USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Columbus, Ohio: its history, resources, and progress : with numerous illustrations > Part 6
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Notice was given that the Senate chamber would be open from two to five o'clock, to afford the citizens an opportunity to pay their mournful tribute of respect to the ashes of the dead. Thousands of all classes and conditions gladly availed them-
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
selves of the opportunity. At five o'clock the doors were closed, and the silence of the chamber was broken only by the tread of the guard on duty.
At nine o'clock on Monday, March 9, a procession was formed, and with solemn music by the band from Cincinnati, and Good- man's brass band, with the tolling of bells and other appropriate tokens of sorrow, proceeded to the depot in the following order :
Chief marshal, Lucien Buttles ; assistant marshals, Richard Nevins, H. M. Neil, Walter C. Brown.
Cincinnati band ; State Fencibles, Captain Reamy ; Columbus Cadets, Captain Tyler ; American flag.
PALL BEARERS.
Medical Profession.
Dr. W. M. Awl,
Dr. R. Thompson,
Dr. S. Parsons,
Dr. R. Patterson,
Dr. S. M. Smith,
Dr. John Dawson.
HEARSE.
PALL BEARERS. Masons.
W. B. Hubbard, P. G. M.
W. B. Thrall, P. G. M. N. H. Swayne, M. M. G. Swan, P. G. O.
Dr. L. Goodale, P. G. T. D. T. Woodbury, M. M.
Lieutenant Morton, of the Kane expedition ; committee to ac- company the remains to Wheeling; Cincinnati committee of arrangements ; Columbus committee of arrangements ; relatives of the deceased, in carriages ; reverend clergy ; Goodman's band ; Grand Lodge of the Masonic fraternity of the State of Ohio; governor of Ohio and staff; heads of departments and other State officers; the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives ; medical profession ; Columbus city council ; firemen ; judges and officers of court ; citizens generally.
A portion of the joint committee accompanied the remains to Baltimore, where, with an appropriate address by Dr. S. M. Smith, of Columbus, they were delivered to the committee ap- pointed in that city to attend to their reception.
THIRD BALLOON ASCENSION.
The third balloon ascension from Columbus took place on the 29th of October, 1857, in pursuance of an engagement made by John M. Kinney with M. Godard, a celebrated French aeronaut, to come from Philadelphia, and make an ascension on horseback.
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HISTORY, 1852 TO 1862.
The ascension on the 29th of October was intended merely as preliminary to the horseback ascension, which was to come off two days afterward, but which, owing to the difficulties in ob- taining the requisite supply of gas, did not come off at all. But the preliminary ascension succeeded admirably. It was made from the Capital City Fair Grounds, as Mr. Kinney called his inclosure, located near and southeastwardly from the old lunatic asylum. M. Godard was accompanied in the ascent by his brother, and P. W. Huntington and Robert H. Thompson, of this city. Three of the company occupied the car, while one of the Godards hung suspended by a rope fifteen or twenty feet below the car, with his head downward, waving a flag as he glided swifty through the empyrean. The party landed with- out accident and in safety, near Taylor's station, on the Central Railroad, nine or ten miles east of the city.
BALTIMORE
AND
OHIO. R.R.
GENERAL OFFICES.
'BALTIMORE & OHIO, R.R.CO'S GENERAL. OFFICES
GROCERIES
ICE
THE PARKER BUILDING,
located on the northwest corner of High and Spring strects- erccted by Messrs. Parker, Burton & Atchison in 1872-is a fine
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
substantial brick block, with iron caps and neat cornice. It con- tains about 600,000 brick.
The business rooms in the first story are occupied as follows : The south corner room, 21 by 100 feet, by O. G. Peters & Co., as a family grocery ; the middle room, by Hanes & Read, as a boot and shoe store; and the north corner room by John Fisher, as a stove and tin store.
The second story is occupied by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road Company for offices ; and the third story is appropriated to offices and lodging-rooms.
The block is known by the name of the Parker Block, in honor of its go-ahead and enterprising builder, who has recently made our city his home, having formerly resided in the neigh- boring town of Delaware. During his year's residence among us, he has built about thirty houses, varying in size and style of architecture. Mr. Parker belongs to the class of men the city needs to give it the prominence it deserves and can easily attain. The Parker building is one of the finest blocks that beautify our city.
EXECUTION OF MYERS.
In the penitentiary, on the 27th of May, 1858, Albert Myers, for no apparent cause, killed Bartlett Neville, a fellow convict, with an ax. At the ensuing June term of the Court of Common Pleas, Myers was tried and found guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced by Judge Bates to be hung on the 3d of September following. As the plea of insanity had been set up for him on bis trial, and as his strange behavior in jail led many intelligent and humane persons to suspect that the plea might be well founded, Governor Chase was induced to grant Myers a . reprieve till December 17. On that day he was executed, in pursuance of his sentence, by Sheriff Silas W. Park.
Probably, no criminal was ever executed in this or any other county in the State, who exhibited such stolid indifference to his fate as did this man Myers. He seemed even to covet his doom. His conduct and language appeared to justify the opinion that he had committed the murder to escape confinement in the
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HISTORY, 1852 TO 1862.
penitentiary, even at the risk of the gallows; and that he dreaded nothing so much as a commutation of his sentence into imprisonment for life. A post-mortem examination disclosed the fact that he had a large, and apparently a perfectly healthy brain.
OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR.
The thrill that pervaded the country on the announcement in April, 1861, that Fort Sumter had surrendered to the rebel forces, and the immediate calls for men and the voluntary rush to arms in Ohio and other Northern States, belong to the general history of the period. It is our province to note only some of the prominent events of a strictly local character.
An immense meeting was held at Armory Hall, on North High street, on the evening of April 17, 1861. Judge Joseph R. Swan was made president, and a large number of prominent citizens vice-presidents. After patriotic speeches by Judges Swan, Warden, and Rankin, Samuel Galloway, Judge W. R. Rankin, and L. J. Critchfield were appointed a committee on resolutions and retired for consultation. Animated addresses were made by General Joseph H. Geiger and Samuel Galloway, when the committee reported resolutions, which were unani- mously adopted.
The resolutions set forth, in substance, that it was the duty of the citizens of Ohio, ignoring past political differences, to yield a hearty and prompt support to the national government in its efforts to put down treason and rebellion; that to accomplish this end, no necessary sacrifice of men or money could be too great; that if need be, the members of the meeting would pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to aid the government in its efforts to maintain the constitution, enforce the laws, and restore the Union to its original integrity, and that the meeting pointed with just pride to our own citizen-soldiers who had so promptly and patriotically tendered their services to the government.
The meeting closed with speeches from Mr. Schleigh, of Lan- caster ; T. A. Plants, of the Ohio House of Representatives, and State Senator Garfield.
Troops now began to arrive rapidly in the city for rendez-
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vous, equipment, and organization. Goodale Park was con- verted into a military camp called Camp Jackson, for the rendezvous of all the Ohio troops north of Hamilton county, and south of the Reserve. In the camp all the rules of military discipline were rigidly enforced, so far as that could be done with such raw and undisciplined recruits. The officers' quarters were in the keeper's house, near the entrance gate; white tents were pitched in the center of the park; large wooden buildings were hastily erected for lodging and dining-rooms ; wagons were continually going and coming ; volunteers constantly arriving, and all the parade and clamor of camp life might be seen and heard in that so lately peaceful and quiet retreat.
The First and Second regiments of Ohio Volunteer Infantry left Camp Jackson for Washington City, on Friday morning, April 19th. In the Second regiment were two Columbus com- panies-the Vedettes, Captain Thrall; and the Fencibles, Captain J. H. Riley. On the same day, Lieutenant H. Z. Mills was, by request, relieved of the command of Camp Jackson, which was assumed by Colonel E. A. King, of Dayton.
The Third regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry was formed at Camp Jackson, April 24th, in which were the following Columbus companies : A, Governor's Guards, Captain I. H. Morrow; B, Governor's Guards, Captain Wing; Columbus Steuben Guards, Captain Schneider; Montgomery Guards, Captain O. Turney. Subsequently Captain Morrow was elected Colonel of the Third regiment, five companies of which, includ. ing companies A and B, Governor's Guards, left Camp Jackson on the 29th of April, for Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati. The Montgomery Guards left a day or two afterward, and the Steuben Guards on the 8th of May, for the same destination.
At a special meeting of the city council, held on the evening of April 27th. an ordinance was unanimously passed appropri- ating twenty thousand dollars for the relief of the families of volunteers, residents of the city ; the money to be drawn only upon the order of the relief committee, which consisted of Messrs. L. L. Smith, A. B. Buttles, A. O. Blair, Isaac Eberly, and J. H. Stauring.
In the official list, published on the 6th of May, 1861, of the
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HISTORY, 1852 TO 1862.
surgeons and surgeons' mates, appointed to the thirteen Ohio regiments called into the service on the President's first requi- sition, we find the names of the following resident physicians of Columbus: Dr. W. L. McMillen, Surgeon to the First regiment; Dr. Starling Loving, Surgeon to the Sixth regiment; Dr. C. E. Boyle, Surgeon to the Tenth, and subsequently to the Ninth regiment ; and Dr. H. Z. Gill, surgeon's mate to the Eleventh regiment. Subsequently, when the nine additional Ohio regi- ments began to be organized, Dr. W. H. Denig was appointed surgeon's mate to the Fifteenth, and Dr. C. E. Denig to the Six- teenth regiment.
Captain C. C. Walcutt's Columbus company, which had been recruiting for some weeks at Camp Jackson, was reported, on the 21st of May, as assigned to the Twenty-third regiment, on an enlistment for three years.
Good ale Park, which had been used for a military camp from the first mustering of troops, began, about the first of June, to be gradually thinned of soldiers, or recruits, and was at length altogether abandoned as a camp. In the meantime, a new camp on a more extensive scale was organized on the National Road, four or five miles west of the city. The new camp was at first also called Camp Jackson, but the name was soon afterward changed to Camp Chase, in honor of Salmon P. Chase, Ex-Gov- ernor of Ohio, and then Secretary of the United States Treasury. It was ultimately turned over to the United States authorities.
Camp Chase soon assumed the appearance of a military city. It was regularly laid out in squares and streets, with numerous wooden structures and white canvas tents. Each regiment or other organization had its special quarters assigned. From a camp for the rendezvous, organization, and drill of troops, it be- came, as the war progressed, the quarters for paroled prisoners of war, and the site of a huge prison for the confinement of rebel prisoners. The camp lasted as long as the war lasted.
Subsequently, Camp Thomas was established cast of the Worthington plank-road, three or four miles north of the city. It was at first used as the rendezvous of Colonel H. B. Carring- ton's regiment, Eighteenth United States Infantry, but soon became a camp for general war purposes.
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
To give an account of the officers and men furnished by Columbus, and of their behavior and fortune in camp and field ; and to trace our city's connection with the war through its camps, prisons, and the bounties and encouragement afforded to volunteers, would require a larger volume than the present, de- votedly exclusively to these topics.
RETROSPECT.
The national census of 1860 showed that Columbus had made but slight increase in population during the preceding ten years, less than in any other equal period in its history. Various causes contributed to this result. There was a remarkable de- crease in the number of marriages in our city and county dur- ing four years of the decade from 1852 to 1862. The number of marriage licenses issued by the Probate Court of Franklin county in 1853 was 670; in 1834, 574; in 1855, 553; and in 1856, 516; showing an annual marriage decrease of seven and a quarter per cent., and a total decrease of twenty-nine and a third per cent.
The natural increase by births, and the increase by immi- gration, was nearly, and in some years quite overbalanced by the emigration westward from the city and county. A perfect fever for settlement and speculation in the West seized upon our young men, and even upon men of mature age and experience in practical business life. Mechanics from the city and farmers from the country wended their way westward. Our streets were often lined with wagons, and filled with horses and cattle, on the road for Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska. This was but the temporary reaction or effect of the spirit of speculation with which the decade had been preceded and opened. Many of the western emigrants, in a few years, re- turned to their old homes in Columbus and Franklin county ; and many more would have gladly returned, if it had been in their power.
It was merely a temporary check that was given to the city's increase in population. It had a salutary effect. It served to prove to our people that we have at home a richer field for in- dustry and enterprise than can be found elsewhere, and thus
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HISTORY, 1862 to 1872.
prepared the way for the rapid strides the city is now making to- ward future greatness and prosperity.
During this fifth decade, in all respects, save as to a large in- crease in population, Columbus was progressive; real property in the city steadily advanced in value, and the amount of wealth and available capital was as steadily augmented. As soon as the immigration fever, which was at its height about 1857, and the financial havoc occurring about the same time, had subsided, business revived. In 1859, numerous new and substantial buildings were erected or in progress ; our manufacturing es- tablishments began to increase in number and enlarge the sphere of their operations.
Public improvement went hand in hand with private enter- prise ; our principal streets and leading thoroughfares began to assume that character of evenly-graded, well-paved, and spacious avenues which makes them the admiration of visitors. On Broad street, for instance, had been set out four rows of trees, which now give it the appearance of a long and beauti- ful grove, through which is a rounded roadway in the center, forty-three feet wide; a carriage-way on each side, twenty feet wide; and neatly paved sidewalks-making the street a hand- some avenue, one hundred and twenty fect wide.
The ferment that preceded and followed the breaking out of the civil war in the spring of 1861, aroused not only the pa- triotism, but the enterprise of our citizens. Many who had be- fore been languid and listless, now felt the pleasure and inspira- tion of a fresh and novel excitement. Though many of our young and active business men were taken away from the city and marched off to the camp or to the field of bloody strife, from which some of them never returned, yet the war brought, along with its evils, its compensations also.
Columbus and its immediate vicinity became a center for the rendezvous of large bodies of troops, for military stations and camps, where soldiers were drilled, clothed, equipped, and sent to the field; where hospitals and soldiers' homes were es- tablished ; where paroled prisoners awaited their release, and where rebel prisoners were kept in durance. These things, with the incidents naturally attending them, gave an impulse to
1
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
manufactures, trade, and business in general; sometimes fitful and transient, it is true, but, on the whole, tending to develop our resources, to demonstrate the capabilities within and around our community, and to establish the more important business enterprises upon a solid basis, giving us assurance of certain and rapid progress in the future.
CHAPTER VI.
SIXTH DECADE, 1862 to 1872.
Near the close of our last chapter, we briefly sketched the opening of the war drama as it affected Columbus, and briefly alluded to the general effect of the war upon our business and prospects. While leaving the detail of military events to the general historian, we propose to notice a few true incidents connected with the war. Some of the most interesting of these incidents grew out of an organization called
THE LADIES SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY.
The Ladies Soldiers' Aid Society of Columbus, as auxiliary to the National Sanitary Commission at Washington, made its first annual report for the year ending October 21, 1862. The operations of the institution had been successful. The cutting- room had been open every day in the year, and the committees appointed to cut and supervise work had been present to give out work and receive donations. Wednesday of each week had been set apart for a general meeting in the main building, to which ladies generally were invited. There, with sewing machines and concerted action, much good had been done.
The society had thirty-six auxiliaries connected with it. From these, and from individuals, it had received large donations. The report gives a long list of articles of clothing, as well as of hospital stores, sent away for the use of destitute, sick, and wounded soldiers.
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HISTORY, 1862 TO 1872.
An exhibition of elegant tableaux vivants was presented, under the auspices of the society, at the hall of the High School building, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, February 3 and 5, 1863. It was spoken of in the papers of the day as one of the most beautiful and wonderful displays of the kind ever made.
The society held a second grand bazaar on Thursday and Fri- day evenings, February 12 and 13, 1863, at Ambos Hall. The ornamental and patriotic displays were beautiful and attractive. In the center of the hall stood an aquarium; at. the east end was a bouquet stand; on the north side were four booths, repre- senting the four seasons of the year; and at the west end was the refreshment stand, decorated with flowers and evergreens. The American eagle perched on the top of an arch above the bouquet stand bore the motto of " Honor to the Brave," in large, bright letters. The hall was filled with people on both evenings.
A grand bazaar was held at Naughton's Hall, on the evenings the 24th, 25th, and 28th of April, 1863, with crowded assemblies on each evening, for the benefit of the Aid Society. It was a splendid exhibition of taste and skill. The hall was beautifully decorated and elegantly draped. Handsome booths, with fair ladies for saleswomen, were filled with articles of fine materials and exquisite workmanship. Tableaux vivants, representing thrilling scenes in private life and in history, contributed to en- rich the entertainment. Music by a military band added to the effect. The lady treasurer of the society reported the net pro- ceeds of the bazaar at $1,216.40.
A bazaar, on a grander scale than any previously given, was held for the benefit of the Aid Society, commencing at the Athenæum (State Street Theater), on Tuesday, November 15, 1863, and continuing through the remainder of the week. The parquet of the Athenæum having been boarded over, booths were erected in a circle around it. These contained an almost infinite variety of articles for sale, and were presided over by ladies ar- rayed in costume representing various creeds and nationalities, in habiliments sometimes neat and elegant, but oftener gro- tesque and outlandish. A post-office was opened, and visitors notified that unpaid letters were awaiting their order. Of course, the rates of postage were as high as they were in the
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government postal service forty or fifty years ago. There were drawings of prizes and beautiful tableaux exhibited. But it would take too much space to begin to specify the attractions. A lunch was served up daily by the ladies.
One incident connected with this bazaar must not be omitted. It was the free lunch given on Saturday to the farmers and other citizens of the different townships in the county, who had, on invitation, at a meeting of the citizens of Columbus, come into the city with wagons loaded with wood, flour, potatoes, corn, and other provisions for the destitute families of absent soldiers. A grand procession of these wagons through the streets pre- sented a novel, and certainly an affecting spectacle. Every township in the county was represented. The donations were far greater than the most sanguine had anticipated. After the articles brought in had been deposited in the places designated, the generous and patriotic donors partook of a sumptuous re- past prepared for them by the ladies at the bazaar.
The treasury of the society was materially increased by the receipts of an exhibition of tableaux at the Opera House, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings of October 13, 14, and 15, 1864. The house was crowded every evening, and especially upon Saturday evening, when the grand military infantry drill and the initiatory ceremony of the Sons of Malta were the prin- cipal cards. The president of the society acknowledged the receipt of a thousand dollars as the proceeds of this entertain- ment given by the ladies and gentlemen of Columbus for the benefit of the society.
THE SOLDIERS' HOME.
The Soldiers' Home, located in this city, was an efficient agency, during the war, for the care of sick, disabled, and desti- tute soldiers, not provided for by the regular military organiza- tions. It was established April 22, 1862, by the Soldiers' Aid Society, in a room in the railroad depot, under the charge of Isaac Dalton, of this city. On the 17th of October, 1863, it was removed into a building erected by the Columbus branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, on ground west of the de- pot, belonging to the Little Miami Railroad Company. It was
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HISTORY, 1862 to 1872.
24 by 60 feet, two stories high, and cost about $2,300. It con- tained forty-five beds, with iron bedsteads. Soldiers were lodged in the Home, and those who were out of money the superintend- ent supplied with food, paying twenty-five cents for each meal.
In the spring of 1864, under a contract with the Sanitary Com- mission, T. E. Botsford and John Wigant, for $1,800, built an addition, 26 by 80 feet, to the former structure, making the entire building 140 feet long. The addition contained eighty beds on iron bedsteads. It was opened July 20, 1864, for the reception of soldiers. At this time, Mr. Dalton, who had been in charge of the Home, was succeeded by T. E. Botsford, who continued to serve as superintendent till the institution was closed.
The Home proved a great comfort and help to soldiers, seamen, government employes, and even to rebel prisoners who arrived in the city sick, moneyless, or shelterless. Men from almost every State in the Union, who had nowhere else to go, were hospita- bly entertained, and, when recovered or refreshed, sent on their way rejoicing.
During the existence of the Home under Mr. Botsford's super- intendence, from July 20, 1864, to May 7, 1866, 34,982 persons were furnished with lodgings, and 99,463 meals were distributed to 30,055 men, of whom 25,649 were members of Ohio regiments. Refugees from the South were furnished 640 meals.
On the closing of the Home, May 7, 1866, the superintendent, under the direction of the representatives of the Sanitary Com- mission, donated to the Hannah Neil Mission the buildings, the furniture, beds, bedding, the stoves, cooking and other kitchen utensils, and all other property belonging to the Home.
OHIO SOLDIERS' HOME.
In May, 1864, the United States authorities took possession of the south part of the State quarry tract, near the crossing of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad, and erected barracks and other buildings thereon. The establishment was called Tripler Hospital. The tenements, over twenty in number, were after- ward donated to the State for a Soldiers' Home. The State took possession in September, 1865, and instituted a Home.
The legislature, April 5, 1866, passed an act establishing a
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