USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Cincinnati in 1841 : its early annals and future prospects > Part 8
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CINCINNATI SAVINGS INSTITUTION.
Open every business day of the week, during business hours.
George W. Jones, President. P. Outcalt, Secretary.
William Burke, Jacob Burnet, Stephen Burrows, William Crossman, Calvin Fletcher, John P. Foote, Samuel Fosdick, Joseph Gest, John H. Groesbeck, David Gwynne, E. S. Haines, Daniel H. Horne, Elam P. Langdon, George C. Mil- ler, James M'Intire, Daniel F. Meader, Ephraim Morgan, John Myers, William Neff, John Reeves, Joseph Smith, Wright Smith, William Stephenson, Cha's Tatem, Directors.
The object of this institution is to enable those persons, who receive such small sums of money as cannot be conveni- ently invested or employed in any way to yield a profit, to deposit them in a place of safety, and obtain an interest of six per cent. upon the amount, together with a proportion of all the profits that may accumulate beyond the expenses of the institution, at the end of every three years ; thus, enabling the industrious and frugal, who commence early in life by saving and depositing weekly a portion of their earnings, to make provision for a time of need, or provide an honorable inde- pendence for old age.
The smallest sums are received on deposit, and the interest upon them commences, whenever they shall amount to five dollars-and have remained four months-on the first of the
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month, after the deposit is made, if of the amount of five dol- lars, and if of smaller sums, when the aggregate amounts to five dollars.
The money can be withdrawn upon giving two weeks' notice.
The funds of the institution are loaned upon good and suf- ficient security, and at such rate of interest as may be agreed upon, which at present is ten per cent.
The annexed features of the charter will exhibit more fully the principles and method of conducting the business of the institution ; and it will be perceived that it offers such facili- ties as, in this city where every one may save some portion of his earnings, will enable all who avail themselves of its ad- vantages during youth, to guard against the evils of poverty, after the period for labor is past.
All the profits of the institution are for the benefit of the depositors, and no director (the president excepted) is entitled to any pay for his services.
The amount that may be received from any one person in any one year, is limited to three hundred dollars, and no part of the funds can be loaned directly or indirectly to any direc- tor, or officer of said corporation.
Payment of the money deposited cannot be made to any but the depositor, or his authorised agent.
A book is kept for the purpose of allowing every depositor to record the name of the person to whom, in the event of his death, his deposits shall be paid.
An examination is made every six months, by a committee, into the state of the affairs of the corporation, and the manner in which the business has been transacted.
The institution is restricted from issuing bank notes, or making discounts. It commenced business in 1831, and has paid an interest to depositors equivalent to eight per cent. per annum, average, during the last ten years.
Doolittle & Munsch Sc.
DISTRICT SCHOOL HOUSE.
ENGRAVED FOR "CINCINNATI IN 184|"
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SCIENCE AND LITERATURE.
SCIENCE AND LITERATURE.
Western Academy of Natural Sciences.
Organised, April, 1835. Incorporated in 1838.
Its cabinet already presents two hundred specimens of min- erals and fossils, three hundred of shells, and two thousand of plants.
Robert Buchanan, President; George Graham, Vice Presi- dent; J. G. Anthony, Recording Secretary and Librarian ; Dr. William Wood, Corresponding Secretary ; J. A. Warder, Treasurer.
There are about fifty members, and many correspondents.
Apprentices' Library.
This institution was founded, February 8, 1821, and was established by public contributions of books and money. It contains two thousand two hundred volumes of interesting works of history, travels, voyages, arts and sciences, philoso- phy, chemistry, classics, religion and morality, and, in fact, nearly every work which is of an instructive nature to youth. About four hundred volumes are taken out weekly.
It is governed by a board of directors, who are appointed annually, by the contributors to the library ; if they neglect to do so at the time specified, the city council then make the appointment.
The librarian is appointed by the directors, whose salary is one hundred dollars, which is paid by the city council.
Rules .- All minors, who are brought up to laborious em- ployments in the city, are to have the free use of the library, by applying to the librarian, and producing to him an order from a parent, guardian, or friend of such minor, stating that they will be responsible for the return of all books taken out on said order uninjured, and will pay for all damage done to the books, and pay all fines if they are kept out over the time prescribed in the by-laws.
K
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SCIENCE AND LITERATURE.
No person will be permitted to take out more than one book at a time.
Library open on Saturdays, from two o'clock, P. M., till five o'clock, P. M.
The time for detaining a book out of the library, shall be, for a duodecimo or any smaller size, one week; for an octa- vo, two weeks ; for a quarto, three weeks ; for a folio, four weeks. And if any book be not returned according to the time specified, there shall be paid a fine of six cents for every common duodecimo or pamphlet; twelve cents for every oc- tavo or large duodecimo; and twenty-five cents for every quarto or folio volume, for every week said book or books may be detained beyond the time specified.
Upon the return of a book, the librarian shall determine whether it be injured ; and if so, to what amount; which sum he shall demand of the person in whose name it was taken out, who shall be debarred the use of the library until the same be paid.
Any person considering himself aggrieved by a decision of the librarian, shall have the privilege of appealing to the di- rectors at the next meeting of the board.
Any person receiving a book from this library, who shall fail to return it, or shall render the same unfit to be received into the library, shall replace it with another of the kind and quality, or pay the sum required to replace the same.
Young Men's Mercantile Library Association.
Library and reading-rooms in the Cincinnati College, on Walnut street ; open every day, Sundays excepted, from eight o'clock in the morning until ten in the evening.
Officers for the year 1841. Charles Duffield, President ; William Watts, Vice President; Charles T. Jones, Secreta- ry ; John W. Hartwell, Treasurer ; James Wildy, Librarian.
This association was first organized by the election of offi- cers and the adoption of a constitution and by-laws, April 18, 1835.
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A charter was granted by the legislature of Ohio, January 5, 1836, at which time the library consisted of seven hundred volumes. At the present time it contains upwards of fourteen hundred volumes of standard and miscellaneous works.
The association commenced with forty-nine members. It now numbers about five hundred.
Judging of the prospects of the institution from its success thus far, it bids fair to become, in a few years, an ornament of which the commercial community of Cincinnati may well be proud, as well as a never-failing source of rational enjoy- ment to those who feel disposed to avail themselves of the advantages offered by it.
Although in its first organization it was intended for the particular benefit of the young men engaged in mercantile pur- suits, to whom its management is exclusively committed, yet its advantages are open to every citizen of respectable stand- ing, of whatever profession he may be.
Terms of membership .- Each member, on subscribing to the constitution, shall pay an initiation fee of one dollar, and the further sum of three dollars annually, in advance, so long as he shall continue a member.
EDUCATION.
Public instruction in the United States is divided into three kinds, that of schools, that of academies, and that of colleges. The object of schools is generally simple elementary know- ledge, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, and ge- ography. The object of academies is the acquisition of more advanced knowledge, such as the commencement of the clas- sics, mathematics, &c. preparatory for college. The object of the college is to give an accurate knowledge of the classics, instruction in natural, moral, and political science, belles-let- tres, &c., in one word, such an education as is necessary to men of intelligence and refinement.
In addition to these general classes of educational semina-
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ries there are two others of a more specific nature. The first of these is the university, which adds to the common kinds of education professional instruction; and the other is the me- chanics' institutes and lyceums. The latter is of modern in- troduction, but is, on principle, the same with the famous schools of antiquity, where all kinds of persons attended and all sorts of general instruction were given. In the United States within a few years, this species of instruction has be- come quite popular, and is likely to become more so, as the general progress of intelligence enables a larger number of per- sons to understand and enjoy the oral lectures of enlightened men. Cincinnati, although but just half a century old, and planted in the midst of a country at the time of its foundation entirely a wilderness, presents the singular spectacle of fifty thousand people enjoying every one of these enumerated means of public instruction, and that in no inferior degree. The primary school, the academy, the college, the schools of the professions, and the institute, all have a place, and are held in high public favor. If they are not in the most perfect condition, they certainly are in a rapid state of improvement. The city will in all probability be hereafter a distinguished place of public instruction.
From the earliest settlement of the state, provision for edu- cation of some kind has been made in Cincinnati, as well as other parts of Ohio, by the grant of the public lands, by many individual donations, and much private effort. In the state generally, the United States government had granted one thir- ty-sixth part of the public lands for the support of education. The common school system, as it is called, was not, however, adopted till a comparatively late period. Though not exactly in order of time, at Cincinnati, we shall describe the present condition of the common schools in the first place.
I. Common schools. The primary or elementary English common school is that which is more essential to the wants and future intelligence of the people than any other ; because embracing only those simple elements of knowledge, which
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are necessary to the business of society, and without which there can be no educated intelligence. In them, whether pub- lic or private, must be laid the foundations of future attain- ments. They are the only places of instruction to the largest portion of the community, and hence have been called the " colleges of the people."* About the year 1824 the legisla- ture of this state passed a common school law, authorizing the assessment of half a mill on the taxable value of property, for the purposes of common schools.
The common school system of Cincinnati was founded about 1830-'31, and has since been regularly gaining on the confidence and affections of the people. The schools now contain ordinarily about four thousand pupils and sixty teach- ers. The system here adopted may be described under the following heads.
1. Buildings .- There are ten school districts, in each of which it was intended there should be one building, making two for each of the five wards into which the city was then divided. The subdivision has since been increased to seven wards, and only nine of the school houses have been erected. More, however, will be built whenever the wants of the city require it. The buildings are constructed in a simple, neat, and convenient manner ; they are divided into four plain rooms each, in which there are one or two teachers, according to the number of pupils. The houses are built of brick, the end fronting the street, and surmounted with a handsome cupola. They are supplied with black-boards, maps, and the common conveniences of a school-room. These buildings contain, un- der the present organization, according to location, from three to five hundred pupils each. They have cost the city, includ- ing all their appurtenances, nearly $100,000.
2. School organization .- The school system of Cincinnati is very simple in its organization, and yet very easy to man- age and govern. It may be divided into three parts. 1. The board of appointment and fiscal management, called the board
* Vide Transactions of the College of Teachers for 1835, page 168. к 2
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of trustees. 2. The board of examination. 3. The corps of teachers. These are entirely separate bodies and perform separate duties, and, taken together, make up a harmonious and efficient body of school government for the thousands of youth committed to their charge. 1. The board of trustees are elected by the people at the annual municipal elections, two for each ward, and have charge exclusively of what may be termed the business arrangements of the schools. Their duties are to make the necessary appropriations of money ; to furnish, repair, and arrange the buildings ; to appoint teachers and make rules for their government, with all such powers as are incidental to the immediate government of the schools. 2. The board of examiners are appointed by the city council, are seven in number, and their duties are to examine the teachers, in respect to their qualifications, and their pupils, whenever it seems to them proper. Without their certificate no teacher can be appointed. To perform this duty with due regard to the various capacities of the teachers, the board of examiners have divided their certificates into three classes- the first is, that the applicant has superior qualifications as principal ; the second, that he is qualified to be a principal ; and the third, that he is qualified to be an assistant. These three classes of certificates are a sufficient division for the dif- ferent merits of those who are examined, and are found in practice greatly to stimulate the ambition of the teachers. The board of examiners have heretofore exercised great dis- crimination, in the performance of this part of their duties, and none have received their first class certificate who have not in fact been very superior teachers. 3. The corps of teachers .- This body is about sixty in number, and perform their duties of instruction and government, under and in con- formity to rules prescribed by the trustees ; so also the kinds and order of books taught in the schools are prescribed by the trustees. The number of teachers are about in proportion to the number of pupils, in actual attendance, as one to fifty. This is doubtless too large a number of scholars ; but in this
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stage of the school system it has been found impossible to af -· ford a larger proportion of instructors. The pay of teachers is yet too small, but will in time be, doubtless, increased. The male instructors are paid, according to rank, from $300 to $540 ; females from $180 to $300 per annum. The teach- ers have, as a corps, been remarkably attentive and faithful; and their services are constantly in demand for other districts which are about to found good schools. In some measure the schools of Cincinnati are, therefore, a step to promotion.
3. Course of instruction .- The course of instruction in schools embracing four thousand pupils, must, of course, pos- sess considerable variety, although confined to the elements of an English education. The teachers are themselves re- quired to pass an examination in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and grammar ; these of course constitute the basis of all the instruction given in the schools. Other studies, however, are pursued by those more advanced ; and the com- mon schools now afford an opportunity of acquiring quite an extended course of English instruction, embracing history, political science, algebra, geometry and natural philosophy.
The bible, without commentary, is used in all the schools as a reading book.
The aggregate disbursements of the last tuition year, were $20,797 21, which sum sufficed for the employment of sixty- four teachers, besides defraying various contingent expenses. Five thousand one hundred and twenty-one pupils were en- rolled during that period, a small proportion of whom have been-from time to time since-withdrawn. The age of the pupils ranges from six to sixteen, but not more than one tenth, perhaps, are over the age of twelve.
A division in this department is formed by the private schools of this city, some of which are made up of children who are too young to obtain admittance in the public schools, which exclude as pupils, all children under six years of age, or of those in whose case the parents prefer having them taught nearer home, or in smaller numbers, or in more select
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classes. Other private schools are of a high order of excel- lence and long standing, which enables them successfully to maintain a competition with our public schools, even under the admitted success and greater cheapness of the last. Many of the church societies of the place, also, especially the Ro- man catholic, the New Jerusalem temple society, and that of the Friends, as a settled principle, educate the children of their communion in their own schools.
The whole number of private schools in the city are forty- four, of which four are for the benefit of colored people.
II. The second class of schools is academies, or what are called classical schools. There are not, we believe, any in- corporated academies, simply for the purpose of classical instruction, in Cincinnati. It must be remarked, however, that in the western country, as yet very new, the colleges have been compelled to connect with them, as a part of their plan, schools, which in older countries would be called aca- demies, where pupils are directly preparing-chiefly in the classics-for a collegiate education. In addition to these semi-academies, all the private classical schools come under the general order of academies. Of these there are several in Cincinnati, where pupils, with those of the colleges here, probably make up the usual proportion of youth, who without being embraced in college classes, are pursuing classical and mathematical studies.
III. Colleges. Of literary institutions under this name, there are three so called, of which two are incorporated and confer degrees.
1. Cincinnati college. This is the oldest incorporated in- stitution of learning in Cincinnati, and in some respects has been the foundation of all the schools of the city. It was chartered at the legislative session of 1818-'19, and granted full university powers, with the exception that it should teach no sectarian doctrines.
Its funds were furnished, in a large amount, by private liberality ; a building was erected, and the institution went
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into operation as a regular college. Many persons, who have since been conspicuous members of society, here graduated ; but, from causes not clearly known, it languished, and became at length a mere Lancasterian school. In 1835-'6, however, the collegiate department was revived under the presidency of the Rev. W. H. McGuffy-now president of Ohio university- and has since received a large number of pupils. The Rev. T. J. BIGGS is now president, and the college contains one hundred and sixty pupils, of whom about one-fourth are in the college class.
This institution owns a valuable building and ground in the centre of the city ; and is now conducting a course of instruc- tion, as thorough in the great elements of learning, the clas- sics and mathematics, as any of the older colleges of the Union.
2. Woodward college. This also is a chartered institution, regularly empowered to confer degrees. The foundation of it, as well as that of the Cincinnati college, is honorable to the memory of the early settlers of the town. Mr. WILLIAM WOODWARD granted, in trust, a very valuable block of ground in the north of the city, to found a free grammar school. It has since been leased out, subject to revaluation, and must ul- timately yield a large revenue to the college.
It may here be proper to remark, that Mr. Woodward was one of the old settlers of the town, and that the ground he conveyed, as well as a large quantity around it, constituted his farm; and that till within fifteen years his tanyard, orchard, farm-house, and appurtenances, remained comparatively un- broken. Now the whole is traversed with streets mostly built up with comfortable and even elegant houses, a college founded and full of pupils, and a great busy population throng- ing around it.
The Woodward college is under the care of the Rev. Dr. AYDELOTT. Its pupils have recently been near two hundred in number, a very small portion of whom are college students ; the residue being in the preparatory department.
In two or three years the leases, from which the institution
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derives much of its revenue, will be revalued, and it is sup- posed the college will have a very large endowment.
The catholics of Cincinnati, under the care of bishop Pur- cell, have founded a college, now called St. Xavier college, for the instruction of youth. This institution is now presided over by the Rev. Mr. ELET, recently of the college at St. Louis. The pupils are now about one hundred in number; and con- nected with the institution is a large library containing about four or five thousand volumes.
St. Xavier college has yet no charter, but it is understood that one will be obtained shortly.
IV. University instruction. There is not at Cincinnati any one institution which, in its proper sense, is a university. All the ends of such an one may be obtained by the various colleges and schools, in successful operation.
1. Theology. There are three places of public instruction in theology, now established at Cincinnati. The Lane semi- mary is a presbyterian theological school, separately organized, and located at Walnut Hills, two miles from the heat and dust of the town. It is under the care of Professors BEECHER, STOWE, and ALLEN. It has now about sixty students. Con- nected with it is the largest library in the Miami country ; it consists of about ten thousand volumes of very select works, both of general literature and theology.
The St. Francis Xavier Theological Seminary belongs to the Roman catholic society. There are fifteen students in this institution, and three professors. Holy scripture, church history, doctrinal and moral theology, and canon law, are the chief objects of study. The episcopal residence ad- joins the seminary. It is also the residence of the pastors of the congregation, who are generally three in number.
The Western Baptist Education society has also establish- ed a theological seminary opposite Cincinnati, in the city of Covington. It is not yet in operation, but is very nearly rea- dy. A large and elegant four story building is nearly finish- ed, for the accommodation of students. The property pos-
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sessed by the Baptist board in Covington, is supposed suffi- cient, with the flourishing condition of Covington, to give the institution a most ample endowment.
2. Of Law. The Cincinnati law school has now been for several years established; it is connected with the Cincinnati college, and under the immediate instruction of TIMOTHY WAL- KER, Esq. The student has great advantages in the pursuit of legal studies at Cincinnati ; and when qualified, receives a regular degree of bachelor at law, from Cincinnati college.
3. Of Medicine. The medical college of Ohio is located in Cincinnati, and affords the usual advantages for the study of medicine, and confers the regular degree.
4. The Practical Arts. Regular classes are formed for drawing, the study of mathematics, and the hearing of lectures in the Mechanics' institute; a small library is attached to the institute, and some useful philosophical instruments.
We come now to a very important but neglected portion of human education-Female Schools. Of these there are sever- al in Cincinnati, under the care of competent teachers. There is no chartered female school in Cincinnati, but practically, we suppose, all the ordinary branches of female knowledge are well taught in the schools of Cincinnati.
A general summary of the state of education in Cincinnati, shows that there is no feature of a complete system wanting, however separated and independent the parts may be, by be- ing produced in different institutions. A university education comprises an elementary teaching of the professions, and of the arts and sciences. We have already seen that there is connected with Cincinnati, three theological schools, a law school, a medical school, and several colleges for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. The effect of these is not seeming- ly very great to the eye, because produced by independent in- stitutions, but is really great in the aggregate. At Paris and in the cities of Germany, we hear of magnificent universities and magnificent results, because the whole is drawn out and ex- hibited in one general system, and concentrated at one point;
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