History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 27

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666

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This was a cholera year in Cincinnati, one terribly de- structive to human life, and resulting in a panic, which at one time almost depopulated the city. The number of deaths reached the high figure of four thousand eight hundred and thirty-two-more than four per cent. of the entire population. The census was taken this year, and Mr. Cist says, in his Cincinnati in 1851 : "The popula- tion returns were further reduced, from the still greater numbers put to flight by the approach and arrival of that pestilence. For weeks every vehicle of conveyance was filled with these fugitives, who, in most cases, did not return in time to be included in the enumeration of in- habitants." He thought that, but for this drawback, the census would have made a return for the city of not less than one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants. The actual figures obtained were, as we have seen, one hun- dred and fifteen thousand four hundred and thirty-eight -an increase of two hundred and fifty per cent. in ten years, against an increase of ninety per cent. from 1830 to 1840. No other city in the United States exhibited a ratio of increase so large, nor was there any other whose absolute increase was so great, except only Philadelphia and New York.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

February 2d, Mr. John C. Avery, one of the earlier sheriffs of the county, died at his home in Cincinnati.

May 3d, the well known hotel keepers, Messrs. Cole- man & Reilly, having become lessees of the new Burnet house, gave a grand ball by way of house-warming.

June 18th, officer Peter Davison, of the police force, was murdered by John C. Walker.

On the first of September the house of refuge was opened for the reception of inmates.

The Little Miami railroad depot, at the corner of Front and Kilgour streets, was erected this year.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, then an infant in years, but a strong and vigor- ous one, met in the Queen City this year. At the close of the session, in seconding a resolution of thanks to the good people of the place for their hospitalities and court- esies, Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institute, very handsomely said :

He had heard much of the Great West, much of the Queen City, and had come to put his anticipations to the test. He expected to see a boundless, magnificent forest world, with the scattered clearings, and log cabins, and energetic New-England-descended inhabitants ; he thought to find Cincinnati a thriving frontier town, exhibiting views of neat wood houses, with white fronts, "green doors, and brass knock- ers ;" but instead of this, he found himself in a city of palaces, reared as if by magic, and rivaling in appearance any city of the Eastern States or of Europe. But it was not things of mere stone, brick, and mortar, which pleased him most in the Queen of the West. Imperial Rome had her palaces and noble structures, but in her proudest days she boasted not of a Mechanics' Institute, an Academy of Natural Sciences, a Mercantile Library Association, or a Young Mens' Lyceum of Natural History. These are the pride of Cincinnati, these her noblest works. Grateful as we ought to be, and are, for the kindness and * courtesy shown us as members of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science, we are more thankful to the Cincinnatians for having founded her literary and scientific associations, and for liberally opening her treasuries of knowledge to the world.

Among the many visits to the city in 1851, was that of Lord Morpeth, the Right Honorable the Earl of Carlisle, whose tour through this country made a great stir in social, political, and other circles. In the lectures pro- nounced and printed after his return home, he said the following of the Queen City :

I again turned my face to the west, and passed Cincinnati, which, together with all that I saw of the State of Ohio, seemed to me the part of the Union where, if obliged to make the choice, I should like best to fix my abode. It has a great share of the civilization and appliances of the old-settled States of the east, with the richer soil, the softer climate, the fresher spring of life, which distinguish the west. It had, besides, to me the great attraction of being the first free State which I reached on my return from the region of slavery ; and the contrast in the ap- pearance of prosperity and progress is just what a friend of freedom would always wish it to be. One of my visitors at Cincinnati told me he remembered when the town only contained a few log cabins ; when I was there it had fifty thousand [!] inhabitants. I shall not easily for- get an evening view from a neighboring hill, over loamy cornfields, woody knolls, and even some vineyards, just where the Miami river dis- charges its gentle stream into the ample Ohio.

The city this year had a population of one hundred and thirty-two thousand three hundred thirty-three, an increase of nearly seventeen thousand upon the census of the year before.

May 23d, Horatio Wells, of the Cincinnati type foun- dry, was accidentally shot.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO.

The population of the city had now mounted to one hundred and forty-five thousand five hundred and sixty- three, an increase of thisteen thousand two hundred and thirty-three, or nearly twelve per cent. upon that of the previous year.

May 4th, the eighteenth anniversary of the Young Men's Mercantile Library association was observed with much eclat. A poem was recited by Thomas Buchanan Read, and the Hon. J. T. Morehead delivered an address upon the Growth of Commerce in the West.

The same day was characterized by a widely different transaction-the murder of William Church by Henry Le Count, for which the assassin suffered the extreme penalty of the law on the twenty-sixth of the ensuing December. This was the first private execution under the statute requiring privacy, and was in the jail-yard, about which surged an immense multitude, while there were many on-lookers from the windows which com- manded a view of the scene.

This was the year of Kossuth's tour in the United States, in the course of which he visited Cincinnati. Francis Pulszky, his compatriot and fellow-traveller, makes the following notes of the visit, in the book of Sketches of American Society published by himself when the tour was over. Says Pulszky:

I preceded Kossuth thither, in order to deprecate on his part all costly processions, pageantry and banquets; and as he was exhausted already by speeches, I wished to arrange matters so that he should only once address the multitude, and once those who had formed themselves into associations of friends of Hungary.

But as soon as i was introduced to the committee of arrangements, I saw that my diplomacy must fail. Thirty gentlemen belonged to that body, and the great question was just under discussion whether, be- sides the mayor of the city, it should be the chairman of the city coun- cil, or the chairman of the committee of arrangements, who was to occupy the carriage with the 'city's guest ' at the festive entry. I do not remember how this grave concern was settled; but, of course, it was impossible under such circumstances to carry the proposal that no procession should be held. Besides, every coterie claimed a separate speech; and the result was that Kossuth had to address 'the Big peo- ple' of Cincinnati at a banquet, and others again at 'Nixon's hall,' and then the ladies and the Northern Germans, and the Southern Ger- mans, and the fashionable public at large, and the lower classes at large, and likewise the inhabitants of Covington, the suburbs of Cin- cinnati on the Kentucky side.

But this was not the only consequence of the want of homogeneity in the population of Cincinnati. Kossuth several times requested the members of the committee to allow that he should himself bear his own expenses, and that the appropriation made for his entertainment by the city council, which had invited him, should be given to the Hungarian fund, 'The committeemen declined to comply with his de- sire; it seemed to them mean to do it. We left Cincinnati; and Mr. Coleman, the lessee of the Burnet Honse-the splendid hotel in which we had been accommodated-presented his bill to the city council.

Some other remarks of Pulszky's are in better temper :

American grandiloquence is too well-known. We can scarcely sup- press a smile, when every westerner whom we meet, assures us in the first moment of our acquaintance, that America is a great country. But when we see Cincinnati, with its one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants, its extensive commerce and navigation; the canal connect- ing the Chi with Lake Erie; the railways radiating in every direction from this common centre; its schools and colleges; its astronomical observatory; its ninety-two churches and chapels; its ten daily papers, and its numerous beneficent institutions; and when we remember that in 1788 this city was laid out in the wilderness, we must excuse the boast of the American. He has full right to pride himself on his nation and on its energies. After the difficulties he has surmounted, and with

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

the self-confidence they have inspired in him, he does not know the limit which could stop his progress.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE.

Estimated population, one hundred and sixty-five thou- sand; other figures report it more specifically at one hun- dred and sixty-one thousand one hundred and eighty-six -a large increase in either case.

The city building, between Plum and Central avenue, on Eighth street, was erected this year, two hundred and five feet long and fifty-two feet wide. The ground and park in front cost sixty thousand dollars, the building about twenty-seven thousand dollars. It is still occupied by the city offices, though long since insufficient and un- fit for their purposes. The park comprises about one and a quarter acres.

On the ninth of December a remarkable criminal trial, known in the bar traditions as the "Kissane forgery case," came up for hearing and determination.

Cincinnati had at least one distinguished visitor this year, in William Chambers, the renowned Edinburgh au- thor and publisher. In the inevitable book that fol- lowed he remarked of Cincinnati, among other things:

Public education being enjoined and liberally provided for by the laws of Ohio, the stranger who takes any interest in such matters will find in Cincinnati numerous sehools worthy of his notice, in which in- struction of the best quality is imparted without charge to all pupils indiscriminately. Where free edueation exists in England, it is a charity ; here it is a right. The natural fruit of a system so exceed- ingly bounteous is an educated population, possessing tastes and as- pirations which seek a solaeement in literature from the materialities of every-day life. I do not know that I ever saw a town of its size so well provided as Cineinnati with publishers, libraries and reading-rooms. The Young Men's Mercantile Library association has a most imposing suite of apartments fitted up as a library and reading-room-the num- ber of books amounting to fourteen thousand volumes, and the reading room showing a display of desks, on which are placed nearly a hundred newspapers. Cineinnati is, I believe, also favorably known for its cul- tivation of the fine arts; and its exhibition of pictures, at any rate, shows that its inhabitants do not employ all their time in merc money-making. In the cathedral of St. Peter there are some valuable paintings by Eu- ropean artists; one, by Murillo, having been a gift from Cardinal Fesch.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR.

May 5th, the new superior court was organized, with Bellamy Storer, Oliver M. Spencer, and W. Y. Gholson, as judges.

May 26th a citizen named Arrison was murdered by means of an infernal machine.

July 27th is the date of a notable event in the organ- ization of the fire department of the city-the public trial of the steam fire engine Citizen's Gift, built in Cincinnati and paid for by a popular subscription.

The population is set down this year at one hundred and seventy thousand and fifty seven.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE.

Population one hundred and seventy-two thousand three hundred and seventy. Growth is slower, and the rate of increase now falls off year by year.

On Washington's birthday a grand "dramatic festival" or performance is given at the National theatre, on Syca- more street, for the benefit of the poor. A number of well known citizens take part as amateurs; among them Charles Anderson, Judge Flinn, William H. Lytle, Wil-

liam B. Cassily, and Martin B. Coombs. Four thousand dollars are realized from the receipts.

April 5th there is a sharp fight "over the Rhine" be- tween the Know Nothings and the Germans. On the tenth-city election day-there is a mob in the Elev- enth ward, which destroys a ballot-box and scatters the contents.

June 14th, an accident occurs in the course of excava- tion of the Walnut Hills railway tunnel, which kills five men.

August 28th, occurs the opening of the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville railroad.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX.

The estimate of population for this year, which is also continued for the next, is one hundred and seventy-four thousand. If this statement be correct, or approximate correctness, the town was virtually at a stand-still for one year.

February 2d, a vote was given by the citizens, author- izing the loan of the city's credit to the amount of six hundred thousand dollars, to the Ohio & Mississippi rail- road.

April 4th, Police Lieutenant Parker loses his life at the hands of an assassin.

May 20th, the Daily Times publishes the names of fif- teen residents of Cincinnati, then still surviving, who had lived in the city fifty years or more, and were all more than seventy years old; thirteen others had lived here thirty to fifty years; forty-three were sixty to seventy years old, and had lived here over thirty years; and thirty-four more, not so old, had lived in Cincinnati more than that period. The pioneers were largely of hardy, long-lived stock. A number of additional names were sent in by a correspondent the next day.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN.

May 29th, the city council passes an ordinance prohib- itory of the sale of liquor on Sunday, by a vote of twenty- six to seven. On the twenty-eighth, Jacob W. Piatt dies. On the thirtieth, there is great excitement over a fugitive slave case, in the course of which the United States mar- shal is stabbed, but not killed.

June 24th, grand railroad excursions start for St. Louis, New York, and Boston, to celebrate the opening of the Ohio & Mississippi and the Marietta & Cincinnati rail- roads.

July 2, a very destructive fire occurs, laying in ashes Resor's stave factory, Johnston & Meader's furniture factory, and other establishments, with a total loss of two hundred thousand dollars. On the twenty-second occurs the Loefner murder and suicide, in which Nicho- las T. Horton also loses his life by the hand of violence.

A great coal famine prevailed at one time this year; and fuel of no other kind being available in sufficient quantity to afford relief, the price of coal rose to seventy- five and eighty eents a bushel. All classes, except the coal dealers, were much embarrassed by it, and the poor suffered terribly, in some cases actually burning furniture, partitions, fences, and whatever else was at hand that was combustible. In this exigency considerable pres-

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

sure was brought to bear upon the city council to vote relief-a measure headed by Hon. Benjamin Eggleston, then chairman of the finance committee of the council. After much opposition a vote of one hundred thousand dollars was obtained, not as a gift, but as a fund for use in lifting the blockade. A meeting of presidents of all the railways leading into Cincinnati was held and ar- rangements consummated for the exclusive use of their freight trains for a few days in the transportation of coal. This soon afforded relief. Deliveries at first were limited to three bushels, at twenty-five cents per bushel, which represented actual cost; and were increased as larger supplies were received. When accounts were finally adjusted the balance against the city was very small, while a vast amount of good had been done.

A similar event occurred in 1863; but in this case an absolute grant of one hundred thousand dollars was made, which was paid out weekly to the needy in small sums, chiefly to the families of soldiers in the army.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHT.

An official census, taken this year, gives the city an enu- meration of one hundred and seventy-five thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight. The original Pike's Opera House is erected, to the great delight of the citizens. The report of the Superintendent of the Merchant's Ex- change says : "The most splendid opera house in the whole country has been built. Whole squares have been so changed by replacing the old buildings by new as not to be recognized, new streets have been opened, and the city rapidly extended over the available space on the west."

February 29th, Captain J. B. Summons, a prominent citizen, exchanges time for eternity.

April 13th, John Mitchell's chair factory is burned, and William Gaither accidentally killed. On the twenty- second, Pryor P. Lee, engineer at the Cincinnati Type Foundry, was badly hurt by the explosion of an infernal machine. A gas explosion also occurred this year in the basement of the Radical Methodist Church on Sixth street, and a number were severely injured.

May 9th, Gregory is murdered by Kendall.

October 2 Ist, Augustus Ward murders John Mortimer.

The city had a visit this year from the famous English poet, Charles Mackay. He devoted to Cincinnati a pleasant letter of some length, but it is hardly so interest- ing to read as some of the older accounts of travelers.

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE.

The last of Mr. Cist's valuable volumes was published this year, under the title of Cincinnati in 1859. We ob- tain from it much of the information which follows. He estimates the local population at two hundred and twenty- five thousand, which must have included all the suburbs, since an enumeration before us, purporting to be official, places the number of inhabitants at only one hundred and seventy-eight thousand three hundred and fifteen. The colored population had been reduced from a ratio in 1840 of one in twenty to one in thirty-seven. The centre of population in the United States had approached nearer to Cincinnati, the exact centre being a little below Ma- rietta.

The city now had a river front of about six miles, with an average depth to the north corporation line of one and one-fifth miles. Its area was four thousand five hundred and twenty-one acres, of which about one-quar- ter, or one thousand one hundred and twenty-six acres in the north part, was not subdivided into city lots. This, however, was more than made good by the suburbs on the east, west, and north, which were almost as com- pactly built as the city itself. The number of brick buildings, but twenty-two per cent. of the whole in 1815, was now eighty per cent. It was thought that there was no city in the world, equal or greater in population, in which there was so large a share of resident property- holders. A marked improvement in the style of public buildings was noted. Among the more recently built were Pike's Opera House, then considered the finest public building built by private resources in the world, the Central Presbyterian church, and the Masonic temple. The Carlisle building and Shillito's former store are also mentioned in terms of praise; also the compara- tively new post office and custom house at the corner of Vine and Fourth streets, and the Marine hospital on the corner of Lock and Sixth.

The vine culture had been greatly extended within twenty miles of the city, two thousand acres being covered with vineyards, and four hundred thousand gallons of wine made per year. Cincinnati had become, probably, the most extensive manufacturing city in the country. The capital and yearly expenses invested in manufactures and mechanical operations were estimated at ninety million dollars, with a profit of thirty-three and one-third per cent., or thirty million dollars. Forty-five thousand persons were engaged in this department of industry, while five thousand six hundred were in trade and com- merce, handling values of eighty million dollars, upon which ten millions were realized, or a profit of twelve and one-half per cent. The value of manufactured products for the year was one hundred and twelve million, two hundred and fifty-four thousand four hundred dollars, against fifty-four million, five hundred and fifty thousand one hundred and thirty-four dollars in 1851, and seven- teen million, seven hundred and eighty thousand and thirty-three dollars ten years before. The average value of raw materials was but fifty per cent. of the entire pro- duct. The imports of the year were expected to reach eighty-five millions, and exports ninety millions, giving a "balance of trade" in favor of Cincinnati of five millions.

The railway lines running into the city now were the Little Miami, the Marietta & Cincinnati, the Cincin- nati, Hamilton & Dayton, the Cincinnati & Indiana, and the Ohio & Mississippi. The place was in full connec- tion with three thousand two hundred and thirty-two miles of railroad, and four thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine miles of connecting lines were under way. Near Cincinnati the Dayton & State Line and the Cin- cinnati & Indiana Junction were in preparation.

The city had two banks, one savings bank, eight pri- vate banks, and one emigrant and remittance office. Insurance had been largely developed, and there were sixteen local companies and forty-three foreign compa-

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nies represented. The higher interests of the community had kept pace with the material in their march. In jour- nalism, there were nine daily newspapers, twenty-two weeklies, six semi-monthlies, thirteen monthlies, and two annuals-a very fine exhibit for nearly a quarter of a cen- tury ago. Much had been done for science, literature, and art. The Ohio Mechanics' institute had nine hun- dred and fifty members, and was handsomely lodged in its building on the corner of Vine and Sixth. The Cin- cinnati Horticultural society's fairs, then held every spring and fall, were very popular, and the society was doing a good work in its province. A great deal of excellent work in astronomy was being done by Professor Mitchel and his pupils at the observatory. The Young Men's Mercantile Library association had three thousand and seventy members, and a collection of nearly twenty thou- sand volumes, with an annual circulation of forty-five thousand. The feeling toward fine art had been im- proved; and Mr. William Wiswell, at No. 70 West Fourth street, was devoting the whole lower floor of his building to a free art gallery, which had become a familiar resort, especially of evenings.

Education was also far advanced. The public schools employed two hundred and seventy-eight teachers, which was twice as many as in 1850, and four times as many as in 1840. There was sixteen fine school buildings, hold- ing about nine hundred pupils apiece; and instruction was also given at public expense in the city infirmary and the orphan asylum. The Woodward high school had six teachers and one hundred and seventy-six pupils; the Hughes high school as many teachers and one hun- dred and fifty-nine pupils. The lower schools in- cluded twenty district, four intermediate, and six night district schools. There was also one night high school and one normal school. The expense of all for 1858 was one hundred and thirty-eight thousand six hundred and five dollars. The Roman Catholic parochial schools had seventy-eight teachers and seven hundred and seventy- five pupils; private schools and academies over one hun- dred and fifty teachers and four thousand students. The most prominent of these were the Wesleyan Female college, the Cincinnati Female seminary, the Mount Au- burn Young Ladies' institute, Herron's seminary for boys, the English and Classical school, the Law school in Cincinnati college, St. Xavier's college, six medical colleges, and Bartlett's Commercial college.

May 6th, the local bar loses one of its prominent mem- bers, W. R. Morris, esq., by death.

May 16th, Johnson & Meader's furniture factory burns again, with ten other buildings.

August 20th, the Dayton and Michigan railroad is opened, giving Cincinnati new connections with Toledo and Detroit.

September 29th, the "Little Giant" from Illinois, Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, then in training for a nomination to the Presidency the next year, visits the city and is warmly received by his friends and admirers.

CHAPTER XV. CINCINNATI'S EIGHTH DECADE.

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History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 27

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co. Number of Pages: 666

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666