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 15
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PROF. SAMUEL W. WILLIAMS, one of the tinest classical scholars and best read gentle- men in the West. He has a library of choice
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WINTON PLACE.
old and new books, numbering about twenty- five hundred volumes.
HON. W. M. YEATMAN, at present State Senator for Hamilton county.
MR. D. W. MILLER, member of the Cin- nati Bar.
ARTHUR G. MOORE, EsQ., superintendent of the Cincinnati water works.
GEN. CHAS. E. BROWN, member of the Bar, and a distinguished soldier, who lost a leg at Atlanta, July 22, 1864.
Hon. D. W. Miller. Edwin Anderson, Esq.,
Dr. W. P. Runkle, G. W. Sholl, Esq.
Dr. P. F. Maley.
R. P. Harkness, Esq.
H. H. Vail, Esq.,
Mr. Lovett,
Frank A. Armstrong.
Mrs. Sarah Meyer.
Robert Smith, Esq. G. W. Harris, Esq.
Mr. Wm. Innis. Mrs. Thomas Holliday.
Mrs. Samuel Froome.
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MILL CREEK VALLEY.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CARTHAGE.
As to this important village, it may be said that there is an ancient and modern Carthage. Part of it is very old, part of it is new.
Many historical associations cluster about its earlier days. Many references have been made to them in these pages. The settlement of this valley began at White's Station, now in the corporate limits.
It was laid out as a town in 1815, by Edward White, sometimes called Edward III. It was quite an important village before the canal and railroad came.
The situation is extremely advantageous for access to the city. Its soil is rich and dry. The surrounding country beautiful. Its health- fulness beyond question. There are already m ny pleasant attractive homes there.
THE MCCAMMONS have pleasant homes, in the midst of flowers, plants and shrubbery, on Second Avenue.
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CARTHAGE.
CAPT. F. A. MYER's cottage, on Main avenue, is strikingly beautiful and unique in design.
CAPT.C. A. SANTMYER, first earned the peace a home affords, on the battle-fields of his coun- try ; then married Miss Helen M. Wright, a de- scendant of the venerable pioneer, Dr. Thos. Wright ; and then found that home in this vil- lage. 1
JONATHAN R. BONNELL, one of the oldest residents, lives in quietude and among friends on the corner of Jackson and Second streets.
Mr. William Brickley is superintendent of the public schools. .
Mr. Joseph W. Henry, postmaster, lives comfortably on Main Avenue.
Mr. John Critchell is a member of the Board of Education.
Mrs. Jacob Billingsly. Hon. John G. Sextro.
J. W. Sprung, Esq. B. P. Critchell, Esq. R. C. Phillips (at one time mayor of Carthage ) Mr. Henry Varwig. Mrs. Charles Howell.
Mr. John Belser. Mrs. I. W. Bacon.
Thomas Southwell. Mr. John Gibson.
Col. Thomas Hunt. Maj. J. Stewart, U. S.A.
The following gentlemen represent the medical profession :
Dr. A. Smedley.
Dr. A. B. Luse.
Dr. T. S. Potter. Dr. Willis Saffin.
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MILL CREEK VALLEY.
The legal profession is represented by -- Capt. Smith Stimmel. W. Hartley Pugh, Esq.
G. A. R.
Many old soldiers meet here, under this name. It is the R. L. McCook post, of which Capt. Santmyer is commander. It is in pos- session of a valuable portrait of General Mc- Cook, presented by the members of that cele- brated family.
RAILROADS AND OTHER ROADS.
The site of Carthage was first known as "The Third Crossing of Mill Creek," or White's Station. That was reached from Cin- cinnati by the old Wayne road, in 1791-2. The next road laid out was the new Hamilton road, in 1817, which pursued the track of the Wayne trace to where Gas Hall now stands, then diverged to the north and west, and pur- sued a direct course along section lines until it intersected the Wayne road again at a point in ( lendale, near the toll-gate.
The Miami canal came next in point of time -1827 ; then the C. H. and D., Railroad, in 1852; then the Dayton Short Line, in 1870.
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THE CARTHAGE MILLS.
When the cars commenced running on the C. H. and D., there were but three passenger and three freight trains each way. Now sixty freight and passenger trains run daily over this road; and sixteen passenger trains over the Short Line.
No suburb of Cincinnati surpasses this in railroad facilities.
THE CARTHAGE MILLS,
Of which Mr. Howard B. Hills is the pro- prietor, deserves mention as being the out- growth of the old grist-mill formerly built and managed by Major Caldwell about the year 1806. It stood within sight of this location, and but a short distance to the north-west. This old mill was swept away by a flood, which forced its way from the main bed of the creek through the mill race ; and such was its sudden- ness that Major Caldwell had barely time to escape being carried away with the mill. He made his escape from the moving wreck by a bold and successful leap for the bank.
This is a complete little mill, built of brick, and operated by steam, and yielding about forty- five barrels of flour per day.
About thirty thousand dollars are invested in this enterprise.
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P rint
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MILL CREEK VALLEY.
DISTILLERIES.
Old Capt. Jacob White raised the second crop of corn cultivated by the pioneers in this valley. And it is elsewhere stated that proba- bly the first distillery erected on Mill Creek was that upon the Caldwell farm, west of Car- thage, over eighty years ago. As a grain- growing region, it has a striking illustration in the magnitude of the distilling interests which have grown up since that time.
The Mill Creek Distilling Co. (formerly J. W. Gaff & Co.) occupies sixteen acres at the mouth of Mill Creek. The distillery has a working capacity of 16,000 gallons per day, which, at ninety cents per gallon, would yield a daily tax of $14,400, or over $4,000,000 annu- ally-more than one-fortieth of the entire reve- nue collected by the United States.
H. B. HILLS, ESQ.,
Is the son of the venerable pioneer Townsend Hills, Esq. He is developing this valley by way of building a tasteful home.
Ilis lot fronts 226 feet on the north side of Second street.
There are full-grown shade trees about this
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COL. GEORGE WARD.
building site-a part of the grove elsewhere spoken of, which has a deeply interesting his- tory.
That the future of Carthage is promising may be gathered from the fact that such gentlemen as Mr. Hills, Col. Ward, Major Gibson, the McCammons, and others, have expended so largely of their means in building their homes here.
Thus MR. AND MRS. HILLS, by an expendi- ture of about seven thousand dollars, have provided themselves a lovely retreat,
" In the deep umbrage of the beech tree's shade, Which shows a distant prospect far away of busy cities."
GAS HALL.
The rapid growth of this country can not be better illustrated than by allusion to this build- ing, erected by the Cincinnati Gas Light and Coke Company at a cost of $75,000.
COL. GEORGE WARD,
During the year 1881, completed one of the finest. residences in this valley. It faces north on what is now known as Fifth Avenue in Car- thage, being immediately west of the C. H. & D. Railroad.
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MILL CREEK VALLEY.
This avenue was formerly known as the North Bend road ; but before that it was an old Indian trail from one Miami River to the other. Griffin's Station was but a few hundred feet north of it.
In looking at this elegant home, that of another came to mind, now known only to the historian. The wide hall, lofty ceilings, spacious and communicating rooms, furnished withal in a manner so munificent, with the sound of falling waters like unwritten music breaking in upon the stillness of the night -- no effort of the imagination was required, nor was it a violent exercise of it, to institute a com- parison between it and the "Island mansion" of the refined, but ill-fated Blannerhassetts.
Sitting upon that veranda one moonlight evening, and contemplating the beautiful land- scape to the north and west, embracing the ridge of hills that stretches away to Glendale, these words floated through the memory :
-"To me High mountains are a feeling, but the hum Of human cities torture ! I can see Nothing to loathe in nature, save to be A link reluctant in a fleshly chain."
THE GIBSON RESIDENCE
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Is one of the most conspicuous houses on
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JOHN M'CAMMON.
Second Avenue, rendered such by its bold tower, surmounted by a shaft from whose top, now and then, floats the flag " whose hues were born in heaven."
This is a very large and superior house, and is the pleasant, refined home of MAJOR and MRS. H. B. GIBSON.
Upon entering these grounds BARRY CORN- WALL would have said :
" I come
To this sweet place for quiet ; Every tree, and bush, and fragrant flower, That flings unto the winds its morning incense Is my friend."
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JOHN M'CAMMON
Was born March 9, 1814, at Shippensburg, Pa. He came to Cincinnati with his father in 1816. March, 1821, his father's family came to Carthage. He united with the Christian Church in 1833, under the ministrations of the Rev. Walter Scott, and thereupon and thenceforth became an active worker in all Christian enterprises. June 14, 1840, he married Miss Joanna Bonnell.
They lived together forty-two years, when he died at Carthage April 1, 1882.
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MILL CREEK VALLEY.
Thus another pioneer has passed away !
Let us note his fall.
He was a Christian. The history of his church attests that. He was a patriot-none truer than he during the dark hours of the war. He was an honest man. Hear the Hon. Julius Dexter at the dedication of Music Hall May 15, 1878 :
" I must mention the honest, faithful, careful superintendent, whom neither fear nor favor can cause to swerve. He has watched this building from its lowest foundation stone to its highest pinnacle with an eye single to his duty, that the hall should be what it is-safe. For that sense of security which you have a right to feel within these walls, thank . JOHN MCCAMMON."
It may be said of him, as it was said of the elder Chatham-" Modern degeneracy had not reached him."
Content with honest toil and its reward ; gen- tle and contemplative in disposition ; fond of the fellowship of the good ; a lover of the beau- tiful in art, and song, and poetry ; a fond father in a happy home ; a PIONEER in many a sense of the term, he lived an honorable and useful life and died the death of the righteous.
Many a musing mourner followed him to his grave, and many a year will elapse before his
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CAPT. JACOB WHITE.
honored name will fade from the memory of men.
CAPT. JACOB WHITE.
This sturdy, resolute, and remarkable man -this foremost pioneer in the settlement of this valley north of the Ludlow settlement-was born May 2, 1759, in New Jersey. His wife, Joanna Mounts, who came with him and shared his toils and dangers, was born Nov. 6, 1760. They were married Oct. 25, 1780. Nine years afterwards they came to Cincinnati. and, July 23, 1792, located Sect. I, Springfield Township.
This section includes the northern part of Carthage and the present site of Hartwell and Maplewood. He built the block-house, else- where mentioned, on the banks of Mill creek. He subsequently built a hewed log-house (1798) near the present residence of Major Stewart, the railroad destroying its exact site. By hard and hazardous toil, he succeeded in clearing and improving this section ; his saw and frist-mill being a famous resort in its time. But misfortune overtook him. The United States Bank looked to his valuable estate to make good his endorsement for a neighbor and friend, and shortly afterward it was swept away from him.
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umEn
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MILL CREEK VALLEY.
Capt White moved to Gallatin County, Ken- tucky, about the year 1838. He died July 20, 1849, ninety-three years of age.
MRS. NANCY WHITE CULBERTSON,
His grand-daughter, the last of this family in this vicinity, now resides in Carthage. She is the daughter of Providence White, and was born May 20, 1810. Her father lived on the Cilley farm from 1810 to 1832, and built the house that formerly stood in front of the present residence of Major Cormany. He first lived in a double log cabin that stood a short dis- tance west, the foundations of which were torn away when Ridgeway Avenue was con- structed. Around that old cabin stood an apple orchard, which Mrs. Culbertson says, was the first orchard planted between the Miami rivers.
She is alone-but not comfortless-with her old family-Bible and its record of births and deaths, admonishing her that
" All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall stand forever."
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IN PREPARATION.
HISTORICAL,
BIOGRAPHICAL AND
DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES -IN THE-
MIAMI VALLEY. -BY
HENRY B. TEETOR,
Counsellor at Law,
RESIDENCE, HARTWELL, OHIO.
-OFFICE WITH-
MOULTON, JOHNSON & LEVY,
LAWYERS,
CINCINNATI : N. W. Cor. Fifth and Vine Sts.
NEW YORK:
Rooms 86 and 87, Tribune Building.
ITAHAFERS W
A. P. HAMER, Sed'y and Treas., Residence, Lebanon, Ohio.
J. M. MARSTON, President, Residence,
Williams Avenue, Maplewood.
THE J. M. MARSTON WALL PAPER CO.
ARTISTIC
PAPER HANGINGS
- AND - -
INTERIOR DECORATIONS.
SALESROOMS AND PARLORS : GLENN BUILDING-COR. FIFTH AND RACE STS., CINCINNATI, OHIO.
The following represent a few of our LEADING STYLES of
WALL PAPERS:
Raw Silk and Tapestry Copies,
Embossed and Gilts.
Anglo-Japanese Papers,
Plain and Colored Bronzes,
Ground and Tile Papers,
Silver Bronze,
Geometrical,
Foliage,
Indian Red,
Brown,
Olives,
Peacock Blue, &c.
All of these styles are made to conform to the best make of
Carpets.
We have just added to our large imported stock, the fol-
lowing unique and tasteful goods:
FIRE SCREENS,
PANELS,
LAMP MATS,
FANS,
PLAQUES,
UMBRELLAS, &c.
IN GREAT VARIETY.
OPERA. $2.00.
Phú
HART'S 96 & 98 West 5th St.
NOBBY. $2.00.
FIFTH AVENUE. $5.00.
JOHN B. HART, 96 & 98 West 5th St.
3674
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