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 19
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The Dayton Female Orphans' Association was incorporated in 1844. The first home, a small brick building on Magnolia Street, . was used until the erection of the new one across the Miami River. In 1867 the commissioners of Montgomery County deter- mined to take charge of the Dayton Orphan Asylum. A new home was built in Harrison Township and opened in 1867. The number of children taken care of averages of late years about a hundred.
From a photograph by Wolfe.
THE FIRST PASSENGER STATION IN DAYTON -NORTHEAST CORNER OF SIXTH AND JEFFERSON STREETS.
From photographs by Appleton.
UNION PASSENGER STATION, ERECTED IN 1856.
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The Dayton Young Men's Christian Association had its origin in a great religious revival in 1869 and 1870, the object of the association being "the physical, intellectual, social, and spirit- ual improvement of young men." The first home of the asso- ciation was on the second floor of the Journal building, north of the Court-house. In the spring of 1875 funds were raised, and the old Dunlevy residence, on Fourth Street, bought, remodeled, furnished, and occupied within a single month. A fine gym- nasium was opened in 1885, which only demonstrated the need of greater facilities. In 1886 fifty-five thousand dollars were contributed towards a new building, which was at once begun, and dedicated in the following year. The property is now valued at over one hundred thousand dollars, and the value of the work done for young men is inestimable.
The Woman's Christian Association was organized in 1870. Encouraged by the success of the young men's association, and hoping to work in unison with them, their work has been crowned with even greater success than could have been hoped. The work is of varied character. A widows' home is sustained, and a woman's exchange operated. There are many committees for visiting the Soldiers' Home, the hospitals, the jail, and for missionary work. The day and night classes and lunches for working girls have been among the modern and successful experiments. The old Winters homestead on Third Street was bought in 1891, and now forms the attractive and convenient home of the society.
The Young Women's League, organized in 1895, has a large membership -- principally of working women-and a comfortable club-house, on Jefferson Street, south of Fifth.
St. Elizabeth Hospital was started on Franklin Street, near Ludlow, in 1878, in a very modest way by two Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis. They soon found that there was a broad field for their work. More room was needed. The Sisters selected six acres of land in Browntown, which were purchased, and the corner-stone laid in 1881 for a large building. There, supported by voluntary contributions, they are quietly doing a noble work.
The Protestant Deaconess Society of Dayton was organized in August, 1890. At first two or three deaconesses from Cin- cinnati nursed in private families. In October, 1891, a temporary hospital was opened on Fourth Street near St. Clair, under the direction of the society. Its usefulness proved that such a
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hospital, home, and training-school for nurses was needed for the growing city. On Sunday, October 14, 1894, a new building was dedicated. It was built on the ground of the old Widows' Home, which had been bought and donated for the purpose by Mrs. J. H. Winters. Crowning an eminence overlooking the city, it stands "a stately and massive edifice, built for a noble cause and dedicated to it." "Behold," says Mr. Simonds, the president of the society, " how great a matter a little fire kindleth."
The Dayton Philharmonic Society was organized in 1874, and has achieved a decided success. The Mozart Musical and Liter- ary Society was organized in 1888. There are also the Harmonia, the Young Men's Christian Association Orchestra, Maennerchor, and other musical societies.
The Woman's Literary Club of Dayton was organized in 1889. It has a limited membership, meets in the Woman's Christian Association parlors, and has been a pronounced success from the first day. A number of other woman's clubs have since been formed-the "H.H." Club, organized in 1891, the Friday Afternoon and Emerson clubs of more recent date.
The Present Day Club, formed in January, 1895, is an organ- ization composed of about three hundred representative men, who spend an evening every two weeks during the greater part of the year in the discussion of important topics relating to social, literary, educational, religious, economic, and other problems.
In 1885 Professor J. A. Robert began the improvement of the land along the western levee, and, by filling and protecting it from the river by a fine wall, has added a beautiful street to the city from Monument Avenue to Fifth Street, finished in July, 1887.
On the 22d of October, 1892, the Columbian Centennial was appropriately celebrated in Dayton by an immense procession of military and civil societies, school-children, and industrial exhibits, followed by appropriate addresses and music in Cooper Park.
The manufacturing interests of Dayton have long been prom- inent. There has been a steady and substantial growth in the number and size of manufacturing establishments, until in 1894, according to the report of the State Labor Statistician, the city ranked as the third in the State in number of industries, capital invested, and wages paid, and fourth in the value of its manu-
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factured products. Many of its establishments are very large, some employing from one to two thousand persons, and a number of them are known in almost every part of the globe.
The stores, banks, building-associations, insurance companies, and other branches of trade conduct a large amount of business, and rank high in the commercial world.
Within the last few years a complete sewer system has been projected and largely finished, and the principal streets of the city have been handsomely paved with asphalt, brick, sandstone, and granite; and many of the residence streets have been parked by narrowing the roadway and making lawns along the borders of the sidewalks. These improvements, together with the large number of shade-trees which abound in the city, make the streets very attractive.
In 1889 natural gas was introduced in Dayton for fuel purposes. Although not sufficiently plenty to supply many factories, it has proved a great convenience to housekeepers.
Dayton, since the earliest days, has seldom been left for any length of time without a newspaper. The Journal was descended from a long line of plucky ventures. It was a Republican paper, ably conducted after 1835 by the Comlys. It had been a weekly and a triweekly, and in 1847 became a daily, and as such has continued to the present day, with a short interregnum after the burning of the office, presses, and materials by a mob in May, 1863. Soon after this Major William D. Bickham took charge of and made the Journal into a paper of national reputation. Mr. Bickham was a bold and brilliant writer, an astute and enthusiastic politi- cian, a man whose death, in 1894, left a vacancy in political and newspaper circles difficult to fill. The Journal is now conducted by the sons of Mr. Bickham.
In 1842 the Democratic party in Dayton was represented by the Western Empire. Some years later the Daily Empire was pub- lished irregularly, finally becoming a regular evening paper. It was continued until 1863, when the editor was arrested and the paper suppressed because of an article which it published in regard to the arrest of Vallandigham. A new paper was soon started, and has continued to the present day under the titles of Daily Ledger, Herald, Herald and Empire, Democrat, and Times.
The News is an afternoon daily issued from the same office as the Times.
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DAYTON FROM 1840 TO 1896
The Volks-Zeitung, started in 1866, has always been an inde- pendent paper.
The Daily Herald was started in 1879 as an independent journal.
The Press, first issued in 1891, is a Republican afternoon paper.
Including the above, there are published in the city seventeen secular and thirty-two religious periodicals, making a total of forty-nine periodical publications.
Among the men whose active business life made them well known in the years preceding and following the War were several who should be mentioned at length in the history of these periods. The eldest of these was David Stout, who came to Dayton in 1812. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and was seventeen years old when he became a citizen of the growing town. He soon engaged in business for himself, and for nearly half a century was actively interested in various lines of busi- ness, being the first man in the city to engage in the sale of stoves. He was at one time a member of the Town Council, for twenty years treasurer of the town and of the School Board, a director of the Cooper Cotton Factory and Dayton Carpet Com- pany, one of the organizers of the first public light company, treasurer of the Dayton Gas Light and Coke Company, and a stockholder in the Woodland Cemetery Association. On the corner where the Atlas Hotel now stands he built one of the first brick residences in Dayton, which remained unaltered until 1892. In 1839 he moved into his new home on the northeast corner of Second and Perry streets, where he dispensed a liberal hospitality during the Harrison convention in 1840, and in 1842, at the Henry Clay convention, entertained one hundred and - eight guests over night and many more at dinner. David Stout was remarkable for his kindness and benevolence to individuals. He had eight children and numerous descendants, many of whom now live in the city. Three of the children are now living and reside in Dayton - Elias R., Atlas L., and David Orion.
Another pioneer in prominent business enterprises of the city, when once it began to extend its operations, was Mr. Ebenezer Thresher, one of the first manufacturers of agricultural imple- ments and of railroad cars. Mr. Thresher had been born and brought up in Connecticut, receiving an extended education and entering the ministry in New England. Failing health compelled him to relinquish other plans, and led him in 1845 to
From a photograph by Wilder.
IDYLWILD, ON THE MIAMI RIVER, NORTH OF DAYTON.
From a photograph by Wilder.
A VIEW ON STILLWATER, NEAR ITS CONFLUENCE WITH THE MIAMI.
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DAYTON FROM 1840 TO 1896
come west to engage in business. With Mr. E. E. Barney and Mr. Packard, he organized in 1849 the firm of Thresher, Packard & Company, manufacturers of agricultural machinery, and soon after of railroad cars. This was the beginning of the great "Car Works" which have helped to make Dayton known through- out the world. In 1854 Mr. Thresher retired, founding later his varnish business. During the remainder of his long life, which- continued till 1886, he was prominent in religious and educa- tional circles, especially in the enterprises of the Baptist Church, of which he had always been an influential member. Two sons and two daughters are still residents of the city.
Much of the history of banking in Dayton centers around the name of Mr. Valentine Winters. Mr. Winters came to Dayton from Germantown in 1825, and was employed in the dry-goods store of Andrew Irwin, and later with Harshman & Rench, in which firm he soon became a partner. He was prominent in the commercial circles of Dayton for a half-century, conducting at first a dry-goods and general merchandise store, and afterward engaging in banking. He was cashier of the Dayton Bank, organized in 1845, and afterward was one of the proprietors in the banks of Harshman, Winters & Company, V. Winters & Son, and the Winters National Bank. Mr. Winters was a mem- ber of the first board of directors of the Dayton & Western Railroad, and with his partners, Jonathan Harshman and E. F. Drake, constructed the first railroad in Minnesota, connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis. In 1839 he was foreman of the Safety Engine and Hose Company. In the War of the Rebellion he was a loyal supporter of the Government, and gave the assist- ance of his bank to the support of the finances of the State and Nation. Mr. Winters was a member of the Third Street Pres- byterian Church, and gave liberally to the Young Men's Chris- tian Association and Woman's Christian Association. In 1829 he married Catharine Harshman, a daughter of Jonathan Harsh- man, and had eleven children,-four sons and seven daughters, -a number of whom, with their descendants, still live in the city.
Another figure well known on our streets for nearly forty years was Mr. Frederick Gebhart. Mr. Gebhart came to Dayton from Pennsylvania in 1838, being then forty years of age. He was soon after followed by his brothers Herman and George, whose business interests were closely allied to their brother's. In 1839
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DAYTON FROM 1840 TO 1896
Mr. Gebhart opened a dry-goods store, removing a little later to the building on Third Street so long occupied by his successors, D. L. Rike & Company. After a number of years he entered the linseed oil business, and until his death in 1878 was interested in enterprises which would add to the prestige of the city. The descendants of these three brothers form one of the large and influential families of the city.
No history of Dayton would be complete that had not much to say of Robert W. Steele. Quiet student though he was, he touched the life of the place on every side, for he was a lover of men and of books, of his country and home. He was born in 1819 to a life of ease and all honorable traditions. He was the son of an earnest, self-reliant pioneer, who had been a merchant, a soldier when needed, trustee of the Presbyterian Church, of Miami University, and of the Dayton Academy, one of the founders of Woodland Cemetery, president of the Dayton Bank for nearly forty years, a judge for fourteen years, one of those chosen to cast the electoral vote of Ohio for Clay, and who had died in the midst of a busy, active career. This was the example which the past gave to the young man who was met at the threshold of manhood by the knowledge that such a life could not be his. He was prohibited by his physician from continuing the study of law. If he could not practice his profession, could not do his own work as lie had planned, "Very well," he said to himself quietly and bravely, "I shall help others to do theirs "; and this, I take it, was the key-note to his life-he was a helper.
"Whoever thou art whose need is great,
In the name of the all-compassionate and merciful One I wait."
Men and women went to the quiet study where he loved to sit, with books climbing the walls around him, and usually came away comforted. The teachers learned to come,-the pupils, too,-for he was a member of the Board of Education for thirty years, and its president for twelve of them. He was one of the founders of the Library Association, and for years director and president. When the association was united with the Public Library, he was chairman of the Library Committee until he resigned in 1875. Later he became a member of the reorganized Library Board, and served until his death. His love for books was the enthusiasm of his life. The feeling that other men put into business and professions he lavished upon these
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quiet friends. He knew a good book by instinct, was a fine critic, and a writer himself, having done considerable work for newspapers, and published numerous essays, and histories of the library, cemetery, public schools, and early Dayton.
He was member and treasurer or president of every horticul- tural society of Dayton, as well as the Ohio State Board of Agriculture. He was interested in the early railroads centering in Dayton, and a subscriber to the stock of all of them but one.
When the War of the Rebellion came, he felt deeply. Loving his country as he did, he served it well. If he could not fight himself, he could help the soldiers in a hundred ways; he could care for the wives and children at home, and uphold the Govern- ment through the darkest days. He served on the Military Committee of Montgomery County, was a member of the San- itary Committee, and chairman of a Citizens' Committee.
No reform or change for the better in his native city ever lacked the hearty sympathy and cordial support of Robert Steele. He was an elder in the Third Street Presbyterian Church for forty years. He was secretary of the Woodland Cemetery Association, and its president when he died. He served five years as a member of the State Board of Charities.
When death laid its touch on that kindly heart to still it, and men sorrowed to know they should meet that quaint figure no more; when he lay asleep in the dear old home his father had built, and was carried over its threshold to the Woodland they had both tended and cared for,-who could say now which of the two men had done more for humanity ?
CHAPTER XI
DAYTON IN THE CIVIL WAR
THE Opening of the War-Fall of Sumter-Recruiting-Dayton Light Guards-Light Artillery-Lafayette Guards-Departure of Troops- Anderson Guards-Dayton Riflemen-Zouave Rangers-Buckeye Guard -State Guard-Camp Corwin -Camp Dayton -Families of Soldiers Cared For-Advancing Kirby Smith-R. C. Schenck Elected to Congress-Union League Formed- Arrest of Vallandigham-Journal Office Burned-Mor- gan's Raid-Colonel King - Empire Office Mobbed -Procession of Wood- Wagons -Women's Work for the Soldiers-The Home-Guard -Return of Companies A and E-Another Call for Troops-Last Draft of the War - Lee's Surrender-Assassination of Lincoln -Admiral Schenck -Rear- Admiral Greer-Paymaster McDaniel-National Military Home-Sol- diers' Monument.
THE War of the Rebellion did not come upon the country like a sudden summer shower. The great clouds gathered slowly, and hung dark and menacing long before the storm broke. There were enough men of both parties in Dayton who had accepted the decision of the people in the election of Mr. Lincoln to make it a city sternly loyal and practically helpful to the Government, yet there were also many firm in their devotion to States' rights and bitter in their opposition to the war; and the Third Ohio District was represented by a man who had proclaimed as his position that "if any one or more of the States of the Union should at any time secede, for reasons of the sufficiency and justice of which before God and the great tribunal of history they alone may judge, much as I should deplore it, I never would, as a Representative in Congress, vote one dollar of money whereby one drop of American blood should be shed in a civil war." So there was a season of suspense; the people waited with bated breath; men eyed one another with grave distrust. With Southern confidence at its height, and Northern courage at its lowest point, Mr. Lincoln began his journey to Washing- ton. The people, waiting for a sign, watched the quiet progress, read the tender words to the South, the strong and temperate inaugural, and of the refusal to recognize the Southern commis-
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GENERAL ROBERT C. SCHENCK.
From a photograph by Appleton.
FIRST DAYTON BANK BUILDING, ERECTED IN 1815.
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DAYTON IN THE CIVIL WAR
sioners. They also read events, and began to see the patience and self-control, the grand courage and wisdom, of their leader, who, as is now clear, "came as one appointed to a great duty, not with rashness, not with weakness, not with bravado, nor shrink- ing, but in the perfect confidence of a just cause, and with the stainless conscience of a good man."
When Sumter fell, the excitement in Dayton was painful in its intensity. The people were full of just wrath, and eager to avenge the insult to the flag. If there was a citizen who had not heard the news, he read it in the morning paper with the proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand men beside it. Recruiting was begun at once. Four days later three companies were starting for Columbus-the Dayton Light Guards, Captain Pease; Light Artillery, Captain Childs, and the Lafayette Guards, Captain Deister, marching to the train through great, cheering crowds, anxious to show that for once all were united to defend the country. The men who had been loyal by reason of intelli- gence, judgment, and expediency experienced a new feeling as the hot wave of enthusiasm swept over the land. On the 18th of April Colonel E. A. King was appointed to take charge of the camp at Columbus. On the same day the Anderson Guards opened recruiting lists. By the next night sixty-four men had enrolled and the company organized and left the next morning. The streets were crowded with people, singing "The Star- Spangled Banner," cheering and waving handkerchiefs and flags; and it must be confessed there were tears among the women as they took up their heavy task of watching and waiting and working. The men filed out of the armory through the shouting crowd, and soon another hundred had gone, mak- ing almost five hundred men ( four hundred and eighty-five) in answer to the first call for three months' volunteers.
Upon their arrival at Columbus, the first three Dayton con1- panies were assigned to the First Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was ordered and started to Washington April 19, had its first fight at Vienna, and covered itself with glory at Bull Run. The Dayton Riflemen and Anderson Guards were ordered to Camp Jackson, and later assigned to the Eleventli Ohio Volunteer Infantry and sent to help construct Camp Den- nison, where they were kept drilling for six or seven weeks.
In June Company A (the Riflemen ) reënlisted for three years. Part of Company G reënlisted and part returned to Dayton.
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DAYTON FROM 1840 TO 1896
These were busy, unselfish days for those at home. The doc- tors offered their services free to families of volunteers, and the druggists offered to fill prescriptions without charge. The sum of five thousand dollars was quickly raised for immediate wants. The Board of County Commissioners and the City Council each appropriated ten thousand dollars for the soldiers' families. Other large sums of money were constantly coming in. All sorts of donations were made. The ladies' societies went to work with a will. No one was too old or too young to work in some way.
The Zouave Rangers tendered their services as a home-guard, were accepted, and served for three months. The Buckeye Guard was in camp at Hamilton for a few weeks, came back to fill up their regiment for three years' service, and returned within ten days. Captain Gunckel raised a company, which was ordered to Camp Dennison May 19. On the 22d of April, at Harrisburg, Lieutenant A. McD. McCook, of the Regular Army, was elected colonel of the First Ohio Regiment, E. A. Parrott lieutenant-colonel, and Captain J. S. Hughes major. On the evening of May II the people were listening to the farewell concert of the Regimental Band, who were to be thereafter musicians of the First Ohio Regiment.
Immediately after the departure of the three months' troops in April, militia companies were formed. Each ward had its com- pany of home-guards. There was also the State Guard, composed of men over forty-five years of age.
Through the summer of 1861 Dayton was full of soldiers. Little else was thought of. Camp Corwin was located two and a half miles east of the city. On the 23d of August the first three companies of the First Ohio,-Dayton men,-and a little later the Dayton Cavalry, were ordered there. On August 20 a com- pany marched in from the northern part of the county and camped in the Fair Grounds. In October the Government gave notice that it could not furnish blankets for the First Ohio. In a week they had been provided by the citizens of Dayton and the regiment was on its way to join General McCook's brigade and Camp Corwin was abandoned. During the month of August there were fourteen recruiting offices opened in Dayton. By the 29th of the month Dayton had sent one thousand two hundred and sixty-nine men to the front, out of an enrollment of three thousand one hundred and seventeen.
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It is not possible in a few pages to follow all the Dayton soldiers through the war. Wherever brave men were needed they went gladly, and saw their share of service in Kentucky, Tennessee, and later on in the Shenandoah Valley and moun- tains of Virginia, with Grant before Richmond, with Thomas at Nashville, and marching through Georgia with Sherman.
The year 1862 was a dark one for the national cause. Recruit- ing for the Ninety-third began in July of that year. In it were four Dayton companies. Charles Anderson became the colonel and Hiram Strong lieutenant-colonel. Great interest was felt in this regiment in Dayton. Ten thousand dollars were raised at one meeting of the citizens in July as a fund for the families of volunteers. The rendezvous for the Ninety-third was Camp Dayton, afterwards located at the Fair Grounds. The regiment was ordered to Lexington, Kentucky, and left Dayton August 23. In September the camp rapidly filled up, and it was again necessary to supply the soldiers with blankets and clothing. There were also at that time five hundred families of volunteers dependent partly or entirely upon the public for means of sup- port.
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