Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 9

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

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Another prominent merchant of early Main street was S. S. Smith, whose store in the late "thirties" and earty "forties" was at the corner of Ninth and Main. He was a brother of the

well known Sol Smith the comedian. He is credited with having surpassed the feat of St. Patrick in clearing the snakes from Ireland for he is said to have cleared the rats from Main street. These pestiferous animals had become a great pest and destroyed much property of the merchants. Finally Smith succeeded in captur- ing an enormous rat to whose neck after much labor and considerable excitement a small bell was attached by a chain. This was turning the tables on the rats who had once thought of bell- ing the cat. The rest of the rats did not receive their old comer when he was let loose with favor and as he approached, fearing perhaps that some one had succeeded in belling the cat, they retired precipitately. After a short time no rats were seen or heard. Once in a while with a gen- tle tinkling of the bell the public were admon- ished that one at least was left. Finally this sound ceased and one day some workmen found the skeleton of the unfortunate rat with the bell still about its neck lying behind some bar- rels. It was suggested that it had died of grief from lack of companionship. The story is told that not a rat has been seen on Main street since, although the writer does not vouch for the truth of this tale.

Not far from Smith's store was the store of Absalom Death, afterwards superintendent of the old Commercial Hospital. The story told of the alteration of his sign to read "Pure Whis- keys-Absolute Death" is a familiar one in the annals of the city.

Another quaint character was the notorious Mrs. Haighflaigh, whose house stood on the west side of Main street just where Pearl street now enters it. In this house many people are said to have entered who never left it alive and many were the stories told of the murders committed therein and the bodies carried out the back way down the cow-path where Pearl street now runs and thence to the river.

A tragic episode connected itself with the life of a merchant named Morselle who kept a store in the "thirties" on lower Main street. . Morselle was a Frenchman by birth, a man of education and refinement who came to this country while quite young and finally settled in Cincinnati. Flere his polished manners procured him an en- trance into the houses of the best families and finally he married the daughter of the pioneer storekeeper, Capt. Jamies Ferguson, at that time one of the wealthiest men in the city. Morselle was not successful in business and the thought that he might become dependent upon others

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preyed upon his mind until his reason was un- balanced. . He lived on the west side of Vine street between Sixth and Seventh in a house used for years by the Wesleyan Female College as a dormitory and afterwards as the editorial rooms of the Cincinnati Enquirer. One evening after dinner he went to his room as was his usual habit to smoke a cigar. Shortly after- wards a shot was heard and the body of Morselle was found with the top of his head blown com- pletely off. His widow afterwards married a prominent lawyer of the city, Henry Starr.

CONTEMPORARY VIEWS OF THE CITY.

Some contemporary views of the first order are the pictures reproduced in this volume rep- resenting some of the principal streets in the "thirties." These include two views of Fourth street, one looking cast and the other west from Vine; a view of the northeast and southwest cor- ners of Fourth and Walnut; a view of the two northern corners of Third and Vine and one of the Public Landing. The originals of these hang in the rooms of the Ohio Historical and Phil- osophical Society. There are also two views of the city from the Kentucky side. These pic- tures have been reproduced by photography and have been exhibited on one or two occasions as views of the city in 1835-1836-1837. The exact (late of course it is impossible to determine. The buildings as shown in the main remained un- changed throughout the decade from 1830 to 1840 and for a few years later. The first five imentioned pictures, hung in the society rooms already referred to, came from the house of W. M. Yeatman, a son of Griffin Yeatman. For many years the name of the artist was unknown. Mrs. Lord, the librarian of the society, has suc- ceeded in deciphering the name of John C. Wild. This is the name of an artist who appears in the Directory of 1836. The other two views of the city from Kentucky are supposed to be by the same artist. On the photographs of these pictures which are preserved by the society have been entered by various older residents the names of the people who are supposed to have lived in the . houses about the years 1834 to 1836, the probable date of the pictures. Many of these conjectures are not borne out by examination of the directories and other sources of informa- tion, although it is probable that the parties named all at one time or another lived in the places designated.

A view of the two corners of Fourth and Walnut shows most conspicuously in the fore-

ground the old College Building or Lancaster School which was on the site subsequently oc- cupied by the Cincinnati College Building and the Young Men's Mercantile Library. The southeast corner of Fourth and Walnut does not come within the limits of the picture. This, however, was probably a vacant lot attached to the residence of John Baker, the first house visible at the extreme right of the picture who is known to have lived here for a number of years prior to 1834. The property remained in his family until very recent years. The next structure is that . of St. Paul's Church in the basement of which at various times were schools. Just east is the residence of Morgan Neville. In this picture very little is shown of the north side of the street. There were a number of business houses and residences on both sides of the street, faint glimpses of which can be seen in the view looking castward from Vine. We know that on the west corners of Main were two business blocks known as Jones's Row and Moore's Row, in which were a number of offices of lawyers, doctors and other professional and business men. Those whose names are given in the Directory of 1834 as residing in this block from Main to Walnut, including the corners of Main, include in addition to John Baker and Morgan Neville a number of well known citizens. Among them were Nixon's Logierean Musi- cal Academy, Thomas B. Hawkes' Musical Acad- emy, Miss Tallant's Boarding School, Ralph Let- ton's Museum, the law offices of W. R. Morris and Benjamin Drake, William H. Stickney and James Foster, the tobacco shop of Philip Young, the boarding house of Andrew S. Apple and the dry goods store of M. S. and J. S. Wade at the corner of Main. Other names given are those of James II. Morehead, James E. Tyler, Will- iam Walker, Benjamin Harrimen (portrait painter ), George Luckey, Joseph R. Mason (por- trait painter), Frances McCracken, John P. Ban- nister, Joseph Draper ( silversmith), George Em- erson, Dr. M. Flagg and John Hare. Many of these of course must be accredited to the office buildings already mentioned and strangely enough very few of them appear in the directory two years later.

A view of Fourth street looking cast from Vine extends in a shadowy way about to Main street. On the south side of the street the first honse shown-a little two-story building-was in 1834 that of James Lodge of Lodge & 1.'Hommedieu, the publishers of the Gazette. Two years later it was the residence of his

كونو وجدعت

THIRD AND VINE IN THE "THIRTIES."

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widow and in 1840 she kept a boarding house here. In' the temple-like structure just east resided in 1834 and 1836 Davis B. Lawler. A little later this was the residence of Samuel Wiggins. The house cast was that of David . Gwynne, the father of the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Afterwards this house was the resi- dence of John H. Groesbeck. In the two houses forming the structure to the east there lived in the "thirties" Henry Rockey of Ruffin & Rockey and Joseplı Gest, both well known citi- zens. The house that occupies the lot beyond is not visible as it stands back in the yard. It was the residence of John D. Jones. Just be- yond in the house of the two tall chimneys re- sided for many years Griffin Yeatman. At the southwest corner of Fourth and Walnut there stood in 1840 the house of George Carlisle. This does not show in the picture. Across Wal- nut street in this picture can be seen the house of John Baker, the church and the residence of Morgan Neville as well as buildings beyond. On the north side of the street at the northeast corner of Fourth and Vine was the well known residence of George W. Jones, which stood back in the yard some distance. The first house that is visible is that of Dr. William S. Ridgely and just east of that, about where Lodge alley was afterwards located, was the residence of Joseph Graham in 1840. Other residences and offices on " the north side of the street in the "thirties" were those of Dr. William Wood, David A. San- ders, Samuel Trevor and Timothy Walker. The names of the residents on Fourth street be- tween Walnut and Vine given in the Directory of 1834, in addition to those already mentioned, include Mr. Slaughter (the hatter), Jabez C. Tunis, Sylvanus Wright, Henry Clark ( the drug- gist), Nelson Morris and Dr. Wolcott Richards. The name of Davis B. Laughlin probably should be Lawler.

Looking west from Vine the house on the southwest corner is one of the numerous resi- dences occupied at different times by John P. Foote and at other times by Dr. Shotwell and Samuel B. Williams. Just west was the residence in 1834 of Nathan Guilford and beyond that was that of William Conclin the bookseller. The large double house was occupied by Jonathan Bates on the east side and Caleb Bates on the west. The west house was afterwards the resi- dence of Reuben R. Springer ; just beyond was the stately building of the Second Presbyterian Church. The lot at the corner of Fourth and Race was vacant. Across the street can be seen

the Unitarian Church and just beyond in . a vague distance the residences of John Rogers and Rev. E. Peabody. On the north side at the corner of Vine was the residence of Gen. Edward King the father of Rufus King and beyond was that of William MeLaughlin who two years be- fore lived in a house on the north side of Fourth west of Race which he sold to Thompson Neave. Other residents of the north side of the street given in the notes on the photographs in the society rooms are Benjamin Urner, John C. Wright, Alexander Ewing, Dr. Landon Rives and Caroline Lec Hentz. In the Directory of 1834 there are also given the names of the fol- lowing living between Vine and Race, Alonzo Anderson, Timothy Kirby, Thomas G. Lea, Jacob Lontner, James M. Lyons, William Man- ser, William Nelson, Abraham Palmer, A. W. Sweeney, Henry Walter and James W. Yost. The same directory gives the residents of Fourth between Elin and Race in addition to those named : James Phares, Ephraim Morgan, Mrs. Sarah Reno, S. S. Smith, Samuel Doyle, Samuel Halley, Ezekiel Fosdick, Eleazer Harris, Nathan Hastings, Jacob Merrill and Richard Miller.

The view of the northern corners of Third and Vine is one of the best known of the city. Almost in the center of the picture stands the steeple of the Second Presbyterian Church and the house to the south of it at the northwest corner of Third and Vine was the old residence of Judge Jacob Burnet, afterwards used in con- nection with "Shires' Garden." The imposing structure at the northeast corner of Third and Vine was known as the Foote residence and was for some time the residence of John P. Foote and the home of the Semi-Colon Club. At other times it was occupied by Samuel E. Foote, his brother. The house to the west on Vine street, for it is a separate structure although approached by the same entrance, was the resi- dence of William Greene while to the cast was that of Charles Stetson. This large house has also been called the Miller residence and here formerly lived our present fellow citizen, Griffin T. Miller. Other residents of this palatial struc- ture at different times were Thomas Lea and Charles Springer. In the offices on the street, in what was known as Foote's Row, could be found at different times E. P. Cranch, James H. Perkins, Dr. At Lee, James H. Beard (the ar- tist), and Cleveland (the drawing teacher).

The buildings shown in the view of the Pub- lic Landing are quite distinct and easy of iden-

الجامعة للشعلة

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

tification by any one familiar with the time. A building at the northeast corner of Front and Alain was that occupied after 1836 by the Fire- men's Insurance Company ; it was called Noble's Row and just around the corner of Main street was the shoe store of A. P. and R. A. Holden. Here for a brief time was the Intelligencer Printing Office and on the ground floor in 1834 was the store of Thomas Pierce, the iron mer- chant. These names, that of the Intelligencer and of Pierce and the absence of the Firemen's Insurance Company, fix the date of this picture almost exactly at 1834 or 1835. A little later the store occupied by Pierce became the clothing store of Isaac Davey. Just east was the office of the Cincinnati Insurance Company. Across the alley was the store of William Manser the iron merchant and over him John Frazer for a time kept his law office. Just east was the building afterwards occupied by the Manhattan Insurance Company and beyond it the subse- quent home of the Fire Department Insurance Company. Other insurance companies which had their offices for a long time in this block were the Protection Insurance Company of Hart- ford, Connecticut and the Ohio Insurance Com- pany. The building with the numerous bal- conies in front was the well known Exchange Hotel, at that time ( 1834) kept by Guibert and Hughes. The Cincinnati Hotel at the north-

west corner of Front and Broadway can be seen in the distance. The building just beyond Syca- more street with the balconies was that after- wards occupied by Franks' Museum. In the dis- tance at the southeast corner of Front and Broad- way is scen Cassilly's Row. Commercial Row another important building is not shown in the picture; it was to the west of the landing on the southwest corner of Main and Water.

The picture prefixed to the Directory of 1840 which also shows the Public Landing as well as that of the same site in Cist's "Cincinnati in 1841" make it clear that during these years there was very little change in the structures on Front street between Main and Broadway. The same buildings are also shown on a much smaller scale in the views of the city taken from Ken- tucky. That taken from Newport shows the Public Landing from almost immediately in front. The churches which of course were the largest structures in the city at that time loom up clearly above their surroundings and it is easy to identify the First and Second Presby- terian churches and the Methodist Church on Fifth street as well as the College Building by the projecting spires. It is plain that the thickly settled portion of the city did not extend much west of Elm except along the lines of Fourth, Fifth and Sixth and the hills were alnost entire- ly free from buildings of any sort.

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE CITY TO THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL-IV. IMPORTANT INCIDENTS FROM 1819 TO 1831.

FINANCIAL DEPRESSION-THE CITY'S FIRST YEARS-EARLY POLITICS-THE VISIT OF LAFAYETTE - THE MIAMI CANAL.

FINANCIAL DEPRESSION.

Cincinnati entered upon its life as a city in the midst of the heaviest financial gloom. The Bank of the United States had been reestab- lished in 1816 with a charter for 20 years. As has already been stated, it established branches throughout the country, two of which were in Ohio,-one in Cincinnati and one in Chillicothe. It immediately began collecting bullion and by December, 1818, had brought together about seven and a half millions. The Government Treasury in 1817 had decided to receive no notes except such as were payable to the banks in hard money but despite this the banks of the country deferred an attempt to resume specie payments until July 1, 1817.

An immense speculation in the meantime was being carried on in the stock of the bank in the shape of loans secured by the stock at a valua- tion in excess of par. This gave a speculative price to the stock which in September, 1817, went above 150 where it continued until December, 1818, when it fell to 110. The money world was becoming conscious of the excessive issues. and the consequent danger. At the Cincinnati Branch, Judge Burnet tells us that the amount of paper discounted was supposed to be less than at any other office and place of the same popu- lation and business and that the board was not conscious that a single bad debt had been made. The parent board, however, made an arrange- ment with the Treasury Department to receive as cash their land office deposits in the Western banks probably at a large discount as the de-

posits consisted chiefly of depreciated paper not worth more than 60 or 70 cents on the dollar. About $900,000 of this paper was sent to the Cincinnati Branch with instructions to collect it from the banks that had issued it. None of these banks were making specie payments and some had failed entirely. The principal business men of the city were largely indebted to the local banks and their resources were in the main made 111) of lands estimated at very high values. Many bills and notes discounted by the Branch Bank were simply transfers of indebtedness to the local banks. Most of the borrowers would have been able to sustain their credit so long as land values could be kept up and no unusual pressure was brought to bear. Unfortunately Cincinnati credit did not stand high and a sudden effort on the part of the United States Bank to make such large collections resulted disastrously. The di- rectors of the Branch Bank, foreseeing the in- evitable result of an effort to push the banks which could only bring disaster upon all con- cerned, suggested to the parent institution the impossibility of the banks redeeming their paper at that time. Their plan was to loan it out at par on the best security that could be obtained. This plan was followed by them on the theory that their suggestion had been approved by the parent bank. The whole amount was disposed of on what was thought to be good security. In fact three-fourths of it was afterwards col lected in full. Unfortunately the failure to col- lect the notes promptly and the timidity of the home bank on account of the closing of some of the local institutions brought about the sudden

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discontinuance of the office with the order to put in suit without delay all debts due the insti- tution. It is easy to see the terribly disastrous results of such a course at such a time. A very large part of the loans was secured by the homes of the borrowers. Money was absolutely unattainable. What money there was was of the most worthless character. "The country was flooded with the notes of irresponsible private banks. Traders and others issued their small notes of twenty-five cents and upward, ealled 'shinplasters,' redeemable in dry goods, gro- ceries, or in something to drink. The little silver in circulation was converted into what was termed 'cut money.' A Spanish pistareen, worth seventeen or eighteen eents, was cut into six pieces, representing double the value in sil- ver of the pistareen; and so with quarters and half-dollars. A meal at a tavern was to be had for twenty-five cents in this cut money, and for one dollar or more in paper. It was during this period that the credit of our merchants with the East sank lower than ever before or sinee. Cin- cinnati's want of credit was proverbial through- out the Eastern States and cities." (L'Hom- medieu's Pioneer Address, Cincinnati Pioneer, No. III, p. 13.)

As a result the business of the city and its vicinity was completely prostrated. Many of our most intelligent business men were ruined and Cincinnati did not recover from the shock for years. In 1821 and 1822, when this radical remedy was undertaken, the whole country was embarrassed and creditors found it everywhere necessary to indulge their debtors. Otherwise the whole West must have assuredly become a community of bankrupts. The home directors of the bank, however, were impressed with the belief that they had been imposed upon by their local representatives. Their cashier, Mr. Wil- son, gave as a reason the belief that the man- agers in the office had loaned the funds with a profusion that proved them unworthy of con- fidence. He and his principals regarded Cin- einnati as a city without credit and without honor and seemed of the impression that there was no disposition on the part of the citizens to maintain their solvency. (Burnet's Notes, p. 410.)

The Cincinnati Branch Bank was withdrawn and the business closed up. Timothy Kirby says that some of the heaviest claims being discounts of a wild chiaraeter were lost, while the good elaiins were collected for the most part in real estate. The titles of the property held by the

bank were perfeeted as far as practicable and after two years the property was put on the market and sold in small parcels in installments favorable to the growth of the city and in a careful manner to protect the interest of the bank. It may be safely stated that this. one settlement made notorious by exaggeration in its subsequent effects cost the people of Cin- cinnati millions of dollars in the unjust dis- paragement or depreciation of its lands and con- sequent losses in after settlements. (Cincinnati Past and Present.)

This statement, however, according to Judge Burnet, is quite unfair. In carrying out the order he says every debtor to the institution, however wealthy, was prosecuted to judgment and execution. A few gave mortgages to gain time but all in the end were obliged to settle in full. . "It is a fact highly honorable to the perscented debtors of that institution that the statute of usury was not plead in a single in- stance; though it was a fact easy of proof that in at least one-half of the cases the defendants did not receive from the bank more than sixty or at most seventy percent of the amount for which they gave their notes." Furthermore, al- though the agent gave out the impression that the bank would sustain a loss by the operations of the office in Cincinnati, the president of the Branch, Judge Burnet, states that the fact was the reverse and that they received their own with triple usury. Every dollar of the capital which had been furnished to the bank, including the Land Office paper called by Burnet "trash," which had been charged as par funds. was re- paid to the bank, besides which there was a very large profit on real estate taken from their debt- ors at values frequently not more than one-half of the intrinsic worth. (Burnet's Notes, p. 411.)

Another well known citizen, Col. James Tay- lor, corroborates Judge Burnet. He is quoted by Ford as follows :

"This bank was a large-sized shark, as it ate up all the small banks in the city-to wit: The Miami Exporting Company, the Farmers' & Me- chanics' Bank, and the Bank of Cincinnati, to- gether with other banks in Ohio. Many citizens of Cincinnati were injured by the bank-among them Gen. William Lytle (it broke him up), Judge Burnet, Mr. Carr, St. Clair, Morris, William Barr, and others. Lytle had to give up his homestead, now owned by Dr. Foster and others, and some tracts of land in Hamilton and Clermont counties. Burnet gave up his home- stead, where the Burnet House stands.

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"I know the bank made large sums of money out of. its debtors. I, as well as my father, bought considerable property of the agent, taken for debts. The money was mostly made from vacant ground, taken and subdivided, and the rise of property.

"The bank wound up and established an agency, which existed over fifty years. George Jones was the first agent, in 1823; Herman Cope, the second; and Timothy Kirby, deceased, the third. Property was low in 1823-24, and their debtors were forced to give up property, to a large amount. The bank, by the rise and subdi- vision of property, made millions of dollars, and only wound up by Kirby a few years ago.

"This United States Bank, instead of being a benefit to Cincinnati, was an injury, as it forced into bankruptcy the other banks in the city, and involved many of its most influential citizens." (Ford's Cincinnati, p. 358.)

The effect of the financial distress has been described in glowing language by George War- ren. After the United States Bank began to call in its accounts, which made it necessary for others to do the same, the citizens involved in the speculations so rife at the time began, to quote his language, "to scatter like rats from a submerged flour barrel. Sheriff Heckewelder complained that his friends had taken a sudden notion to travel, at the very time he most wanted them. Some fled cast, some west, some to Ken- tucky, and some to Lord knows where. It soon became impossible to get money anywhere. Building was entirely stopped. The spring of 1820 was a gloomy time. All business was brought to a sudden stand. No more brick wagons, stone wagons, or new cellars were to be seen in the streets. The mechanics lately so blithe and cheerful had gone in different direc- tions in search of work, at any price, to keep themselves and families from starving. Almost . any mechanic could be hired for fifty cents a day, , working, as was then the custom, from sunrise to sunset; few could get employment at that. They were willing to work at anything they could do, and at any price. One of our boss carpenters bought a wood-saw and buck, and went about sawing wood. Our leading brick- layer procured a small patch of ground near the Brighton House, and raised watermelons, which he sold himself, in the market. The only professed sashmaker in the place, the late John Baker, Esq., who died not long ago a millionaire on Walnut Hills, procured a piece of woodland in the country, and chopped the wood, brought it

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 9

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