History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 58

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

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

corner of the basement. The idea of firing the courthouse began with this collection of boys and half-grown men, who were led, it is said, by men and boys from Ken- tucky. The furniture and broken counters were piled up in the middle of the room, and coal oil was poured upon them. The match was applied, and a small flame quickly shot forth. It leaped from one article to another, gathered head and roared with increasing strength. The mob cheered and yelled. One office after another was fired, and soon the flames were dancing in every apartment of the front base- ment. When the mob reached South Court street it rushed along the side of the courthouse, intending to fire the offices on that side. It was met by a volley of musketry which made it stagger and rush around the corner again. Soon after a white handkerchief tied to a stick was waved, and then a number of the rioters cautiously appeared and carried off the dead and wounded. In a few minutes after- ward the sheriff's red auction flag, through which the mob had been firing bullets, was waved, and again the mob surged around the corner, emptying its firearms at the barricade. "Fire!" And another volley made every wall in the narrow street tremble, and the multitude rushed back, some reeling and falling, others tripping over them, then picking themselves up and continuing the flight. Again the white flag was waved. "Make way, gentlemen, make way for the wounded," called out several surgeons, whom a sense of professional duty had called to the scene. "Make way," and the crowd opened lanes through which was carried many a poor fellow who had rushed around the corner but a minute before. Soon the tables of the Debolt Exchange were covered with mangled bodies, some from which life had fled, others which were gasping with feeble and perishing breath. The surgeons busied

themselves with these while the battle went on without. After this the militia kept up a dropping fire on the mob whenever it showed itself, and continually the num- ber of the wounded increased. The Debolt could not hold them all. Burdsal's drug store below Canal, and a saloon on Ninth street, were turned into temporary hospitals. This sort of skirmishing continued for hours, and amid it all the court- house burned slowly. Steadily the flames crept from room to room through a stone building alleged to be fireproof. Anon the flames pierced the roof, dense volumes of smoke poured through the ventilator over the rotunda, iron shutters bent in the heat, iron girders sprang from their seats on iron pillars with loud explosions, records which were eloquent with human joys and sorrows turned into bright flame and vanished, while passions as hot as the fire raged around the devoted pile. Nothing could be done to stay the remorseless flames-the fierce mob would not allow it. Thus for the second time perished the Hamilton county temple of justice by flames.

Military Begin to Arrive .- But another turning point had been reached, and the insulted majesty of the law and order began to assert itself with greater force. Soldiers began to arrive from other parts of the State. First came the Fourth Reg- iment, but only to teach Dayton how little reliance she might place in her citizen soldiery. Appalled by the hostility of the mob, which would have made respectful room before a gleaming line of bayonets, this regiment halted within sight almost of the building, which was only beginning to burn, and ingloriously returned to the depot from which it came. Capt. Frank Brown, of Company A, after trying vainly the command, returned with several members of his Dayton company to the lines the next day and did good service. The remainder of that company left for their homes in Dayton. Companies of the regiment from Springfield and other points retrieved their fame by assisting in quelling the disturbance the following day, and some of the Daytonians were forced to return by the scorn of their wives and fellow- townsmen. But the majority of them failed to return.

Not so the gallant Fourteenth, of Columbus. This regiment arrived at half-past ten, an hour after the Fourth, and marched from the Little Miami depot to the scene of conflict. They were ordered to clear the street before the courthouse.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Marching down South Court street they drove the mob before them. Company A pushed the mob up Main street. Companies B and F wheeled to the left upon the mob in Court street, and found themselves engaged with the real rioters. At first the mob gave way; then sixteen or twenty rioters separated themselves from the mass, precipitated themselves through the first company, several falling dead in their tracks at the first volley, and were caught by the colored company, the Duffy Guard, and pushed aside.

Ten of this regiment were soon wounded under the fire of the mob, and the com- mand devolved from one officer to another until the third who took command gave the order to fire. With the precision of veterans, platoon after platoon delivered its fire. It was about midnight when the rapid succession of crushing volleys told that the tables had turned, and many an anxious citizen ejaculated his thanks, as he divined that the mob had met its master. The mob rushed up Court street. Every volley found its victims, and Kinzbach's drug store, at the corner of Court and Wal- nut streets, was soon filled with the dead and dying. The rush of fugitives into the store and the crashing of bullets through the windows imperiled the lives of the wounded and the surgeons, who were mostly devoting themselves to suffering human- ity. It was too much for the mob. The Fourteenth held the ground it had cap- tured, and the Gatling gun was brought up from its post near the jail to support the militia. Then the skirmishing continued. Occasionally some section of the mob, with reckless daring, sprang from behind a sheltering corner to fire on the troops. The troops returned the fire, not in volley, now, for the discharge of two or three guns was enough to disperse the crowd, and almost every such episode added to the list of the dead and wounded. Thus the night wore away, and with the gray dawn the firing gradually ceased.

Stirring Incidents .- Soon after the Fourteenth Regiment had driven back the mob, a couple of engines were sent for and brought around, under military escort, to Sycamore street. The firemen laid their hose without hindrance, and played upon the burning courthouse for the rest of the night. They were enabled to save the northeast corner of the building, including the recorder's office, the grand jury rooms, the coroner's office, and the carpenter's shop in the basement. Their suc- cess showed that the fire might have been stopped at any stage, but for the violence of the mob.

About 9 o'clock a portion of the mob started down Main street to procure arms and ammunition. William Powell & Company's gun store was attacked, and coal oil barrels were rolled up to the front of the store with the intention of burning it. The result was totally unexpected to the mob. A barricade of empty boxes had been built in the store, and behind this lay several clerks armed with repeating rifles. Guilford Stone had stationed himself at an open window in the second story. The street was jammed with heads when Mr. Stone let loose his bat- teries. At the first discharge five men fell, two of them dead. Soon the mob was in full retreat. About midnight a telephone message came to the Hammond street police station to the effect that a squad of the rioters had captured two cannon in Power Hall, and was then on its way up Main, from Fourth street, toward Powell's. Lieut. Burke took a squad of police with him, and came upon the rioters as they stopped in front of Powell's to get ammunition. One volley from the " navy sixes,'' and each rioter was seeking safety in his own individual way. The police ran down and captured several prisoners, and then trundled the cannon up to the Main street barricade, and delivered the pieces to the militia.

It was on this night that Capt. John J. Desmond, of Company B, First Regi- ment, was killed. * He was leading a detachment of his company through the court-

* In the corridor of the new courthouse, to the right of the foot of the main stairway as you enter from the street, is a marble tablet inserted in the wall, which bears this inscription: " In memory of John J. Desmond, attorney at law, and captain of Company B, First Regiment, O. N. G., who was killed near this spot March 29, 1884, while defending the courthouse from lawless violence. This tablet is erected by members of the bar."

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

house to protect the county's property, before it had been fired by the mob. As his detachment emerged and deployed upon the street, a ruffian aimed a revolver at him and brave Desmond was no more. During the evening his murderer was taken into the jail mortally wounded, and confessed his crime before he gave up the ghost.

This is the history of the second night. Revenge was the motive of the mob- revenge for those killed during the attack on the jail. The rioters no longer thirsted for the blood of the imprisoned murderers, but for the blood of the militia who were preserving law and civilization against anarchy. During the disturbance the com- munistic element showed itself in a hand bill distributed around the city advising the formation of vigilance committee to "purify " the city. No heed was paid to it, and by the single act the handful of socialists in the city showed how weak they were.

Third and Last Day of Terror .- Sunday was a day of apprehension. Rumors filled the city. Threatening crowds confronted the barricades, which, with the strengthening of the military force, had been moved out to cover the smouldering ruins of the courthouse. It was rumored that Music Hall, "Hunt's Hotel " and other places were to be attacked, and citizens and militia looked forward to a night of carnage and fire. Troops continued to arrive all day. The city buildings were turned into barracks. ; Soldiers stacked their arms and slept in the jail, on Court and Main streets, in the corridors of the city hall, and in the City Park. Sleep was sweet to many of them, even on a blanket spread on the hard ground behind the barricades.

The mob that confronted the barricades was noisy and demonstrative. One stubborn man was shot down on North Canal street, the only man who lost his life in broad daylight during the whole riot. Threatenings were loud and bloodthirsty. The severe handling the mob had received from the Fourteenth Regiment, the knowledge that the militia organizations were pouring into the city on every rail- road, and the reaction of sentiment caused by the wanton destruction of the court- house, were all having their effect on the mob. About 8:25 o'clock P. M., the mob at Court and Walnut streets grew more demonstrative and could not be quieted. Suddenly several shots were fired at the troops, who responded with a blank volley. The mob coolly stayed to note the effect of the fire, and, finding it was with blank cartridges, did not budge. The next volley raised a cloud of dust and dropped sev- eral of the rioters, and the balance lost no time in dispersing. This cleared the street for some time.

About 11 o'clock P. M., a gang of half-grown boys, who had visited Bohne, one of the jurors in the Berner trial, at his house, intending to adjust a noose to his neck, and, luckily, failed to find liim, came down to the Court street market-house and fired upon the barricade. The gatling gun was turned loose for the first time. It filled the air with bullets* and several of the rioters dropped. The others hid behind pillars of the market-house and the street corners, and annoyed the militia for some time. Whenever a fair chance was afforded the machine gun was turned loose, and a few more added to the wounded.

The mob rapidly thinned out after midnight, and by 3 o'clock in the morning there was not so much as a knot of men to be seen at any corner of the battlefield. It soon became apparent that the mob was conquered, and a feeling of relief fell upon the watching citizens, the militia and the city authorities.

During the night a portion of the mob which had been amusing itself by throw-

* Among residents of the neighborhood who made narrow escapes, was Maj. Jesse Fulmer. He keeps a house furnishing establishment at No 33 West Court street. His place of business was closed, of course, during the disturbance, as the mob was violent in this street. When the gun was fired one of the bullets crashed through his window, cut through a nest of tin pans sitting on a shelf, then passed through a pine board and flattened itself against the brick wall. A minute or two before the gun was fired he was at tlie door peering through a crack at the mob, and had just stepped back when the ball crashed through. Had he remained at the door he would have been killed, as he was in the line of the shot. The bullet holes can still be seen, and the Major has preserved the perforated tin pans as relics.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

ing cars off the track at Elm and Twelfth streets started for Music Hall, firing off pistols as it went. After some parley with the officers of the building the mob entered Power Hall, and began to put together the parts of a cannon they found there. Word was sent to the city buildings, and two companies of the Sixth, the Waverly and Lancaster companies, were dispatched to the scene. The rioters fled, but three of them were captured. About the same time a raid was made on the pawnbrokers' shops on Central avenue, near Sixth, by thieves. A squad of police charged them and captured a number in the stores. In the police court next morn- ing all these men got heavy sentences.

Scenes at the Morgue .- Ghastly were the scenes at the morgue. In a small room, lighted by two candles, lay stretched out, at one time, the stiffened bodies of twenty victims staring at the ceiling. Some with great blackened holes in their heads or breast, with hands upraised as if in the very act of hurling a missile; others with shoulders half torn away, leaving bloody gaps through which their lungs could be seen. The wounds made by those slugs were horrible. At the hospital were about one hundred and fifty wounded and dying. The sufferers bore their pain with remarkable fortitude. Few were the groans, and some of those severely wounded were ready to converse about themselves and the scenes they had witnessed, while the torn nerves throbbed with agony.

All the country had its attention drawn to Cincinnati, and bulletin boards in distant cities were watched all day by eager crowds. The suspense and agony of apprehension in Ohio and Indiana was such as was witnessed during the first great battles of the Rebellion. The most startling rumors flew through the country. Every city of the State felt it had an individual interest in the issue. ' Persons hur- rying to Cincinnati, troops and officials, were surprised to find less excitement in the city, except in the vicinity of the courthouse, than prevailed in the smaller cities of Ohio and the neighboring States. The recklessness of the mob is what made apprehension greater. The cost in the loss of property, to say nothing of the lives that were sacrificed, was very great. The magnificent courthouse, which had cost fully seven hundred thousand dollars, * was a ruin, and hundreds of records had fallen a prey to the devouring flames.

In course of time a new building, more elegant and costly than the first, arose upon the site of the burned "Temple of Justice." It is complete in all its interior arrangements, the court rooms, and offices for the county officials, are ample in size; it is three stories in height, and a credit to the opulent county of Hamilton.

CHAPTER XXV.

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP.

BOUNDARIES-COVALT'S STATION-ORGANIZATION-FIRST PURCHASERS-VILLAGES-CHURCHES.

A NDERSON TOWNSHIP comprises that part of Hamilton county southeast of the Little Miami river. Comprising as it does the triangular area situ- ated between the Little Miami and Ohio, its surface is much broken by the hills characteristic of the country contiguous to the last named stream. Clough creek, Five Mile creek, Little Dry run, and Big Dry run are the principal interior streams.

* The records show that in 1851 the contract for the courthouse was awarded for $695,253.29. It had a front of 190 feet, with a depth of 190; was 60 feet in height and had three stories. The jail, which withstood all assaults of the mob, was built in 1861 of Dayton himestoue, and cost $226,520. The first courthouse, built in 1802, was burned in 1814, through the carelessness of some soldiers quartered in it. The second, which was erected on the site of the one destroyed by the mob, was completed in 1819. and burned July 9, 1849. What a strange fatality lias attended the courthouses of Hamilton county!

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Covalt's Station was a military post of importance during the period of Indian hostilities in this region. It derives its name from Abraham Covalt, and was situ- ated in the Little Miami valley twelve miles from its mouth. A detachment of twenty soldiers was stationed here in 1791. The protection they afforded seems to have been inadequate, however, for Covalt was killed and scalped while hunting near the fort. Gerard's Station was situated on Turkey Bottom, near the mouth of the Little Miami.

Anderson was organized as a township in 1793, and originally included parts of Clermont, Warren, and Brown counties. It was reduced to its present limits by the erection of Clermont in 1800. The first township officers were John Garrard, clerk; Jesse Garrard, constable; Richard Hall, overseer of roads; Joseph Frazee and Jacob Backoven, overseers of the poor; Joseph Martin and Jonathan Garrard, viewers and appraisers.

The whole of Anderson is situated within the Virginia Military Reservation, an extensive tract between the Scioto and the Little Miami, reserved by Virginia for the payment of her soldiers in the Revolution. The following is a partial list of original purchasers: Bennett Tompkins, John Crittenden, John Anderson, Holt Richardson, Robert Blair, William Cassel, John Demsey, Benjamin Gray, John Halfpenny, Daniel Sahon, John Green, James Giles, John Steele, Robert Powells, Abram Hites, Joseph Egglestone, Robert Morrow, Theodore Bland, A. Singleton, William Taylor, Jacob Fears, James Friggin, James McDonald, James Payton, John Brown, William Moore, William Mosileye, John Parke, James Pendleton, Gen. James Taylor, Hites & Robinson, Edward Stevens, Col. Richard Clough Anderson, Edward Clark, Joseph Neville, John Mead, Gen. George Washington, Nathaniel Wilson, Gen. Nathaniel Massie, John Nancarrous, P. Higgins, John Hains, Frank Taylor, John English, George C. Lights.

VILLAGES.

Mount Washington was laid out in 1846 by John L. Corbly, and originally con- sisted of a limited number of lots on the Ohio pike. The first purchaser was Stephen J. Sutton, by whom the first store was established. He was also the first post- master, and to him the village is indebted for its name. The store was conducted in a brick building at the corner of Corbly street and Ohio pike. This was the first brick building in the village, and was erected by Mr. Sutton, who still resides in the village in the enjoyment of a hale and hearty old age. Other early residents were Michael LeClere, Charles H. Wolff, William Dunham, David A. Garrett, and Stephen Corbly. The first mechanics were Nelson and James Fisher, carpenters; Michael LeClere, stonemason; James Judgeon, carpenter; David A. Garrett, car- penter; Robert Wheatley, James Mullen, and Stephen D. Corbly, Jr., blacksmiths. George Strasser manufactured farming implements, plows, carriages, wagons, etc., at one time, but the only manufacturing establishment in operation at the present time is the Colton canning and packing house.

Mount Washington was incorporated October 24, 1867. The first village officers were John H. Gerrard, mayor; William H. Gerrard, recorder, and George M. Short, John Bogart, Stephen J. Sutton, John B. Corbly, and Benneville Kline, council. The succession of mayors, with the year of election, has been as follows: 1867, John H. Gerrard; 1869, Benneville Kline; 1874, G. M. Short; 1876, D. W. Stevens; 1877, David A. Garrett; 1880, J. S. Martin; 1882, W. E. Atkins; 1886, A. W. Colter; 1892, David A. Garrett.

The first omnibus line to the city through Mount Washington was established in 1847 by Stephen J. Sutton. Amelia was the eastern terminus of the line: The village subsequently enjoyed the advantage of a line from Georgetown and Bethel. The Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad was constructed in 1877-78, and affords convenient facilities for travel and transportation.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Newtown, notwithstanding its name, is one of the oldest villages in the county. It was laid out by Elijah Yates for Gen. James Taylor, who gave it the name of Mercersburg, in honor of the Revolutionary hero, Gen. Mercer. There was a : collection of improvements here as early as 1798, and early in this century the vil- lage had attained fair proportions. Among early merchants were William E. White, John H. Gerrard and Henry Diebolt; John D. Carr, shoemaker; Hubbard Brown, blacksmith; Henry Crossley, carpenter, and George Earhart, wagon maker, were early representatives of their respective vocations. The "Miami House," of which one Newhouse was probably the first proprietor, was an old and well-known hos- telry. Originally a log building, it was replaced by the present brick structure, sixty years ago. This was erected by William Fisher. Newtown had a population of 552 in 1890.

California .- The founders of this village were Joseph Guthrie, John W. Brown, and Thomas J. Murdock. It is situated on the Ohio river, in the southwestern part of the township. A corporative industry was once conducted here under the name of the Molders' Union Foundry, but was not a success.

The remaining post villages of the township are Clough, on the turnpike of that name; Sweet Wine, in the southern part of the township; Cherry Grove, on the Georgetown and Ohio pike, three-fourths of a mile from the station of that name on the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia railroad; Forestville, a village of recent growth, on the same turnpike and railroad, and Cedar Point, the location of St. Gregory's College, an institution for the training of priests.

CHURCHES.

There are three churches at Newtown, viz., Methodist, Baptist, and Universalist. The Methodist church was originally erected in 1813, and the ground was given by Mrs. Edmond. Rev. Aaron W. Burdsal, a local preacher, organized the society. The present place of worship was erected in 1867. The Baptist church was organized in 1840 by Daniel Bryant, and the present brick church was built in 1841. The Uni- versalist church was built in 1854, Aquilla Durham, John Gerrard, and Jacob Thomas constituting the building committee. The church was organized at Mt. Carmel in 1850.

The churches of Mt. Washington are the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant, erected in 1851; the Baptist, erected in 1868, and the Church of the Guardian Angel (Roman Catholic), erected in 1892. Five Mile United Brethren church was built in 1844; it is a stone building, and the site was donated by Jacob Markley. Liberty chapel was built in 1848, and is a brick building. Five Mile Methodist Episcopal church was built many years ago, but has been recently re- modelled. Bethesda Methodist Protestant church was built in 1830, and rebuilt in 1865. Salem Methodist Episcopal church was built in 1863. The United Brethren

church, of Cherry Grove, was erected in 1854. The Methodist Protestant church, of Clough, was built in 1870, and the United Brethren in 1886. The Clough Baptist church is a very old building, erected probably seventy years ago.

The churches of California are the Methodist Episcopal and St. Jerome's Roman Catholic.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXVI.

COLERAIN TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIZATION-PIONEER HISTORY -- ROADS AND STREAMS-VILLAGES -- CHURCHES.

C OLERAIN TOWNSHIP is indebted for its name to John Dunlap, by whom it was conferred upon the village of Colerain, and then transferred to the township. Of this, mention will be made in the appropriate connection.

The organization of Colerain occurred in 1794, when the county court of quarter sessions ordered its erection with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the southwest corner of the fractional township on the Big Miami, in the second entire range, thence up the Miami to the north line of said fractional township, according to Symmes' plat; thence east to the meridian on the west side of the college town- ship; thence south to its southern boundary of said fractional township; thence west to the place of beginning." As at present constituted, the township is bounded on the north by Butler county, on the east by Springfield township, on the south by Green, and on the west by the Great Miami river, by which it is separated from Crosby and Whitewater township. Its northern boundary was established by the foundation of Butler county, which deprived it of considerable territory on the north; its present eastern boundary was established in 1803. The first township officers were John Dunlap, clerk; Samuel Campbell, constable; John Shaw, overseer of the poor; Isaac Gibson, Samuel Creswell, and John Davis, viewers of inclosures and appraisers of damages. Among its early justices of the peace were Judah Willey, Isaac Sparks, John Runyan, James Carnahan, Joseph Cilley, William H. Moore, Jonathan Cilley, Stewart McGill, and Noah Runyan.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 58

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