Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 51

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

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The Presbyter. Rev. Clem E. Babb edited the Central Christian Ilerald. A new journal was the American Christian Review edited by Elder Benjamin Franklin of the Disciples Church. The Western Episcopalian was edited by Rev. Norman Badger. Mr. Gurley's paper was in charge of Henry R. Nye and G. L. Dem- arest. The Swedenborgian organ, the New Church Herald, was edited by Rev. Sabin Hongh. Father Purcell was assisted as editor of the Catholic Telegraph by Rev. S. H. Rosen- crans. The Jewish papers, The Israelite and Die Deborah (the latter in German), were edited by Drs. Isaac M. Wise and M. Lilienthal. Other religious journals mentioned at this time were the Sunday School Journal, Presbyterian W'it- ness, Sunday School Advocate, Youths' Friend, Sunbeam and the Sonntag Schule Glocke.

THE MEDICAL JOURNALS.

An early medical journal was the Western Quarterly Reporter, edited by Dr. John B. God- man and published by John P. Foote, which survived but a few months. This was probably the first historical journal in the city, as Dr. Drake's effort in 1819 to establish such a journal did not meet with any success. In 1826 Drs. Guy W. Wright and James M. Mason started the Ohio Medical Repository. At the end of the year Dr. Mason's interest passed into the ownership of Dr. Drake and the magazine be- came known as the Western Medical and Physical Journal. Later Dr. Drake became the sole owner and made it a quarterly and changed the name to the Western Journal of Medical and Physical Science. He was assisted at times by Drs. James C. Finley, William Wood, Harrison and Gross. In 1839 he took this journal with him to Louisville where it was merged into the Louisville Journal of Medicine and Surgery.

A short-lived journal was the Western Med- ical Gasette, founded by the faculty of the Med- ical College of Ohio in 1832. Its editors dur- ing its two years of life were Professors John Eberle, Thomas D. Mitchell, A. G. Smith, Silas Reed and Samuel D. Gross. It was finally consolidated with Dr. Drake's journal. Dr. James M. Mason in 1835 again ventured into the field of journalism with a new Ohio Repository, which was also short-lived.

The Western Lancet. the progenitor of the present Lancet and Clinic, started in 1842. 1ts editor was Dr. Leonidas M. Lawson. 1855 his interest was transferred to Dr. Thomas Wood. For some years it was a monthly known

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as the Lancet and Observer. In 1878 it became consolidated with the Clinic, which Dr. J. G. Hyndman had published since 1871 as a weekly, the first medical weekly in the West. The con- solidated paper was known as the Lancet and Clinic and edited by Drs. J. C. Culbertson and James G. Hyndman.

In 1847 Dr. James Taylor of the Ohio Col- lege of Dental Surgery started the Dental Regis- ter of the West.

In 1846 among the publications of the city were the Botanical Medical Recorder of Dr. A. Curtiss, which advocated botanic practice; the Medical Reformer, an Eclectic publication and the Western Journal of Health of Drs. Vattier and Mendenhall. Another journal the Herald of Progression of John O. Wattles was "de- voted to the social, mental and physiological re- demption of the human race." In 1851, in ad- dition to the Lancet, there appeared the Journal of Homeopathy, 'edited by Drs. B. Ehrmann, Adam Miller and George Bigler, and the Physio- Medical and Surgical Journal of Dr. E. H. Stockwell and the Eclectic Medical Journal of Dr. J. R. Buchanan. Dr. Buchanan also edited the Journal of Man, which was devoted to phrenology and anthropology. The medical journals that are listed by Mr. Cist in 1859 in- clude the Lancet and Observer, then edited by Drs. Mendenhall, Murphy and Stevens; Cincin- nati Medical Nezes of Dr. A. II. Baker, Cin- cinnati Eclectic and Edinburgh Medical Journal of Drs. R. S. Newton and G. W. L. Bickley, the College Journal of Medical Science edited by the faculty of the Eclectic College of Medicine and the Physio-Medical Recorder of Dr. W. HI. Cook. The Dental Register of the West at that time was edited by Drs. J. Taft and George Watt.

MISCELLANEOUS JOURNALS.

The number of the journals devoted to special interests published in Cincinnati before the war was almost innumerable. Many of them ap- peared but for a short time and of many no trace at present can be found. . Of these as well as of many of the general newspapers, but few copies can be found in the libraries. Some have altogether disappeared and the only trace of them is the mention made of them in the di- rectories. Most of them, however, indicate by their name their purpose. It will be impossible to more than mention a few of these miscel- laneous publications. In addition to those al- ready referred to, the Farmers' Reporter and the Farmer and Mechanic, published in the carly

"thirties," the latter continuing for a number of years, are illustrations of journals that for a time were popular. A little later came the Western Farmer and Gardener of E. J. Hooper. A journal that lasted for a number of years and was of great value was Goodman's Counterfeit Bank Note Detector. Other journals of the same character were . Bradley's Counterfeit Detector and Bepler's Bank Note List and a little more general in character, perhaps, were the United States Bank Mirror and White's Financial and Commercial Reporter and Counterfeit Detector.

Among the. temperance journals were the Western Temperance Journal and Washington Organ and Sons of Temperance Record. The Western Law Journal, of which Timothy Walker was for many years editor, was of great value. Judge C. D. Coffin was afterwards associated with Judge Walker. At a later time M. E. Cur- wen was an editor of this periodical. Another valuable publication was W. W. Warden's Lawe and Bank Bulletin. The Masonic Review of Rev. C. Moore and the Templars' Magasine of Dr. J. Wadsworth figured in the list during the "fifties." Just before the war came the Odd Fellowes' Casket and Reviewv. A horticultural magazine of value was J. A. Warder's Western Horticultural Review. Worthy of mention are the Ohio Teacher of J. Rainey and the Schoo! Friend and Ohio School Journal, edited by Dr. A. D. Lord, H. W. Barney and C. Knowles. Other journals mentioned in 1851 are Williams' Western Pathfinder (a general advertising sheet ), Illustrated Western World and Oncken's Western Scenery (both pictorials) and Dr. Lat- ta's Chain of Sacred Wonders.

Publications devoted to prices are numerous. Three are given in 1846, edited by W. D. Gal- lagher, J. T. Hobart and A. Peabody, respec- tively. In 1859 mention is made of the com- mercial paper, Price Current, of William Smith. Other journals published just prior to the war were the Scientific Artisan, Railroad Record and a phonetic journal, Type of the Times. The fore- going are but few of the many.

DIRECTORIES.

Among the publications which appeared with a certain degree of regularity were the city directories. The carlier ventures of this sort have been referred to at great length in other chapters, but for convenience they will be given here in brief. The hrst publications about the city, although not strictly directories, contain milch information, such as is usnal in such pub-

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lications. Of these, Daniel Drake's "Notices Concerning Cincinnati," printed at the press of John W. Browne & Company, contained on the title page the date 1810, but it appeared, however, a year carlier. Drake's "Picture of Cincinnati," announced as of the year 1815, ap- peared in the following year ( 1816), and Ben- jamin Drake and Mansfield's "Cincinnati in 1826" belongs in the same category. The first city directory, that of Oliver Farnsworth, was published by Morgan, Lodge & Company, in 1819. It contained but 1,693 names. The sec- ond, that of Harvey Hall, appeared in 1825. This is said to be the rarest, but perfect copies of the directories of 1829 and 1831 are not so numer- ous as those of 1825. The Directory of 1829 was published by Robinson & Fairbank, who also published that of 1831. All four of these directories have beautifully engraved maps of the city. In 1834 appeared another directory from the press of E. Deming, which contained also a statistical account of Covington and Newport. In 1836 J. H. Woodruff published the directory known as that for the years 1836-37. This con- tained 6,500 names. Two interesting publica- tions, which are very rare, came from the press of Glezen & Shepard. They were called the "Cincinnati Almanac," one for 1839 and one for 1840. An alternative title was "Picture of Cin- cinnati." Each contained a very daintily en- graved map with a microscopic view of the city. These are not exactly directories, but they are full of information. "Schaffer's Advertising Di- rectory for 1839-40" approaches more the modern ideas of such a publication. This directory as well as Hall's of 1825 gave the nationalities of the citizens. It also included a directory of Ful- ton, Covington and Newport, as well as a separ- ate directory of the colored population. An in- teresting feature is the frontispiece representing the city at that time, which is reproduced in this work. Charles Cist published directories in 1841, 1842 and 1843. The last one contained 13,625 names. The year later R. P. Brooks reissued Cist's last directory with the addition of a thou- sand names. Robinson & Jones published in 1846 a directory which contained 14,600 names. The first Williams' directory appeared in 1850 from the press of C. S. Williams. Mr. Williams continued to issue his directory each year until 1861, at which time he sold his business to Americus V. Williams & Company, now the Williams Directory Company, which concern has published the directory since that time. In ad- dition to these directories there have been

numerous business directories, almanacs, guides and similar publications. such as are common in cities of the magnitude of Cincinnati.

SOME EDITORS AND. CONTRIBUTORS.

Charles Hammond is justly entitled to the name of the most distinguished journalist of early Cin- cinnati. He was originally a young lawyer of Wheeling, who made a name for himself by a series of articles published in the Scioto Gasette of Chillicothe for the purpose of defending Gov- ernor St. Clair, whom he had never met, but knew simply as a public man. 'These articles, which contradicted many of the misrepresenta- tions about the Governor, gave him at once prominence throughout the State and a high stand in the public estimation. ( Burnet's Notes, P. 381.) He was admitted to the bar in 1801 and in 1813 had established a newspaper in Bel- mont County, known as the Ohio Federalist, which continued for about four years. About an equal length of time was occupied in attendance upon the Ohio House of Representatives, of which he was a member. During his service as Representative, he made a revision of the laws of Ohio and also wrote many of the most im- portant acts, especially those regulating the course of descents, distribution of personal es- tates and chancery proceedings. He moved to Cincinnati in 1822. He was the first appointec, in 1826, to the office of reporter to the Supreme Court, which office he held until his death. Hle edited the first nine volumes of the "Ohio Re- ports." Not only was he busy with law practice, but with his profession as a journalist and under the name "Hampden" achieved a national rep- tation for political essays upon the constitution published in the National Intelligencer. He be- came an editorial writer on the Cincinnati Ga- sette in 1823 and its chief in 1825, and in his capacity as journalist achieved such distinction as to be pronounced by Webster "the greatest genius that ever wielded the editorial pen." He was a Federalist of the old school, although for a short time he supported the doctrine of "State's Rights." At the time that he took charge of the Gazette he had already established a reputation as a lawyer of the first rank. As a constitutional lawyer he stood at the head of the bar of the State and had achieved the title of the "Alex- ander Hamilton of the West." His most cele- brated argument was in the case of Osborne against the United States Bank. (9 Wheaton, 738.) This was the well known case involving the right of the State to tax the branches of

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the bank located in Cincinnati and Chillicothe. In this case the government was represented by Henry Clay and the State Auditor by Charles 1 Iammond. It was argued in the Supreme Court of the United States in February, 1824, and although Hammond was defeated his argument was regarded as one of the greatest ever made before the court and was said never to have been excelled by the greatest efforts of Webster him- self. Mr. Hammond throughout his life was a strong opponent of slavery and probably did as much as any public writer to form an anti-slavery sentiment. He was a vigorous opponent of General Jackson, and for a time in 1828 edited a monthly known as Truth's Advocate, whose especial purpose was the advocacy of Henry Clay, and opposition to Jackson. His style was of the simplest, plain, sensible and unaffected. One writer says of his work that it is unsurpassed for clearness, completeness, brevity and beauty and that in elegance and simplicity his papers compare favorably with the best of English essays. ( Bench and Bar of Ohio, Vol. II, p. 45.) It can safely be said that from 1825 to 1840 10 man in Cincinnati surpassed Mr. Hammond in pure intellectual influence.

Many years afterwards an argument made by him before the United States Court at Columbus elicited from Justice MeLean the characteriza- tion of being "one of the most happy and suc- cessful efforts of a great and powerful mind ever heard by any court." Mr. Hammond was offered by President Adams towards the close of his administration a position on the Supreme bench of the United States but he declined the honor.

During the latter years of Mr. Hammond's life, he became interested as proprietor and as- sociated with him under the firm name L'Hon- medieu & Company were Stephen S. and Richard F. L'Hommedieu. The company's office was for a long time on the east side of Main .street between Fourth and Fifth but in 1840 it moved further down Main street to the so-called L'HIom- medieu Building below Fourth. The editor's as- sistant was William Dodd, who made clippings and attended to the river news and also read the proofs. A short time before Hammond's death, Judge John C. Wright and his son Crafts J. Wright became editorially connected with the paper and the latter succeeded Hammond as editor in charge. During the early days it was an evening paper but subsequently was changed into a morning publication.

Benjamin Drake was another distinguished

member of a distinguished family who did much to advance the city. He came to Cincinnati at an early age and assisted his brother, Dr. Drake, and for a time was employed in the drug store of Isaac Drake & Company as clerk and partner. Ile subsequently practiced law for a time. In 1825 he became a contributor to John P. Foote's Literary Gasette, and afterwards associated him- self with the Cincinnati Chronicle, of which he was editor from 1826 to 1834. With Mansfield he published the well known "Cincinnati in 1826," of which he wrote a large part. Other parts were written by Dr. Drake and Morgan Neville. He also wrote a little book called "Tales of the Queen City," a life of Black Hawk and one of Tecumseh; the last mentioned ap- peared just after his death in April, 1841.

Edward Deering Mansfield won fame as editor, author and publicist and to him as well as to Dr. Drake, Judge Burnet and Charles Cist are we indebted largely for our knowledge of the carly days. He was born at New Haven, Connecticut, August 17, 1801. His father, Col. Jared Mansfield, a graduate of Yale, had been a teacher at West Point, and afterwards was appointed surveyor general of the Northwest Territory to succeed Rufus Putnam. His mother was Eliza- beth Phipps. The Mansfields came to Ohio in 1803, first spending two years at Marietta. In October, 1805, they floated down the river to Cincinnati and finally located, as has been stated several times in this work, at Ludlow's Station, where they occupied the old Ludlow mansion. Here Colonel Mansfield established the first ob- servatory west of the Alleghanies, for which, from the contingent fund of President Thomas Jefferson, a transit instrument, telescope, astron- omical clock and sextant were purchased. In 1809 after a trip East the family moved to the Bates place called "Mount Comfort," where the boy went to school in a log school house about opposite the site of the present House of Refuge. He subsequently attended school at New Haven and afterwards was a cadet at West Point. Eventually he chose a college career and gradu- ated at Princeton in 1822. He then prepared himself for the bar at the celebrated Litchfield school. He returned to Cincinnati, accompanied by his father in June, 1825, where by reason of his relationship to Dr. Drake, whose wife was his cousin and adopted sister, he received a warm welcome. In 1826 in connection with Benjamin Drake he compiled the well known "Cincinnati in 1826." Drake prepared the part west of Main and Mansfield that to the east. Ile shortly

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afterwards joined with Benjamin Drake in an editorship 'of the Chronicle, which had been started in January, 1826, by F. Buxton. The two continued at intervals on this paper until it was merged with the Mirror in 1834. When the subscription list of this paper was purchased by Drake in 1836 and the Chronicle reestablished, Mansfield once more became an editor. In 1837 the paper was bought by Achilles Pugh and William Dodd, and Mansfield and Drake were retained as editors. After Drake's retirement, Mansfield continued as editor until it was pur- chased by Nathan Guilford in 1850 and merged in the Atlas, finally to be consolidated with the Gazette. During the early part of his connection with the paper, Mansfield's health was such that he was obliged to spend several years in New England. After his return in 1832, he attempted the practice of the law and associated with him was another of Cincinnati's favorite sons, Orms- by MeKnight Mitchel, subsequently the dis- tinguished astronomer and general in the Civil War. Neither was especially qualified for the profession and Mitchel spent his time studying oratory and other subjects, while Mansfield wrote his "Political Grammar,"' for many years an authoritative text-book, which appeared in 1834. Mitchel had published, the year before, an edition of "Quintilian." Both took an active part in the social and literary . life of the times, were members of the coterie that met at Dr. Drake's house and also of the well-known Semi- Colon Club, which organized in 1832 contained among its members John P. Foote, Samuel E. Foote, James II. Perkins, the Blackwells, E. P. Cranch, the Drakes, the Guilfords, the Halls, William Greene, the Hentzes, the Stowes, Ed- ward King, T. D. Lincoln, Joseph Longworth, Timothy Walker, J. F. Meline, Thew Wright and his sister, Mrs. Curwen. The meetings of this club were held at the house of Samuel E. Foote and the adjoining residences of Charles Stetson and William Greene shown in one of the illustrations of this work. The name it will be remembered was taken from that of the discov- erer of America, Christopher Colon, on the theory that he who discovers a new pleasure de- serves half as much pleasure as the discoverer of a new world, hence Semi-Colon.

Mansfield was active in the College of Teach- ers and in all movements towards higher educa- tion. He was a professor in the reorganized Cin- cinnati College and afterwards from 1853 to 1871 edited the Railroad Record. In 1857 he was editor of the Cincinnati Gasette and re-

mained on the staff of the paper until the time of his death .. In 1858 Governor Chase made him commissioner' of statistics for Ohio, which posi- tion he retained for ten years. He died October 27, 1880, at his country home near Morrow, Ohio, called "Yamoyden."

Mr. Mansfield was twice married, his first wife being Mary Wallace Peck of Litchfield, Con- necticut, and his second wife Margaret Worth- ington, daughter of Governor Thomas Worthing- ton ; two children survived the first marriage and four the second. During his lifetime, in addi- tion to the enormous amount prepared for the press, he wrote and published a large number of books and many pamphlets, including his works on politics and education, his biographies of General Scott and General Grant and a his- tory of the Mexican War. He left two books of peculiar interest to Cincinnatians, the "Memoirs of Daniel Drake" published in 1855 and "Per- sonal Memories" published in 1879.

Morgan Neville was born in Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, December 25, 1783. His father was Major Neville, an aid-de-camp of Lafayette, and his mother, a daughter of John Morgan. He was admitted to the bar in 1808. From 1819 to 1822 he was sheriff of his county. Ile moved to Cincinnati in 1824 and engaged in the insurance business. In 1826 he edited the Commercial Register, which lasted but a half year. He was active throughout his life in every- thing pertaining to the literary and educational advancement of the city. He died March 1, 1840. Ilis library, which was sold for $300, was the foundation of the library of the Ohio Me- chanics' Institute.

Timothy Flint was born in Reading, Massa- chusetts, July 11, 1780. He graduated at Har- vard and afterwards had charge of the Con- gregational Church in Lunenburg. There he became involved in controversies with his par- ishioners and finally in 1815 he concluded to try his fortune in the West. One of his uncles, Hezekiah Flint, had come to Ohio in 1808 and to Cincinnati in 1811 and his cousin, son of Hezekiah, of the same name, was already a prom- inent citizen. His trip westward was accom- panied with great hardships, which are given in detail in his volume of "Recollections," which was subsequently published. He spent the win- ter of 1815-16 in Cincinnati, where he was hospi- tably treated by General Harrison, Dr. Drake and others. In the spring after a horseback trip through the West, he started with his family down the river to the Mississippi. He lived in

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and about St. Louis and the Lower Mississippi for almost five years and frequently went farther south, to New Orleans. His health finally made it necessary for him to return to New England, where he published his "Recollections of the Last Ten Years in the Valley of the Mississippi." The success of this book induced him to make litera- ture a profession and he shortly afterwards pub- lished a novel,-"Francis Berrian." His son, E. H. Flint, had some time previous to this started a book store in Cincinnati, first at Fifth and Walnut and afterwards at No. 160 Main street, and from his press appeared in 1827 a work on the geography and history of the Mis- sissippi Valley. Flint had come to Cincinnati in 1825 and he began the publication of the Western Magasine and Review in 1827, which was discontinued in 1830, as already stated, to be succeeded by Judge Hall's magazine. In the meantime he published a number of novels, a condensation of his geography and history, some translations from the French and after- wards in 1833 a history of the Indian wars of the West as well as a psuedo-scientific geography, natural history, geology and chemistry. In 1833 he succeeded Charles Fenno Hoffman as editor of the Knickerbocker Magasine, which necessi- tated his removal to New York. The feebleness of his constitution, which had always hampered his work, drove him from place to place, and finally he died in Salem in 1840. His continued residence in Cincinnati was not of many years' duration but he did much during his stay to encourage literature and an interest in knowledge for its own sake and as such his name belongs in the list of the makers of Cincinnati. He was spoken of by Mrs. Trollope as the most agree- able acquaintance she had made in Cincinnati and one of the most talented men she had ever met, with conversational powers of the highest order.

James Hall, called by Mr. Venable soldier, jurist, author, editor and banker, came from a family of writers. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1793. His carly train- ing was received at home and in fact, although he became a man of great culture, he was never able to stand the restrictions of school life. While a boy he began the study of the law but at the outbreak of the War of 1812 he joined a com- pany organized in Philadelphia and commanded by the celebrated Condy Raguet. He took part in several engagements during the war and at its close was retained in the regular army as licu- tenant. He accompanied Decatur's expedition

against Algiers in 1815. Upon his return he became a captain and was stationed for a while at Newport, Rhode Island and afterwards at Pittsburg, where he resumed his law study. He resigned his position in the army and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1818. In Pittsburg he be- came acquainted with Morgan Neville, then con- nected with the Pittsburg Gasette. In 1820 he descended the Ohio for a trip to Shawneetown, which resulted in a series of letters, published in a magazine of his brother and afterwards in book form. This book some years afterwards was republished in England. He spent a num- ber of years in the West practicing his pro- fession and acquainting himself with the history and romance of the wilderness. He was four years a prosecuting attorney and four years a judge. While in Illinois he married Mary Har- rison Posey, the daughter of the Revolutionary major-general and afterwards Governor and commander-in-chief of Indiana Territory. His wife died in 1832. One of the children of this marriage is Mrs. Sarah Hall Foote, wife of Charles B. Foote, who for many years was president of the Commercial Bank. Judge Hall's literary proclivities induced him to act as editor for several papers and magazines in Illinois as well as contributor' for other journals, including that of Flint. In 1829 he issued the well known Western Souvenir. This is the first literary an- nual of the Ohio Valley and was published by N. & G. Guilford, at Cincinnati. It contained six steel engravings from paintings by Hervieu and others, one of which was a view of Cincin- nati and a number of articles by such writers as Timothy Flint, Nathan Guilford, Nathaniel Wright, Moses Brooks, Otway Curry, John P. Foote, Benjamin Drake and Morgan Neville. In 1830 Judge Hall issued the first number of the Illinois Magasine, which continued for two years, at the end of which time he removed to Cincinnati and began to publish the Western Monthly Magazine. Before the sale of this mag- azine he accepted the position of cashier of the Commercial Bank and after its reorganization in 1843 he became its president, which position lie retained until the time of his death, July 4, 1868. In addition to the book already spoken of, he published a number of other works which are among the best known books relating to Western history and romance. His best known works are the "Legends of the West" and the "Romance of Western History," from the latter of which has been already quoted the ac- count of the treaty at Fort Finney. He also

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 51

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