Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 59

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

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The principal events of the war time have been mentioned in the chapters relating to the military movements about the city. During this period the city's growth was naturally impeded but the usual incidents in the life of a large city make up the history of the time. In fact from the war time to the present day the growth of the city has been steady, although by no means rapid. It was the natural expansion of a large and prosperous community which had attained maturity. With the exception of a few picturesque episodes such as the floods of 1883 and 1884 and the riots of the latter year there are but few striking incidents to record. The history is made up during this period mainly of the development of institutions both public and private. It is not possible to do much more than mention a few incidents in the history of the city from the war period to the present day.

INCIDENTS OF WAR TIME.

We are told that in 1861, 336 new buildings were put up, of which but 27 were of wood. This was the year too in which was chartered the Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company, now a part of the great "Big Four" system.

In 1862 there was another great flood in the Ohio, which river on January 24th came within a few feet of the high water mark of 1832. The news of the victory of Fort Donelson which came in February cansed great excitement and

a celebration. The oft discussed incident of the attempt of Wendell Philips to address the pub- lic at Pike's Opera House and the riotous attack of citizens which drove him from the stage oc- curred in March. This too was the year of the first Morgan raid through Kentucky and in Sep- tember came the so-called " Siege of Cincinnati" and the Squirrel Hunter campaign. A distin- guished poet of the city, W. W. Fosdick, also died in March of this year. An estimate of the population, which like all such estimates is of doubtful value, gave the number of the inhabi- tants of the city during this year as 184,517.

In 1863 the special incidents were the Great Western Sanitary Fair, the John Morgan raid, the first draft for the army, the burning of the place of amusement known as the Palace Varie- ties and the erection of the Plum street railway depot. To this year also is credited the begin- ning, in Cincinnati, of tobacco manufacture, which industry has grown to become one of the leading ones in the city. The national banking law afforded an opportunity for the reorganiza- tion of many of the banks and before the close of 1863 the First, Second, Third and Fourth national banks were organized with an aggre- gate capital of $1,525,000. During the two fol- lowing years came the Merchants' National Bank and the Ohio National Bank, each with a capital of half a million dollars. A well known insurance company, the Sun Mutual. had been

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incorporated in 1862 and the Germania and Eu- reka in 1864 and the Enterprise and Globe in the year that closed the war. In 1864 the Cin- cinnati, Hamilton & Dayton depot on Hoadly street, extending from Fifth to Sixth, was erect- ed. This structure was 400 feet long, the same length as the Plum street depot. Both buildings were' regarded as fully adequate to the demands to be put upon them for many years to come; in fact the latter of the two is still in use, although it can hardly be said that it in any sense answers the purpose for which it is intended. An incident of this year was the Murdoch benefit on October 31st, at which time was given the first rendition of T. Bu- chanan Read's celebrated poem "Sheridan's Ride." This poem was written on the morning of the day in a house still standing on the south side of Eighth street just west of Walnut, next door in fact to the building of the Literary Club. It is marked by a tablet placed in posi- tion by a number of admirers of the poet and of Mr. Murdoch.

LINCOLN'S DEATHI.

The receipt of the news of Lincoln's assassina- . tion plunged the city into the deepest gloom.

"In Cincinnati, which had spent the day and night before in the most elaborate jubilation, the rage against treason broke out at the least provocation. 'Some individuals of the "butter- nut" inclination,' says a former citizen, in re- calling these days, 'were knocked into the gut- ters and kicked, because they would make no expression of sorrow, or because of their well- known past `sympathy with the rebellion. Others as loyal as any suffered also, through mistaken ideas of meanness on the part of personal ene- inies. Junius Brutus Booth, a brother of the assassin, was closing a two-weeks' engagement at Pike's Opera House. He was stopping at the Burnet House. While there was no violent pub- lic demonstration against him, it was well known that his life would not be worth a farthing should he be seen on the streets or in public. Of course the bills were taken down, and there was no performance that night. Mr. Booth was well pleased quietly to escape from the Burnet and disappear." (Tarbell's Lincoln, Vol. II, p. 247.)

CENTRAL AVENUE.

During the war came the change of name of one of the best known streets of the city. The first thoroughfare west of Phim street was at first called Lundy's Lane. On this lane which

was little more than a cow path in early days, a row of four houses was erected which came to be known as Western Row and from the houses the name was transferred to the lane which for a long time was the western boundary of the city. According to popular tradition, the well known "Uncle Joe" Ross who lived on this prominent thoroughfare (as it had become by the time of the war ) was twitted by a New York friend as living in the country as he supposed a street with such a name must be far from the center of population. The indignation of Mr. Ross was such that he introduced in the Coun- cil and had passed an ordinance changing the name to Central avenue to indicate that the place of his residence instead of being in the outskirts was in the real center of the city's activity. And thus as has so often happened a historic name of real significance has given way to a commonplace designation meaningless and uninteresting.

EGGLESTON AVENUE.

Another street, which has had a mysterious history, was the result of an act of the Legis- lature passed March 24, 1863. By this act the city was given authority from the State to enter upon and occupy forever as a public highway and for sewerage purposes all that part of the Miami and Erie 'Canal which extended from the east side of Broadway to the Ohio River, including the width thereof as owned by the State. As a result of this act and the subse- quent action of the Council, came what has been known for so many years as Eggleston avenue, named in honor of the well known citizen who did so much to bring about the location of this street. This avenue was intended to be made into a beautiful boulevard. Suffice it to say that the purposes for which it was ceded by the State have entirely failed and that it has be- come an eyesore to the community both from an esthetic and an ethical standpoint. However valuable Eggleston avenue may become to the business community and the railroads by which it is occupied, it will ever remain a monument to a perversion of the public will.

The close of the war gave new life to public as well as private enterprise and a number of public improvements were begun at this time. These included the Cincinnati Hospital, the Work House, and the House of Refuge. Esti- mates of population during the last three years of the war gave that of 1863 as 186.320, a year later 193,719 and 1865, 200,000.

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In 1866 the estimate adds almost 11,000 more to the population. This year was a cholera year. The deaths from this cause aggregated 2,028 people of whom 80 died on August 13th. In January the police and fire alarm telegraph was put in operation and the fire depart- ment was regarded as vastly improved thereby.

THE FIRST PIKE FIRE.

Despite this, probably the most celebrated fire and certainly one of the most destructive in the history of the city occurred on March 22, 1866. In this fire Cincinnati's handsomest building, Pike's Opera House, was burned to the ground and with it were destroyed the buildings occu- pied by the Adams Express Company, R. W. Carroll & Company, Peter's music store, Wheel- er & Wilson, Philip Phillip's music store, the Enquirer office, Langley's cigar store and W. B. Clapp's jewelry store, as well as houses on Baker and Third streets. The curtain had just fallen upon a performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the audience had dispersed. Some had noticed a slight odor of gas but ap- parently no one paid any serious attention to it. Suddenly at a quarter past 11 a tremendous ex- plosion was heard by those in the neighborhood of Fourth and Vine : this was followed by a deep rumbling noise as of thunder. Flames immed- iately appeared in the rear portion of the build- ing and spread so rapidly that within a few mo- ments the whole building was a mass of fire. Within a short time the buildings of the entire square were in flames. The fire was so intense and so wide-spread that very little could be done by the department. The total loss was estimated to be about one and three quarter millions of dollars. Several persons were in- jured but fortunately no lives were lost. The origin of the fire was never known. A curious circumstance connected with this fire was the stealing of Samuel N. Pike's watch by a sneak thief who took advantage of Mr. Pike's interest in the fire as he stood on the top of the Burnet House to relieve him of his valuables.

Another serious fire of this year came on July Lth, at which time the Academy of Music building on Fourth and Home was burned. To replace these structures came two new ones; the fine Jewish Temple, K. K. Bene Yeshurun, at the corner of Eighth and Phim, was dedicated on August 21st and on December ist of this year came the opening for foot travel of the great Suspension Bridge, at that time one of the wonders of the world. Its opening for travel

generally was celebrated on January 1, 1867, by the crossing of thousands on foot and in every sort of vehicle.

THIE SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

The subject of a bridge over the Ohio had been discussed from time to time in the various publications about the city as far back as the time of Dr. Drake. It was not until 1845, how- ever, that the agitation seemed likely to produce any result. In January of that year John A. Roebling, who had just completed the Monon- gahela suspension bridge, outlined a plan for a wire suspension bridge over the Ohio at Cin- cinnati. He favored a single arch of a span of 1,200 feet, which would not obstruct the river. The misapprehension relating to his plan is shown by the criticism of Mr. Cist that the breadth of the Ohio at this point would necessi- tate a bridge of twice the length. In September, 1846, Mr. Roebling submitted a complete plan but work was not begun until ten years later, at which time the foundations for the towers were commenced. The crisis of 1857 put a stop to the proceedings. Up to this time it had been exclusively a Covington enterprise and Cincin- nati capital had looked askance at the scheme. At one time the Cincinnati tower 45 feet above the foundation was threatened with a public sale to satisfy the claims of the proprictor of the ground on which it had been erected. The stock was considered of little value and the en- terprise was about to be abandoned. Strangely enough it was the exigencies of the war that aroused the people to the necessity for such a bridge. The threatened attacks upon the city of Cincinnati opened the way. for the conclusion of this great enterprise. Cincinnati capital be- came interested and the work was actively re- sumed in the spring of 1863. It was prosecuted with such rapidity that the roadway for foot travel was as stated opened on the ist of De- cember, 1866, and the bridge was opened for , vehicles on January 1, 1867.

The location of the towers was fixed at low water mark so that the middle span should pre- sent an opening of no less than 1,000 feet in the clear. The elevation of the approach near Front street in Cincinnati was that of the height attained by the water in the spring of 1832,-62 feet 6 inches. At this stage of water the width of the water way was over two thousand feet. The elevation of the floor above low water mark in the center of the span was fixed at 122 feet, reduced by a later enactment to 100 feet. As

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

actually built it was 103 feet in the clear at a medium temperature of 60 degrees, rising one foot in extreme cold and sinking one foot in ex- treme heat. The bridge was 36 feet wide with two ways for pedestrians, two carriage ways and a double track for street railroads. The cables contained 10,400 wires weighing nearly two million pounds. The total length of the bridge was 2,252 feet, of which 1,057 feet occu- pied the center span. The towers about 230 feet high were higher and contained more stone than the Bunker Hill Monument. The total cost of the bridge was $1,800,000. At the time of its completion, this structure had the largest single span of its class in the world and it was said by James Parton that the whole population of Cincinnati could get on it without danger of being let down into the water. It has since been rebuilt and considerably strengthened Since the completion of this bridge, four others have been built connecting Cincinnati with the Kentucky shore,-that of the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad, the so-called Central Bridge con- necting the city with Newport, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Bridge terminating in Coving- ton and the Cincinnati Southern Railway Bridge connecting the city with Ludlow, Kentucky. Within a space of about two miles and a half five bridges serve to accommodate the large population living and traveling to the South.

THE INVINCIBLE "RED STOCKINGS."

During the years 1867 and 1868 began the in- terest in the newly introduced sport,-baseball. The first game of baseball in Cincinnati is said to have been umpired by Dr. John Draper and during the years 1866 to 1870 he probably um- pired more games than any man in the West. Ile was a delegate to the National Association of Base Ball Players at the annual convention held at New York in 1866. In 1867 he organ- ized what was known as the "Cincinnati Jun- iors." This club was made up of boys ranging from 15 to 20 years, who wore the same uni- form as the Cincinnati Base Ball Club and played on its grounds. Among the first players of this club were George Chenowith, William H. Stew- art, John V. Ellard, Charles Dean, Oscar Ram- melsberg, E. W. Walker, Sammel Kemper, George Draper ( familiarly known as "Scoop" . from the way in which he fielded the ball), Julius Hargrave, John Griffith, Charles A. Marsh, Edward Bradford and Smiley Walker. In1 1868 the regular nine of the "Cincinnati Jun-

iors" was composed as follows: George W. Draper, short-stop and captain; Edward Dun- lap, first base; Miller Outcalt, second base; Frank Dunlap, third base; James Shannon, pitcher ; Southey Holmes, catcher ; Joseph Blair, left field; Ed. Marsh, center field, and Ollie McGrew, right field. This club played for three years with great success. During the year 1869 they did not lose a game. Harry Ellard ( from whose article in the Cincinnati Commer- cial Tribune of October 26, 1902, this account is taken) says that our well known citizen, Judge Miller Outcalt, "played as pretty a game at sec- ond base as McPhee ever did." There was a "first" nine of Juniors which did not have so long a career as this, technically the "second" nine.

The Ohio Federation of the National Associa- tion was organized September 25, 1867, with Aaron G. Champion as president. Fourteen clubs from Cincinnati were represented in the convention. During the winter of 1867-68, the grounds of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club were flooded for skating purposes and here was played the first game of baseball on skates. Just prev- ious to this the first regularly organized nine of the Cincinnati Club was formed with Harry Wright as pitcher; Douglas Allison, catcher ; Charles H. Gould, first base; Asa Brainard, sec- ond base; Fred Waterman, third base; John C. How, short-stop; J. V. B. Hatfield, left field ; Rufus King, center field,-and J. William Johnson, now the well known attorney, right field. The uniform of the club was decided upon at a meet- ing held at Mr. Champion's office from a design submitted by George B. Ellard. The red stock- ings adopted at that time have ever since been characteristic of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club. In 1868 the New York Clipper offered nine gold medals to be given to the players making the best averages in their positions. Three of these came to Cincinnati, -- to Harry Wright, Fred Water- man and J. William Jolinson. Mr. Johnson was the best right fielder of his time and the swiftest runner on bases. He circled the bases in 14y seconds. It is said that he was never put out on base and on a number of occasions stole home from third base. He also played infield posi- tions with great success.

In 1868 this team composed partly of profes- sionals and partly of amateurs played many ex- citing games; one of the closest of these was that with the "Unions" of Morrisania, New Jersey, which the Cincinnati team won by a score of 13 to 12. The baseball grounds were just in back of Lincoln Park, having been moved

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from the foot of Richmond street which was not so convenient to the horse cars. A large octagonal building designed by James Mc- Laughlin was erected at the cost of $2,350. An- other game was that with the "Hickory" club of Morgan County. This club was supposed to be a very strong one and it was thought that the contest would be bitter. The score was 59 to 16. The large score is explained by the fact that the ball known as the Ross ball con- tained two and one-half ounces of rubber and that curved pitching had not been heard of.

An event of this summer was the game of raquette played on the ball grounds by a club of Northwestern Indians especially imported for the occasion.

During the year 1868 the Cincinnatians played 24 games of which they lost but three.

An organization that made the name of Cin- cinnati known throughout the country was the famous "Red Stocking Base Ball Team" of 186, whose career of victories has never been equaled in the history of that or any other ath- letic sport. Previous to this time, the game of baseball had almost been entirely given up to amateurs. In fact our modern national game at that time had a hard struggle to supplant the imported game of cricket. At a meeting held in the fall of 1868 in the law office of Tilden, Sherman & Moulton, the Cincinnati Base Ball Club was put upon a professional basis. George B. Ellard and Alfred T. Goshorn were appointed a committee to secure the services of Harry and George Wright for the coming year. Other well known professional players were also engaged and as a result the baseball team which began . the season of 1869 was the first regular profes- sional nine in the United States. The officers of the club were Aaron B. Champion, president ; Thomas G. Smith, vice-president, and John P. Joyce, secretary and treasurer. Ilarry Wright was the captain and played center field. Ilis brother George was short-stop, Asa Brainard was pitcher, Douglas Allison, catcher. The bases were filled by Charles H. Gould, Charles Sweasy and Fred Waterman. Calvin McVey played right field and Andrew J. Leonard, left field. The substitute was Dick Hurley and scorer, Oak Taylor. Of this team but two,- Gould and Waterman,-were residents of Cin- cinnati.

The team started on an Eastern trip on Mon- day, May 31, 1869, after having played several practice games in this city. It was accompanied by a special correspondent of the local Commer-

cial newspaper, Harry M. Miller, who also at times acted as scorer. Its first regular game was at Yellow Springs, where it defeated the Antioch Club nine by a score of 41 to 7. Games followed at Mansfield, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Lansingburg, Bos- ton, New Haven and Brooklyn, in all of which the "Red Stockings" were victorious. The first game of importance and the one looked forward to by all those in the country interested in this sport was that with the "Mutuals" of New York, at that time regarded as one of the strongest nines in the country. This was played in June at the Union grounds in Brooklyn in the pres- ence of over 10,000 people. Neither team had suffered a defeat up to the time of the opening of this game and betting ran very high with odds a little in favor of the "Mutuals." Much feeling was aroused because of the prominence of both clubs and particularly from the fact that on the New York team was playing a former "Red Stocking," Flatfield, who it was thought was familiar with the play of the Cincinnati team to such an extent as to give him a great advan- tage. The audience too was quite boisterous and determined that the local nine should win. This was in the days of straight pitching and large scores, but so fiercely was the game contested that the score was very small. At the end of the eighth inning it was two to one in favor of Cincinnati and in the ninth inning the New York team made one run and Cincinnati two, making the final score four to two. The news of this victory caused great excitement in Cincinnati. Salutes were fired and a general rejoicing in- dulged in. The "Red 'Stockings" proceeded on their way, playing at Philadelphia, Washington, Wheeling and other places and maintaining their unbroken record of victories. This great tour ended by the arrival home of the team on Thurs- day, July ist. In an account given in the Cin- cinnati Commercial Tribune of November 3, 1902, by Harry Ellard, we are told that : "The reception given the players was one long to be remembered. They were met by all the ment- bers of the club with a band and escorted through the streets, which were decorated on all sides. One firm made a unique design of the letter 'C' of red stockings. Cheer upon cheer went up for the invincible champions, and pandemon- ium reigned throughout the town. The next day the club played a picked nine for an exhi- bition game. When the game was completed a wagon drove onto the fieldl with a huge bat. in shape the same as a regular bat, but it was 27

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

feet long, 19 inches at the butt and 912 inches at the wrist. On the side was painted 'Cham- pion Bat,' in gilt, while underneath were hand- somely inscribed all the names of the players of 1869.

"It was presented by the Cincinnati Lumber Company, and the presentation speech was made by Carter Gazlay, the secretary of the company, in which he stated that 'the Cincinnati Base Ball ('Inb players were recognized as . the heaviest batters in the country, and, on that account, it gave him much pleasure to present them with a bat which, although not of regulation size, was not so heavy but that they could easily handle it.' 1Ic also said that it was not purchased from Ellard, but was grown to order for the occasion.

"That evening a large banquet was given the visitors at the Gibson House. The hall was profusely decorated with flags, bunting and flowers. At the head of the hall was a large inscription, 'Welcome Home, Red Stockings, with the names of all the players and the officers of the club underneath. Currier's Zouave Band discoursed music while the sumptuous repast - was served. Thomas G. Smith, the vice-presi- . dent of the club, sat at the head of the table, while on his right was Aaron B. Champion, the president, and on his left John P. Joyce, the secretary and treasurer. Mr. Smith acted as toast-master, and when he arose he said: 'In addition to the fact that the Cincinnati Base Ball Club, is the champion of the United States, it is also Champion's club.' When Champion was called upon for an address he made a neat and appropriate speech, and said: 'Some one asked me to-day whom I would rather be, President Grant or President Champion, of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club; I immediately answered him that I would by far rather be president of the baseball club.' This brought forth loud ap- planse. Murat Halstead responded to the toast, "The Press.' Alfred T. Goshorn paid a hand- some tribute to the players. Judge Cox respond- ed to 'The Judiciary,' in which he said: 'May there always be impartial umpires in this great game of life' S. S. Davis, a former mayor, made a neat address and last of all Drausin Wul- sin covered himself with glory when he arose in response to the toast, 'The Ladies, God Bless Them' Upon this subject Mr. Wulsin was fully equal to the occasion. Jndge E. F. Noyes was also one of the speakers."

Later in the season came several more excit- ing games. On July 24th the Forest City Club of Rockford, Illinois, of which A. G. Spalding

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 59

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