The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II, Part 10

Author: Cist, Charles, 1792-1868
Publication date: 1845
Publisher: Cincinnati : C. Clark, printer
Number of Pages: 370

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When I saw him in 1845 he reminded me of this scene. "I towld you," said he "things would all come round again."

I fecl it but justice to Martin to vindicate him from the imputation to which his continued ser- vice under the last four Presidents might sub- ject him, of being a successor of the vicar of Bray.

An early settler.

One of my subscribers who has recently re- turned from a business trip to the neighborhood of Greenupsburg, says:

"Among many objects of interest to me in my visit to the neighborhood, was an old lady, Mrs. Lucy Downs, at whose table I sat with her self, her daughter, grand daughter, and great grand daughter . By this you may readily suppose she is a relic of the past. She was the daughter of Jeremiah and Lucy Virgin, and the sister of Brice Virgin, a name well known to our early settlers She was born September 17, 1769, in what is now Fayette county, near Beeson- town-since Uniontown, being the first child of American parents born on this side of the Allegheny mountains; and is therefore an imper- sonation of the great west. She says she re- moved in 1790 to Limestone and thence in 1792 to Cincinnati, where she was married to Mr. John Downs. They returned to Pennsylvania and finally settled in Greenup county, Kentucky. Her residence is at Oldtown in that county .

She distinctly recollects seeing Gen. Wash- ington at her father's, and a neighbor's house when she was between four and five years of age. He was then engaged surveying lands in what is now called "Washington's bottom," from that circumstance. The old lady enjoys good health and walks quite erect.

Old town, her place of residence, is alleged in the neighborhood to have been an Indian village in early times. There are old residents who have been there 45 and 50 years, who al- ways considered it such, by what they learned from the first settlers. It is certain that toma -!

I have referred two or three times to the subject of planing machines, as of vast impor- tance to the house building interest, divesting the journeyman carpenter of the most labori- ous and unprofitable part of his business-rip- ping out rough boards and dressing their surfa- ces.

Mr. B. Bicknell, a highly ingenious meclian- ic here, has greatly improved as well as simpli- fied the old fashioned Woodworth's planing ma- chine, and as a consequence has been annoyed and persecuted with suits from individuals hold- ing under that patent. It is with great pleas- ure I learn, therefore, that the suit brought in he Kentucky district Court at Frank fort, to test the validity of his right to make and sell "Bick- nell's Concave or Conical planing machine," brought by the rival establishment,has just been decided in favor of the Cincinnati inventor .-- Judge Munroe held, "That Bicknell's was no infringement of Woodworth's patent, even if Woodworth's could be sustained, either for a combination or improvement;" that it did not use the carriage claimed by Woodworth : that it did not use his planing wheel, either horizontal or vertical; and that Bicknell's planing wheel is differently applied to the boards, which gave it a greater capacity to plane the surface, and that the cutter wheels, uscd for tonguing and grooving were not the same described by Wood. worth ; Bicknell's having cutters to give a smooth edge to the plank, which Woodworth's had not.

There are now four of Bicknell's machines in operation here, to wit : T. Bateman & Co., J. H. Story & Co., Thompson and Mitchell, Wor- cester & Co., and a fifth belonging to Bicknell and Jenkins, is about to be put up, at the inter- section of Race street with the Miami canal .--- 'l'his will make when completed, 13 establish- ments of the sort, which will cut this season over five millions of feet of flooring boards, which at twenty-four dollars per M, the current average price, is a product of 120,000 dollars.

CINCINNATI MISCELLANY

CINCINNATI, JULY, 1845.

Revolutionary Patriotism.

Instances of heroic devotion to the liberties and independence of the United States during our revolutionary struggle were of constant oc- currence. I publish the following authentic nar- rative of the life of CHRISTOPHER LUDWICK, who re- sided during my boyish days in the Northern Lib- erties, of Phila. and whose grave and venerable appearance always filled up in my youthful fan- cy, the picture of one of the ancient patriarchs. His history and example point out what men, comparatively obscure, may accomplish for the public welfare where the spirit of doing so ex- ísts.

Christopher Ludwick was born on the 17th of October, 1720, at Giessen in Hesse Darmstadt, in the circle of the Upper Rhine, in Germany. His father was a baker, in which business the son was instructed as soon as he was able to work. At fourteen years of age he was sent to a free school, where he was taught to read and write, and the common rules of arithmetic. He was carefully instructed at the same time in the principles of the christian religion as held by the Lutherans. Of this school he always re- tained a grateful remembrance. At seventeen years of age he enlisted as a private soldier in tho army of the Emperor of Germany, and bore his part in the war carried on by the Austrians against the Turks, between the years 1737 and 1740. At the close of the war in Turkcy, he set off with one hundred men for Vienna. Their march was through a dreary country, and in ex- tremely coid weather. Seventy-five of his com- panions perished on the way. He spent seven months in Vienna. The incident that made the deepest impression on his mind while he re- mained in that city, was the public exccution of the commissary-general of the Austrian ar- my, for fraud and peculation.

From Vienna he went to Prague, wherc hc endured all the distresses of a seventeen weeks' siege. After its surrender to the French arms in 1741, he enlisted as a soldier in the army of the king of Prussia .-- Upon the return of peace he went to London, where he entered himself as baker on board the Duke of Cumberland East Indiaman, and went to the East Indies under the command of Admiral Boscawen. He spent three years and a half in different parts of that country. In 1745 he returned to London, where he received in wages for his serviccs one hun- dred and eleven guineas and an English crown.

With this sum of money in his pocket hc set off for Germany to visit his father, who he found

had died during his absence in India, and had left him his whole estate consisting of a small freehold, which he immediately sold for five hundred guilders. With this money, and part of his wages, he returned to London, where he remained several months, enjoying the pleasures of that great city. After spending his last shil- ling at the places of public resort in the neigh- borhood of London, he went to sea, and passed the years between 1745 and 1752 in successive voyages from London to Holland, Ireland, and the West Indies, as a common sailor. In these voyages he saved 25 pounds sterling; with which he bought a quantity of ready made clothes, and embarked with them for Philadel- phia, where he arrived in 1753. He sold these clothes for a profit of three hundred per cent, and with the proceeds returned to London. Here he spent nine months in learning the Confectiona- ry business, and the making of gingerbread .- In the year 1754 he returned to Philadelphia with a number of gingerbread prints; and im- mediately set up his business of family and gin- gerbread baker.

In the year 1774 lie felt, with the great ma- jority of the people of America. the impulse of that spirit of liberty, which led them to oppose. first by petitions and afterwards by arms, the at- tempts of Great Britain to subjugate the Amer- ican colonies. He possessed nine houses in Phil- adelphia, a farm near Germantown, and three thousand five hundred pounds, Pennsylvania currency, at interest, all of which he staked with his life, in the cause of his country. He was elected successively, a member of all the committees and conventions which conducted the affairs of the revolution, in Pennsylvania, in 1774, 1775 and 1780. His principles and con- duct were alike firm, under the most difficult and alarming events of thosc memorable years. In one of the conventions in which he was a member, it was proposed by General Mifflin to open a private subscription for purchasing fire- arms. To this motion some persons objected the difficulty of obtaining, by such a measure, the sum that was required. Upon this Mr. Lud- wick rose and addresscd the chair in the follow- ing laconic speech, which he delivered in bro- ken English, but in a clear and firm voice : "Mr. President, I am but a poor gingerbread baker, but put down my name for two hundred pounds.' The debate was closed with this speech, and the motion was carried unanimously in the af- firmative.

In the spring of 1777 he was appointed su-

perintendent of bakers. and director of baking in the army of the United States. When his commission was delivered to him by a Commit- tee of Congress, they proposed that for every pound of flour he should furnish the army witli a pound of bread. "No, gentlemen," said he, "I will not accept of your commission upon any such terms; Christopher Ludwick does not want to get rich by the war; he has money enongh. I will furnish one hundred and thirty-five lbs. of bread for every hundred weight of flour you put into my hands." The committee were stran- gers to the increase of weight which flour ac- quires by its manufacture into bread. From th s time there were no complaints of the bad quality of bread in the army, nor was there a moment in which the movements of the army, or of any part of it, were delayed from the want of that necessary article of food. After the cap- itulation of Lord Cornwallis, he baked six thou- sand pounds of bread for his army by order of General Washington.

At the close of the war he returned and set- tled on his farm near Germantown. His house - had been plundered of every article of furni- ture, plate and wearing apparel ; by the British army on their march to Philadelphia. As he had no more cash than was sufficient to satisfy the demands of the market, he suffered a good deal from the want of many of the conveniences of life. He slept six weeks between blankets, rather than contract a single debt by replacing his sheets. He was alike averse to borrow- ing money; for such had always been the ac- commodation of his manner of living to his rea- dy cash, that he never but once was without as much as was equal to the necessaries of life, and that was in Berlin, where he received a gra- tuity of two-pence from a stranger, to purchase a mug of beer.

He died on the evening of the 17th of June 1800, in the 80th year of hisage.

The following is an extract from his will.

able a purpose. And therefore I do will, de- vise and direct that all the residue and remain- der of estate : real and personal, whatsoever and wheresoever, not hereinbefore otherwise dispo- sed of, shall be appropriated as and towards a fund, for the schooling and educating gratis of poor children of all denominations in the city and liberties of Philadelphia, without any ex- ceptions to the country, extraction, or religious principles of their parents or friends."

In every stage and situation of life, Mr. Lud- wick appeared to be, more or less. under the in- fluence of the doctrines and precepts of chri tianity. Part of this influence, it has been said, was derived from his education. But it much increased by the following circumstance. His father inherited from his grandfather a piece of silver of the size of a French crown, on one side of which is marked in bas relief, a represen- tation of John baptizing our Saviour, with the following words in its exergue, in the German language : "The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." 1 John i. 7. On the other side was the representation of a new born infant, lying in an open field, with the following words in its exergue : "I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, live." Ezekiel xvi. 6. This piece of silver Mr. Ludwick carried in his pocket, in all his voyages and travels in Europe, Asia and America. It was closely associated in his mind with the respect and affection he bore for his ancestors, and with a belief of his interest in the blessings of the Gospel. In looking at it in all his difficulties and dangers, he found animation and courage. In order to ensure its safety and perpetuity, he had it fixed a few years ago in the lid of a silver tankard, in the front of which he had engraved the following device : a Bible, a plough and a sword ; and under it the following motto : "May the religion, industry and courage of a German parent, be the inheritance of his children ."

The Pardoning Power.

On the assumption by Thomas W. Bartley of the office of Governor of Ohio, which devolved on him by the appointment of Wilson Shannon, Minister to Mexico, a rule was introduced by him in relation to applications for the pardon of convicts in the State Penitentiary, that previous notice must be given in the public prints to the community, of which the culprit had heretofore made a part, that such application would be made. I objected to the rule at the time as un- fair, impolitic and divesting the Governor of responsibility, which alone belonged to him .- That it was both, might be found in the facts, that while the friends and relations of the con-

"As I have, ever since I have arrived at years of discretion; seen the benefit and advantage that arise to the community by the education and instruction of poor children, and have earn- estly desired that an institution could be estab- lished in this city or liberties, for the education of poor children of all denominations gratis, with- out any exception to country, extraction or re- ligious principles of their parents or friends, and as the residue and remainder of my estate will, in my opinion, amount to upwards of three thou- sand pounds specie, I am willing that the same shall be a mite or contribution towards such in- stitution, and flatter myself that many others will add and contribute to the fund for so laud- | vict would always be actively engaged in gov.

ting him out, the keeping him in lay , in the ne- glected province of no body's, or perhaps every body's business. I alleged from what I had seen in service as a juror, that it was generally difficult to obtain a conviction, impossible with- out the clearest evidence, and that the whole re- sponsibility of judging whether the executive clemency ought to be exercised, was thus left entirely to a mass of signatures, of which it was impossible to judge what representations had been made to obtain them. As I expected, the rule has been made a means of getting men out of the penitentiary, in whose presence no man in society is safe. In the case lately, of two persons who were convicted of murder, par- dons were issued, when the fact was, that a larger number of signatures was obtained to a remon- strance than were signed to the application for release. As matters now stand, our criminal court trials and convictions are a perfect mocke- ry. For my individual share, I shall hereafter vote for no man for Governor of Ohio, who acts under any such rule, or disturbs the verdict of a jury where fresh evidence has not come to light subse- quently to the trial. I believe that every man who signs such petitions, or votes in Governors who pardon convicts of whose guilt there can be no doubt, is taking a sure course to establish Lynch law in this community. In proportion as it be- comes evident that the ordinary course of jus- tice is uncertain or defective, will individual feeling interpose as the avenger of its own wrongs.

City Officers.

Cincinnati had a town charter as far back as forty-three years, This was given by the Ter- ritorial Legislature, Jan. 1st, 1802. The gov- ernment of the place was put into the hands of seven trustees or members of town council, with a President, Recorder, Collector or Clerk , and Marshal.

The early records are imperfect, and such as have been preserved, do not present a full list of public officers. Those which are on record from 1802 to 1815, at which date a new charter was confered on the town of Cincinnati are as follows:

PRESIDENTS .

David Zeigler, 1802, and 1803. Joseph Prince, 1804. James Findlay, 1805, 1806, 1810 and 1311. Martin Baum, 1807 and 1812. Daniel Symmes, 1808 and 1809. Wm. Stanley, 1813. Samuel W. Davies, 1814.

RECORDERS.

Jacob Burnet, 1802 and 1812. Charles Kilgour, 1803. Aaron Goforth, 1805 to 1809. James Andrews, 1810 and 1811. Samuel W. Davies, 1813. Griffin Yeatman, 1814.

CLERKS.

John Reily, 1802.

Wm. McFarland, 1813. Matthew Nimmo, 1804.

Griffin Yeatman, 1805 and 1806. John Mahard, 1807.

Until 1813, the Council does not appear to have preserved regular minutes of proceedings, or to have held its meetings at any fixed place. In 1813 and 1814, that body met at the Colum- bian Inn-the present Neff & Brothers corner of Main and Second streets.

In 1815, the town received an act of incorpo- ration from the Legislature of Ohio. The coun- cil met at the house of Samuel McHenry .

Wm. Corry, Mayor and President ; Oliver M. Spencer, Recorder; Wm. Ruffin, Clerk ; David Kilgour, Treasurer ; and James Chambers, Mar- shal.

By the charter of 1815, the Mayor was elec- ted by the Trustees out of their own number .- On the 14th April, 1817, the board met at the Council chamber, the upper floor of a building which then stood on the public landing, just east of Main street, and opposite Bonte's cord- age store. Wm. Corry was Mayor for 1815, 18- 16, 1817 and 1818; and O. M. Spencer Recorder for 1815 and 1816; and Martin Baum for 1818. Wm. Ruffin Clerk in 1815, Geo. P. Torrence in 1816, and Jesse Embree in 1817 and 1818 .- David Kilgour was Treasurer for 1815 and 1816, as was Jacob Wheeler for 1817 and 1818. Jas. Chambers held the office of Marshal during these four years.

In 1819 the city was created, and divided in- to four wards. Up to this time the voting for the whole city was done at the Mayor's office . The Mayor was elected by the city at this date. Isaac G. Burnet held that office fromn 1819 to 1830, of which periods, from 1827 was by pop- ular election. The successive Presidents of council from 1819 to 1834, were Jesse Hunt, Wm. Oliver, Samuel Perry, Calvin Fletcher, Lewis Howell, Dan Stone, E. S. Haines, & N. G. Pen- dleton. Recorders during the same period, Wm. Oliver, Sam'l. Perry, Thomas Henderson, Chas. Tatem, Oliver Lovell, Samuel R. Miller, and Ebenezer Hinman. Clerks, Rich. L. Coleman, Wm. Phillips, Wm. Ruffin. Thomas Tucker, Daniel Roe, John Gibson, John T. Jones and Charles Satterly, who still holds the post. Treas- urers, Jacob Wheeler, Richard L. Coleman, Ste- phen McFarland, James Comly, & Samuel Scott. Marshals, Samuel R. Miller, John C.Avery, Wm. C. Anderson, Zebulon Byington, Wm. Doty, and Jesse Justice.

In 1831 , Elisha Hotchkiss was elected May- or, and in 1833 Samuel W. Davies to the same office, who held it by successive elections un- til 1843, when Henry E. Spencer became its in- cumbent.

The new Route East.

I had the pleasure on Monday, of seeing Mr. Winter, of the "Chemical Dioramas," who is just in from the Lakes, and have taken the fol- lowing minutes from him on that interesting subject-travelling on the newly opened route via Toledo to the East.

Mr. W. says he came through from Toledo by the Canal,247 miles, to our city,in 56 hours. Ex penses from Rochester to Cin'ti,as follows. Roch- ester to Buffalo, by Canal boat 100 feet long and cabins to match, $2 .: Buffalo to Toledo by steam- boat Indiana, $6. Canal boat to Cincinnati, $7-50cts. Total from Rochester, $15 50cts .- If we add $2} from Rochester to Albany, and 50cts from Albany to New York, we have the aggregate expense from Cincinnati to New York, $18 50cts. Canal and steamboats, and rail road departures daily on the whole route .-- Mr. W. who has been travelling of late years, all over the United States, gives this route east- ward the preference for convenience and com- fort over all others. Its speed and cheapness commend it equally to public notice and sup- port.

Cincinnati Historical Society.

This Society has just issued a circular explain- ing its object, and inviting the co-operation of all who take any interest in collectiug and pre- serving the various documents which are scat- tered through the community, shedding light on the carly history, biography and antiquities of the west.

There must be much, within the reach of in- dividuals, owned by them for which they can- not obtain as safe a depository as the society of- fers in its shelves and closets, much, that if not soon secured, must inevitably perish in the va- ried dangers to which it is exposed. I trust that the call of this Society will meet a ready and liberal response.

Building in Cincinnati.

The Louisville Courier of the 21st ult. , offers a challenge by James S. Speed, bricklayer, on behalf of himself and brother-master brick- layers of that city, I presume, that they will lay more bricks there this season than any individ- ual or firm in this city ; and offer to bet a suit of the best that can be made in either city on the result. I am opposed to betting, and shall do nothing to secure them a bet here, the more so that I am conscious they would lose it, if made. I prefer stating facts to set Mr. Speed right, and refer him to any friend of his in Cincinnati, to verify the statement.

Mr. Lewis Todhunter, bricklayer, of our city, has now on hand, in various stages of erection,

nineteen buildings, in behalf of which bricks to the amount of 2,500,000 have been purchased or contracted for. Mr. John N. Ridgway has buildings, in progress and under contract, which will [require 2,500,000 more. From the 15th March to the 10th June ; a period of but three and a half months, he has actually laid 1.500,000 of these, and the residue will be put into the walls by September. Mr. Todhunter's engagements will also be completed by the same period, and there can be little doubt, judging by last year's work, that a million more bricks will be laid by these individuals before the year expires .- Here then will be six millions brick laid by these two alone. Will Mr. Speed say that he and his brother will lay in Louisville an equal quantity? When he does so I will furnish him with evidence that we have laid last year 80,000,000 brick, in and adjacent to Cincinnati, and there is every reason to believe we shall equal that amount this.

Our Common Schools.

I have said nothing on the subject of the late examination of our public schools, not that they do not interest me greatly, but because a weekly publication like mine, is not the proper vehicle for the record of matters occuring day by day successively, and because I have not room, con- sistently with other subjects requiring my no- tice, to do justice to our schools. By what I saw and what Ilearned, these institutions, pop- ular in a double sense, are maintaining, and in some respects advancing their well earned repu- tation of past years. The public exhibitions, which on Tuesday last, crowned the labors of the past year, and brought the school sessions to a close for the summer vacation were crow- ded with deeply interested and admiring audi- tors and spectators. At the first district school, the following valedictory was sung by the schol- ars with marked effect.

A Parting Song.

Written for the Children of the First District Common School, Cincinnati; and sung at the Close of the Exhibition in that School, Friday, June 27th, 1845.

TUNE-Lucy Neal.

We meet, a band of children young, And on this happy day

We join together in a song, With voices light and gay ; No servile subjects of a King- No slavish tyrant's tools- We freely meet, and freely sing Our noble COMMON SCHOOLS! Oh! the Common Schools, Oh! the Common Schools;

The pride of Cincinnati fair, Are these, her Common Schools !

· From day to day, throughout the year, With faithful mind and heart, Our teachers kindly meet us here, Instruction to impart :

And this our sole tuition fee --- Obedience to the rules; For still to all alike are free Our noble COMMON SCHOOLS !

Oh! the Common Schools, &c.

And while we join the good to praise That on our lot attends,

To God our thankful hearts we raise, Who gives us home and friends : We bless him for the gift of mind, With all that gift controls; For parents, friends, and teachers kind, And for our COMMON SCHOOLS ! Oh! the Common Schools, &c.

And now we part !- and all below May never meet again ;

For Life's a stage on which, we know, Is many a changing scene :

But may each one around we see, Life's lesson so improve, That we shall all admitted be To that great school above ! Oh! the Common Schools, Oh ! the Common Schools; The pride of Cincinnati fair Are still her Common Schools !.

L. J. C.

Cincinnati Fifty Years Ago -- No. 1.

It will be recollected that Wayne's treaty with the Indians was made in 1795. This gave a wonderful impulse to the growth of the whole west, especially to the region in the neighbor- hood of Cincinnati. I propose to sketch as ac- curately as possible, the appearance and condi- tion of our city at that period, as that of a vil- lage of a few hundred inhabitants. At that date, the residents, men, women, and children, were all personally known to each other.

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The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II, Part 10

Author: Cist, Charles, 1792-1868 Publication date: 1845 Publisher: Cincinnati : C. Clark, printer Number of Pages: 370

Author: Cist, Charles, 1792-1868
Publication date: 1845
Publisher: Cincinnati : C. Clark, printer
Number of Pages: 370