History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 97

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 97

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

he watched this equine performance of the "Highland fling" speedily dispelled all appre- hensions for his safety.

After a few minutes spent in making acquaintance, Mr. Rarey commenced munipula- tions upon the animal's face, neck, back and sides. This was soon followed by a good natured, hearty, familiar slap, at which the animal at first " flung out" like a triphammer. This was immediately followed by another slap, the very audacity of which seemed to amaze the brute, and he began to look about with a kind of astonishment at finding himself in the presence of one who was not afraid and who was so evidently bent on familiarity. Mr. Rarey then renewed his gentle caresses upon the horse's neck, ears, face and forelegs, and showed an old shoe that had become deeply indented in the foot by the overgrowth of the hoof and which no blacksmith had been found able to remove on account of the brute's dangerous violence.

Mr. Rarey now applied the straps, which confined his foreleg in a fixed position. After terrible struggles to retain his upright posture the horse was compelled to succumb and came down upon his side During these efforts Mr. Rarey had done little more than quietly per- mit the powerful animal to exhaust himself by his own exertions. When prostrate and helpless he nevertheless continued to signify his belligerent propensities by sundry kicks that were far more emphatic than agreeable. In a few minutes, however, he had to " subside," and soon Mr. Rarey was seen playing familiarly with his rebellious heels. The Secesh ele- ment of the vicious brute was fully subjugated and he surrended at discretion. After toying and playing with him awhile, Mr. Rarey loosed him and let him go, and almost the first salute was a renewal of his kicking vice. Out came straps, and down went the inveterate rebel again. After some further manipulation the ugly customer gave it up completely and Mr. Rarey remained his undisputed master. His complete success elicited great applause.

Of the celebrated horse " Cruiser," the taming of which was Mr. Rarey's most signal achievement, we have the following account :

When Mr. Rarey went to England, his system was thoroughly put to the test by contact with Cruiser, an animal that was so vicious that he was closely and continually confined in a stable in such a way that he could by no possibility reach anybody either with his mouth or heels. His feed was delivered to him through a sort of funnel, and he seems to have been kept solely as an extremely wicked curiosity. His splendid muscle and activity gave him the widest scope for the exercise of his incorrigibility, and he is said to have kicked so high as to strike a board floor fourteen feet above the floor on which he stood. Ordinarily it was only the work of a few minutes for Mr. Rarey to tame a horse, but it took him three hours to subdue the terrific Cruiser.

After putting Cruiser under control Mr. Rarey purchased him and brought him to this country, and placed him on the Rarey farm at Groveport, in this county, where he became popular among breeders. He became so gentle that the people about the Rarey farm could fondle him as they would a kitten, and his colts were noted for their kind disposition. Strang- ers, however, were not permitted to have much to do with him. This was to prevent teasing and the revival of the old propensities

Cruiser died on the Rarey farm on Wednesday last [Ohio State Journal, July 10, 1875], in the twentythird year of his age. His teeth were worn so much that he could not eat hay, and provender had to be specially prepared for him. As contemplated by the will of Mr. Rarey, he received the kindest care in his old age, and it was only recently that he fell into a decline.

Mr. Rarey died at Cleveland in October, 1866, and was buried at Groveport. His funeral was numerously attended from Columbus.

Hon. Alfred Kelley, to whom occasional reference has been made, died at his residence on East Broad Street, December 2, 1859, at the age of seventy. The

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principal events of his life pertaining to the history of Columbus are mentioned in their proper historical connection.

Of Robert Napper, a colored citizen of Columbus, we have the following curi- ons account : He was born a slave, the property of Mr. Davis, residing near Staunton, Virginia. At the age of thirtyfour, Napper, then married and the father of five children, proposed to John Brandeburg, a merchant of Staunton, to buy him and hire him ont, a certain proportion of his wages to be applied to his purchase. Brandeburg bought him for one thousand dollars, and hired him out for four years, during which time he earned his freedom and received bis emanci- pation papers. He then came to Columbus, and after the lapse of one year was able to and did buy his wife for $650. In July, 1860, he bought his youngest boy, Cornelius, aged eleven, who was forwarded to him by the Adams Express. From his master Cornelius received, on July 4, a gift of twentyfive cents, of which he spent en route ten cents; the remainder he banded to his father before he left the express office, with the request that it be applied to the purchase of his little brother, yet in slavery. Napper hoped at that time to purchase the remainder of his family, comprising two girls aged fifteen and eighteen, and a boy aged thirteen. He little foresaw the great events, then near at band, by which human slavery was about to be extinguished forever in the American Union.

In 1855, James Poindexter, a prominent colored citizen now living, bought the freedom of his motherinlaw, then a slave at sixty years of age in Christian County, Kentucky. Mr. Poindexter paid for his aged relative the sum of $375, and brought her to Columbus.

In this connection mention may be made of a colored lady commonly known as " Aunt Lucy," who died on East Cherry Street in May, 1887, at the age of one hundred and two. Prior to the Civil War, Aunt Lucy was a slave to the Confed- erate General Stonewall Jackson. She was never married, and died of natural decay.

Hanson Johnson, a colored citizen who died October 15, 1877, bad been at that time a continuous resident of Columbus for fiftyfour years. For thirtynine years he kept a barber shop in the basement of the American House. Ile was a native of Petersburg, Virginia, came to Columbus in 1823, was one of the original projectors and a liberal helper of the Bethel Church on Long Street, was a gener- ous and zealous benefactor of his race, and at the time of his death was the oldest colored Mason in Ohio. Of the league of colored Masons known as the " National Compact," formed at Boston, he was a prominent organizer. His son, Solomon Johnson, is said to have been the first of his race to receive an appointment in the Treasury Department at Washington. Hanson Johnson was a man of unblemished character, and died universally known and respected in the city.

Another colored citizen wellknown and greatly respected in Columbus was David Jenkins, who died in 1876, at Canton, Mississippi.

T J. Washington, a colored citizen for thirtyfive years resident in Columbus, died at Newark, Ohio, April 3, 1881. Ile was noted for his benevolence and amiability, was a member of a numerous family, and was widely known and highly esteemed.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

Colonel Abram I. McDowell, father of General Irvin McDowell of the United States Army, died at his residence on Front Street, November 16, 1844. He was a descendant of an ancient Scotch family through Colonel Samuel McDowell, a prominent officer in the War of Independence, who was a native of Virginia and after the war settled in Kentucky, near Lexington. Abram I. McDowell emigrated at an early day to Franklinton, from whence he removed to Columbus, of which city he was at one time Mayor. For many years he served as clerk of the courts sitting at Columbus. In 1817, he married Eliza Selden, daughter of Colonel Lord, by which alliance he had six children. His son, General McDowell, graduated at the West Point Military Academy, and married Miss Helen Borden, of Troy, New York.

Bela Latham, who was Postmaster of Columbus from 1829 to 1841, and other- wise prominent, died in April, 1848. His funeral was largely attended by the Masonic fraternity, of which he was an honored member, and was very imposing.

Isaac Appleton Jewett, whose letters have been quoted in different parts of this volume, was a son of Doctor Moses Jewett, of Columbus, by his marriage with a danghter of Samuel Appleton, of Boston. He was made legatee of the sum of seventyfive thousand dollars by provision of the will of Mr. Appleton, with whom he was a great favorite, but died before his benefactor, whose legacy he beqneathed to his halfsister, Mrs. Harriet E. Ide, née Jewett, who was a daughter of Doctor Moses Jewett by a second marriage, and was in no way kindred, in blood, to Mr. Appleton. The latter, it was thought, would under these circumstances so change his will as to revoke the Jewett legacy, since it conveyed a larger sum to a stranger than to any blood relative, but he refused, saying, " the will must stand as it is." Harriet E. Jewett was married in the autumn of 1847 to Doctor W. E. Ide, of Cincinnati. Isaac A. Jewett died in 1853. His father, Doctor Jewett, died at the end of August, 1847, from injuries caused by a fall on the stone stairway of the Col- umbus Insurance Company's building.

R. W. McCoy, one of the earliest, most honored and most successful merchants of Columbus, began business in Franklinton in 1811, but removed about the year 1816 to the capital, where he continued in merchantile business until his death, which took place January 16, 1856. He was a native of Franklin County, Penn- sylvania. He was a member of the Borough Council from its beginning and was President of the City Council from its first organization in 1834 until he resigned the position July 25, 1853. A man of gentle temper and strict integrity, he was universally esteemed. At the time of his death he was President of the City Bank of Columbus.

John Kerr, one of the original proprietors of Columbus, died July 20, 1823. " He was then," says Martin, " a member of the Council, Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and President of the Franklin Bank-an active business man, and highly respected."

Hon. William T. Martin, whose History of Franklin County has been fre- quently quoted in the course of this work, was a native of Bedford County, Penn- sylvania, whence he came to Columbus in 1814. His public services, which were very efficient and creditable, have been elsewhere set forth. His surviving chil-

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dren were B. F. Martin Esq., now a prominent member of the Columbus bar, and Mrs. Matilda M. Wright, wife of Smithson E. Wright, of Cincinnati. Judge Mar- tin died in February, 1866.

Mrs. Sophia Hayes nee Birchard, mother of General R. B. Hayes, now ex-President of the United States, died at the residence of her soninlaw, William A. Platt, in Columbus, October 30, 1866, aged seventyfour. She had resided in Columbus for some time, but had previously been a resident of Delaware, Ohio, and was a native of Vermont.

John Brooks, who died in February, 1869, at the age of eightyfour, had been in active mercantile life in Columbus for sixtysix consecutive years. His father, Morton Brooks, was a Nova Scotia refugee who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown. John Brooks and family emigrated to Obio in the autumn of 1828, and after a journey of fortytwo days from Maine, ria New York, Troy, Buf- falo and Sandusky, arrived in Columbus, where he established his home.

Doctor Francis Hoy celebrated his one hundredth birthday at his residence on East Friend Street December 8, 1871. He was born in Würzburg, Bavaria, December 8, 1771. The occasion of his centenary was ceremoniously honored by bis friends and acquaintances.

Doctor S. M. Smith, who came to Columbus during the forties, and died there November 30, 1874, was long connected as Trustee and Professor with Starling Medical College, and held various and useful relations with the public benevolent institutions of the State. His connection with the press of the city is elsewhere narrated. He was a personal friend of Governor Salmon P. Chase, and was appointed Surgeon-General of Ohio by Governor Tod. Ilis rare professional accomplishments were united with uncommonly amiable qualities and untiring activity in works of charity and humanity.

When the steamship Schiller was wrecked and totally lost on the reef's of the Scilly Islands in the English Channel, May 7, 1875, Columbus was represented among the victims of the disaster by Frederick Uhlman and Mrs. Pauline Schreiner, the remains of both of whom were brought home for interment during the ensuing June.

William Armstrong, a son of Jeremiah Armstrong, who kept the Lion Tavern of the Borough, died at Omaha, Nebraska, July 9, 1875. He was well known in Columbus where he had resided for some years. Himself and two of his brothers were married on the same night to three sisters named Morrison, and on the same occasion Peter Cool was married to a fourth sister of the Morrison family.

Michael L. Sullivant, second son of Lucas Sullivant, and a native of Franklin- ton, inherited a large body of land in the immediate vicinity of Columbus, west of the city, and became an extensive farmer and stockgrower. He was an originator and member of an organization having for its object the improvement of Ohio stock by importations, and was active in bringing about the organization of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture. Reaping, mowing and power threshing machines were first introduced by him in Franklin County. In 1854 he visited Illinois and personally selected eighty thousand acres of choice lands, which he purchased at government prices. This immense farm, known as Broadlands, to

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

which he removed from Ohio, attracted wide attention. Owing to financial diffi- culties he was obliged to sell half of the tract, and retired to the remaining forty thousand acres, to which he gave the name of Bur Oaks. In 1872 he cultivated eighteen thousand acres of corn, and proportionate areas of oats and hay. His corn- fields of 1873 covered a breadth of twenty miles. To his indomitable and charming wife, née Fanny Willes, as the "Lady of Broadlands," Mr. William J. Flagg, a poet of considerable reputation, dedicated one of his finest effusions. At a later period Mr. Sullivant again became financially embarrassed, and was obliged to sell his property. He died in Kentucky in 1879.

Doctor William Trevitt, a citizen of Columbus, whose death occurred February 7, 1881, was twice elected Secretary of State, was surgeon of the Second Ohio Infantry in the Mexican War, held a diplomatic position in South America under President Pierce, and was in other respects conspicuous in official and political life. His connection with the press of the city receives proper mention under that head.

William B. Hawkes of Columbus was the proprietor of extensive stage lines in Ohio, Kansas and other states. At the time of his death, June 1, 1883, he was one of the wealthiest citizens of the city. On March 6, 1882, he conveyed to the Trustees of the Columbus Medical College four lots in West Columbus and securi- ties, valned at ten thousand dollars, for the establishment of a hospital which now bears his name.

Of the multitudes of distinguished persons who have visited or sojourned in Columbus in the course of its history a great many receive mention in other por- tions of this work, in connection with the events which brought them to the city. Some others not included in that category may here be briefly referred to.

Mrs. Henry Clay, one of whose sons was in school at Worthington, visited the capital in August, 1826.

Hon. Joseph Vance was given a "wine party," in honor of his public services, on his return from Washington, in March, 1829. The festivities were held at Browning's Hotel. Among those who offered toasts were P. H. Olmsted, William Neil, Gustavus Swan, John Bailhache. William A. Camron, Ralph Osborn, A. I. McDowell, J. H. Cooke and J. H. Patterson.

The distinguished orator, Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, visited the Borough in 1829.

In June, 1833, Daniel Webster, then en route to Cincinnati and Kentucky, arrived at the National Hotel, and received there the attentions of many promi- nent citizens. During his brief sojourn the following correspondence took place : Sir :

COLUMBUS, June 10, 1833.

'The citizens of Columbus having with pleasure heard of your arrival among them, and deeply impressed with a sense of your invaluable public services, have deputed us to invite you to partake with them of a public dinner, at such time as may best suit your convenience. Very respectfully, etc.,

LYNE STARLING, SEN., WILLIAM MINER,

MOSES H. KIRBY, JOHN A. BRYAN, D. W. DESHLER,

Hon. Daniel Webster.

JERE. MCLENE, L. GOODALE,

R. W. McCoy.

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SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

COLUMBUS, June 10, 1833.

Gentlemen :

I have received your letter inviting me, in behalf of the citizens of Columbus, to a public dinner. It cannot but he cause of sincere gratification to me that the citizens of Columbus have seen, in my public services, anything to justify such a mark of their approbation. I claim no merits connected with the performance of those services beyond that of ever having felt an anxious desire for the preservation of the government of the United States, and for such administration of its powers as should be beneficial to every part of this widespread Union, and tend to unite by ties continually strengthening, the interests and the affection of all the people. I cordially thank those by whom you are deputed for their indulgent estimate of my efforts in publie life; and for the kind manner in which they receive me on this my first visit to the State. But the time I can have the pleasure of staying among them is so short that I must ask permission to decline their proffered public hospitality. Happy in this opportunity of seeing many of them, and of witnessing the prosperity enjoyed by them all, I renew the expression of my thanks for their kind and friendly purpose, and tender them my fervent good wishes.

I am, gentlemen, with much regard for yourselves personally, your obliged and obedient servant,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

To Sirs, &c.

In January, 1837, Edwin M. Stanton, of Steubenville, Ohio, was married to Miss Mary M. Lamson, of Columbus. Rev. William Preston conducted the cere- mony.

General W. II. Harrison's visits to Columbus were frequent, up to the time of his election to the Presidency. General Winfield Scott visited the city in Decem- ber, 1838, and on different occasions afterwards. Hon. John Tyler, subsequently President of the United States, arrived in the city September 24, 1840, and was formally welcomed by the Mayor in behalf of the citizens. " Mr. Tyler responded in a most able and feeling manner, amid the cheers and shouts of an admiring and patriotic people."

Hon. Richard M. Johnson, Vice President, stopped in Columbus, en route to Washington December 19, 1839, and gave a reception at the American House.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dickens arrived April 21, 1842, and stopped at the Neil House.

Hon. Martin Van Buren, of New York, visited Columbus June 6, 1842. He arrived from the West, and was conducted into the city by a military escort, amid the firing of cannon. The procession moved up Broad Street to High, and thence by that street to the City House, where Mr. Van Buren was formally welcomed and responded in a speech of twenty minutes. From Columbus he proceeded to Dayton.

Ilon. Lewis Cass, spoken of at the time as " our late Minister to France," visited the capital of Ohio in January, 1843, and was escorted into the city by the German artillery company and committees on behalf of the General Assembly and citizens. Arriving at the Neil Honse, he was received with an address of welcome by the Mayor, Colonel Abram I. McDowell. The members of the citizens com mittee of reception were R. P. Spalding, M. J. Gilbert, Gustavus Swan, A. I. Mc- Dowell, J. Medary, W. F. Sanderson, L. Goodale, J. P. Bruck, N. M. Miller, Wil- liam Neil, P. Ambos, T. Griffith and Jacob Ilare.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

Hon. John Quincy Adams, Ex-President of the United States, arrived in the city in November, 1843, via canal and National Road, from Cincinnati, where he had attended the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of an observatory under the auspices of the Astronomical Society of that city. Mr. Adams was received at the First Presbyterian Church by the Mayor, Smithson E. Wright, in behalf of the citizens, and responded in an address of twenty minutes in which he eulogized the State of Ohio, and expressed mueh gratitude for the kind manner in which he had been everywhere welcomed in his visit to the West. In departing from the city, Mr. Adams was escorted as far as Franklinton by the German artillery, under direction of General Stockton.

George Peabody, the distinguished London banker, arrived in Columbus April 13, 1857, and in the evening of that day attended, in company with Governor Chase, a reception given to the General Assembly at the residence of Doctor Lin- eoln Goodale

General Zachary Taylor, President-elect, was expected to pass through Colum- bus on his journey to Washington in February, 1848, but on arriving at Cincinnati he found the Ohio River sufficiently clear of ice to enable him to continue his jour- ney thence by steamer to Pittsburgh.

In November, 1850, a person called Amin Bey, who was beralded as a favorite of the Sultan of Turkey and a captain in the Turkish Navy, arrived in Columbus, attended by two or three other alleged Turks, and escorted by John P. Brown, of Chillicothe. The party was passed free over the Xenia Railway, and alighted at the Neil House. On learning of their arrival, the City Council mnet, and voted them " the freedom of the city." They were escorted by Governor Ford and other officials to the public institutions, and received much other conspicuous attention. From Columbus they traveled by stage to Cireleville. Some time later it was announced that Amin Bey, the alleged Turkish envoy, was a fraud.

General Gideon J. Pillow, of Tennessee, halted at the Neil House, April 2, 1852, and was visited by many of his fellow soldiers of the Mexican War.

On March 25, 1854, Ex-President Millard Fillmore arrived in the city and was was escorted to the hall of the House of Representatives, where he received the courtesies of the State.

While making a tour through the West, Hon. Charles Sumner, National Senator from Massachusetts, stopped at the American House June 5, 1855. Dur- ing his brief sojourn he visited the public institutions in company with Hon. Samuel Galloway. From Columbus he journeyed to Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he was the guest of his friend and former fellow citizen, Horace Mann, President of Antioch College.

In December, 1855, Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, was detained in Col- umbus by illness, and remained for some days at the American Hotel where he received much attention from political and personal friends.

In July, 1856, Hon. Anson Burlingame stopped in Columbus en route to attend a political convention held at Dayton on July 28, of that year. Shortly before this time Mr. Burlingame had received and accepted a challenge from Preston S. Brooks, member of Congress from South Carolina, to fight a duel, the occasion of the

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challenge being Mr. Burlingame's denunciation of Brooks's assault upon Senator Charles Sumner. Burlingame named Navy Island, just above Niagara Falls, as the place for the meeting, and rifles as the weapons to be used. These terms Mr. Brooks declined.

Ex- National Senator John Bell, Tennessee, visited Columbus AApril 22, 1859. In 1860 Mr. Bell was the socalled Union candidate for the Presidency with Edward Everett as the candidate for Vice President.

In the correspondence of the New York Times we find the following account of the arrival of the Prince of Wales at the capital of Ohio during his journey through the West in 1860 :

The scene of the day [October 1, 1860] occurred at Columbus, where the train stopped fifteen minutes. As it neared the city all the bells rang. The Governor's Gnard, which had been sent to the dépot for the occasion by Governor Dennison, fired a salute, and Miss Brewer presented the Prince with a large basket of luscious fruit, and an exquisite bouquet, on behalf of the young ladies of the Seminary. The Duke of Newcastle was surprised at the magnificence of the Statehouse and the general appearance of the city.

England's expectant sovereign could not himself, however, have seen much either of the City or the Capitol, since he does not seem to have quitted his train. Another account says:

He [the Prince] is rather goodlooking, pale, sickly youth of about nineteen years of age, plainly dressed in drab pants and black coat, with a white plug hat. Baron Renfrew and suite arrived at the depot about eleven o'clock A. M. A crowd of about fifteen hundred citizens were on hand to get a peep at the Prince. His arrival was greeted by a salute by the gun squad, and the car in which he was seated was immediately surrounded by the anxious and gaping crowd. In a few moments the Prince, accompanied by Lord Lyons and the Duke of Newcastle, made his appearance at the after end of the car, a large covered platform, in a position where he could easily be seen by the whole assembly.5

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 97

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