USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II > Part 59
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
Chronological Table.
Jan. 28th .- Peter the Great, born, 1725. Ad- miral Byug, shot by sentence of Court Martial, 1757.
Jan. 29th .- Swedenburg, born, 1689. Con- stantinople, burnt, 1730.
Jan 30th .- Charles I., beheaded, Whitehall, 1648.
Jan. 31st .- Guy Fawkes, executed, 1606.
Feb. Ist .- Battle of Brienne, 1814.
" 2d .-- B. Trumbull, died, 1820.
Flattery in Rags.
There is an excellent anecdote, which furnishes a fine lesson in the study of human nature. A miserable looking beggar, in piteous accent im- plored the charity of a well dressed lady who was passing by, but he was not graciously received. " I have no small change," said she, with a re- pulsive look. " Then, most charming madam," said the philosopher in rags, "allow me the privilege of kissing your beautiful, lily-white hand?" " No, my friend," replied the fair one with a smile, " I cannot do that, but there's half a crown."
'Thoughts of Heaven.
No siekness there,- No weary wasting of the frame away; No fearful shrinking from the midnight air, No dread of summer's bright and fervid ray!
No hidden grief,
No wild and cheerless vision of despair, No vain petition for a swift relief;
No tearful eyes, no broken hearts are there.
Care has no home
In all the realms of ceaseless prayer and song! Its billows melt away and break in foam l'ar from the mansions of the spirit throng.
The storm's black wing
Is never spread athwart celestial skies! Its wailings blend not with the voice of Spring, As some too tender flower fades and dies!
No night distils
Its chilling dews upon the tender frame; No moon is needed there: The light which fills That land of glory from its Maker came!
No parted friends
O'er mournful recollections have to weep! No bed of death enduring love attends
To watch the coming of a pulsoless sleep.
No blasted flower
Or withered bud celestial gardens know! No scorching blast or fierce descending shower Seatters destruction like a ruthless foe!
No battle word
Startles the sacred host with fear and dread! The song of peace Creation's morning heard Is sung wherever angel minstrels tread!
Let us depart
If Home like this await the weary soul! Look up thou stricken one! Thy wounded heart Shall bleed no more at sorrow's stern contro !.
With faith our guide
White-robed and innocent to lead the way, Why fear to plunge in Jordan's rolling tide. And find the ocean of eternal day!
Early Steamboat Statistics.
It is remarkable how little is known, or at least recollected, of the character of the first steamboat performances.
The first steamboat in operation in America, or indeed any where else, was in 1787, when James Rumsey made a short voyage on the Poto- mac, with a boat about fifty feet long, propeled by the reaction of a stream of water drawn in at the bow and forced out at the stern, by means of a pump worked by a steam engine. The boat moved at the rate of three or four miles an hour when loaded with three tons burtlien. The weight of the engine was one-third of a ton. The boiler held five gallons, and the entire machinery oceu- pied but the space required for four barrels of flour, and she consumed from four to six bushels of coal per day.
In 1787, John Fitch put a boat in motion on
the Delaware, which performed at the rate of three miles per hour. His next effort was to construet a passenger boat without deeks, the Perseverance, in which he went, October 12th, 1788, from Philadelphia to Burlington, on the Delaware river, twenty miles, in three hours. This, it may be remarked, was a better perform- ance than any of Fulton's carly efforts.
The earliest steamboat trip in the world for prae- tical purposes, was by Fulton, in the Clermont, of eighteen horse power, which made its passage from New York to Albany in the Hudson river; in thirty-five hours, or at the rate of five miles per hour. Such is the difference between progress at the cast and in the west, that as late as Au- gust, 1816, the Albany Argus, in speaking of tlie cheapness and expedition of traveling, remarked, " That steamboats leave Albany for New York every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Satur- day, at 9 A. M., and New York the same day at 5 P. M. The fare is only seven dollars, and the trip is made in twenty-four hours!"
The trip has been made of late years in ten hours, and at but one dollar passage money ex- pense; and there is hardly an hour in the day at which a boat may not be taken from New York to Albany.
The first steamboat on the western waters- the Orleans, of 300 tons-was built at Pittsburgh, in 1812, and the Vesuvius, 390 tons, in 1813. The first steamboat arrival at New Orleans from Louisville, was on the 30th of May, 1815, of the Enterprise. A steamboat constructed by Fulton, commenced running to Providence from the city of New York, in 1815.
The following notice appeared in Niles' Week- ly Register, of the 30th September, 1813 :- " A projeet is on foot at New York, to build a steam- er of 350 tons, to serve as a paeket between New York and Charleston, South Carolina, in which it is estimated the passage will be made in four days. Those whose opinions are entitled to the fullest confidence, decidedly believe that the voy- age may be made with at least as mueh safety as in other vessels."
The steamboat Enterprise arrived at Charles- ton, 23d July, 1816, from Savannah, and excited a great deal of curiosity-it being the first steam- boat ever seen in Charleston. Great as was the surprise, the editors of the newspapers there prophesied that "ten years hence such a boat would be no novelty anywhere in the United States, where there was water enough to float one."
In 1817, the persons engaged in fishing on the Potomae, petitioned the Virginia Legislature, that steamboats might be prevented from running during the month of April-as the noise could be I heard several miles, and the agitation of the air
283
and water, frightened all the fish from the river.
The steamship Savannah sailed from Savan- nah, in 1819, for Liverpool, where she arrived after a passage of twenty-six days, being the first steamer that ever crossed the Atlantic.
Belmont County, Ohio.
The original counties of this State were Wash- ington and Hamilton, the river Muskingum marking between them a division line of the State into cast and west. In 1797, Jefferson and Ad- ams were taken off the upper end of Washington and Hamilten counties. In 1798, Ross was formed in the interior of the State. To these were added, in 1800, Fairfield, Clermont, and Trumbull, the latter then comprehending the en- tire Western Reserve. In 1801, Belmont was taken from Jefferson, the document below being the first move in the matter. It was designed to build up a county seat of Pultney, a settle- ment on the Ohio, some seven miles below Wheeling, but the public buildings were located at St. Clairsville, and Pultney is now, like some other Tadmors in the wilderness, among the things that once were.
To his Excellency Arthur St. Clair, Esquire, Gov- ernor of the North Western Territory of the United States, and northwest of the river Ohio.
The Petition of sundry subscribers, inhabitants of Jefferson county, in the said Territory, re- spectfully sheweth-
That, whereas, a division of the said county of Jefferson is contemplated .- Your memorialists are of opinion, that when a division is made that the line between Jefferson county and the said county, which is to be formed from part of Jef- ferson county, ought to be run thus, viz :-
Commence on the bank of the river Ohio, and at the middle of the fourth township and second range; or in other words, to commence on the bank of the river Ohio, three miles from the northeast corner of said fourth township and second range, which will be two miles and about one quarter from the mouth of Short Creek-and from the bank of the river Ohio, as aforesaid, to run a due west, until the same shall intersect, or in other words, touch the range line between the sixth and seventh range of the seven ranges of townships, and from thenccforth along said range line until the same shall touch the northwest corner of the sixth township and sixth range; and from thence a due cast until thic same shall touch the river Ohio, or as far to the southern cxtremi- ty, for the forming of the new county, as may be considered advisable; and from thence north along said river Ohio until the place of begin- ning-which boundary your memorialists are individually and collectively of opinion ought to form the new county.
And your memorialists are of opinion that the most eligible and proper situation for the seat of justice would be at the town of Pultney, form- erly known by the name of the Wetzel Bottom, which being upon the bank of the river Ohio, and laid off in a large bottom, which contains nearly one thousand acres, and is about eight miles south of Wheeling, and about thirty-one miles south of Steubenville, the present seat of justice of Jefferson county; and being a thri- ving settlement, rapidly increasing in population and improvements. From these circumstances, as well as the central position, it must certainly have a decided preference over any other town that may be put in competition with it: And we are decidedly of opinion that the town of Pultney ought to made the seat of justice for the said new county. And your memorialists shall ever pray, &c.
James Archibald,
John M'Cune,
Samuel Stewart,
John M'Clure,
James Alexander,
Isaac M'Alister,
Peter Mander, John Mitchel,
Wm. Pickary,
Patrick M'Elheny,
Robert M'Millan,
Stephen Workman,
Charles Irwin,
John Graham,
Henry Hardesty,
Churches in the East and West -- 1846.
Denominations.
N. Y. Phila.
Cinc.
Baptist,
29
17
3
Roman Catholics, -
20
11
5
Christian,
0
1
1
Do. Disciples,
0
1
4
Dutch Reformed, -
18
2
0
Episcopal, -
38
20
4
Friends,
4
7
Q
Jews' Synagogues,
9
2
2
Mariners, -
0
2
I
Methodist Episcopal,
40
26
12
Moravian, -
1
1
0
New Jerusalem,
-
Q
2
1
Presbyterian,
40
32
12
Unitarian, -
I
1
Universalist,
4
4
1
Congregationalist,
5
1
0
Coloured Churches,
0
12
6
Millerite,
0
0
1
-
172
151
63
This is, for
Cincinnati one Church to 1,300 persons.
Philadelphia one " to 2,000
New York one
to 2,500
In other words, New York has but one half the Churches, in comparison to her population, that are in Cincinnati; and applying the same
-
0
3
Lutheran,
5
5
5
German Reformed,
280
rule to Philadelphia, she has but two thirds as | ville and Tiffin. Four bear the name of early inany as we have.
Another feature of comparison is the different proportions in these different cities. The Bap- tists, Episcopalians, and Dutch Reformed, con- stitute nearly one half the religious societies in New York, while they form not one eighth of the whole number here. On the other hand, there are more of the Disciples' Churches (Camp- bellite) here, than in both the other cities, and as many German Lutheran as in Philadelphia, where there were three Churches of that denomination before there was a Church of any description in Cincinnati. There are, at this moment, in Cin- cinnati, more houses of worship in which the ser- vices are conducted in the German language than in Philadelphia, although a much larger emigration of that people has lodged there than here. The difference is ascribable to the circum- stance that our Germans require preaching in that language, only a small portion being familiar with the English, whereas in Philadelphia they and their descendants have lost their native tongue, to a very great extent, by long residence in this country.
In fifty years there will hardly be a house of worship in Cincinnati in which the services will be conducted in the German language, such having been the overpowering influence of the English in our own country everywhere that that it has come in contact with foreign lan- guages for the every day business of life.
Etymologics of County Towns in Ohio.
pioneers to the State-Kenton, Findlay, Eaton, and Dayton.
The Indian aboriginals are few-Coshocton, Bucyrus? Delaware, and Chillicothe are all, I be- lieve. Logan is named after the celebrated In- dian Chief, whose memory will endure as long as the letters exist which compose his memorable speech. Gallipolis signifies the city of French- men. Three owe their name to local features- as Bellefontaine, from a fine spring in the town; Cireleviile, from the ancient circular fortifica- tions found there, and corresponding to which the centre of the town was laid out; Defiance, from the old Fort of that name, erected by Gen. Wayne. Marietta was named after Marie An- toinetta, Queen of France, by compounding the first and last four letters of her name. Kalida is a formation from a Greek word, signifying beau- tiful. Sandusky, properly Sodowsky, from a tra- der of Polish descent, who lived many years in that region of country. Xenia, Sidney, Chardon and Elyria, were merely fancy names, in all probability. St. Mary's from the river of that name, so called by Jesuit missionaries. The origin of Woodsfield, Marysville, Mansfield and Akron, I cannot state, or even conjecture. Columbus, the capitol of the State, as well as of Franklin county, bears the proud name of the discoverer of America; and the modern scourge of nations, Napoleon, has given his name to the seat of jus- tice for Henry county.
If any of my readers or correspondents can correct errors or supply deficencies in this arti- cle, their communications for that purpose will be very acceptable. The utmost industry would not suffice to make a first effort of the kind perfect.
There are eighty counties in the State of Ohio, and consequently as many county towns, or seats of justice. Of these seventeen-West Union, Georgetown, Springfield, Wilmington, Lancas- ter, Cambridge, Hillsborough, Norwalk, Troy, Mount Vernon, Burlington, Newark, Chester, What's in a Name ? Somerset, Portsmouth, New Philadelphia, and I observe that there is a bill before the Legisla- ture of Ohio, to change the name of Montague L. Moses to Moses L. Montague. This name re- minds me of a pleasant little incident in English parliamentary history, which runs as follows: Lebanon-derive their names from older settle- ments in the Atlantic States, and received them from the settlers-as a general rule-in compli- ment to the neighbourhoods from whence they came. Another class of names are taken from There were two members of Parliament-Mon- tagu Matthew and Matthew Montagu, Esqs. They formed the contrast in size there, which Messrs. Wentworth and Douglass do in the pres- ent Congress of the United States, who being two feet difference in height are said to be nick- named in Washington, " The long and short of the matter." Montagu Matthew was almost a giant in height, and Matthew Montagu, on the contrary, was considerable under the usual size. Their names being so much alike, they were sometimes mistaken for each other in debate, greatly to the annoyance of the former, who af- towns and cities of antiquity, or of eminence in foreign countries, as Lima, Athens, New Lisbon, Cadiz, London, Toledo, Medina, Ravenna and Canton. Four bear the names of their respective founders-as Cleveland, Millersburg, M'Con- nellsville and Zanesville. The heroes and sages of the revolution have given names to eleven-to wit: Jefferson, Hamilton, Van Wert, Marion, Paulding. Warren, Carrollton, Greenville, Wash- ington, Wooster, and Steubenville. Three owe their names to Americans of later date, as Pike- ton, Jackson, Perrysburg. But two only are named after Governors of the State-St. Clairs- | fected great contempt, personal and political, for
987
his namesake. On one occasion where this mis- take had occurred under some especially provo- king circumstances, he rose and remarked tliat, certain honourable gentleman, by the manner they confounded names, did not appear aware that there was any difference between Montagu Matthew and Matthew Montague. If they were, however, to take a look at us both, they would see there is as much resemblance between us as between a chestnut horse and a horse chestnut.
Original Letter of Th. Jefferson.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 1802.
Sir :- I informed General Kosciuszko of your kind attention to the location of his lands, and of your refusal to accept of anything for it, expres- sing pleasure at an opportunity of rendering him a service; and he in answer desires you to be as- sured how sensible he is of this mark of recol- lection and friendship, and the pleasure he has re- ceived from this testimony of regard from an old brother soldier. Having sold the lands to Mad- ame Louisa Frances Felix, who is now come over to settle on them with her family, and leaves this place in a few days for that purpose, I have, in pursuance of a power of attorney from the General, given her a written power to enter into possession of the lands and to hold them accord- ing to the contract of conveyance from the Gen- eral. Should there be any difficulty in finding the lands, I trust that your good disposition towards the General will lead you to render her any in- formation necessary for that purpose.
Accept my respects and good wishes.
TH. JEFFERSON.
Col. JOHN ARMSTRONG, Cincinnati.
Novel Mode of Leeching.
During the mania for leeches, which prevailed some years ago in France, a country doctor in Bretagne had ordered some to be applied to a pa- tient suffering with the sore throat. On calling to see the effect of his remedy, the first person he met, on entering the house, was the peasant's wife.
" Well, my good woman," said the doctor, " how is your husband to-day ? better no doubt?"
" Oh, yes, surely!" answered the woman, " he is as well as ever and gone to the field."
" I thought so," continued Monsieur le Doc- teur, " the leeches have cured him! Wonderful effect they have! you have got the leechies of course?"
" Oh yes, Monsieur le Docteur, they did him a great deal of good, though he could not take them all."
" Take them all!" cried our friend, " why how did you apply them?"
"Oh, I managed it nicely," said the wife, looking quite contented with herself; " for va- riety's sake I boiled one half and make a fry of the other. The first he got down very well, but they made him sick. But what he took was quile enough," continued she, seeing some hor- ror in the doctor's countenance, "for he was
better the next morning, and to-day ho is quite well."
" Umph!" said the doctor, with a sapient shake of the head, " if they have cured him it is suffi- cient; but they would have been better applied externally."
Cincinnati Literature.
A distant correspondent says,-" Cincinnati boasts of her common schools, and the conse- quent diffusion of knowledge in your commu- nity. Pity that they had not been established so many years earlier as to benefit your editors in the orthography of the language in which they write or publish. I observe in the first line of an advertisement, which appears in most of your papers, the vulgarism,
' I dreampt that I dwelt in marble halls.'
" Errors may occur at times without impeach- ing the knowledge of an editor, but au error of this description, common to your whole press, and which a school boy or girl of seven years of age would promptly detect, I consider disgrace- ful to the literature of the editorial fraternity of of your city."
How Dr. Bailey and Professor Mansfield, lit- erary men of no mean pretensions, should have committed such blunders, is to me inscrutable.
Titles.
My correspondents will do me a favour by dis- pensing with the title Esq. after my name.
For this I have several reasons-
1st. It is indistinct, being applied to all man- ner of persons, honourable and dishonourable, in public and in private life.
2d. It is inapplicable to me. Esquire is deri- ved from the French Ecuyer, a stable boy or ostler. I have not cleaned out a stable for forty years.
3d. It is anti-republican. A good democrat desires no better name than to combine the ap- pellative given him in baptism with that which he inherits by descent. He wants as a handle neither Mr. at one end nor Esq. at the other of his legitimate appellation.
In this respect, as in many others, the Society of Friends set a first rate example, neither giving nor taking titles.
The Iron Manufacture of the United States.
How deeply the United States is interested in the Tariff question, may be judged by the following statistics, which have been gathered by a Convention of iron masters and coal mine proprietors, lately assembled in Philadelphia.
'The product of the whole United States is over 500,000 tons of pig iron, and 300,000 tons of bar, hoops, &c. The following estimate, in detail, of the Iron business in the United States, for 1845,
283
will give our readers an idea of the value and ex- tent of this branch of business.
240 blast furnaces, yielding 486,000
tons pig iron-average of 900 tons
to the furnace per annum, 486,000 tons.
950 bloomeries, forges, rolling and slitting mills, and yielding -- 291,600 tons of bar, hoops, &c. Blooms, 30,000 tons.
Castings, machinery, stove plates, &c., 121,500 tons. which, at their present market value, would. stand thus:
291,600 tons of wrought iron, at $80 per ton, $23,328,000
121,500 tons of castings, at $75 per ton, 9,112,500 30,000 tons of bloomery iron, at $50
per ton, 1,500,000
$33,949,500 To which must be added to the quantity imported for the last year:
46,000 tons bar iron, rolled, at $60 per ton, $2,760,000 17,500 tons hammered, at $80 per ton, 1,500,000 16,050 tons, pig iron, converted into castings, at $75 per ton, 1,950,750
5,750 tons scrap iron, at $35 per ton, 201,950
4,157 tons sheet, loops, &c., at $130 per ton, 540,410
2,800 tons steel, at $335 per ton, 938,000
$41,744,640
Pennsylvania, it is estimated, has a population of 400,000 persons, in various relations to the Iron business.
To Readers.
Since the establishment of the Advertiser I have been in the receipt of various friendly and approbatory notices of my little sheet from the corps editorial at home and in other places, which I felt unwilling to publish, deeming them personal matters merely. But I am not sure whether there has not been false delicacy in this. The Advertiser embodies a great amount of sta- tistical and other subjects, for a large share of which I am indebted to correspondents-most of which is of great value now, and will be of inap- preciable interest in future years for comparison and reference. And it is probable that there is no one who takes it at present and files it away, but at a future period could obtain a greatly en- hanced price on what it cost, in years to come, if disposed to part with it.
My paper enjoys a fair support at home, con- sidering how many publications exist to drain the pockets and consume the reading leisure of the community here. But it might, and perhaps ought to have, five hundred additional subscri- bers in this neighbourhood, devoted as it is to the collection and preservation of every thing con- nected with the West, that can shed light on the past or afford it to the future.
With these views I republish a friendly notice from the Dayton Journal & Advertiser, of the 02th inst .:
" One of the best papers we receive is Cist's Ad- vertiser, published at Cincinnati, and we find its contents sufficiently readable to induce us to lay it by for a leisure hour, so that we may read it through without interruption. In the last num ber of that paper we find the following spirited sketch of a seenc at the Memphis Convention.
" We give it, not for the purpose of sanction- ing the peculiar mode of improving the Western waters which is set forth, but as a lively and amu- sing sketch which may bring a smile from a Washingtonian without any discredit to his pledge or profession.
" We may as well add in this place, that tho Advertiser contains much useful statistical in- formation, and many interesting facts and nar- ratives connected with the early settlement of the West. It is a paper unlike any other that we know of, and we canuot but believe that if its merits were more generally known, it would have a large circulation, in the West especially. It is published weekly at $2 per annum."
Coal Mines of Pennsylvania.
The coal of Pennsylvania is of more value to her morally, physical and pecuniary, than the gold mines ol Mexico and Peru to those empires.
The value of the coal refered to in the table below must be of more than twelve millions of dollars.
The Miner's Journal, at Pottsville Pennsylva- nia, contains some valuable statistics on the Schuylkill coal region. The following is the of- ficial statement of the quantity of coal sent to market from the different regions in 1845, com- pared with 1844 :-
Schuylkill
1845. SR. R., 829,237 Canal, 263,550
1844. 441,491 308,443
Increase. 378,845 134,884 [decrease.
1,083,796
839,934
243,862
Lehigh,
432,080
377,821
54,259
Lackawanna,
269,469
251,005
18,464
Wilkesbarre,
178,401
114,906
63,495
Pinegrove,
47,928
34,976
13,012
Shamokin,
10,000
13,087
2,051,674 1,631,669 tons. 1,631,669
Increase in 1845,
390,005
American Artists Abroad.
We are gratified to learn of the constant marks of respect and esteem received by our young countrymen, POWERS, the Sculptor, and his friend and associate, KELLOGG, the Painter-both gen- tlemen of fine genius and destined to shed lustre on American arts. We learn that Mr. Kellogg, returning recently to Italy from a tour of some extent in the East, was presented, while i ; Con- stantinople, by a high functionary of the Turkish empire, with a magnificent cup, studded with up- wards of a hundred diamonds, as a testimony of friendship and respect.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.