USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 51
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The Secretary of the Board of State Charities, Dr. A. G. Byers, in his last published report, after some notice of the troubles brought upon the asylum through political "re-organization," says: "The present status of the institu- tion is, so far as known, one of quiet and harmony. Recently, after a season of suspension, the trustees, who had so often and so openly denounced the superintend- ent as incapable, inefficient, and every way unfitted for such position, and who had been chiefly instrumental in bringing about the various and multitudinous investiga- tions, seem to have found out that after all they were mistaken, and so voted to reinstate and retain the super- intendent in charge of the asylum."
At the session of 1878 a joint committee of the senate and house of representatives was appointed by the general assembly, to confer with the authorities of Hamil- ton county, with reference to ascertaining "how and upon what terms the Longview asylum for lunatics can be acquired by or transferred to the State." This move- ment was prompted by the State board of charities, the members of which believed that all the insane of the State should be under the care of the State, by a uniform system applicable to all the asylums. A careful state-
ment of the cost of Longview to the county was made by Mr. W. S. Cappeller, county auditor, and some negotiation was had looking toward the total transfer of the institution; but the desired result has not yet been accomplished. As we write these lines (Thanksgiving day, 1880), another and similar negotiation is in progress between the county authorities and a committee of the State legislature.
The new asylum building began to be occupied by patients from the Lick Run asylum March 26, 1860, and the removals continued until May 3d, when two hundred and ninety-six had been transferred. The first patient consigned to the asylum by order of the probate court was received March 31st. May 9th of the same year, all patients in the State insane asylum at Dayton belong- ing to Hamilton county, were also transferred to Long- view. At the close of the twentieth year of its history, in November, 1879, four thousand one hundred and thirty-one cases had been received and treated, of whom three thousand four hundred and forty-eight had been discharged-one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine males and one thousand six hundred and fifty-nine fe- males-one thousand eight hundred and seventy re- covered, five hundred and ten improved, one hundred and eighty-two unimproved, twenty-three escaped, eight hundred and forty-one deceased, and twenty-two as not insane. Six hundred and sixty inmates were remaining -about two hundred more than the institution can pro- perly accommodate; one hundred and seventy-eight were admitted during the last preceding year. Of the total number, all but fifteen-fourteen State colored patients and one pay patient-were dependent on Hamil- ton county. The number of inmates of the asylum pretty steadily increased from three hundred and thirty- three in 1860, when it was opened, to a daily average of six hundred and seventy-three in 1879. The average cost of maintenance of each patient has varied from one hundred and thirty-two dollars and six cents in 1862 to three hundred and twenty-five dollars and twenty-nine cents in 1867. In 1878 it was one hundred and thirty- six dollars and fifty-six cents ; in 1879, one hundred and forty-nine dollars and eighty-three cents.
In 1866 the "Avenue House," a portion of the pur- chase before mentioned as made south of Centre street, and west of the canal, was fitted up, as allowed by a State law, passed April 5, 1860, as an asylum for the re- ception of colored insane persons from the county. It has since been occupied for this purpose, with additional use, since the passage of an act of assembly April 30, 1869, as an asylum for the colored insane of the State at large. The building is old and dilapidated, however, and the State board of charities urgently recommend some better provision for the care of this class of the in- sane. They say: "There are no apparent grounds of complaint as to the management of this department of Longview or the general treatment of colored patients; but the building precludes the idea of general comfort, while it suggests many fears for the safety of the inmates." The number of patients in this branch of the institution has always been limited; it was only sixteen November r,
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.
1877, and two years afterwards the State colored patients therein numbered but fourteen, equally divided as to the sexes.
There are about ninety officers and employes con- nected with the institution, which, with the patients, make about seven hundred and fifty to be accommodated in the present buildings.
THE COUNTY INFIRMARY.
The history of this institution, so far as the original purchase of grounds for it near Carthage is concerned, has already been given in the preceding account of the Longview asylum. In 1870 the county commissioners, under the advice of the directors of the infirmary, pur- chased the property known as the "Green farm," in Mill Creek township, east of Carthage and north of the asy- lum. It occupies an elevation commanding a wide and pleasing view, taking in the fine scenery of the Mill Creek valley as far south as Spring Grove and Clifton, and ex- tending northward to Hartwell, Wyoming, Lockland, Reading, and Glendale. The tract consists of one hun- dred and nineteen and thirty-eight-hundredths acres, and was obtained for four hundred dollars per acre.
The present infirmary building was completed and opened for the reception of inmates, on the twentieth of February, 1873. It is three stories high, with a north wing for the male department, a south wing for the fe- male and nursery departments, and a central or main building for offices, living rooms for the officers, the kitchen and bakery, dining rooms, etc. It is accounted a model building for the purpose in all its departments. The superstructure is of brick, faced with sandstone trimmings, roofed with slate, and well arranged on the pavilion and corridor system. The cost of the edifice was about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
The farm is partly devoted to ornamental and play- grounds for children and the inmates, that part of it be- ing well shaded with forest trees. Another part is util- ized to advantage as a garden, and the remainder is kept in a high state of cultivation, and yields a considerable quantity of farm products. In 1879 twenty four acres were planted with corn, twelve with rye, seven with pota- toes, seven with oats, two with sweet potatoes, two with turnips, three with garden vegetables, and twenty acres were given to hay. Farm products, etc., were sold dur- ing the six months ending August 31st of that year, to the amount of two hundred and fourteen dollars and ninety-four cents.
The number of inmates of the infirmary averages about two hundred, which is only two-thirds of the capacity of the institution. About sixty are received and discharged each half year. During the financial year 1878-9, the average cost of maintenance of each inmate was ninety- five dollars, or twenty-six cents per day, a very favorable exhibit for the economy exercised in the management of the infirmary. The total cost of the year was nineteen thousand nine hundred and seventy dollars and fifty-five cents. Inmates are received from all parts of the county except the city of Cincinnati, which has its own infirmary, located at Hartwell. One inmate, September 1, 1879,
had been in the institution since 1855, two since 1857, and two since 1858. A school is maintained at the public expense, for instruction in the elementary branches, and has a daily average attendance of about forty.
The infirmary is managed by a board of three direct- ors, one of whom is chosen each year by the electors of the townships of Hamilton county. They not only have full charge of the proper relief of paupers admitted to the infirmary, but also of the necessary out-door relief to be granted on the application of the township trustees.
The principal officers of the institution at present are: Colonel Thomas H. Hunt, superintendent; Mrs. T. H. Hunt, matron; T. S. Potter, M. D., physician; Miss Mary A. Harris, teacher. Its administration is quite warmly commended by the secretary of the State board of charities. In the third annual report of the board, published 1879, he says: "The infirmary buildings are quite commodious and well arranged, and, as observed during the year, as in former years, seemed under careful management."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS.
NOTWITHSTANDING the populous character of Hamil- ton county, the enterprising spirit of its people, and their diversity of material interests, there has not been, in the county at large, a very great amount of associated effort -hardly so much, indeed, as might have been expected. But the inclusion of Cincinnati within the limits of the county, and the absorption of so much of the latter by the former, have naturally thrown nearly everything in the way of general organization into the city. Hence we shall find the county associations, though, one or two of them, strong and useful, yet quite few and far between.
THE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The original agricultural society in this county was, nominally at least, a Cincinnati institution. It was organ- ized in that city in the early part of 1819, under the name and title of "The Cincinnati Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Manufactures, and Domestic Economy." Its officers were simply a president, four vice-presidents, a secretary, a treasurer and an executive committee. The first officers were: General W. H. Harrison, presi- dent; Andrew Mack, first vice-president; Ethan Stone, second vice-president; Zaccheus Biggs, third vice-presi- dent; Stephen Wood, fourth vice-president; Jesse Em- bree, secretary; James Findlay, treasurer ; James Taylor, Ephraim Brown, Daniel Drake, Jacob Burnet, William Corry, Gorham A. Worth, Isaac H. Jackson, James C. Morris, Jacob Broadwell, executive committee. The membership fee was two dollars, and a like sum was pay- able annually for dues, with forfeiture of membership if not paid within one year after it became due. The an- nual meeting was to be held on the last Tuesday of Sep- tember, and other stated meetings on the last Tuesdays, respectively, of December, March and June.
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OIHO.
The following declaration of principles and policy was also adopted by the society at the period of its organ- ization :
Being convinced that a retrenchment in the expense of living will be an important means in alleviating the difficulties and pecuniary embar- rassments which exist in every section of the county, we concur in adopt- ing the following declaration, viz .:
First. We will not purchase, nor suffer to be used in our families, any imported liquors, fruits, nuts, or preserves of any kind, unless they shall be required in cases of sickness.
Second. Being convinced that the practice which generally prevails of wearing suits of black as testimonials of respect for the memory of deceased friends is altogether useless, if not improper, while it is atten- ded with a heavy expense, we will not sanction it hereafter in our fami- lies or encourage it in others.
Third. We will not purchase for ourselves or our families, such arti- cles of dress as are expensive and are generally considered as orna- mental rather than useful.
Fourth. We will abstain from the use of imported goods of every description as far as may be practicable, and we will give a preference to articles that are of the growth and manufacture of our own country, when the latter can be procured.
Fifth. We will not purchase any articles, either of food or dress, at prices that are considered extravagant, or that the citizens generally cannot afford to pay; but will rather abstain from the use of such arti- cles until they can be obtained at reasonable prices.
Sixth. We will observe a rigid economy in every branch of our ex- penditures, and will, in all our purchases, be influenced by necessity rather than convenience, and by utility rather than ornament.
Seventh. We believe that the prosperity of the country depends in a great degree on a general and faithful observance of the foregoing declaration; we therefore promise that we will adhere to it ourselves, and that we will recommend it to others.
The formation of a library was contemplated by the constitution of this society, also the publication of me- moirs, and other measures of public utility. The soci- ety, as may be seen from its list of officers, included some of the most prominent and valued residents of the city and vicinity, and appears to have been strongly and well organized. It was deemed advisable after a time, however, to give the agricultural organization more dis- tinctively a county character, and the Hamilton county agricultural society was formed. Of this General Har- rison was president; Major Daniel Gano and the Hon. John Matson, vice presidents; Colonel H. S. Barnum, librarian; D. C. Wallace, secretary ; J. P. Foote, corres- ponding secretary. In place of an executive committee there was a considerable number of curators forming a board of agriculture: Messrs. William Carey, James C. Ludlow, Israel Brown, S. J. Brown, Charles C. Clarkson, Charles Sellman, Joseph J. Haskins, J. D. Garrard, H. B. Funk, N. Crookshank, John Ferris, James Hey, Oli- ver Jones, Samuel Ready, Duncan Cameron, Ethan Stone, James Seward, James Whallon, Thomas Smith, Peter Voorhees, Isaac Beconnet, Willard A. Place, Henry Wilde, Adam Moore, Alfred Sandford, William Burnet, Clayton Welch, Hugh Moore. A very interest- ing and curious old premium list of the society, bearing these names and giving much other information, still exists among the collections of the Ohio Historical and Philosophical society in Cincinnati. It is printed on one side of a single small sheet, which was an extra issue of the Farmer's Reporter; but in what year there is no means of ascertaining from the document itself. It is evidently, however, very old, probably dating back some time in the '20's. From it may be learned that there
were then three hundred and fifty-six regular members of the society, some of them residing in the other counties of southern Ohio, and some in the neighboring counties of Kentucky. There were also seventeen honorary members, whose residences were scattered all the way from Kentucky to England, but were largely in the east- ern states. The marshals of the fair of that year were Colonels S. Scott and H. S. Barnum; orator, F. A. Thomas, esq .; auctioneer, A. B. Roff. The premium list proper does not occupy one-tenth of the space of a modern list of the kind for a Hamilton county fair. No cash premium greater than five dollars was offered. The Farmer's Reporter and Western Agriculturist figures conspicuously and numerously among the premiums. For exhibitions of stock the inducements were mostly in the shape of certificates and diplomas. No racing "sweepstakes" or other premiums for speed were offered; but there were moderate cash inducements for the pre- sentation of the ordinary useful animals. Committees of judgment were appointed only for manufactured goods, silk, implements of husbandry, agricultural products in tolerable variety, fermented liquors, butter and cheese, horticulture, horses, asses and mules, neat cattle, swine, sheep and wool, plowing, domestic clothing, cooperage, hats, edged tools, manufactured tobacco, and mechanical implements.
In 1853 there was a new organization of the society "for the improvement of agriculture within the county of Hamilton." Its president was now John K. Green; vice- president, General George Sneider; secretary, F. W. Stokes; treasurer, Peter Melendy; managers, Joseph Cooper, Elmore Cunningham, Clinton Ewing, Henry Debolt, Isaac B. Bruce. Competitors for premiums must be members, and members must be residents of Hamilton county, and pay one dollar annually into the treasury of the society. The list of articles for which premiums were to be awarded were ordered to be pub- lished in a newspaper or by handbills at least one month before the day of exhibition. The annual fairs must be held some time between the first day of September and the first of November, at such place as the directors should appoint. A resolution was passed by the new society "most earnestly inviting the farmers of the county, and all others friendly to the cause of agriculture, the arts, and the sciences, to unite with us in our efforts in the great cause of agricultural improvement." The first fair under these auspices was held at Carthage, on the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of September, 1853. Besides the premiums usually offered at that day at such exhibitions, others were offered, as a diploma and ten dollars for the best essay on the charac- ter, composition, and improvement of the soil in Hamil- ton county, and a similar premium (second best, five dol- lars), for the best arranged and best managed farm in the county. The remainder of the premium list embraced inducements for the exhibition of cattle, horses, sheep, swine, dogs (shepherd, Newfoundland, and rat-terrier), poultry, plows, farm implements, manufactured wares (a very short list by comparison with the lists of the present day), a plowing match, farm, dairy, and other products,
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.
silk and domestic manufactures, needle, shell, and wax- work, paintings and drawings, designs, stoves, articles manufactured chiefly or wholly of metal, also of wood, iron and wood, and of stone, fire engines, chemicals and miscellaneous articles, field crops, and various displays in the horticultural department. There were no offers as yet for "trials of speed."
The constitution of the society has received many modifications since its original passage, including the opening of competition in the various departments to all the world. At the third annual fair held from the fourth to the seventh of September, 1855, all premiums were to be paid, as per announcement in the premium list, in silver plate. There were now eighteen managers of the society, and the address to members and visitors, on one day of the fair, had become a regular feature of the yearly meeting. The fair grounds were permanently es- tablished on the site near Carthage, where they have since remained.
The opening of the great Exposition attractions in Cin- cinnati, of late years, however, and the occurrence of its displays at the same time with the fair of the county so- ciety, drew the crowds away from the latter, and they be- gan to be, financially and otherwise, failures. A site nearer Cincinnati was consequently sought, and a special act of the legislature was obtained at the session of 1871, authorizing the society to purchase the property occupied by the Buckeye race-course, about two miles from the then city limits. A vigorous and faithful attempt was made to take the benefit of this measure, but the negoti- ations ultimately failed, through the inability or unwilling- ness of the county commissioners to comply with the requisite conditions of the purchase. The fair grounds, therefore, remain at the old place, and within the past year extensive and valuable improvements in the facili- ties for accommodating exhibits, costing about fifteen thousand dollars, have been made upon them.
It is gratifying to add that the fair of last year (1880) was, in its benefits to the treasury of the society, and in every other way, a grand success.
The fair of the year designated a few lines above (1871) was but the seventeenth held by the present society, two fairs having been omitted during the bloody years, the tremendous excitement and dangers of the war period. At this exhibition special and very liberal premiums, amounting to five hundred dollars, were of- fered by the pork-packers and slaughterers of Cincinnati for the exhibition of hogs. Sad to say, the total of the premiums was never collected from those pledging it, although most of the amount was finally in hand; and what was raised was distributed pro rata among those entitled to the awards.
In 1849, also, there was a failure to hold the fair by the older society, in consequence of the prevalence of cholera that year and the occurrence of the State fair during the same week.
THE COUNTY SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.
This was organized as the Hamilton county Sunday- school association in April, 1862, "to promote the interest
of the Sunday-school work, to encourage a spirit of har- mony and Christian fellowship among its laborers; to gather them together at suitable seasons, and, by com- paring the statistics of their labors, to show forth to the world the blessings of the institution; also to act as aux- iliary to the State Sunday-school union." It is said to be the first county organization of the kind in the State, and the first steps for its formation were taken before the State union itself was formed. April 8, 1862, in pursuance of consultations and a meeting held on the fifth of that month by a number of the leading workers in the Cin- cinnati Sabbath-schools, a call was issued to the officers of such schools throughout the county, for a convention of their superintendents and other delegates from the city and county, to meet in the Central Presbyterian church, Cincinnati, at ten o'clock, A. M., on Thursday, the seventeenth of April, with the following objects in view: "1. The formation of a county Sunday-school association, through which we may secure the statistics of the schools of the city and county from year to year. 2. That we may awaken a deeper and wider interest in the cause of Sunday-schools in the county, and keep this interest alive by this instrumentality." Detailed reports of the schools were called for, to be brought to the con- vention or mailed previous to its session to Mr. L. H. Sargent, 31 Walnut street, Cincinnati. The call closed with this stirring appeal: "Brethren, come! Come in the spirit of the Master, and pray that He may direct the convention and bless our cause." It was signed by Messrs. L. H. Sargent, H. W. Brown, and George H. Wolf, all of Cincinnati, and members of the committee appointed for the purpose.
The convention met upon the designated day. The response to the call was not large, probably in part from the shortness of the call, as well as from the newness of the movement and the absorption of the public mind largely in the events of the civil war then raging. Sixty-six delegates were present, however, representing thirty four schools; and after an amicable conference and some interesting discussions the desired organization was effected. A. M. Searles was chairman of the meeting, and B. Frankland was secretary. The officers-elect of the association were: George F. Davis, president; W. T. Perkins, secretary; vice-presidents-first district of Cincinnati, S. H. Burton; second district, S. S. Fisher; third, L. H. Sargent; fourth, George H. Wolf. The ap- pointment of vice-presidents for districts outside the city was left to the executive committee ..
The new society took hold of its work with great en- ergy. After the formation of the State union, a State Sunday-school agent was employed, to organize county associations or unions throughout Ohio, and was paid a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, principally by three or four gentlemen of Cincinnati, connected with or interested in the work of the Hamilton county organ- ization. When his successor, Colonel Cowdin, of Gal- ion, was appointed, this association assumed the entire expense of his support. During its first year, eighteen mass meetings of the children, officers, and friends of the Sabbath-schools were held in Mill Creek township
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.
alone, with results, as the report of them at the next an- nnal meeting declared, "even better than could have been hoped." Several reports from other districts, most of them equatly gratifying, were received at the first reg- ular annual meeting.
Soon after the annual meeting of 1863 an agent was employed to canvass the county, hold meetings, stir up the workers to livelier interest and more intelligent pro- cedure in the work, and endeavor to obtain full statistics of the Sunday-schools of the county, with the aid of the vice-presidents in the several townships. The results were eminently satisfactory. The following remark was made in one of the subsequent reports concerning the statistics: "They present a complete tabular view of the present condition of this important work, and are worthy of the earnest study of all who are interested in the moral and religious training of the young." A series of success- ful meetings to aid the work was held in the townships- Sunday being chosen whenever practicable. Thirty of such assemblies were had between May and October, inclusive of 1863, at which appeared a long list of distin- guished and zealous speakers from the city and else- where. They were largely attended, and were believed to have accomplished their objects in a very hopeful de- gree. In nearly every case where a meeting was held in a village or county neighborhood, the association was invited to repeat the visit.
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