USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Columbus, Ohio: its history, resources, and progress : with numerous illustrations > Part 3
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
the United States Circuit Court, against the owners of the best improved and most valuable lots in the disputed tract.
Mr. Starling, who had warranted the title to the purchasers of the lots, defended these suits. He engaged Henry Clay as his attorney, who was then practicing in the United States courts at Columbus. But Mr. Clay having been, in the spring of 1825, appointed Secretary of State under the administration of John Quincy Adams, could not attend to the cases. Mr. Star- ling next engaged Henry Baldwin, then of Pittsburg, by whom the defense was conducted with signal ability. Some time in 1826 a final decision was made in favor of the validity of Star- ling's title.
Scarcely had the dispute as to the title to Starling's half-section been quieted, when a claim was set up to Kerr and McLaugh- lin's half-section. They had purchased from one Strowbridge. The claim was founded on an alleged defect in Strowbridge's deed, which was executed, not by the grantor in person, but by an agent or attorney in fact, who stated in the conveyance that he signed and sealed it for Strowbridge, instead of saying that Strowbridge had executed it by him, the agent. It was con- tended that the deed was not Strowbridge's, but that of the agent, who claimed no title. Some one having obtained a quit- claim deed from Strowbridge's heirs, brought suits in ejectment against the occupants of the most valuable lots in the Kerr and Mclaughlin tract. But this proceeding was checkmated by a suit in chancery to quiet the title, entered in 1827. The title of Kerr and Mclaughlin was held to be valid,-and thus ended all disputes as to the titles of the original proprietors and founders of Columbus.
THE FOUR PROPRIETORS.
Having thus seen how claims set up against proprietary titles of lands in Columbus came to naught, it is in place here to note briefly the final outcome of the business and lives of the four original proprietors of a little town struggling into life out of the depths of a dense forest, now a thriving city, and the prosperous capital of a great state.
John Kerr left a young family and a large fortune at his death in 1823; but the estate was soon dissipated after his decease.
27
IIISTORY, 1822 TO 1832.
Alexander McLaughlin, who had taken rank as one of the wealthiest men in the State, failed in business in 1820, and never afterward retrieved his fallen fortune. He supported himself in later life by teaching a common country school. Though a man of good sense, with a fine business education and qualifications, he had entered so deeply into speculation that the depreciation of real estate, occurring about 1820, rendered him totally unable to meet the obligations he had incurred, and his large landed estate was sacrificed under the hammer. He died in 1832.
James Johnston failed in business about the same time and from the same cause as did Mclaughlin. He left Columbus in 1820, and resided in Pittsburg the residue of his life. He died in the summer of 1842, at a very advanced age.
Lyne Starling survived the other three proprietors by several years, and was the wealthiest of them all. Having in 1819 and 1820 made a pleasure tour through Europe, he spent the remain- der of his days chiefly in Columbus. He was never married. He died in the fall of 1848, at the age of sixty-five. About six years before his deccase he donated thirty-five thousand dollars for the founding of a medical college in Columbus. Upon this basis an institution has been founded, which bears the name of Starling Medical College, in honor of its principal donor.
EARLY MANUFACTURES.
Though Columbus is now rapidly becoming a prosperous manufacturing center, its early efforts in that direction, either from want of the requisite capital or skill, or of both, were not very encouraging. But persistence has never been wanting in those of our citizens whose thoughts have been turned toward making manufacturing industry profitable. Now we are begin- ning to see in fair prospect the realization of their most sanguine hopes.
We have mentioned in Chapter I the erection of the first mill (a saw-mill) in Columbus, by John Shields and Richard Court- ney, in 1813, and the erection, three years afterward, of a flour- ing mill, by Mr. Shields. The first mill was regarded as good property, but after passing through several hands in a few years, it was suffered to go to decay and ruin. To the flouring
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
mill the water was brought from the east side of High street, in a race along the bank, falling upon an overshot wheel. This mill was in operation a dozen years or more, and was owned by a succession of individuals. It then went to destruction, and left " not a wreck behind." Along the hollow or valley of the run, in the south-west part of the town, there arose in succession, during the early period of our city's history, breweries.
In 1819, Moses Jewett, Caleb Hinston, and John E. Parker built on the bank of the Scioto, just above the western terminus of Rich street, a patent saw-mill. The saw was circular, and was to cut steadily ahead, with no back strokes. The experi- ment was a costly one, and the experience dearly bought, with no valuable results.
Two years afterward, Colonel Jewett and Judge Hines under- took to manufacture cotton yarn by horse-power, in a frame building on Front street, between Rich and Friend streets. After some time spent in experimenting with that, and with the circular saw in the mill, the spinning machinery was removed into the mill, where the manufacture of yarn by water-power was continued for some years. The enterprise was finally aban- doned ; and the frame on Front street, long known as the " Old Factory," where the cotton spinning was first begun, vanished, many years ago, from sight, and almost from memory.
About the time the cotton-spinning was in operation, Judge Hines, who had invented a machine for dressing flax without the process of retting, constructed and put in operation, in con- nection with William Bain, a machine for that purpose, at the southeast corner of High street and South Public Lane. It had a tread-wheel propelled by horse-power. Having, after some time passed into the hands of Lafayette Tibbetts, it was continued in operation for a year or more after its construction, or till some time in 1824, when Tibbetts failed, and the enter- prise was abandoned.
In 1832, a woolen factory, for carding, spinning, and weaving, was erected by Ebenezer Thomas and others, on a lot now on the corner of High and Noble streets. It was operated by horse-power on a tread-wheel. It was not profitable, having been experimented upon by several different owners. The
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HISTORY, 1822 To 1832.
building and machinery were removed in 1834, by George Jef- fries, and reconstructed on the west abutment of the canal dam. Here the factory was operated for two or three years by water power. The machinery was then sold by piecemeal under the hammer,-and so ended this manufacturing establishment.
John McElvain, in 1831 or 1832, built a steam saw-mill at the head of the canal, where Hunter's warehouse afterward stood. Different persons had it under control for seven or eight years. It was probably not very profitable, as at the end of that time, the engine and machinery were sold, and a warehouse erected on the same site, the mill frame being used for part of the ware- house. The latter was consumed by fire in 1843, but was after- ward rebuilt.
The first successful manufacturing establishment, besides or- dinary mechanic shops, was the foundry and plow manufactory of Joseph Ridgeway, put in operation in 1822.
UNITED STATES COURT-HOUSE.
A United States court-house was erected in Columbus, in 1820. It was built on the Public Square, in a line with the first state house and state offices, and fifty or sixty feet north of the latter. It was a plain brick building, with a rough stone foundation, and two stories high. It was forty-five or fifty feet square : the roof rose from the four sides to a circular dome in the center. In front, there was a large entrance hall, and from this a broad winding stairway to the second story, whence was afforded a fine view of High street, There was a hall through the center of the lower floor, with two rooms on each side, to serve as offices for the clerk and marshal of the United States courts, and for jury-rooms. In the second story was the court-room and a jury- room.
The building was erected in part through an appropriation by the legislature of uncurrent funds of the Miami Exporting Com- pany, then in the state treasury ; but the greater portion of the cost was borne by the citizens of Columbus, who raised the money by subscription, in order to have the United States courts removed from Chillicothe to the state capital. In spite of great and determined opposition, they finally succeeded, and the United
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
States courts were removed to Columbus, in 1821, and continued to be held here until 1855, when the state having been divided into two districts, the courts were removed to Cincinnati. Soon after this removal, the court-house was taken down.
The following is a list of the clerks and marshals of the United States courts while they were held in Columbus :
At the time of their removal from Chillicothe, Harvey D. Evans was clerk, and Dr. John Hamm, of Zanesville, was mar- shal. Evans dying in July, 1825, William K. Bond, then of Chillicothe, succeeded to the clerkship. In 1829 or 1830, Bond was succeeded by William Miner, who filled the office at the time of the removal of the courts from Columbus, and for some years afterward. After Dr. Hamm, the following were marshals in succession : William Doherty; General John Patterson, of Jef- ferson county ; John Patterson, of Adams ; Demas Adams; John McElwin; D. B. Robertson, of Fairfield county ; G. W. Jones, of Knox county ; and H. H. Robinson, of Cincinnati.
REMOVAL OF COUNTY-SEAT.
As Columbus grew, Franklinton, the first county-seat of Franklin county, went into a decline. During the second war with Great Britain, from 1812 to 1815, Franklinton, being the headquarters of the northwestern army, was at the zenith of its prosperity. After the conclusion of peace, it gradually ceased to be a place of much business or importance, but still remained the county-seat.
In 1824, Columbus became the county-seat, and the county courts were held in the United States court-house, until 1840, when the present county court-house was finished.
The court of common pleas, at the time of its removal to Columbus, was composed of Gustavus Swan, president judge, and Edward Livingston, Samuel G. Flenniken and Arora But- tles, associate judge ; A. J. McDowell, clerk, and Robert Broth- erton, sheriff.
In 1828 or 1829, a long one-story brick building was erected in the rear of the United States court-house, for county offices. It was divided into four apartments, with an outside entrance-
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HISTORY, 1822 TO 1832.
door to each. The clerk of the courts oceupicd the north room ; the county recorder, the next room on the south ; the county treasurer, the next room beyond; and the county auditor, the fourth or south room. The county offices were kept in these rooms from the time the building was ready for their occupation, until the summer of 1840, when they were removed to the pres- ent court-house, at the corner of Mound and High streets.
The county building, on the state-house square, was removed in the spring of 1857, when the square was graded.
GRAND SQUIRREL HUNT.
As in all new settlements, so in this, in the center of Ohio, hunting and fishing were favorite amusements. Fish and game being abundant, there was both pleasure and profit in the pur- suit. The seine was sometimes used in fishing, but oftener a brush-drag, requiring a dozen or twenty men to manage it. There was a twofold objeet in hunting-one to obtain fresh game for the table, and the other to protect the erops from the rav- ages of birds and other wild animals. It was this latter ob- jeet, doubtless, that led to the celebrated squirrel hunt on the last day of August, 1822, for which a eall was published in the Columbus Gazette, of August 29th. The eall was signed by the following prominent pioneers : Ralph Osborne, Gustavus Swan, Christian Heyl, Lueas Sullivant, Samuel Flenniken, and John A. McDowell. It nominated and invested two persons in cach of the seventeen townships, into which the county was then di- vided, " to meet in a hunting caucus," at the house of Christian Heyl, in Columbus, at 2 o'clock P. M., on Saturday, August 31st.
The squirrel hunt, contemplated in the call, we are informed, in a subsequent number of the Gazette, took place at the time appointed.
After the hunt was over, nineteeen thousand six hundred and sixty squirrel scalps were produced. The Gazette added, that it was impossible to state the number actually killed, as a great many hunters had not come in.
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
CANAL CELEBRATIONS.
On the 4th of July, 1825, the commencement of the Ohio Canal was celebrated at Licking Summit. Governor DeWitt Clinton, of New York, was present, accompanied by Solomon Van Rens- salaer, and Messrs. Rathbone and Lord, who made the first loan to Ohio for canal purposes.
Governor Clinton, on the Wednesday following, was escorted to Columbus, by General Warner and suite, Colonel P. H. Olm- sted's squadron of cavalry, Captain Hurzel's light infantry, Captain Andrew McElvain's rifle corps, and Captain O'Harra's artillery.
In the state-house, in the presence of a large number of citi- zens, Governor Clinton was welcomed by Governor Morrow to Ohio's fertile and productive lands, and to its young and grow- ing capital. Governor Clinton, in his response, culogized our state and its canal enterprise, closing with this remarkable but over-sanguine prediction :
" In five years," said Governor Clinton, " it (the canal) may, and probably will be completed, and I am clearly of the opin- ion that, in ten years after the consummation of this work, it will produce an annual revenue of at least half a million of dol- lars ; and I hope this remark may be noted, if anything I may say shall be deemed worthy of particular notice, in order that its accuracy may be tested by experience."
Governor Clinton, after the ceremonies at the state-house, was escorted to Mr. Robinson's tavern, sign of the Golden Bell, on the west side of High street, between State and Town streets, where a sumptuous dinner was provided.
The citizens of Columbus and Franklin county had another annual celebration, which came closer home to their feelings and interests. It took place on the 27th of April, 1827, when the first spade was struck into the ground for the excavation of a lateral branch of the Ohio Canal to and from the state capital. On that day nearly a thousand people assembled at the state- house. At two o'clock in the afternoon, a procession, preceded by General Warner and his suite, part of Captain Joseph McEl- vain's company of dragoons, Captain Foos' company of rifle-
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HISTORY, 1822 TO 1832.
men, Captain A. McElvain's company of riflemen, the Columbus Artillery, and state officers, and marshaled by Colonels McDowell and McElvain, marched to a place designated, near the present entrance of the lateral branch into the Scioto river. A brief but pertinent address was delivered by Joseph R. Swan. General McLane, Secretary of State, and Nathaniel McLean, keeper of the penitentiary, then removed the first earth taken up for the opening of the branch canal. which was wheeled away by R. Osborn and H. Brown, Auditor and Treasurer of State, amid the cheers and shouts of the enthusiastic assemblage.
The company then withdrew and partook of a cold collation prepared by C. Heyl, on the brow of the hill, a short distance from the old penitentiary grounds. Among the toasts were the following:
" THE OHIO CANAL-The great artery which will carry vital- ity to the extremities of the Union."
" THE CITIZENS OF COLUMBUS-Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Who en- vies this day, let him slink back to his cavern and growl."
It took over four years to complete the branch canal. It was on the 23d of September, 1831, that the first boat arrived at Co- lumbus by way of the canal. At eight o'clock in the evening of that day, the firing of cannon announced the arrival of the " Gov- ernor Brown," launched at Circleville' a few days previous. It was neatly fitted up, and had on board as passengers many prominent citizens of Pickaway county. Early next morning, Columbus ladies and gentlemen repaired to the boat to pay their respects to the visitors. A brief and appropriate address was made by General Flournoy. After the exchange of friendly salutations and cordial greetings, the excursionists proceeded on their return to Circleville, accompanied part of the way by citi- zens of Columbus and the Columbus band of music.
On the afternoon of the second day after this event, two canal- boats, the "Cincinnati " and. the " Red Rover," from the lake by way of Newark, entered the lock at the mouth of the Columbus feeder. Here they were boarded by a committee from Colum- bus, and proceeded up the branch canal, under a national salute
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
of twenty-four guns, and music by the Columbus band, to a point just below the Columbus and Franklinton National Road bridge.
Colonel Doherty, in a very neat address, welcomed the com- manders of the two boats in the name of the citizens of Colum- bus. A procession was formed, and proceeding to Ridgway's large warehouse, the company partook of a fine repast prepared by John Young. On the day after their arrival, the two boats, having disposed of their freight, took their departure for Cleve- land, in the same order and with about the same ceremonies as were observed on their arrival. A large number of ladies and gentlemen, with the Columbus band, accompanied their welcome and now departing visitors as far as the five-mile lock. Here they boarded the " Chillicothe " and " George Baker," going up to Columbus, and " returned home, highly delighted with their ride at the rate of three or four miles an hour !"
LOOKING UP.
From 1820 to 1825 was a period of great depression for the young capital of Ohio. The prices of real estate had greatly depreciated and business of all kinds was almost at a stand-still. But after that crisis was passed, business revived, immigrants sought permanent homes in the new capital; new buildings, some of them large and expensive, were erected; trade began to flourish, and real estate wås rising in value at railroad speed. The census of 1830 recorded for Columbus a population of 2,437, being an increase in ten years of 987, or at the rate of seventy- five per centum. At the close of the second decade in our city's history, its area had been extended by several large additions to the original town plat, and its future growth and prosperity had become well assured
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HISTORY, 1822 To 1832.
1131775
RICHES
3
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Located on the Northeast corner of South and Fourth Streets. GERMAN CENTRAL SCHOOL BUILDING,
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
CHAPTER III.
. THIRD DECADE, 1832 TO 1842.
THE ASIATIC CHOLERA.
IT was in the summer of 1833 that this terrible scourge made its first appearance in Columbus. It broke out in the early part of that summer on the canal, in Madison township, but its rav- ages were confined to a small space. On the 14th of July it ap- peared in Columbus, and continued to rage until the following October. Its first victim was a man by the name of Stagg, . residing at the west end of Rich street, opposite the buildings known as the "Jewett block." Probably the whole population of Columbus did not at that time much exceed three thousand. Of these it was estimated that one-third had fled to the country. Yet during the prevalence of the fatal epidemic, two hundred persons died in the city. There were also fevers and other dis- eases prevailing at the same time, and so interwoven with each other and with the cholera, that it was often difficult, if not im- possible, to determine with certainty the disease chiefly instru- mental in causing the death of the patient. Careful observations made at the time attributed two-thirds of the deaths to cholera, though the board of health discriminated only one hundred as being due to cholera proper. The sickness of this season pro- duced greater mortality and terror in Columbus than any pesti- lence before or since.
CRUSADE AGAINST COLUMBUS.
On the 26th of January, 1838, the legislature passed an act for the erection of a new state-house in the Public Square at Co- lumbus. The corner-stone of the new building was laid on the 4th of July, 1839, and during that season the foundation of the new building was laid to a level with the surface of the ground. The next winter the progress of the work was arrested by one of those singular freaks that large and select bodies of men sometimes cut.
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HISTORY, 1832 TO 1842.
There had been for some time more or less ill-feeling, on the part of other towns in the central portion of the State, toward Columbus as the capital. She was accused of putting on metro- politan airs. An incident occurred in the legislative session of 1839-40 that served to kindle this comparatively latent spark of envy into a flame. There was an investigation by the legisla- ture of certain charges against William B. Lloyd, a member from Cuyahoga county. After the investigation, a paper signed by sixty-three citizens of Columbus, principally young men, ex- pressing undiminished confidence in Mr. Lloyd's integrity, ap- peared in the Columbus State Journal of February 17, with the signers' names attached. Many members of the legislature who had voted to censure Lloyd took umbrage at this publication. They denounced it as an unwarrantable intermeddling of the citizens of Columbus with the proceedings of the general as- sembly. While the excitement was still effervescing, George B. Flood, representative from Licking county, on the day follow- ing the obnoxious publication, introduced into the House a bill repealing the act for the erection of a new state-house, It finally passed both branches of the legislature, and became a law on the 10th of March. By this action, the work on the new state-house was suspended for more than six years.
After the passage of the repealing act, the subject of removing the seat of the state government from Columbus was more earnestly agitated than before. Every conceivable objection was urged against the permanent location of the capital on the banks of the Scioto. The site was said to be the most unhealthy one that could have been selected in the whole State. Besides, it was urged by some that the capital should be nearer the center than Columbus was. For about three years the question of removal was discussed, when, at the session of the legislature in 1842-43, the subject was referred to a committee, who made elaborate majority and mi- nority reports. The majority took the ground that the general assembly could not pass an act for the removal of the seat of government from the location established by a former act, with- out a violation of the faith of the State. The two reports were principally confined to the discussion of this proposition.
The minority report recommended the adoption of joint resolu-
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
tions, requesting the governor to issue his proclamation, setting forth that the time had arrived for the permanent establishment of the seat of government, and inviting proposals for its location. These resolutions were adopted by the Senate, on the 6th of March, 1843, by a vote of eighteen to sixteen, but were, the next day, defeated in the House, by a vote of thirty-six to twenty-nine. This seems to have put a final quietus to the agi- tation about removing the state capital from Columbus.
FIRST BRIDGE OVER THE SCIOTO.
Lucas Sullivant, under a charter from the legislature for that purpose, in 1815 or 1816, built a toll-bridge across the Scioto river, on the road from Columbus to Franklinton. The location was sim- ilar to that of the present bridge, save that starting at nearly the same point on the east side of the river, it stretched more directly across it, and reached the west side several rods lower down the river. A new road was opened to Franklinton, and passed through the town a square further south than the road had pre- viously done, or the present road now does. This caused some dissatisfaction to property owners. After the lapse of seven or eight years, the timbers having decayed, the bridge fell. It was immediately reconstructed, and the location of the new bridge was the same as that of the present National Road bridge. The old road to and through Franklinton was also restored.
The franchise of this toll-bridge fell to the share of Joseph Sullivant, in the distribution of the estate of his father, Lucas Sullivant. The superintendent of the National Road, during the progress of its construction to and through Columbus, in the years 1832 and 1833, proposed to erect a substantial, free bridge, over the Scioto, at the expense of the general government, for the use of the National Road, provided that the franchise or right of Joseph Sullivant to keep up a toll-bridge across the river should be relinquished. Citizens of Columbus, chiefly re- siding in the northern part of the city, went to work energeti- cally, and, by the aid of a few donations from the west side of the river, raised, by contributions, eight thousand dollars. This was increased, by an appropriation from the county treas ury, to ten thousand dollars. This sum was paid to Mr. Sulli-
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