History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 120

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 120

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In 1869 the affairs of the old company, after an existence of thirty years, were satisfactorily closed up, and the Louisville gas company was organized, on the basis of the new charter granted January 23, 1869, operating for twenty years. During this year the extension of the service to Portland and the construction of the new gasholder on Portland avenue were com- pleted, and the gas was let on in that district July Ist. A three-story building was erected on the Green street premises for the inspectors' department, and a large new coal-shed was built at the corner of Jackson and Washington.

The city of Louisville now held 12,082 $50 shares in the new company, and private parties 11,721.

The balance of profit of the company during the year 1871 was reported at $124,450.91. The net profit of 1872 was 9.35 per cent .; of 1873, 9.77 ; the balance of profit 1874, $98,264.60 ; net profits 1875, 9.633 per cent .; 1876, 9.412 ; 1877, 10.99.

In 1872, under a legislative charter approved March 21st of that year, a new company was organized, and denominated the Citizens' Gas Light Company. Mr. George Ainslie was its President ; Messrs. Samuel L. Avery, Thomas Coleman, James Todd, Samuel Russell, John G. Barret, and H. Victor Newcomb, were Direct- ors. The older Louisville Gas Company was still in existence. In 1876 still another company was formed, under the general laws of the State for the organization of corporate bodies ; and it took the name of the Citizens' Mutual Gas Light Company. This was presently consolidated with the other Citizens' Company, and the Gen- eral Council was petitioned for the usual privi- leges for such company. In response thereto the Board of Councilmen August 30th, and the Board of Aldermen September 6th, after much discussion, and against the opinion of the City Attorney and the unanimous report of several committees in 1872, passed an ordinance grant- ing the Citizens' Company power to establish gas-works and lay down its pipes and mains in and along the streets, alleys, and public ways of the city. This ordinance was vetoed by the Mayor September 20th, as violating a contract between the city and the Louisville Gas Com-

591

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

pany. It was not passed over his veto, and the competitive project therefore fell to the ground.

The city had thus an accrued interest in the works, from the loan of her credit thirty years before, and the trust-fund accruing therefrom, which provided for the lighting of the city at very small or no cost for years after the formation of the new company.

December 17, 1870, difficulties having arisen between the city authorities and the Gas Com- pany concerning the street lighting, an arrange- ment for their submission to arbitrators was made by Mayor Baxter and President Smith, of the company. July Ist of this year, 1,724 street- lamps were in use, to which 66 were added with- in the next six months, 60 by July 1, 1871, 56 by the next January, 85 in six months more, and 34 by the close of 1872, when 2,025 were in use, and 80 miles 1,761 feet of gas-pipe were laid.

Under the arrangement of December, 1870, Messrs. Albert Fink and Charles Hermany, the latter then and now the engineer of the Louis- ville Water Company, were selected as arbitra- tors. Their decision, rendered January 18, 1871, reduced the charges of the company against the city for street lights during 1869 and 1870, from $115, 167.21 to $99,506,06, and made sundry recommendations for the improve- ment of the service.

Further difficulties arose between the city and the Gas Company in 1877, and after sundry at- tempts to end them by fresh arbitration, it was agreed that the award of Messrs. Fink and Her- many, arbitrators, in 1871, should be referred back to them, " for further interpretation as to what should be considered proper items to be charged in the cost of making gas, and also that said arbitrators arrange a form for the annual statement to be made by the Gas Company." Their "interpretation " was submitted July 14th, 1877, and was nominally accepted as final and conclusive, and binding upon both parties. At the end of this year 2,427 street-lamps were in use.

The profits of the company in 1878 were equal to 9.836 per cent.

HOUSE OF REFUGE.

The following extract is made from the First Annual Report of the Board of Directors:

The Institution was incorporated by the General Assembly March 9, 1854, and the ordinance appropriating $60,000 for

the erection of the building, was approved by the Mayor of the city July 2, 1859. The construction of the building was commenced the year thereafter. Ground to the extent of sixty-seven acres was set apart by the General Council for the use of the House of Refuge, forty acres of which it was intended to adorn and beautify as a park. The General Council, however, has passed an ordinance recently [1866], giving the Board of Managers control of the forty acres alluded to, to be appropriated by them to such uses as the interests of the Institution may seem to require.

When the war of the Rebellion commenced, the necessary buildings for the use of the Institution had been nearly com- pleted; but, in this condition, they were taken possession of and occupied by the Government authorities for hospital purposes, and were thus held until the close of the war. The Trustees again obtaining possession of the ground and build- ings, they were, with commendable haste, prepared for the reception of inmates. Some time during the month of July, 1865, the first boy was committed by our City Court to the care of the Institution. It seemed almost providential that the hospital doors of this Institution should be thrown open at a time so auspicious, for, through the operations of the contending armies, many noble little boys were thrown upon the world without resources, and without their natural paren- tal protectors.

The number of commitments to the House of Refuge by the City Court to the close of 1866, was one hundred and thirty-six, including one girl; remaining at that time, one hundred and sixteen. Average age of inmates, twelve years, one month, and seven days.

The General Council appropriated $10,000 for an additional building, which was erected in 1867, a substantial three-story brick edifice, 75 x 30 feet, containing school- and lecture-room, workshop, and basement for reading and recrea- tion.

In 1872 the House of Refuge for Girls was added, at a cost of $25,000. The Chairman of the Building Committee of the Board of Direct- ors, Mr. T. C. Tucker, gave his personal atten- tion to the work throughout, and secured the extension of the water-pipes to both buildings now in use. The new building was opened May I, 1873, and received twenty-eight inmates the same year.

The total cost of the institution, from its be- ginnings to January 1, 1874, was $339,000.

In 1876 a new and neat chapel was erected and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, in- cluding a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Stuart Rob- inson.

The House of Refuge for colored children was built upon the same premises the same year, and occupied in 1877. It cost $19,267.60 be- fore furnishing. It was opened August 20, 1877,

592

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

with ten boys, and contained twenty-one at the close of the year.

Mr. P. Caldwell has been the efficient super- intendent of the House of Refuge for most of the time since its opening.

THE WORK-HOUSE.

In 1867, Mayor Tomppert, in his annual mes- sage to the City Council, declared that, "in re- gard to this establishment, the city is in want of a new one, as the present one is entirely too small, and the prisoners too much crowded ; and as the quarry at the present time is almost ex- hausted, it would be well for the city to pur- chase sufficient land near the city for building and quarry purposes." He recommended that the female prisoners should be sent to the Sis- ters of Charity, as was then done in Cincinnati. For years afterwards the Grand Jury of Jeffer- son county pretty regularly every year declared the old building "a public nuisance" and "the one dark spot upon the fair name of our other- wise beautiful city." In February, 1872, the General Council was authorized by the Legisla- ture "to issue $200,000 in bonds for new Alms, Pest, and Work-houses; but unhappily the two first-named, whose construction was promptly en- tered upon, absorbed the entire sum. In March, 1875, Mayor Jacob sent a special and pressing message to the Council, urging provisions for the construction of a new Work-house, based, in part, upon a then recent death, which he alleged had certainly been accelerated, if not occasioned, by confinement in "the wretched old building known as the Work-house."

April 8, 1879, to the great joy of all con- cerned, the abominable old Work-house was abandoned for a new building, now fully com- pleted after so many years of persistent pressure for it. It cost, completed and furnished, about $105,000. One thousand three hundred and forty-six prisoners were committed to the Work- house this year, of whom 1,305 were discharged, and thirteen escaped ; eighty-six were in the in- stitution at the end of the year. In 1880 1,057 were received, 1,058 discharged, eleven escaped, one was killed while resisting an officer, and seventy were left December 31st.

THE MARKET HOUSES.

These were originally constructed at various points in the middle of Market Street, the use of

which for such purpose seems to have been con- templated by the founders of the city. During the official year 1866-67 two of the market houses were taken out of the street, and five new ones, in less inconvenient localities, were erected, three by private parties and two by the associated effort of the butchers and gardeners. Others were sub- sequently removed from the street, and but one remains-the Boone Market, of comparatively recent date, on Market street, quite out of the principal business quarters.

THE STREETS, ETC.

At the beginning of 1882, City Engineer Scow- den officially reported to the superintendent of the Board of Trade that "the territorial limits of Louisville embrace an area of twenty-five square miles, which is traversed by 156.19 miles of im- proved streets and alleys. Of the streets, 106.53 miles are McAdam, 13.55 miles are bowlders, 7.64 miles are hard wood blocks, 2.76 miles are Paducah gravel, 0.20 miles asphalt, and o.10 miles limestone blocks. Our streets are exceptionally broad, most of them measuring from 60 to 125 feet in width, and, although com- paratively level, yet effective surface drainage is readily obtained through systematic sewerage. Double-track street railways thread our principal thoroughfares, provided with all modern facilities and conveniences, except conductors. A thorough sewer system has been established, and many of its more important arteries are already constructed. After the completion of an eastern outfall sewer through the Beargrass creek basins, and a few others in the suburban districts of the city, the sanitary provisions for Louisville will be second to none in the country. The city now has 37.64 miles of sewers, furnished with every improve- ment as to tapping, ventilation, etc., which science and experience has recommended.

"For fire protection, the city has 382 large fire cisterns, with ample water-pipe connections, and a thoroughly organized steam fire department. The Water Company has lately completed a new reservoir of 125,000,000 gallons storage capacity, which for a half-century to come will provide a bountiful, clear, and healthful water supply. Additional to this, the city maintains 568 public pumps, which furnish the poorer classes with free, plentiful and wholesome water."

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC CHARITIES.

This important arm of the municipal service is

Qno & 1 Baxter

593

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

the creation of the charter of March, 1870. By Section 89 of this act the Board consists of the Mayor and six citizens of Louisville, not members of the General Council, but elected by the Coun- cil in joint session, by viva voce vote, and serve for three years, without pay. They have the control and management of the Louisville Ma- rine (now City) Hospital, in trust for the State, of the Alms House, Pest House, City Work- house, Houses of Refuge, "and any other house of reform, or of refuge, or other similar charitable institution, that may be established by or under the control of said city, unless otherwise provided for by law." It appoints the Superintendents or other heads, and all employes of such institutions, fixes salaries, and provides by-laws and rules for the orderly government and control of said insti- tutions. It also hears complaints of inmates, who are not to be punished for such complaints, and prescribes requisitions for work upon in- mates.

The first Board of Commissioners of Public Charities consisted of Mayor John G. Baxter, ex officio, M. A. Downing, E. B. Owsley, J. S. Barret, Patrick Joyes, William Long, and A. B. Cook.

CITY BOOK-KEEPER.

This office was created by resolution of the General Council, approved May 18, 1870, and Mr. James W. Baird was appointed to fill it. The value of the system of accounts he intro- duced was so thoroughly demonstrated in a very few years that his duties were further defined and increased in 1873 by ordinance and resolution. He came, in fact, to perform all the duties that usually fall to the hands of the Comptroller in other municipal governments; and it was recom- mended, at the close of 1876, that his office take the name of Comptroller.

EX-MAYOR JOHN G. BAXTER.

One of the most notable men ever filling the Mayoralty of Louisville, and the only one, ex- cept Mayor Jacob, occupying it of late years by repeated re-elections, is the subject of this brief memoir. Mr. Baxter is a native Kentuckian, born at Lexington, December 12, 1826, son of John G. and Elizabeth (Smith) Baxter. He lost his father in early life, but had the inestimable

advantage of an intelligent and excellent mother, who gave him careful training in the first lessons of practical life. His formal education ended with the English branches in the common schools. At fourteen years of age he entered upon a trade apprenticeship, and passed through it in due time; but, at its close, accepted an engagement as a clerk. By careful saving from his poor wages he amassed the capital of $100, and, at the end of six years of clerkship, he invested this in the stove and tinware business, in partner- ship with others. He came to Louisville in 1827, and here the major part of his busy and useful life has been spent, in the line of business above indicated. Under his energetic and pru- dent management the trade of his house has grown immensely, and is now far and widely ex- tended, principally in the Southern and Western States. He has become one of the best-known and successful manufacturers and dealers in the Ohio Valley. But his brightest laurels have been won as the chief magistrate of the city. He had been a member of the Common Council in 1861-62-63, and president of that body in the last year of his service. In 1865 he was pro- moted to the Board of Aldermen, and, the next year, was chosen its president. Familiarized thus and otherwise with the affairs of the city, he was presently deemed a suitable person to be placed at their head; and, in March, 1870, he was called by his fellow-citizens to assume the dignity of Mayor-an honor in which he was confirmed, by successive re-elections, for a fol- lowing term of three years, beginning in 1879. The writer of Louisville, Past and Present, says of his first service :

We may characterize his term of office as an era in the progress of the city. At the time of his introduction into office the city officers were occupying very dilapidated quar- ters, the buildings being not only old, but much out of re- pair, and entirely too small for the purposes for which they were occupied; and one of the most important acts of his administration was the execution of a long-delayed purpose to substitute for these miserable offices a structure which should be alike a model for convenience and a pride to our community. The plan had long been before the Council; but it was not until some months after Mr. Baxter's inaugura- tion that the work was finally commenced. His remarkable energy was fully exerted in pushing forward the plans; and so earnestly was his attention given to their execution that before the close of his term of office the city was [about to come] in possession of a hall unsurpassed in this country for arrangement, durability, and elegance of design. Its fame has extended to all parts of our Union; and few there are who visit the city but spend some time in viewing its mag-

594

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

nificent council-chambers and their almost regal furnishings. This is Mr. Baxter's proudest monument.

But he was not so much engrossed in the erection of this magnificent structure as to prevent the turning of his atten- tion to other much-needed wants of the city, He found that she had only a dilapidated frame building for an eruptive hospital, and he set to work vigorously to supplant this with one of the most complete edifices of its class in the country. He inaugurated the work of building a new and handsome as well as commodious almshouse, which is now completed. He commenced [and in his second term finished] the work of the Fulton-street fill, as also that of the road-bed, both of which are now finished, at a cost of between $400,000 and $500,000. The road-bed relieves Jefferson street of a railway track, and will enhance the value of property thereon at least fifty per cent. He obtained plans for a new work-house, and endeavored to secure its erection. He visited Chicago and other cities with the Council in order to ascertain what was the best and cheapest pavement for our streets, which were then in a wretched condition. During his term of office from twelve to fifteen miles of streets were paved with Nicholson pavement, several miles with boulders, besides a number that were macadamized. There were also some twenty miles of new streets and alleys constructed. At the commencement of his term there were only eight miles of sewer within the city limits; but at its close there were twenty miles completed, besides which the great western outfall sewer was put under contract.

But the grandest achievement of his administration was the improvement of the financial condition of the city. When he took possession of the executive chair, the finances were laboring under fearful depression. These never being suf- ficient funds on hand to defray ordinary expenses, policemen, laborers, officers, and school-teachers were under the neces- sity of hawking their warrants about the street and finally submitting to the most ruinons discounts. Under these cir- cumstances it was folly to expect efficiency in any department of the public service; and with the bonds of the corporation a drug upon the market at sixty-five to seventy cents, it must be evident that the new executive had no easy task before him. Comprehending the gravity of the situation, he pro- ceeded cautiously to mature his plans, and then to execute them energetically. It was not long before money was al- ways on hand to defray current expenses; the price of city bonds advanced from 15 to 20 [20 to 25] per cent., and found a ready sale either at home or in other markets. The best evidence of the wisdom of a plan is its complete success; and this is testified under Mr. Baxter's administration, not alone by gladdened bondholders, but also by grateful workmen.

To the fire department were added during his term three new and superb engine-houses, together with four additional steam fire-engines. [Mayor Baxter, during one or the other of his terms, purchased every fire-engine now in use by the city, ten in number, except just one. During his last year he contracted for the fire-alarm telegraph recently erected.] It is true that in these extensive improvements large sums of money were expended; but it will be observed that the greater portion was distributed among the laboring men in our midst, and went directly into our local circulation. In this way the burden of necessary improvements was compara- tively light. Happily for the policy of Mr. Baxter, he had the confidence of a liberal and efficient council, who lent a hearty co-operation to all his efforts.

One of the hook and ladder companies of the city is named from ex-Mayor Baxter, also a fine

avenue adjoining Cave Hill Cemetery; and in 1880, upon the handsome improvement of the old cemetery on Jefferson street, between Eleventh and Twelfth, as a public park, he was further honored in the entitling it "Baxter Square."

Ex-Mayor Baxter was also for a number of years a manager of the House of Refuge, and for six years President of the Board of Managers after its reorganization ; and has also served upon the Board of Education. From 1868 to 1870 he was in the Directory of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and has filled sundry other posts of trust and responsibility.

Mr. Baxter was joined in marriage November 7, 1852, to Miss Alicia Mary, daughter of George and Mary McCready, of Louisville. They have had eight children, in order as follow: Mary, now Mrs. William Wooldridge; Elizabeth, mar- ried George Cressey, all of Louisville; and Belle, John G., Jr., Annie C., William G., and Emma S. Baxter-all residing with their parents, except Annie C., now (March, 1882,) taking a course of the higher education in New York City.

JAMES TRABUE,

President of the Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, is of distinguished Huguenot descent. Among the Protestant refugees fleeing from France by reason of the revocation of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., in 1685, were his ancestors. They, with others, sailing from Hol- land five years after that ill-starred act, formed the "Huguenot Settlement " on the James river, in Virginia. Here their descendants were still re- siding when the War of the Revolution broke out, to which the family contributed a number of skilful and courageous soldiers, whose valor and patriotism nobly sustained the honor of the Hugue- not name throughout the great struggle. At its close a number of them, with others of "the times that tried men's souls," pushed across the moun- tains to seek fame and fortune in the then almost unknown lands to the westward. Among them was Colonel Daniel Trabue, father of James, son of John Trabue and grandson of Anthony, the progenitor of the family in this country. He was born in 1 760. His party of emigrants from the old home to the new made its way by land

595

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

to Redstone Old Fort, on the Ohio - now Brownsville, Pennsylvania, - where they built one of the primitive river-craft of the time, and floated down the broad stream to Limestone Point, now Maysville, sixty miles above Cincin- nati, in the year 1785, whence they advanced into the wilderness interior and dispersed them- selves in settlements throughout the now far- famed "Blue Grass Region." Colonel Trabue set down his stakes in Woodford county, where he toiled amid the privations and hardships of pioneer life for ten years, and then removed to that part of Green which is now Adair county. Before leaving Virginia he had been united in marriage to Miss Mary Haskins, of Chesterfield county, in that State. In their latest home in Kentucky their son James was born, on the 24th day of November, 1802. His education in the schools was conducted by the Rev. Samuel B. Robertson, a Presbyterian minister, who was long in charge of the seminary at Columbia, Ken- tucky. Soon after leaving this he made a be- ginning of business as deputy clerk in the office of his relative, William Caldwell, Esq., for forty years clerk of the courts in the county, and father of Messrs. Isaac and Junius Caldwell, well- known lawyers of the city, and of Dr. William B. Caldwell, also of Louisville. The father was a man of great practical sense, and wide knowl- edge of books and affairs. To the two years passed in association with him Mr. Trabue at- tributes more of his actual preparation for bus- iness life than to all his years in the schools.

When Russell county was set off by the State Legislature, young Trabue had closed his ser- vice as Deputy Clerk, and offered himself as a candidate for the Clerkship in the new county. He was defeated by a single vote ; and to this circumstance, very likely, the city of Louisville owes the thorough-going business man and pub- lic-spirited citizen that he afterwards became. In those days the term of the Clerk was for life or during good behavior ; and had he been elected, it is not improbable that the rest of his many years might have been spent in petty office in a country town. Recovering readily from his de- feat, he removed to Glasgow, in Barren county, and for some years engaged in general mer- chandizing with a cousin, also bearing his family name. He then secured a larger and more lucrative field of operation at Terre Haute ; and

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 120

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 814