USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The suburbs of Cincinnati : sketches, historical and descriptive > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
WALNUT HILLS.
PRECEDING chapter was devoted to East Walnut Hills, and in the one immediately to follow this, the village of Woodburn will receive special attention. The chapter upon which the reader has just entered will relate to Walnut Hills, the parent of the other two villages.
In the year 1791, the Rev. James Kemper, who had recently been licensed to preach, emigrated to Ohio, stopping for a limited period at what is now Cincinnati, and finally locating on lands that subsequenty became the site of the village of Walnut Hills. He brought with him a consider- able family of children, a part of them grown sons, and took possession of these elevated lands. It was no holiday work; for, among the first duties he entered upon was to build, with the assistance of his sons, a block house, to protect his family from the Indians. Persons passing along Kemper lane, if they will notice a lot on the east side, where the street has been very considerably cut down, will observe the spot where Walnut Hills began its life. Here was the cradle of the village that subsequently spread over sufficient area to make three distinct organizations. The old house that supplanted the early habitation of the family yet stands on the lot upon which the block house was erected.
At this period few thought that the time would so soon come when the village would become a refuge from the heat and dust of a city whose popu-
134
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
lation would be numbered by hundreds of thousands. From the walnut trees that abounded, the locality became known as Walnut Hills, and now the name has become so completely identified with all that region that it will be many years before people can forget that even its subdivisions have any other appellation. In 1818, the first church edifice was erected. It was the " First Presbyterian Church " of that place, and over it Mr. Kem- per was pastor, with possibly a brief interruption, until his death, in August, 1834.
LANE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
Eleven years after the organization of this church, an event occurred which gave Walnut Hills a prominence it otherwise would not have enjoyed, and which really became an epoch in its history. In January, 1829, a tract of sixty acres of land was donated by members of the Kemper family for the establishment of a theological seminary, and a charter was procured, early in the same year, from the legislature of Ohio, conferring upon the institution all the prerogatives of a college or university, as well as those of a theological seminary. The first considerable donation in money was made by Mr. Ebenezer Lane, a New Orleans merchant, in 1828, in consideration of which the institution received the name of Lane Seminary.
In addition to the sixty acres alluded to as having been donated to the institution, fifty acres additional were leased of Elnathan Kemper and wife, in 1832, on a nominal ground rent of five hundred dollars per annum. Buildings, consisting of a chapel, dormitory, and boarding hall, were erected, at a cost of nearly fifty thousand dollars, and a library was pro- cured at an expense of about ten thousand dollars. In the year 1830, Dr. Lyman Beecher was called from Boston to this new institution, and was inducted into office as Professor of Systematic Theology on the 26th of December, 1832. Rev. Thomas J. Biggs, D.D., who had been elected in 1831, entered upon his duties as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Polity on the same day. In the year 1832, Rev. Calvin E. Stowe,
135
Walnut Hills.
D.D., was elected to the chair of Biblical Literature, and in July of the following year entered upon his duties in that department. The Rev. Bax- ter Dickinson, D.D., in 1835, was installed Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology, and continued in that place until the year 1839, when Dr. Biggs and he resigned, on account of the pecuniary embarrass- ments of the institution. In the year 1840, the place made vacant by the resignation of Dr. Dickinson was filled by the Rev. D. Howe Allen, D.D., who was called from Marietta College.
Dr. Beecher and Prof. Stowe resigned in 1850, and Dr. Allen was transferred to the chair of Systematic Theology in the succeeding year. The Rev. J. B. Condit, D.D., was elected in 1851 to fill the place made vacant by Dr. Allen's change, and Prof. George E. Day elected to the chair vacated by Prof. Stowe. In 1855, the Rev. Henry Smith, D.D., formerly President of Marietta College, succeeded Dr. Condit, who was con- strained by ill health to resign his position. Dr. Smith, to whom instruc- tion in church history had also been assigned, offered his resignation in 1862, and the Rev. Llewelyn J. Evans was called to the department of Church History. Dr. Smith, four years after this resignation, was elected to the chair of Sacred Rhetoric, and the Rev. Elisha Ballantine was elected to the place made vacant by Prof. Day, who had just resigned. Dr. Allen, in 1867, on account of declining health, was compelled to seek release from active service, and was made Professor Emeritus. In the same year, the Rev. Henry A. Nelson, D.D., of St. Louis, was elected to the place made vacant by Dr. Allen's change, and Prof. Evans became the successor of Dr. Ballantine, who had also resigned. The Rev. E. D. Morris, D.D., of Columbus, Ohio, was in the same year, 1867, elected to the chair of Eccle- siastical History and Church Polity, and, with Dr. Nelson, was formally inducted into office May 13, 1868. Since then no changes have taken place in the faculty. In 1827 a literary department was opened and con- tinued about five years. The manual-labor system was also attempted, but was found to be too expensive.
Theological instruction was regularly commenced in December, 1832, and
136
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
has continued uninterruptedly since that time, now over thirty-seven years. The first faculty consisted of men whose names will long be gratefully remembered by the friends of the institution and the people of the West.
Through various vicissitudes of fortune, the change of professors, and the embarrassment of hard times, the Seminary has proceeded in its work of preparing young men for the ministry. The records of the New School Presbyterian Church for 1867 show that in that year one hundred and eighty, or about one in ten of the ministers then in that connection, had been educated wholly or in part at this institution. These have been scat- tered over the earth, and are an important division of the great army of the Cross. A part have been claimed by foreign lands. Representatives are found in New England and the Middle States, but the greater number are laboring in the missionary fields of the West. In Ohio, in 1867, there were fifty-five; in Indiana, thirty-eight ; in Illinois, twenty-four; and in Michigan, fifteen.
The present buildings of the seminary are located on a spacious lot, bounded by Chapel and Kemper streets on the north and south, respect- ively, and by Maple street on the east, and the Montgomery turnpike on the west. The buildings front the turnpike, and are well removed from the street. They consist of the chapel in the center, a brick edifice of impos- ing appearance, with a good audience room and lecture rooms. To the south is the dormitory, a brick building of four stories. It is a tasteful structure, with Mansard roof, and ample verandas both in front and rear, and is admirably adopted to school purposes. The library edifice, recently erected through the liberality of Preserved Smith, Esq., of Dayton, Ohio, is classic in its proportions and complete in its internal arrangement. It occupies a position in front and to the right of the chapel, and is an orna- ment to the grounds as well as a credit to the institution. This building contains on its shelves and within its alcoves about thirteen thousand vol- umes-one of the best libraries of its kind in the United States. This collection embraces some of the rarest and most valuable theological works in existence. On the south of the college grounds are two residences, owned
137
Walnut Hills.
by the Seminary and occupied by two of the professors of the institution. In the rear of the main buildings is the boarding hall, a two-story frame edifice, erected in 1868, tasteful in its appearance and complete in its appointments.
The endowment fund, though of great importance, is by no means equal to the wants of the institution. The revenue from leases is about ten thou- sand dollars per annum, and the income from other investments but little in excess of three thousand dollars. A library fund exists, amounting to about four thousand dollars. Now that a united church, with zeal stimu- lated by the recent reunion and by increased opportunities of doing good, has become interested in the school, it is reasonable to expect that this institution, which has matured through severe struggles and pecuniary trials, will early be placed in a condition of complete independence.
The Seminary campus consists of about ten acres. The lands are beauti- ful naturally, containing shade trees of many years' growth, and, without display, presenting an appearance of unusual repose. Plans are maturing for the improvement of these grounds, which will make them as inviting as a park. It would be well if no time were lost in giving this beautiful sub- urb such an acquisition.
This institution, thus begun and continued through the generation that has followed, became the pivot about which the village revolved. It was not the foundation of the moral tone and excellent character of the place, for this had been secured by the sterling religious men who were the early inhabitants of this locality, and who inaugurated the school. The Seminary was the result, rather, of their Christian fidelity and enterprise; and hav- ing been called into existence, early became so intimately connected with the name of Walnut Hills, that they were soon almost convertible terms.
Around this institution has gathered the village which, though recently remote, is now even more than a suburb of Cincinnati. Gradually the city has been working its way up the Deercreek valley and the ravine pursued by Kemper lane, making one conquest after another, until Walnut Hills is no longer a thickly-settled rural district, such as Woodburn and East Wal-
10
138
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
nut Hills. It is a part of the city, regularly laid out, with improved streets and sidewalks, and, in general, well built up. Lane Seminary is within its limits, but is considerably north of the center of population, which has been tending in the direction of the old parts of Cincinnati and the river. The principal streets are McMillan (Madisonville turnpike), running east and west, and the Montgomery turnpike, which, after having ascended the hill, passes slightly east of north through the village.
At the October election, in 1869, Walnut Hills and Cincinnati voted on the question of annexing the former to the city, declaring in favor of the change by a large majority. Committees were subsequently appointed by the city council and the trustees of the road district to determine the terms of annexation. The conclusion of these committees was submitted to their respective bodies in the following March, and, being formally approved, Walnut Hills became a part of Cincinnati, and was subsequently erected into the Twenty-second Ward.
Prior to the consummation of annexation, Walnut Hills proper consisted of five-eighths of section eight of Millcreek township, extending from the northern boundary of the city (then McMillan street) to Avondale and the north-west part of Woodburn, on the north, and from Woodburn on the east to Corryville on the west. It was at no time an incorporated village, save for road purposes.
The business of Walnut Hills is confined almost exclusively to McMillan street and the Montgomery road. There are, in addition, on these streets, some very delightful homes, which will be alluded to more particularly else- where. Beginning north of the Seminary three squares, Spring street comes first, then Chestnut, Sycamore, and Chapel streets follow, success- ively, before reaching the Seminary grounds. The latter street, which bounds the Seminary on the north, is to be continued through the Elston lands to Woodburn avenue, thus opening a street between the northern parts of Walnut Hills and Woodburn, midway between McMillan street and Avondale. On the south of the Seminary, running parallel with
139
Walnut Hills.
the others, is Kemper street, and immediately south of the latter, Locust street.
One bad tendency in individual suburbs is to make streets and other improvements without regard to similar enterprises in adjacent territory. The desirableness of more intimate connection between the various villages, and of thorough harmony between the public improvements of the different places, is not so apparent now as it will be after it shall be too late to adopt some general system for the whole territory. It is this, among other con- siderations, that renders it highly desirable that these suburbs should, at the earliest practicable period, become a part of Cincinnati. As showing how the demand for channels of more intimate intercourse is connected with incor- poration with the city, it may be remarked that Walnut Hills recognized this as one of the objects of annexation, in that one of the terms on which the village was annexed, was, that a street should early be opened from Corryville to Woodburn, to be, as near as practicable, a continuation of Oak street, upon which, it will be remembered, Mr. Bullock's residence is situated, in Mount Auburn. This work, it is understood, is to be com- menced at once.
Though several streets running east and west, to which allusion has been made, are being opened west of the Montgomery pike, or the mat- ter of opening being considered, still, these substantially extend only to the Montgomery road, with the exception of McMillan and Locust streets, the former of which runs through the entire village. Intersecting at right angles these streets, with the exception of the Montgomery road, which, as has been said, bears north-eastwardly, are Beech, Maple, and Elm streets, following each other in the order named, as we proceed from the Montgom- ery road to the cast. These streets embrace the body of the population within the limits of the former road district, though there are many per- sons now residing between the Montgomery and the Lebanon roads.
The streets are generally sixty feet wide, and well macadamized and gut- tered. Good stone sidewalks have been constructed, shade trees planted, and much attention given to the improvement of dooryards 'and surround-
140
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
ings generally. There is an appearance of peace and retirement about all this part of the place; and, when it is remembered that the lots that have been carved out of the Seminary lands can never be used for other purposes than private residences, unless with the permission of the trustees of the Seminary, we can not but feel that the citizens are more than ordinarily safe against the encroachment of liquor shops and other curses that march with population.
It is not practicable to enter into a detailed description of all the improved property of Walnut Hills. Like Mount Auburn, the village is quite too populous to warrant such an attempt. The purposes of this chap- ter will be served by the historical allusions that have been made, and by the description of such private improvements as may be necessary to convey to the reader a just conception of the general beauty and desirableness of this locality, with, perhaps, such exceptions to the rule as may be found in some of the ancient landmarks, about which precious recollections gather, and in the contemplation of which the stranger and the resident alike may find pleasure.
Perhaps, of the last-named class, no property is more distinguished than the residence of the Rev. Joseph G. Monfort, D.D., editor of the Herald and Presbyter. It is a neat two-story brick structure, with capacious porches in the rear and a roomy portico in front. It occupies a commanding position on the north-east corner of Montgomery road and Chestnut street, two squares north of the grounds of the Seminary. Without the semblance of ostentation, it speaks of the comfortable, hospitable home, which the palace sometimes may not so well declare. This was once the residence of Dr. Lyman Beecher. During many years it was the home of the man whose vigor of mind, whose strength of purpose, and whose far-seeing wisdom, the whole Presbyterian family have learned to venerate. Immediately south of the lot upon which the dwelling stands was then a piece of wood- land of probably twenty acres, with noble specimens of the sugar and the beech. Through this grove lay the Doctor's path to the Seminary. Two stiles then intervened. One ridge had to be crossed, and the whole locality,
141
Walnut Hills.
in its rustic simplicity, was quite unlike the place of to-day, occupied, as it is, by the advance guard of the city in its steady march to the north.
Opposite this place, on the Montgomery road, is the residence of Mrs. Catharine Bates. The house was erected about thirty years ago, and at that time was one of the finest on the hill. The lot embraces about seven acres of land, distinguished for the beauty of its location. The premises are quite attractive, and it is eminently proper they should be the home of one of the oldest residents of this suburb.
On the same side of the street, but nearer the Seminary, are some improvements of an excellent character, among them those of W. L. Evans, who erected a residence here four years ago. The building is frame, two stories, with observatory and veranda. The general appearance, both externally and internally, is attractive and tasteful. Mr. Evans has about three and a half acres of land, kept in fine condition, with well-con- structed carriage drives and beautiful surroundings.
The same may be said of the residences of Geo. Fox and J. N. Kenney, both of whom have pleasant and attractive homes on the same side of the street, but a short distance to the south. These were erected about four- teen years ago, but have been kept in such good repair that they are no less fresh than the more recently-constructed buildings.
Still farther to the south, on the west side, is the residence of A. Simp- kinson, a two-story brick edifice, erected about eight years ago. A veranda extends the full front of the first story, and the handsome location shows the tasteful building to the best advantage.
Next is the old home of Elnathan Kemper, whose name is so intimately connected with that of Lane Seminary and Walnut Hills. The location is one of unusual beauty, and the well-preserved dwelling is surrounded by an abundance of shrubbery and shade trees.
On the east side of Montgomery road, the second house south of the public school building, is the former home of Prof. Stowe. Here he resided during a good part of his residence at Walnut Hills. At that time Harriet Beecher Stowe had not written "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and was
142
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
unknown to fame; but the qualities that afterward distinguished her were by no means hidden from her friends. Here, too, Catharine Beecher spent much of her time, and completed a trio such as is not frequently found in one house. The building is a two-story brick, with a one-story study attached to the south side, and has, for some time, been the residence of the Rev. B. P. Aydelott, D.D., of the Presbyterian church,
McMillan street, east of the Montgomery road, is well built up for two or three squares. Shops and stores are multiplying, and dwellings fresh from the hands of carpenters and painters are seen along its entire length. This is no less true of McMillan street, west of the Montgomery pike, three squares of which are thickly dotted with dwellings, erected during the past three years.
May street, which approaches McMillan street from the north three squares from the Montgomery road, is almost entirely new, and, besides, is well macadamized and paved. This is the last improved street to the west, though there are scattered dwellings on unimproved streets until reaching the Lebanon road.
Beech, Maple, and Elm streets, running north and south, and Locust, Kemper, Chapel, Sycamore, and Chestnut streets, intersecting them at right angles, all have along them good improvements. Many of the dwellings are very tasteful and some expensive. Nearly all are plentifully supplied with shade trees and shrubbery. Every where there is an air of comfort. The general appearance is that of a retired, educational town in the interior. Few unacquainted with the facts, amidst this quiet, would suspect that just below, the fourth city of the nation was conducting its commerce and filling the air with the rattle of its manufactories.
Notwithstanding the boundaries that have been given were those of the late road district, they by no means embrace all of what is popularly known as Walnut Hills. McMillan street was the legal southern boundary; but on both sides of this the place was, and is now, substantially the same vil- lage. The population on the north attend church on the south, and the children on the south are scholars in the public school on the north. South
143
Walnut Hills.
of McMillan street, it is the same summit, the streets in the main are identical, and the population similar.
Maple street, which, it will be remembered, runs north and south through that part of Walnut Hills lying north of McMillan street, at its intersection with the latter becomes Park avenue. It was once called Hathaway lane, and yet appears with that name on the map; but you can not find any person now living on Hathaway lane. The other is so much more euphonious, and, withal, so smacks of the aristocratic, that its prede- cessor will soon be consigned to oblivion. The street is, indeed, one of the most desirable upon the hill.
On the east side of Park avenue is the two-story brick residence lately owned by Joseph Whittaker, a very attractive property. It was sold in April of this year, at public auction, to Henry Lewis, for thirty-six thou- sand seven hundred dollars.
South of this is the house of J. H. Rhodes, a two-story frame edifice, decidedly tasteful, purchased about three years ago. The residence of D. J. Williams, on the same side of the street. a two-story frame building of irregular outline, is a pleasant home.
The dwelling of Hugh Kemper, the last to the south on this side of the street, is one of the most tasteful in Walnut Hills. The lands break rapidly in the direction of the river, revealing from the veranda, which opens to the south, a succession of beautiful green slopes and cheerful knolls, as well as charming glimpses of the distant highlands beyond the Ohio. Every thing about it is in good taste. Freedom from all deformities, pleasant outlooks, and handsome approaches, make it attractive and desirable.
On the west side of the avenue, on the corner of Windsor street, is the residence erected three years ago by Capt. James T. Fisher, and sold in July, 1869, to John Kilgour, for nineteen thousand nine hundred dollars. Immediately north, on the adjoining lot, is the twin to this house, owned by Martin R. Fisher. They were both erected in 1867, at an expense of six- teen thousand dollars each. They are on lots sixty by two hundred and
144
Suburbs of Cincinnati.
eighteen feet, and from commanding positions look immediately up the Ohio river. These eligible lots cost, in the spring of 1867, fifty dollars per foot.
Immediately south of this property is an old landmark, the former residence of the Rev. F. A. Kemper, standing high above Windsor street, which has been cut down very considerably in perfecting the grade. Turning to the right and passing down Windsor street to Kemper lane, the pedestrian finds himself at the head of the wooden sidewalk, built on the latter street from the Seventeenth ward, or what was known in other days as Fulton.
Windsor street is but one square in length. On the north-east corner of its intersection with Kemper lane, Capt. C. F. Kendall, three years ago, put up an attractive two-story frame dwelling, which cost eleven thousand dollars. The lot, sixty by two hundred and nine feet, cost at the rate of eighteen dollars per foot.
Turning north on Kemper lane-for below this point there are few improvements-a well-paved street is seen, along which are many pleasant dwellings. Among these, in addition to the original Kemper home, is the former residence of Samuel D. Kemper, a brick edifice, with gable to the road, painted white, in its simplicity strangely contrasting with the adorn- ments that now cover many of our buildings. On this street, which is a continuation of Beech street, that approaches McMillan from the north, are located the Church of the Advent (Episcopal) and the Methodist Episcopal Church, which is but a short distance farther to the north.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.