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 12
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markably fine for those days. His daughter Eleanor would sit upon the platform with her father and line the hymns for him. No hymn books were used, the daughter reading each line, and so reading it that the tones of her voice began and ended in the seemingly unin- terrupted song. Old residents remember its effect, even though over seventy years have elapsed since they heard it.
It is said of this pioneer preacher that, dur- ing his prolonged sermons, he would recuper- ate his failing physical forces by pausing, now
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MRS. LOUISA SEWARD CUMMINGS.
and then, to drink butter milk from a jug that stood conveniently at hand. It was a saying of his " that he could drink the buttermilk of seven cows, and that sometimes he borrowed from his neighbors."
His congregation were called " Warwick- ites." He was regarded as an educated man, for his day, was a leader of the people, owned considerable property, had many followers, · and after several years of labor in the locality, he removed to Piqua, where he died after one day's sickness. He was evidently a man of great force of character, and could, if necessary, say as authoritatively as the old Earl of War- wick :
" The proudest he that holds up Lancaster Dares not stir a wing if Warwick shake his bells."
MRS. LOUISA SEWARD CUMMINGS.
This venerable lady is the daughter of Mr. James Seward, mentioned on page 44 in con- nection with Pleasant Valley Station. He was one of the earliest settlers in this vicinity, and derived his title to his half section directly from John Cleves Symmes, the deed being still in possession of his daughter. This property is located immediately south of the Maynard
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French farm. Mrs. Cummings lives in a little frame house, standing back a short distance from the pike, on a bluff overlooking Mill creek. She was born upon this farm March 4, 1809, in a log-house which stood where Mr. William Riddle now lives, across the creek, and has never lived anywhere else.
Her father was killed by a falling tree in 1817, while procuring timber for the purpose of building a better house. He was laid out in that unfinished house, which since has been converted into a barn by Mr. Riddle, and may be seen from the pike, not much resembling a house nor looking altogether unlike a barn.
In 1832 she married Mr. Joseph Cummings, whom she survives.
Her recollection of early and later events is remarkable, and her narration of them in- teresting and intelligent.
From her we gather much of the informa- tion submitted relative to the old landmarks about Glendale. She remembers the War- wicks, the Harris family, the elder Riddles, the Van Dykes, the Hamiltons, the Spillmans. and ine Fosters.
Her father was probably the first capitalist who engaged in the business of house-build- ing, in this vicinity at least. As a bachelor, he built four log cabins on his farm in succes-
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THE SKILLMAN FARM.
sion, selling them to the early settlers as they would arrive. He finally married one of the daughters of a Jerseyman to whom he had sold, and thereupon built a cabin for himself.
Mrs. Cummings remembers particularly one stylish family, as she terms it, named So- field, for whom he built a log cabin out of hewed ash logs, with ash boards for flooring, and a brick chimney inside. This was regard- " ed as quite a fine house at that day. Ten years ago this Mrs. Sofield, then being 105 years old, was in Washington applying for. a pension on the ground that her husband was a soldier in the war of 1812.
This cabin stood beside the old Mill creek road, which pursued a course a little west of where the pike is now.
The days of her pilgrimage are more than three-score years and ten.
" When even at last the solemn hour shall come," may it be but the fleeting, painless shadow, that foretells eternal sunshine beyond the cloudland of this life.
THE SKILLMAN FARM,
Adjoining Glendale immediately on the south, and extending originally from the pike
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eastwardly one mile, being from section line to section line, is a patrimony of which the present inheritor may justly be proud.
This is a remarkable estate in a land charac- terized by mutations of title, in a land of sub- division, mortgages, and leaseholds. From the United States, through Symmes, to Jacob Skillman in 1805, then by descent to Abraham, and upon his death, to Henry M. Skillman, the · present owner, is a brief abstract of the title to this noted estate by freehold.
This farm now consists of 275 acres, in a highly-improved condition, rich in soil, beau- tiful as to contour, with all the out-buildings ; machinery, etc., necessary to its cultivation, and not an acre of waste land upon it. When his grandfather came and located this ground, it was a magnificent woodland realm, consist- ing of oak, walnut, ash, and sugar trees. For centuries some of them had waited for the coming of that hardy race from the denuded hills and valleys of the old Jersey State.
The first house built was that still standing upon the hill side, old and decayed, but in its day called the " White House," so attractive was it and so well finished. It was built in 1806, of hewed logs at first, and subsequently weather boarded. The next house construct- ed was that in which Mr. Skillman now lives,
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about a year or so after the first. It was the eastern portion of the house, and to which Mr. S. has made large additions. Here he was born in 1824.
There was a time in the history of this farm when a man could walk upon fallen timber from the east to the west line. A large sugar camp stood next to the site of Glendale in which maple sugar and molasses have been ·made in great quantities.
This farm has risen out of the past as if touched by the magical wand of Prospero.
Mr. S. walks about it as if every spot were endeared by associations, every acre telling a pathetic story of hardships endured by his fore- fathers in clearing, tilling, and enriching, partly for their self-support, and partly for those who should come after them.
And this farm belongs to the domain of general history. Forty feet to the west of the spot where the homestead stands, passed Wayne's army, the trace of which, as it felled the trees and forced its way through the farm, may be distinctly seen.
Mr. Skillman married a daughter of Judge Luke Foster, and they were married upon Foster's hill. Since which time they have journeyed together in peace and prosperity until
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wealth is enjoyed without a display of it, while they are surrounded by many friends of early and later years.
"CASTLE WARWICK."
The Rev. Robert Warwick once lived in a hewed log-house on the site now occupied by the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. B. Keys. . This was about the year 1807. Some time afterwards it was enlarged by Warwick into a pretentious frame, about forty feet long and twenty feet wide, which was the envy of the neighborhood. When, however, his envious neighbors entered into the house they were somewhat reconciled to the disparity as to houses, for it was very scantily furnished.
This property subsequently passed to Mr. James Glenn, who supplanted the frame in part by a brick structure ; the two, combined, formed one house for awhile. It subsequently passed to Mr. Edmund R. Glenn, who again en- larged it by the addition of the brick dwell- ing which stood there at the time Glendale was laid out. At the first sale of lots in Glen- dale, Mr. Anthony Harkness acquired title to the Glenn homestead.
Mr. Keys married Miss Emma Harkness, a
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granddaughter to Mr. Harkness, a gentleman distinguished for his great wealth and as being of the earliest and largest property holders in the village. Upon his death, Miss Harkness became the owner of the Glenn homestead. After a tour through Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Keys determined to remodel the old landmark again.
This was done by adopting its plan and en- larging upon it. Part of the material of the old was thus incorporated into the new struct- ure, and the old house thereby maintained its identity as well as locality. This house now represents an investment of about $12,000- a development from the " lodge in a vast wil- derness," that amounts to a convincing argument in favor of the doctrine of evolution even in the matter of house building.
It is built of brick in the Queen Anne style. Its exterior is almost indescribable, save that it is just like any other house, but that it is like all other houses.
Its red tile roof is its most distinguishable feature, rendering it the first object seen in Glendale at a distance ; and appropriately does it deserve this conspicuousness, as it is the most illustrious landmark in the village.
Its interior is imposing. Three pairs of
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folding doors, when open, convert it into one spacious room. From its hooded balcony in the fourth story a magnificent view to the east may be obtained; and when unfurled from that towering staff, his flag may be seen " from thence to Inverness," and as if floating above the walls of some beautiful castle.
" HARWOOD PLACE,"
Consisting of 120 acres, just south of Glen- dale, derives its name from the late Edward Harwood, and is the home of MR. AND MRS. MAYNARD FRENCH.
The highly-cultivated condition of this prop- erty gives it a representative character, and as an illustration of the development of farming interests in this fertile valley, mention of it is here made.
Mr. Harwood is well remembered as an en- ergetic, honorable business man, an old resi- dent of the city and valley, and as one of the strongest opponents of slavery before the red hand of war abolished it. As such he be- friended many a poor slave in his efforts to gain his freedom, to obtain which, he then had to flee to Canada, across the State of Ohio.
This he did at the peril of his life and prop- erty. But such were his convictions, and he
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acted accordingly. We see now that all such opponents of human slavery were simply the advance of that great army which finally swept the curse and shame from the land.
The first house on the farm was a frame, and was built by Major Harris previous to 1829. It burned down about twelve years ago, whereupon Mr. Marsh built the brick residence now occupied by Mr. French.
There are ten buildings, exclusive of the house, upon this place, consisting of a stable over fifty years old, a new barn, granaries, carriage-houses, etc. Twenty head of fine cat- tle, and as many horses, necessitate these out- buildings. There is a remarkably .well- preserved Indian mound upon this place. Back of the residence, and down upon the bank of Mill creek, and on this farm, Major Harris built a saw mill about 1829. Immediately adjoining it was a fulling mill. Mr. Wm. Jones, while he owned the farm, fitted up a carding machine and a fulling-mill, so that at one and the same time, a saw-mill, a fulling-mill, and a carding machine, were in operation upon this farm, about a half a century ago.
Silence reigns there now. It is a desolate spot. Imagination alone can give them a " local habitation and a name."
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" The mill wheel clicked, and the mill wheel clacked, And the groaning grooves once creaked and cracked, And the children came and played, - The lazy team, in the days of yore, Munched their fodder at the old mill door, Or drowsed in the grateful shade.
But the good wife died, and the miller died, And the children all went far and wide
From the play-ground by the dam ; But the play-ground now is grass o'ergrown, As the mossy foot of the old grave-stone Where the old folks sleep so calm."
A LIBRARY.
Mr. Robert Clarke, of the firm of Robert Clarke & Co., resides on Fountain Avenue. The house was originally built at the time Glendale was laid out by Mr. Ezra Elliott, of whom Mr. Clarke purchased. He greatly improved it by the addition of another story, a mansard roof, a wide, deep porch, and in various other respects.
It is one of the most pleasing houses as to its appearance in the village. Its situation is remarkably fine, the lot extending from Foun- tain Avenue to the Princeton pike in the rear.
THE LIBRARY ROOM
Is an adjunct to the house, specially con-
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THE LIBRARY ROOM.
structed for that purpose. It is twenty-six feet long and eighteen feet wide, the ceiling rising to a dome over twenty feet high. The inte- rior is finished with ash and black walnut, paneled. The walls are doubled, to prevent dampness from penetrating to the books. They are covered with book-cases without doors or glass covers. The bay window is reserved for plants and flowers. These cases are filled with rare, old, expensive, and beautiful books ; perhaps the most extensive, and certainly the best selected, library in the West.
This collection has been the result of forty years of labor and study, involving a great outlay of money. Six thousand volumes are here companionated, comprising two thousand scientific works ; fifteen hundred upon biogra- phy ; many works upon Scottish history ; old dramatic and literary history of England ; and many a "quaint and curious volume of for- gotten lore."
The oldest book in the library is " Restitu- tionum Utilissimum," by Francisco De Platea, printed in Venice in 1478.
The oldest English book is " Deversite de Courtz," printed in Norman French, and pub- lished in London 1523, and at one time in the library of Sir Samuel Romilly.
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The finest book, " The Poetical Works of Mil- ton," printed by Bulmer for Boydell,-a royal folio, consisting of three large, thick volumes, filled with the most expensive engravings from all editions.
The most curious book is the " Nuremberg Chronicle," printed by Koberg in 1493,-a his- tory of the world, profusely illustrated, and in which, for the first time, death is represented as a skeleton.
Here we see a copy of " Locke on the Human Understanding," which belonged to Samuel Johnson, and was in his library, 1723.
A black letter copy of the " Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius," 1546, presented to Robert Southey, by John Kenzon.
A copy of Ossian's Poems, which belonged to George Washington, and bears his auto- graph.
No. 29 of The "Weekly News," the first paper published in England, May 2, 1623.
A sermon preached at Hampton Court, by William James, 1578.
Ludolph's Life of Christ, 1474, Prussian Manuscript, on vellum paper, containing the Alcoran in black and red ink, a fine specimen of Eastern calligraphy. Very old.
A Bible printed in Cambridge, 1533. Rit-
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THE LIBRARY ROOM.
son's Scottish songs, containing autograph of Robert Burns.
"John Ray's Remains," with Sir Walter Scott's autograph.
" Hours of Idleness," the first book printed by George Gordon, Lord Byron, a minor.
" The Chase," the first publication made by by Sir Walter Scott.
"Latin Vulgate Bible," printed at Nurem- berg, 1478, by Koberg.
The first edition of "Junius' Letters," 1772.
" English Manuscript," supposed to have been written by Bishop Gilbert Burnet, in 1674, and entitled a " Court Sermon."
" Matthias' Pursuits of Literature," filled with fine portraits, a folio copy.
" Officium Beata Maria Virginis," an old, rare manuscript, written in silver ink, with four small miniatures, illuminated in gold and colors, old calf, gold tooling, gilt edges, and two clasps, dated 1477.
Among these books one may be at peace, but not alone. They are companions speaking in a " still, small voice " out of the past. Here are the garnered thoughts of centuries. Here may be learned the story of . an orphaned Shakspeare, feeding on "adversity's sweet milk," fortune favoring him only after fame
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had written that name the highest on the world's scroll of intellectually great men. Here may be read the story of the homeless Homer, the imprisoned Bunyan, the impover- ished Coleridge, the blind Milton and the deaf Beethoven ; how that heartless criticism and
"Chill penury repressed the noble rage And froze the genial current of the soul "
Of the gentle-hearted Keats; how that the life of John Huss went out with the flames that curled around his head as a martyr to Christianity ; how that Luther inaugurated the Reformation, and the Mayflower came with the Pilgrims and left upon our shore,
" What they there found- Freedom to worship God."
These things, and many, many more, are told you as you turn the pages of these almost numberless books.
Then wheeling a seat in front of the glowing grate, the mind runs back to the time when a nameless ship landed on our shores in 1840, bringing from Annan, Scotland, a youth of twelve years of age, seeking his fortune; and
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AN ART MUSEUM.
having found it in a successful business career, found also a beautiful home in Glendale.
To-day this gentleman is the leading pub- lisher in the West. Like snow fall the leaves from his presses. He is the embodiment of this age of printing,
-" lording it o'er An ever-widening realm of books."
At his home he is among books, and at his store ; on his way to and from his home, books, papers, catalogues, and pamphlets are his com- panions.
There is no printed catalogue of this library. He needs none. Each book is known by its name and place.
They are his treasure, and there is his heart also, for as yet that busy brain and kind heart have given undivided time and devotion to MINERVA alone.
AN ART MUSEUM.
Mr. Austin Gunnison's residence might be termed "the Art Museum of Glendale." It is. a wonderful illustration of the development of this valley in the matter of art culture.
From its porch facing east, affording an en-
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trancing view of natural and artificial scenery, the eye musingly rests upon the remains of a log cabin upon the hill-side within the village limits. It has been but three score years and ten since it was one of the dozen cabins in this vicinity. From that cabin-home to this ! Mr. Gunnison's library room was constructed specially to contain his books and his varied and costly art collections. It extends the en- tire length of the house and adjoins the main building on the east.
This room, and, indeed, the whole house, is the repository of rare, and old, and expensive paintings, statuary, books, and relics, gathered from foreign lands and selected with experi- enced judgment and consummate taste, of which the following are but a few selections :
" Monte Cavo," near Rome, painted by Dwight Benton, at one time a resident of Mill Creek Valley.
" Mercury," in Serpentine marble, from Florence.
" Norwegian Scenery," by Hans Gude.
"Siege of Troy," cut in Parian marble.
" The Duke of Brabant," an old placque.
" Achilles' Armor."
" The Dance of the Bears," by Beard.
" Leg of an Old Roman Chair," in marble.
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AN ART MUSEUM.
" An old Scottish Banner."
" Austrian Tyrol," by Webber.
" Old Italian Pottery," date 1648.
" Venetian Door-knocker," from a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice.
" A collection of Faces in marble," exhumed from the ruins of Pompeii.
" A pair of old Gauntlets," which have seen service in the days of Knight-Errantry.
" Old English Oak," taken from Trinity Church, Statford-upon-the-Avon, and fashioned into mantel ornaments.
" Old English carving," also part of the mantel.
" Puck," original marble statute, by Harnish.
" A Very Old Painting," by Van Ostade.
'. Hawking," by Wouverman.
"Ootenbogardus," by Rembrandt.
"A desk of Ebony and Ivory," from Milan.
"Mythological Vases," from Cyprus and Catacombs.
" Old Pottery Furnace," 1548.
" Old Faces in Marble," exhumed in Rome.
" An old Dutch Carving," representing the extent and power of Dutch commerce.
" Ashen Urn," from Catacombs of Rome, used to contain ashes after cremation.
" Venetian Hall Chair."
" An old English clock."
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"Pan," an old marble statue ; very curious.
" The Forum Romanum," under which Scientists are now exploring.
" A Japanese Card Basket," with portraits of Marie Antoinette and others; time of Louis XVI.
Mr. Gunnison has a private library of about fifteen hundred volumes ; many of his books being collected while abroad.
MR. SAMUEL J. THOMPSON,
Of the distinguished law firm of King, Thompson & Maxwell, has been a resident of this village for nearly thirty years.
Justice Stanley Matthews and Mr. Thomp- son lived next door to each other on Long- worth street in the city, and as neighbors de- termined at the same time to make Glendale their future home, and accordingly moved out the same Summer. Mr. Thompson, as a pro- fessional gentleman and as a ruling elder for years in the Presbyterian Church, has done much to exalt this valley.
He las been superintendent of the Presby- terian Sunday School for the past twenty-one years-thus for more than a score of years he has been the principal in that religious school
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from which so many have passed into the church ; into honorable vocations of life; into the better land.
About thirty-five years ago, Mr. Thompson married Miss Eva Keys. She was a daugh- ter of the late John F. Keys, one of the early settlers of Cincinnati, against whose charac- ter not one word of reproach was ever uttered. He built the first brick house ever constructed in the city, and lived as a neighbor to the Lytles, the Burnets, and Longworths.
Her mother, Mrs. John F. Keys, is men- tioned by Mrs. Charlotte Chambers Ludlow, wife of Colonel Israel Ludlow, in her memoirs, as having visited her at the old Ludlow Mansion, and enters her name on a list of friends, embracing such celebrated ladies as Mrs. General Lytle, Mrs. St. Clair, Mrs. Doctor Goforth, and others.
These pioneers of Glendale now reside in an elegant home on Magnolia Avenue. They have as companions in their advancing years, besides their dutiful children, nearly two thousand books in a well-selected library.
A THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY.
H. W. Hughes, Esq., is in possession of the
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largest collection of theological works, as a part of his otherwise extensive and valuable library, to be found, doubtless, in the Miami valley. It numbers over two thousand vol- umes. His grandfather, Richard Hughes, lived in the North of Ireland. The Wesleys used to preach from the "upping block " in front of his house. He came to this country two years before the Revolution broke out, served as a soldier all through that war, and then settled in Virginia. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia in 1814, came to Cincinnati 1848, and has been in the banking business ever since. He is now President of the Union National Bank, and an elder in the Presby- terian Church.
Mrs. Hughes is a niece to the late W. H. McGuffey, LL. D., and cousin to Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Monfort.
Mr. George Crawford, one of the pioneers of Glendale, built the present residence of Mr. Hughes, from whom he bought.
It stands on Greenville Avenue, facing the east, the spacious and beautiful grounds ex- tending westward to the avenue in the rear.
Many beautiful pictures and paintings deco- rate the walls within, among them none more beautiful than "The Image Sellers," and a " Scene on Lake George," painted by a
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daughter who not long since passed on to "the land of light and beauty." "The Wise Men and the Infant Jesus " is a very old painting, and one very highly prized.
Mr. Hughes has the Bible bound in fifty different editions. Upon a richly-carved table, in the center of his parlor, the Bible and Shaks- peare are constantly associated.
A SCHOLAR.
A few years ago the Ohio State Board .of School Examiners granted Florian Giauque, Esq., a certificate to the effect that he was qualified to teach in twenty-seven specified branches. This was the highest number ever enumerated in any certificate issued by such Board. And none has equalled it since. His ancestors came from Switzerland-a Re- public for six hundred years, among "whose rugged, snow-capped mountains the infant Reformation was nutured." His father died when he was eight years old, and his mother nine years after. Then he was alone in the world-but he was a student. At eighteen he entered the Union army and served until the close of the war. He graduated from Kenyon College with the honors of his class. He was subsequently principal of the Glendale public
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schools for six years, during which time they rose to a rank never before attained. The course of study embraced higher branches then than have been prescribed by the Board of Education since.
After his creditable career as a teacher, he entered upon the practice of the law-his chosen profession-for which he had prepared himself while teaching. He is an archæol- ogist, and as such has lectured and collected a choice cabinet of curiosities, consisting of stone weapons, ornaments, etc., mostly from Mill Creek Valley, which were on exhibition at the Centennial, and took the first premium at one of the Cincinnati Expositions.
While engaged in active practice at the Cincinnati Bar, he has written and compiled seven law books, which secured for him this commendation from Robert Clarke & Co .:
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