Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 126

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I > Part 126

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).

" It was Dunois, the young and brave, Was bound for Palestine."

The word " Crusade," which the good la- dies used to designate their forays upon the saloons, we verily believe, by the association of ideas-the romantic word with the prosaic fact-helped to lighten their disagreeable labors. To them every saloon was as a Jeru- salem to be taken, but without the holy places.

The Original German Immigrants to Cin- cinnati are mainly of the humble classes. But very few people of elegance are among them. They are a highly valued body of cit- izens, commanding respect for their industry and general sobriety of deportment.

An excellent and very wealthy part of the German element is the Hebrew. They, how- ever, are German but little more than in lan- guage. Everywhere they are the same pecu- liar people.

The routine of their domestic daily lives, the preparation of their food, etc., is regu- lated by certain rules and ceremonies which form an essential part of their religion, so that they never can socially assimilate with other people. There is but little visiting be- tween the families of Jews and Gentiles.

Cincinnati is a sort of paradise for the He- brews. They number about 10,000 souls. Among them are some very learned men, as the Rabbis Wise and Lilienthal. Finer spe- cimens of mercantile honor and integrity do not exist than are exemplified in some of their leading merchants.

These people-we speak from knowledge and neighborhood-carry out among them- selves more closely perhaps than is common even with Christians, the Christly injunction, "Love one another." This is not surprising, as previous to the year A. D. 1, they had all the Christianity there was anywhere. They allow none among them to sink into pauper- ism, but help each other with no stinted hand. And when one returns from a journey his friends run to embrace and kiss him. Music, dancing, theatricals, gayety, bright colors and a good time in this life are the cardinal objects with them. Originally an Oriental people, they naturally take to bright, sensuous things. As many of them nowadays have serious doubts of immortality, these act on the prin- ciple of "eat, drink and be merry, for to- morrow we die." This is pitiful when we reflect that the highest joy and the loftiest

virtue only can come to the soul when it feels its inestimable value throughi its conviction of immortality.

The Cause of Cincinnati's Pre-eminence .- It may be asked, why has Cincinnati ob- tained its pre-eminence in art, literature and public spirit over other Western cities, for instance Chicago ? We answer, Cincinnati is older than this century. More than forty years ago, when Chicago was a mere fort and Indian trading post, Cincinnati was a city of 25,000 people with a cultured society noted even then for its fostership of literature and art. In those days Cincinnati had such men as Chief-Justice McLean, Salmon P. Chase, Jacob Burnett, Dr. Daniel Drake, James C. Hall, Nicholas Longworth, Nathaniel Wright, Nat. G. Pendleton, Charles Hammond, Henry Starr, Bellamy Storer, Larz Anderson, Bishop Mellvain, Lyman Beecher, D. K. Este. John P. Foote, Nathan Guilford, General William Lytle, General William H. Harrison, Colonel Jared Mansfield, etc. The last named had been Surveyor-General of the N. W. Terri- tory and Professor of Mathematics at West Point.

Brilliant Women .- Colonel Mansfield, with Mrs. Mansfield, were natives of this city, and she it was who introduced into Cincinnati so- ciety the custom of New Year calls. Probably there is scarcely a single individual, aside from the writer, in this, the city of her birth and childhood, who remembers this lady, now long since deceased, but New Haven never produced, nor Cincinnati never held, a more queenly woman. Her son, the Hon. E. D. Mansfield, the statistician of Ohio and well- known writer of Cincinnati, who graduated at the head of his class at Princeton, and then second at West Point, is New Haven born. Although about as old as the century, his spirits are as buoyant, as youthful as those of any school-boy who now carries a happy morning face through the streets of his native city. Among other ladies who have figured in the old society of the city were Mrs. Trol- lope, Fanny Wright Darusemont and Har- riet Beecher Stowe.

Cincinnati's and Chicago's Characteristics. -Cincinnati has ever been a great manufac- turing and creating centre, instead of a great trading, distributing, land speculating point like Chicago. The latter in consequence has drawn to itself from its first uprising out of the bogs, hosts of wild speculators and ad- venturers of all sorts, who came under the influence of the elixir of an exhilarating climate, with their imaginations excited to money making by the sight of vast prairies of wonderful fertility stretching away in easy gradations from its site, forming a greater body of rich land than lies around any other city in all Christendom.

The growth of Cincinnati having been comparatively slow, its best elements have had time to take root, unite and strengthen with the rolling years. Her population has been stable and not changing. Hence there is in this generation an aristocracy of "town born," of culture united to wealth, as the

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Longworths, Groesbecks, Dexters, Pendle- tons, Andersons, Goshorns, etc., who take immense pride in their native city, forming a nucleus around which gather those forces which are impelling it on its upward career.

Cincinnati a Literary Centre .- Cincinnati, more than any other Western city, has been a literary centre-a great book-publishing, book-selling mart. The bookstore of Robert Clarke & Co. is the literary focus of the city and adjoining States. There one meets with the most eminent characters of society. Said a prominent bookseller of Chicago to a mem- ber of this firm : "I don't understand how you in Cincinnati can sell such quantities of the higher class of scientific works-the books of the great thinkers and specialists; we have very little call for them here." A partial solution of this may be found in the capacity of the Cincinnati bookseller! The value of a bookseller, genial, book-loving and book-knowing to any community that has his services, are they not, Oh! appreciative reader, beyond your arithmetic ?

The Hills and Clifton .- Eventually the city plain will be devoted entirely to business and the homes of the people be " Cincinnati on the Hills." Now the finest of the pala- tial residences are there with the outlying districts of Mount Auburn, Walnut Hills, Price Hill and Clifton.

Clifton is a collection of magnificent cha- teaux, four miles from the city, amid groves and grassy lawns, which in architectural dis- play, combined with landscape adornment and picturesque outlooks, has not, says a German author, its equal but in one spot in Europe. Clifton has been the astonishment of foreigners who have accepted the hospital- ities of its prince-like dwellers, among whom may be mentioned the Prince of Wales, Charles Dickens, Thackeray, and those Queens of Song, Jenny Lind and Christine Nilsson. There in a palace resides Henry Probasco, once a penniless youth, who gave the Tyler-Davidson fountain to Cincinnati. He alike proposes the samne with his magnifi- cent picture gallery valued at $200,000 soon as the citizens erect a suitable building, which they are certain to do some day. Another resident is William S. Groesbeck, who gave $50,000 for music in the parks. He it was who told his brother Democrats at the close of the rebellion, that they must ac- cept the issue of the question of State Rights as ended. Said he, "war legislates, the trial of arms is the final Court of Appeals." George Pendleton, the famous Democratic leader, is also there. He is sometimes called " Gentleman George," from the suave man- ners and good fellowship generally. He is what is termed "a handsome man," com- pact, full rounded, with dark sparkling eyes. Richard Smith, proprietor of the Cincinnati Gazette, also dwells in Clifton. He is a plain, unostentatious citizen, who will receive in his office with more attention a poor crone of a woman who comes to crave charity than any swelling individual who calls under circum- stances of pomp and state.

Beauty of the Country .- The country on the hills is surpassingly beautiful. The forma- tion is the blue limestone, and geologists say peculiar. Trilobites-petrified marine shells -are found in abundance. The surface is disposed in soft, exquisitely graceful swells with no abrupt transitions. In places the beech woods stretch away over hill and through dale in billowy swells, the ground one continuous green lawn with no under- brush to mar the prospect under the lights and shadows of the leafy canopies. For height combined with massiveness and lux- uriance of foliage, no tree within our knowl- edge is equal to the beech of the Ohio valley, as there is none in picturesque beauty and graceful sweep of branches equal to the New England elm. Where the beech grows the soil is fat and luxuriant for the corn, the wheat and the good things, that plump out the ribs, rejoice and make laugh the inner man.

On these hill sides, amid the lesser vales, within easy rides from the city are many charming suburban homes of the well-to-do citizens, sweet surprises to the stranger as they suddenly burst upon him from out a wilderness of green things. These are often reached by some sequestered by-road, wind- ing through some lesser vale, where one might easily fancy they were a hundred miles away from any city. There are many such places all unknown to the masses who delve and sweat out their lives in the great hot, sooty town. At one of these, on a lofty em- inence opposite Clifton, called "Makatewah " from the Indian name of the deep, broad valley which they each overlook-the first from the east and the last from the west and near two miles apart-we had passed so many happy days, escapes from the heat, dust and brain worrying life of the hot city, that al- though unused to versification, we could not refrain from a tribute.

MAKATEWAH.

O, Makatewah ! peaceful spot, Where Nature's sweetest charms are spread. My weary spirit finds repose, To calmest thought is led.

Bright, sparkling morn, mild, tranquil eve, Hope, retrospection there by turn inspire ; Imagination, charming fancies weave, As softly sighs the leafy lyre.

The mansion strong and massive stands Where love and virtue cheer the guest ; Where life's best gifts with blessings fill And earthly scenes bring heavenly rest.

There swelling slopes rise decked in green, Mid summer suns lie cooling shades, Flowers quaff the morning dews And zephyrs stir the tender blades.

Ripe luscious fruits in red and gold, Mid emerald settings blush and glow ;

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While generous vines the nectar yields That lifts sad hearts in genial flow.

Mid fragrance, insects happy hum, The wood bird beats his rataplan, The peacock* struts with speckled mates And stately swings a glittering fan.

When evening's shadows solemn steal ()'er Clifton's leaf-crowned height, There sweet to watch the fading day Die in the arms of night.

The valley sounds rise on the air, The tinkling bells, the rolling cars, While o'er the deep'ning gloom below Look down the sad, mysterious stars.

O, Makatewah ! peaceful spot, Where Nature's sweetest charms are spread ;

My weary spirit finds repose, To calmest thought is led.

This region, like that of Athens of old, has the prime requisite for a perfect climate, being just in that latitude where one can re- main out of doors in comfort the greatest number of days in the year. The time is not distant when this centre will number a million of people. Then "Cincinnati on the Hills" will be one of the choice spots of this earth. This from the extraordinary re- sources and beauty of the country, combined with the extraordinary public spirit of her citizens :- the latter moving with an acceler- ated increase from the habits already estab- lished, all combining to render this a great art centre and focus of all which broadens life and renders it sweet and beneficent.

CINCINNATI (STATISTICAL) IN 1888.

CINCINNATI, county-seat of Hamilton, largest city in the State, is in a direct line about 100 miles from Columbus. It is on the north bank of the Ohio, op- posite the mouth of the Licking river, about midway between Pittsburg at the source, and Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio river. It is within a few miles of the centre of the population of the United States. Railroads entering the city are the O. & N. W. ; C. H. & D. ; C. I., St. L. & C .; C. L. & N .; C. G. & P .; C. C. C. & I. ; C. S., B. & O .; C. W. & B .; N. Y. P. & O .; O. & M .; C. & M. V .; P. C.& St. L .; C.& W .; C.H .; K.C .; N. N.& M .; C.J. & M .; L. & N .; C. & O., and C. N. O. & T. P.

County Officers in 1888 .- Auditor, Frederick Raine ; Clerk, Daniel J. Dalton, John B. Peaslee ; Commissioners, William Anthony, Luke A. Staley, Herman H. Goesling ; Coroner, John H. Rendigs; Infirmary Directors, Charles S. Dunn, John H. Penny, Tilden R. French ; Probate Judge, Herman P. Goebel ; Prosecuting Attorney, John C. Schwartz; Recorder, George Hobson ; Sheriff, Leo Schott ; Surveyor, Albert A. Brasher ; Treasurer, John Zumstein.

City Officers in 1888 .- Amor Smith, Jr., Mayor; Edwin Henderson, Clerk ; E. O. Eshelby, Comptroller ; Albert F. Bohrer, Treasurer ; Theo. Horstman, Solicitor ; John A. Caldwell, Judge of Police Court; Emil Rense, Clerk of Police Court ; John G. Schwartz, Prosecuting Attorney ; Philip Deitsch, Super- tendent of Police.

Newspapers .- The number of periodicals of all kinds is 133, of which there are 14 dailics and 46 weeklies. The principal dailies are, Enquirer, Democratic, John R. M'Lean, Editor and Publisher ; Commercial Gazette, Republican, Murat Halstead, Editor ; Times Star, Independent ; Evening Post ; Evening Telegram ; Sun, Democratic. German : Abend Presse, Independent ; Freie Presse, Demo- cratic ; Volksblatt, Democratic, Henry Haacke, Editor and Publisher ; Volksblatt, Republican. Religious Weeklies : American Christian Review, Disciples ; Ameri- can Israelite ; Catholic Telegraph ; Christliche Apologete ; Christian Standard, Christian ; Herald and Presbyter, Presbyterian ; Journal and Messenger, Baptist ;

* The peacock on the place in 1874 lost its mate. A respectable period of mourning having been passed he suddenly disappeared.

After over two years of absence he aa unexpectedly returned, leading in stately procession on to the grounds two new-found wives. As there were none of his kind in that vicinity, the distance and direc- tion of that matrimonial journey remain a mystery. That he should bring back two to replace the one he had lost, in view of his long abstinence from the companionship of any, was probably justifiable to the peacock judgment and the peacock morals.

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Sabbath Visitor, Jewish ; Wahrheits Freund, Catholic; Western Christian Advo- cate, Methodist.

Churches .- Cincinnati has over 200 churches, among which are Roman Catholic, 51 ; Methodists, 37 ; Presbyterian, 24 : Congregational, 5 ; Protestant Episcopal, 19; Baptist, 18 ; German Evangelical, 15; Jewish Synagogue, 7; Disciples of Christ, 6 ; United Brethren, 3; Friends, 2; also 1 each Hollandische Reformed ; Church of the New Jerusalem, Universalist and Unitarian.

Charities .- There are five hospitals, viz. : the Cincinnati, two Catholic, one Jewish and one Homoeopathic ; and other charitable institutions are numerous, as Children's Home, Christian Association's Home of the Friendless, Orphan Asylums, the Widows' and Old Men's Home on Walnut Hills, the Relief Union, Board of Associations, and the Bethel on the River, where destitute and homeless people are temporarily fed and sheltered. With it is a church and Sunday-school for the children of the poor, which for many years has had an attendance of 3,000 and attracts many visitors.

Banks .- Cincinnati National Bank, Joseph F. Larkin, president, Edgar Stark, cashier; Citizen's National Bank, B. S. Cunningham, president, George W. Forbes, cashier ; Commercial Bank, Charles B. Foote, president, W. H. Camp- bell, cashier ; Fidelity Safe Deposit and Trust Company, Briggs Swift, president, J. G. Brotherton, superintendent ; First National Bank, L. B. Harrison, president, T. Stanwood, cashier ; Fourth National Bank, M. M. White, president, H. P. Cooke, cashier ; Franklin Bank, John Kilgonr, president, H. B. Olmstead, cashier ; German National Bank, John Hauck, president, Geo. H. Bohrer, cashier ; Merchants' National Bank, D. J. Fallis, president, W. W. Brown, cashier ; National Lafayette Bank, W. A. Goodman, president, J. V. Guthrie, cashier ; Ohio Valley National Bank, James Espy, president, Theo. Baur, cashier ; Queen City National Bank, John Cochnower, president, Samuel W. Ramp, cashier ; Second National Bank, Charles Davis, president, Wm. S. Rowe, cashier ; Third National Bank, J. D. Hearne, president, Wm. A. Lemmon, cashier ; Union National Bank, Edward Weil, president, L. Kleybolte, cashier; S. Kuhn & Sons ; Seasongood, Sons & Co .; A. Seinecke, Jr .; Simon & Huseman ; A. C. Conklin & Co., brokers; Geo. Eustis & Co., brokers; H. B. Morehead & Co., brokers ; Albert Netter, broker ; Cincinnati Clearing House Association, James Espy, president, W. D. Duble, manager.

Industries .- For the year 1887, the report of Colonel Sidney D. Maxwell, superintendent of the Chamber of Commerce, gives the number of industrial estab- lishments in Cincinnati as amounting to 6,774, employing 103,325 hands, and pro- ducing in valne $203,459,396, viz .: Iron, $26,966,999, hands, 14,741; other Metals, $7,674,160, hands, 5,056 ; Wood, $20,440,182, hands, 12,589 ; Leather, $10,484,425, hands, 6,404; Food, $23,526,858, hands, 5,821; Soap, Candles and Oils, $11,165,200, hands, 1,845; Clothing, $23,202,769, hands, 21,951 ; Liquors, $29,012,711, hands, 2,242; Cotton, Wool, Hemp, etc., $2,258,983, hands, 1,968 ; Drugs, Chemicals, etc., $4,913,150, hands, 874; Stone and Earth, $4,972,730, hands, 3,384; Carriages, Cars, etc., $11,109,950, hands, 6,601 ; Paper, $6,670,986, hands, 2,976; Book Binding and Blank Books, $598,724, hands, 860; Printing and Publishing, $4,456,876, hands, 4,138; Tobacco, $3,784,868, hands, 3,305 ; Fine Arts, $1,046,250, hands, 756; Miscel- laneous, $11,174,375, hands, 7,814.

In 1860 the annual valne was $46,995,062; in 1880, $163,351,497 ; since which last date as above shown there has been an increase of about one-quarter in value. The First Ohio Revenue district, in which is Cincinnati, in 1881 paid a larger revenue than any other in the Union, amounting to over $12,000,000, having been mainly from distilled liquors, tobacco and beer.

Population in 1840, 46,338 ; 1850, 115,438 ; 1870, 216,239 ; 1880, 255,139 ; 1890, 296,908.

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LITERARY SYMPOSIUM ON CINCINNATI.

In the New England Magazine for September, 1888, under the head of " Illus- trated Literary Symposium on Cincinnati," was a series of ten articles by nine authors of the city. They were "Prehistoric Cincinnati," by M. F. Force ; " Cincinnati, Historical and Descriptive," by W. H. Venable ; " Education," by the same ; " Newspapers and Literature," by George Mortimer Roe; and "The Art Museum and the Art Academy," by A. T. Goshorn ; " Decorative Art," by Benn Pitman ; "History of Cincinnati Expositions," by W. H. Chamberlain ; " Clubs and Club Life," by Chas. Theodore Greve, and " Political Reminiscences of Cincinnati," by Job E. Stevenson. The object of these articles was to present to the public in the centennial year of Ohio's settlement a picture of the progress of the great city from its beginning, with a view of its present characteristics. Nothing can be so well adapted for our purpose to accomplish the same end as their review, with extracts, abridgments, itemized facts. We begin with

PREHISTORIC CINCINNATI.

Before the advent of the white man the "Mound Builders " had possession here. When the whites first came the plateau extending from near the present line of Third street to the hills was literally covered with low lines of embank- ments, and an almost endless variety and numbers of figures. Among them were several mounds, one large mound on the bluff at the intersection of Third and Main streets ; the great mound at the intersection of Fifth and Mound streets, which, if mounds were really used for watch-towers and beacons, communicated by means of a system of such, not only with the little valley of Duck creek, lying behind the Walnut Hills, but also with the valleys of both the Miami rivers.

Among the various articles found in these works were some very interesting, especially that from the great mound at the intersection of Fifth and Mound streets. That was the incised stone known to all archaeologists as " the Cincinnati tablet."

There were, in the year 1794, stumps of oak trees at the corner of Third and Main streets, showing that mound was over 400 years old. The site of Cincin- nati was temporarily occupied by bands of the Miami Confederacy.

CINCINNATI, HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

Dr. Daniel Drake, in his "Picture of Cincinnati," published in 1815, called it the " metropolis of the Miami country." In 1824 its importance as a trade-centre became such that merchants distinguished it as the "Tyre of the West." The unclassic name of " Porkopolis" clung to the place for many years until Chicago surpassed it in the pork industry. The poetical appellation, "Queen City," was proudly worn by this Ohio valley metropolis, and recognized gracefully in Long- fellow's praiseful song-

"To the Queen of the West In her garlands dressed, On the banks of the beautiful river."

The latest designation, the " Paris of America," the city earned from its reputation as a pleasure resort and a seat of the polite arts.

A majority of the early settlers came from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Their religion was as austere as that of the Puritans, but not so aggressive. The New England and Virginia forces came only a little later with their powerful influences. The history of society presents no chapter more inter- esting than that which describes the interaction of ideas in Cincinnati from the close of the war of 1812-1815 to the end of the civil war. The three elements of population, and we might say of civilization, northern, central and southern,

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met together on the shores of the Ohio, and Cincinnati became a cauldron of boiling opinions, a crucible of ignited ideas. There was a time when Sonthern alkali seemed to prevail over the Northern oxide, and the aristocratic young city was dominated by cavalier sentiment ; but the irrepressible Yankee was ever present with his propensity to speak out in town-meeting. One of the significant factors of culture was the class that organized the "New England Society," to which belonged Bellamy Storr, Lyman Beecher, Calvin Stowe, Salmon P. Chase and others.

All sorts of questions, theological, political, social, came up for radical dis- cussion in early Cincinnati. The foundations were taken up and examined. ' Every sentiment and every ism had its chance to be heard. Several new sects were differentiated. Scepticism, by the powerful voice of Robert Owen, chal- lenged faith as held by Alexander Campbell; Protestantism encountered Roman- ism in hot debate. Religious controversies became involved with political (for if we dig deep we shall find the roots of all thonght entangled together), and theo- retical differences became practical issues at the polls.

When the tide of emigration was swollen by a foreign flood then arose the "Know Nothing" movement, directed by powerful newspapers in Cincinnati and Louisville. The discussion of the status of foreigners was radical, and dealt with the primary rights of man, and with the most essential functions of govern- ment, education and society. The relations of Church and State were considered.

The German population form a most important element, enough to make a large city -- more than a hundred thousand. It is liberty-loving, and distinguished for thrift and intelligence. The Germans are devoted patrons of education and the arts, and especially music. German is tanght in the public schools. The Irish element is also large and powerful.

Cincinnati, by the accident of her geographical position, became the focus of Abolitionism, and also of the opposite sentiment. In this city Birney was mobbed ; Phillips was egged ; colored men persecuted. In this city " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was planned, and here the Republican party was born. When the war came on Cincinnati did not waver. All sects and all parties, foreign and native, followed the Union flag. As soon as the war was over the citizens resnmed their discus- sions. The Queen City is the arena of wrestling thoughts. Therefore it has become a city of practical toleration. Extreme radicalism lives side by side with extreme conservatism. Jew and Gentile are at peace. Orthodoxy fights heterodoxy, but each concedes to the other the right to exist. The people like to read Ingersoll and Gladstone. The Prohibitionists have a strong party here, and the drinkers of beer have a hundred gardens on the hills. In politics, Republi- cans and Democrats are pretty equally divided, and there is a lively class of " scratchers" in each party. All things considered, there seems to be good ground for the opinion often expressed by enthusiastic Cincinnatians that their city is the freest city on the globe. This is a bold claim, but it would be difficult to name a city in which the rights of the private individual are less interfered with than they are in the Queen City. This status of its people is the best for an ultimate true result. It is only by agitation and experience that the race anywhere can advance; and nothing is a final settlement until it is settled right.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 126

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006