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The present officers (autumn of 1925) are : Exalted Ruler Charles E. Dornette, Esteemed Leading
Knight Max Friedman, Esteemed Loyal Knight D. F. Frayser, Esteemed Lecturing Knight
Howard Doyle, Secretary J. S. Richardson, Treasurer J. C. Kelley, Tyler Michael Ferrick. The
number of members in good standing in November, 1925, is 4,100. The new temple was
dedicated Thanksgiving Day, 1923. It is a magnificent structure of which the order and city in
general point to with pride.
Ladies Auxiliary, No. 17, Order of Sleeping Car Conductors, was organized in Cincinnati
March 19, 1924, in room "G" at the Sinton Hotel, with twenty ladies present. Mr. C. E. Davis
was the organizer. The first officers to be elected were as follows : President, Mrs. H. C. Davis ;
vice-president, Mrs. J. I. Wingate ; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. F. Bowman. The motto adopted
was the Golden Rule.
The charter members of this new order were : Mrs. H. C. Davis, Mrs. J. I. Wingate, Mrs. F.
Bowman, Mrs. E. Beimford, Mrs. F. Bartlow, Mrs. I. Davis, Mrs. G. Davis, Mrs. C. Davis, Mrs.
B. Doane, Mrs. C. Glindmeier, Mrs. F. Hendry, Mrs. J. Huelsman, Mrs. E. Hill, Mrs. J.
Humphry, Mrs. E. McCabe, Mrs. J. Mooar, Mrs. J. Unger, Mrs. W. Weston, Mrs. W. Ludlow,
Miss O. Bartlow.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows —Odd Fellowship originated in England and the first
lodge in America was established in Baltimore, April 26, 1819, under a charter from the Grand
Lodge of England. The order increased very rapidly, several other lodges being instituted under
similar charters ; and to effect a more general cooperation in the benevolent designs of the
institution, it soon became necessary to establish an independent government of its interests in
the United States. Preparations were accordingly made in 1822, and a charter was subsequently
obtained from the Grand Lodge of England, in which an entire relinquishment of all inherent
right, interest, government, and authority was given, and the "Grand Lodge of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows of the United States of America" was regularly established in the city of
Baltimore, Maryland. Lodges and encampments were later instituted in every State and territory
in the United States, the total membership as early as 1840, amounting to over 15,000.
The first lodge organized in Ohio was in Cincinnati, December 23, 1830. July 1, 1840, the total
membership in Ohio was 1,220. At that date there were ten subordinate and four encampments, a
grand encampment and a grand lodge in Ohio.
In 1851 the Odd Fellows Hall, in Cincinnati, was at the northwest corner of Third and Walnut
streets. The Grand Lodge of Ohio met in that hall at that date, as well as the grand encampment.
Cist's history of Cincinnati, in 1851, gave the following facts concerning Odd Fellows lodges in
Cincinnati. The following lodges of this
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fraternity are represented in the city : Ohio Lodge, No. ; Washington Lodge, No. 2; Cincinnati
Lodge, No. 3; Franklin Lodge, No. 4; William Penn Lodge, No. 56 ; Fidelity Lodge, No. 71;
Magnolia Lodge, No. 83 ; Eagle Lodge, No. 100 ; Germania Lodge, No. 113; Metropolitan
Lodge, No. 142 ; Mohawk Lodge, No. 150 ; Woodward Lodge, No. 149. The encampments of
Cincinnati were then : Wildey, No. 1 ; Cincinnati, No. 22; Mahketawah, No. 32 ; Hesperian ; and
Schiller, No. 42. Coming down to 1904 there were thirty different Odd Fellow bodies in
existence in Cincinnati.
The present roster of Odd Fellows' bodies in Cincinnati (1924) was as follows : The temple is
located at the northwest corner of Elm and Seventh streets ; alphabetically, the lodges as well as
auxiliaries, are these : American Lodge, No. 17o; Babel Palace, No. 17, P. K. of S. ; Cincinnati
Lodge, No. 3 ; Eagle Lodge, No. 100; Fidelity Lodge, No. 113 ; Franklin Lodge, No. 4 ; Fulton
Rebekah Lodge, No. 586 ; Golden Rod Lodge, No. 473 ; Hawthorne Lodge, No. 793 ; Herman
Lodge, No. 419; Laurel Lodge, No. 191 ; Mistletoe Rebekah Lodge, No. 40; Mohawk Lodge, No.
150 ; Nathan Stewart Lodge, No. 338; Northwestern Lodge, No. 296; Ohio Lodge, No. 1 ;
Parkland Lodge, No. 799; Rebekah Lodge, No. 307 ; Spencer Lodge, No. 147; Tusculuns
Rebekah Lodge, No. 205 ; Vulcan Lodge, No. 187; Walnut Hills Rebekah Lodge, No. 18o;
William Tell Lodge, No. 335 ; Herman Encampment, No. 66; Madison Encampment, No. 6o;
Wildey Encampment, No. 1 ; Nathan Stewart Lodge, No. 338, Daughters of Rebekah ; Western
Star Lodge, No. 788; Queen City Canton, No. 84 ; Washington Lodge, No. 2; Odd Fellows Club
; Past Order Grand Rebekah, meets at Odd Fellows Temple ; Ivy Rebekah, No. 1.
The total number of members in this order in Ohio is, according to the 1923 official report from
the Grand Lodge, two hundred thousand.
First Grand Lodge Officers —As recorded in the Journal of the Grand Lodge of 1878 the
following were the first officers of the Grand Lodge of Ohio : Richard Cheavens, G. M.; Samuel
Pell, D. G. M. ; J. G. Joseph, G. W.; Jacob W. Holt, G. C. ; William West, G. T.; Samuel Cobb,
G. Secretary. After a review of the entire case it was decided that the Grand Lodge was not
"regularly" instituted until February 7, 1833, when it was done by the Grand Sire.
The removal of the grand lodge to Columbus was approved September
20, 1851.
Encampment —Wildey Encampment, No. 1, was instituted at Cincinnati September 24, 1839.
The following officers were installed : R. R. Andrews, G. P. ; William S. Kelley, G. H. P.;
Samuel B. Neill, G. S. W.; Jacob Keller, G. S.; William Runnells, G. T.; James Read, G. J. W.;
Jacob Ernst, G. S.
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Independent Order of Odd Fellows has today, in Ohio, 200,000 members ; there are 727
subordinate lodges. The largest lodge in Ohio today is Central Grove Lodge, No. 891, Toledo.
Growth of Odd Fellowship —From the humble but illustrious beginning, the membership of
this order in the United States has grown in the 106 years intervening to fully 2,200,000. The
beneficial work the order has done is shown in the record of the $7,000,000 which it paid out in
1922, and in $82,000,000 which has been brought into the coffers of the lodge to aid and comfort
those who were the most needy.
The Grand Lodge of Ohio has usually been well represented from the city of Cincinnati and
vicinity by able executives who have filled their respective positions with exceptional ability.
Every Odd Fellow who reads this page will recall the corps of grand lodge officers of 1923,
including Loren E. Souers, of Canton, grand master ; A. E. Mann, of Findlay, deputy grand
master ; G. F. Brown, Lebanon, grand warden ; H. D. Chaffin, grand secretary ; George C. Kolb,
M. D., of Cincinnati, grand treasurer ; George M. Neffner, New Vienna, grand warden ; Ralph P.
Miller, Columbus, assistant grand secretary ; Major-General Fred H. A. Hahn, commanding
department of Ohio.
Among the grand lodge officers from this part of the State, who have been reelected numerous
times and are still in office, should be named Dr. George C. Kolb, who was elected grand
treasurer in 1922, and reelected in each year since. He was representative to the grand lodge in
1897-1900; grand warden, 1902-03 ; deputy grand master, 1903-04 ; grand master, 1904-05 ;
grand representative to grand lodge, 1907-11, and at present grand treasurer.
Odd Fellows Temple of Cincinnati —This fine structure is located on the corner of Elm and
Seventh streets and was erected between the years 1892 and 1894. Its cost (when material and
work was very low) was $600,000. Within this immense modern structure are nine complete Odd
Fellows lodge rooms, wherein nine separate lodges meet at once, independent one of the other.
Then there are many other fraternities which lease lodge rooms in this building, besides scores of
business and professional offices. It took more than money to construct this magnificent
temple—it took brains and muscle all in tune, and a business head to finance the great
undertaking, to do which, in reality, a banking house had first to be established.
Odd Fellowship demands no surrender of individuality, it insists upon no enslavement to
convention. It seeks not to paralyze initiative by imposing iron-clad rules or subjecting all alike
to a crude and callous process of standardization. It recognizes the truth of many men, many
minds, and cheerfully concedes that men accepting the same ideals may yet live their own lives
and work out their several destinies in diverse
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ways and in accordance with the promptings of the inner monitor, over which no alien master
may rightfully bear sway. Union among Odd Fellows does not mean to spell self-effacement, nor,
on the other hand, does it connote a band of eccentric separatists, cast in a common mold.
Odd Fellowship has its symbolism and its mysteries, but it is not, in any sense, exclusively a
secret society. Its signs and countersigns, its grips and pass-words, its paraphernalia and its ornate
ritual may all pass the comprehension of the uninitiated ; but its essential principles are open to
all, and its good deeds are performed impartially and without partisan discrimination for the
benefit of all.
Its stately structure has been reared upon the fundamental postulate that "Faith without works is
dead," and its mission has been to magnify this doctrine as the leading article in any stable
covenant of true fellowship and to exemplify its implications in practice.
Concerning the million and more women of the Rebekahs degree of Odd Fellowship, Mrs.
Goodman, president of the Kentucky State Assembly recently wrote :
The Rebekah degree was adopted September 20, 1851. Schuyler Colfax (a former vice-president
under President U. S. Grant), by his eloquence won for us over the opposition of Past Grand Sire
Kennedy of New York, the adoption of the Rebekah degree, thus becoming the Father of
Rebekah Odd Fellowship.
The great principles of Rebecca Odd Fellowship are represented by three links, which we are all
so familiar with, and which represents Friendship, Love and Truth, three-fold cord, which
through the long history of mankind has helped many a weary soul up the hill of difficulty and on
to more serene plains on the highway of life. These three qualities about each of which we could
say much, and still leave unsaid a great deal that might help us in our lives, are the very
foundation principles of our order; the object of which we meet together ; that our love for our
fellowman we might extend the hand of friendship, and prove the truth that God is love, by thus
cultivating the Divine spark that lies within each one of us.
CHAPTER XX.
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS OF CITY AND VICINITY.
The present Hamilton County Agricultural Society was organized in 1855, and of which the
reader will see presently, but, prior to that date, interest vas paid to agriculture and kindred
vocations. One of the interesting organizations was known as "The Cincinnati Society for the
Promotion of Agriculture and Domestic Economy," which indeed had a long enough name, at
least. One of the pioneer directories treats this in part as follows :
Among the officers of this society, in 1819, were the following: William Henry Harrison,
president (later was President of the United States) ; Andrew Mack, first vice-president ; Ethan
Stone, second vice-president ; Zaccheus Biggs, third vice-president ; Stephen Wood, fourth
vice-president ; Jesse Embree, secretary ; James Findlay, treasurer ; James Taylor, Ephraim
Brown, Daniel Drake, Jacob Burnet, William Corry, Gorham A. Worth, Isaac H. Jackson, James
C. Morris, and Jacob Broad-well, standing committee. Its general purpose seems to have been the
improvement of agriculture and domestic productions for a remedy against the unhappy effects of
foreign merchandise. The society was to hold stated meetings, collect a library and give prizes for
the best productions in agriculture or domestic manufactures, as well as for essays on these
topics. But to us today the most interesting feature was its declarations as here shown :
"Being convinced that a retrenchment in the expense of living will be an important mean in
alleviating the difficulties and pecuniary embarrassments which exist in every section of the
country, we concur in adopting and recommending to our fellow citizens the following
declarations, viz:
"1st. We will not purchase, or suffer to be used in our families, any imported liquors, fruits, nuts,
or preserves of any kind, unless they shall be required in case of sickness.
"2d. Being convinced that the practice which generally prevails of wearing suits of black as
testimonials of respect for the memory of departed friends, is altogether useless, if not improper,
while it is attended with a heavy expense, we will not sanction it hereafter in our families, or
encourage it in others.
"3d. We will not purchase for ourselves or our families, such articles of dress as are expensive,
and are generally considered as ornamental, rather than useful.
"4th. We will abstain from the use of imported goods of every description as far as may be
practical, and we will give a preference to the
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articles that are of the growth and manufacture of our own country, when the latter can be
procured.
"5th. We will not purchase any articles, either of food or dress, at prices that are considered
extravagant, or that the citizens generally cannot afford to pay ; but will rather abstain from the
use of such articles until they can be obtained at reasonable prices.
"6th. We will observe a rigid economy in every branch of our expenditures, and will, in all our
purchases, be influenced by necessity rather than convenience, and by utility rather than
ornament.
"7th. We believe that the prosperity of the country depends in a great degree on a general and
faithful observance of the foregoing declaration—we therefore promise that we will adhere to it
ourselves, and that we will recommend it to others."
Agricultural Advantages —A circular sent east and to foreign countries, published by Joel
Barlow and the agents of the Scioto Company, to promote immigration from France, especially,
described Ohio country generally. The advantages offered farmers were described as follows :
"In all parts the soil is deep, rich, producing in abundance wheat, rye, corn, buckwheat, barley,
oats, flax, hemp, tobacco, indigo, the tree that furnishes the food for the silk worm, the grape
vine, cotton. The tobacco is of a quality much superior to that of Virginia, and the crops of wheat
are much more abundant here than in any other part of America. The ordinary crop of corn is
from sixty to eighty English bushels per acre. The bottom lands are especially adapted to the
production of all the commodities we have just enumerated. Then there are the vast plains, which
are met with in this territory, intersected with little brooks, the land being suitable for the culture
of rice, which grows here abundantly. Hops are also produced spontaneously in this territory, and
there are also the same peaches, plums, pears, melons, and in general all the fruits which are
produced in the temperate zone.
"When inhabitants shall come here from all parts of the world, nature will have provided for
them, at least for one year, all they need, without the necessity for making purchases at all."
The first definite information to be obtained relative to the land and its products is contained in
Dr. Drake's "Pictures of Cincinnati." This book was published in 1815 to bring to the attention of
travelers and land-seekers the advantages of the Miami country. For the prices of land in that year
it was estimated that within three miles of Cincinnati, at this time, the prices of good unimproved
land, are between $50 and $150 per acre, varying according to the distance. From this limit to the
extent of 12 miles they decreased from $30 to $10. Near the principal villages of the Miami
country, it commands from $20 to $40; in remoter sections, it is from $4 to $8—improvements in
all cases advancing the price from 25
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS - 313
to 100 per cent. An average for the settled portions of the Miami country, still supposing the land
fertile and uncultivated, may be stated at $8 ; if cultivated, at $12. From this very low average it
may be seen that the amount of improved land near Cincinnati was, in the early part of the
nineteenth century, very scarce indeed, only the alluvial bottom lands close to the city being
settled or improved to any extent. The principal kinds of grain raised were corn, wheat, rye, oats,
and barley. Corn and wheat were raised on almost every farm, the latter being slightly better
adapted ;o the soil than was corn. The average corn crop for the region was said to be forty
bushels to the acre, although the yield was much higher in some instances, and twenty-two
bushels was about the average yield per acre of wheat, with a medium weight of about sixty
pounds per bushel. Oats averaged about thirty-five bushels to the acre but was not so extensively
cultivated as corn or wheat, and rye found its only uses as horse feed and in the distillation of
whiskey, being, therefore, much more limited in amount than the two leading grains. The
erection of two breweries in Cincinnati, and a demand for the beer all down the Mississippi
Valley, even to New Orleans, created a demand for barley, which increased rapidly.
Fruits in large quantities were raised even at that early day, apples being particularly successful in
this climate, and annually large amounts of cider were made. Peaches of unusual perfection were
found on nearly every farm, and pears, cherries, and plums were common throughout the district,
although apricots and nectarines did not thrive.
Flax and hemp were raised on nearly every farm, but the flax was said to be poorer in quality
than that of the eastern States, especially in point of oil from the seed, and the hemp production
early fell off because of the low price obtained for it. The raising of stock, hogs, sheep, and cattle,
was prosecuted with the utmost profit on account of the rich meadow lands of the country, and
the flesh was said to be of a superior quality to the eastern meats. However, as was universally
true in new countries, the methods of cultivation, or rather the lack of method, worked harm to
the soil, as the farmers relied too greatly on the fertility of their land and too little upon their own
labor. An excess of ambition to grow wealthy, led to an overplanting with the result that either a
large share of the land went to waste, or the crops were neglected on the whole, and briars and
weeds grew so profusely that they seriously retarded the development of the soil.
In 1819 it was stated that the Land District of Cincinnati was bounded on the east by the Virginia
Military Reservation, on the west by the Jeffersonville and White River districts, on the north by
Cass and Mc-Arthur's purchase, and on the south by the Ohio River.
The first society's books, under date of 1854, show a balance in treasury amounting to $204.60.
The first entry in the new account book
314 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
opened April 21, 1855, shows "Amount paid N. G. Hedges, for Fair Grounds, $2,287.50," and
again May 1st, the same year, the same amount to the same man for the balance they owed him
for lands. In September, 1855, the treasurer reported amount on hand (probably coming from the
State) $2,829.3r.
The fact that the early books and records of the society have not all been preserved and turned
over to the present secretary, makes it an impossible task to give an account of early fairs and
who had charge of the same. The present grounds, at the same place the fairs have always been
held, at old Carthage, now within the city limits, contain forty-seven acres and is enclosed with a
suitable, permanent fence. The improvements are second to no other fair ground in Ohio. The
same includes buildings, etc., erected at an expense of $200,000. There is a fine, newly perfected
race track of a half mile circle ; an Agricultural Hall costing in excess of $4o,000 ; this was built
in 1818; the Fine Arts Building, erected in 1923 at a cost of $3,500 ; besides there is a Dining
Hall, costing $7,500; ladies rest rooms, etc., costing more than $5,000.
The society keeps an office open two days each week in the courthouse. The 1925-26 officers are
inclusive of the following : President George K. Foster, Vice-president John Mueller, Treasurer
W. L. Doty, Secretary D. L. Sampson, Assistant Secretary M. A. Hartke. Directors in 1925: W. L.
Doty, J. T. Sater, George E. Pfau, John Mueller, H. Lee Early, C. De Laney, D. R. Van Atta, E.
M. Armstrong, George K. Foster, R. E. Simmonds, and M. Y. Cooper.
The present membership tickets are $1.75 ; general admission, 50 cents ; automobiles, 25 cents ;
grandstand box-seats, $1.00 ; grandstand admission, 5o cents. The general admission to the
county fair is fifty cents, and children under ten years of age go in free. The last annual exhibition
held last autumn was the society's seventieth fair. It would require a large volume to give the
proceedings of all of these fairs, suffice to state that there have been but few, if any, poor fairs,
and many have been record breakers for the commonwealth.
Early Agricultural Interests —In 1840 Cincinnati was known to be the center of the largest and
most fertile growing region in the world, comprising more than 10,000,000 acres of tillable soil,
which, if properly worked, could produce sufficient farm products to support a population of
4,000,000. The region was especially adapted to the growing of grains and stock, wheat, corn,
barley, oats, and hops being produced abundantly, and horses, cattle, mules, sheep, and hogs in
immense numbers. In addition to these resources there were lesser products but of great value,
such as hemp, tobacco, strawberries, grapes, etc. It was highly important to the business welfare
of Cincinnati that the roads and canals, and the railroads which came later, should traverse this
fertile district in such a
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS - 315
manner as to concentrate at this city the immense agricultural business of the valley.
The growing of grapes had been attempted from the earliest days in the vicinity of Cincinnati, but
not with a very qualified success until about the middle of the century, when that branch of
horticulture began to take on proportions entitling it to the consideration of the city. At that time
Cincinnati became noted to the visitors for the number of vineyards which the surrounding hills
boasted, and it was confidently believed that the time was not far distant when this region would
be to America what the Rhine country was to Europe. In 1851 there were, within a circle of
twenty miles from this city, more than three hundred vineyards, which totalled about nine
hundred acres. Only half of this acreage was bearing in that year, the rest being newly planted,
but the production of wine for 1850 was estimated at 120,000. This demonstrated that the culture
of grapes could be prosecuted successfully and with great profit in the valley, and new vineyards
yearly made their appearance. Emphasis was placed on the superior grade of wine made from the
native Catawba grape, which was said to be equal to the better qualities of Rhenish, and it was
believed that it would be but a short time before foreign wines would be displaced on the markets
by the native wines. Mr. Nicholas Longworth did more than any other man in this region toward
the promotion of this industry, conducting experiments for twenty-five years with both native and
foreign grapes. He expended money liberally in this interest, and published frequent newspaper
articles to aid the farmers who attempted to produce grapes commercially.
That the raising of stock for the markets was an industry of magnitude is indicated by the large
amount of meat business done in Cincinnati in 1851. To accommodate this business there were
six market houses, or markets, all of which were of considerable size. They were called Lower
Market, Canal, Pearl, Fifth, Sixth, and Wade Street markets. The Pearl Street Market was 34o
feet in length, the Wade, 250 feet, and the others ranged between 370 and 395 feet ; most of the
markets were 36 feet in width. Here meats and vegetables were displayed for sale, but so great
was the amount of the business done that it could not all be transacted in the markets, and almost
an equal amount was done at stands outside. There was no lack of supply for these markets, and
as high as 1,950 market wagons have brought the produce from the fertile Miami farms in a
single day.
Cincinnati was known in those days as "Porkopolis," but its preeminence in pork packing was
but little greater than the beef operations conducted here, although the latter phase of packing
was less well known to the outside world. No comparisons with other cities engaged in the
industry can be made for that date (1851), but it is quite certain that the
316 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
quality of beef marketed at Cincinnati was unexcelled in any other market.
Christmas day was the occasion of an annual exhibit of stall-fed meat and the excellence of the
display was the pride of the men engaged in the industry, and a description of one of these
exhibitions appeared in a publication of 1851. "Sixty-six bullocks, of which probably
three-fourths were raised and fed in Kentucky, and the residue in our own State ; 125 sheep, hung
up whole at the edges of the stalls ; 350 pigs, displayed in rows on platforms ; ten of the finest
and fattest bears Missouri could produce, and a buffalo calf, weighing 500 pounds, caught at
Santa Fe, constituted the materials for this Christmas pageant. The whole of the beef was
stall-fed, some of it since the cattle had been calves, their average being four years, and average
weight of 1,600 pounds, ranging from 1,388, the lightest, to 1,896, the heaviest. This last was
four years old, and had taken the premium every year at exhibitions in Kentucky since it was a
calf. The sheep were Bakewell and Southdown, and ranged from 90 to 190 pounds to the carcass,
dressed and divested of the head, etc. The roasters or pigs would have been considered
extraordinary anywhere but at Porkopolis, the grand emporium of hogs. Suffice to say, they did
no discredit to the rest of the show. Bear meat is a luxury unknown in the East, and is
comparatively rare here. It is the ne plus ultra of table enjoyment."
It is evident from this that the quality of meats at Cincinnati was unrivalled anywhere else in the
world. It was stated that the fat on the flanks of the beef measured over seven inches in thickness,
specimens of all meats sent to eastern points were received with little less than wonder, and the
price of beef at that time was eight cents for the choicest.
Cincinnati, being the center of the hog raising district and the corn growing district, was without
exception at that time, the largest pork market of the world. The corn crop of the United States
was excessively heavy even at that time, but in 1847 only three per cent of the crop was exported.
It became necessary, therefore, for the farmers to either distill spirits from the corn or feed it to
hogs in order to get returns for their labor. Thus it was that the pork industry, especially of
Cincinnati, increased rapidly to an enormous extent. The most popular breed of hogs was a cross
of Irish Grazier, Byfield, Berkshire, Russia, and China, for it was discovered that this breeding
gave the best results in regard to fat, quality, size, and shape. The general run of hogs reached
from eleven to eighteen months of age before slaughtering, although some few attained a greater
age. They were allowed to run in the woods until about six weeks before they were to be
slaughtered, when they were driven into the corn fields to fatten. Some farmers brought as many
as a thousand head of hogs to the slaughter houses annually, although the average number was
between 200 and 300 head. Lots of fewer than ioo were
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS - 317
bought up by drovers and driven into the pens close to the various packing houses. The. packing
industry was at first more or less scattered over the whole of the valley, but toward the middle of
the century it became centered in Cincinnati almost to the exclusion of other points. In 1833,
hogs were packed in Cincinnati to the number of 85,000 ; in 1844, to the number of 240,000, or
43 per cent of the hogs packed in Ohio, and in 1850 Cincinnati packed 8o per cent of the hogs in
Ohio, 563,645 hogs being packed by local operators. The various classes of the manufactured
articles from these 500,000 hogs were as follows : Barrels of pork, 180,000; pounds of lard,
16,500,000; and bacon to the amount of 25,000,000 pounds. The residue of the pork, that is to
say that part of the carcasses which entered into the manufacture of other articles, was used by
others than the packers. For instance, one business house was engaged in the extracting of grease
and its operations reached as high as 36,000 hogs in a season. Lard was shipped to Havana where
It was used not only for cooking, but also for butter ; it was also shipped extensively to the
eastern markets for export to England and France either as lard or lard oil. It will be seen by the
following list, to what an extent the manufacture of articles from the hog reached in 1850, aside
from the three important classes of hog products mentioned above. Lard oil was manufactured to
the amount of 1,200,000 gallons, star candles to the amount of 2,500,000 pounds, bar soap,
6,200,000 pounds, fancy soap, 8,800,000 pounds, prussiate of potash (Prussian blue) 6o,000, the
last named being used in eastern print factories. The pork packing of Cincinnati was over
one-fourth, in fact 28 per cent, of the whole amount of the Mississippi Valley, and was directly
due to the city's favorable location with respect to this fertile agricultural region.
Another farm product which found an important place in the markets at that time was the
strawberry. Four thousand bushels of them were grown in the vicinity of Cincinnati and sold in
the markets here in 1845, and so rapid was the increase in demand and production that 7,000
bushels was approximately the amount of that fruit consumed in 1848. Of these 7,000 bushels,
4,865 bushels were sold in the markets of the city, the rest being sold directly to the homes, and
to steamboats, hotels, confectioners, and similar places. At least two-thirds of the strawberries
sold in Cincinnati were cultivated along the Licking River, and thus water transportation was
afforded for most of the crop, which was an important feature in the handling of such a delicate
product.
In recent years. due to the efforts of the agricultural committee of the Chamber of Commerce,
great progress has been made in bringing the city and farming districts into closer cooperation, a
close relationship being effected between the county agent, the experiment farm, the schools and
the Chamber of Commerce. The schools of the city have conducted classes in agriculture offering
prizes for the best gardens and
318 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
for the best work done by the students, and students from Woodward High School were sent to
Columbus in 1915 to attend lectures during Farmers' Week. The experiment farm has done
splendid work in Hamilton County, having made a complete soil survey, introduced new
methods of bookkeeping and distributing farm record books free to the farmers of the county in
order that better records may be kept, and many other things of benefit to farmers too numerous
to be here set forth. The Chamber of Commerce also took a great interest in farming conditions,
and has given prizes for best crop results in the district. In order to be of still greater assistance to
the farmers of Hamilton County, the Chamber of Commerce appointed Mr. Charles Moesser as
its representative in the executive committee of the Hamilton County Cooperative Farm Bureau
Association and the County Agricultural Agent, Mr. D. R. Van Atta, who has offices in the
Chamber of Commerce, was appointed by the association as its representative in the chamber.
Much of the above information has been gleaned from the late history of the Miami Valley,
published in 1919.
CHAPTER XXI.
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS OF CINCINNATI.
The musical talent of this, the Queen City of the West, has been attractive from the earliest
history of the community, even long before the town and city were ever incorporated or platted
for municipal purposes. Readers who have delved into the annals of the first decade of the city
will remember that it was very early in those years that one McLean joined to several other
vocations, as of butcher and public officer, that of singing-master. As early as 1801, McLean run
his advertisement for his singing school to be maintained by subscription at one dollar for
thirteen nights of two dollars per quarter. "Subscribers to furnish their own books and candles."
The year in which Cincinnati became a city, 1819, the Episcopal Singing Society was organized,
with Lyman Watson, the clock-maker, being its president ; Ed. B. Cooke, secretary, and James
M. Mason, treasurer. The young Arthur St. Clair offered a lot and Mr. Jacob Bay-miller a
building as a permanent home for this society. The society, for a long time, met in the old Baptist
meeting-house on Sixth Street, then leased by the Church of Christ Episcopal denomination. The
same year, and only four years after the Handel and Haydn Society was formed in Boston, the
Haydn Society was organized here in Cincinnati. Its first concert was given on May 25, 1819, in
the Baptist-Episcopal Church.
The following is an account of early-day musical interest in this city :
The Haydns gave their second concert in the fall of 1819, with a programme partly composed of
classical music. Tickets were one dollar each—"one half of the proceeds to be appropriated to the
several Sunday schools in the city, the other half to be applied for the purchase of music to
remain the permanent property of the Cincinnati Haydn Society." The committee of arrangements
for this concert consisted of Edwin Mathews and Charles Fox, the latter of whom, in union with
Benjamin Ely, advertised a singing school to open at the Second Presbyterian Church December
17th following, "at early candlelight."
It is certain that, long before 1819, there was a lively interest in musical affairs here, for a
prominent Cincinnatian, the well-known author, Timothy Flint, had had printed, in 1816, at the
"Liberty Hall" office, a new music book .called "The Columbian Harmonist," for which there
must have been some local demand, or he would not have ventured it upon the market. A year or
more before this, in "Liberty Hall" of April 8, 1815, proposals were advertised for the publication
by subscription of "a new and valuable collection of music, entitled 'The Western Harmonist,' by
John McCormick," in which is this statement : "The author,
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having been many years in the contemplation of this work, flatters himself that he will be able to
furnish the different societies with the most useful tunes and anthems." From this it appears that
there were also musical societies already in existence, from whom the author expected
cooperation and material aid. A brass band is known to have been formally organized under a
more general name as early as 1814.
In a more consecutive way H. A. Ratterman, in an elaborate essay read before the Literary Club
November 9, 1879, has outlined the history of early music in Cincinnati. We subjoin some notes
from the pages that embody the results of his industrious and well-directed labors :
General Wilkinson, who was commandant at Fort Washington after the departure of General
Anthony Wayne, kept a band at the fort, which seems to have been rather highly accomplished
for the time. They were, indeed, German and French musicians, who, says Klauprecht, in his
German Chronicle in the History of the Ohio Valley, after speaking of Wilkinson's superb barge
and the pleasure parties thereon, "accompanied them with the harmonies of Gluck and Haydn,
and the reports of the champagne bottles transported the guests from the wilds of the
Northwestern Territory into the Lucullian feasts of the European aristocracy.
But the time came when the gay general removed his headquarters to New Orleans and when
Fort Washington passed into history. The artistic band also then disappeared, except from the
pleasant memories of the pioneers and the old soldiers formerly at the fort.
One of the earliest musicians in Losantiville was Mr. Thomas Kennedy, a Scotchman, who came
in the spring of 1789, and afterwards removed to the Kentucky shore, long giving to what has
since become Covington, the name of Kennedy's Ferry. This bonnie Scot, like the renowned
Arkansas traveller, has found a place in literature by the skillful use of his violin. A
fellow-countryman of his, Mr. John Melish, was here in September, 1811, and of course visited
Mr. Kennedy. In one of his volumes of travel he accordingly makes record :
Before we had finished our breakfast, Mr. Kennedy drew a fiddle from a box, and struck up the
tune of "Rothemurchie's Rant." He played in the true Highland style, and I could not stop to
finish my breakfast, but started up and danced Shan-trews. The old man was delighted, and
favored us with a great many Scottish airs. When he laid down the fiddle I took it up and
commenced in my turn, playing some new strathspeys that he had not heard before; but he knew
the spirit of them full well, and he also gave us Shantrews, "louping near bawk hight," albeit he
was well stricken in years. He next played a number of airs, all Scottish, on a whistle.
Herr Klauprecht, in his "Chronik," says that a musical organization called the St. Cecilia Society
was in existence here as early as 1816 ; but very little else is now known of it. The notices
gleaned from the newspapers of the decade 1810-19 probably furnish all that is now certainly
known of the musical societies of that time.
Making Musical Instruments, Etc. —A Mr. Tosso and a Mr. Douglass associated themselves
in 1839 as "musical makers and importers of
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musical instruments." Their store was on the north side of Fourth Street, between Main and
Walnut streets.
The establishment of this firm reminds us that, as early as 1816, according to a correspondent of
the Boston "Courier," there were "pianofortes by the dozen in Cincinnati," although he complains
that there was nobody to tune them. This must have been an error ; for in December of the
previous year Mr. Adolph Wapper was advertised in the local journals as a teacher of music, and
likewise as a tuner and repairer of pianos. In the directory of 1819 Mr. George Charters is named
as a piano-maker. He was also proprietor of the circulating library kept on Fifth, between Main
and Sycamore streets.
Not far from this date the first organ was built here by the Rev. Adam Hurdus, a pioneer of 1806,
an early merchant on Main Street, between Front and Second, and also the first preacher of the
Gospel according to Swedenborg, west of the Alleghanies. He was minister to the New
Jerusalem Society here while carrying on a regular business as organ builder at No. 127
Sycamore Street. It was no uncommon thing in those days, as we have already hinted, to see what
would now be considered a singular coupling of vocations. One sign in town read, "Bookseller
and Tailor" ; a line in the directory informed the reader that Mr. was "House and sign painter and
minister of the gospel." This pioneer organ of Hurdus' was still in use in Lockland, this county, in
1880. Another organ builder, Israel Schooley, a Virginian, settled, in 1825, in Cincinnati. The
same year the piano-makers noted as here were George Charters, Francis B. Garrish, an
immigrant from Baltimore, and Aaron Golden. In 1828 was added the firm of Messrs. Steele &
Clark. Two years previously the first general dealer in sheet music and musical instruments, Mr.
John Imhoff, opened his store on the west side of Main Street, second door below Fourth, "at the
sign of the violin," where he kept it for many years.
The Eclectic Academy of Music dated from 1834, although it was not incorporated until the next
year. Its founders were two notable musicians of that day, Professors T. B. Mason and William T.
Colburn. A well known German pianist, Mr. Louis Lemaire, was afterwards associated with
them. A regular society was formed, however, of which Judge Jacob Burnet was president,
Moses Lyon, vice-president, and Charles R. Folger, recording secretary. The object of the
institution, as specified in the charter, was "to promote knowledge and correct taste in music,
especially such as are adapted to moral and religious purposes." In 1841, according to Mr. Cist's
book of that year, the academy had "a good library of music, vocal and orchestral ; also attached
to it an amateur orchestra of twenty-four instruments." Probably the leader of this band was the
only person named at this time among the teachers of the acad-
Cin.-21
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emy as "Instrumental Professor"—Mr. Victor Williams. He is another of Cincinnati's musical
veterans, a Swede by his nativity, and the active projector and originator of the first musical
organization in the city on a large scale, the "American Amateur Association." This society of the
far-reaching name had its birth here about 1846. It performed for the first time in public any
grand oratorio music, among which may be named in successive renditions, Handel's Mezziah,
Mozart's Twelfth Mass, Haydn's Creation, and Third Mass.
Saengerbund Festivals —These festivals were held in Cincinnati in 1849, in 1851, 1853, 1856,
1867, and the twenty-first was held in 1879, in Music Hall.
The relation of the Saengerfests to the May festivals, as preparers of the way, has already been
suggested. By the beginning of 1872 the conditions were eminently favorable to the inauguration
of the festivals. The city had become accustomed to the monster concerts of the Germans, and
would welcome similar entertainments with elements from other nationalities in them ; a great
building, whose acoustic properties had proved very excellent for musical purposes, had been
erected for the industrial expositions, and was suffered to stand from year to year, and was
available for annual concerts ; and, in another's words, "the Expositions, too, had demonstrated
the fact that the citizens of Cincinnati were generous in their support of big things which made
the city attractive, while the inhabitants of the surrounding country rejoiced in the opportunity of
coming to town to spend their money."
The College of Music —Through the efforts of Colonel George Ward Nichols, president of the
Festival Association, that wonderful musician, Theodore Thomas, was influenced to become the
head of this institution in the spring of 1878. A corporation was obtained with a capital of
$45o,000, with officers and directors as follows : George Ward Nichols, president ; Peter
Rudolph Neff, treasurer ; J. Burnet, secretary—other members of the board were R. R. Springer
and John Shillito. The college opened in October, 1878, with a faculty of eminent instructors.
Professor Thomas withdrew from the college in 1879.
In September, 1878, there was formed another college of music in Cincinnati, known as the
College of Music of Cincinnati, by Miss Dora Nelson. This was just a short time before the
above named college came into existence. This concern became well known throughout the West
generally.
Other musical institutions include the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, on Eighth Street, by
Miss Clara Baur ; the Cincinnati Musical Institute, by Miss Hattie E. Evans ; the Academy of
Music, etc.
Music Hall Association —The following account of the history of the Cincinnati Musical Hall
Association was published in a local historical
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS - 323
work in 1880-81, and as it gives much valuable information is here quoted in full :
The success of the musical festivals and of the expositions, and the inadequacy and temporary
character of the building used for their purposes, naturally led up to the thought of a permanent
structure, which should be worthy of the riches and culture of the Queen City, and should
be available for all great occasions and shows, when a monster audience room or vast spaces for
displays were desired. In May, 1875, the venerable and wealthy philanthropist, Mr. Reuben R.
Springer, made the prompt erection of such an edifice possible by his munificent offer of a gift of
$125,000 for the purpose, if the people would contribute an equal sum, thus raising a quarter of a
million, which proved, finally, to be but about half the sum necessary to execute the enlarged and
liberal views ultimately entertained of the erection of a great Music Hall and the related
buildings. The work of soliciting subscriptions to secure Mr. Springer's gift went briskly and
successfully on ; and in December of the same year an organization of subscribers was had, under
the name of the Cincinnati Music-Hall Association. This body, a joint stock company, is
constituted of fifty shareholders, who are elected by the entire body of subscribers to the fund,
and who in turn elect from their number seven trustees, in whom was vested absolute authority,
as an executive board, to construct the hall, and thenceforth to conduct its affairs. Each of the
gentlemen appointed to represent the subscribers as a stockholder is depositary of one share of
stock of the nominal or par value of $20. He cannot sell his share except to a purchaser approved
by the trustees, nor can it be sold to one who is already a stockholder. If the holder dies, his share
reverts to the association, to be placed in the custody of a newly-elected member. The original
trustees were elected for terms, severally, of one to seven years ; and a trustee is now elected
annually, whose term of services is seven years. The following-named gentlemen formed the
original corps of trustees : Reuben R. Springer, for one year ; Robert Mitchell, for two years ;
William H. Harrison, for three years ; Julius Dexter, for four years ; T. D. Lincoln, for five years ;
Joseph Longworth, for six years ; and John Shillito, for seven years. Judge Longworth was made
president of the board, Mr. Dexter secretary, and Mr. Shillito, treasurer. Mr. Dexter was also
chairman of the building committee, with Messrs. Longworth and A. T. Goshorn as associates ;
and rendered most signal and efficient service in the active operations that rapidly followed. The
smaller hall in the building, used for operettas, piano recitals, chamber concerts, and the like, was
given the name of Dexter Hall, in honor of his services and his generous pecuniary contributions.
The entire structure is often popularly called the Springer Music Hall, to perpetuate the name and
fame of its founder. First and last, he gave to this monumental enterprise the aggregate sum of
$235,000--nearly the entire
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amount to which his original benefaction looked. Among other gifts toward the erection of the
hall and exposition buildings, must not be forgotten that of about $3000, made by the children of
the public schools, from the proceeds of four concerts given by them. The city of Cincinnati, as a
municipal corporation, contributed the ground upon which the building stands, most of the large
block bounded by Elm and Plum, Fourteenth and Grant streets, on the east facing the north part
of Washington Park.
A year or two elapsed before the means were in hand and plans consummated for the erection of
the hall. It was at last determined to complete the building, if possible, sufficiently for the
holding therein of the May Festival of 1878; and most of the contracts were let April 28, of the
previous year. Obstacles and delays were numerous in the construction of so great and unique an
edifice, but the intelligence and energy of the building committee, with a competent staff of aids,
triumphed over all difficulties, and the hall stood ready for dedication by the appointed time,
when a splendid ceremonial formally set it apart to its destined purposes. The exposition annexes
were subsequently added by the beneficence of Mr. Springer and others, and were first used for
the Fair of 1879. They receive due notice and description in another part of this volume. An
excellent account of the hall proper is contained in the little book descriptive of the organ, in
which the cost of this building is placed at about $307,000.
In this hall have been held all the great concerts and monster musical occasions in Cincinnati
since its erection ; also the National Democratic Convention and the Raikes Sunday School
Centennial in June, 1880, popular Sunday afternoon services in the summer of the same year, and
many other large meetings. The hall and exposition buildings must be so rented and managed as
to yield no profit above what is necessary to keep them in repair. No stockholder can expect a
dividend upon his share, and no trustee is allowed compensation for his services. The College of
Music is the lessee of the hall, but several large rooms are occupied by the collections and classes
of the Women's Art Museum Association. Both of these institutions, however, annually give
way, during parts of September and October, to the occupation of all the buildings by the
Industrial Exposition.
The Music Hall —In 1875, Reuben R. Springer contributed the sum of $125,000 for the purpose
of erecting upon the exposition site on Elm Street, the great Music Hall. This gift was
conditioned upon the raising of an equal sum by the citizens and the perpetual exemption from
taxation of the property. The conditions had been fully met by December of the same year and a
stock company was formed consisting of fifty shareholders, under the name of the Cincinnati
Music Hall Association.
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS - 325
The shareholders were elected by the entire body of subscribers to the fund and in their turn
elected from their number seven trustees to act as an executive member. Each stockholder under
the rules were entitled to hold but one share, which can be sold only to a purchaser approved by
the trustees. The original board of trustees included Reuben R. Springer, Robert Mitchell,
William H. Harrison, Julius Dexter, Timothy D. Lincoln, Joseph Longworth and John Shillito.
Messrs. Longworth, Dexter, and Shillito were the president, secretary and treasurer, respectively.
Mr. Dexter was the chairman of the building committee and associated with him were Mr.
Longworth and A. T. Goshorn. The building, which was finally erected by this board, is known
as Springer Music Hall and the small hall in the third story of the building has received the name
of Dexter Hall in honor of the chairman of the building committee. Mr. Springer, in all, gave to
this enterprise the aggregate sum of almost $25o,000, nearly doubling his original offer.
Contracts for the building were not let until April, 1877, and it was formally opened April 8,
1878.
Only those who have enjoyed this fine structure with the passing of almost a half century, can
begin to estimate its value to the community. It stands today as a monument to the liberality and
good sense of its builders.
Musical Accomplishments —Cincinnati has long been noted for the interest it has taken and the
progress it has made in musical culture, both vocal and instrumental. As far back as 1888 the
musical critic of the New York "Tribune," H. E. Krehbiel, wrote as follows : "There are many
more phases than one in which the musical culture of Cincinnati is an interesting subject to
study. Eight years ago I spent a long time searching through musty old newspapers in the file
room of the "Gazette," and turning over all the historical data afforded by public and private
libraries, in search for facts appertaining to the origin and growth of music in the Ohio Valley. To
the discoveries I made then I have often turned since with surprise at the vigor and fertility of its
social soil in the early days of the State. Three years later, when I undertook a similar task in
New York City, this surprise grew into amazement." Mr. Krehbiel gives a summary of the
growth and progress of music in Cincinnati, from the time of the Haydn Society, in 1819, to the
great Centennial Festival of 1888.
The College of Music is an incorporation under the State laws. Its objects are, in brief, as follows
: "To cultivate a taste for music, and, for that purpose, to organize a school of instruction and
practice, in all branches of musical education ; the establishment of an orchestra ; the giving of
concerts ; the production of musical works and their publication, and such other musical
enterprises as shall be conducive to the ends mentioned." The first session of the college began
October 14,
326 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
1878. It was endowed by Reuben R. Springer and a number of benevolent citizens of Cincinnati.
Its entire income is devoted to music as an art and its collateral branches, such as dramatic action,
modern languages and elocution. The officers of the college are elected annually by the board of
trustees.
A former history of Cincinnati (1894) gave the following on this College of Music :
"The value of the Springer endowment, comprising stocks, building and equipment, is estimated
at $306,750. The buildings alone are valued at $130,000. The valuable buildings and land the
college occupies adjoin the great Music Hall. Besides some forty rooms for purposes of
instruction, the college has a large and beautiful concert hall—the Odeon—which has a seating
capacity for 1,200 persons. The stage is thoroughly equipped for operatic and dramatic
performances. An additional hall has been erected with a seating capacity of about 400, with a
large, new Roosevelt organ. In this new hall, named The Lyceum, the Saturday students' recitals,
frequent professors' piano recitals, chamber concerts, annual examinations, orchestra classes, and
organ recitals are held. Through the generosity of R. R. Springer, there is a fund in the college,
the interest of which is annually devoted to the distribution of prizes, consisting of gold medals.
The Springer prize gold medals, ten in number, are presented to students who have been selected
from those who have superior ability, have been in the college at least one year, have complied
with the rules, attended obligatory classes, have been diligent and punctual, and have good
character. Free scholarships are established for the purpose of assisting poor but talented young
people who study music as a profession, and are conferred by the board of trustees upon the
recommendation of the board of examiners. The scholarship for the voice has been established in
memory of the first president of the college, George Ward Nichols, and the scholarship for the
organ in honor of the present president, Peter Rudolph Neff.
"In regard to the plan of education in the college, the catalogue states that : 'It is the object of the
College of Music to educate the student upon a well-regulated and scientific plan of instruction.
This plan includes instrumental and vocal instruction, with that for theory and musical
composition, and direction of chorus and orchestra.'
"There are two departments—an academic department and the general music school.
"The College of Music was undoubtedly the outgrowth of an enthusiasm developed by the
influence of a series of saengerfests and May festivals, which originated in the German singing
societies of Cincinnati and the near-by towns. A union of several of these societies was effected
in June, 1849, when the German Saengerbund of North America was formed. The organization
held its festivals or saengerfests in Cincinnati
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS - 327
in 1849, 1851, 1853, 1856, 1867, and 1879. The first of the celebrated May festivals was held in
May, 1873, the second in 1875, the third in 1878. These festivals, managed by an association of
which George Ward Nichols was president, were conducted by Theodore Thomas, and it was
owing to their brilliant success that Mr. Springer conceived the idea of founding a Music Hall
and organized a College of Music.
"The first officers of the college were : President, George W. Nichols, treasurer, Peter Rudolph
Neff, secretary, J. Burnet ; other directors, R. R. Springer, John Shillito. Upon the death of Mr.
Shillito, A. T. Goshorn was elected in his place. The number of directors was increased to seven
and Jacob D. Cox and William Worthington were chosen to complete the board. Theodore
Thomas was called to the position of musical director of the new college, and he controlled its
internal affairs until the end of the year 1879, when he retired.
"George Ward Nichols died September 15, 1885, and he was succeeded in office by President
Peter Rudolph Neff. From his annual report for 1893, in behalf of the trustees, to the
share-holders of the college, we extract the following exceedingly interesting passage : 'With the
exception of Sunday, New Year's Day, Good Friday, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day and
Christmas, the college has been open daily. Consequently for three hundred and ten days of 1892
our work has been continuous and constant. In the department of voice lessons there are eleven
professors and ten instructors ; in the department of the piano there are eleven professors and
nine instructors ; in the department of the organ, two professors and one instructor; of the violin,
one professor with two assistants ; in that of the cello, one professor and one assistant ; one in the
bass viol, oboe, flute, cornet, French horn, trombone, bassoon, clarinet, guitar, mandolin and
harp, one professor for each instrument. In the department of elocution, one professor and two
assistants ; in English literature, one professor ; in the school for the opera and dramatic
expression, one professor ; chamber music, and ensemble classes, one professor ; sight reading
chorus classes, two professors ; normal classes, two professors; prima vista piano classes, one
professor ; choral and oratorio department, two professors ; orchestral department, one professor
; history and esthetics of music, one professor ; Italian, one professor ; German, one professor ;
French, one professor. The board of examiners consisted of sixteen professors. The duties of this
board are to prepare a standard for the admission of students to the academic department, and to
make the requisite examination therefor. The number of lessons given in 1892 was 49,771."
Concerning the present standing of this institution it may be stated that it was founded in 1878;
being a National school of music, incorporated and endowed. The first musical director was
Theodore Thomas, to whom the cause of music owes so much. It is now affiliated with the
328 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
University of Cincinnati and St. Xavier College and is now in its forty-eighth academic year. Its
location is Nos. 1227-1235 Elm Street—adjoining Music Hall.
Its present officers are : George W. Dittman, president ; George H. Warrington, vice-president ;
M. G. Dumler, secretary ; George Puchta, treasurer. The director is Adolf Hahn and the present
dean is Albino Gorno.
Too much cannot be uttered about this school having been founded and incorporated "not for
profit, but for the edification and promulgation of the noblest of all arts." The same great spirit of
musical enterprise which inaugurated the now famous May festivals, was responsible for its
establishment. This College of Music is conducted entirely in the interests of its students and free
from any thought of commercial gain.
Among the numerous free advantages each student has free access to the elementary classes, the
history of musical classes, the college chorus courses, the college orchestra, including the great
pipe organ. This instrument—a new 4-manual Moeller organ—is located in the auditorium. This
has but few equals in the world. A very perfect course in church music, and choir training is had
at this school. The School of Opera, under Dr. Albino Gorno, director, is among the great
features ; also the public school musical course, including dramatization, under John Read-head
Froome, Jr., and festivals and pageantry under Marie Dickore, A. M.
This is the only school of music having a workshop theatre connected with it. Here plays are
written by members of the classes and public productions of plays written by the classes are
given.
One of their recent publications carries the following brief but comprehensive statements, which
seem good for historical purposes in this volume : "The College of Music of Cincinnati is one of
the earliest complete schools of music in the United States to be incorporated, endowed and
conducted (not for profit) for the higher instruction of music in all of its branches on the
principles as laid down by Professor Theodore Thomas, first musical director of the College of
Music of Cincinnati. All branches of music taught by master teachers. Opera, orchestra, chorus,
drama, public school music (State accredited)."
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (By Frances Bailey) —The oldest and largest musical
school in Cincinnati is the Conservatory of Music, founded in 1867 by Miss Clara Baur. The
conservatory antedates by eleven years any other local school of music and is a contemporary of
the two oldest conservatories in the country, being founded in the same year. Throughout sixty
years of steady growth the conservatory has been an integral factor in the history of Cincinnati ;
and its associates, both teachers and students, have done much to enrich the musical life of the
city.
The story of the founding and subsequent growth of the Conservatory
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS - 329
of Music is one of constant adherence to one ideal—that of the founder, Miss Clara Baur. It was
in December, 1867, that this woman of vision came to Cincinnati and laid the corner stone of the
present great home of music by opening a one-room studio in Miss Nourse's private school at
Seventh and College streets. Her studies at Stuttgart and in Paris had given her knowledge ; from
her own personality, however, came the high ambition and the will which was to provide
American musical instruction on par with that obtainable in Europe. To that end she gathered
about her teachers of talent and pedagogical ability, and, by the force of her character and the
inspiration of her example, held them to the high plane of endeavour which has become
paramount at the conservatory.
Under such conditions it was to be expected that an increase in the number of students would
parallel the ever-brighter reputation of the school. When its location was moved one block north
on Vine Street, boarding students were admitted for the first time in the history of American
schools of music. A site at 140 Broadway was next occupied, the Scottish Rite Temple (recently
torn down to make room for the new Masonic Temple), being used for the concerts and recitals
which have always been a feature of the extra-curricular activity of the school. It was not long
until increasing registration made still more commodious quarters imperative, and the school
took up its abode at Fourth and Lawrence, where it remained for twenty years.
In 1902 foresight prompted another move, this time to a site where the conservatory may expand
in physical proportions as in repute for years to come. The present location at Highland Avenue,
Burnet Avenue, and Oak Street, is ideal, being in a residential district removed from the city
confusion, yet close to the center of population of Cincinnati. To the old Shillito mansion, which
was on the property, was added a five-story building with dormitories, studios and administrative
offices and a concert hall in which recitals and concerts are given. In 1917 the beautiful Durrell
home, adjacent to the conservatory grounds, was added as South Hall. In 1921, with the growing
need for more dormitories, the gray stone building opposite South Hall was acquired (becoming
Auburn Hall) and, on the same lot, Opera Hall, for opera and ballet classes. In the following
years the second Durrell house, adjoining South Hall, was purchased and renamed President's
House. The campus now comprises ten acres of wooded ground with seven imposing,
well-equipped buildings.
During the early history of the conservatory Miss Bertha Baur, niece of the founder, had become
deeply interested in the work which her aunt was doing, and had allied herself with the school,
taking the weight of business management from Miss Clara Baur's shoulders. At the death of the
founder, the associate principal became head of the school, continuing to direct its progress
toward that ideal goal upon which her predecessor had fixed her eyes. In recognition of Miss
Bertha Baur's accom-
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plishments in this course, the University of Cincinnati conferred upon her the honorary degree of
Master of Arts at the commencement exercises June 13, 1925.
In 1920 a group of prominent Cincinnatians, including Mrs. Mary Emery, Charles P. Taft, and
Mrs. E. H. Heine, wishing to assure the permanence of the conservatory to this city, offered to
incorporate the school under the laws of the State of Ohio. Their offer was accepted, Miss Baur
being elected president of the corporation. At present Mr. Charles J. Livingood is vice-president,
and Mr. George Baur is secretary and treasurer. The board of directors includes, in addition to the
officers, the Hon. Charles P. Taft, Mr. Carl M. Jacobs, Jr., Mr. Chalmers Clifton and Mrs. Wanda
(Baur) Clifton. In 1922 Mr. Burnet Tuthill became business manager.
In 1922 the conservatory's high standards were again recognized when the school was
empowered by the State of Ohio to grant the degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor of Music. It
rearranged its courses, putting them on a collegiate basis, and is now accredited widely, State
boards of education receiving students with credentials from the conservatory without further
examination.
Affiliation with the University of Cincinnati was the mark of another forward step in the history
of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Under the arrangement of affiliation students of each
institution may take courses in the other, receiving credit therefor whenever the subject studied is
applicable to the credential sought. This cooperative plan is of particular advantage to students in
the department of public school music and to candidates for degrees. Highly significant was the
provision, made in 1925, whereby students may receive credit in the Liberal Arts College of the
University of Cincinnati for certain courses in theory and history of music given at the
conservatory.
The instruction offered at the Cincinnati Conservatory is wide in scope. Children six years old
may here learn to play before their feet reach the pedals of the piano upon which they perform.
Students may prepare for professional work as concert artists, orchestral players, operatic singers,
or teachers of music. And musicians may return to enlarge their repertoire and to perfect their art
in study with a master.
Nor is the purely cultural phase of music slighted. Special instruction is provided for those who
are thus interested and care is taken that each student acquire, in addition to proficiency on his
instrument, the musical background of intelligent appreciation which marks the musician.
Through lectures by qualified authorities on the fields of musical literature, musical form, and
musical history ; through participation in the many musical programs given in Cincinnati ;
through attendance at recitals by visiting artists and by members of the faculty, the student is
enabled to orient himself and his individual art in the great art of music.
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS - 331
One of the most important factors in this cultural environment is the personality and artistic
qualification of the faculty. From its inception the conservatory has drawn to itself teachers who
embody high ideals of musicianship, of education and of character. It is not possible to mention
all of the distinguished company of those who have had charge of the instruction of conservatory
students of the past, but one must recall the names of Eugene Ysaye, Pierre Adolph() Tirindelli,
Theodore Bohlman, Henry Andre and W. W. Gilchrist.
Not less illustrious is the present faculty, representing every field of musical training. A career of
exceptionally long and devoted service has been given by the dean, Frederic Shailer Evans, who
is now in his thirty-eighth year as member of the piano department faculty. Dr. Edgar Stillman
Kelley, one of the foremost of American composers, and his wife, president of the National
Federation of Music Clubs, are members of the faculty of the theory department.
In the piano department such pedagogues as Mme. Marguerite Melville Liszniewski, Marcian
Thalberg, Dr. Karol Liszniewski, Mieczyslaw Munz, Mme. Karin Dayas and Louis Saverne
inspire while they instruct ; Dan Beddoe, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas James Kelly, Mme. Berta
Gardini Reiner, Mrs. Corinne Moore Lawson, John Hoffmann and Albert Berne aid with their
knowledge and artistry the concert singer as well as the teacher of voice culture ; violinists have
as their mentors such teachers as Robert Perutz, Jean Ten Have and Julian de Pulikowski, while
'cellists study with Karl Kirksmith, solo 'cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
The department of opera was formerly under the direction of Dr. Ralph Lyford, composer of
"Castle Agrazant" and conductor of the Cincinnati Zoo Opera Company during its early seasons,
who is now conducting opera in Paris and Geneva. Mme. Berta Gardini Reiner and Rudolf
Thomas now preside over the department, whose students present evenings of opera comparable
in artistic finish to professional performances, one production having been most successfully
repeated during the summer opera season at the Cincinnati Z00.
The departments of the conservatory are widely inclusive. In addition to the fundamental ones of
voice, piano, organ, harp, violin and 'cello, and the orchestral instruments there are a number of
courses whose nature and purpose is of special interest. One of the most unique of these is the
department for those of impaired vision. Under the wise and painstaking direction of Miss Clara
Bridge this work, including instruction in piano, theory and even academic subjects, is made
possible as no where else in this country. So successful is the method which Miss Bridge has
developed that several of her former pupils are engaged in teaching, competing as equals with
those who are in full possession of their sight.
Another of these departments is the Conservatory Orchestral School, inaugurated in 1924 in
cooperation with the Cincinnati Symphony
332 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
Orchestra. The teachers are drawn from this latter organization and instruct classes of members
of high school orchestras in the wind instruments. Not only does this instruction raise the
standard of performance of the organizations to which these students belong, but it also prepares
the students for positions with the larger symphony orchestras.
The importance of ensemble playing or singing is recognized by the conservatory, and provision
for accumulating experience in its various phases is made in the ensemble classes conducted by
Dr. Karol Liszniewski, stressing the method and repertoire of the string quartet ; the orchestra,
under the leadership of Rudolf Thomas, who was director of the Hanover Opera, and now assists
in conducting the Symphony Orchestra ; and the chorus, directed by Mrs. Frances Crowley, head
of the department of public school music.
The public school music department is a present day symptom of the increasing interest shown in
proper training of teachers and supervisors of music for the public schools. The standing of the
department is attested by the fact that it is accredited by the State of Ohio and that, through
affiliation with the College of Education at the University of Cincinnati, it is able to offer courses
leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education in public school music.
For the benefit of singers, organists and others who may be called upon to assume charge of
church choirs, a course giving practical preparation for this work is offered under the direction of
Parvin Titus, F. A. G. 0., of the organ department of the conservatory, and at present organist and
choirmaster of the Church of the Advent.
Departments of dramtic art, of public school drawing, of ballet and interpretive dancing, with that
of modern languages, round out the curriculum of a complete school of music.
When the conservatory was first established Miss Clara Baur instituted the first summer music
school in this country. The innovation of sixty years has become a regular feature of the school
year, so that students who wish to go on with the studies, teachers who desire to become
acquainted with the most recent methods and material of their profession, and professional
musicians who are unable to study during the winter may spend a profitable six weeks at the
Cincinnati Conservatory during the ebb of the musical season.
In the series of sixty summer sessions one can see reflected the salient principles which are
evident in the founding, history and future of the school. In it is the spirit of untiring devotion to
the cause of music which has been the constant beacon of the directors of the conservatory. In it
is also the courage of the pioneer who had the ambition to attempt and the will to accomplish
new things in the light of intelligent belief. In it, finally, is the firm loyalty to those things which
the test of years have proved worthy, which consistency of character, in an individual or an
institution, necessitates.
MUSICAL SOCIETIES AND MUSICIANS - 333
Thus it is, by contrasting the little one-room studio opened in 1867 by a teacher of voice with the
great school of today, with its faculty of more than one hundred teachers, its students who come
from China, Hawaii, Chile, Mexico, Russia, Germany, and all parts of this continent, that the true
history of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music may be realized, as its founder saw its realized
in the materialization of her dream.
CHAPTER XXII.
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI.
University of Cincinnati —One hundred and eighteen years ago-1807 —the General Assembly
of Ohio was induced to authorize a lottery to obtain sufficient money with which to endow a
State educational institution. In that legislative act was conceived the idea of the present
University of Cincinnati. The fund to be raised by the sale of lottery tickets was limited to $6,000
and of this sum $1,500 was to be expended for books and astronomical apparatus. For some
reason the lottery scheme did not go through to a final drawing of prizes, although many tickets
were disposed of. Hence the plan for organizing a university in Cincinnati, at a time when the
place had but little more than one thousand population, failed and was "shelved" for many years.
Indeed it was remarkable that only four years after the Commonwealth had been carved from the
West land and converted into the seventeenth State in the Union, that its pioneer band should
have had in mind the early establishing of so liberal and great an educational institution. To gain
a correct understanding how the University did finally come into existence, it will be best to turn
back the pages of history to 1814, when several gentlemen of Cincinnati Organized the
Cincinnati-Lancaster Seminary, erecting a frame building on the site of the present Mercantile
Library Building, near the southeast corner of Fourth and Walnut streets. In January, 1819, the
General Assembly passed an act authorizing the incorporation of "the President, Trustees, and
Faculty of Cincinnati College," by which the scope of the seminary was broadened. Its foremost
advocates were General William Little, Jacob Burnet, and Dr. Daniel Drake. With $40,000
subscribed to its capital stock, and having been merged with the old Cincinnati-Lancaster
Seminary, the new college was opened and continued until 1825. On account of a rival institution
in the State, the institution was suspended during the year last named. During the fearful
epidemic of cholera, which swept over this country in 1832, its building was utilized as a
hospital. But in 1834-35 other subscriptions were forthcoming and the college was reorganized.
Departments of law and medicine were added. With the law department, which was founded in
1833, and the medical department, new strength was given to the whole system. But without
endowment, its buildings burned in 1845, all departments passed out of actual existence within a
few years except that of law, which still survives. As this venerable law school, founded at a time
when there were but three others in the United States—Harvard, 1817; Yale, 1824; and the
University of Virginia, 1825, became, in 1897, the College of Law of the University of
Cincinnati, its early history has
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI - 335
been recited elsewhere in detail. It really forms one of the corner stones of the broad foundation
of pioneer institutions on which the new university rests.
The Medical College of Ohio, the oldest institution for medical instruction west of the Alleghany
Mountains, with a long period of useful service, in 1896 became the College of Medicine of the
University of Cincinnati, bringing with it a wealth of well-won laurels, and forming another
pillar of strength on which the university has been builded.
The Cincinnati Observatory will ever stand as a monument to the liberality and intelligence of
the people of an American municipality, and especially to Ormsby McKnight Mitchel, educator,
astronomer, soldier, who was professor of mathematics and astronomy of the literary department
of the Cincinnati College, who aided in forming the Cincinnati Astronomical Society in 1842.
The original site on Mt. Adams was donated by Nicholas Longworth, and the corner stone was
laid November 9, 1843, by ex-President John Quincy Adams, then seventy-seven years of age.
But little was accomplished by the observatory enterprise until 1868 when Professor Cleveland
Abbe was appointed director. He secured numerous observers throughout the country, started a
system of daily weather reports, but after a few months it passed into the hands of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, which soon led to the establishment of the present United States
Weather Bureau.
Concerning the remarkable man Charles McMicken, who contributed more toward the success of
the university in its earliest years, than almost any other man, let it be said that he was a country
lad of Pennsylvania, adventurer setting out on horseback to the far West, pioneer in the tiny
village of Cincinnati in 1803, his horse, saddle, and bridle constituting his entire worldly wealth ;
flat boat trader on the Ohio, merchant in Louisiana, prominent citizen of Cincinnati,
philanthropist, such makes up the biography of the founder of the University of Cincinnati. He
never married. On his death, March 3o, 1858, the city fell heir to the greater part of his estate.
For a number of years after 1869, the trustees gave certain financial assistance to a school of
design, transferred, in 1884, to the Cincinnati Museum Association. But, in 187o, by a State act,
"to enable cities of the first class to aid and promote education," Cincinnati proceeded to the
incorporation of the University of Cincinnati. In 1872 additional legislation enabled the city to
issue bonds to provide a suitable building, which was not ready for use until the autumn of 1875.
The income from the original fund having proved inadequate, the city, in 1893, undertook to aid
in the support of the university through public taxation, allowing three-tenths of a mill, and, in
1906, five-tenths.
The College of Engineering, organized under that name in 1904, developed out of a chair of civil
engineering in the College of Liberal
336 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
Arts. When, in 1887, the Clinical and Pathological School of the Cincinnati Hospital was
organized, it was affiliated with the university, being designated the Medical Department. In
1896 the Medical College of Ohio became the College of Medicine of the University, since
which date the Clinical and Pathological School has been known as the Department of Clinical
Medicine. The College of Education was organized in cooperation with the Board of Education
in 1905. In 1906 the Graduate School was established as a distinct college, with a dean as its
executive officer. In 1909 the Miami Medical College became a part of the University of
Cincinnati and the new College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati was established. In
1916 under the new city charter, the Medical College and Cincinnati General Hospital were fused
into a single organization, handled under the board of directors of the university. In 1912 the
College of Commerce was organized, and in 1919 was made a part of the College of
Engineering, which is henceforth known to be the College of Engineering and Commerce. In
1914 the School of Household Arts was established and in 1919 became the Department of
Home Economics of the College of Education. In the same year the Cincinnati Hospital Training
School for Nurses became the School of Nursing and Health, a department in the College of
Medicine. In 1918, also, under the Smith-Hughes Act, there was established in the College of
Education, the Department of Vocational Education. In 1922-23 the School of Applied Arts was
organized and the Ohio College of Dental Surgery was affiliated with the university. In 1924 the
School of Household Administration was established.
Buildings and Site -From 1875 to 1895 the Academic Department occupied the buildings
erected on the grounds of the McMicken homestead, as required by the will of the founder. But
this site was proving unsatisfactory, application was consequently made to the courts for
permission to construct a main building in Burnet Woods Park. So it came about that "McMicken
Hall" was built there and completed in two years. In 1895-96 "Hanna Hall" was built at an
expense of $70,000, provided by Henry Hanna. The south wing of "Cunningham Hall" was built
in 1898-99 by Briggs S. Cunningham, at a cost of $60,000.
The Van Wormer Library, costing $61,000, the gift of Asa Van Wormer, was erected during the
years of 1898 to 1900.
The observatory, built in 1873 with $1o,000 given by John Kilgour, stands on Mt. Lookout,
several miles distant from the other university buildings. A small structure, the 0. M. Mitchel
Building, was added in 1904 to house the old telescope. In 1912 this building was enlarged by
the addition of a lecture room, a library, and another small dome.
From 1896 to 1917 the building on the McMicken homestead site was used by the College of
Medicine, and the dispensary occupied a building
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI - 337
on the lower parts of the grounds. May 25, 1915, Mrs. Mary M. Emery made an offer of
$25o,000 for the construction of a new medical college building, on condition that an additional
$25o,000 be raised for equipment, etc. The total amount raised, with her donation, made
$5o5,000. The building was completed in September, 1917, being located on twelve acres of
ground on Eden Avenue, given by the city. Quarters for the dispensary have been provided in the
Cincinnati General Hospital.
The plant for the gymnasium and engineering building, provided by the city, cost $550,000, and
was finished in December, 1911.
A chemical laboratory, a woman's building, and a stadium, also built by the city, cost $55o,000,
and was completed in December, 1916.
For many years the College of Law was located in the Mercantile Library Building on Walnut
Street, between Fourth and Fifth, on the site of the old Lancaster Seminary. From 1902 to 1920
the college was located at No. 21 West Ninth Street, near Race Street. At present it boasts of its
magnificent new home in the "Alphonso Taft Hall," which was dedicated in the autumn of 1925
on the university grounds, having recently removed to the new quarters from Clifton Avenue,
two squares west of Vine Street.
In April, 1924, a dormitory for men students of the university was completed. At the same time
the building for research work was begun, having been given by the Tanner's Council of
America. The James Gamble Nippert Stadium, provided for by the gift of James N. Gamble in
memory of his grandson, was completed in 1924.
The museums of the university include the Museum of Natural History, full and complete in all
departments ; the James Albert Green Geological Museum and the George W. Harper collection
of fossils.
The library equipment is ample and constantly increasing. Recent reports show 4,000 volumes in
the Observatory Library ; 7,500 in the College of Medicine Library ; 700 volumes in the
Municipal Reference Bureau, and 7,500 pamphlets. Every public library in Cincinnati is free to
the service of the students of the university, and why not, because the municipality owns the
libraries as well as supports the university.
Registration of Students --The last catalog of the university (1924-25) issue, gives the
following figures on student attendance : Graduate School, 295; McMicken College of Liberal
Arts, 2,197; College of Engineering and Commerce, 2,255 ; College of Education, 523 ; College
of Medicine, 257; College of Law, 58; School of Nursing and Health, 99; School of Applied
Arts, 44.
Early History of Medical College —The following historical statement of the medical
department of the university is from the records issued to the public by the faculty and officers
themselves and reads thus :
Cin.-22
338 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
"The College of Medicine is the lineal descendant of the Medical College of Ohio which was
chartered by the Ohio Legislature in 1819. The early history of the college, and indeed of medical
education in the West, is practically the life history of one remarkable man, Daniel Drake. Drake
was the first Cincinnatian to receive a medical diploma. This was conferred upon him by the
University of Pennsylvania in 1816. The first medical college of the West was founded in 1817
(at Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky) and Drake was a member of its original
faculty. He resigned after one year and returned to his home.
"In 1819 he founded the Medical College of Ohio, but in 1822 enemies succeeded in expelling
him from the faculty and he returned to Lexington as professor of Materia Medica. Without
Drake the Medical College of Ohio soon took second rank, while Lexington, under Drake's
genius, became a great medical center.
In 1826 Drake returned to Cincinnati but jealousy, so common in those days, still kept him from
entering the medical fraternity, which, torn by dissentions, had now become alarmingly weak. In
1835, the citizens of the city, under leadership of General William Lytle, supported Drake in
founding the Cincinnati College of Medicine. This step was taken to prevent the utter destruction
of medical education in the city. The new foundation was built on the remains of the old
Lancaster Seminary, which Drake himself had helped to create in 1814-18, and which, in 1819,
was given the name of 'The Cincinnati College.'
"The Cincinnati College of Medicine lived for four years only, but its record is a brilliant chapter
in medical education. It graduated nearly four hundred students and its faculty, which included
men like McDowell, Parker, Gross, and Drake, was perhaps the most eminent one of its day. It
created a new standard of medical education in Cincinnati and this indirectly saved its rival, the
Medical College of Ohio, from extinction. It did not, however, provide a permanent place for
Drake, who, in 1840, left Cincinnati to become teacher in the Medical Institute of Louisville,
Kentucky. In 1849 he was recalled in triumph to Cincinnati to accept a professorship in the
Medical College of Ohio. Ill health compelled him to resign this position after one year. He died
in 1852.
"A new college, the Miami Medical College, was founded in the year of Drake's death. It soon
became a vigorous rival of the old Ohio Medical College, which had by this time earned a
national reputation. In 1857 the rivals were united, but in 1865 they again separated.
" In 1909 they again merged to become a part of the University of Cincinnati. The name given to
the united colleges was the Ohio-Miami Medical College of the University of Cincinnati. In 1917
the name was finally changed to the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati."
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI - 339
Of its recent history let the following record be placed in this connection :
"The recent history of the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati also centers
around the name of another remarkable man, Dr. Christian R. Holmes.
"Under his leadership and largely through his individual efforts the city of Cincinnati was made
to realize that, as in 1835, the existence of medical education in the city was threatened. The
trouble now was the high cost of medical education which had overwhelmed even the united
resources of the Miami and the Ohio Medical colleges. After a protracted period of preparation of
the public mind a campaign was successfully launched to issue bonds for the building of a new
city hospital and to amend the city charter to provide that the care of the city's sick as well as all
branches of higher education should be united under the exclusive control of the board of
directors of the University of Cincinnati.
"This plan, which still remains unique in the history of American government, became a reality
on November 6, 1917, when the present city charter was adopted. In that same year the medical
management of the Cincinnati General Hospital was taken over by the Board of Directors and the
college moved into its present quarters—which were built by private gifts of generous citizens.
The college building and the General Hospital constituted, at that time, a most complete teaching
medical unit that had ever been constructed."
The original tax lexy for the university on the tax duplicate of 1893 amounted to $37,700,
exclusive of the special tax of one-twentieth of a mill levied for the support of the purely
scientific work of the Cincinnati Observatory. Under the start finished by this new source of
income, the university prospered, but a constantly increasing student corps necessitated one more
appeal to the General Assembly in 1906. On the unanimous recommendation of the Hamilton
County delegation, the law in question was changed so as to provide for the levying of five-tenths
of a mill instead of but three-tenths, as before. The funds from this source are supplemented by
the interest from endowments which total a million and a half dollars, and by tuition and other
fees from students in the professional school's.
The university's history goes on to recite as follows :
"Founded, then, and supported through the generosity of private citizens, fostered by the
municipality, and strengthened by the affiliation of other institutions, the university has sought to
enlist the support of all classes through the service of the community to which it owes its being.
With a faculty numbering 150, with almost 1,400 students in its several departments during the
year 1907 and over 8,000 alumni, the levening influence which it has exerted is beyond estimate,
and when the pages which record the names of those who have served as members of the
340 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
faculty or who have received training in its colleges are turned, an impartial judge could not but
admit that the institution may point to its roll of honor with pardonable pride. Among the 3,500
graduates of the College of Law (Cincinnati Law School) who have distinguished themselves in
the service of their country are included : Hon. William H. Taft, secretary of war (now Supreme
Judge) who was dean of the school until called to the Philippines as governor ; Joseph G.
Cannon, speaker of the House of Representatives ; Oliver P. Morton, war governor of Indiana;
Charles D. Drake, chief justice of the United States Court of Claims ; Judson Harmon,
attorney-general of the United States ; Milton Sayler, Speaker of the House of Representatives ;
Lawrence Maxwell, Jr., solicitor-general of the United States ; Benjamin Butterworth,
commissioner of patents ; Robert B. Bowler, comptroller of the treasury ; Charles G. Dawes, now
Vice-president ; and scores more who have held high-up government appointments."
In passing it should be remembered that the College of Medicine has turned out in excess of
44,000 graduates to be found in all parts of the globe. Here, in this medical department, one finds
one of the world's finest medical libraries.
Some Important Dates —Since 1907-08, among the developments which should here be noted
are : The Engineering Building, Chemistry Building, Gymnasium and Stadium, Power Plant,
Women's Building, and the Medical College have been erected.
In 1909 the Miami Medical College became an integral part of the university and the New
College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati was established. In 1916, under the new city
charter, the Medical College and Cincinnati General Hospital were fused into a single
organization which is administered by the board of directors of the university.
In 1912 the regular evening classes of the College of Liberal Arts were established.
The College of Commerce was organized in 1912 and in 1919 was made a part of the College of
Engineering which is henceforth to be known as the College of Engineering and Commerce.
In 1914 the School of Household Arts was established and became, in 1919, the Department of
Home Economics of the College for Teachers.
In 1916 the new Department of Hygiene and Physical Education was organized.
In 1918 the Cincinnati Law School became the College of Law of the University.
In 1918, under the Smith-Hughes Act, there was established in the College of Teachers, a
Department of Vocational Education.
The funds of the university have been materially increased by several bequests, especially that of
the late Francis Howard Baldwin.
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI - 341
Miscellaneous Information —Through the Department of Public Relations, presided over at
this time by John P. De Camp, the following important miscellaneous points of general
information have been kindly furnished the writer of this chapter :
This is the oldest and largest municipal university in the United States. With it is connected the
Cincinnati General Hospital, the same board of directors governing the hospital and the
university. Dean Schneider, of the College of Engineering and Commerce, is the founder of the
cooperative system of education, now deemed so highly successful. The College of Law and
College of Medicine are the oldest west of the Alleghanies, and the Ohio College of Dental
Surgery, connected with the university by affiliation since 1922-23, is the oldest of its kind in the
world.
The total enrollment of students in 1925 was 6,400.
The total number of buildings on the campus is sixteen.
The total number of buildings off the campus is four.
The college of the university is made up as follows : Graduate School, McMicken College of
Liberal Arts, College of Engineering and Commerce, College of Education, College of Medicine,
College of Law, School of Nursing and Health, School of Applied Arts, Ohio College of Dental
Surgery, now a part of the university.
Administrative Officers for 1924-25 were :
President of the University—Frederick Charles Hicks, Ph. D.
Dean of the Graduate School—Louis T. More, Ph. D.
Acting Dean of Graduate School—Robert Clyde Gowdy, Ph. D.
Dean of the McMicken College of Liberal Arts—Frank W. Chandler, Ph. D.
Dean of the College of Engineering and Commerce—Herman Schneider.
Dean of the College of Education—Louis A. Pechstein, Ph. D.
Acting Dean of the College of Medicine—Arthur C. Bachmeyer, M. D.
Acting Dean of the College of Law—Robert C. Pugh, LL. B., LL. D.
Dean of Women—Josephine Price Simrall, B. S.
Assistant to the Dean of McMicken College of Liberal Arts—Martin Jerome Hurbert, Ph. D.
Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering and Commerce—George W. Burns, LL. B.
Director of Admission and Supervisor of the Evening Academic Course—Ernest Lynn Talbert,
Ph. D.
Director of the Observatory—Jermain G. Porter, Ph. D.
Librarian of the University Library—Julian S. Fowler, A. B.
Director of the Gymnasium—Lawrence B. Chenoworth, A. B., M. D.
Director of the Municipal Reference Bureau—Selden Gale Lowrie, Ph. D.
342 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
Acting Director of the School of Nursing—Phoebe M. Kandel, B. S., R. N.
Coordinator in Charge of the School of Applied Arts—Marjorie Stewart, A. B.
Registrar—Lelia Garvin Hartman, B. L.
Secretary and Business Manager of the University—Daniel Laurence, B. S.
Director of Public Relations—Allison F. Stanley.
Secretary of Graduate School—Margaretta A. Jones, A. B.
Secretary of the McMicken College of Liberal Arts—Estelle A. Hunt, A. M.
Secretary of the College of Engineering and Commerce—Anna Teasdale.
Secretary of the College of Medicine—Frank B. Cross, M. D.
Secretary of the Faculty and Registrar, College of Law, Nettie S. Birk.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The history of education in Cincinnati does not differ materially from that of other parts of the
United States at the time of settlements in and about Cincinnati. Generally speaking at that period
in our national history there were no provisions for free public school education supported by the
taxpayers for the education of all the children of all the people.
Early settlers in the Cincinnati district came from various older settlements in the eastern part of
the United States. The very first settlers here came in large majority down the Ohio River. This
brought them from New Jersey through Pennsylvania, and from Virginia through old Fort
Duquesne, where Pittsburgh now stands. These settlers were mostly English in the latter part of
the eighteenth century and had generally tried their hand at pioneering in the earlier settlements
of the country round about New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia, with a
small percentage from New England.
These brought with them only elementary education as their own equipment and their experience
was the one at first set up for education in the settlement of Cincinnati : that is, they employed
teachers privately. If well-to-do a teacher would be employed for two or three families. If their
circumstances did not permit of such expense a larger number of families were grouped and a
teacher without any legal provision for qualification was hired and carried on the school or did
his own teaching in his own way without system or regulation.
All schools were private schools supported by contributions from the parents of the pupils.
This general condition of affairs went on from 1790 to 1829, a period of thirty-nine years—more
than a generation.
The various private efforts reached a gradually increasing standard of organization, but entirely
without any official provision or supervision.
During this period many schools were established and lived shorter or longer lives according to
the personality of the teachers or the influence of the group maintaining them. As might be
expected, the character of the work improved, but it was never other than private, and while some
of it was supported and backed by citizens of excellent intentions and high ideals, it was
nevertheless unorganized and indefinite in both its foundations and in its ultimate results.
This state of affairs continued until Ohio was legally admitted to the union of States and the
general lack of order and failure to provide for all children persuaded Nathan Gilford, Samuel
Lewis, William Wood-
344 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
ward and a few other public spirited citizens of that time to join with others of similar character
from the other small cities of the State and present to the Legislature a law for the establishment
and maintenance of elementary public school education at public expense.
This law was passed in 1825, establishing public sch00ls, or as they were called "free schools"
for all the children of all the people. This first law was not compulsory upon the communities,
but it was an enabling act authorizing the establishment of free public schools in such
communities as through a majority of the voters signified their intention and determination to act
under the law.
No action was taken in Cincinnati until 1829, four years after the general law had passed the
Legislature of Ohio.
It is here interesting to note that a rather large and influential group of well-to-do but
short-sighted citizens strenuously objected to the establishment of free schools. This fight went
on between the friends of education and progress on the one hand, and the rich and well-favored
upon the other, for four years. The well-to-do group vigorously fought the idea of contributing to
the education of the children of the poor—"paupers" they called them, through general taxation.
The opposition of parents very naturally carried over to the children in occasional attacks by the
boys of the private schools against the free school boys, calling them "paupers" and "free school
rats" and throwing sticks, stones and mud at them. One of the most prominent parents made the
statement that the advocates of free schools were putting a mortgage upon his property forever.
This group, being able to educate their children in their own way, wholly regardless of the needs
of other people's children in general, protested against the education of "paupers," which gave the
poor rights to education esteemed a divine right granted only to people with means.
This attitude was not a far cry from the practice which held in medieval days. Then education
was a divine right to be granted only to the sons of the nobility, the clergy and the children of the
rich. They even went further and held that education of the masses led to idleness and would
emasculate the productive powers of those whom they believed inferior and useful only as
burden bearers and laborers.
It is not without interest and it is food for thought that this particular class is not all dead. There
are among us yet a few who do not believe in the general principles of free schools for all people.
They still oppose, here in Cincinnati, any liberal provision for giving education or vision to the
masses through public taxation. Their number, however, has diminished so that the relatively
large group that opposed Nathan Gilford, Samuel Lewis, William Woodward, and their
far-visioned followers of a hundred years ago, has dwindled to a very small and insignificant few
of I-am-better-than-thou-arts.
CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 345
The mass view of education, when Ohio was admitted to the Union, is curiously indicated in the
fact that the Legislature, in 1809, passed an act establishing two colleges : one at Oxford, Miami
University ; and another at Athens, Ohio University ; for the education of young men (no
provision for women )in the classics, arts and letters, higher mathematics and such science as did
not interfere with religion.
This was sixteen years before any legal provision whatever was made for the education of all the
children of the State in the common branches, and twenty years before the first public school was
established in Cincinnati. This, of course, pre-supposed the condition which then existed, that
some favored children were receiving instruction in the common branches privately ; otherwise,
there would have been no need for providing college education by the State at all. Therefore for
the first twenty years, at least, the colleges of the State received all their students from private
schools.
Here follows a brief record taken from early publications of some of the primitive schools which
existed before the establishment of public schools.
Account of the City's First Schools —In June, 1790, John Reily, a veteran of the Revolutionary
War, opened the first school of which there is any record at Columbia, opposite the mouth of the
Licking River. Associated with him in the teaching was Francis Dunlevy, a Virginian, who had
seen military service in the Indian wars as well as in the Revolution. The parents of the children
paid these two old soldiers according to the time expended in individual instruction. Part pay was
drawn in the form of board and lodging.
The first school in Cincinnati proper was opened in 1792. Tradition describes it as an old log
cabin near Congress and Lawrence streets, situated thus close to Fort Washington for safety in
case of Indian attacks. Three years later, according to a document in the collection of Judge
Burnet, "on the north side of Fourth Street, opposite where St. Paul's Church now stands, there
stood a frame school house, enclosed but unfinished, in which the children of the village were
instructed." Evidently this site was at the corner of the public square near Fourth and Walnut
streets. A third pioneer school, established about this time, was conducted in the first
Presbyterian Church until the Rev. Dr. Kemper later built a schoolhouse on the church property.
Still later the school was removed to Arch Street.
The Presbyterians seem to have been the first group which organized to any extent in the interest
of education. A resolution passed by the Presbytery in 1794 instructs the elders "to appoint a
grammar school of such students whose genius and disposition promise usefulness in life." This
was the first communal effort at education. In each church of the
346 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE
Presbytery, a man was appointed to collect not less than two shillings and three pence from the
head of each family for the education of the church's poor children. Moses Miller was appointed
to make such collections in Cincinnati. But he did not meet with success ; and the first attempt to
provide free education for children ended.
The only other school organized before 1800 was that of Stuart Richey who, in 1794, published
the following prospectus : "The subscriber begs leave to inform the public that he intends to open
a school for instruction in elementary education, in which he would seek to teach mathematical
branches, reading, writing, bookkeeping, trigonometry, mensuration, gauging, surveying,
navigation, and algebra."
Robert Stubbs opened a classical school near Newport in i800. It was known as the Newport
Academy. He charged the tremendous sum of eight dollars a year for general instruction and one
pound a term for "the higher branches," whatever these may have been. Probably he intended his
curriculum to include courses beyond those of the elementary school.
The first effort in behalf of young ladies' education appears to have been made by a Mrs.
Williams, who advertised in two newspapers, giving the following terms : "Reading 25o cents ;
reading and sewing $3.00; reading, sewing, and writing, 35o cents per quarter." Probably the
quotations in cents rather than in dollars was prompted by the good woman's realization that to
the average father of the time dollars and daughters' education should in no way be associated.
These early private schools generally struggled for a few years and then passed out of existence.
Most of them have left no record except that which tells of their inauguration. Although there is
evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Williams conducted a boarding school in a Sedamsville log cabin in
1805, that Oliver Stewart advertised as the teacher of a Latin and English school in 1811, that
James White proposed a "day and night school" in the same year, and that Edward Hannegan
kept a school at Fort Washington, yet an early chronicler declares that in 181o, 1811, and 1812
there were but three or four small schools in the district. Each of these schools was attended by
about forty pupils. One of them was taught by Thomas A. Wright in the second story of a frame
building at the southwest corner of Sixth and Main streets. Wright was a small, wiry man who
often had trouble with the big boys. There is a story of his being denied entrance to his own
schoolroom by these lads until he subscribed to their conditions : a day's holiday and a treat to
apples, cider and ginger cakes.
Two years later, in 1814, a school with a definite system and of a semipublic nature, was
organized on the Lancastrian plan, which was being used with much success in England. Again
the Presbyterian Church took a leading part in the effort. The leading spirits in the organization
CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 347
were the Rev. Dr. Joshua L. Wilson, minister of the First Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Daniel
Drake. Lots on Walnut and Fourth streets were chosen as the best school site. The church made
out a ninety-nine year lease for these lots, with the provision that it should be permitted to select
twenty-eight poor children annually. These children were to receive their instruction free. On
February 4, 1815, the legislature passed an act incorporating Oliver M. Spencer, William Little,
Martin Baum, John Kidd, and others, in the title of the Lancaster Seminary. These men were
authorized to hold property to the amount of $10,000 and to employ teachers. No one party was
to dominate the board of trustees : Jacob Burnet, Nicholas Longworth, Davis Embree, William
Corry, Charles Marsh, and Daniel Drake. And the institution was to be non-sectarian.
The school developed quite speedily. Senior and junior departments were provided both for
young men and for young women. Tuition was fixed at eight dollars a year. The Lancastrian
system, providing that the older and more advanced pupils should give part time to the teaching
of the beginners, was designated as the method of instruction. A winged, two-story brick
building, which provided for nine hundred "sittings" on the first floor and five hundred "sittings"
on the second floor was erected. Girls were taught in one wing and boys in the other. But on the
upper floor of the building, which housed the most advanced classes, the brightest students were
not forced to do instructing. For these students instructors were provided. Because of the fact that
seats for the "sittings" were slow in being installed, the school was not immediately filled.
Later in 1815 the Lancaster Seminary received a charter as Cincinnati College. In the same year a
charter was granted for the establishment of The Medical College of Ohio, to be established at
Cincinnati. At last Cincinnati was awakening to the need of education. But even at this time,
those children whose parents were of limited means, had practically no chance.
Cincinnati was one of the first cities in the country to attempt the higher education of women.
The Cincinnati Female Academy was founded by Dr. John Locke in 1823 and after three years
the school is known to have occupied a new brick building on Walnut Street between Third and
Fourth streets. The term of study for a degree was four years and a general charge of ten dollars
was made for tuition. Instruction in French and music was extra. At the same time, Albert and
John W. Pickett were attempting what was known as the Cincinnati Female School, in the south
wing of Cincinnati College.
Even earlier than the Lancastrian School and the Female Academy, there was, in Cincinnati, what
might have been a university if it had endured. An earnest group of men decided, 'in 18o6, that
the Queen City should have a university. The group incorporated in the following year,
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but work as they would, they were unable to raise the funds necessary for their plan. So they
appealed to the Ohio Legislature for the right to hold a lottery, the profits of which should be
used in building an institution of higher learning. Lotteries were a common occurrence in those
days. The Legislature granted the request ; the dignified gamble was advertised, and many tickets
were sold. No drawing ever took place, however. With the money obtained from the sale of the
slips, a modest building was erected. And then, before any of those who had been deceived in the
lottery could claim an interest in the new institution, the structure was blown up—and away—by
a tornado. Thus did May, 18o9, see the end of the city's first university.
The first fifty years of Cincinnati's educational history may be said to have lacked any truly free
venture in education. Once or twice public endowment had made it possible for a few poor
students to receive the benefits of education. Once or twice only. From 1815 to 1825 the number
of private schools in the city increased notably. Some of the foremost of these schools were those
of Kinmont, Cathcart, Wainwright, Chute, Talbot, Wing, and Morecraft. The time was indeed
ripe for serious effort in behalf of democratic, public instruction. A parish school had been
established in 1821 in connection with the first Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, but it was
not until 1825 when the State Legislature took the initiative that a law was passed providing for
the education of every Cincinnati girl or boy who hungered for books and knowledge.
The law of 1825, although it provided for State education, did not authorize a sufficiently large
tax. But in February, 1829, a statute was passed which gave authority for the independent
organization of city schools. Cincinnati was then authorized to levy taxes for the erection and
maintenance of public schools. Ten districts were planned and for each the council was to
purchase ground within ten years and to build a two-story brick or stone building, whichever was
deemed most advisable. Each school was to contain two rooms. One mill per dollar was to he
levied for cost and an additional mill for teaching expenses.
The first schools constructed with public money were neither very well received nor very well
managed. Many people called the new places of education "charity schools." In 1820 a teacher by
the name of William Wing had founded a school at the corner of Sixth and Vine streets. At his
death the school was taken over by his son, and finally became the first building of the city's
common school system. The word "common" was made to possess an unpleasant sting when
pronounced by the enemies of the free schools. For years this pharasaical attitude of the richer
class of citizens toward the poorer continued.
In 1833 a definite step was taken in an effort to impress the public with the value of popular
education. Following the final examinations of
CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS - 349
the year, the pupils in the public schools took part in a big procession, a cheap but effective
means of arousing the interest of the average citizen. The parade had its effect. Murmurs against
the new system lessened. In that year an excellent school building of stone and brick was erected
on Race Street, near Fourth Street. And within two years the other nine districts had similar
buildings.
Three years later there were 2,400 pupils in the public schools and the teaching staff had been
augmented to forty-three. The demand for democratic education grew immensely. In 1839 the
school board planned to establish classes at the orphan asylums. Soon after this the high school
became an actuality, following the action of the Legislature, which authorized the school board to
arrange for such other grades as might seem best.
High Schools —High School beginnings were attended by great opposition, not only from the
lineal descendants of those who had objected to the establishment of the public schools, but also
from prominent citizens whose objection was based on the cost of the enterprise, and that they
were an aristocratic presumption which should not be granted to the "pauperized" pupils who had
been trained and prepared for secondary education by the "free schools." These objectors
doubtless would have been successful in deferring the establishment of high schools for an
indefinite period had it not been for the generosity and vision of Thomas Hughes and William
Woodward, who had devised their estates for public education. This fight was won largely by the
strenuous persistence of H. H. Barney, an intelligent and educated Yankee from Vermont, who
had been graduated from Union College at Schenectady, New York, and admitted to the bar.
After practicing his profession for a time he went into teaching and was invited to take charge of
the Central High School in Cincinnati, the first effort here in public secondary education.
This was in 1847 and the Hughes fund had lain idle since 1827, while the Woodward College
building was in use as a private benefaction for educating children whose parents were unable to
meet the expense of their tuition.
Mr. Barney succeeded in bringing about a union of the Hughes fund, the Woodward building and
estate and the public high school funds, and thus may be considered the founder of Cincinnati
high schools.
This union was effected in 1851 and its administration, by agreement, was placed in the hands of
the Union Board of High Schools, made up of seven members of the board of education and
seven trustees, five of whom represented the Woodward fund and two the Hughes fund.
This agreement was legalized by statute law, and is still in force. It provides, however, that the
financial provisions for the building of all future high schools shall be in the hands of the board
of education, while the Union Board of High Schools shall carry on their administration.
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