USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, Ohio, from the founding of Franklinton in 1797, through the World War period to the year 1920 > Part 7
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Mr. Lapham moved to Milwaukee in 1836. His study of storms and warnings of their approach was one of the things that led to the establishment of the United States Weather Bureau. The United States Geographie Board in 1916 named Lapham peak in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, for him.
The following interesting excerpt from the unpublished family record of Mrs. Mareia Parrish Rhodes, offers a glimpse of life in Columbus from 1830 to 1845:
Orris Parrish and Aurelia Butler, my father and mother, were married in Circleville, March 5, 1816. Their bridal trip was made on horseback to Columbus, where they at once established their home. My father was a young lawyer, full of energy and overflowing with
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CITY LIFE FROM 1834 TO 1860
courage and confidence. My mother was then 24, and my father but two years older. Their first home was on Broad street, the second west of High. The house between was the home of David W. Deshler, and his bank was on the corner afterwards, for many years. My father must have realized some of his early anticipations, for he could have been married only a few years when we removed to a new house, with ample grounds, I being carried across the State House square in a cradle on the broad shoulders of Josey Kag, the man of all work.
The grounds of this new home lay between State and Broad, and Fourth and the alley back of Third street. On the last named were the handsome homes of Jeremiah McLene, P. B. Wilcox, John W. Andrews and Demas Adams. These names bring up a multitude of memories connected with the old friends of my father and mother-dear Mrs. Wilcox, with her lovely face and winning manners; Mrs. Preston, just as charming; Mrs. Hannah Neil, devoted to all good works; Mrs. Alfred Kelley, whose home seemed then out in the country; Gustavus and Joseph Swan; Dr. Goodale, who made every one happy with the large means accumulated by his business ability; Mrs. Broderick and Mrs. Stirling, nieces of Dr. Goodale and women of such strong character and such traits essential to the life of pioneer women that they filled a unique place in the society of Columbus. Auntie Broderick, as we called her, had a heart big enough to include every one. In sickness she was the first in good offices, for we had no nurses then. On joyous occasions she was necessary to assist in the decoration and in making everything a success. Her home, plain and simple though it was, was head- quarters for the young people-warm, bright and cheerful. Passing through many sorrows. she kept her cheerfulness and faith in people to the last. Mrs Stirling, at the head of Dr. Goodale's establishment, had scope for her executive and housewifely accomplishments. Hospitable as he was, her social duties might seem absorbing. But a strong churchwoman, she never forgot her duties as such. An exquisite needle-worker, her embroideries and all things necessary to beautify her home were remarkable. Her recipes were much sought for.
The Court and State Houses were of brick, a brilliant ugly red, and the cupolas and woodwork a dazzling white. In the latter was the State Library, and it speaks well for the people of Ohio that at that early day there was an intelligent interest in it. The librarian for many years was Mr. Mills, a dear friend of our family, from whose wife, Marcia Mills, 1 received my name.
The grounds around our new home were large, filled with beautiful forest and fruit trees, One in particular, called the "Old Elm," was a grand tree, from which hung a fine swing. safely guarded, in which it was our ambition to touch with our feet the immense branches above. This was a grand rendezvous for George, Sarah and Jennie Swan, Maria Wilcox, Sarah and Jim Doherty, Ann and Irwin McDowell (afterwards General), Mary Noble, Ann Eliza and Lizzie Neil and Lauretta Broderick, all friends of my elder sisters, Mary and Martha. There were eight children of us and we lived a busy and delightful life. We were sufficiently cared for, but had great liberty, under certain restrictions. We did not rule the house, as is too much the case today, but we had plenty of company and were not a great deal from home. School, Sunday school and church, had their important place and due influence. Our father was a Circuit Judge and often from home, but he had every confidence in the judgment and ability of our mother and was often heard to say that "she could carry out any plan she had resolved upon."
In my earliest years there was no Episcopal church building and but a small congre- gation. Our services were held, when possible, in the old Dutch church on Third street between Town and Rich streets. There were immense hay-scales next to it, a mystery to me for many years. Then I remember going to new Trinity, on Broad street near High. It was a handsome church for those days, and the first rector was Jaines Preston, a man deservedly loved and esteemed. We crossed the Public Square diagonally to reach the Sunday school, and for many years the great stones, cut and ready for the new State House, lay unused, offering temptations, every Sunday, too great to be resisted, for us to climb and jump over, much to the horror of the older members of the family. The dear old chants and hymns, the pealing of the organ and the true congregational singing are all dear to my memory.
Mr. Noble kept the National Hotel, opposite the State House, where the Neil House now stands. The Robinsons had charge of the hotel, corner of State and High, called, I think, the American. The influx of strangers, Columbus being the capital, and the presence of members of the Legislature made such demands on these hotels that many families received friends, remaining in the city for the winter, as guests. There was a marked difference between the society of Chillicothe and that of Columbus-the former conserva- tive and with few strangers and life, for a pioneer town, on a sure foundation: Comunbus just the reverse. To the latter, as capital, many came, connected with the government. All political life and influence had there its headquarters. Strangers and adventurers were drawn to it. Persons of note were sure to come and be publiely welcomed. When the Ohio and Erie canal was finished and the joy of the West over a new way of communicating with the East fonud public expression, Governor De Witt Clinton visited Columbus and was the guest of my father.
"The markets were excellently supplied, and all food was very cheap. I remember a quarter of venison selling for 25 cents; eggs, three and four eents a dozen; butter, six and eight cents a pound. I can see my father now with his market basket and George Seott fol- lowing with two more, all filled to overflowing for our large family which sometimes numbered
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HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
twenty. Relatives and friends came, as they did in early English life, to make a visit, remaining months and even years. There were many needs not supplied and my mother was a busy woman. Candies were all made in the home, moulded or dipped, and were the only means of lighting large rooms, except occasionally an Argand or sperm oil lamp. Beef was put up, spiced or corned; hams smoked or cured according to Epicurean recipes, and the preparation of sausages, tenderloin and sidemeat offered opportunity for the housekeeper to show her skill. I remember the old-fashioned methods of the kitchen- the immense fireplace with cranes and pothooks; the skillets with iron covers, on which coats were heaped; the reflector in which the direct heat of the fire browned the biscuit and cornbread to a turn; the roaster or spit, where turkeys, ducks and geese were roasted before the fire, hasted and turned by the spit until ready for an appreciative table. At a respectfut distance we watched the heating of the great brick oven, near the fireplace. After the light, dry wood had burned down, the coals were raked out, and pumpkin, mince and apple pics and an array of cakes were put in on an immense wooden shovel, and the door closed. It must have required great skill to know just when the oven was at the right temperature, but cooks were cooks in those days. We children did not dare to invade the kitchen on such occasions as this when the baking for several days was done; but there were other delightful times, when we could roast eggs, with a straw put into each to prevent an explosion, and roast apples in the hot ashes till the golden juice bubbled out. Corn, stripped of its husks, was leaned against the huge andirons and turned until ready for our feasts. And what feasts we had out under the immense cherry or apple trees. My mother's maids were always from Radnor-nice, self-respecting, intelligent Welsh girts. They soon married, but there were always sisters of cousins to take their places at once. We often afterwards met these girls in much more elevated positions, and they proved themselves equal to their new social duties. The servant girl problem had not yet appeared.
My father, as I have said, was a Circuit Judge, his circuit reaching to Sandusky, then called Portland, on the lake; and several times I was his companion. Squeezed into a little sulky, well named and only intended for one, with my belongings in a little leather trunk under the seat. I had much converse with him, and was dependent upon myself at an age when the children of today are hardly out of the nursery. My father knew every one, and I was always kindly cared for. He was held in high esteem as a lawyer; he was brilliant, forceful and eloquent, but bitter and sarcastic when aroused. He had a fine library and took much pains that his children should be well read. He died at 48, after several years of semi- invalidism, and six weeks later, when just ready to be admitted to the bar, my oldest brother, Grosvenor, died at the age of 20. Then, for economical reasons, my mother sold the home and, with her five children moved to Delaware.
In 1838, the General Assembly passed an act providing for a new State House and then, in the partisan passion of the time, seemed to regret its action. Many tales were circulated to the disadvantage of Columbus. A bit of the rank partisanship of the time was the accusation that Samuel Medary, then state printer, had been appropriating to his own use the outside quires of every package of state paper. An investigating committee reported that he had done nothing unjustified, as the paper he had taken was unfit for public use. In retaliation Medary charged Wm. B. Lloyd, of Cuyahoga, who belonged to the Whig party, with surreptitiously altering certain accounts. On investigation, this charge was sustained, and an effort was made to unseat him. Then many prominent Columbus citizens, friends of Lloyd, signed a paper deelaring their belief in his innocence. This angered the Democrats, and a bill was at once introduced repealing the act for a new State House. That was in 1810, eight months after the cornerstone for the new State House had been laid. The repealing bill passed both houses in the spring of 1840, and a resolution was offered request- ing the Governor to invite propositions for the permanent location of the capital elsewhere. The House adopted it at once, but the Senate referred it to a committee which reported it baek with a majority report against and a minority report for it. The majority report held that remove the capital would be to break faith with Columbus. That was not as good an argument as it seemed to be, for the capital had been located at Columbus, with the express stipulation, accepted by the proprietors of the land, that it could be removed after 1840. But that stipulation was ignored by both the friends and foes of Columbus, having been forgotten or lost. This, together with the inadequacy of state funds, delayed action. In 1812 Newark made an attractive offer for the capital, and another effort was made to pass the resolution requesting the Governor to invite proposals from other cities, but after being adopted in the Senale, it was defeated in the House, that vote marking the end of the agitation to remove the capital, though the anger of the Democrats was by no means ap- peased. In the legislature of that year, partisanship ran high. The Whigs absented them- selves and the Democrats charged that they were harassed in their work by local Whig mobs. This charge was investigated by a committee of citizens who reported that the alleged mobs did
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CITY LIFE FROM 1834 TO 1860
not exist and that no disrespect was offered or intended by any citizen to any legislator or state officer.
In 1839 Welsh citizens filed a protest with the General Assembly against its refusal to publish the Governor's message in Welsh, while printing it in German. In the same year the State Agricultural Society out of which came the State Board of Agriculture, was formed.
The great Whig convention of 1840 was held in the open air at the corner of High and Broad streets, February 21 and 22. It was a marvelous outpouring of people who came by the roads and the canal, 27 boats filled with people arriving in one day and numerous wagons with log cabins, canoes and other decorations coming over the muddy roads. The streets were gay with colors and banners of many kinds. Rain fell as the thousands came and rain fell as they lingered for the business, but there was no dampening of the ardor of the great throng. There was a parade in the rain the second day, followed by a conven- tion outdoors, the delegates and others standing in a continual down-pour to listen to the speeches of General Resin Beall and Thomas Ewing. Thomas Corwin was nominated for Governor and resolutions against the spoils system of appointments and the centralization of power were adopted; also a set of reasons for opposing Van Buren. The crowd was variously estimated at from 12,000 to 20,000.
Partisan feeling ran so high that Columbus Whigs and Democrats held separate cele- brations of the Fourth of July. Vice President R. M. Johnson, Wm. H. Harrison and John Tyler were all visitors in Columbus that year. Harrison's election to the Presidency was an occasion of great rejoicing and, following his death, there were services in his memory, May 21, 1841.
The first balloon ascension Columbus had ever seen was made from the State House grounds by Richard Clayton, July 1, 1842, and in the same year Charles Dickens and his wife were guests at the Neil House, while en route through the State. That was the year, too, of the first inaugural ball, the occasion being the incoming of Governor Wilson Shannon. The ball was given at the American House, with inauguration suppers at the Franklin House and Oyler's City House.
In 1843 the Mechanics Beneficial Society dedicated a building with hall, erected with its own funds. A. G. Hibbs was president at the time and John Grenleaf secretary. The former on that occasion presented to the society an oil portrait, executed by Wm. Walcutt, of James Russell, inventor of the Russell planetarium, one of the wonders of the day. Mr. Russell was by trade a eabinet-maker, who was born in New Hampshire and had come to Ohio when he was 20 years old.
The Columbus Horticultural Society was organized in 1845, Bela Latham, president ; W. S. Sullivant and Samuel Medary, vice presidents; Joseph Sullivant and M. B. Bateham, secretaries, and John W. Andrews, treasurer. This society acquired by gift the first tract of land which later went to make up Franklin park. It gave annual exhibitions and for some years maintained an active existence.
To the call for troops for the war with Mexico in 1846, Ohio responded so promptly that the state's quota was filled in three weeks. From Columbus went the Columbus Cadets, Captain Wm. A. Latham; the Montgomery Guards, Captain George E. Walcutt, later Cap- tain J. T. Mickum, on the resignation of Waleutt owing to ill health. These went down the eanal to Camp Washington at Cincinnati and were assigned to the Second regiment of Ohio Volunteers. In 1847 two other companies were recruited in Columbus-the Franklin Guards, Captain M. C. Lilley, and a German company, Captain Otto Zirkel. After a farewell demonstration on High street, these companies departed by stage and were assigned to the Fourth regiment of Ohio volunteers. The first two companies, after a year's absence, re- turned and were welcomed July 5, 1817, Samuel Medary making the specch. In the same month a fifth company was recruited here for a Lancaster regiment. James Markland captain, Wm. A. Latham having been promoted to lieutenant colonel. On December 10, 1847, a complimentary dinner was given here to Colonel George W. Morgan, of the Second regiment, and a sword was presented to him. In the summer of 1848, the last of the volun- teers returned from the war, and there was a great demonstration. The returning soldiers were escorted to Jaeger's Grove in the southern part of the eity, 54 girls dressed in white encircling them with a wreath of oak and evergreen as they marched. At the grove. Samuel Medary made the address of weleomo.
The next considerable commotion in Columbus was in 1849 when organized emigration
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HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
to California in search of gold was begun. In February, the Franklin California Mining Co., headed by John Walton, and the Columbus and California Industrial Co., Joseph Hunter leader, were organized, with about 30 members each. They were carefully or- ganized and the articles of agreement were filed here. Each man put in $200; they were to travel and work together under something like military discipline and in 18 months they were to return and settle according to the terms of the agreement. The Walton party dis- banded before it reached its destination, some going on and others returning. Some of both parties reached California, but there is no record of their return and settlement, as proposed. Columbus also sent out another party of seven and doubtless contributed to other parties passing through, but the successes, if any, were individual, and there is nothing to indicate what Columbus got out of the gold craze.
The cholera again appeared in Columbus in 1849, and again many fled from the scourge. Others remained, and the resourceful ones organized to fight the disease which, however, raged from June 21 to September 15, causing 200 deaths in the eity and 116 in the peniten- tiary. The cholera returned in 1850 and, from July 10 to September 4, was held accountable for 225 deaths in a population of 18,000, one-fourth of whom fled and remained away till the scourge should abate. There was no cholera in 1851 and none in 1853, but in 1852 and 1854 there were a few cases, and that its last visitation.
There was much improvement in business conditions in 1850. The evil of a depreciated and unstable currency had been corrected by the creation of the state bank with numerous branches, and there was escape from the old financial mire. Railroad building had begun, and on February 26, 1850, the first passenger train arrived over the Columbus & Xenia railroad. In the same year the General Assembly delighted itself with an excursion over the road to Cincinnati and return. In 1851, the city council appointed a committee, of which W. A. Platt was chairman, to raise $3,000 to pay the expenses of the State Fair. In 1850 the first fair had been held at Camp Washington, Cincinnati, and Columbus resolved to have the second. Mr. Platt raised the money, and the fair was held on land owned by Michael L. Sullivant, near the old Court House in Franklinton. The fair was a success, but Columbus did not get it again till 1855. It was not held here again till 1861. The 1865 fair was also held here and then it went elsewhere till 1874, when it was located here permanently.
In 1851 some women appeared in Columbus wearing bloomers, and some men wearing shawls in place of overcoats. Spiritualism had its beginning and there were lectures, seanees and spirit rappings, Tennie C. Claflin being one of the demonstrants. Equestrianism came into social favor for both men and women and there were occasional cavalcades of 50 or more couples.
The railroad to Cleveland was completed in 1851 and that to Zanesville in 1852. The Franklin County Agricultural Society, organized in 1851. bought a traet of eight acres, now a part of Franklin park, and appointed Lucian Buttles, W. I .. Miner and M. L. Sullivant a committee to improve the ground.
Distinguished visitors in 1852 were Horace Greeley and General Winfield Scott, the Whig candidate for President. The remains of Henry Clay, who died June 29, arrived here July 8, 1852. There was a procession to meet the body and bear it to the Neil House, and the bells were tolled and minute guns were fired till it reached its destination. At the Neil House where the remains reposed over night, and at the City Hall, there were appropriate addresses by William Dennison and Aaron F. Perry.
1852 was also the year of the visit of Louis Kossuth, who came to this country pleading the cause of an independent Hungary. He came from Cleveland, February 1, over the new railroad, and was met at the station by a number of civic and military bodies and es- corted to the Neil House, into which Kossuth, his wife and Mrs. Pulasky made their way with difficulty on account of the crowd. A sympathetic meeting that evening packed the City Hall, though Kossuth was not present. The next day at 11 o'clock, Kossuth spoke from a platform that had been erected in front of the old Court House to a crowd that packed High street. He was introduced by Wm. Dennison and welcomed by Samuel Galloway. That evening there was another large meeting in the City Hall, and the Franklin County Hun- garian Association was formed, Judge Wm. R. Rankin, president. On the 7th the two houses of the General Assembly convened jointly in the Odeon building, and Kossuth was escorted thither by Governor Reuben Wood. Lieutenant Governor Medill formally welcomed him and Kossuth eloquently replied. A third meeting packed the City Hall that evening,
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CITY LIFE FROM 1834 TO 1860
which was addressed by Kossuth. The City Council had for some reason taken little part in this enthusiasm and the friends of Kossuth held a meeting and fiercely denounced it for its inaction. Altogether it was an exciting period of five days for Columbus, and when Kossuth left he was $2,000 richer by reason of the offerings made to him for the cause. Some pas- sages from Kossuth's speeches here are worth quoting, so keen was his insight into the genius and destiny of America and so pertinent to the issue of the recent world war. In his first speech he said:
Go on, young Eagle of America! Thy place is no more upon the top of the low hills where thou restest till now growing in proud security. Thy place is high up near the sun, that with the powerful sweep of thy mighty wings thou mayst dispel the clouds of despot- ism which prevent the sun of freedom over all Europe to rise.
In his speech to the General Assembly he said:
The destiny of mankind is linked to a common source of principles and within the boundaries of a common civilization community of destinies exists. Hence the warm interest which the condition of distant nations awakes nowadays in a manner not yet recorded in history because humanity was never aware of that common tie as it now is. With this consciousness thus developed, two opposite principles cannot rule within the same boundaries-democracy or despotism; there is no transaction between Heaven and hell.
And this :
The time draws near when by virtue of such a declaration as yours, shared by your sister states, Europe's liberated nations will unite in a mighty choir of hallelujahs, thanking God that His paternal care has raised the United States to the glorious position of a first- born son of freedom on earth.
These are words that express the thought of 1918, yet they were spoken in 1852. Kossuth failed as a liberator, but he was a true prophet.
In 1853 the railroad to Urbana was completed and the first train was run over the road July 4.
A convention of Whigs, Democrats and Free Soilers, held in the City Hall, later in Neil's hall, marked no doubt the beginning in Ohio of the movement that resulted in the organization of the Republican party. Those present represented the discontented elements of the parties named. They declared concurrence in the Michigan recommendation for a general conven- tion of free states to take measures to resist the encroachments of slavery. Judge Joseph R. Swan was nominated to the Supreme Court and was later elected by 80,000. For the new political coalition the name Republican was suggested among others, but none was adopted. The following year there was a great convention of the same elements in the Town street Methodist church. It resolved to resist the spread of slavery, called the new party Republican and nominated Salmon P. Chase for Governor.
Know-Nothingism appeared in Columbus in 1855 and was the cause of some rioting. The German societies fell under suspicion of anti-Americanism and on July 1 a procession of Turners was jeered at and attacked. Stones were thrown at the marchers, some of whom responded with their revolvers. The worst of the trouble was at High and Town streets, where Henry Foster, one of the stone-throwers, was fatally shot. Nineteen Germans were arrested and after a hearing all were discharged except six who were put under $500 bond each.
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