The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 50

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081

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At the appointed time, the first Tuesday in June, 1809, Rev. Mr. Wilson was sick and unable to attend, but the other two Commissioners met. There were three places presented for their consideration-Cincinnati, Lebanon and Dayton. After examining all the places proposed, they agreed upon Lebanon as the seat of the university, and so reported. By this action, it was generally supposed at the time, says Judge Burnet, that the location of the institution was unalterably fixed. Ichabod Corwin offered a tract of about forty acres, now occupied in part by the Lebanon Cemetery, as grounds for the university. It is said by A. H. Dunlevy that at the time of the meeting of the Commission- ers, a large walnut tree stood on the western part of these grounds, and this spot was selected by the Commissioners as the most suitable place for the erec- tion of the main college building. This spot is now the grave of Gov. Thomas Corwin.

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Jeremiah Morrow, of Warren County, was one of the Commissioners ap- pointed in 1803 to select the township of land for the institution. John Big- ger and Ichabod B. Halsey, of Warren County, were appointed, in 1809, mem- bers of the Board of Trustees; the first meeting of the board was held at Leb- anon, June 7, 1809.

The citizens of other places which had desired the institution were greatly disappointed, and at the next meeting of the Legislature after Lebanon had been selected, a proposition was made by Mr. Cooper, of Dayton, to establish the university on the lands which had been selected for its support, although these lands were outside the tract for whose benefit the institution was intended. The Legislature thought this was the wisest plan to pursue, and, in 1810, pro- vided that the Trustees should lay out the town of Oxford on the college town- ship, in Butler County, and located the university on that township. It has been the opinion of eminent lawyers that Miami University was legally located at Lebanon, and that the change of the site to a point outside of the Miami Purchase was in violation of the intention and purpose of the original grant by Congress of a township for the support of a seminary of learning. No at- tempt, however, has ever been made to remove the institution from Oxford.

Dr. I. W, Andrews, President of Marietta College, said some years ago that Miami University had graduated more distinguished men than any other institution west of the Alleghany Mountains.

POSTMASTERS.

In 1805, Lebanon was made a post office. The following is a list of the Postmasters of the town, with the dates of their appoinment, obtained from the records of the Post Office Department at Washington:

William Ferguson, April 1, 1805; Jeremiah Lawson, October 1, 1808; Matthias Ross, July 1, 1810; Daniel F. Reeder, April 1, 1811; George Harnes- berger, October 31, 1816; John Reeves, July 21, 1825; George Kesling, Sep- tember 19, 1831: Thomas F. Brodie, June 3, 1841; Elijah Dynes, March 3. 1853; Ira Watts, March 3, 1859; Hiram Yeo, December 6, 1861; Mrs. Belle E. Parshall, July 20, 1866; Thomas H. Blake, December 19, 1878.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE.

The electro-magnetic telegraph was brought into successful use in this country by a line established between Baltimore and Washington, March 27, 1844. The first telegraph office in Lebanon was opened August 1, 1851. It was on a line from Cincinnati to Cleveland. For some years, the receipts of the Lebanon office were barely sufficient to pay the salary of the operator.

During the years 1880 and 1881, a number of telephones were constructed in the town. Telephonic connection between Lebanon and Middletown, via Red Lion and Franklin, was completed May 20, 1881.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The first provision made by the village for protection from fire was the or. ganization of the lot-owners into a fire-bucket company, and the purchase of hooks and ladders for the use of the village. Four sections of the earliest or- dinance of the town relating to fires which has been found are given below:

AN ORDINANCE TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS BY FIRE.

SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the Trustees of the town of Lebanon, That each free- holder within the corporation of Lebanon, who shall own any lot or lots in said corporation. on which is erected any dwelling-house or store-house, shall, on or before the 10th day of February next, furnish him or herself with a fire-bucket for each and every such building, the fire-bucket to be made of good and sufficient soal leather ; the bucket to be made thirteen

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inches in height ; the diameter at the top nine inches, and at the bottom seven inches in the clear, the bucket to be bound round the top with a rope covered with leather, and a rope handle covered with leather, which bucket shall be well and sufficiently jacked ; on the side of each bucket shall be marked with paint the initials of the owner's name, which bucket or buckets shall be kept by the said freeholder (or his or her tenant, as the case may be), in the most convenient place in each house and store, to be had on any emergency.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That on any alarm being given of fire, it shall be the duty of every householder within the corporation aforesaid (females excepted), to repair with his bucket to the place of such fire, if within the limits of the corporation, without delay, and there assist in extinguishing said fire. * * + * * * * * *

SEC. 8. Be it further ordained, That the fire hooks and ladders belonging to the cor- poration shall be deposited at the market house under the care of Thomas Best, and shall in no case be used except in a case of fire, under the penalty of five dollars to be imposed on the person so offending.

SEC. 9. Be it further ordained. That all fines and penalties incurred under this ordi- nance, shall be recovered by an action before the Trustees for the use of the corporation ; this ordinance to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

SILAS HURIN, President.

Attest :

JOHN REEVES, Recorder. LEBANON, January 11, 1815.

The first fire engine of the village was purchased about 1828, and was called "Minnie." The " Minnie" is described as a home-made engine, of novel construction, consisting of a rude device for throwing water. placed in a box about four feet long. three feet wide and two feet deep, and the whole mounted on four small wheels. The water was thrown into the box by a line of men with buckets extending from the nearest supply. From the box the water was pumped by hand-brakes and thrown upon the fire. This little engine was more effective than might at first be supposed. It could be drawn along the pavement, lifted over obstructions, and taken into dooryards through gate- ways.

The second fire engine was purchased about 1835, and was called the "Whale." This was a side-bar suction engine, large and cumbersome. It was bought in Cincinnati and cost $1, 400. Soon after, the Lebanon Fire Company. composed of property-holders of the village, was organized. The Franklin Fire Company was organized about 1849.

The third engine was called " The Franklin, " a two-stream suction engine. with improved pumps and two sets of brakes, one above the other, the upper one worked by men standing on a platform. This engine was used until about the commencement of the civil war, when it was sold to the village of Franklin. The hand engine, " Union, No. 1," was bought of Button & Blake, the manufacturers, at Waterford, N. Y., in 1861, for $920. It is still in use, and is an improved three-stream apparatus, and has proved an excellent engine.

The first steam fire engine was purchased in 1871. It is called " The Belle of the West," is a rotary Silsby engine, purchased of the Silsby Manufacturing Company of Seneca Falls, N. Y., at a cost of $6,000. It is drawn to and from fires by members of the fire company and citizens. Horses have never been used in the service of the fire department.

PUBLIC GROUND.

The four half-lots on the respective corners made by the crossing of Broad- way and Main streets were designated on the original plat of the town as " pub- lic ground," and have been popularly known as the public square. These lots have an interesting history. It is believed that it was the intention of the proprietors of Lebanon to vest the use of these lots in the county for the pur- poses of a court house, jail and other county buildings, but they were unfortu- nate in the use of the proper words on the plat to designate the purpose in- tended. The plat was executed under a law of the Northwest Territory, passed

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December 6, 1800, which provided that lots and parcels of land designated on town plats for special purposes should forever be held for the uses and purposes therein named, and for no other use or purpose whatever. The history of the erection of the first court house and jail on these lots has already been given in the historic sketch of the county.

After the erection of county buildings on two of these lots, in order to re- move all doubts as to the right of the county to their use for county purposes, the original proprietors, Ichabod Corwin, Silas Hurin, Ephraim Hathaway and their wives, on May 24, 1809, executed their several deeds, with covenants of warranty, conveying to the Commissioners of the county and their successors in office the four lots designated as public ground for the use of the county forever.

These lots, one or more of them, continued to be used for county purposes for about thirty years. After the erection of the court house in the eastern part of the town, about 1834, they ceased to be used for any county public purpose, yet the County Commissioners still assumed the right to control and lease both the old court house and all the four lots of the public ground. Al- though they were advised that the lots were dedicated to the public as public ground, and could not be used for private purposes, the Commissioners per- sisted in their course, divided the grounds into small lots, and leased them to various persons for long periods of time. After being advertised, the old court house, on April 12, 1834, was leased, the town of Lebanon becoming the lessee. The record of the County Commissioners shows that Joshua Borden, on behalf of the President, Recorder and Trustees of the town of Lebanon, leased the old court house for twenty years, at an annual rental of $86.50, the lease com- mencing to run in June, 1834.

The lessees of the small lots erected buildings on the north and east of the old court house, and business was carried on in them for several years before any complaint was made. At length, when a building was about to be erected on the northeast lot of the public ground, legal proceedings were com- menced in the Supreme Court, held in Lebanon, to stay the erection of new structures, and to remove all obstructions from these grounds. A. H. Dunlevy and Thomas Corwin were the solicitors for the town; George J. Smith and John Probasco, Jr., for the Commissioners. Legal proceedings were begun January 3, 1839. Two years elapsed before the cause was finally decided. The Commissioners claimed the, lots to be the property of the county by virtue of the original intention of the proprietors in their dedication, the deeds of convey- ance to the county, and the constant and continued use and appropriation of the property by the county for thirty years, without any objection on the part of the authorities of the town. The court decided that the lots were dedicated by the proprietors to the use of the inhabitants of the town of Lebanon, as a common or public square, and that they were only held by the county in trust for that use. The court enjoined the Commissioners from leasing, selling, in- cumbering or in any way interfering with the grounds, and ordered that " all structures, erections and obstructions on said public ground, now held by either party, shall, within ninety days, be removed by the party now holding the same, and at the party's own cost, and on failure, a writ of assistance be directed to the Sheriff to remove such obstructions."

The language of this decree was so sweeping that it was feared that the old court house would have to be torn down. This was not desired by either party to the suit. The citizens of the town especially were anxious that the old building should be preserved, as it had long been used as the only town hall in the village. The solicitors of the town, therefore, filed their petition for a re-hearing of the cause and a modification of the decree of the court,

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which was allowed, and a final decree was made, May 4, 1842, under which all buildings for private purposes were removed, but the old court house was al- lowed to remain to be used for public purposes only. It was declared by the court that the lots belong beneficially to the town of Lebanon, for the use of the town for public purposes connected with the town, and that they should not be appropriated to any purpose not of a public nature and for the common or general use of the village.

Thus was secured to the town authorities the right of controlling the four lots of the public square, but, unfortunately, their situation and small size ren- dered them of no value as a public common, and almost the only useful pur- pose they could serve was as sites for public buildings, and for this use the town did not need more than one of them. The northeast lot was dedicated to public purposes by Ephraim Hathaway; the northwest lot, by Ichabod Corwin; and the two lots south of Main street, by Silas Hurin.

THE OLD TOWN HALL.

After the completion of the second court house, the old one became known as the town hall. About 1844, a third story was added to the building by the Masonic order of Lebanon, and used as a lodge for many years. The Mechan- ics' Institute held its lectures and discussions, at first in the lower, and after- ward in the second, story. As the first court house of Warren County, the first town hall, the first library and reading room of Lebanon, the memories cluster- ing around the quaint old building make the spot on which it stood historic ground. There Francis Dunlevy, Joshua Collet and George J. Smith sat as President Judges under the first constitution of Ohio. There John McLean and Thomas Corwin made their earliest efforts at the bar. There, in the court of justice, the town meeting and the institute, were often heard the voices of men whose names have given the people of Lebanon a just pride in its early history. The old building was destroyed by fire on the morning of September 1, 1874.

WASHINGTON HALL.

In 1855, the Town Council resolved to build a new market house, with quarters for the fire department. The old market house stood in the middle of Silver, at the intersection of Mechanic street. The site selected for the new structure was the southwest corner, at the intersection of the same streets. The old town hall being inadequate to the wants of the village, the plan was devised of building a new public hall, as a second story of the new market house.

The Town Council were favorably disposed toward the proposition, but great opposition to it was soon manifested among a considerable portion of the citizens. The question being hotly contested, the Council ordered the matter to be submitted to a vote of the electors of the town. The election was held September 8, 1855, and resulted in the following vote: Hall, yes, 118; hall, no, 129; blank, 3; total, 250. The friends of the proposed hall then formed a stock company, and raised the money for building the hall in connection with the new market and engine house. The town became a stockholder in this company to the amount of $1,500, or one-half of the estimated cost of complet- ing the hall. This action of the Council in making the town a stockholder in a joint stock company was in violation of law, but no effort was made to prevent this union of public and private money, and thus was completed a hall, belong- ing in part to the town and in part to private citizens. The new hall was ded- icated with a festival, given on the evening of December 24, 1856, by the Franklin Independent Fire Company. On the 10th of the following month, the stockholders met and christened the hall Washington Hall, and agreed upon

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rates of charges for its use, varying from $3 to $20 per night. The first lecture in the hall was delivered Friday evening, January 23, 1857, by Rev. C. Giles, of the New Jerusalem Church, then a resident of Cincinnati, on "Humanity in the Nineteenth Century." About 1859, this hall was leased by the Town Council to the proprietor of the normal school at Lebanon, and since that time has been used chiefly for the purposes of that institution.

In the year 1874, the citizens of the town were divided into two parties on the question of a tax for the enlargement and repair of this hall. The tax was advocated by one party as a necessary and proper means of making suitable provision for accommodating the increased attendance at the normal school, which institution, it was alleged, would be removed to some other locality if such accommodations were not furnished. By the other party it was argued that taxation for such a purpose was improper, and that the proposed extension to the length of Washington Hall was an ill-advised mode of accomplishing the purpose. The contest waxing warm, the question was submitted to a vote of the people at an election ordered by the Council. The result of the vote was a very large majority in favor of the tax. The Council then assessed the tax necessary for the proposed extension. The collection of this tax was enjoined by the Court of Common Pleas on the petition of a large number of the tax- payers of the town. The petition for the injunction stated that the tax, while professedly for the purpose of providing public buildings for the town, was really designed to furnish rooms for the normal school, and thus to aid a pri- vate citizen in his private business, and that the hall on which it was proposed to expend the money was owned in part by private persons. The court, with- out passing on the question as to what were the rights of the town in the hall, held that the proposed tax was clearly in violation of the provision of the con- stitution against taxation in aid of joint-stock companies, and must therefore be restrained. No further efforts were made toward extending Washington Hall.

LEBANON PUBLIC HALL.

On the morning of September 1, 1874, occurred the most disastrous fire in the history of Lebanon, destroying the old town hall, Congregational Church, Ross Hotel and other buildings. Two months later, the Council authorized an election to decide the question of levying a tax of 3} mills for eight years, ag- gregating about $45,000, for the purpose of erecting a public hall, corporation offices, etc. The election was held November 16, 1874. It attracted but little attention, and resulted in a vote of 197 yeas and 33 nays. The first plan ap- proved by the Council was for a building 148x64 feet, three stories high. Numerous tax-payers obtained from the court an injunction against this gigantic structure, and the Council found, on opening the bids, that the cost of the structure would exceed the amount they proposed to expend. A new plan was adopted, which made a great improvement in the audience room. The third floor being left off gave an increase in the height of ceiling from twenty-four feet in the old plan to thirty-two feet in the new one; the length was dimin- ished nearly twenty feet. A special act of the Legislature authorizing the sale of bonds and the erection of the hall was passed March 31, 1877. The stone work for the foundation was begun July 16, 1877; the building was fully in- closed before the severe weather of the succeeding winter set in, and was ded- icated on September 2, 1878. The edifice is the finest public building in War- ren County. Though not built on high ground, it presents a fine appearance on approaching the town, especially from the west and south, looming up above surrounding buildings, and is the most conspicuous and imposing structure in Lebanon. It is built of Lebanon brick, the south and west fronts presenting a variety of ornaments of freestone, galvanized iron and saw-tooth brick work.

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On the Broadway front are two handsome tablets, a date block at each side of the pediment bearing the figures 18 and 77 respectively, and a coping for the pediment, all of freestone; and on a circular tablet of Berea stone, the seal of the corporation, viz. : "A cedar tree in the center, surrounded by the words, 'Corporation of Lebanon, Ohio.'" The expanse of the high slate roof is re- lieved by seventeen chimney-tops and twenty dormer ventilators. The cresting and finials of roof, dormers and towers are of galvanized iron painted blue, with prominent points touched with gold.

The following are the names of the designers and contractors in its con- struction :

Architect, George P. Humphreys, Cincinnati; excavation, William Saint, Dayton; stone masonry, Charles Seifred, Dayton; cut stone, Brice & Webber, Dayton; brick work, S. V. Boren, Dayton; tin, galvanized iron and slating, W. F. Gebhart & Co., Dayton; cast and wrought iron, McHose & Lyon, Day- ton; carpenter work, Beaver & Butt, Dayton; plastering, William Jones, Waynesville; painting and glazing, J. N. Turner, Lebanon; gas-fitting, M. J. Gibbons & Co., Cincinnati; gas apparatus, Coleman Gas Works, Cincinnati; gas fixtures, McHenry & Co. Cincinnati; frescoing, F. Pedretti, Cincinnati; scene-painting, Waugh, Levoy & Co., Cincinnati; stage machinery, A. Shrimp- ton, Cincinnati; chairs for main floor of hall, G. Henshaw & Sons, Cincinnati; chairs for gallery, J. N. Oswald, Lebanon.

The following figures, taken from the plans and specifications of the archi- tect, are here placed on permanent record: The building outside, 132x64 feet; main audience room, including stage, 101x60} feet; height of first story inside, 14} feet; height of main hall, 32 feet; height of spire above pavement, 132 feet; Mayor's office, 33x24} feet; council chamber, 24}x24}; library, 31}x24}; dressing rooms, 12x12; store rooms, 60x16; inside vault, 5x3; main stair hall and vestibule, 60x12 feet; width of east and west hall, 8 feet 2 inches. The foundation wall starts from footings 5 feet 2 inches wide, placed 11 feet below the pavement, and is 2 feet 6 inches wide at the top, constructed of large-sized Dayton stone from an old canal lock. The north and south side brick walls are 25 inches wide for the first story, and 21 inches for the second. At each end of the building are two walls, 12 feet apart, continued to the roof, the thinnest of which is 17 inches wide. Three of the brick walls of the main tower rest upon the walls of the building. The fourth rests upon a wrought-iron box lintel 12x12 inches and 14 feet 8 inches long. The frame of the spire consists of eight uprights, 10x10 inches, resting on four cross-beams 10x16 inches, built into the walls. The tie-beams for ceiling and roof are of two pieces of 5x16- inch timber, bolted together, 63 feet 4 inches long, in one length. Principal rafters are 9x12 inches; struts and straining beams, 8x8 inches.

Connected with the Council chamber is a vault for the preservation of books and papers. It is doubtless more nearly perfectly fire-proof than the common iron safes, and at the same time more capacious. It is built of two brick walls 13 and 9 inches wide with 4 inches space between them, and arched over with walls of the same thickness. It has two iron doors two feet apart, the outer one having a combination safe-lock. In the rear hall is the elevator, 4 feet square, extending from cellar to the stage. There is a cellar under the entire structure 8 feet in the clear and divided by the foundation walls into twelve compartments.

From the front hall two broad flights of stairs lead to an upper vestibule 12 feet broad, from which two wide double doors, opening outward, lead into the main hall, and two higher stairways to the balcony. The first view of the auditorium when it is fully lighted up is very pleasing. The room is large, and with sufficient height to make it imposing. Good judges pronounce it one

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of the neatest and handsomest halls in the State. The frescoing by Pedretti produces a very pleasing effect from the harmony and taste in the colors. The center-piece serves the double purpose of a ventilator and a beautiful ornament. The proscenium, which is six feet wide, plastered and frescoed, has pilasters at the sides, and at the top an excellent portrait in oil of Gov. Thomas Corwin. The beautiful balcony is supported by iron rods from the ponderous roof frame, leaving the view below unobstructed by columns. A good view of the stage can be had from every chair in the balcony. The floor of the main hall, which is deadened by two inches of mortar under the flooring, is level for about twenty feet in front of the stage, and then rises toward the rear about one-third of an inch to the foot. The main floor is seated with light, comfortable and graceful oak chairs, with bent backs and perforated wood seats. The balcony has chairs of a different pattern. The seating capacity of the hall is about 1,100. When the stage is filled and the hall is crowded, it will hold 1,500.

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The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 50

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1081

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081