History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 63

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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Samuel W. Ramp.

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

233

the credit of the society, one thousand three hundred and forty-five dollars and three cents. At this meeting Mr. S. A. Miller was elected president; Mr. Horatio Wood was elected second vice-president; Mr. L. M. Hosea corresponding secretary, to which office he was re-elected the next year; Dr. J. F. Judge recording sec- retary, in which office he has been continued to this time; Dr. J. H. Hunt treasurer ; Professor A. J. Howe curator of comparative anatomy, since which time he has been annually re-elected to the position.

At the meeting held May 4, 1875, the president, Mr. S. A. Miller, read a "Review of the Glacial Theory, as presented in the Ohio Geological Survey," which was published in the July number of the Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science.

Professor A. G. Wetherby read a paper entitled a "Description of Lepidopterous Larvæ, with their habits and affinities," at the meeting held October 5, 1875, which was published in the Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science for the same month. Professor A. G. Weth- erby read, at a meeting held December 7, 1875, a paper on the "Variations in form as exhibited by Strepoma- tidæ, with descriptions of new species," which was pub- lished in the month of January following, under the title of Proceedings of the Cincinnati Society of Natural His- tory. It is the only publication the society has ever is- sued. At various times attempts have been made by members to have the society definitely adopt the policy of a regular publication of its transactions, but without success until the last, which has resulted in the present undertaking of publishing a journal of the society quar- terly, which is designed to embrace the proceedings of the society and such original papers of value as may be prepared for the society by its members or others.

The next annual meeting was held April 4, 1876. The treasurer's report showed that the receipts for the year had been, from members' dues, three hundred and forty-seven dollars and fifty-four cents; from interest, forty-five dollars and eight cents; the expenditures amounted to four hundred and fifteen dollars and ninety- five cents, leaving a cash balance of one hundred and two dollars and forty cents. The building fund was re- ported as five hundred and fifty-five dollars and sixty- three cents. At this meeting Professor W. H. Mussey was elected president; Mr. John M. Edwards, first vice- president; Mr. George W. Harper, second vice-president, who was in the second year re-elected; Mr. S. E. Wright, treasurer, and continues in office to this time; Mr. J. C. Shroyer, librarian, who was re-elected the following April; Mr. J. W. Shorten, curator of entomology; and Mr. Davis L. James, curator of botany.

Professor A. G. Wetherby read a paper at the meeting held June 6th, on the "Tulotoma," which was subsequently published in the Quarterly Journal of Conchology, Leeds, England.

At the meeting held October 3d, Professor Ormond Stone was elected curator of mathematics and astronomy, and Professor R. B. Warder curator of chemistry and physics, cach being re-elected at the annual meeting the following year.

At the meeting held March 6, 1877, Dr. August J. Woodward was elected curator of herpetology, and re- elected at the annual meeting next month.

At the meeting held on April 3, 1877, the treasurer's report showed the financial condition to be as follows :

Cash in the treasury April 4, 1876. $102 40

Received from membership dues 654 00

For life membership 50 00

For interest to credit of general fund. 42 25

$848 65

Expenditures during the year. 350 02

Balance in the treasury. 498 63

BUILDING FUND, APRIL 3, 1877.

Balance in fund April 4, 1876. $555 63

Received subscriptions. 200 00

Received interest 46 37

Total building fund $802 00

TOTAL FUNDS

Bearing interest or held in cash, April 3, 1877.

General fund $ 644 13

Endowment fund.

551 45

Life membership fund. 50 00

Building fund.

802 00

$2,047 58

At this meeting Mr. R. B. Moore was elected presi- dent; Mr. V. T. Chambers, first vice-president; Mr. J. W. Hall, jr., corresponding secretary; Dr. J. H. Hunt, custodian; Mr. O. E. Ulrich, curator of palæontology. Dr. A. J. Howe read a paper on the "Life of John Hunter," which was subsequently published in pamphlet.

Mr. S. S. Bassler was elected curator of meteorology and Mr. V. T. Chambers curator of microscopy, at the meeting held June 5, 1877. Professor A. J. Howe read "A Biographical Sketch of Baron Cuvier," at the meet- ing held August 7, which was afterwards published in pamphlet; and on the second of October he read another paper on "American Archaeology," which was also pub- lished in pamphlet.

Mr. Charles Bodman, who was elected a member Sep- tember 1, 1874, died on the tenth day of May, 1875, leaving a will containing a bequest to this society of fifty thousand dollars, which sum should have been paid to the society at once ; but the payment was delayed until the sixteenth day of July, 1877, depriving the society of about two years' interest. There were no conditions or limitations attached to the bequest, and consequently, when the money was received, it was absolutely at the disposal of the society. The society had previously ap- pointed a board of trustees, one of whom is the treasurer, to receive the money and make such investments as the society should direct. The trustees, previous to entering upon the discharge of their duties, gave satisfactory bonds for the faithful performance of the trust. About eleven thousand five hundred dollars was invested in the pur- chase and repairing of the property on the corner of Broadway and Arch streets, in the month of October following. The collection and other property of the so- ciety was at once transferred from the rooms 46 and 48 College building to the new premises.

The society held its first meeting in its own building

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

on November 6, 1877. At this meeting the following resolution was unanimously adopted :

Resolved, That the members of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History tender the trustees of the Cincinnati college our heartfelt thanks for their generosity and kindness in furnishing this society a room in their building, free of charge, since the organization of this institution.

The balance of the bequest from Mr. Charles Bodman has been properly invested in bonds and mortgages, and the society now finds itself at home, in its own building, in affluent circumstances, and prepared to commence in earnest work for the advancement of science and the dif- fusion of knowledge.

At the meeting held January 1, 1878, the Mechanics' Institute sent to the Cincinnati Society of Natural His- tory a written proposition to donate the collection of minerals in its possession, known as the McClue Collec- tion; which offer was accepted, and the collection was transferred to the Society's building. Professor Claypole read a description of a new fossil, Glyptodendron Eaton- ense, which will appear in the American Journal of Science and Arts for April.

At the meeting held on February 5, 1878, the society authorized the publishing committee to publish a journal quarterly, to contain the proceedings and transactions of the society. This arrangement, if permanently main- tained, will be of great importance to the society and to students of natural science everywhere.

In view of the fact that the proceedings of this society, as heretofore made public through the newspapers, have contained only meagre notices of the many donations and kindnesses of persons not members of the society, and that several members have borne a large share of the labor necessary in arranging, classifying, and taking care of the collection in the rooms of the society, and in mak- ing the necessary arrangements for its display in the Cin_ cinnati exposition without any compensation, an honora- ble mention of their names at this time will not be regarded as out of place. It will, however, be impracti- cable to attempt to enumerate all of them here, but in a brief way to express the obligations of the society to those whose names have appeared in the foregoing pages. The society is also under many obligations to Major A. S. Burt, of the U. S. army ; Mr. John Robinson, Mr. Julius Dexter, Dr. E. S. Wayne, Hon. J. S. Gordon, Hon. T. A. Corcoran, the Cincinnati Zoological society, and the Smithsonian institution, for valuable contributions to its collections and library. Dr. H. H. Hill, Dr. R. M. Byrnes, Professor A. J. Howe, Mr. R. B. Moore, and Dr. D. S. Young, among others, are also deserving of especial thanks for the many services rendered the society.

The Cincinnati Society of Natural History is a chari- table institution, devoting all its energies to the advance- ment of science and education. The rooms are kept open to the public, so that all the advantages of the mu- seum may be enjoyed as well by those who are not mem- bers as by those who contribute annually the sum of five dollars towards its maintenance. In no event can any one profit by membership, beyond the nominal privilege of voting for the officers and participating in the work of the society.

On the second of March, 1880, a revision of the con-

stitution and by-laws was reported and adopted by the society. It has generously undertaken half the expense of the antiquarian researches made in Anderson and Columbia townships by the Madisonville Literary and Scientific society, and in return receives a proportionate share of the relics found by that society, which now form an important and very interesting feature of the Cincinnati collection. The papers of Dr. Metz and Mr. Charles F. Lowe, of the Madisonville association, on their archaeological investigations, have appeared in the journal of the Cincinnati society, with an admirable chart of the mounds and other works examined.

The following named gentlemen have been presidents of the society since its organization: Dr. John A. Warder, 1870-5 ; Samuel A. Miller, esq., 1875-6; Dr. W. H. Mussey, 1876-7; R. B. Moore, 1877-8; V. T. Cham- bers, 1878-9; Dr. R. M. Byrnes, 1879 -.

THE ENGLISH SPARROW IN CINCINNATI.

Making a somewhat abrupt descent from great things to small, we desire to insert here, finding no fitter place for it in the entire book, the entertaining history of the English sparrow in the Queen city, as related by a well- known Cincinnati naturalist, Dr. A. Zipperlein, in a com- munication to the Feathered World, a weekly paper pub- lished in Berlin, from which the following is translated:

The first English sparrows were brought to New York in the latter half of 1860. As they began to multiply and to check the ravages of the caterpillars on the shade trees in the streets and parks, other cities also began to express a wish for them. In Cincinnati it was especially the German citizens and German press that took the matter up. The English press in the city followed in favor of the sparrows, till at length the city council passed a resolution to buy two hundred pairs of the birds and distribute them throughout the public parks. So great was the demand for them, however, that only eighty pairs could be procured, and these cost eight dollars the pair. They were so distributed by the council that thirty-five pairs went to Lincoln park, thirty to Washing- ton park, and fifteen pairs to the small Hopkins park. The city coun- cil naturally expected they would stay therc. They were let loose on the appointed day, and rejoiced in their new-found freedom; but the trees and ornamental shrubs were a strange region to them, a luxury they did not understand, and in spite of the richly decked table offered them, the colonists that had been bought with money longed for the stables, abandoned swallows' nests, and dungheaps of their dear Ger- many, and one fine day these immigrants, that were to pay for their passage to America by their work, disappeared. They accepted the hospitality of the Americans only three days, and then, on that prin- ciple according to which every immigrant should shape his conduct, not to depend on others, but only on himself, and stand on his own feet, they deserted their festive boards and the charming parks, and wended their flight to Mill creek-a creek flowing through the western part of the city, whose banks are inhabited by German gardeners and dairymen, where German sounds saluted their ears, and straw peeped seductively out under stable roofs, which reminded them of their lost homes in Germany. The speech had a familiar tone to them; they saw German gardens, stables, and the old manure heaps, and the posses- sors of all these treasures, who had seen no German bird in thirty years, perhaps, rejoiced at the arrival of their feathered guests. Among the gardeners who mostly raise only vegetables, the sparrows could do no harm; neither could they among the milk people; and so it happened that the vanguard of the coming army of German birds was welcome everywhere. Their well-known prolific tendencies were not lost in the new climate. A year afterward single pairs came into the city here and there to look about them. The report must have been favorable, for soon they began to colonize themselves in the city, build- ing their artless nests under the ornamental cornices of the roofs or in holes in the walls. Bird-houses upon long poles, or upon trees in many streets, also invited them to remain. But the sparrows did not stop at colonizing the city, after they had become Americanized. They spread through the whole region round about, going as far as the starch fac-

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tory of Mr. A. Erkenbrecher, five miles from the city. They rightly guessed that they would be well received there, for Mr. Erkenbrecher is not only the man who proposed the introduction of German singing birds here, but he is also the father of our zoological garden. He did not deceive the confidence of the sparrows, for he immediately caused bricks to be left out here and there in a great factory chimney he was building, so that the sparrows might have nesting-places. Since the chimney is always warm, these petted sparrows breed here year in and year out. There was no want of food, but Mr. Erkenbrecher was at length obliged to put up wire trellises over the factory windows be- cause these fellow-countrymen that had been received in such a friendly manner, were soon no longer satisfied to pick their living in the streets, but helped themselves to the best that was laid up in store. Since then they have increased by the thousand, they are in every street in the city, where there is always a rich feast. They have not lost their impu- dence in the strange country; on the contrary, they appear to have adopted the American tramp, called a "loafer," as their model, and if possible are even more impudent than they were in their former home. It is true, there are here in the city no cherries or grapes to steal, and so they will always find advocates, because since their arrival there has been no destructive visitation of caterpillars. Nevertheless our prole- tarian has in some degree lost credit, at least among Americans who live in their country houses in the neighborhood of the city. These beg to be exeused from suffering the German bummer to build his nest in the richly decorated cornices of their villas and soil them all over. Then, too, this same sparrow, that could live abundantly off the crumbs from the rich man's table, steals the carefully cultivated cherries and grapes. Open war has not yet been declared against him, it is true, and the sparrow will never be exterminated from the cities, where he does no harm, but the owners of the villas will probably make a bit- ter fight against liim, especially when they find out that young sparrows broiled for breakfast are by no means to be despised.

CHAPTER XXV.

ART.

THE history of the development of the patronage and practice of the fine arts in Cincinnati possesses special interest. The seeds of a splendid bloom and fruitage be- ginning to appear to-day were planted even before the forest of barbarism was cleared. The field of its story has already been traversed by that intelligent inquirer, Mr. H. A. Rattermann, editor of the German Pioneer, from whose admirable essay on the subject much of the following is condensed :

The singular beauty of this region, especially at an earlier day, when the hillsides and valleys were still clothed in their primeval garb of forest and thicket, con- tributed in no small degree to bring budding artists to Cincinnati. They found here, not only the promise of a culture which would create a demand for their works, but of means that would enable art-lovers to gratify their tastes. Hence the unusual number of workers in fine art here, at a period in the city's history so early that their presence and labors would hardly have been expect- ed. Mr. Cist was able to write in his book of 1857:

"Cincinnati has been for many years extensively and favorably known as the birthplace, if not the home, of a school of artists who may be found in various parts of Europe, to say nothing of those in great numbers whose talents have found exercise in the various great cities of our own republic."

The first painter in Cincinnati was George Jacob Beck, either a German or of German stock, who came here in

a company of scouts with Wayne's army in 1792, and was in the campaign to the Maumee and the battle of the Fallen Timbers. He then settled here, and remained until 1800. It is thought that the gay decoration of General Wilkin- son's famous barge may have been the work of this artist. While in Cincinnati Mr. Beck married a daughter of M. Menessier, a refugee from France in 1789 and a man of prominence in his native land, who had settled first with the French colony at Gallipolis, and afterwards here. Beck's specialty was landscape painting, in which he at- tained some eminence, placing upon canvass many of the most beautiful scenes in this part of the Ohio Valley. He was also a poet, doing original work, as well as transla- tions from Greek and Latin authors. In 1800 he re- moved to Lexington, then a more promising place than Cincinnati, and died there in 1812. Mrs. Beck returned here and opened a drawing-school for ladies at the corner of Walnut and Third streets, which she maintained for at least fifteen years. Specimens of the work of this gift- ed pair are still extant, especially in Lexington.

During Beck's residence here, the place was visited, and perhaps inhabited for a short time, by the first artist in the Western country, Mr. William West, who emigrat- ed to Lexington in 1788. He was a well cultivated man, son of the rector of St. Paul's church in Baltimore; but did not use his gifts to much advantage, and painted few pictures.

John Neagle (or Neagli), a Boston boy of Swiss par- 'entage, who studied in Philadelphia under the celebrat- ed painter Sully, painted in Cincinnati in the early part of this century ; but removed to Lexington, and thence re- turned to Philadelphia in 1820. He is best known as the painter of the popular genre picture, Pat Lyon, the Black- smith, which has been extensively reproduced in engrav- ing and lithography. Neagle returned to Lexington in 1844, long enough to paint a portrait of Henry Clay, up- on a commission given him by the Whigs of Philadelphia.

A. H. Corwine, another early portrait painter here, came from Kentucky in 1817. His work was so well done that a number of leading citizens paid liberally for it in advance, and sent him to Philadelphia to study un- der Sully. There he improved rapidly, and painted some excellent portraits upon his return. He afterwards went to England, and never saw Cincinnati again, as upon coming back he went to Philadelphia, and died there.

Among the few art-workers of 1825 here was Mr. F. V. Peticolas, a miniature painter, who presently saw great- er profit or pleasure in more material pursuits, and aban- doned the easel for the plow, establishing himself on a farm in Clermont county.

Another early miniature painter was J. O. Gorman, who removed to Frankfort, Kentucky, after a limited stay here.

Later Cincinnati enjoyed the artistic labors of another of Sully's pupils, Mr. Joseph Henry Busch. He was a native of Kentucky, born in Frankfort in 1794, of Ger- man parentage. It is known that in 1826 Mr. Busch was at work in a studio in the Academy of Fine Arts, then kept by Professor Eckstein on Main street, between Third and Fourth. Mr. Eckstein was the founder of the academy that year. He was from Berlin, Germany, the

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son of a Prussian painter of distinction, who flourished in the time of Frederick the Great. He brought with him many busts and other art-works, which added greatly to the attractions of his rooms. His enterprise is thus fav- orably noticed in Drake and Mansfield's Cincinnati in 1826:

Mr. F. Eckstein, an intelligent and highly ingenious artist of this city, is about to conimence the formation of an academy of fine arts, on a plan well calculated to ensure success. His skill in sculpture and taking plaister casts, his taste in painting, and his enterprising in- dustry, will, even with a moderate amount of patronage, ensure the permanence and respectability of the institution. Mr. Eckstein has already a number of busts and other specimens of art, which will be arranged as the nucleus of his establishment, so soon as suitable apart- ments can be procured. A part of the plan embraces the delivery of lectures in the institution, illustrative of the departments of the arts which properly belong to an academy of this kind.

Mrs. Trollope, in her book on the Domestic Manners of the Americans, gives an amusing and undoubtedly prejudiced account of this academy and its fate. She says :

Perhaps the clearest proof of the little feeling for art that existed at that time in Cincinnati, may be drawn from the result of an experi- ment originated by a German, who taught drawing there. He con- ceived the project of forming a chartered academy of fine arts; and he succeeded in the beginning to his utmost wish, or rather "they fooled him to the top of his bent." Three thousand dollars were subscribed -that is to say, names were written against different sums to that amount, a house was chosen, and finally application was made to the Government and the charter obtained, rehearsing formally the names of the subscribing members, the professors, and the officers. So far did the steam of their zeal impel them, but at this point it was let off; the affair stood still, and I never heard the academy of fine arts men- tioned afterwards.

As already stated in effect, Eckstein's own work was mainly in sculpture. He made portrait-busts of a num- ber of Cincinnatians. One of his pupils became the most famous of American sculptors-Hiram Powers. He was a Vermont boy, brought here while still very young by his father, and serving variously in his earlier activity as an attendant in Langdon's reading-room on Third street, as clerk and errand boy in a grocery store, and finally as apprentice to Luman Watson, a clockmaker. He forever neglected his work, and remained but a short time in a place. Every hour which he could get from his legitimate employments was spent in Eckstein's apart- ments, watching with eager eyes the artistic processes which transformed dull clay and plaster into forms of al- most living beauty. The sculptor was pleased with the evidences of the boy's genius, and gave him instructions which soon developed it in the hopeful promise which has since manifested a master to the world. He aided young Powers to get a place as employee in Letton's Museum, where he obtained favor by his fidelity and ar- tistic talent, and for seven years was in charge of the wax-works, himself making a number of the figures, while continuing to practice under Eckstein upon clay and marble. In 1835, now in adult manhood, he went to Washington and sculptured a number of portrait-busts of celebrities there. His growing fame soon prompted the wealthiest citizen and patron of art in Cincinnati, Mr. Nicholas Longworth, who had been among the sub- jects of Powers' graver, to furnish means to send the artist abroad for study and practice. Powers settled in

Florence, where he afterwards resided and made himself and his great works known everywhere. Several of his busts and best-known works, originals or copies, are owned in this city-among the most beautiful of them the two angels in marble on the altar of St. Peter's Ca- thedral. The genesis of these works is told in the fol- lowing story : Over twenty-five years ago Archbishop Purcell wrote to Mr. Powers, asking what he would charge for a pair of angels "of the usual size." Powers replied that angels were in all sizes, little and big, and that he was unable to determine what the archbishop meant by "the usual size." To which the ever-ready ecclesiastic replied : "Take the two prettiest girls of Florence and put wings to them." The sculptor did so, or something like it, and produced the two beautiful figures which are now among the chief adornments of St. Peter's, and which certainly suggest the Italian style of female loveliness in their features, whatever Mr. Pow- ers' models or ideals may have been.

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History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 63

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