USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1851 > Part 30
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In view, therefore, of
The extent, safety, and low price of water-power :
The eligibility of Hamilton, as a site for the favorable location of machine shops and the application of power :
The advantages of cheapness of site, and of cost in the improve- ments, low rates of rent, and of the necessaries of life : and,
The facilities afforded for the distribution of arms, and the pur- chase and delivery of materials :
There can be no doubt, in the mind of any candid and intelligent individual, that Hamilton is the spot, in the western states, which possesses such controlling and commanding advantages as to su- persede all others in adaptedness to the great object referred to- the establishment of a National Armory in the West.
In many aspects of this subject, the establishment of an armory at Hamilton, would be of equal advantage to Cincinnati with its location here.
C
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BIOGRAPHY -NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.
BIOGRAPHY-NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.
NICHOLAS LONGWORTH, the subject of this memoir, was born in Newark, N. J., on the 16th of January, 1783. He came to Cincin- nati, which has been his residence ever since, in May, 1804. He engaged at once in reading and studying law in the office of Judge Burnet, then and always, the first lawyer in the city, in point of ability and standing, and after a briefer space than would now be allowed by the courts, was admitted to the bar. He followed his law practice until 1819, when he left the pursuit of the legal profes- sion to newer or younger members. His earnings and savings had been, during the period alluded to, invested in lands and lots in and adjacent to Cincinnati, under the conviction that no other investment of his funds, would prove so profitable. This may seem insufficient to account for the amount of property he has since accumulated from these investments; but it should be remembered that property here was held at low values, in early days, many of his city lot pur- chases having been made for ten dollars or less, each. It must also be recollected, that Mr. Longworth was a regular lot and land dealer, selling as well as buying, and his profits constantly fur- nished the means of extending his investments. Nor should it be forgotten, that dealing in property in a rising market, which Cin- cinnati has always afforded, is a business in which all is gain and nothing loss ; differing in this respect from ordinary trade, both in the certainty of profit as well as the security of its debts, which are always protected by mortgage. As an example of the facility with which small amounts, comparatively, secured what has since be- come of immense value, it may be stated, that Mr. Longworth once received as a legal fee, from a fellow accused of horse stealing, and who had nothing else to give, two second hand copper stills. These were in charge of Joel Williams, who kept a tavern adjacent to the river, and who was a large property holder here in early days. On presenting his order, Mr. Williams told Longworth he could not let the stills go, for he was just building a distillery in Butler county, but he would give him a lot of thirty-three acres on Western Row, in lieu of the article. Mr. Longworth, whose view of the value of property here, was always in advance of public opinion, gladly closed with the proposal. These thirty-three acres occupied a front on Western Row from Sixth to Seventh street, run- ning west for quantity, and this transaction alone, taking into view
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BIOGRAPHY - NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.
the prodigious advance in real estate here, would of itself have fur- nished the basis of an immense fortune, the naked ground being now worth nearly two millions of dollars.
Mr. Longworth went on adding lot to lot, acre to acre, in this mode, until, although he has sold more lands and lots than any man in Cincinnati, he is still the largest landholder in the city.
What Mr. Longworth's property is worth, is rather difficult to determine ; but as his taxes for 1850 were upward of seventeen thou- sand dollars, the largest sum paid by any individual in the United States, William B. Astor excepted, whose taxes for the same year was twenty-three thousand one hundred and sixteen dollars, the presumption is, that there are few individuals of higher reputed wealth in the United States. If, however, he were a man of wealth, and nothing more, this notice would not have appeared in these pages.
Longworth is a problem and a riddle ; a problem worthy of the study of those who delight in exploring that labyrinth of all that is hidden and mysterious, the human heart, and a riddle to himself and others. He is a wit and a humorist of a high order ; of keen sagacity and shrewdness in many other respects than in money matters ; one who can be exact to a dollar, and liberal, when he chooses, with thousands ; of marked peculiarity and tenacity in his own opinions, and yet of abundant tolerance to the opinions, how- ever extravagant, of others-a man of great public spirit and sound general judgment. All these things rarely accompany the acquisi- tion and the accumulation of riches.
In addition to all this, it would be difficult to find an individual of his position and standing so perfectly free from pride-in the ordinary sense. He has absolutely none, unless it be the pride of eccentricity. It is no uncommon circumstance for men to become rich by the concentration of time, and labor, and attention, to some one object of profitable employment. This is the ordinary phase of money getting, as closing the ear and pocket to applications for aid is that of money saving. Longworth has become a rich man on a different principle. He appears to have started upon the calcula- tion that if he could put any individual in the way of making a dollar for Longworth, and a dollar for himself at the same time, by aid- ing him with ground for a lot, or in building him a house on it- and if, moreover, he could multiply cases of the kind by hundreds, or perhaps thousands, he would promote his own interests just in
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BIOGRAPHY - NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.
the same measure as he was advancing those of others. At the same time, he could not be unconscious, that while their half was subdivided into small possessions, owned by a thousand or more individuals, his half was a vast, a boundless aggregate, since it was the property of one man alone. The event has done justice to his sagacity. Hundreds, if not thousands, in and adjacent to Cincin- nati, now own houses and lots, and many have become wealthy, who would in all probability have lived and died as tenants under a different state of case. Had not Mr. Longworth adopted this course, he would have occupied that relation to society which many wealthy men now sustain, that of getting all they can, and keeping all they get. There are men, even in Cincinnati, who do not deserve the very ground which forms their last resting-place.
Every man of extensive means, who does not give freely to every object to which that disinterested individual, the public, thinks he ought to contribute, is, of course, branded as penurious, or at least, destitute of liberality of spirit. It would be impossible for Nicholas Longworth to form an exception to this rule, since it is one of the very few general rules that have no exceptions. There is a story told of the rich Duke of Newcastle having been applied to for aid, by an individual claiming to be a poor relation. "What is the re- lationship ?" inquired the duke. "We are both descendants of Noah," replied the applicant. " A very just claim," rejoined the duke, and giving him a penny, added, " There, take that, and if every one of your relations gives you as much, you will be a richer man than the Duke of Newcastle." If Mr. Longworth were to con- tribute to every application made here, it would leave him as poor a man as the most necessitous applicant at his doors.
Mr. Longworth has his own views and his own ways, as regards relief of, and assistance to, the necessitous. That he is governed by conscientious motives, no one ought to doubt, who learns, as he easily may, that Longworth is a supernumerary township trustee, whose office is crowded at regular hours with twenty, thirty, or fifty miserable objects, whose cases he examines into, and disposes of at a cost of time and patience, which most men would, ordinarily, not submit to. Relief is then provided for, on a system which protects itself from being made a means of fostering idleness or mendicity. All this is done obviously on principle, since he must be a loser pe- cuniarily, as well as in precious time, by such a course.
Many instances might be cited to show that Mr. Longworth is, for
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BIOGRAPHY - NICHOLAS LONGWORTHI.
a rich man, an uncommonly liberal one. I shall refer to the Obser- vatory case, alone.
Mr. Longworth, on application to him to know whether he would part with the Mt. Adams property, and on what terms for an obser- vatory, promptly made a donation of the ground-four acres in extent, for that purpose. After the building had been erected, an assertion was made in one of our city papers, and as Mr. Longworth believed and charged in his reply, by an individual who had pro- perty equally suitable for this purpose, that Longworth was governed by interested motives, the value of Mr. Longworth's property con- tiguous, being enhanced by that improvement. Every intelligent person who read the article, must have felt that an imputation of the kind, in this case, was supremely ridiculous. But Longworth was piqued, and in his own caustic language, retorted with an offer, that if the individual who wrote that piece, would deed the same quantity of ground for an observatory, he would himself put up a building equal to that which had been erected upon Mount Adams, and appropriate the spot thus vacated, for promenade grounds for the benefit forever, of the citizens of Cincinnati. In this way he suggested to the writer, that he might appropriate to himself all the benefits which such an improvement would secure to his adjacent property, and at the same time, be the means of conferring a lasting public benefit on the citizens of Cincinnati. No reply was made, and perhaps had not been expected.
The original gift of the four acres, all within the heart of the city, was a very liberal act, and the proposition to put up an observatory at his own cost, rendered the proposal thus made, a munificent one.
If the fact, that a community has been made the better or worse, by an individual having existed in it, be, as a standard writer con- siders it, an unerring test of the general character of that individual, there is no hazard in saying that Cincinnati is the better off for Nicholas Longworth having been an influential citizen of its com- munity, and that putting him to this test, he has fulfilled his mission upon earth, not indeed, as fully as he might have done, but perhaps as fully as one would have done, who might have stood in his shoes.
Nor ought it to be forgotten, that by Mr. Longworth's labors in the introduction of the grape, and improved cultivation of the straw- berry, on which objects he has spent thousands of dollars, he has made these fruits accessible to the means of purchase of every man, even the humblest among us. How much more manly and spirited
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BIOGRAPHY - NICHOLAS LONGWORTII.
is this, than tempting the poor man with the sight of luxuries he may look at, but can never expect to taste.
Mr. Longworth is a ready and a racy writer, whose vein of think- ing and expression is always rich, and who blends pleasantry and wit with grave arguments and earnest purposes. His writings on the strawberry and the grape, and his various contributions to the press abound with examples of this kind, recognizable here, as his, at a single glance. His bon-mots and quizzicalities are like his own sparkling champagne, brilliant and evanescent. Few of these can be referred to on the spur of this occasion ; two or three, however, may suffice as a sample, if even inferior to the average. They are taken from " Cist's Advertiser," the editor of which, relates them upon his own knowledge.
"During the war with Mexico, one of our city dailies stated that Mr. Longworth had offered a contribution of ten thousand dollars, as advance pay and equipment of the Ohio volunteers, a large share of which were from Cincinnati-a difficulty having arisen as to the State of Ohio furnishing the necessary advances. I was somewhat surprised at this, believing Mr. Longworth no friend to the war with Mexico, and when I next met him, congratulated him on his public spirit, referring at the same time to the statement in the journals. "Not a word of it true ! not a word of it true !" ob- served Longworth. " I might have said, and believe I did say, that I would give ten thousand dollars as a contribution to a regiment of volunteers, but it was on condition-on the express contingency that I should have the picking out who among our citizens should go, and I believe I would make money by the offer, yet-but recol- lect, I am to have the say who are to go."
While the Presidential struggle of 1844 was raging, Mr. Long- worth was applied to for a contribution of one hundred dollars for campaign expenses. " Don't know whether I shall give a cent," he replied. "I never give something for nothing. We might fail to elect Clay, as we did before, and I should fling away the hundred dollars." The applicant, a President of one of our banks, assured him there was no doubt of Mr. Clay's election-there could be none. " Well," said Longworth, "I can tell you what I will do. I will give you the hundred dollars, but mind, you shall be personally re- sponsible to me for its return if Clay is not elected." The politician, finding he could make no better bargain, and never dreaming of defeat, acceded to these terms. The funds all went into the com-
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BIOGRAPHY - BOWLDER PAVEMENT.
mon purse, and when the hundred dollars had to be made good, the banker had to pay the amount out of his own pocket-multa gemens.
The other day, I had occasion to make up a contribution to relieve the wants of a destitute, but deserving widow residing in the Sixth ward. Among other persons, I applied to Longworth. "Who is she ? Do you know her ? Is she a deserving object ?" I assured him that she was; I had good reason, I said, to believe that she bore an excellent character, and was doing all in her power to sup- port a large family of small children. "Very well, then," said Mr. Longworth, "I shan't give a cent. Such persons will always find plenty to relieve them. I shall assist none but the idle, drunken, worthless vagabonds that nobody else will help. If you meet with such cases call upon me." That this was not a mere pretense I find in the success of an application made here, in behalf of the Mor- mons, after they had been driven from Illinois. A committee of that people visited Cincinnati and applied to a friend of mine who said he had no money to give, but wrote a note to Mr. Longworth, in which he stated that he had sent these persons to him, as having a claim on him, they not being Christians! Mr. Longworth gave them accordingly ten dollars.
BOWLDER PAVEMENT.
OUR limestone pavements have long been an annoyance and reproach to the community. Of friable material and irregular shape, they soon break into inequalities, where water lies after heavy rains, increasing and extending the irregularity of the surface. It is easy to perceive, to what extent this must affect the comfort as well as the health of our citizens.
Of late years, we owe to the public spirit of D. L. Degolyer, the introduction of bowlder pavement, which is gradually changing the whole surface of the city. Properly laid, these require neither repaving nor repairing, for fifty years or more. Indeed this material, is nearly indestructible. Our bowlders are smaller than those used in the Atlantic cities, which circumstance renders the surface here, comparatively smooth. When this species of pavement shall be spread over the whole city, we may hope to escape those clouds of dust, which in dry summer weather, constitutes our greatest street nuisance.
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HOTEL FOR INVALIDS.
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CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
THIS temple of astronomical science occupies, already, its appro- priate department, in this volume; but the statement of its estab- lishment, comprehends a history so remarkable, and a lesson so valuable, as to justify a more extended narrative. It is an example of what may be accomplished, by the public spirit of a community, when its energies are stimulated into activity, by the enthusiasm, intelligence, vigor, and perseverance of any one man, of competent ability, to direct it to a successful issue.
The Observatory, either as respects the building, or its scientific instruments and machinery, is the only one in the world constructed and put into operation by the people-the masses. How this was done, cannot be more clearly stated, than in the language of Profes- sor Mitchel, himself, in one of his lectures.
On the 9th of November, 1843, the corner-stone of the Observa- tory was laid by John Quincy Adams, in the presence of a vast multitude, with appropriate ceremonies, and followed by the delivery of an address replete with beauty and eloquence. The season was too far advanced to permit anything to be done toward the erection of the building during the fall ; and, indeed, it was not the intention of the Board of Directors to proceed with the building, until every dollar, required in the payment for the great telescope, should have been remitted to Europe. At the time of laying the corner-stone, but three thousand dollars, out of nine thousand five hundred, had been paid. This was the amount required in the contract, to be paid on signing, and the remaining sum became due on finishing the instrument.
The contract having been made, conditionally, in July, 1842, it was believed that the great Refractor would be shipped, for the United States, in June, 1844, and, to meet our engagements, the sum of six thousand five hundred dollars, must be raised.
This amount was subscribed, but, in consequence of commercial difficulties, all efforts, hitherto made to collect it, had been unavail- ing, and in February, 1844, the Board of Control solicited the Director of the Observatory, to become the general agent of the So- ciety, and to collect all old subscriptions, and obtain such new ones as might be necessary to make up the requisite sum. The accounts in the hands of the previous collector, werc, accordingly, turned over to me, and a systematic effort was made to close them up. A regu-
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CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
lar journal was kept of each day's work, noting the number of hours employed, the persons visited, those actually found, the sums collected, the promises to pay, the positive repudiations, the due-bills taken, payable in cash and trade, and the day on which I was requested to call again. These intervals extended from a week or ten days, to four months. The hour was in general fixed, and when the day rolled round, and the hour arrived, the agent of the Society presented himself, and referred to the memoranda. In many cases another and another time was appointed, until, in some instances, almost as many calls were made as there were dollars due. By systematic perseverance, at the end of some forty days, the sum of three thousand dollars was paid over to the treasurer, as the amount collected from old subscribers. Nearly two thousand dollars of due- bills had been taken, payable in carpenter work, painting, dry-goods, boots and shoes, hats and caps, plastering, brick-laying, blacksmith work, paints and oils, groceries, pork barrels, flour, bacon and lard, hardware, iron, nails, &c., in short, in every variety of trade, mate- rials, and workmanship. The due bills, in cash, brought about five hundred dollars in the course of the next thirty days, and a further sum of three thousand dollars was required for the last remittance to Europe.
It was determined to raise this amount, in large sums, from wealthy and liberal citizens, who had already become members of our Society. The list first made out, and the sums placed opposite the names of each person, is now in my possession. On paper the exact amount was made up in the simplest and most expeditious manner ; eight names had the sum of two hundred dollars opposite them, ten names were marked one hundred dollars cach, and the remaining ones, fifty dollars each. Such was the singular accuracy in the calculation, that, when the theory was reduced to practice, it failed in but one solitary instance. One person, upon whom we had relied for two hundred dollars, declined absolutely, and his place was filled by another.
I called on one of the eight individuals marked at two hundred dollars, and, after a few moments' conversation, he told me, that in case one hundred dollars would be of any service to me, he would gladly subscribe that amount. I showed him my list, and finding his name among those reckoned at two hundred dollars, he remarked that he would not mar so beautiful a scheme, for the sum of one hundred dollars, and accordingly entered his name in its appropriate place.
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CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
At a meeting, held in May, of the Board of Control, the treasurer reported that the entire amount was now in the treasury, with the exception of one hundred and fifty dollars. The board adjourned to meet, on the same day, of the following week, when the deficiency was reduced, by the agent, to twenty-five dollars, and on the same day, an order was passed, to remit the entire amount to Barings & Brothers, London, to be paid to the manufacturer, on the order of Dr. J. Lamont, of Munich, to be given on the packing of the instru- ment. The last twenty-five dollars was obtained, and placed in the treasurer's hands, immediately on the adjournment of the Board. Thus was completed, as it was supposed, by far the most difficult part of the enterprise. All the cash means of the Society had now been exhausted, about eleven thousand dollars had been raised, and to extend the effort, yet farther, under the circumstances, seemed to be quite impossible. Up to this time, nothing had been done toward the building; and, after paying for the instrument, not one dollar remained in cash, to commence the erection of a building which must cost, at the lowest estimate, five or six thousand dollars.
Some two or three thousand dollars had been subscribed, payable in work and materials. Owing to a slight change in the plan of the building, the foundation walls, already laid in the fall of 1843, were taken up and relaid. Finding it quite impossible to induce any mas- ter workman to take the contract for the building, with the many contingencies by which our affairs were surrounded, I determined to hire workmen by the day, and superintend the erection of the build- ing personally. In attempting to contract for the delivery of brick, on the summit of Mount Adams, such an enormous price was de- manded for the hauling, in consequence of the steepness of the hill, that all idea of a brick building, was at once abandoned, and it was determined to build of limestone; an abundant supply of which, could be had on the grounds of the Society, by quarrying. Having matured my plans, securing the occasional assistance of a carpenter, about the beginning of June, 1844, I hired two masons, one of whom was to receive an extra sum for hiring the hands, keeping their time, and acting as the master workman. One tender to these workmen, constituted the entire force with which I commenced the erection of a building, which, if prosecuted in the same humble manner, would have required about twenty years for its completion. And yet our title bond required that the building should be finished in the follow- ing June, or a forfeiture of the title by which we hold the present
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CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
beautiful site, must follow. My master mason seemed quite con- founded, when told that he must commence work with such a force. In the outset, difficulties were thick and obstinate. Exorbitant charges were made for delivering lime. I at once commenced the building of a lime-kiln, and, in a few days, had the satisfaction of seeing it well filled, and on fire; true, it caved in once or twice, with other little accidents, but a full supply of lime was obtained, and at a cheap rate.
Sand was the next item, for which the most extravagant charges were made. I found this so ruinous that an effort was made, and finally, I obtained permission to open a sand-pit, which had long been closed, for fear of caving down a house, on the side of the hill above, by further excavation. An absolute refusal was at first given, but systematic perseverance again succeeded, and the pit was re-opened. The distance was comparatively short, but the price of mere hauling was so great, that I was forced to purchase horses, and in not a few instances fill the carts, with my own hands, and actually drive them to the top of the hill, thus demonstrating prac- tically, how many loads could be fairly made in a day.
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