History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 41

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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IMPROVEMENT OF THE PRESS.

Thus stood the journalism of Cincinnati on the eve of the great Civil war. That event caused a number of changes, and gave birth to other publications. That it resulted as a purifying process is evident, for in 1867 James Parton, the eminent essayist and historian, in an article on Cincinnati for the Atlantic Monthly, remarks

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that "nowhere else, except in New York, are the newspapers conducted with so - much expense." He was assured by observing Cincinnatians "that the improve- ment in the tone and spirit of its daily press, since the late regenerating war, is most striking. It is looked to now by the men of public spirit to take the lead in the career of improvement upon which the city is entering." This was a high trib- ute, and spoke volumes in favor of the prosperity of the city. Mr. Parton was deeply impressed with the conditions of the Press, and declared it "astonishingly rich." "Think of an editor," he exclaims, "having the impudence to return the value of his estate at five millions of dollars !" And that, too, in the Queen City of the West. But the conditions have greatly improved since Parton wrote in 1867, and the growth of newspaper property has kept pace with other great interests, and its value to-day is far in advance of what it was at that time.

The Times-Star, the leading evening Republican paper, takes its name from the consolidation of two evening papers. The Times was founded in 1821 by Calvin W. Starbuck, as a weekly, when he was but nineteen years of age. He was the fastest type-setter in the West at that time, and being desirous to economise his funds until his enterprise proved self-supporting, he for years set up a great portion of the paper himself, and also assisted in its delivery to subscribers. He was eminently suc- cessful as a publisher and business man, and, to use the words of a modern writer, "was great in goodness." The Star was started February 2, 1872, by the "Star Publishing Company." After the death of Mr. Starbuck, which occurred Novem- ber 15, 1870, his paper was purchased by Benjamin Egleston, Alexander Sands, Calvin W. Thomas and others, the proprietors of the Daily Chronicle, which had become a daily in 1839. The Times was for some time called the Times-Chronicle, but soon afterward returned to its original title. The paper was then resold to David Sinton, Charles P. Taft and H. P. Boyden, and it was consolidated with the Star in June, 1880. The paper now occupies a magnificent building, specially erected for it, and its appointments in every respect are first-class. It has no Sun- day edition.

Another literary publication, first known as the Fat Contributor's Saturday Night, and afterward as the Cincinnati Saturday Night, attracted wide attention for a few years. It was started July 20, 1872, by Capt. L. Barney and A. Minor Griswold. Under the first title it ran until 1873, when it was changed to Cincinnati Saturday Night, and the following April Griswold became sole owner. He was a well-known humorous writer of his day. In 1880 J. C. Getzendanner became associate editor, and remained as such until 1883, when Mr. Griswold went to Europe. He then took entire charge of the paper as editor and publisher, and kept it up to the high standard it had reached. Mr. Griswold returned in September, 1884, and finding business very much depressed, the result of the riots in March of that year, he offered the paper and outfit for sale, but failing to find a purchaser for the entire concern, he disposed of the plant by piecemeal, and the publication was suspended.

The Cincinnati Post, established January 3, 1881, is a four and six-paged even- ing paper. It is noted for its industry and activity in gathering the news and lay- ing it promptly before the public. It is independent in politics, and publishes sev- eral editions during the day and evening. Being sold for a penny it has a large circulation. No Sunday edition is issued. It is published by an incorporated com- pany, of which Edward W. Scripps is president, and Milton A. McRae, secretary and treasurer. The office of publication is on Longworth street, and the mechian- ical equipment is first-class.

The Cincinnati Tribune, a new morning Republican paper, was founded January 4, 1893, by a company. It contains from four to eight and ten pages, and is sold at two cents in the city. It has a Sunday edition. The office of publication is in a magnificent building on Main street, opposite the government building and post office.

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Without any further attempt to particularize the various publications of Cincin- nati, by giving the dates and the names of the founders of all papers and magazines started within the last quarter of a century, it may, however, for the benefit of the reader and future historians, be proper to give the titles of all, properly classified, as they appeared in Williams' Directory for June, 1893. They were as follows:

Newspapers, Daily, English :-- Price Current, Tribune, Enquirer, Post, Stock Exchange, Times-Star, Commercial Gazette, Court Index, Kentucky Post, New York Stock Market.

Daily, German :- Anzeiger, Freie Presse, Volksblatt, Volksfreund, Zeitung, Taegliche, Abend Presse.

Daily, Italian :- Il Progresso Italo-Americana, L'Eco D'Italia.

Weekly, English :- American Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer, American Catholic Tribune, American Grange Bulletin, American Israelite, Buds of Hope, Business and Pharmaceutical Record, Catholic Telegraph, The Chic, Christian Leader, Christ- ian Standard, Bulletin of Prices Current, The Enquirer, Golden Rule, Item, Lancet Clinic, Live Stock Review, Price Current, Railway Guide, Record, Suburban News, Weekly Gazette, Weekly Times, Columbia Times, Crockery and Glassware Journal, Family Herald, Farm Implement News, Herald and Presbyter, Iron Age, Iron Trade Review of Cleveland, Journal and Messenger, Light of Truth, Lutheran World, Merchant and Manufacturer, Merchant Sentinel, Merchant Traveler, Metal Worker, Once a Week, Pharmaceutical Record, Primary Lesson Paper, Produce Trade Reporter, Pure Words, Sabbath Visitor, Shopping, The Southwest, Standard Lesson Leaf, Suburban Enterprise, Tonsorial Advocate, Sunday-School Advocate, Trade Bureau, Trade Bureau of New York, Transcript, Western Christian Advocate, Western Tobacco Journal, Williams' Weekly Courier, Young Men's Institute Weekly Record, Young People's Standard, The Anti-Boodler.

Weekly, German :- Christliche Apologete, Christliche Jugendfreund, Anzeiger, Freie Presse, Volksblatt, Volksfreund, Die Deborah, Die Glocke, Evangelisches Gemeindeblatt, Familien Journal, Protestantischer Hausfreund, Sonntag Morgen, The South West, Wahrheitsfreund, Westliche Blaetter.

Semi-Weekly :- Cincinnati Gazette.

Monthly :- American Ecclesiastical Review, American Furniture Gazette, American Industrial World, American Rural Criterion, The Artizan, The Auxiliary, Beta Theta Pi Magazine, Carpenter and Builder, The Car- riage World, Children's Home Monthly Record, Chips, Christian Press, Church Bul- letin, Church Chronicle, The Cigar Trade Magazine, Cincinnati Medical Journal, Club and Society News, The Courier, The Dental Register, Eclectic Medical Journal, The Elks, Express Gazette, Family Herald, Farm Implement News of Chicago, Financial Review and American Building Association News, Fliegende Blaetter, The Harness World, Haus und Herd, Indiana Standard, The Informer, The Inter- national Detective, Iron Molders' Monthly Journal, Knights' Journal, Lehrer Zeit- ung, The Lumber Worker, Masonic Review, Medical Gleaner, The Merchant, Mer- chant and Manufacturer, Merchants Magazine, Monthly Caller, Musical Messenger, Musical Visitor, The New Age, Ohio Builder, Ohio Dental Register, Ohio Medical Journal, Ohio Propaganda, Ohio Standard, People's Aid, Picture Lesson Paper, Public School Bulletin, Sabbath Papers, The Sabbath Visitor, Saloon Trade Maga- zine, Saxby's Magazine, St. Francisci Gloecklein, Der Sendbote, Shoe and Leather Age, The Sokesman, Squire's Musical Advertiser, Sunday-School Journal, The Ton- sorial Trade Magazine, The Watch Dial, The Western Architect and Builder, The World's Progress, Young Men's Christian Monthly Bulletin, Y. M. I. Journal.

Semi-Monthly :- Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular of New York, Classmate, Co-Operative News, Deutscher Hauschatz, Furniture Worker, Die Glocke, The Iron Age, Pharmaceutical Record, Sunday-School Classmate.

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Quarterly :- Beginner's Quarterly, Berean Beginners' Lesson, Berean Interme- diate Lesson, Berean Senior Lesson Leaf, Bibelforscher, Bible Lessons, Der Bil- deraal, Christian Educator, Intermediate Quarterly, Leaf Cluster, Senior Quarterly, Sloan's Legal and Financial Register, Standard Bible Lesson, Standard Lesson Leaf.

Annual :- American Jews' Annual, Cincinnati Hinkende Bote, Deutsch Ameri- kanischer Familien Kalender, Parvin's Newspaper Directory, Stadt und Land Kal- ender, Standard Eclectic Commentary, Williams' Cincinnati Directory.

Semi- Annual :- Blue Book of the Furniture Trade.

SUMMARY.

The foregoing classifications may be summarized as follows: English dailies, 10; German dailies, 6; Italian dailies, 2; English weeklies, 57; German weeklies, 15; semi-weekly, 1; monthly, 68; semi-monthly, 9; Quarterly, 14; annual, 7; semi- annual, 1-making a grand total of 210 publications of all kinds.

Looking back over the past hundred years we are impressed with the great num- ber of publications that have appeared since Maxwell's Centinel in November, 1793, and the Anti-Boodler, by Charles H. Scott, September, 23, 1893, that have arisen, sought fame for a short time and then passed away. Whilst the foregoing review of the journalism of Cincinnati is more exhaustive, perhaps, than any that has yet appeared, it is not claimed to be perfect. In the span of a century it is very easy to overlook ephemeral publications, especially when no record of their existence has been preserved, and the wave of oblivion has long since swept over their graves. Neither has it been possible within the scope of this chapter to notice all as fully as they deserved, or to speak of the traits, characteristics and history of the many emi- nent writers and journalists that have been connected with them.

For a city of less than four hundred thousand inhabitants, the foregoing final summary of its publications must be accepted as a very creditable record. They cover every subject-politics, religion, education, trade, commerce, manufactures, sci- ence, medicine, literature, society, and sports. The great dailies are unsurpassed in enterprise, ability and industry. Many of the magazines and literary publications are conducted by editors of high standing, experience and ability, and their writings and opinions have a powerful influence in molding public sentiment, and in advanc- ing education, religion and civilization.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE GERMANS IN CINCINNATI.

EARLY AND DISTINGUISHED SETTLERS-FIRST HISTORY OF THE TOWN WRITTEN BY HECKE- WELDER-THE FIRST EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE TOWN A GERMAN-LONG LINE OF MEN EMINENT IN LITERATURE AND THE PROFESSIONS-GREAT RESULTS.

N O element has been more intimately and powerfully identified with the success and prosperity of Cincinnati than the German. Always noted for their in- dustry, frugality and steady habits, these people have contributed largely to make the city what it is to-day; and to no class of settlers, therefore, is more credit due. The sturdy German came with the first settlers; first in a military capacity in the service of his adopted country, and when the wars were over he quickly resumed the peaceful habits of his race, and turned a willing hand to aid in the development of the county just reclaimed from the savage. .

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

The first man to write a full account of the settlement of Cincinnati was the cele- brated John Heckewelder, the pious Moravian missionary among the Indians. He came here July 2, 1792, accompanied by Gen. Putnam, of Marietta, and spent sev- eral days in the town. While here he preached to the people and mingled among them freely. He was then on his famous journey to the Wabash, and the journal he kept on that occasion is one of the most interesting contributions to our early his- tory. His description of Cincinnati is very full and interesting, and those who care to read it will find it in the " Pennsylvania Magazine of History" for 1887. Mr. Heckewelder was somewhat acquainted with the Northwest Territory, having some years before aided in founding Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas, where the Christian Indians were so atrociously butchered in 1788 by Williams and his mili- tiamen from Pennsylvania. After making his great journey through the wilderness, and conferring with numerous tribes, he returned to his beloved Bethlehem.

In the first years of the legal existence of the infant village, two Germans were elected to fill the first municipal offices, viz .: Maj. David Zeigler, 1802-3; Martin Baum, 1807-12. The former was here as early as 1788, in the military service.

CINCINNATI'S FIRST OFFICIAL.

Maj. David Zeigler was born at Heidelberg in 1748. At an early age he began his military career as a subordinate officer under Frederick the Great. He also served in the Russian army during the reign of Catharine the Second in the cam- paign against the Turks, which ended with the cession of the Crimea to Russia. He came to America in 1775 for the purpose of entering the Revolutionary army. Early in that year he was commissioned third lieutenant in Capt. Ross' company at Lan- caster, Penn., which was recruited in that county, and was immediately sent to es- cort a supply of powder to Washington's army at Cambridge. On the 25th of June, 1775, he was 'promoted first lieutenant and adjutant of Col. William Thompson's battalion of riflemen. This regiment was the second in Pennsylvania to enlist for the war. On the 6th of January, 1776, he was promoted first lieutenant of a com- pany of the First Pennsylvania Continental Infantry, and December 8, 1778, he was raised to the rank of captain. From his promotion to the end of the Revolution he served as senior captain in this famous regiment, which Wayne said "always stepped to the front for glory." He distinguished himself in the battles of Long Island, Brandywine, Monmouth, and Bergen Point. The same day he was promoted he was made inspector of the Pennsylvania brigade. He was once taken prisoner, but was soon exchanged. He served in the Carolinas in 1783, returning to Phila- delphia by water. At the close of the war he became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. When Gen. Harmar was sent on his western expedition Capt. Zeigler accompanied him. He was also with Gen. Lincoln. On the 29th of December, 1791, he was promoted to the rank of major. He saw much hard service during the Indian wars in the Northwest Territory. As an officer he stood high, being noted for his military bearing, promptness to obey orders, and for having one of the best drilled companies in the service. In the spring of 1789 he married Lucy, youngest daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Coggeshall) Sheffield, of Marietta, while sta- tioned at the fort there. Maj. Zeigler resigned in 1792, settled in Cincinnati, and engaged in business as a storekeeper. After serving as the first president of the village council in 1802, he was appointed by Jefferson in 1804 the first marshal of the Ohio District, and in 1809-11 he filled the office of surveyor of the port of Cin- cinnati. Maj. Zeigler was greatly esteemed by the people for his many noble quali- ties as a soldier and civilian. He died in 1811, aged sixty-three years, and was buried with military honors. His name and fame have always been held in grateful remembrance by his posterity.

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A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.

Martin Baum (born at Hagenau, July 15, 1761; died in Cincinnati December 14, 1831,) did much-more, perhaps, than any man of his time-to improve and elevate the German element in Cincinnati and the great Ohio Valley. Through his great wealth, which he had accumulated through many successful business enterprises, he helped a great deal to raise his people to a higher standard. As early as 1803, he called into existence the first bank in the West, entitled the "Miami Exporting Company," whose president he remained for many years. Through this company, which carried on at the same time a great transportation business, Baum became one of the most important promoters and improvers of the navigation of the rivers of the West. He called to life the first sugar refinery, the first iron foundry, the first woolen factory, the first steam flouring-mill, and other industrial establishments so much needed by the people. Through these industries many persons found work and profit who otherwise would have been compelled to struggle hard for existence; and when he could not find enough good and skilled workmen in the new country, he would enlist in Baltimore and Philadelphia newly-arrived immigrants, and bring them to the new settlement on the Ohio. In this way the current of emigration was directed toward the West, and it increased in strength and volume from year to year. Not only this, but the first ornamental garden, as well as the first vineyard, which Baum laid out at Deer Park-now within the city limits-marks him as one of the most industrious and progressive men of his time.

His spirit was ever active-his mind was restless. He aided more than any body else to push along improvements. His taste for art, science and literature attracted the attention of men of culture who settled here early, largely on account of the beautiful natural surroundings and the loveliness of the scenery. The foundation of the Lancaster School in 1813, out of which arose the Cincinnati College in 1818, was, besides Judge Burnet's, principally Baum's work. He was its first vice-president, and served for many years as an active member of the board. This great and good man, whose restless mind ever yearned for the intellectual advancement of his peo- ple, was one of the original stimulators and founders of the first public library of the West in February, 1802; of the Western Museum in 1817; of the Literary Soci- ety in 1818; of the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture in the West in 1819; and of the Apollonian Society in 1823.

As early as 1812 he was nominated for Congress, but positively refused to be a candidate, because he could not spare the time to be absent from his many business operations. If we consider that he was in those days the wealthiest and most respected citizen of Cincinnati; that he was also president of the Cincinnati branch of the Bank of the United States; and that he stood in connection with the most important men of the land, it is clear that Baum was to the German element in the first period of the history of the settlement a powerful support. His house was always open and his hospitality was unbounded. All intellectually great men were especially welcome. Julius Ferdinand von Salis, cousin of the great German lyric poet, Count Johann Gaudez von Salis, lived with him about the year 1817. He had traveled through the Orient as a natural philosopher, "and wrote here," says Klauprecht, "in the retirement of this western market town, his experiences and impressions of the cradle of mankind for a German publisher, when in the year 1819 death took the pen out of his hand."

OTHER PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS.

In 1817 Albert von Stein came to Cincinnati. Previous to this he had gained in the United States quite a reputation as an engineer. He was the promoter and builder of the Cincinnati water-works, the first water-works of the country which were worked by pumps. Afterward Stein was for a while engaged in Philadelphia

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as draughtsman for Wilson's " Illustrated Ornithology." He built the water- works at Richmond and Lynchburgh, Va., the Appomattox canal, near Petersburgh, Va., and the water-works at New Orleans, Nashville, and Mobile. Of the last named works he was the owner until his death, which occurred in 1876, when he was aged eighty-four years.

Dr. Friedrich Reese, a very learned, active, and popular man, was the first German Catholic priest in Cincinnati. This was in 1825. He was at one time bishop of Detroit. He was born at Vianenburg, near Hildesheim, and had, like Pio Nono, first served in the cavalry, and then studied theology. He died at Hilde- sheim December 27, 1871, after having been called to Rome and given up his epis- copate in 1841. While in Cincinnati Dr. Reese was the founder of the Scientific School, the Athenaeum, which passed afterward into the hands of the Jesuits, and was changed by them into the present St. Xavier College. He wrote a history of the Bishopric of Cincinnati, which was published in 1829 at Vienna, and was otherwise busy in literary pursuits. Joseph Zaslein, Jakob Gulich, and Ludwig Heinrich Meyer were the first German Protestant pastors in Cincinnati .- Reference to the founding of the first German papers, political as well as religious, will be found in the chapter on the Press.

Another prominent early settler was Karl Gustav Rumelin (now spelled Ree- melin). He was born in Heilbronn, March 19, 1814, and came to the United States in 1832, when the great emigration from Wurtemberg and Hessen took place. He landed in Philadelphia August 27, 1832, and remained there for some time. He reached Cincinnati in 1833, and soon found a position in a store. Having a taste for politics he took much interest in political affairs and public life. In 1834 he was one of the founders of a German society, of which he re- mained a member for forty years. In 1836 he became connected with the German press, and took an active part in politics. He learned the trade of a printer, set type on his own paper, ran the press, and, when it was necessary, car- ried and delivered his own papers. It was largely through his influence that Hamilton county, which in 1834 had given a majority for the Whigs, gave from 1836 to 1840 a majority for the Democrats. In 1837 he married a Swiss lady, and in the spring of 1843 he sold his press and removed to the country. After making a visit to Europe he returned in time to be elected from Hamilton county to a seat in the Lower House of the Ohio Legislature for 1844 and 1845; and in 1846 he was elected for two years to the Senate. He made an active member of both bodies. His report in favor of the annexation of Texas was reprinted in many Democratic papers, and attracted much attention. In 1846, 1847, 1848 he studied law with Judge Van Hamm, passed his examination and was admitted to the law. But he did not follow his profession. In 1849 he visited Europe again, and while abroad acted as correspondent for the New York Evening Post. While in Germany he was elected a member of the convention which was to revise the Constitution of Ohio. This was in 1850. He took his seat in the convention, and the article in the Constitu- tion of 1851, which prevented the legislature from making arbitrary divisions in the electoral districts, was due to his efforts. He supported Fremont, but did not vote for Lincoln or Douglas. He was a warm friend of Breckinridge, whom he knew personally and greatly respected. Altogether he made six journeys to Europe. In 1876 he voted for Tilden. This same year he was elected by popular vote for two years to the honorary office of a member of the board of control for Hamilton county. In addition to his newspaper work, he found time to write several books, many scientific and descriptive articles, as well as magazine contributions. One of his most important works is a "Treatise on the Science of Politics," which was published by Robert Clarke & Co. At this writing (1893) he is still living at the ripe age of eighty years.

Among the German literary celebrities of Cincinnati none stand higher than

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Heinrich A. Ratterman, for many years editor of the Pionier. He is a native of Ankum, District of Osnabruck, Germany, where he was born October 14, 1832. He came to this country with his parents in 1846, and settled in Cincinnati. At leisure moments he devoted his time to learning the English language, which he speedily acquired, and there are few in the city to-day who speak it more correctly. On the death of his father in 1850, the care of the family devolved on him, but he did not shrink from the task. He continued his studies in the meantime, and finally grad- uated from a commercial college, becoming then bookkeeper for one of his rela- tives who was engaged in the lumber business. Through his influence and con- tinued efforts, the German Mutual Fire Insurance Company was founded in the spring of 1858, and became soon after one of the most successful institutions of the kind in the United States. For more than thirty years he has served as secretary and business manager of the concern. But the great activity which he has devoted to this institution has not checked his inner impulse for literary work and music. He has written poetry in the German and English languages, and worked with espe- cial industry in the field of historical investigation, particularly in the history of civilization. He traces up, with a peculiar zeal and genuine enthusiam, the gener- ations of the German immigrants into the most remote period, and his investiga- tions into this and kindred subjects are not only deeply prosecuted, but betray a sharp and critical judgment. And it is doubtful if there is a better posted man to-day in Cincinnati on the history of the early German settlers. There is hardly a book or pamphlet which can give him any material for his historical work that is not known to him. He takes especial pride in the fact that the first history of Cincinnati was written by a German in 1792. Being engaged for a number of years with such historical work, he edited for eleven years the Deutscher Pionier -started in 1869-which aimed to give in an entertaining style a view of the past and present of German life in America. This journal, which was discontinued at the end of the eighteenth volume, contains a vast amount of valuable information, which no one can use to better advantage than Mr. Ratterman in compiling a history of immigration, and there is a strong desire that he will put it in shape not only for the benefit of the present generation, but for posterity. Several years ago he pub- lished an historical sketch of Cincinnati, several novels, and a history of the Great West. He is also very fond of music, and is himself a good musician; he was one of the founders and a member of the Sangerbund, the Mannerchor and, the Orpheus societies; also a member of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio; a member of the Cincinnati Library Club; a corresponding member of the New York Historical Society, and one of the founders of the German Literary Club of Cin- cinnati. He owns a large and valuable library, which is particulary rich in works of a historical character. In the interest of the insurance company he has also studied law, especially that branch which relates to insurance, and is, therefore, qualified to give advice on matters pertaining to his business.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 41

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592