Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 48

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

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was for recitation rooms and for lectures. Harder work was done there than in the other basement where brooms were made."

Rev. S. E. Wishard in his sketch of Lane Seminary says, that in 1835 Walnut Hills was a pretty little village quite distant from Cincin- nati, the first stopping place for the stage on the Madisonville route and that Mount Auburn was the name to a range of hills in the distant west, the population of which did not figure very largely in the census.

The pioneer business college of Cincinnati was that of R. M. : Bartlett, opened in 1838. Others who soon established schools were Jolin Gundry whose mercantile college was on the northwest corner of Fifth and Walnut and the Bacon Mer- cantile College on the northwest corner of Sixth and Walnut. Richard Nelson established his business college in 1856 at the corner of Court street and Central avenue. He subsequently re- moved his college to the southeast corner of Fourth and Vine during the year 1859. The Phonographic Institute was established by Benn Pitman in the year 1853.

THE HIGH SCHOOLS ..

The Central High School opened on July 27, 1847, in the basement of the German Lutheran Church on Walnut street, which was the first public high school of the city. In October, 1845, Peyton S. Symmes as president of the School Board had recommended the organization of a public high school. In the following year the board was authorized by the Legislature to pro- vide such a school. This school was under the charge of H. H. Barney, who was assisted by John M. Edwards. In 1848 it moved to Center street and at that time Cyrus Knowlton and others were added to the teaching force.

In 1851 the Board of Trustees and Visitors of Common Schools, the trustees of Woodward College and of the Hughes Fund entered into a contract for the purpose of establishing two high schools,-Woodward and Hughes. The Hughes High School building was begun in March, 1852, and completed in January, 1853. Its first prin- cipal was H. H. Barney and the teachers were largely those of the Central High School so that it has been regarded as the legitimate succes- sor of that school which during its five years of life had had 415 pupils. The first graduating ex- ercises in Hughes High School were held on January 22, 1854, at which 10 pupils graduated, one of whom was R. D. Barney, a well known

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citizen of to-day and a trustee of the Hughes Fund.

By virtue of the agreement referred to, the Union Board of Cincinnati High Schools, com- posed of seven members representing the Hughes and Woodward funds and six members from the Trustees and Visitors of Common Schools, was organized July 22, 1851, and entered upon its duties. This arrangement continued until May, 1895, at which time the Com- mion School Board was given seven members instead of six which made the high schools more effectually a part of the general school system of the city. The dividing line between the two schools as fixed from the beginning was Race street.

H. H. Barney was elected State school com- missioner in October, 1853, and was obliged to resign his connection with Hughes High School in February of the following year to assume his new duties. He was succeeded by Cyrus Knowl- ton.

Hiram Howard Barney was born in Ver- mont in 1804 and was educated at Union Col- lege. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law for a time but subsequently engaged in teaching, being for 12 years principal of an academy at East Aurora, New York. In 1847 he came by special invitation to this city to take charge of the Central High School which had been established in the rooms of Dr. Charles Colton's Classical School. This was the first pub- lic high school in the State and Mr. Barney has been justly regarded as the founder of the high school system. Hle subsequently acted as school commissioner of the State for four years. At the expiration of his term, he returned to the city but in 1862 became superintendent of schools at Circleville, Ohio, where he remained for seven years. He afterwards was professor of didactics in Cincinnati and as such began the normal teaching in this city. He was one of the editors of the Ohio Journal of Education. He died at Wyoming, Ohio, in 1879.

Cyrus Knowlton was principal of Hughes High School for seven years until 1860, the time of his death, when he was succeeded by Joseph L. Thornton, who had been a teacher in the school. Dr. Thornton was succeeded in 1873 by E. W. Coy, the present principal.

Woodward had been called a high school for some years. The college department was or-

ganized in 1836 and the whole institution for a time continued under the name of Woodward College, althoughi as a matter of fact the high school was still continued. After the organiza- tion of the Central High School, the attendance of the Woodward High School fell off and event- ually by the vote of the board of March 17, 1850, the high school was discontinued. "As there no longer existed any necessity for such a school separate from the common schools," the college department was given up in June, 1851. "Old Woodward," an expression so fre- quently used with reference to this institution, refers to the period prior to this date. Then came the agreement between the various educa- tional organizations of the city by which Wood- ward reopened as Woodward High School on the same day that the sister school Hughes be- gan its career, September 16, 1851. Its first principal was Dr. Joseph Ray, who served for four years. During his administration the new building, that of the present Woodward lligh School, was begun July 28, 1854.

Dr. Ray was born in 1807 in that part of Pennsylvania now included in Ohio County, West Virginia. He studied at the Ohio Univer- sity, Washington College and the Medical Col- lege of Ohio, where he graduated in 1829. 11e practiced medicine quite successfully for several years but his interest in teaching drew him from this profession. He was one of the best known teachers in the West and his mathematical books were for years the most popular in the country. He died April 16, 1855. He was succeeded as principal by Daniel Shepardson who at that time was the pastor of the First Baptist Church on Wesley avenue. The latter served until June, 1862, when he took charge of a girls' high school at Granville, Ohio, subsequently a part of Deni- son University. His successors at the head of this school were Moses Woolson who served from 1862 to 1865, George W. Harper from 1865 to Igoo and the present principal, Augustus M. Van Dyke.

Mr. Harper was a graduate from Woodward Iligh School in the year 1853 and began teach- ing in that institution immediately after his grad- uation so that his connection with the school con- tinued for 47 years. Mr. Van Dyke is also a graduate of our high schools, being a member of the Hughes class of 1857.

CHAPTER XLII.

JOURNALISM BEFORE THE WAR.

THE EARLY NEWSPAPERS: CENTINEL, SPY, LIBERTY HALL, GAZETTE, REPUBLICAN, CHRONICLE, ADVER- TISER, PHILANTHROPIST, PENNY PAPERS, DAILY TIMES, ENQUIRER, COMMERCIAL, AND OTHERS- THE GERMAN PAPERS-THE LITERARY PERIODICALS-THE RELIGIOUS PERIODICALS-THE MED- ICAL JOURNALS-MISCELLANEOUS JOURNALS-DIRECTORIES-SOME EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS: HAMMOND, THE DRAKES, MANSFIELD, NEVILLE, FLINT, HALL, GALLAGHER, THE CARYS, ROEDTER, REEMELIN, MOLITOR, WALKER, REHFUSS, AND OTHERS.

THE EARLY NEWSPAPERS.

The history of the various newspapers of Cin- cinnati up to the time of the incorporation of the city has been covered in the chapter relating to the periods prior to 1819. The first paper, the Centinel of the Northwest Territory of Will- iam . Maxwell, appeared November 9, 1793, and from its columns many extracts have already been given. The paper was sold in 1796 to Ed- mund Freeman, who changed its name to that of Freeman's Journal, and subsequently took it with him when he moved to Chillicothe in 1800. The first rival of this paper was the Western Spy and Hamilton Gasette, published for the first time on May 28, 1799, by Joseph Carpenter, with whom was afterwards associated Jonathan Findlay. Mr. Findlay ceased his connection with the paper on July 27, 1803, and subsequently moved to St. Louis, where he died. He was a brother of Gen. James Findlay. The Spy was continued by Jo- seph Carpenter & Sons and was the only paper published in Cincinnati until the year 1804, in which year on the 9th of December appeared the first number of the longest lived newspaper in Cincinnati.

Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Mercury was first issued on December 9, 1804, by Rev. John W. Browne, "minister, publisher, town recorder, .

bookseller and retailer of patent medicines." The

first number was printed in the cockloft of a log cabin on the southeast corner of Sycamore and Third streets, at that time almost a part of the wilderness. The buildings of the vicinity were then of the true wilderness style and stood at least twenty feet higher than the grade of the present street. On April 12, 1800, Samuel J. Browne associated himself with his father and the firm afterwards became known as Browne & Company, including in addition to those just mentioned James H. Looker.

The Spy, in 1808, was purchased by one Car- ney, who changed its name to that of The Whig. In a few months it was sold to Mr. Williamson, but was again bought by Carney, who continued to publish the Whig until 58 numbers had been published. He thereupon sold the journal to Francis Menessier, who changed the namie to that of The advertiser. Mr. Menessier contin- ued the paper under that name until 1811.

In September, 1810, Joseph Carpenter, in con- nection with Ephraim Morgan, recommenced the publication of the Western Spy in a building at the corner of Fifth and Main.

The newspaper publishers of those days also published the books that were printed in the town, for instance, "Maxwell's Code," so-called, the first book published in Cincinnati, appeared in 1795 from the press of the Centinel. Another

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book containing a full account of the trial of Vattier 'was published in 1807 by Carney, and Browne & Company styled themselves "Publish- ers of the Laws of the United States." This latter concern also published the first almanac known as "Browne's Almanac," which appeared for a number of years edited by Dr. Stubbs. The first number of the Spirit of the West, which was called "a rank republican paper," edited by M. S. Pettitt, appeared in July, 1814. It was printed on the west side of Main, a short distance below Fourth. But 41 numbers of this paper appeared. Rev. Mr. Browne, the founder of Liberty Hall, and Mr. Carpenter, the founder of the Western Spy, both died in the early part of the year 1813. Liberty Hall was published for a short time after the death of Mr. Browne by his son and Mr. Looker. The former soon retired and his place was taken by A. Wallace. After Mr. Carpenter's death the Spy was published by Ephraim Mor- gan for a few months, after which Micajah T. Williams entered into partnership with Morgan.

On July 15, 1815, Thomas Palmer published the first number of the Cincinnati Gasette, a paper which, after four months, was united with Liberty Hall on December 11, 1815.

Mr. Wallace sold out his interest in Liberty Hall to Mr. Looker, who purchased the Gazette and associated Thomas Palmer and Sacket Reyn- olds with himself in the editing and publishing. In the prospectus of the new paper it was stated that the paper as theretofore would "endeavor to maintain the ascendency of Republicanism; that sentiment which acknowledges the sovereignty of . the people; the only legitimate sovereignty." Liberty Hall and the Gasette were printed with black lines between the columns and after the uinon of the two papers the issues were more in the style of the modern newspaper than those that had preceded them. The first New Year's address of the new paper was written by Peyton S. Symmes. A semi-weekly edition was started March 9, 1819, by the publishers, Morgan, Lodge & Company. Previously all newspapers had ap- peared but once a week.

In June, 1818, the Western Spy was enlarged to an imperial sheet and Samuel Todd became a partner in the concern with James M. Mason and Micajah T. Williams. On the oth of the follow- ing. January, with the beginning of Volume V of the new series Messrs. Williams and Todd re- tired and Mason and Palmer became the proprie- tors of the new paper, which was called the Western Spy and General Advertiser.

On June 23, 1818, appeared the Inquisitor and

Cincinanti Advertiser. This was started by Ed- ward B. Cook, Benjamin F. Powers and Thomas Penney. In May of the following year Penney and Cook retired and G. F. Hopkins purchased an interest with Mr. Powers. Cook afterwards devoted himself to the stage and made his debut at the Columbia Street Theatre, under the man- agement of Collins & Jones, in the character of "Young Norval."

Beginning November 22, 1819, a new weekly, the Literary Cadet, succeeded in surviving for 23 numbers, after which it combined with another paper, took a familiar name in addition to its own and became known as the Western Spy and Literary Cadet. The Cadet was more of a liter- ary than a news publication. It was edited by Dr. Joseph Buchanan.

The three papers then published in the city "were all upon imperial sheet, executed with neatness and honored with liberal patronage," and each had a book and job office. There were also two other book and job offices and two paper mills in the neighborhood of the city, which furnished all the paper used both for printing and writing.

The Inquisitor, under G. F. Hopkins, became a strong advocate of canals and it was largely due to the efforts of this paper and those of Mi- cajah T. Williams in the General Assembly that opposition was overcome and grants were se- cured for the various Ohio canals.

A prominent controversy in the papers of those days was the "Doctor War" between Dr. Drake and Dr. Moorhead, which was kept up for many months with great personal enmity and the most partisan violence.

On the 20th of April, 1820, Mr. Mason retired from the Western Spy and Looker and Palmer and Reynolds became the publishers. In April of the following year Joseph Buchanan gave up his connection as editor with the Spy. Under Buchanan's management the paper had been quite literary and had encouraged a number of young poets and writers, such as Benjamin F. Drake, Peyton S. Symmes, John H. James, Thomas Pierce, John P. Foote and Daniel Drake.

In January, 1823, the proprietors of the Spy purchased new type, enlarged the paper and changed the name to National Republican and Ohio Political Register. This was a semi-weekly, edited by Elijah Hayward and Samuel Q. Rich- ardson. It was said to be the most handsomely printed paper in Southern Ohio. Mr. Richard- son retired, but Mr. Hayward remained as editor

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for several years. Beginning in the first number of this paper was a long poem entitled "Billy Moody," which continued for 28 papers. It was said to be the joint production of Ben Drake, Thomas Pierce and J. H. James,-the coterie that inspired Pierce's "Horace in Cincinnati."

A sprightly paper. "odd, quizzical and spicy, edited and published by that eccentric genius known throughout the West as Sol Smith, preacher, wag, author and actor," the Independ- ent Press and Freeman's Advocate, was pub- lished for about sixteen months prior to Novem- ber, 1823, at which time it was sold out to the Republican. No paper ever published in Cincin- nati was more fearless in its editorials or more canstie in its comments. The editor's valedic- tory, published in the Republican, was written, we are told, by Smith himself, with "big tears rolling down his cheeks and conflicting emotions struggling within his bosom."

In 1822 the Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Ga- sette was published weekly and semi-weekly by Morgan, Lodge & Company, the company stand- ing for Isaac G. Burnet, who was the editor for a number of years. He retired on December 27, 1822, and Benjamin F. Powers, a brother of Hiram Powers and an attorney-at-law, took his place. In 1825 Mr. Powers was succeeded by Charles Hammond, the leading journalist of Cin- cinnati.

The interest of Hopkins and Powers in the Inquisitor had been purchased by James M. Mason, which first introduced to the city the celebrated Moses Dawson. This paper after- wards took the name of the Advertiser, which became a very radical political sheet. It was about 1825 that a decided party distinction be- came manifest in Cincinnati papers. The Ga- sette was of strong Whig sympathies and the Advertiser and Republican, anti-Federal. A long contest began between the Gasette and Adver- tiser, edited by Hammond and Dawson, respect- ively, which continued for a number of years, and was marked by bitter personalities.

Other papers of the period prior to 1825 were The Emporium, printed weekly in 1824 by Sam- uel J. Browne, the National Crisis, started in 1824 and shortly afterwards merged into the Em- porium and the Independent Press, reestablished for a few months by Morton S. Smith, a relative of Sol Smith. The Crisis originated in an Adams committee, known as the "Thirty-six Fathers," among whom were Bellamy Storer, Dr. Wallace, Jarvis Kibby, Jesse Kimball and J. Wing. The business editor was Thomas Palmer, who finally

took the paper in pay for his salary: He sold out to Anson N. Deming, who finally took John Wood as a partner. In 1825 Wood sold his in- terest to Hooper Warren, with whom was asso- ciated as editor Benjamin F. Powers, at the time the paper was incorporated with the Emporium.

In 1826, at the time of the appearance of Drake and Mansfield's little book, there were nine newspapers published in the city: Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gasette, National Repub- lican and Ohio Political Register, Cincinnati Ad- vertiser, National Crisis and Cincinnati Empo- rium, each .semi-weekly; Parthenon, Western Tiller and Saturday Evening Chronicle, cach weekly, and Cincinnati Commercial Register, a daily ; the ninth was a German weekly called the Ohio Chronicle. The last named English paper, the Commercial Register, was the first daily started in the country west of Pennsylvania. It was published by S. S. Brooks and edited by Morgan Neville. Printed on a half sheet royal it appeared every day but Sunday. Its subscrip- tion rate was but $6 a year, which apparently was not enough, for the paper survived but six monthis to reappear again for about three months in 1828.

Soon after the suspension of this paper, a number of prominent merchants waited upon the proprietors of Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Ga- selle, Messrs. Morgan, Lodge and Fisher, and asked for the establishment of a daily. This paper was apparently the leading one in the town and had numbered among its editors some of the most prominent citizens, notably Burnet, Powers and Hammond. The first number of the Daily Gasette appeared on Monday, June 25, 1827, with 164 subscribers. It was printed on an old- fashioned hand press, which could turn out about 250 sheets an hour and was a superroyal sheet, 19 by 27, sold at $8 a year. Its publishers were Messrs. Morgan, Lodge and Fisher, and the dis- tinguished Charles Hammond was in charge of its editorials and continued so until his death, on April 3, 1840.

The Western Tiller appeared for the first time 011 August 25, 1826, from the southeast corner of Main and Second streets. It was a four-page paper, devoted particularly to agriculture, and was edited by James W. Gazlay. Its life did not much exceed a year.

The Cincinnati Chronicle, mentioned in the list of newspapers of 1826, was established that year by Messrs. Buxton. Its editor was Benjamin Drake, the brother of Dr. Drake and the asso-

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ciate of Mansfield in the publication of the view of the city in 1826. This paper passed through many transimutations, to quote Mr. Mansfield. Drake was its editor until 1834, when it was amalgamated with the Cincinnati Mirror. In 1836 this was purchased by Messrs. Flash and Ryder for a thousand dollars of the medical de- partment of the Cincinnati College and on the firm's subscription list was reestablished as the Chronicle. A journeyman printer who knew noth- ing about publishing printed it and Mansfield, a professor of history and law, edited it. At the start there were about two thousand subscribers, but at the end of six months not one-fourth of these were left, and of these half did not pay their subscriptions. The paper was then sold to Messrs. Pugh and ' Dodd, the former the well known Quaker printer and the latter formerly the "scissors editor" of the Gasette and after- wards the well known hatter. Benjamin Drake was associated with E. D. Mansfield in the edi- torial department. In 1839 the Chronicle became a daily, having obtained the subscription list of the Whig, which had been founded by Major Conover and was at that time edited by Henry E. Spencer. The daily paper started with a sub- scription list of 250 and ended the year with 600. Benjamin Drake left the paper in 1840 and died in April, 1841, at the age of 46. Mr. Mansfield continued as sole editor until 1848 and was again editor in 1850. The paper was finally consoli- dated with the Gazette.

Mr. Mansfield tells us that he and Mr. Pugh had a hard contest with the world against two prevalent ideas. One was slavery and the other was liquor. "We were utterly opposed to slavery in the day when two-thirds of the community were for it, and two-thirds of the remainder com- promised with it." Both utterly opposed the liquor trade and Pugh would not allow a single advertisement of places where liquor was sold or drank, which resulted in a great loss of busi- ness. Both were warm Whigs. Among the newspaper men who started their career in this office was Richard Smith, who afterwards, as editor of the Gasette and of its successor the Commercial Gazette, became one of the leading journalists of America. Among the contributors to the Chronicle were Mrs. Stowe, Henry B. Blackwell, James H. Perkins, Mrs. Sigourney, Mary De Forest and Lewis J. Cist.

In April, 1827, Mr. Lodge retired from the Gasette and it became the property of Ephraim Morgan, Brownlow Fisher and S. S. L'Homme- (lieu. ' In June of the following year Morgan

and Fisher retired. Lodge returned and Thomas Hammond became a third partner, under the firm name of Lodge, L'Hommedien & Ham- mond. Mr. Morgan returned to the printing business, in which he continued for many years, during which time he was one of our best known citizens. Fisher retired a little later for a short time, but afterwards became associated for the second time with the Gasette, which association continued until 1849. After a short time Ham- mond retired, leaving Lodge and L'Hommedieu in control.

The Advertiser was edited in 1830 by Moses Dawson. It had been published at the northeast corner of Third and Main, where afterwards was located the Enquirer office. The building burned down in the year 1829, but was immediately re- built and Mr. Dawson afterwards called his paper the Cincinnati Advertiser and Ohio Phoe- nix. At this time the Republican was owned by Looker & Reynolds and edited by Elijah Hay- ward, who had just been appointed to an official position at Washington. He was succeeded by Samuel J. Bayard. The Crisis and Emporium wound up its existence during the year 1828.

In this same year S. S. Brooks and Edmond Harrison, the teacher, revived for a time the Daily Commercial Register. Its new life was but for three months.

In 1829 Samuel J. Browne and Hooper War- ren presented a new candidate for the support of the citizens in the shape of a daily paper called the Commercial Advertiser, which, however, had but a brief existence. Samuel J. Browne was a well known citizen for many years and held some offices of importance. He accumulated a fortune and afterwards lived in a retired mansion called "Belleview," in the western suburbs. The name Browne street perpetuates his memory.

The Daily Commercial Advertiser was estab- lished in 1829 by E. S. Thomas and his son Fred- erick. A short time afterwards, in 1834, Thomas in connection with John P. Dillon and L. S. Sharpe published for a time the Democratic In- telligencer, a daily, semi-weekly and weekly, which supported Justice McLean for the presi- dency. A little later, in 1835, Thomas and his son conducted the Daily Evening Post, a paper which devoted much attention to art and artists. None of these papers lasted any length of time.

A very well known paper in the late "thirties" was the Cincinnati Advertiser and Ohio Phoenix. on which Moses Dawson won his spurs. Moses Dawson deserves special mention, as it is to him that is traced the origin of the present Cincinnati

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Enquirer .. Dawson, we are told, from 1825 to 1828 shared with Hammond the supremacy in the newspaper field. He was an Irishman, some- what rough and ungainly, but a very vigorous writer, and in his day the Advertiser was the leading Jackson and therefore Democratic paper of the region. Mr. Mansfield tells us that he and Hammond kept up a running fight which resem -. bled a literary Donnybrook Fair. Despite their contest, he tells us that they were boon compan- ions and often met to wrangle over their toddy.

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 48

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