USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > Early Dayton; with important facts and incidents from the founding of the city of Dayton, Ohio, to the hundredth anniversary, 1796-1896, > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
Rike Building.
Kuhns Building.
City Buildings.
United Brethren Publishing House.
From a photograph by Appleton.
MAIN STREET, LOOKING NORTH FROM BELOW FOURTH.
08
HATS
From a photograph by Appleton.
Callahan Bank Building.
THIRD STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM MAIN
15I
1816-1835
had long been popular in Ohio, and many boys were named for him. His Dayton namesakes were presented to him at the reception, and to each of them he gave a silver dollar. Some of the recipients of these gifts preserved them as souvenirs as long as they lived, though a silver dollar must have burned the pocket of a boy of that period, with whom a coin or money of any kind or amount was a rare possession.
It was suggested in October, 1825, that it would be a good plan to run the canal, which need not be wider than forty feet, down the middle of Main Street, reducing the sidewalks to twelve feet, leaving a roadway thirty-four feet wide on either side of the water, and rendering Main the handsomest street in Ohio. This proposed course of the canal was for a few days marked out by a line of red flags the length of the street. It was feared that the canal would be located a mile from the Court-house, which would seriously injure the town; and it was a great relief to citizens when the commissioners located it "011 the common between the sawmill race and the seminary, on St. Clair Street." The con- struction of the canal was at first "violently opposed as a ruinous and useless expenditure" ; but as soon as the law authorizing the expenditure was passed, and before the canal was located, the rapid improvement of Dayton and the increase in population proved the wisdom and foresight of those who, since 1818, had been agitating the subject of canal improvements in the Miami Valley. One of the objections against the canal urged by oppo- nents of the project was that it could not be made to hold water. As the bed of the canal ran through loose gravel, there seemed to be force in the objection, and, indeed, some difficulty of this kind was experienced. The bottom of the canal, however, soon "puddled," and becaine water-tight.
The first canal-boat built in Dayton was launched near Fifth Street on Saturday, August 16, 1828, at 2 P.M. The citizens were invited to assemble at the firing of the cannon to witness the launch. The boat was called the Alpha, of Dayton, and was built for McMaken & Hilton by Solomon Eversull. The Alpha was pronounced by many superior to any boat on the line of the Miami Canal. As the water had not yet been let into the canal, a temporary dam was built across the canal at the bluffs, and water was turned in from the sawmill tail-race at Fifth Street. Trial trips were then made from the dam to Fifth Street and back. The Dayton Guards, a military company of boys organ-
152
EARLY DAYTON
ized a few weeks before, made the first trip on the Alpha. Friday evening, September 26, 1828, water was first let into the canal by the contractors from the mill-race at the corner of Fifth and Wyandotte streets. In January, 1829, citizens of Dayton were gratified with the sight so long desired of the arrival of canal-boats from Cincinnati. Four arrived during the day, each welcomed by the firing of a cannon and enthusiastic cheers from the crowd assembled on the margin of the basin.
The people made a festival of the completion of the canal, which, they congratulated themselves, had begun a new era of prosperity for the town, and took every opportunity to celebrate the event. There were several excursions, and on the evening of February 5, 1829, the canal being frozen over so that naviga- tion was impossible, Captain Archibald, of the Governor Brown, which was embargoed by the ice at the basin, gave a handsome collation on board to a number of ladies and gentlemen. The next evening the captains of a number of boats lying in the basin partook of a canal supper at the National Hotel, and drank a number of toasts suitable to the occasion. On the 16th of April a steam canal-boat, called the Enterprise, arrived here. Two cords of wood were used in the passage from Cincinnati to Dayton. For many years it was believed that steam could be used in propelling boats on the canal, but after a fair trial it was found to be impracticable. Twenty hours from Cincinnati to Dayton by canal was considered a rapid trip. Merchandise was brought here from New York by water in twenty days.
The completion of the State canal, which ended at Second Street, was soon followed by the construction of a new basin, beginning at the terminus of the original one and extending to First Street. It was constructed by the Basin Extension Com- pany, formed by H. G. Phillips and James Steele, executors of the Cooper estate, in 1830. Its object was to draw business to the part of town through which it passed. This new basin ran down the ravine, fifteen or twenty feet deep, which extended from the head of Mill Street to the corner of Platt and Harris, thence to the corner of Second and St. Clair, and down St. Clair to Fifth. "Through this ravine the waters of Mad River, breaking through the culvert in the levee near its mouth in spite of the exertions of men working night and day to prevent it, sought, at almost every flood, a channel through which to discharge themselves into the Miami below town,
153
1816-1835
Until the extension of the Miami Canal to the north in 1841, Dayton was at the head of navigation, and supplies of every kind for this region for a long distance around were forwarded from here. A brisk trade with Fort Wayne as a distributing point was kept up, and wagon-trains were constantly passing between the two points. Swaynie's Tavern, at the head of the basin, was the favorite resort of the wagoners, and his large stable-yard was nightly crowded with wagons, and his tavern with the drivers.
In January, 1829, there were one hundred and twenty-five brick buildings in Dayton, six of stone, and two hundred and thirty-nine of wood. There were two hundred and thirty-five dwelling-houses, and Presbyterian, Methodist, and Christian brick meeting-houses. This year Timothy Squier opened the National Hotel in the building on Third Street adjoining the Beckel House. The white population of Dayton in 1829 was two thousand two hundred and seventy-two; blacks, eighty-six. There had been an increase of six hundred and sixty-one in the population during the past fourteen months. The amount of merchants' capital returned by the assessor of Montgomery County for 1829 was one hundred and twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and eleven dollars. Under a new law passed by the Legislature, the free white male freeholders over the age of twenty-one who resided in the corporation one year voted for a mayor instead of a president of Council, and one recorder and five trustees. John Folkerth was elected Mayor, David Winters recorder, and Nathaniel Wilson, James Haight, John Rench, Luther Bruen, and William Atkins, trustees. An ordinance was passed by Council dividing the town into five wards. The improvements of the town were nearly all confined to the tract bounded by the river on the north and west, Mill and Canal streets on the east, and Sixth Street on the south.
At a meeting held in 1829 the first Dayton Temperance Society was formed. William King was moderator and Dr. Haines secretary of the meeting. The following persons were appointed to prepare a constitution and an address to the public : A. Baker, Daniel Ashton, D. Winters, D. L. Burnet, John Steele, Job Haines, H. Jewett, William M. Smith, and Henry Bacon. For some time the Dayton newspapers were full of arguments for and against temperance societies.
On July 27, 1829, it was decided that the new market-house,
I54
EARLY DAYTON
which the city was about to build, should be located in the alley running from Jefferson Street to Main, between Third and Fourth streets. For the purpose of widening the market-space, property costing one thousand one hundred and ninety-six dollars was purchased by Council. A small building was put up on Main Street, which was extended to Jefferson Street in 1836. All the space east of the market-house of 1829 to Jefferson Street was given up to market-wagons. The old market-house on Second Street was abandoned April 24, 1830. A bitter rivalry existed between the parts of the town divided by Third Street. People living north of Third Street appropriated the name of "Dayton" to themselves, and in derision called that part of the town lying south of that street "Cabintown." When it was proposed to remove the market from Second Street to the present location, violent opposition was made, and every measure resorted to to defeat it. Two tickets were nominated for city officers, politics were forgotten, and this was made the sole issue. Cabintown proved numerically the stronger, and the fate of the market- house was sealed. When the market-house was moved, Thomas Morrison, who had it in charge, placed a large placard on it, "Bound for Cabintown," which was read with the deepest chagrin by the people on Market [now Second] Street. So bitter was the feeling that for a long time many persons refused to attend market at the new location.
Numerous advertisements of schools taught in Dayton appear in the newspapers between 1829 and 1834. In 1829 Edmund Harrison, a competent and successful teacher, taught what he called an "Inductive Academy" in a building which he erected for the purpose. He was followed by Ira Fenn. In 1832 an accomplished woman, Miss Maria Harrison, daughter of Edmund Harrison, taught a school for young ladies. In 1831 J. J. S. Smith, afterwards an eminent member of the Dayton bar,- father of S. B. and J. McLain Smith,-taught a school in the stone building on Main Street next to the High School. To illustrate how new ideas penetrated the West, it may be stated ยท that Dr. and Mrs. Foster, in 1829, advertised a school to be con- ducted on the method of Pestalozzi.
Advertisements of singing-schools and writing-schools appear frequently. The flaming advertisement of D. Easton, teacher of penmanship, recalls the day before the invention of steel pens, when no small part of the time of the teacher was spent in
DRUGS#
From a photograph by Appleton.
FIFTH STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM MAIN.
Dayton Club.
Christ Episcopal Church.
From a photograph by Appleton.
FIRST STREET, LOOKING WEST FROM MAIN.
155
1816-1835
making and mending quill pens. He offers to teach "the round running hand, the ornamental Italian hand, the waving hand, the swift, angular running hand without ruling, and various others, both plain and ornamental."
In 1833 David Pruden invited Milo G. Williams to come to Dayton to take charge of a manual-labor school to be established in a large brick building owned by him at the junction of Jeffer- son and Warren streets. Shops were erected for instruction in various mechanical trades. Mr. Williams was to conduct the academic, and Mr. Pruden the labor and boarding, department. A large number of boys from Cincinnati and other places were attracted to the school by Mr. Willianis's reputation as a teacher, and the school for a time enjoyed great popularity. Both the principals were actuated by philanthropic motives in their attempt to combine intellectual culture with preparation for the practical duties of life; but they were at least fifty years ahead of their times, and the school was closed from lack of pecuniary success.
In 1830 a company was formed to construct a basin connecting the canal at its intersection with Wayne Street and a point at the southern extremity of the city. Morris Seely was the main mover in this project, and great expectations were entertained in regard to it. The Supreme Court had decided that the water- power within the city limits, and furnished by the canal, belonged to the State of Ohio, a decision which was afterwards reversed, and the water-power given to the Cooper estate. It was believed that this water-power could be leased and utilized along the pro- posed basin. Land was bought at what was then an extravagant price, and lots laid out. These lots were small in size, and arranged for factories, warehouses, and docks, such as would be required in a large city, but were unsuited to a place with the pretensions of Dayton. The scheme proved an utter failure, and left consequences that were an annoyance to the city for years afterwards. The lots were unsalable, and the method of platting a serious detriment to that part of the town. The canal, or ditch, as it was afterwards called, bred disease, and the city authorities were called upon to fill it up. Before the controversy was finally settled, the excitement ran so high that the sawmill of Mr. E. Thresher, located on the canal at Wayne Street, which used the ditch as a tail-race, was burned. A large part of the ditch is now filled up, and the lower end used as a city drain. In
I56
EARLY DAYTON
connection with the basin and on its bank a pleasure-garden was opened by A. M. Peasley on Warren Street. A small pleasure- boat was run from Third Street on summer afternoons to the garden, where refreshments were provided, and it was expected that large numbers of pleasure-seekers would resort there. Like the basin, the garden was ahead of the times, and after trial of two or three years was abandoned.
In 1830 Stevenson ran the first locomotive in England over the Manchester & Liverpool Railroad. The same year a miniature locomotive and cars were exhibited in Dayton in the Methodist church. The fact that the City Council by resolution exempted the exhibition from a license fee, and that the Methodist church was used for this purpose, illustrates the deep interest felt by the public in the new and almost untried scheme to transport freight and passengers by steam over roads constructed for the purpose. A track was run around the interior of the church, and for a small fee parties were carried in the car. A large part of the then citizens of Dayton took their first railroad ride in this way.
The population of Dayton in 1830 was two thousand nine hun- dred and fifty-four, a gain of one thousand two hundred and thirty-seven in little more than two years. This year eighty-one houses were built. In 1831 fifty brick and seventy-two frame buildings were erected. The population was three thousand two hundred and fifty-eight. Six thousand two hundred and nine- teen passengers by coach passed through town this year.
In November about two hundred and fifty Seneca Indians, men, women, and children, on their way to the reservation west of the Mississippi River, encamped at the big spring on the north side of Mad River. They were here three days, and excited great curiosity by their singular, rude, and uncivilized habits and ap- pearance. One of the gaping crowd, who was watching them at dinner, moved off in some confusion when an Indian, at whom he was staring, looked up and said, "Indian eats just like white man ; he puts the victuals in his mouth." At this period no houses had been erected on the northwest corner of First and Jef- ferson streets, and the lots were used for shows. The Indians took great pleasure in riding on a merry-go-round, which was a feature of the show of 1831. One afternoon a crowd of them, all intoxicated, came whooping down First Street. Not satisfied with riding, they proceeded to break the merry-go-round and fight the owner and his customers. Nothing could be done with
157
1816-1835
them till the agent who had command of them arrived, armed with a club, which he used freely. Their submission was so sud- den and entire as to be laughable. They feared the United States Government, which the agent represented, and fled before its representative like sheep to their camp across Mad River.
The first Dayton public school was opened December 5, 1831, by Sylvanus Hall, " approved teacher," in the school-room on Jefferson Street between Water and First streets. Public money was appropriated to support it, but the amount not being suffi- cient, each pupil paid a dollar per quarter for tuition. Three additional rooms were soon afterwards opened in different parts of the town for the convenience of scholars.
School-directors seem at first to have been appointed at public meetings of citizens. The following served during this period : Luther Bruen, Nathaniel Wilson, Henry Van Tuyl, Thomas Brown, William Hart, James Slaght, J. H. Mitchell, David Osborn, Ralph P. Lowe, Simon Snyder, and William H. Brown. The city charter of 1841 provided for the appointment by Council of a school-manager from each ward, and Council and this board worked together harmoniously for years. The tax levy for school purposes was so small that frequently the schools could only be kept open a few months. The teachers taught private schools in the houses the remainder of the year.
Just below the mouth of Stillwater the Miami makes a bend in the form of a horseshoe, inclosing in it that part of Dayton known as Riverdale. By cutting a race across the bend, a val- uable water-power is obtained. About 1829 James Steele, who owned the land, completed a dam across the Miami and the race. In 1831 he erected a sawmill and afterward a grist-mill. This water-power is now known as the Dayton View Hydraulic. In digging the race an immense tooth of a mastodon was unearthed, which was deposited as a curiosity in the Cincinnati Museumi. As no other part of the skeleton was found in the vicinity, it is supposed that the tooth was brought with the drift from some other region.
General Robert C. Schenck began the practice of law in Day- ton in 1831. He was a public-spirited citizen, taking an active interest in all efforts for the improvement of the town, and ill- pressing himself upon this community long before he attained a national reputation. He devoted much time and labor to the Dayton Lyceum, Mechanics' Institute, Public Library, Woodland
.
158
EARLY DAYTON
Cemetery, city park, the hydraulic, turnpikes, railroads, and public schools, and frequently gave gratuitous lectures at the in- vitation of his townsmen.
This year the rivers were very high at Dayton, and there was much destruction of property and great distress caused by the unprecedented height of the Ohio at Cincinnati. As soon as the news reached here that the homes of many poor people at Cincin- nati had been washed away, a call for a meeting at the Court- house to raise funds for the flood-sufferers was published in the Dayton newspapers. At the meeting two hundred and two dol- lars were raised by subscription and sent by John W. Van Cleve, Mayor of Dayton, to the Mayor of Cincinnati, "to aid in relieving the distressed people of that city."
At no time in the history of Dayton, except during the Civil War, has there been as exciting a political campaign as that of 1832, preceding the second election of General Jackson as Presi- dent of the United States. So bitter was the feeling on both sides in this contest that Whigs and Democrats, though neigh- bors and old friends, ceased speaking to each other on the streets. Previous to Madison's administration the people of Dayton seem to have been nearly all of one mind on the subject of politics, or at any rate not intense partisans; but for a num- ber of years after that date an election rarely passed without several fights between the members of the two parties-usually on the corner of Main and Third streets, for the Court-house was the polling-place for the whole township, in which the territory now assigned to Harrison, Mad River, and Van Buren townships was then included. Late on the night before the Presidential election in 1832, a tall hickory pole was erected on the outer edge of the pavement in front of the Court-house, and from it floated the American flag. Great was the surprise and indignation of the Whigs when this pole greeted their eyes the next morning, and great the triumph of the party which had erected it. Crowds of Whigs gathered on the corners, muttering angry impreca- tions. It was evident that they would not permit the hickory tree to remain standing at the polls, and as certain that the Democrats would violently resist any effort which the other party might make to remove it, and that a pitched battle would ensue if the authorities did not interfere. A meeting of Council was held early in the morning, and presently those of the citizens who had not gone home to breakfast saw the Council, headed
From a photograph by Bowersox.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING.
From a photograph by Appleton.
WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDINGS.
159
1816-1835
by the marshal, John Dodson, followed by John W. Van Cleve, the gigantic Mayor, ax in hand, and Dr. John Steele and F. F. Carrell, march to the liickory tree and forin a circle around it. The Mayor notified the marshal of the order of Council just passed to "cut down the pole and drag it out as a nuisance." It was the duty of the marshal to perform this perilous act.
An account of this occurrence published in the Journal in 188g called out two communications on the subject from eye-witnesses. One of them says : "In the face and in defiance of an outraged and infuriated collection (not mob) of red-hot Jackson Demno- crats -and what that meant could hardly be appreciated by one of this cold-blooded, law-abiding generation-the worthy marshal hesitated, as well he miglit. A man of lofty mien and determined purpose in every movement stepped to the front, seized the ax, and, wielding it as only a stalwart Kentuckian could wield it, with a few well-served strokes brought the offen- sive emblem to the ground. When it fell, there was a pause ; not a cheer was heard from the Whigs, and only muttered curses from the Democrats. The audacity of this brave act of Dr. John Steele, a man universally known and respected, no doubt pre- vented a bloody riot." Anotlier correspondent states that the pole was cut down by Herbert S. Williams. Probably both accounts were correct, as from the size of the pole it would require a good many strokes of tlie ax to fell it, and more than one hand may have been employed on it.
A canal-boat arrived in Dayton December 17, 1832, with twenty-five German emigrants on board, all of whom were ill with cholera, or something similar to it. One of them had died the day before the boat reached here. They all crowded into a small room together when they landed. Seven of the Germans and the two nurses employed by the town died. A board of health had been appointed by Council in the summer, so that all sanitary precautions were taken to prevent the spread of the dis- ease, which was prevailing in other parts of the United States. The Board of Health consisted of a member of Council and two other citizens from each ward. The following persons were appointed : First Ward, Aaron Baker and George C. Davis ; Second Ward, James Steele and William Bomberger; Third Ward, H. G. Phillips and Steplien Whicher ; Fourth Ward, Dr. Haines and E. W. Davies ; Fifth Ward, James Mitchell and William Pat- terson. There were thirty-three deaths here from cholera in 1833.
I60
EARLY DAYTON
During 1832 fifty-one brick and sixty-two wooden houses were erected. A silk manufactory was established in town this year by Daniel Rowe. He made sewing-silk and the warp for coarse stuffs. Some handkerchiefs were also manufactured. He adver- tises in June that he has two thousand Italian mulberry trees ready to pluck, and will furnish leaves, silkworm eggs, and frames for those willing to raise cocoons for him on shares. He also offers to pay the highest price for cocoons delivered at the store of Swain & Demarest, and hopes by the next year to take all that the neighborhood could produce. A number of persons planted mulberry trees at this time, and expected to engage in raising silkworms. But the factory was not a success. A silk company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, was formed in 1839, but also failed.
In 1832 the Dayton Lyceum was established, the object of which was "the diffusion of knowledge and the promotion of sociability." Meetings were to be held once a week " for lectures, communica- tions, essays, and discussions of all subjects except theology and the politics of the day." It was also proposed to collect a cabinet of antiquities and minerals, and a library. A discourse was to be delivered " at the annual meeting of the society on the 27th of August, being the anniversary of the location of the town of Dayton." For several winters the Lyceum furnished courses of lectures and debates, which were of the highest interest and afforded great enjoyment to the people of Dayton. In 1833 the library of the Lyceum was kept at the house of Ira Fenn.
In 1833 the Mechanics' Institute was organized. The first secretary was Henry L. Brown, one of the best and most useful men who ever lived in Dayton. The object of the institute was "moral, literary, and scientific improvement." A library and reading-rooms were connected with it, and for many years a course of lectures was given each winter. A public address was delivered at the Court-house July 1, 1833, by Robert C. Schenck, in behalf of the Mechanics' Institute, and during its existence every citizen of Dayton who had any ability for lecturing was called upon for that service.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.