Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 4

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

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bership on May II, 1825, and signed its by- laws on May 19th of the same year.

Another new educational institution was "The Woodward Free Grammar School" of which the following account is given: "Mr. William Woodward of this city, with a liberality whichi entitles to him the gratitude of his fellow citi- zens, has recently conveyed in trust for the sup- port of a free grammar school, for the educa- tion of the poor children of the city, a valuable tract of land, containing six acres, lying a little north of the line of the canal, between Broad- way and Main street. So soon as the canal is completed, it is the intention of the trustees to divide this tract into suitable building lots and to lease them subject to a revaluation every fif- teen years. It is computed that the rents in 1828 will be sufficient to authorize the opening of a school with at least sixty pupils. The deed of trust is made to Samuel Lewis and Ozmond Cogswell and provides for the annual election by the voters of the city of a third trustee. On de- cease or resignation of the trustees named in the will, their successors are to be appointed by the mayor and aldermen and in case the City Court should be abolished, the same power is given perpetually to the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County. Mr. Wood- ward owns in common with the county of Ham- ilton another tract of land adjoining the one al- ready described worth about nine thousand dol- lars. Hle proposes in case the commissioners of the county will do so likewise, to make a similar conveyance of this tract for the education of the poor children of the whole county. This liberal and praiseworthy proposition, should certainly be met by the commissioners in a corresponding spirit. In that case permanent provision for ex- tending the rudiments of an English education to the poor children of the city and county will be secured for an unlimited period to an extent calculated to confer the most substantial benefits 110011 that most interesting class of our popu- lation. A charter incorporating the trustees of this public charity by the name of 'The Wood- ward Free Grammar School of Cincinnati' lias just been passed by the Legislature as well as a law authorizing the commissioners of the county to convey the tract above referred . to according to the proposition of Mr. Woodward."

The list of literary and scientific institutions was increasing. It included the Medical College of Ohio, the Cincinnati College, the Cincinnati Female Academy, all of which have already been mentioned. There is also added the Female

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

Boarding School kept by Misses Bailey on Broad- way between Market and Columbia streets, the oldest one in the city. F. Eckstein assisted the principals in the work of instruction in this school.

Another school was the Cincinnati Female School under the superintendence of Mrs. Albert and John W. Picket late of New York, long and advantageously known as instructors and authors of certain elementary school books. They occu- pied a suite of rooms in the south wing of the Cincinnati College edifice. Rev. M. C. McKee's Classical Academy was on Third street near the Post Office and Rev. Mr. Slack's school occupied the north wing of the college edifice. There were in all about 50 schools in the city. Others special- ly mentioned were those of Mr. Cathcart, Mr. Williams, Mr. Kinmont, Mr. Talbert, Mr. Win- wright, Mr. Chute, Mr. Wing and Mr. More- craft. Mr. Langdon's Reading Room was still an institution of the city as was the Western Museum projected in the summer of 1818 by William Steele with the assistance of Dr. Drake and others. For some years after its opening, June 10, 1820, its curator- was Dr. Robert Best who was succeeded in 1823 by Joseph Dorfeuille.

There had been deposited in the Museum: Dr: Drake's cabinet of minerals, organic remains, fossil bones and Western antiquities; remains of the manimoth and Arctic elements, found at Big Bone Lick in Kentucky; the collections of James Griffith, John J. Audubon and Dr. Best of quadrupeds, birds, reptiles and fishes of the West ; several hundred specimens of natural his- tory collected by Consul General Condy Raguet from Rio de Janeiro; Mr. Dorfeuille's own col- lection of Egyptian antiquities, foreign and do- inestic birds and Western amphibians and the collections of the late John D. Clifford of Lex- ington, Kentucky, including many specimens of antiquities, fossils and minerals. This collection was in an extensive suite of rooms on the corner of Second and Main streets where lectures were delivered to the public on matters pertaining to the various articles in the Museum.

Letton's Museum owned by Ralph Letton was kept in two spacious halls in the second and third stories of the brick building at Fourth and Main streets. In the upper hall were princi- pally wax figures. The museum contained about 200 birds, 40 animals, 2,000 minerals, 50 mammoth bones, 23 wax figures, besides Indian antiquities, shells, etc. The carly subscribers numbered about 300, to whom and to the public

lectures on ancient and modern history were de- livered.

The two libraries mentioned were the Cin- cinnati Library kept in one of the lower rooms of the Cincinnati College edifice by the "Circu- lating Library Society of Cincinnati" and the Apprentices' Library.

Nine newspapers were then published in the city: Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gazette, Na- tional Republican and Ohio Political Register, Cincinnati Advertiser, National Crisis and Cin- cinnati Emporium, semi-weekly; Parthenon, Western Tiller and Saturday Evening Chronicle, weekly ; Cincinnati Commercial Register, daily ; and a German paper, Ohio Chronicle, weekly. The Ohio Medical Repository, semi-monthly, was edited by Dr. Guy W. Wright, and Rev. Timothy Flint had already projected his monthly journal. the Western Magasine and Reviewe.

The pioneer of Cincinnati art, F. Eckstein, had already commenced his formation of an Academy of Fine Arts to which a number of busts and other specimens of art made by him- self were to form the nucleus. The plan included the delivery of lectures on art subjects.

The courts at that time included the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Court of Common Pleas, the City Court, the mayor's court and three justices of the peace. The Supreme and County courts held their sessions at the Court House while the City Court, which was composed of the mayor and aldermen, and the mayor's court held their sessions in the brick building on the north side of Third street between Main and Sycamore.

A city watch had just been established in addition to the marshal and his deputies to act as police 'officers. This watch consisted of two captains and 18 men at an expense of about $3,000 per annum. The condition of the city at that time is indicated by the authors' comment as follows: "A watch in a city of the magni- tude of Cincinnati is obviously of great impor- tance ; but it may be seriously doubted, whether the erection of a few lamps should not have pre- ceded its establishment ; for in proportion to the increase of light, the facilities for the commis- sion of crimes are lessened, and, of consequence, the means of detection rendered more numerous. A couple of lamps at each intersection of the streets in those parts of the city thickly popu- lated, would add greatly to the comfort of the citizens, and the safety of their property."

Complaint too was made that proper atten- tion was not given to the cleanliness of the streets, as on Upper and Lower Market streets

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the filth collected on market days was suffered to remain for one or two days before it was removed. The practice too of suffering the upper parts of the quay to be occupied as a stand for horses and wagons was objected to. "Whenever this public work so useful as well as ornamental, to the city, shall cease to be used as a wagon yard, and shall have been adorned with one or two rows of shade trees, running parallel to Front street, it will become a promenade not less pleasant than beautiful."

According to the writers there were 23 con- victions for crime within the county of Hamil- ton during the year 1826, including one each for murder in the first degree, rape, perjury, as- sault with the intent to commit murder, stabbing with intent to kill; two each for assault with in- tent to commit mayhem and burglary ; three cach for uttering counterfeit money and horse steal- ing; and four each for grand larceny and petit larceny.

For purposes of taxation, the valuation of city property was $3,157,392, on which the levy for '1826 was nine and one-half mills or $29,995.22. Of this tax levy, three mills were appropriated to the use of the corporation, two mills to the State tax, three for the county, one for the township and a half mill for schools. Other sources of revenue for corporation were licenses to taverns, porter houses and coffee houses, $4,- 445; wharfage, $2,200 ; rent of market stalls, $1,- 400; tax on animals, $975; licenses for plays, ex- hibitions, etc., $500 ; and fines and miscellaneous items, $800. These sums with the amount from the grand levy together with $3,000 bor- rowed from the Ohio Insurance Company and a slight balance of the previous year made up the city revenue, which amounted to $23.742.811/2. The largest expenditure of the city funds during the previous years had been for the construction of quays and wharfs and the paving of streets. Forty-eight hundred feet of street had been paved at an expense to the city of $5,800. One thou- sand dollars had been expended for the fire de- partment and the construction of five public cis- terns. In the health department, $1,200 were expended in vaccinating at the public expense 2,300 persons (in consequence of a smallpox scare). The officers of the city government re- ceived salaries of about $4,500 and the watch cost $3,000 per annum. The city debt at this time was $13,000, which seems to have excited some criticism on the part of many who objected to a public debt.

The population of the town in December, 1826,

was given as 16,230, of whom 7,990 were males and 7,550 females, in addition to 690 blacks. . Of the white males, there were 4,133 over 21 years of age, and of white females 3,945 over 18 years of age. The Second Ward still continued the most populous with 6,449 inhabitants while the other wards numbered: First, 4,084; Fourth, 3,142; Third, 2,505. This made an average of six and one-half persons to a building, although the actual density was greater by reason of the large buildings being occupied by stores and warehouses. The city contained 28 clergymen, 34 attorneys and 35 physicians. Eight hundred per- sons were engaged in trading and mercantile pursuits, five hundred in navigation and three thousand in manufactures. The authors gave figures showing that no city in the United States of similar rank had for the preceding 16 years increased in a ratio corresponding to that of Cin- cinnati.

An extended chapter is given to manufacturers, the most prosperous class of the citizens. The principal building mentioned is of course the Cin- cinnati Steam Mill on Front street between Lud- low and Broadway which was again in operation. The steam mill for sawing stone owned by Alvin Washburn in the western part of the city be- tween Front and Columbia is also mentioned. In this same building were also a cooperage plant and one for the manufacture of shoe trees. Other important institutions mentioned were the Phoe- nix Foundry west of Walnut between Third and Fourth, the Franklin Foundry at Fifth and Broadway, the Eagle Foundry on the south side of Fourth between Main and Walnut, Tift's steam engine and finishing establishment on Co- lumbia cast of Broadway, R. C. Green's steam engine establishment on Front below Deer creek bridge, Goodloe & Harkness' copper foundry, cotton spinning and steam engine factory at Broadway and Congress street, the Aetna Fon- dry on Front below Deer creek bridge, Kirk's steam engine and finishing establishment on Co- lumbia cast of Broadway, Shield's engine finish- ing establishment on Sycamore between Front and Columbia, Allen & Company's chemical lab- oratory just above Deer creek bridge, the powder mill below the mouth of Mill creek, the Phoenix Paper Mill on the river bank to the west of the city, the Cincinnati Steam Paper Mill in the same neighborhood, the woolen factory of the Cincin- nati Manufacturing Company on the river bank above the mouth of Deer creek, the sugar refin- ery north of Third between Ludlow and Broad- way, the white lead factory at the cast end of

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

Fifth street and the Wells Type Foundry on Walnut between Third and Fourth. There were also three permanent boat yards for the construc- tion of steamboats. Other important industries were those of making hats, cabinet furniture and chairs. The city contained nine printing estab- lishments, printing about 72 newspapers per month and much other matter. The only thing it seemed to have lacked in the opinion of the editors was an umbrella factory, of whose suc- cess they thought there could be no doubt. The total value of the manufactures of the preceding year is estimated at $1,858,000.

An important chapter is that devoted to com- merce which is not unnatural as the city at that time exceeded all other places in the West in the number of boats. It was claimed for it that no other place in the world had built more. The in- troduction of steam navigation and boat build- ing had "wrought a change in the appearance and nature of commercial transactions which the most active fancy could a few years since have scarcely conceived."

A list of the steamboats built in Cincinnati is given which gives a total of 60 boats of 11,225 tons. Twenty-one boats with a tonnage of 4,117 tons arrived at and departed" from the port of Cincinnati in the week of the 5th to the 12th of February, 1827.

The imports for the year 1826 were valued at $2,528,590, while the exports were $1,063,560, the principal part of which were carried to the West Indies and South America. The highest item of value in the exports was flour, $165,000, followed by whiskey and pork, over $100,000 each.

In a chapter concerning public office statistics, mention is made of the Post Office, United States Land Office, United States Branch Bank, two insurance companies (the Ohio Insurance Com- pany and the Cincinnati Equitable Insurance Company) and four fire insurance companies who had offices in the city at that time. Men- tion is made of the intelligence office. established by N. Holley, "which may be rendered very use- ful by making known the various wants of indi- viduals." Ten licensed auctioneers were also engaged in business in the city.

During the year 1826, 20 mails per week were sent out and received at the Post Office, carrying 3,750 free letters and paid letters to the amount of $8,162. Ten of these mails were carried on horseback and the other 10 on stages on the Chil- licothe, Lebanon, Dayton and Georgetown, Ken- tucky, routes.

Real estate was said to be advancing in value by reason of the constant tide of immigration which created a greater demand for houses. Cap- ital invested in real estate was said to produce 10 or 12 percent. The scarcity of capital had been produced by the destruction of the local banks, which resulted in the withdrawal of paper cur- rency from circulation and the use of much of the metallic currency in the payment of debts due the United States Bank and the Eastern mer- chants. Money was in great demand and high prices were paid for its use. For small sums 36 percent per annum was frequently given and for large ones 10 to 20 percent. The market value of money was estimated at from 10 to 15 per- cent which seemed to be the usual return, as there were at that time no penalties in Ohio for usury. The following are a few of the market prices : Flour, $3 per barrel; whiskey, 25 cents a gallon ; beef, $2 to $3 a hundred weight ; pork. $2 a hundred weight; butter, 10 to 121/2 cents a pound ; cheese, 6 to 7 cents a pound ; lard, 4 to 6 cents a pound; turkeys, 25 to 37 cents each ; geese, 18 to 25 cents each ; ducks, 8 to 12 cents each; chickens, 61/4 cents each; soap, 472 cents a pound; candles, 10 cents a pound; corn, 12 cents a bushel; oats, 12 to 18 cents a bushel; Irish potatoes, 25 to 50 cents a bushel ; sweet po- tatces, 37 to 62 cents a bushel ; eggs, 6 cents a dozen ; bacon, 3 to 5 cents a pound ; ham, 4 to 6 cents a pound ; veal, 3 to 4 cents a ponnd ; mut- ton, 2 to 4 cents a pound; honey, 12 cents a pound ; apples, 25 to 37 cents a bushel ; peaches the same; and dried fruits, 75 cents a bushel.

Cincinnati as a summer residence seemed in the olden days to present unusual attractions. Each year a number of Southerners came to the Queen City for the summer season and the writers of the carly times consequently referred to this city as a place of summer resort. The . anthors of this book in a chapter on the subject prophesy that "it may be supposed, that the period is not remote when many of the wealthy planters and professional gentlemen of the South will have their sumner villas within the en- virons of Cincinnati, and those who may feel unwilling to be deprived of the services of their slaves, can still have the advantages of a city life, by locating themselves on the Kentucky shore in the villages of Newport and Covington, both of which are healthy and delightfully siti- ated opposite to Cincinnati."

Under the head of fine arts one portrait painter, A. H. Corwine, a native of Kentucky, is mentioned as a young artist who has but a

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single rival in the Western country while in landscape painting more than one of considerable promise was claimed. The admired busts of La- fayette, Clinton, Clay, Jackson and Gaines are pointed to as sufficiently demonstrating the plas- tic skill of another of the citizens in modeling likenesses.

A curious chapter in all the earlier publica- tions is that on the state of society. The writers of this little book regarded Cincinnati as the most favorable place in the United States for ob- serving the influence of republican institutions upon society at large. The emigrants came from all quarters of the Union and different parts of Europe and yet no portion was so numerous as to cause a general adherence to the peculiar prejudices and manners in which they had been educated. "We have neither St. Andrews, St. Georges, St. Patricks nor New England Socie- tics, to foster those prejudices in favor of dis- tant lands, which are so unfriendly to the happi- ness of those who have come to spend their lives in another clime."

In morals the city defied the strictest scrutiny. Drunkenness particularly was rarer than in other parts of the Union, because of the unfavorable quality of the climate to the longevity of drunk- ards. The vicc of gaming did not flourish to any great extent and lottery gambling was not one of the evils of that time.

There were few or none of men of leisure and fortune, so the encroachments of luxury were not to be feared. The fashionable portion in- dulged in the pleasures of society with refine- ment but without useless etiquette. In the winter scason there were public balls, assemblies and co- tillion parties and many private parties where cards, music, dancing and conversation consti- tuted the sources of amusement. There was also an increasing fondness for the stage, and the museums were becoming fashionable resorts for the evening parties. Lectures were deliv- ered once or twice a week during the winter which were generally well attended. In the sum- mer season there were excursions to Big Bone and Yellow Springs. In the dwellings of the middling or poorer classes there was in general that appearance of comfort and case which de- notes a fertile country and a benignant govern- nient.

Another interesting suggestion .concerns the purchase of a public square upon which at a sub- sequent time could be erected the City Hall and a public promenade for pleasure, ornament and recreation. "There is but one block of ground

eligibly situated for this object that can now be procured at a fair price and unless this be speedily secured the increasing value of property will soon place even that beyond the resources of the corporation. The block referred to is the one on which Judge Burnet resides between Vine and Racc and Third and Fourth streets. Per- haps the city plat does not contain one better suited for the purpose of a Public Square than this owing to the central and elevated position. The terms upon which it is offered, make its purchase a matter of speculation, even should it not be ultimately used by the city for public purposes. It can now be obtained for about twenty-five thousand dollars and no one who has studied the prospects of our city will doubt but that in ten years it may be sold for double that sum. A row of lots fronting on Third street the buildings upon which would not ina- terially injure the beauty of the square could it is believed at this time be leased for a sum that would nearly meet the accruing interest of the money required for the purchase of it. An- other row fronting on Race street may also be leased to advantage and the proceeds applied to the reduction of the principal. The block is al- ready covered with shade trees, flowering shrubs and evergreens; and several liberal' donations have been promised, towards ornamenting and improving the grounds still further if the city become the purchaser. It has been stated that the Cincinnati Water Company would in that case supply gratuitously the necessary water for ornamenting it with a fountain. The building now upon it has two spacious rooms, one of which would conveniently accommodate the City Council and the other the City Court. There are others which would answer as offices of the city treasurer, recorder, clerk, etc. This build- ing indeed will be amply sufficient for the ac- commodation of the municipal authorities of the city until the state of its treasury will justify the erection of a City Hall corresponding in size and magnificence to the future destinies of Cin- cinnati."

It seems inconceivable in the light of subse- quent events or even in the light that common foresight should have given to the people at that time that this plat of ground which could be purchased for such a trifling sum (by reason of Judge Burnet's embarrassments) was allowed to slip from the public. The tract was subse- quently sold to William Shires who converted the house into a restaurant and hotel and used the place as a place of entertainment known as

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI .

"Shires' Garden." At the western part of the lot afterwards was built the theatre whichi dur- ing the carly "forties" was one of the centers of amusement in the city.

Another suggestion that seems to prove the wonderful foresight of the young authors of this book was the purchase by the city of all the ground lying south of Front street between Broadway. and the mouth of Deer creek for quays and warehouses. In these days when all the river frontage is being appropriated for rail- road purposes to the necessary detriment of the real source of Cincinnati's prosperity in the fu- ture, the river, the merit of this suggestion is apparent.

The bridge over the Ohio is another improve- ment forecasted by the authors. The location which seemed to suggest itself was from the foot of Broadway to a point about 200 feet from the Kentucky shore where the bridge was expected to branch, one part going to Newport and the other to Covington which would suc- ceed not only in connecting both villages with Cincinnati but with each other.

In conclusion the writers of the pamphlet point with confidence to the future importance of Cin- cinnati because of its location in the midst of rivers, grazing countries, forests, mines and ag- ricultural lands and because of the extent, beauty and salubrity of its location. To these was added the cheapness of living. These reasons justify the authors in the statement that "the period is not a remote one when Cincinnati will hold the same rank among the cities of the Union that the great State of which she is the ornament now possesses in the American Confederacy."

The only advertisements contained in the work are those of the authors, both fledglings of the law.

This work republished in England and also in Germany (in a translation ) was probably, in view of its influence in encouraging emigration, the most important account of the city ever pub- lished.

DIRECTORY OF 1829.

The Directory of 1829, the third in the his- tory of the city, was published by Robinson & Fairbank ( Whetstone & Buckstone, printers). It gives the divisions into wards of which there were five as follows : The First Ward was east of Main street bounded by a line drawn cast- wardly from Main street along the center of Third to Ludlow street thence along the center of Symmes to High street (which was a con- tinuation of Symmies now Third street) "thence

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 4

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