USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > The past and present of Mill Creek Valley, being a collection of historical and descriptive sketches of that part of Hamilton County, Ohio > Part 11
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The Dayton Short Line trains may also be seen passing through Sharon and Lockland.
Upon the lot near the house is the stump of what was, doubtless, the largest and the oldest oak in the valley. It now measures eighteen feet and two inches in circumference. Mr. Andrew Harris, from whom the farm was purchased, said that one thousand rails and eleven cords of wood were made out of this tree when it was cut down.
Near it is the tall stump of a remarkably
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large mulberry tree, covered with vines, which were planted at the suggestion of Colonel Reily, a school-mate of Mr. Andrews, and his warm, personal friend until his death.
With Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, in this quiet home, still lives the venerable widow of Wm. E. White. She was born in Hartford City, Conn., March 3, 1791. Her father was an officer in the Revolution. She came to Cin- cinnati, with her husband, in 1818, in a car- riage, all the way from Newark, New Jersey. More than four score years and ten have passed over her venerable head, and during that time she has lived under all the Presidents of the Republic.
Mr. and Mrs. White came to Wyoming in 1861, at which time he built this residence. In October, 1870, a meeting was held in this house, upon the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. White, at which the building of a church for " The Wyoming Society of the New Church" was proposed by Mr. White. There were present :
Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Andrews, Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Carpenter, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Leuthstrom, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Carter, Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Chase,
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THE HINSDALE RESIDENCE.
Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Cowing, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Edson.
The enterprise was determined upon. Mr. White and Mr. Andrews being the largest con- tributors. The church was completed at a . cost, including lot, of $5,000, December 9th, 1871. Mr. White was buried from that church just twenty days afterwards.
THE HINSDALE RESIDENCE
On Burns Avenue, stands on a gentle emi- nence which has been subjected to the touch of the landscape gardner, but still retain- ing so many natural characteristics, as to be seemingly unadorned save by the hand of na- ture. Studied art would hardly group the three ashes as they stand out upon the lawn ; and yet because they were thus planted by the wayward wind in wafting the seed, they have a special value and an artless, inimitable beauty. So all the shrubbery is of nature's planting, excepting a scarlet maple here and there, the wild-tulip, and other select shrubbery.
Its exterior is in marked contrast with the many beautiful residences around it. It is a departure in architecture. Say rather that it is a renaissance of an antique art fallen into
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desuetude only because of its costliness. It can not be described. Wide steps lead up to an enclosed piazza, canopied with an artistic roof, whose ceilings are paneled and oiled white walnut. Above this is a hooded loggia, sug- gesting a resemblance between this and the house of Capulet, in Verona, and that some time a future Juliet, leaning therefrom in the moonlight, might sigh and say, " O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" He who designed this odd, angular, superb home must have put himself into " the trick of singu- larity."
The colors upon the house are dark green mellowing to old gold, and warmed here and there with couleur de rose.
This is the residence of MR. AND MRS. LORING HINSDALE.
PROF. G. A. CARNAHAN'S
Grandfather, James Carnahan, was born in the year 1777, in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in 1797.
In the first directory of Cincinnati ( 1819), we learn that James Carnahan and Joseph Cilley were the first two Justices of the Peace appointed for Colerain township.
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MR. GRANT H. BURROWS.
William Carnahan (father of the professor) was born in this township in 1804, and in 1829 married Miss Maria L. Davis, of Warren county. These venerable pioneers are still liv- ing at New Burlington.
Thus it appears that for eighty-five years the Carnahans have been pioneers and citizens of Springfield township.
Professor Carnahan, himself a pioneer in educational matters, and at present Principal of the First Intermediate School of Cincinnati, lives in a pleasant, refined home of his own on Beech Avenue.
MR. GRANT H. BURROWS'
Residence, on Elm and Walnut avenues, will always attract attention as a home that was not built without much study being given to its plan. Probably no house in the valley was more carefully and thoughtfully devised, as a home for wife and children, than this. It stands almost in the center of the old Burns farm, which owes its marvelously sudden trans- formation into a village to the business gener- alship of the gentleman who now resides in this splendid suburban home.
But the view from the belvedere is so far and so fine, that we must try to portray it in a ver-
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bal way. So we enter the open door, mount the grand stairway, glancing at the highly- finished woodwork, the costly, mirror-like man- tels, look through the invisible plate-glass win- dows, then up another stairway to the belvedere. It is morning. The sun has not altogether dis- pelled the blended smoke and vapor that float like billows over the valley and envelope the hills. But in every direction you see towers, and spires, and domes rising from the bosom of that imaginary sea. Seeing this, it is but natural to indulge in the illusion that you are passing the Dardanelles on board an English merchantman, and that what you see far away to the south are the mosques and min- arets of the old Byzantium capital, rising above the sea of Marmora.
THE PALMER RESIDENCE
Was recently built by G. G. Palmer, Esq., It is a substantial, commodious, and imposing structure, beautiful in design within and without, and stands on a large elevated lot on the north- east corner of Burns Avenue and Park place. A well-kept lawn spreads away from the house in every direction, and many old for- est trees surround it. Nothing, seemingly, has been omitted in the construction and fur-
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HON. JUDGE HARMON.
nishment of this house, that would conduce to its being both a perpetual and delightful home.
" Therefore, when we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight, nor for present uses alone; let it be such a work as our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone,. that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them."
CHARLES H. VAUGHAN, ESQ.,
Resides in a beautiful home on Worthington Avenue, next west of the school building.
These buildings, standing where they do, strikingly illustrate the extent to which recla- mation of this valley has been carried in par- ticular localities ; for there was once here a lake, peculiar to this then forest-shaded soil, upon which many a wild duck has been shot by the pioneers of Wyoming.
The dream of a rural home must be fully realized in possessing this tasteful and com- manding residence.
HON. JUDGE HARMON
Lives in a retired and comfortable home, also on Worthington Avenue. The lot upon which
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his residence stands was doubtless the margin of the Woodland lake, elsewhere described.
" Friends, books, a garden, and perhaps his pen, Delightful industry enjoyed at home, And nature, in her cultivated trim, Dressed to his taste."
PROF. JACOB H. BROMWELL,
At present Mayor of the village, resides on Mt. Pleasant Avenue. This is a model country home, the repository of many books, and the scene of constant mental and moral culture. In this way the professor is paying tribute to the widening stream of civilization that finds an ever-deepening channel in this valley.
MR. GEORGE HOUSE
Possesses a representative residence in this village, situated on the south-east corner of Burns and Wyoming avenues. Old oaks and elms shadow the lawn and make an arti- ficial twilight even at noonday.
" The elm trees stirless in the unbreathing calm, And all the lush-red roses drooped in dream-"
Is a characteristic of this home scene on many a mid-summer evening.
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THE RANSOM RESIDENCE.
DR. C. P. HART'S RESIDENCE.
This is a tasteful structure, with tower, porches, bay windows, &c., on the corner of Burns and Worthington avenues. The Doc- tor's unique little office, in the corner of the lot, is a professional adjunct to the same; the whole attracting notice from the railroad.
REUBEN TYLER, ESQ.,
At one time Mayor, and at present Solicitor of the village, resides in a pleasant home of his own construction on Burns Avenue. It stands upon a knoll overlooking Maplewood and Hartwell, and amid the trees that stood there when it was a part of the section originally purchased by Mahlon Ford, Esq., and sub- sequently the farm of Archibald Burns, from whom this popular avenue derives its name.
THE RANSOM RESIDENCE,
Situated in the bend of Elm Avenue, is a con- spicuous instance in point, showing the improve- ment that has taken place on the Burns farm since it was owned by Archibald Burns, Esq. It is a commodious and substantial frame, facing
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the north star, and surmounted by an observ- atory affording entrancing views in all direc- tions, and upon which rises still higher a flag- staff, from which, when unfolded, our banner of beauty and glory may be seen from Glendale to Clifton heights. This is the home of COLO- NEL AND MRS. E. P. RANSOM.
THE STORY OF THE FLAG,
That now and then floats so proudly above the home of Colonel Ransom, may be gathered from the following military order :
HEAD-QUARTERS IST BRIG., 2D DIV. Camp Ella Bishop. Lexington, Ky., October 28, 1862.
GENERAL ORDER No. 2 :
When the rebels occupied this portion of the State, they treated with disrespect all evidences of loyalty, and heaped their insults upon cit- izens by hauling from the steeples and windows of their houses the emblem of their liberty and nationality, the flag of our armies, the ensign of our Republican institutions, and the banner we are so willing to defend ; they trailed it in the dust and trampled it under their unhal- lowed feet, and shouted it should wave no more
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THE STORY OF THE FLAG.
over the city of Lexington or the State of Ken- tucky. But, in the midst of their traitorous shouts, following in the wake of the trailing . banner, a bold and patriotic, yet beautiful and modest young lady, scarcely eighteen years of age, one of Kentucky's proudest daughters, rushed forth with wounded spirit, yet undaunted courage, rescued it from the traitor's grasp, with- stood their threats, and waved it above her head.
She rescued it-she waved it-she saved it, and to-day holds it, proudly protected by the gallant soldiers from Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio.
As an humble evidence, therefore, of respect and admiration for such patriotism and worthy example, this camp shall bear the name of that young lady-ELLA BISHOP.
By command of
BRIG .- GEN. G. CLAY SMITH.
GREEN CLAY GOODLOE,
Lieut., und Aid-de-Camp.
This thrilling incident reached the ear of an officer then serving upon the staff of General Smith. One year afterwards they were mar- ried ; but this then famous lady lost none of her distinction in becoming MRS. COL. RANSOM.
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The flag was a wedding present from Mrs. Frank Fitch, who made it with her own loyal hands, and to whom it belonged when rescued from the rebels by Miss Ella Bishop.
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MR. CHARLES S. WOODRUFF.
CHAPTER XVIII.
GEORGE GEORGE, ESQ.,
NE of the pioneers of this valley, at present one of the Justices of the Peace in Springfield township, is now a resident of this village, having built several houses. His home is an elegant brick, facing west on Elm Avenue.
MR. CHARLES S. WOODRUFF,
One of the oldest residents of this suburb, and one that has done much by way of building and otherwise improving his property, to enlarge and beautify Wyoming, resides in his own comfortable home on the pike. This is a large, well-kept and imposing homestead, and almost in the exact center of the village.
Mr. Woodruff purchased this property and built this house during the last war, and as having taken a conspicuous part in developing this village, deserves to be classified as one of its oldest pioneers.
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,JOHN H. TANGEMAN, ESQ.
Perhaps no gentleman has taken a livelier interest in Wyoming, or is animated by village pride to a greater extent than Mr. Tangeman. While not perhaps contributing so much to its up-building as a Burrows, a Stearns, or a Wood- ruff (his business interests being chiefly in Lock- land), yet such has been his sympathy for schools and churches and all benevolent enterprises that, in this regard, he rises in importance as one of its foremost residents. Moreover, he is a pioneer in its strict sense ; and many are the incidents he can tell touching the early settlement of this community.
He is the projector of the Baptist Church enterprise, which contemplates the erection of a place of worship in this village soon.
WILLIAM H. CARRUTHERS, ESQ.
This gentlemen owns a delightful homestead about which historical associations are begin- ning to cluster. It was one of the first resi- dences built in the village, and was first occu- pied by Mr. John C. Thorpe, now a resident of the East. It then ( 1860) passed into the hands of General Jacob Ammen, who was a distin- guished officer in the late war.
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THE WYOMING IMPROVEMENT COMPANY. 235
. JAMES K. HURIN, ESQ.,
Has greatly contributed to the improvement of the village in remodeling the old Leuth- strom property and converting it into his home- stead. It occupies a prominent location on the corner of Reily and Glendale avenues, and, together with his grounds, is a noble type of suburban residence. Many beautiful old trees, and a choice selection of flowering shrubs adorn the grounds.
DR. J. Q. A. COFFEEN
Is a native of the Miami valley, having been born, about fifty years ago, near Lebanon. Mrs. Coffeen is a grand-daughter of Wm. Chamberlain, the founder of Springdale-one of the oldest and most respected pioneers of the valley.
The Doctor has a pleasant home on Wy- oming Avenue. He is a brother-in-law of Dr. Shepherd, of Glendale, and at one time was in partnership with him.
THE WYOMING IMPROVEMENT COMPANY
Is a voluntary association of gentlemen hav- ing in view the æsthetic interests of the village.
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Their self-imposed duties consist of tree cul- ture, looking after the parks, planting flowers by the wayside, etc.
They operate under a law paramount to vil- lage ordinances-that of eminent domain.
They are doing much in this way to beau- tify the village ; and as it is done at their own expense, it is all the more disinterested and commendable.
Wyoming is a prominent postal station, of which Mr. Charles H. Slack is post-master.
PROMINENT RESIDENTS.
The following is a list of the citizens, not elsewhere mentioned, who have invested their means in building pleasant homes in this vil- lage :
Mr. W. H. Sarvis. Mr. Geo. S. LaRue.
Dr. C. R. Taft. Mr. Albert Stearns.
Mr. John W. Fox. . Rev. Mr. Sutton.
Prof. W. H. Pabodie. Mr. E. H. Cowing.
John W. Hill, Esq. J. F. Jewett, Esq.
Mr. Ed.v. Mitchell. Mr. W. DeForrest.
Capt. James F. Merrill.R. P. Fox, Esq. Geo. H. Friend, Esq. Mr. Geo. H. Stearns.
W. F. Colburn, Esq. Wm. A. Clark, Esq.
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PROMINENT RESIDENTS.
Prof. E. H. Pritchard. Mrs. A. Compton.
Mr. John W. Pfaff. Mr. Joseph Humphreys. Mr. John Pollock.
Mr. G. W. Hartwell. Major Geo. B. Fox. Mr. R. L. Cilley. Israel H. Pendery, Esq. Mrs. E. D. Bennett.
Dr. Taylor.
C. S. Woodruff, Jr.
Mr. Geo. Miles.
Mr. Harry Pollock.
Mr. T. F. George.
Mr. Charles Ault.
Rev. John Haight.
Mr. Walter Baldwin. Mr. Weidler.
Maj. W. F. Armstrong. Goodloe Pendery. Mr. N. Curtis,
H. D. Peck, Esq. Orson Britton, Esq.
Mr. Schuberth.
Prof. C. B. Chase.
Mr. Zach. George.
Mr. Ash Baldwin.
Mr. George Stoddart. Mr. Golding.
Mr. Clifford Baldwin. Mr. Charles Mitchell."
Mr. A. C. Tyler.
Mr. Van Zant.
Mr. Josiah Dwight.
Mr. C. B. Maddux:
R. B. Moore, Esq.
Dr. Negley.
Mr. John Rychen.
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CHAPTER XIX.
GLENDALE.
I 'T is the observation of a gentleman* who has traveled much in Europe that the view to the east and north as you enter Glendale from the south on the railroad, presents a striking resemblance to that in Roxburghshire, Scot- land, and particularly around Melrose Abbey, " a remarkable monument of antiquites and one of the most distinguished, founded on the banks of the Tweed, and the nursery of learned and religious men."
THE NAME.
The ground upon which it is built being pur- chased from Mr. E. R. Glenn, his name en- tered into the compound. The synonymous suffix " dale" was added in order to have a beautiful name; although it is somewhat mis- leading to the stranger, the suggestion being
*Mr. John Carlisle.
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that it is located deep down in a valley, whereas'it is a little city set upon a hill beautiful for situation and the pride of the Miami valley.
It has a shrubbery that " Shenstone might have envied," shading all its walks and avenues. Many of its places are enclosed by hedges, and Glendale presents the appearance of an immense park. Already the axe is laid
at the root of many a superfluous tree. Its delightful homes have the air of affluence and all that wealth may bring to comfort, refine, and ennoble. Other suburbs may have more ele- gant residences, but certainly not more ele- gant residents. Others may not be so far from the city, but, in point of time consumed in reaching them, fully as remote.
THE MOUND BUILDERS
Seemed to have loved this locality, for Glendale is circumvallated with these ancient earth works.
When the Hamilton pike was constructed it cut through a very large mound to the south of the village on the grounds of Mrs. Cummings, near the locality of Station springs. The west half is still discernible. Large skeletons
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were found in it when cut through. The next north is the well-known one on Mr. French's farm, three-quarters of a mile distant, between which communication could easily be made.
About half a mile west and north of that is another, on a commanding point projecting into the valley. From this mound a view is obtained to the west up Mill creek for five miles to a point on the hills opposite, and to the south almost the entire length of the valley. North of this is another on the land now owned by Mr. John H. Porter. This is now quite small ; but north of this, on the land of Mr. C. H. Allen, and not far north and west of the old Hamilton house, are the remains of two remarkable mounds, now almost reduced to a level with the surrounding field.
From these mounds a magnificent view may be obtained in all directions, but especially to the south and north. The smaller mounds above named may all be seen from it, and in- deed the whole range of hills immediately above and north of Cincinnati. There can be no doubt but that these mounds are part of a system that extended to, and communicated with, the great mound near the mouth of Mill creek in Cincinnati. There is still another
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THE WAYNE WAR TRACE.
small one in the grove belonging to Mr. Shoe- maker, in the village limits, not far west of the railroad.
" While standing thus upon thy oak-crowned head, The shadows of dim ages long since gone Reel on my mind, like spectres of the dead, While dirge-like music haunts the wind's low moan. From out the bosom of the boundless Past There rises up no voice of thine to tell !
Eternal silence, like a shadow vast, Broods on thy breast, and shrouds thine annals well."
THE WAYNE WAR TRACE
May be seen by standing at the toll-gate and looking across to the residence of Henry M. Skillman, Esq. The general course of this army, as it descended from the high ground now occupied by Woodlawn, is denoted by the present road way. It is difficult to conceive the fact that this army worked its way through this locality, covered as it was by a dense, wild forest. The trees had to be cut down and cleared away before the troops, and wagons, and artillery could pass over it.
Glendale, to-day, is a polished monument to that civilization of which Wayne's army was the rude forerunner. It is an out- post of Cincinnati on its march to Hamilton,
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being midway between old Fort Washington and old Fort Hamilton.
A LANDMARK.
The Hamilton house, sometimes called the Snodgrass house, still standing upon the farm of Mr. C. H. Allen, immediately west of Glen- dale near the Springdale pike, is a remark- able monument of past generations. It was built about the year 1807 by Mr. Hamilton, a wealthy gentleman, whose permanent home was in New Orleans, this being intended as a summer residence.
About fifty-five years ago it was a tavern stand, and kept by Mr. Thomas Drake. It passed to Major Joseph Harris, who, at one time, owned a large tract west of the pike extending south to, and including, the farm of Mr. Maynard French.
It was a grand house in its day. Time has covered its once fine face with wrinkles. The huge fire-place is there, but a cold and deso- late hearth-stone is spread out before it. Its warmth, and cheer, and charm are gone for- ever.
GRAVE-YARDS.
There is one upon the Skillman farm, a
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family burying-ground, in which the ancestors of Mr. Henry M. Skillman sleep. Another was near the present site of the public school building adjoining the old log church in which the Rev. Warwick preached seventy-five years ago.
Another is on the farm of Mr. W. A. Proc- ter in the edge of the woods near the eastern corporation line of the village. About this latter place there is almost an appalling mys- tery.
Every other place of the kind, visited by the writer in this valley, has some evidences of Christian burial other than mere rough stones.
But here are probably fifty graves. Time has rolled them level with the surface of the earth. Upon those stones, taken from the adjacent ravine, there is not a name, mark, sign, or device. " There is no knowledge in the grave " whither they have gone. That this was a burying-ground for a savage race there is but little doubt; but whether they were laid there with tears of sorrow or " with awful laughter " we may never know. This we do know: " One generation passeth away and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever."
Standing upon these places where our pre-
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decessors have paused to put aside their dead, and then marched on into the shadowy future, the words of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps come to mind :
" Let us endure, enjoy, strive, sing, bleed, smile, aspire, and go to our graves gratefully. Over our dumb and witless ashes a select and proud race, with the beauty of the pagan gods, shall walk haughtily, and with the scorn of the gods shall remember us as we remember the savage, whose war shouts assisted in develop- ing the fine human larynx to contribute to the modulations of the voice Malibran."
OLD TAVERNS.
The first tavern stood west of the toll-gate. It was kept by Andrew Van Dyke, a son-in- law of Major Joseph Harris, about 1812. A Mr. Heffner kept it for a while. He died there. His widow then built a brick tavern where Mrs. Samuel B. Allen's stone residence stands.
These public houses stood at the conjunction of the old and new Hamilton roads, and were the scenes of busy times in early days.
Mr. Henry M. Skillman recollects the old stage passengers walking up the hill through his father's farm, and seeing thousands of hogs driven over the same road.
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"THE LAST OF THE BARONS."
Another remarkable scene was the trains of market wagons ; twenty to fifty at a time, with seldom less than six horses to a team, and each of those proud horses wearing bells, the sound of which seemed to please them, from the fact that, while standing, they would keep tossing their heads to make the bells ring.
Mr. Richard W. Keys, now a resident of Glendale, passed over this road in 1831 in one of those old stages. He started from his home in Cincinnati at daylight, stopped at the old tavern, and arrived at Oxford at ten o'clock at night. Many illustrious men have passed over this road from Cincinnati to Hamilton, especi- ally the leading lawyers of the city, to attend the courts at Hamilton ; among these may be mentioned Hon. William Corry, Hon. W. S. Groesbeck, and Judge Burnet. It is related of the two former that the stage upset once in crossing Mill creek below Foster's hill, and, that getting thoroughly wet, they stopped at Spillman's tavern to dry their clothes and warm themselves.
"THE LAST OF THE BARONS."
Many a year ago, 1807, Rev. Robert War- wick owned the ground upon which the prin-
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cipal part of Glendale now stands. He was a minister of "The Reformed Dissenting Pres- byterian Congregation." He was of Scotch- Irish extraction, and a remarkable man in his way, and accounted a good one. His rude home stood where Mr. William B. Keys now lives. At first he preached in a log meeting- house that stood about where the public school building is located. It was subsequently sup- planted by a frame building, about thirty feet square, with a high roof and a platform some- what raised and built especially for his use. He walked up and down the stage while preaching, spoke very deliberately ; would preach seldom less than four hours at a time, and sometimes all day. The singing was re-
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