Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 50

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

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Mr. Cist's "Cincinnati in 1851" mentions 53 periodicals, of which io are dailies and others representing in the main special interests. In 1853 the dailies were the Columbian of W. B. Shattuck, Enquirer of H. H. Robinson, Nonpareil of Robert Carnahan, Times of C. W. Starbuck, Atlas of John D. Caldwell, Commercial of Lec & Potter, Gasette, German Republican, Sun, Tage- blatt, Volksblatt and Volksfreund, besides 62 papers. The list in the directory includes a tri- weekly, the Gasette, 32 weeklies, four semi-month- lies, 21 monthlies, three quarterlies and one year- ly, the directory itself. By 1856 the Nonpareil and Atlas had disappeared from the list, which includes six daily English papers, three German dailies, the same tri-weekly and semi-weekly, the Columbian, 19 English weeklies, eight German weeklies and an interminable list of monthlies, semi-monthlies and quarterlies.

In 1859 Mr. Cist gives a list of 53 periodicals published in Cincinnati. These included seven dailies. The first was the Cincinnati Gasette and

Liberty Hall with Joseph Glenn, Richard Smith, Edmond Babb, E. T. Kidd and William H. John- son as proprietors and Babb and Smith, editors. The Enquirer was edited by James J. Faran and published by Faran & McLean. The Times, still published by C. W. Starbuck, was edited by J. W. Ward and E. M. Spencer. M. D. Potter was editor and M. D. Potter & Company, proprietors of the Commercial. The three German papers were Stephen Molitor's Volksblatt then edited by Emil Klauprecht, Volksfreund of J. A. He- mann and the Republikaner, owned by W. E. Becht and edited by August Willich.

At the beginning of the war there were six English and three German daily newspapers pub- lished in the city. They included the Enquirer, Commercial, Gasette, Times, Courier and Press and the Volksblatt, Volksfreund and Republikan- er. There were also included the Louisville Bulle- tin and United States Advertiser, which were pub- lished daily. In addition there were 25 English weeklies and 10 German weeklies. The semi- monthlies were eight in number while the month- lies were 21 and quarterlies two. The only yearly publication given was "Williams' Cincinnati Di- rectory" at that time in its IIth year.

THE GERMAN PAPERS.

A German weekly called Die Ohio Chronik appeared in 1826. Another paper, a campaign paper, was published in 1832; this was edited in the interest of the Whig party by Karl Von Bonge, Albrecht Lange and Heinrich Brach- mann. In 1834 Hartmann's Weltburger first appeared. It was originally a Whig paper but was shortly afterwards purchased by Benjamin Boffinger who called it Der Deutsche Franklin and in the following presidential election it sup- ported Mr. Van Buren. Just before the election, the Whigs once more gained possession of the paper and the Democrats founded the Folks- blatt. The editor of this was the brilliant Hein- rich Roedter who was assisted by such prominent Germans as Charles Reemelin, Ludwig Rehfuss, August Renz and others. Roedter sold the Volksblatt in 1840 to Stephen Molitor and moved to Columbus.

Another German paper was the Westlicher Merkur, founded in 1837 by Christian Burk- halter who had been associated with Birney in the publication of The Philanthropist. This paper was afterwards called Der Deutsche Im Westen and finally became the Volksfreund. Other Ger- man papers were the Catholic periodical of Father J. M. Tlenni called Wahrheit's Freund, Der

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Protestant and Der Christliche Apologete. Hocfle was associated for a time with Burkhalter but when it became the Volksfreund it passed into the hands of Rudolph Von Malitz. Burkhalter and Hoefle both became connected with the Chronicle. The editor of Der Protestant was Georg Walker and of Der Christliche Apologete, a Methodist paper, Rev. William Nast. Nast also founded the Sonntag Schule Glocke, a child's paper.

Emil Klauprecht established in 1843 what for some reason is called the first belles lettres journal in the city under the name of the Fliegende Blaetter. Klauprecht was a lithographer and he illustrated his paper with lithographie illustra- tions. Whether or not this was the first belles lettres journal, it certainly was the first illus- trated German paper in the United States. It evidently did not supply a long felt want for its life was short. He then turned his attention to a Whig paper, Der Republikaner, which was for about ten years the principal German organ of the party in the West. Afterwards from 1856 to 1864 Klauprecht was on the staff of the Cin- cinnati Volksblatt. After this he was appointed consul of the United States at Stuttgart, which position he filled for five years when he was rc- lieved by a colored barber from Florida who it has been said could neither read nor write. Klauprecht was a prominent figure in the jour- nalistic life of the community for a number of years and also wrote a number of novels and historical works as well as a history of Cin- cinnati. The last work is very rare, owing to the fact that the sheets were burned and that only a few copies were saved.

According to Mr. Cist, in 1841 there were five German publications issuing from the presses of Cincinnati. The Volksblatt at that time edited by Molitor had a circulation of 312 daily and 400 weekly. This was the only daily. Boffinger's Unabhaengige Presse issued 250 numbers three times a week. Burkhalter's Deutsche Im Westeu a weekly circulated 500 copies. Father Henni's Wahrheit's Freund published by the St. Aloysius Society had a weekly circulation of 1,050. Nast's Christliche Apologete circulated 1,000 copies a week. Molitor also published the Universalist paper edited by Edward Muchil called the Licht Freund. This was a semi-monthly with a circu- lation of 500 copies. Five years later, four Ger- man daily papers are enumerated: Volksblatt, Hochwaechter, Democrat and Republikaner. Wahrheit's Freund and the Christliche Apologete still flourished. In 1851 the list still included the

Volksblatt and the Republikaner still edited by Molitor and Klauprecht, respectively. The Volksfreund and Demokratische Tageblatt edited by Hemann and Roedter, respectively, were new. The Hochwaechter which formerly had been edited by Georg Walker had passed into the hands of Fred Hassaurek and was denominated as "socialist and infidel of the deepest dye." Wahrheit's Freund and the Christliche Apologete were still published and a new German paper

which Mr. Cist calls "rationalist" was the Protestantische Zeitblaetter edited by Revs. Suhr, Kroell, Goebel and Grassow. Another German publication was an agricultural monthly called Magasin fuer Nord Amerika. The same Ger- man dailies appeared in 1853, but by 1856 Roedt- er's Tageblatt had ceased to exist. These three German dailies, Volksblatt, Volksfreund and Re- publikaner, were, appearing regularly at the open- ing of the war.

THE LITERARY PERIODICALS.

The purely literary periodical publications of the first half century of Cincinnati's life were quite numerous and some of them achieved last- ing fame. The Literary Cadet of Dr. Joseph Buchanan has already been mentioned. Mr. Venable called it the pioneer literary leaf of the Queen City. Its short life began in the lat- ter part of 1819 and continued about six months. In the carly part of 1821 John H. Woods and S. S. Brooks brought out The Olio, a semi- imonthly which numbered among its contributors Robert T. Lytle, Sol Smith, John H. James and Lewis Noble. The Olio lived for about a year. A little later a number of citizens of literary taste met one evening at the book store of John P. Foote at No. 14 Lower Market street, at that time the gathering place for the literati of the town. Among them were Mr. Foote, Pey- ton S. Symmes, Benjamin Drake, John II. James and D. Dashiel. As a result of their discussion, Mr. Foote as editor started the Literary Gasette. which appeared from the press of A. M. Deming at Main and Columbia streets on January 1. 1824. This journal lasted but a year when it was revived for a short time by Looker & Rey- nolds as printers. Its contributors included Jolin 11. James, Ethan A. Brown, David G. Burnet, Charles Neave, Mrs. Julia Dumont, Rafinesque. Dr. John Locke and Prof. T. J. Matthews. Ben- jamin Drake contributed a number of sketches which afterwards appeared in his "Tales of the Queen City." The magazine contained much poetry. Fitz-Greene Halleck contributed three -

poems. The most versatile of the local poets

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was Thomas Pierce, who wrote "Horace in Cin- cinnati:" Some of his verses in the Gazette were subscribed "Charlie Ramble" and he contributed a number of cantos describing a trip to Now Orleans by river and thence by sea to Boston in the style of "Don Juan."

Pierce, who was an educated hardware man and a Quaker, is however best known for the remarkable series of rhymed satirical sketches known as "Horace in Cincinnati," which added so much to the amusement of the people of the day. They were published anonymously. Mr. Pierce in his verses spared no one and a properly annotated edition of his book giving accurate information as to all the references would furnish a very complete picture of the life of the times. He did not hesitate to make the most prominent citizens the subjects of his satire. For instance the well known lawyer and orator Joseph Ben- ham, the mayor William Corry and Benjamin Drake are treated by his pen. One of his poems gives an insight into some of the ways of the town. Gambling was at that time quite common and in a sudden spasm of virtue which at in- frequent intervals seized the city authorities, the marshal and his officers had arrested nearly one hundred lawyers, merchants and bankers for gambling, among them the sheriff and prosecut- ing attorney. Of this "Horace" says :

Our citizens had long, Unfearing fortune's evils, With cards, and wine and song, Enjoyed their midnight revels. They grew more free and bold, Nor thought to be molested ; At length a tale was told And every man was arrested. Blush, jurymen, with shame, For wantonly commanding Some hundred men of fame, Renown, and lofty standing, To quit their fav'rite sport, Renounce their gambling errors, And stand before the court, In all its mighty terrors.

The first number of the Western Magasine and Review appeared in May, 1827. It was published by W. M. Farnsworth and edited by Timothy Flint. In its original form it was a magazine of 56 pages and it continued for three years. In addition to the editor, its contributors inchided James Hall, E. D. Mansfield and Micah F. Flint. The articles were distinctly heavy which may account for the fact that the magazine had such a brief carcer.

At the time of its discontinuance, Flint pro- posed to publish in its stead a quarterly which

should comprise two volumes annually. This never appeared, but in January, 1833, Judge James Ilall published the first number of the Western Monthly Magasine, which supplied the literary demand of the time. Judge Ilall wrote notes on Illinois, Rev. J. M. Peck supplied rem- iniscences and John H. James historical matter while Mansfield wrote various economic articles. Other contributors were James H. Perkins, Mor- gan Neville, Benjamin Drake, Charles D. Drake, Otway Curry, W. D. Gallagher and Joseph Reese Fry. Mrs. Hentz contributed short stories and poems and Harriet Beecher a "New England Sketch" for which she received a prize of $50. Judge Hall himself wrote stories, poems and re- views and also printed serially his life of Gen- eral Ilarrison. He became involved in a con- troversy with Lyman Beecher on the question of Catholicism which finally resulted in the trans- fer of the magazine to the publishers Flash & Ryder. James Reese Fry became editor. The magazine was finally merged in a Louisville pub- lication.

Other literary enterprises included The Shield, a quarto published by Richard C. Langdon some- time before 1830 and the Ladies' Museum by Joci T. Case. The Family Magasine was started in June, 1836, by Eli Taylor, who was succeeded by J. A. James. It continued for six years. Mr. Taylor also published for a time the Cincinnati Journal, an anti-Catholic and anti-slavery organ.

Another literary journal that had a brilliant life was the Western Messenger. The first num- ber of this magazine which was devoted to re- ligion and literature was published by the West- ern Unitarian Association in Cincinnati in Jene. 1835. Its last issne appeared in April, 1841. Its first editor was Rev. Ephraim Peabody. Mr. Pea- body's health obliged him to go South and there- upon Rev. James Freeman Clarke succeeded him. The place of publication was removed for a time to Louisville but after Rev. Mr. Clarke's return to Boston in 1840 the magazine was brought back to Cincinnati and edited by Rev. William 11. Channing, the pastor of the Uni. tarian Church and his cousin Rev. James 11. Perkins. This magazine although divided in its allegiance between Cincinnati and Louisville was the most important factor in the literary life of this community during the whole time of its existence, as in its pages appeared the best work of the best Cincinnati writers. Among the con- tributors were Gallagher, Curry, Shreve, the Drakes, F. W. and L. F. Thomas, Albert Pike. Jolin B. Dillon, Mann Butler and Edward and

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C. P. Cranch. A poem of John Keats not before printed, one of Oliver Wendell Holmes and a number by Emerson also enriched its pages. Dr. W. E. Channing sent a long letter to it and J. S. Dwight, Charles S. Brooks, Jones Very, Eliza- beth Peabody and Margaret Fuller sent contribu- tions. Bronson Alcott sent a poem which how- ever was never published.

Mr. Venable calls the Western Messenger the . harbinger of the famous Boston Dial and it is true that at least ten other contributors to the Messenger wrote for the Dial.

It was in 1836 that W. D. Gallagher published the first number of his Western Literary Journal and Monthly Review, a magazine of considerable pretension, each number containing 72 pages. It was published by Smith & Day. In November of that year it was consolidated with the Western Monthly Magasine at Louisville and survived but for a few months. Mr. Gallagher went to Colum- bus where he began the publication of The Hes- perian or Western Monthly Magasine which was in a way regarded as the successor of the maga- zines just mentioned. Associated with him as editor was Otway Curry. The best talent of the West contributed to this journal but it lasted for but three volumes, concluding its existence with the issue of December, 1839. Its last volume was published in Cincinnati. The Hesperian. has al- ways been regarded as the most ambitious and from a literary standpoint the most successful .of Western publications.

In' August, 1840, appeared one number of a Western Ladies' Book published by H. P. Brooks, Walnut street, Cincinnati. This was a thin pamphlet of 28 pages edited by an "association of ladies and gentlemen" with the motto: "The Stability of our Republic and the Virtue of her Institutions is with the Ladies." Mr. Venable says that of this he never saw a second number.

Other literary journals of this period were the Literary Register edited by William Wallace and the Literary Neves edited by Edmond Flagg. A Cincinnati writer of the year 1841 says however that at that time there was not published any- where in the West anything which could be called with propriety a literary paper.

In 1844 appeared the Western Rambler, pub- lished by Austin T. Earle and Benjamin St. James Fry. Its life however was quite brief.

. In November of this year appeared the first number of the Western Literary Journal and Monthly Magasine, of which the editors were Encins A. Hine and F. C. Z. Judson, better known as "Ned Buntline." But two mbers of this

magazine were published in Cincinnati. Four others appeared in Nashville. The first number contained a long historical article by Gallagher, who also contributed to various numbers some of his best poems. Other writers were Mrs. Julia L. Dumont, Mrs. Nichols, Mrs. Hentz, the Cists, W. G. Symmes, Albert Pike, Lyman C. Draper, Emerson Bennett, Charles Whittlesey, John Z. Zachos and Donn Piatt. This journal came to grief in April, 1845, whereupon Hine in the following January began the publication of the Quarterly Journal and Reviewe which lasted until April .. This contained contributions from many of the writers already mentioned. It was more devoted to politics and social economy than to pure literature. This was succeeded in Jan- mary of the following year by the Herald of Truth, a monthly periodical devoted to the inter- ests of religion, philosophy, literature, science and art. This was a magazine of 80 pages and was the organ of a brotherhood of social and religious radicals who had a community on the Ohio River. It discussed such topics as land laws and land 'systems and all the phases of socialism and the labor question. Among the poetical contributors were Mrs. Sarah T. Bolton, Mrs. Sarah J. Howe and Coates Kinney.

In 1848 Messrs. Robinson and Jones with a corps of Cincinnati editors and a number of promi- nent writers began the publication of the Great W'est, a literary journal of great pretensions. In 1850 this was consolidated with the Weekly Columbian and became known as the Columbian and Great West. It was originally published by E. Penrose Jones and edited by William B. Shattuck, and continned until September, 1854. The well known Celia M. Burr edited it for a time. The Daily Columbian was also started buit was not successful. In 1849 J. S. Hitch- cock started for Mr. Hines another magazine known as the Western Quarterly Review. Hitch- cock suddenly disappeared after two numbers of 200 pages had been published.

Another periodical published somewhat irregu- larly was Moore's Western Lady's Book, which started in 1850 under the name of the Western Magasine and ran through a period of eight or ten years. In addition to the usual matter pub- lished in such works, it contained fashion plates and music.

The Parlor Magasine of Jethro Jackson, No. 180 Walnut street, Cincinnati, a 64-page illus- trated journal, appeared in July, 1853. It after- wards passed into the hands of Applegate & Company when Jackson was assisted by Alice

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. Cary. When the latter left New York it merged with the West American Review of George W. L .. Bickley. Two numbers of this appeared un- der the name the West American Monthly.

The longest lived and one of the most elaborate literary periodicals published in the West was the Ladies' Repository and Gatherings of the West, which began its career nine years before the first number of Harper's Magasine appeared in the year 1841 and continued for 36 years. It was succeeded by that time by a larger periodical, the National Repository. This journal published by the Methodist Book Concern was suggest- ed by Samuel Williams in Mount Auburn, who contributed a number of papers to it. Other contributors were Caleb Atwater, Samuel Gal- loway, Bellamy Storer, M. P. Gaddis, B. W. Chidlaw and Bishop Morris. It was edited at first by Rev. L. L. Hamline, who continued in this position for five years. He was succeeded by Rev. E. Thompson who in 1845 gave way to Rev. B. F. Teeft. Teeft was followed shortly . by Professor Larabee who in turn gave way to Dr. Davis W. Clark afterwards Bishop Clark. The principal writers of the West and in fact many of the best writers of the country con- tributed to this magazine. The list of names of its contributors would in itself constitute a chap- ter. The editorial offices of the publishing house, the Methodist Book Concern, were for many years located in the old St. Clair house at the corner of Eighth and Main.

In 1853 a weekly magazine called the Pen and Pencil was published for a short time by W. M. Warden. This year there appeared also the initial number of the Genius of the West con- ducted by Howard Durham. After the first few numbers had been published Coates Kinney be- came the leading editor of the magazine, finally buying out Durham and taking into partnership with him the well known writer William T. . Coggeshall. Durham began a rival magazine called The New Western, the Original Genius of the West. He died of cholera in 1855. Cogge- shall and Kinney, two of the best known liter- mary men that had ever lived in Cincinnati, were able to bring to their aid a most imposing list of contributors which is given by Mr. Venable in his invaluable volume "Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Valley." The magazine lasted until July, 1856, after five volumes had "been issued. During the last few months of its life, it was published and edited by George K. Truc.

The last literary journal that will be men-

tioned included but 12 numbers which filled the 12 months of the year 1860, but during that short time it impressed itself indelibly upon the literary history of Cincinnati. This was The Dial, edited by Moncure D. Conway at that time a young man of but 28 years of age. Conway wrote most of The Dial himself. He was assisted however by such contributors as O. B. Frothing- ham who ran his complete work, "The Chris- tianity of Christ," through nine numbers. Emer- son sent two essays and a number of poems. W. D. Howells contributed some of his poems. Orson Murray, R. D. Mussey and Rev. M. E. Lazarus also wrote for the journal. The last page of The Dial is devoted to the discussion of Emerson's "Conduct of Life." The Dial was said to be self-supporting and was largely patronized by the Jewish people of the city.

THE RELIGIOUS PERIODICALS.

Cincinnati has always been prolific in religious publications, some of which have already been mentioned under the head of literary magazines or German journals. A noteworthy publication, the Baptist Weekly Journal of the Mississippi Valley, appeared for the first time July 22, 1831. It was first published by Ephraim Robbins, Noble S. Johnson, Henry Miller, William White, Adam McCormick and Ambrose Dudley. In 1834 The Cross, a Baptist paper of Kentucky, was pur- chased and the two papers combined. This paper was moved to Columbus in 1838 where it re- mained for about ten years. Its name after the Cross was added became the -Cross and Baptist Journal of the Mississippi Valley. This name was subsequently changed to Cross aud Journal and later to Western Christian Journal. At the time it was brought back to Cincinnati, the Chris- tian Messenger was united with it and it took the name of Journal and Messenger, under which it appears in 1851, at which time its editor was J. L. Batchelder who continued in charge almost down to the period of the war.

The Western Christian Advocate was estab- lished in the spring of 1834 with Rev. T. A. Morris afterwards Bishop Morris a's editor. This was published by the Methodist Book Concern, which has always been one of the most important publishing houses in Cincinnati. This institu- tion located a branch in Cincinnati as early as 1820. This under the charge of Rev. Martin Ruter was at the corner of Fifth and Elm and here a large number of religions works were for sale. Upon the appointment of Rev. Charles Holladay to succeed Ruter in 1828, the store was

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moved to George street between Race and Elm. It subsequently after a number of changes settled in the St. Clair house on Main street near Eighth. From this appeared for some years the Western Christian Advocate as well as Rev. William Nast's Christliche Apologete and a number of other religious publications. In 1840 the Cin- cinnati branch became independent of the Eastern connection and became known as the Western Methodist Book Concern, which name it has retained ever since.

The Western Messenger, the Unitarian publica- tion, has been already referred to. In the. Direc- tory of 1831 is given a semi-monthly, the Metho- dist Correspondent of M. M. Henkle. By 1841 the number of religious journals had increased. At this time the Western Christian Advocate edited by Rev. Charles Elliott and L. L. Ham- line published 14,000 copies a week. A New School Presbyterian journal was the Cincinnati Observer, edited by Rev. J. Walker with a weekly circulation of 13,000. The Western Episcopal Observer edited by Revs. C. Colton, W. Jackson, John T. Brooke and H. V. D. Johns had a weekly circulation of 1,500. The celebrated journal, the Catholic Telegraph, at that time edited by Rev. Edward Purcell is given as circulating 1, 100 copies a week. The Universalist publication, the Star in the West of Rev. J. A. Gurley, circulated 2,300 a monthi. There were also a number of religious monthlies, the Western Messenger of J. B. Russell which was Unitarian, the Christian Preacher, edited by Elder D. S. Burnet and The Evangelist edited by Elder Walter Scott of the Church of the Disciples, and the New Jerusalem organ, The Precursor, of Rev. M. M. Carll. There was also a Missionary Herald, which circulated 3,000 per month and a Western Temperance Journal of 6,000 semi-monthly circulation. Other religious journals mentioned in 1846 are the Presbyterian of the West, True Catholic, the Mirror of Truth (Swedenborgian) and the Or- thodov Preacher ( Disciples). In 1851 Dr. M. Simpson was the editor of the Western Christian Advocate and Dr. N. L. Rice of the Presbyterian of the West, the organ of the Old School Pres- byterian faith. The New School was repre- sented by the Central Christian Herald, edited by Rev. Thornton A. Mills. Other religious pub- lications mentioned for the first time were the Golden Rule, the United Presbyterian and Evan- gelical Guardian and The Pulpit of the Asso- ciate Reformed Presbyterian Church. In 1859 Dr. Charles Kingsley edited the Advocate and Revs. G. 11. Monfort and N. M. Wampler,

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 50

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