contimed for five days and on the 17th ballot James Buchanan of Pennsylvania and John C. Breckenridge of Ken- tucky were nominated for President and Vice- President, respectively.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
In July, 1856, the Ohio School Library, the predecessor of our present Public Library, which had been organized under a law of 1853 by virtue of an arrangement with the Ohio Mechanics' In- stitute, opened its quarters in the building of that institution at the corner of Sixth and Vine with a collection of 11,630 volumes of which a little over half were the property of the Ohio Me-
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI
chanics' Institute. During the first year 2,400 persons took 20,179 books from the library. A catalogue of 114 pages, prepared it is said by the high school boys, was printed in January, 1857.
By a vote of the citizens in February of this year the city loaned its credit to the extent of $600,000 to the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad.
THE WINTER OF 1856-57.
The early part of the year 1857 was a period of great distress. The winter was a very severe one and fuel was very scarce. As a result of the coal famine, the price of coal went as high as 75 and 80 cents a bushel. It is said that in the extremities of the time the poor were obliged to burn furniture and household goods to with- stand the zero weather. The City Council was finally prevailed upon by Hon. Benjamin Eggles- ton, then chairman of the finance committee, to pass an ordinance by which $100,000 was donated by the city as a loan fund. The railways were prevailed upon to devote the exclusive use of freight trains for a time to the handling of coal and deliveries were restricted to three bushels at a time. As a result, the price of coal soon fell and matters readjusted themselves. As a mat- ter of fact the city lost very little of its loan fund, as it was almost altogether repaid.
Benjamin Eggleston was born January 3, 1816, at Corinth, New York. In 1831 his family moved to Ohio and he became engaged in com- mercial pursuits and associated with the business of the Ohio Canal. In 1845 he moved to Cin- cinnati and entered into partnership with James Wilson. His firm continued under the name of James Wilson & Company until the death of Mr. Wilson in 1867, when the latter was suc- ceeded by his sons and the firm became known as Wilson, Eggleston & Company. For many years Mr. Eggleston held various positions of trust in the city, State and national government. He was chairman of the Board of Public Im- provements, president of the Council, State Sen- ator and Member of Congress. During his chairmanship of the finance committee in 1857, he succeeded as just stated in securing an ap- propriation of $100,000 to relieve the distressed and in reducing the price of coal front 80 to 25 cents per bushel. Again in 1863, upon a repeti- tion of the coal famine, he succeeded in relieving the distress of many. At the outbreak of the Civil War he secured an appropriation of $100,- 000 from the Council which was disbursed in
small weekly sums to some 3,700 families, many of these the families of soldiers at the front who were left without means of support. He was instrumental in 1862 in passing a bill levy- ing a tax for a relief fund for the State vol- unteers. It was due to his efforts that the Leg- islature ceded to the city that portion of the canal extending from Broadway to the river over which was built a street now known as Eggleston avenue. In 1864 he was elected to Congress from the First District, defeating his Democratic opponent in what was regarded as a Democratic district by over 3,000 majority and two years later he defeated George H. Pendleton in the same district. Owing to his efforts, Cin- cinnati was made a port of entry. He was de- feated in 1868 by Gen. P. W. Strader. He was at a later time reelected to the Board of Council- men. He was throughout his life largely inter- ested in newspapers of the city, particularly of the Times.
The continued cold weather of the winter of 1856-57 caused the Ohio River to freeze solid from shore to shore and the papers of those days record repeated escapes on the part of the slaves who took advantage of this unusual addition to the "Underground Railway" to make for the North. The breaking of the ice which occurred on the 4th of February was accompanied with much damage. Six steamers were wrecked and a large number of ferries and boats of all sorts seriously damaged.
Throughout the year 1857 the matter of fugi- tive slaves excited much interest and occupied much time of the courts. A number of bitter trials were held in the United States and State courts and there were numerous conflicts of jur- isdiction between Federal and State authorities.
A terrible tragedy of July was the murder of Nicholas T. Horton, a very prominent merchant who lived on Ohio avenue on Vine street hill. He was stabbed to death by a servant .named Loefner who had also killed his own wife in an insane fit of jealousy. Loefner tried to commit suicide but failed in spite of repeated attempts. He was finally sentenced to death, but his sen- tence was commuted to life imprisonment.
An interesting advertisement which appeared quite frequently in the papers during the time of the Kansas-Nebraska excitement was that of Hinkle, Guild & Company of No. 365 West Front street. This firm offered "frame buildings for Kansas and Nebraska entirely different from the portable cottage we formerly built." The
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
advertisement shows the plans of four houses, the smallest of which-15 feet square and seven feet 10 inches high-sold for $80. Another house covering twice the ground surface con- tained two rooms and cost $145. A third house was much more pretentious; it was 15 by 30 feet and two stories high with two rooms in cach story, containing 10 windows and 10 doors and sold for $260. An even more elaborate structure was a double house, 30 by 30 feet square, two stories high, which sold for $485 and weighed 19,378 pounds. These houses were made so that they could be taken apart and transported by railroad or steamboat. They were delivered by the manufacturers "all framed with lumber, carpenter work, hardware, paper and paint for roof, all packed and delivered at rail- road depot or wharf" and but a few days' car- penter work was needed to set them up and finish them.
THE OHIO & MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD.
An incident of this year ( 1857) of interest to Cincinnati was the. laying of the last rail of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad which took place at a point six miles cast of Mitchell, In- diana, on Wednesday, April 15, 1857. A large party left Cincinnati to join an equally large party from St. Louis in the celebration of this important event. The last spike was driven by Daniel 1). Bacon. Among others who drove spikes were S. S. L'Hommedieu and C. W. West. The party then entered engines which passed over the newly laid track after which they in- dulged in a banquet and returned to their homes, announcing that the trains would run regularly over the road about the first of May. The grand celebration of the completion of this road and the opening of a route by railroad from Balti- more to St. Louis took place in June at Balti- more and St. Louis. A large party passed over the road from end to end. When the guests reached Cincinnati, they were welcomed by Mayor Thomas and taken to the Burnet House where both Governor Chase and General Cass addressed them. An exhibition of steam fire engines was given in the Fifth street market space, which was a great success. In the even- ing the crowd collected in front of the Burnet House and were addressed by Hon. T. F. Mar- shal of Kentucky and others. At St. Louis the exercises were very elaborate. Responses on be- half of the State of Ohio and Cincinnati were delivered by Professor Mitchel and William J. Flagg. One of the speakers in St. Louis was
Charles D. Drake, formerly of Cincinnati. The celebration beginning at Baltimore and ending at St. Louis lasted practically throughout the week ending June 6th, and was said to have been the most elaborate and costly affair of the kind ever seen in this country.
TIIE OILIO LIFE INSURANCE & TRUST COMPANY FAILURE.
On Wednesday, August 26, 1857, the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Company failed to open its doors. Third street became for a time the center of the city life. The morn- ing papers had announced that the bank would not open and this drew an enormous crowd to this point. By nine o'clock it was impossible to pass through the streets. The crowd lingered all day long and the excite- ment was great. Fortunately there was no run at the time on other banks of the city. It was felt that the trust company's misfortune was the result of bad management in its New York branch and there was every expectation that it .would soon reopen its doors. As the news came in from New York during the day, it became apparent that the matter was more serious than was supposed. The liabilities of the company were estimated by the Tribune at from five to seven millions and the assets of the bank to the extent of two millions were attached by foreign creditors. It soon became apparent that the stockholders would lose everything. This seemed all the more remarkable as the stock had sold in New York during the preceding week almost at par and but a few days before the directors themselves had bought a number of shares. The local branch of the bank issued a statement of its affairs in Cincinnati, claiming to show assets of over five millions with lia- bilities of less than three millions, making an excess of assets over liabilities exclusive of capital almost two millions and a half. It became apparent very soon that the de- moralization in financial circles was not con- fined to any one institution. The Central Bank of - Messrs. Hatch and Langdon finally sus- pended payment, to be followed a little later by the Citizens' ( Smead, Collard and Hughes) and the City Bank. All these institutions claimed to have assets largely in excess of their liabili- ties. The return of the investigating committee composed of W. W. Scarborough and William Hooper, who had been sent East to examine into the affairs of the trust company, brought little consolation to Cincinnati financial circles. 1t
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI
was perfectly clear that the company was a wreck." The hope that the difficulties would be tided over very soon disappeared. The trust company's checks fell to 25 cents on the dollar and the market generally showed great weakness. In October came the general suspension of the New York banks, followed quickly by suspen- sions throughout the country. The Ohio banks, however, fared better than most of the banks of the country and although there was great dis- tress as a result of the scarcity of money and a panic throughout the country there were no further serious failures. It became necessary, however, by reason of the hard times to dis- tribute food to the poor citizens which was done at public expense.
The disposition of the assets of the trust eom- pany became the subject of a controversy between the United States Court and the Superior Court of Cincinnati. It finally reached the point of ab- solute disagreement. The Superior Court ob- tained possession through the sheriff and refused to turn over the property to James P. Kilbreath and N. C. McLean, the receivers ap- pointed by the United States Court. Matters came to a deadlock and finally the attorneys agreed upon an arrangement by which Messrs. Kilbreath and Charles Reemelin became the trus- tees under the appointment of the Superior Court and to them were turned over the assets listed at the time at a little over a million dollars.
EMERSON, SCOTT AND JENNY LIND.
A prominent visitor of the year 1857 was Ralph Waldo Emerson who delivered his lecture "The Conduct of Life" at Smith & Nixon's Hall in January. He was entertained by the Literary Club and other organizations during his visit to the city.
Gen. Winfield Scott was the guest of the city on April 8th. He was greeted at the Pub- lic Landing by about 10,000 people while a mili- tary salute was fired by the Red Rover Artillery. Accompanied by a vast procession he drove to the Burnet House, where he was met by the citizens.
Less than a week later arrived the great Swedish songstress, Jenny Lind, accompanied by her manager, P. T. Barnum. She was also re- ceived with enthusiasm despite the fact that Barnum succeeded in misleading the awaiting crowd as to hier identity. She made her first appearance at the National Theatre on April 14th, where she sang "I Know that My Re- deemer Liveth," selections from "La Somnam-
bula," "Il Turcoin Italia," "Bird Song" and "Home, Sweet Home." Critical opinions for once coincided with the popular approval. She. gave several concerts while here and met with great success.
On Saturday, March .7, 1857, occurred the ob- sequies of the celebrated Arctic traveler, Elisha Kent Kane. His remains which were on their way East were received by a committee of citi- zens at Vevay, Indiana, and were brought to the foot of Fifth street on board the "Cham- pion." Here they were met by a large proces- sion of citizens which escorted them to the de- pot on Front street. The bells in the city tolled and the Red Rover Artillery fired minute guns during the exercises. At the Little Miami de- pot the body was placed upon a train and for- warded on its way to Columbus.
A prominent citizen, Jacob Wykoff Piatt, died May 28th. His wife survived him almost 57 years.
Among the deaths of this year was that of Mary Goforth Gano, which occurred July 5, 1857. She was the daughter of. William Goforth and wife of John S. Gano and landed with the first party that came to Columbia in November, 1788. She lived in Cincinnati or its neighborhood al- most 70 years and died in her 89th year. She lived to see two of the fifth generation of her family,-one a daughter of Dr. O. D. Norton and another a son of D. G. Ray.
On almost the last day of the year, Thomas Emery fell through a hatchway in his new build- ing at the corner of Vine and Water streets. When he was picked up in the cellar, he was found to be dead. Thomas Emery was born in Bedford, England, in 1799. He came to Cin- cinnati in the early "thirties" and almost im- mediately took a prominent part in the business life of the city. In 1841 he became seriously embarrassed financially and was obliged to enter into a composition with his creditors. Subse- quently his business once more prospered and he discharged every dollar of his former obliga- tions with interest. He became a man of great wealth and was interested in most of the public affairs of the city. His death was regarded as a public misfortune and his funeral at the Ninth Street Baptist Church was attended by a very large number of citizens, including the entire Chamber of Commerce and many other com- mercial bodies.
A fire of July 14, 1857, destroyed the well known museum and theatre of Colonel Wood, at
GF FF FF FF
THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY BUILDING. (Joseph G. Steinkamp & Bro., Architects. )
$6. 6.1903
THE THIRD NATIONAL BANK.
THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE.
THE CINCINNATI LAW SCHOOL.
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
the northwest corner of Fifth and Walnut in the Broadwell Building.
The City Council at a meeting held January 29, 1858, passed an ordinance directing the pur- chase of the Orphan Asylum lot at the southeast corner of Elm and 14th streets for the purpose of a public park and also an ordinance for the purchase of the Episcopal Burying Ground lying between 14th, 12th, Race and Elm streets. This is the property now covered by Washington Park.
A distinguished visitor of the year 1858 was the well known song writer, Dr. Charles Mackay, who was the guest of the Burns Club at a ban- quet at the Burnet House in January. Mackay wrote a series of letters relating to his travels in this country which, published shortly after his departure, gave great offense to the slave- holders of the South.
Shortly after the death of Charles McMicken, which occurred on March 30, 1858, it became known that he had left a will by which provision was made for the education of the white children of the city. Litigation almost immediately fol- lowed the probating of the will and it was some time before any actual results were apparent ; however the city almost immediately took action by passing an ordinance establishing McMicken University and electing a board of directors, of which Rufus King was the first president. The war and litigation with regard to the funds so interfered however with the plans of the direc- tors that it was not for 10 years that any in- struction was given under the auspices of the University.
.
One of the first deaths of the year 1858 was that of Capt. Presley N. Guthrie, who had been a soldier in the Mexican War and after the war was over had organized a volunteer company in this city which became known as the Guthrie Greys.
Among the casualties of the year were an ex- plosion which took place in the gas pipes leading into the basement of the Methodist Church on Sixth street and an explosion of an infernal ma- chine by which one Pryor P. Lee, the engineer at the Cincinnati Type Foundry, was injured. There were also several murders; in fact during the dozen or more years prior to the war mur- ders seemed to be in the ordinary course of events.
PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE.
An interesting event of February, 1859, was the opening of the new Pike's Opera House, which took place on Washington's Birthday. This temple of amusement was regarded at the
time as the finest of its class in the country and stood with the greatest theatres of the world. The building itself was five stories high and built of bluish gray sandstone. Its front was 134 feet and its depth 190 feet. The front of the building was elaborately ornamented with colos- sal figures, representing music, poetry, agricul- ture and astronomy as well as a bas-relief of Shakespeare and Mozart. There were three grand entrances, that in the center being 12 feet in width. At the head of the stairs a grand lobby laid in black and white marble tile ran the entire width of the building .. This opened into reception rooms and a large promenade hall used on grand opera nights which was 130 feet long, 33 feet wide and 25 feet high. The audi- torium itself was 98 feet square and 82 feet high and contained three tiers. The ceiling was most elaborately decorated as was in fact the entire interior of the house. The proscenium was 22 feet wide and 50 feet high and 50 feet in the clear from right to left. It contained six pri- vate boxes 15 by 18 feet, each lighted by an inte- rior chandelier and gorgeously furnished through- out. The stage was 58 by go feet. The building had a seating capacity of 3,000. The cost of the structure exceeded a half million dollars. The architect of the front was H. White of New York and of the interior John Trimble of New York. A number of local houses took part in the building of the structure. The building was by William Wiswell, stone work by Isaac Graveson, the iron work by Miles Greenwood, gas work by MeHenry & Carson, doors by Daniel DeCamp, marble work by Charles Rule, plastering by D. Dale and plumbing by Gibson & Company.
The opening of this beautiful theatre was sig- nalized by a testimonial festival given by the citizens to Samuel N. Pike, the proprietor. . 1 copy of the invitation preserved in the collection of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, reads, as follows :
INAUGURATION FESTIVAL
OF PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE,
FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22d, 1859. . BY THE CITIZENS OF CINCINNATI, COMPLIMENTARY TO SAMUEL N. PIKE, ESQ
The pleasure of
company is respectfully solicited at the Festival. Inaugurating Pike's Opera House, on the evening of the 22d of February, 1859.
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI
COMMITTEE ON INVITATIONS.
Judge Jas. Hall, Chas. Hartshorne,
Jacob Strader,
Peter A. White,
Wm. Key Bond, G. G. Enyart,
Larz Anderson, Joshua Yorke.
Geo, H. Shoenberger, G. W. Woodward,
Geo. Shillito,
J. L. Stettinius,
Sam'l Wiggins,
T. M. Winston.
T. J. Gallagher,
The staging for the ball was built over the parquette and extended back to the extreme south of the stage. Here was erected a little plat- form with a scene behind of palaces and colon- nades, in front of which played a fountain which supported comical figures and twirled a Chinese umbrella. Around about were growing trees and plants. The seats were in the dress circle as well as in the boxes. The music was given by Menter's Band and Jonas' Orchestra and includ- ed 26 selections of which but two were waltzes. There were four promenade grand marches and 13 quadrilles. The company was estimated at 2,000, many of whom it is said had never seen a ball before. Supper was served by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and the catering, establishment of Mr. Morris.
The grand inaugural opera night of Pike's Opera House was March 15, 1859, on which oc- casion was produced the opera of "Martha" under the direction of Maurice Strakosch. In the cast were Madame Pauline Colson, Madame Stra- kosch, Signor Brignoli, Maurel, Junca and Nicola Klebs. On the following night "La Fa- vorita" was given with Madame Parodi, Barili and Brignoli, which was followed on the third night by "La Traviata," in which appeared Madame Colson, the tenor Henry Squires and the baritone Amodio. The admission (including reserved seat) was $1.50. The management of the opera house was in charge of Charles M. Barras.
On May 10, 1859, the corner-stone was laid of the well known building at the corner of Betts and Linn streets known as the Betts Street Hos- pital. This was in charge of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, a Catholic order. Six sisters of this order had come to America at the invitation of Archbishop Purcell in September, 1838. At first they had occupied as a hospital the Boys' Orphan Asylum on Fourth street, at that time in charge of a German Catholic so- ciety, but the necessity for further accommoda- tions was soon apparent. The buildings have been from time to time enlarged and the insti- tution has always been of the greatest benefit to
the community. Although controlled by the Catholic Church, it has been open not only to people of all religions but to non-residents.
LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS.
Cincinnati was especially privileged in the fall campaign of 1859 in having the opportunity of hearing Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lin- coln. On Friday, September 9th, Senator Douglas spoke to an assemblage of 7,000 per- sons in the Court street market square. On Saturday of the following week Mr. Lincoln de- livered his well known Cincinnati speech from the balcony of Mr. Kinsey's house in Fifth street market space. Standing within sight of the Ken- tucky hills, he addressed himself especially to the citizens of that State: "It has occurred to me to-night," said Mr. Lincoln, "that if ever I do shout over the line at the people on the other side of the line in the Slave States and purpose to do so keeping my skin safe that I have now about the best chance I shall ever have. 1 should not wonder that there are some Ken- tuckians about this audience; we are close to Kentucky ; and whether that be so or not we are on elevated ground and by speaking distinctly I should not wonder if some of the Kentuckians will hear me on the other side of the river." With this introduction he seemed to address himself especially to the Kentuckians, prefacing his remarks with the statement that he thought slavery wrong, morally, socially and politically.
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