History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 34

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I > Part 34

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253

THE FIRST PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

Drawn by Henry Howe. By Permission from Howe's Historical Collections. VIEW ON HIGH STREET IN 1846, SHOWING ORIGINAL PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

254

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

It was contemplated to proceed, soon after last harvest, in building the penitentiary, so as to have it under roof previous to the opening of the present session, a contract to that effect being made; but the unsettled state of public affairs and the drafts of the military prevented. The foundation, however, is dug, a large quantity of stone and up- ward of three hundred thousand bricks are on the ground ready, prepared to proceed in the work early in the succeeding spring.

JOEL WRIGHT, of Warren County, Director.

Chillicothe, Ohio, 9th of 12th month, 1812.

P. S .- As the last Legislature did not furnish any pecuniary compensation for the director's services and expenses, he now applies for what may be deemed proper, and re- quests to be excused or released from further attention to the subject of his appoint- ment, and another appointed in his roon.

JOEL WRIGHT.

On February 10, 1814, the General Assembly passed a joint resolution naming William Ludlow as " Director of the Town of Columbus." This appointment was renewed a year later. Mr. Ludlow was neither an architect, " nor much acquainted with building," says Martin, but " a faithful agent," and " a man of some talent and unquestionable integrity."3 Under his supervision most of the actual con- struction of the public buildings was accomplished. During the year 1813, but little headway seems to have been made, the war with its numerous distractions and constant ealls for volunteers to repel invasion proving a great hinderance ; but the favorable progress of the war in 1814 imparted a fresh stimulus to the work, and during that and the following year all the public buildings contracted for by the proprietors were substantially completed. The Statehouse, as it appeared when finished, is described as "a common, plain brick building, seventyfive feet north and south by fifty east and west, on the ground, and two lofty stories high, with a square roof, that is, eaves and cornice at both sides and ends, and ascending to the balcony and steeple in the centre, in which was a firstrate, well-toned bell. The top of the spire was one hundred and six feet from the ground. On the root adjoining the balcony, on two sides, were neat railed walks, from which a spectator might view the whole town as upon a map, and had also a fine view of the wind- ing Scioto, and of the level country around as far as the eye could reach."4

The foundation of the building had an outside dressing of cut stone to the height of two feet above the ground, and a belt of the same material was laid in the outer wall around the building, at the top of the first story. Benjamin Thomp- son was contractor for the stone and brick work, except the stonecutting, which was done by Drummon & Scott. The carpenter work was done by George Mc- Cormack and Conrad Crisman, the plastering by Gottlieb Leightenaker, the paint- ing by Conrad Heyl. The shingles of the roof were of black walnut, furnished by Simeon Moore, one of the pioneers of Blendon Township. Freestone for the trim- ming to the foundation and openings was brought in wagons from Black Lick, twelve miles, by a wretched trail through the swamps. The clay of which the bricks were made was obtained, in part, from the ancient mound which rose on the present site of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, on South High Street.5

The principal entrance to the building was at the center of its southern front, on State Street. From the interior vestibule adjoining the main doorway flights

255

THE FIRST PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

of stairs rose right and left leading to a gallery and to the Senate Chamber, which was in the second story and had two committee rooms but no gallery. The hall for the Representatives was on the lower floor, on the north side of the building. It was provided with two committee rooms and a gallery, and communicated with High Street by a door at the center of the west front. A rear door led to the wood- yard.

The halls, we are told, were " of good size," and " respectable wooden finish " consisting, in part, of large wooden columns handsomely turned, the workmanship of William Altman. The columns were painted in imitation of " clouded marble."" A polished stone slab, five by two and a half feet, built into the wall over the western entrance, bore the following inscription from Barlow's Colum- bind :

Equality of rights is Nature's plan, And following Nature is the march of Man ; Based on its rock of right your empire lies, On walls of wisdom let the fabrie rise. Preserve your principles, their force unfold, Let nations prove them, and let kings behold. Equality your first firm grounded stand,

Then free election, then your Federal band ; This holy triad should forever shine, The great compendium of all rights divine, Creed of all schools, whence youths by millions draw Their theme of right, their decalogue of law, Till man shall wonder (in these schools inured) How wars were made, how tyrants were endured.

BARLOW.

After the stonecutter who copied these lines had finished his work, the State Director, Mr. Ludlow, who believed that the American Republic is a nation and not a confederacy, had the sunken letters of the word Federal filled up and the word Union imprinted over it. Many years later the composition with which this was done fell off, and the obnoxious word Federal reappeared, a harbinger, perhaps, of the approaching confederacy of the Southern States, and their attempted secession.

A similar stone over the southern entrance was inscribed with an extract from the same poem. Over the east door Director Ludlow caused a smaller tablet to be placed, on which were chiseled the following lines of his own composition :

General good the object of legislation, Perfected by a knowledge of man's wants, And Nature's abounding means applied, Establishing principles opposed to monopoly.

The interior walls of the legislative chambers were hung with maps of the State and engraved copies of the Declaration of Independence, besides " various other articles of use and ornament."?

In the autumn of 1816, after the building had been completed, a dozen or more ladies of Columbus held in the Hall of the House of Representatives a sewing party, at which they put together the first carpet ever laid in that chamber. The party was suggested by Governor Worthington, who honored it with his presence, and favored the fair seamsters with some fine apples from his Ross County orchard.

256

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

In further appreciation of their efforts, the ladies were served with tea in the evening at the residence of Mrs. John Martin on the opposite side of the street from the Statehouse. Among those who took part in this memorable sewing bee were Mrs. William T. Martin, Mrs. George McCormack and Mrs. George B. Harvey.

The building for the executive and administrative offices of the State was erected in 1815. It stood in line with the Statehouse, fifty or sixty feet north of it, and fronted on High Street. B. Thompson, who undertook to lay up its walls, died before his work was completed, but his contract was fulfilled under the super- vision of his widow. M. Patton contracted for the earpenter work, and Leighten- aker and Heyl for the plastering and painting. The building was a plain two- story brick, one hundred and fifty feet long and twentyfive feet deep. From Martin's description of it we learn that "it had a rough stone foundation, and a belt of cut stone along the front and ends at the height of the first story, a common comb roof of joint shingles, and four front doors, one toward the north end to enter the Secretary [of State's] office, two towards the south end to the Auditor's office, one of which, however, was kept closed and not used, and a large door in the centre." "Immediately inside of the centre door," continues Martin, "by turning to the left you entered the Governor's office, or by turning to the right the Treasurer's office, or by advancing without turning to the right or the left you ascended on winding stairs to the second story, which wasalways appropriated for the State Library, but formerly was used also for the Quartermaster's and Adjutant- General's offices, and by times for other public offices. The two front doors to the Auditor's office rather injured the symmetrical appearance of the building from the street."8

Five years later, in 1820, the United States, or " Old" Courthouse, as it was afterwards currently known, was erected. Fronting on High Street, it stood mid- way between the present western and northwestern gates of the Capitol, in align- ment with the State buildings, about sixty feet north of that containing the execu- tive offices. It was built of brick, two stories high, on a rough stone foundation, and was surmounted by a circular green-latticed dome from which the root descended on four sides of the walls, which terminated in castellated forms. It was probably, says Martin, about fortyfive or fortysix feet square. " The front had a recess entrance about the size of a large portico, but within the line of the front wall. The same recess extended up through the second story, thus affording a pleasant view of the street from the second story. On the lower floor there was a hall through the centre, and two rooms on each side, one of which was used for the office of the Clerk of the United States Court, one as an office for the marshal, and one as a jury room. On the second story was the court room and one jury room.''9

This building was first occupied by the National Courts, removed thither from Chillicothe, about the year 1821.10 It was erected under the immediate supervision of Governor Ethan Allen Brown, who is said to have been also its architect. Its cost was provided for, in part, from uncurrent funds of the Miami Exporting Com- pany, then in the treasury, but was mostly met by donations from the citizens of Columbus,

Behind the United States Courthouse a long, single-story brick building was erected in 1828 or 1829 for the eouuty offices. " It was divided into four apart-

PHOTOGRAPHED BY BAKER,

Residence of E. L. Hinman, 682 East Broad Street, built in 1880.

257

THE FIRST PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

ments," says Martin, " with an outside door to each. The north room was for the Clerk of the Court, the next one to it for the Recorder, the next for the County Treasurer, and the fourth or south one for the County Auditor.""

The county offices remained in this building until their removal to the new County Courthouse, at the corner of High and Mound Streets, in 18-10. It was demolished at the grading of the Capitol Square in 1857.

The primitive condition of Columbus at the time the State buildings were erected is indicated by the fact that the fuel used about that time in the Western Intelligencer office, and perhaps also in some of the public offices, was obtained by «hopping down the forest trees on High Street." The General Assembly was not disposed to await, however, the evolution of the town. On the seventeenth ol February, 1816, it passed an act providing that from and after the second Tuesday in October of that year the seat of government of the State should be established, and thenceforward continue, "at the town of Columbus." The second section of this act reads as follows :

The auditor, treasurer and secretary of state shall, in the month of October next, remove or cause to be removed, the books, maps and papers in their respective offices, to the offices prepared and designated for them severally in the town of Columbus; and the treasurer shall also remove any publie money which may be in his office; and the said publie officers shall there attend and keep their offices respectively from and after that time, any law to the con - trary notwithstanding.

The third and last section provided for payment of the expenses of removal. On December 2, 181ti, the tieneral Assembly convened in Columbus for the first time. Colonel P. HI. Olmsted, writing in 1869, says " the members generally came on horseback, and sent their horses to the country for the winter. Several boarded in Franklinton, and one or two in the country. On the adjournment of the tieneral Assembly, several of the members living in the country bordering on the Ohio River below Portsmouth, descended the Scioto in skiffs.""

On the twentyeighth of January, 1817, the General Assembly passed an act requesting the Governor to appoint "one or more skillful mechanics" to meet such persons as might be named by " the proprietors of the town of Columbus," for the purpose of "measuring, valuing and assessing the joiner's work done on the State- house and public offices." The act further authorized the Governor, provided he could agree with the proprietors, to adjust their accounts with the State without the mediation of a commission, and to issue to them an order on the Treasurer in full payment of whatever balance should be found to be due them " over and above the sum they were bounden by contract to expend" in the erection of " the public buildings, offices and penitentiary."

In pursuance of this act an amicable settlement was arrived at by which, after a deduction of six or seven per cent. from the charges for carpenter work, a balance of thirtyfive thousand dollars, over and above the fifty thousand dollars required to be expended, was found to be due, and was paid to the proprietors, whose uniqne, difficult and highly responsible engagements with the state were thus sie- cessfully and satisfactorily terminated.

258

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

NOTES.

1. An act more particularly " ascertaining the duties of the Director of the Town of Co- lumbus" was passed January 28, 1813, as follows:

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Ohio, That the Director appointed by the legislature, shall, within thirty days after his appointment, enter into a bond, with sufficient security, payable to the treasurer of this state, in the penal sum of four thousand dollars, and take and subscribe an oath, faithfully to discharge the duties enjoined on him by law, and shall hold his office to the end of the session of the next legislature ; Provided, that in case the office of Director aforesaid shall become vacant by death, resigna- tion, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature, the Governor shall fill the same; Provided also, that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to exonerate the proprietors of the town of Columbus, from any reponsibility of their original contract.

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the said Director to superintend the erection of the public buildings in the town of Columbus, agreeably to the plans laid down by the late Director except, in his opinion, alterations are necessary in the internal arrangement of the said buildings, in which case he is hereby authorized to direct the same, in such manner as he shall judge most likely to answer the purpose for which such buildings are erected ; and in all things to see that the said public buildings are composed, in all their parts, of proper materials, and built in a good and workmanlike manner; and he is hereby authorized and required to object to any materials not of proper quality, or any work not of the description aforementioned ; and if the Director shall perform or cause to be performed for his own private advantage, any part of the above work, he shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit the amount of his penal bond.

SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the Director, for the time being, to prevent and abate all nuisances, either in the streets or public squares of said town, by digging for brick- yards, or any other purpose, and to preserve from trespass all wood and timber, the property of the state, within the said town, and to cut and dispose of such part as he may deem proper for the use of the state, and annually account for the proceeds of the same.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of the Director to make a report of his proceedings, and of the progress made in the erection of said buildings, whether in his opinion the same is composed of good materials and built in a workmanlike manner, to the next legislature, within twenty days after the commencement of its session.

SEC. 5. That the director shall be entitled to receive for his services at the rate of six hundred dollars per annum, for all the time he may be engaged in discharging the duties of his office, payable quarter yearly on the certificate of the Governor that the services have ·been performed, being presented to the auditor, who is hereby authorized to issue bills for the same payable at the office of the treasurer of the state.

2. Martin's History says: " The Governor resided in Chillicothe, and some misunder- standing having arisen between Pike and him as to the terms or conditions of their contract, on the occasion of one of his visits to Columbus Pike had him arrested on capias and con- ducted by a constable before 'Squire King, and the matter was decided in Pike's favor - per- haps adjusted withont trial."

3. Martin's History of Franklin County.

4. Ibid.

5. Judge William T. Martin, writing in 1858, said: "Of those who assisted in the erection of the old Statehouse, there are still living in the city or vicinity, Jacob Hare, who kept a team and helped to haul the stone for the foundation, Conrad Heyl, principal painter, and George B. Harvey, who was employed on it as carpenter through its whole construction."

259

THE FIRST PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

6. Martin.

7. Kilbourne's Gazetteer.

8. Martin.

9. Ibid.

10. A joint resolution requesting the Senators and Representative of Ohio in Congress to use their best endeavors to have a law passed requiring removal of the National Courts from Chillicothe to Columbus was passed by the General Assembly January 30, 1818.

11. Martin.

12. Mrs. Emily Stewart informs the author that the family of William Merion, Senior, who built and occupied a eabin on their land at the present corner of High and Moler Streets in 1810, "tapped the sugar maple trees around the door and made all the sugar they needed for the year."

13. Communication to the Ohio State Journal.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE CAPITAL AS A BOROUGH. 1816-1834. I.

The capital acquired its first corporate existence by act of the General Assem- bly, sitting at Chillicothe. By that act, passed February 10, 1816, a specifically bounded portion of " the Township of Montgomery in the County of Franklin" was "erected into a town corporate," to be thenceforth " known and distinguished by the name of the borough of Columbus." By the same statute it was made law- ful for the qualified electors of six months' residence to meet at the Columbus Inn on the first Monday of the next ensuing May, and choose " nine suitable persons, being citizens, freeholders or housekeepers, and citizens of said town," to serve as its " mayor, recorder and common councilmen." The persons so elected were re- quired to choose from their own number a mayor, a recorder and a treasurer, all of whom should continue to act as members of the Council, the Mayor being also its President. Thus organized the board was made " a body corporate and politic," endowed with perpetual succession, " by the name and style of the mayor and council of the borough of Columbus." It was further empowered to enact laws and ordinances, levy taxes, erect and repair public buildings, “ receive, possess and convey any real or personal estate for the use of said town of Columbus," and to appoint " an assessor, a town marshal, a clerk of the market, a town surveyor," and such other subordinate officers as might be deemed necessary. The prepara- tion of the tax duplicate was made the duty of the Recorder, the collection of the taxes that of the Marshal. The term of office of the councilmen was fixed at three years, three members to be elected annually, but the thirds of the first board were required to serve, respectively, for one-two- and three-year terms, to be assigned by lot. The choice of councilmen was made by general ticket, on the first Tuesday of May annually, all the electors of the town voting at the same poll.1

The first borough election was held at the Columbus Inn May 6, 1816. The Council then chosen met at the same place on the thirteenth of May, and organized. Its members, in the order of their terms of service, from one to three years, as determined by lot, were Jarvis Pike, John Cutler, Henry Brown, Robert Armstrong, Michael Patton, Jeremiah Armstrong, Caleb Houston, Robert W. McCoy, and John Kerr. Jarvis Pike was chosen Mayor, R. W. McCoy, Recorder, and Robert Arm- strong, Treasurer. Daniel Liggett was appointed Assessor, Samuel King Marshal, and William Long Clerk of the Market. After ordering a purchase of stationery, the first meeting adjourned, as appears by the minutes, " to Thursday evening next, at two o'clock in the afternoon."

[260]

261

THE CAPITAL AS A BOROUGHI. 1.

On the twentysecond of April, 1817, at a meeting of the Council held at the house of John Collett, the Treasurer's accounts for the first year of the Borough were rendered. The " state of the treasury," as reported by John Kerr and Henry Brown, who were appointed to examine the books, made the following exhibit :

Small bills in circulation $210.83}

Fees due the Common Council 88.50

Due the Recorder for stationery 14.

Draft due Recorder. paid by him to Samuel King for services as Marshal, third quarter 20.

Five per cent. to Treasurer for money received (amount received, $311.15) 15.27

Ten per cent. to Treasurer for issuing corporation bills amount- ing to $555.75

55.57

John Cutler's bill for stationery

2.311

426.78₺

Cr.

By cash in the hands of Samnel King

165.611

261.17}

Deduct pay due the Council 88.50

172.674

On motion the pay due to the members was relinquished " for the benefit of the corporation." Christian Ileyl was chosen Treasurer, to succeed Jeremiah Arin- strong, who resigned. An ordinance passed by this Council in March, 1817, declared the Markethouse on High Street to be a nuisance, and ordered its re- moval. It had been erected by voluntary contributions, and was never much used.

During the latter part of August, 1817, the capital was visited for the first time by the Chief Executive of the Nation. Returning from a tour of inspection of the fortifications in the Northwest, President Monroe and his retinue arrived at Worthington from Detroit,? whence the party had journeyed on horse- back, moving "generally in a canter." The President wore an " old-fashioned three-cornered cocked hat," but was otherwise plainly attired in civilian costume. His face was ruddy from exposure to the midsummer sun. The Franklin Dra- goons, Captain Vance, escorted him from Worthington to Columbus, where he was decorously met and entertained by a committee of citizens. The members of that committee were Lucas Sullivant, Abner Lord, Thomas Backus, Joseph Foos, A. I. McDowell, Gustavus Swan, Ralph Osborn, Christian Heyl, Robert W. McCloy, Joch Buttles, Hiram M. Curry, John Kerr, Henry Brown and William Doherty. The President was received at the Statehouse, where a neat and appropriate address of welcome was delivered by Hon. Hiram M. Curry, then Treasurer of State. In his reply the distinguished traveler and guest favored with some graceful compliments the "infant city," as he termed it, from which he received these attentions.3

The War of 1812 imparted a great impetus to business, in both Columbus and Franklinton. Troops were continually passing and repassing, and there were occasions when a force of two or three thousand men awaited orders in the camps along the west bank of the river. Some of the pioneers of the borough nequired means enough to pay for their homes by the sale of refreshments to the passing or sojourning troops of the Northwestern Army. The purchases and disbursements

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

of the military agents of the Government at Franklinton were large, and the de- mand for all kinds of produce active, at high prices. The currency was deprecia- ted but plenty, and nearly every man's pocket was flushed. Pork advanced from $1.50 to $4.00 per hundred, flour to $4.00 per hundred, oats and corn trom fifty cents to one dollar per bushel, hay from ten to twenty dollars per ton, and other articles in like proportion.4 The proprietors of Columbus sold their town lots readily at good prices, usually receiving a small cash payment with interest-bear- ing notes for the residue, and giving a bond to make a title when the notes should be paid.

Thus things went on merrily until the war closed, when there came a reaction. The disbursements of the National Government, then staggering under a war debt of eighty millions, suddenly ceased, the last soldier disappeared from Franklinton, and the early promise of that village was changed into doleful decay. The banks of the entire country, except New England, suspended specie payment, and the currency, then destitute of national quality, fell into hopeless confusion. All sorts of prices suffered a frightful collapse ; pork declined to $1.50 and flour to $1.25 per hundred, corn and potatoes to ten or twelve cents per bushel, and other commodi- ties at a similar rate. Real estate likewise took a downward plunge, and mauy of the town lots sold by the borough proprietors came back to them, the first pay- ments being forfeited by the purchasers. Money became as scarce as it had just been plentiful, labor went unemployed, and families accustomed to luxury were obliged to use rye coffee and content themselves with the coarsest dress.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 34

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1202

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202