(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 600 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE evolved, and the crowd dispersed, apparently because it did not understand and, therefore, could not properly handle itself. The Riot of 1884 —Hardly had the city recovered from the excitement and suspense of the great flood, when it was called upon to witness another extraordinary period of excitement. The riots of 1884 were the natural result of the refusal of the outraged public conscience to abide any longer by open and notorious defiance of the law. The historian of the riots, J. S. Tunison, in his discussion of the causes and results, gives a very sad picture indeed of the condition of the city at that time. Unfortunately there seems to be no reason to believe that his picture is an exaggerated one. He concludes that the Cincinnati riots belong in the catalogue of popular mental epidemics as it would be impossible to conceive how such a train of action could have been carried on by men thoroughly sane. The responsibilities he attributes to all classes of the community. Twenty-three persons accused of murder or at least homicide occupied the county jail at the time preceding the outbreak. Some of them had been in jail many months, some had been tried several times and their guilt was still undecided. The public had grown impatient at the continued violation of the law and the failure of the court to deal expeditiously with persons charged with crime. The courts were regarded as lazy and inefficient and juries as well as judges and attorneys were thought to have become indifferent to crimes of all character. A particular case, the "burking" case in Avondale where two body snatchers were accused of murdering a family to secure bodies for the dissecting table, had inflamed the mind of the public who began to feel that unprincipled lawyers had the courts and ,people at their mercy. Railroad Labor Riots in 1886 —In the spring of 1886 came the railroad labor riots. In the early part of May the freight handlers of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway had struck for increased wages. A large number of them thereupon marched in an organized body across the city to the freight depots of the Little Miami Railroad, intending to force their fellow freight handlers in the employ of that company to join them. The recollection of the riots of two years before, however, with a knowledge of what was going on in other parts of the country, gave to this action of the dissatisfied workmen an importance perhaps beyond its merits. The superintendent of the Little Miami road, the only road then operating in the city, had notified the police that his men had been threatened with personal violence and refused to go on with their work unless they were afforded police protection. An anxious conference of business men had been held, at which were present a number of the officers of the city, and for a time the sentiment of the gathering seemed to be that the police were powerless to aid at this juncture. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 601 Robert J. Morgan, at that time police commissioner, and Milo G. Dodds, however, insisted that it was the duty of the city to protect with all the force it could command the men of the Little Miami road, who were anxious to earn their livelihood, and finally this judgment prevailed. As a result the strikers above referred to were met in their march by a squadron of police under the command of the chief, Colonel Moore, and were ordered to halt. The majority of the strikers, who were law-abiding citizens, showed signs at once of yielding ; three of the leaders endeavored to break through the lines and were arrested, whereupon the main body in a quiet and orderly manner dispersed. This little rencontre, inoffensive in itself, created great alarm, especially as the factories were empty and 30,000 men were said to be on strike. To make assurance doubly sure, the Governor was called upon for troops and five regiments of militia were sent here and placed under the command of Mayor Amor Smith, Jr. Three regiments encamped for several days at Carthage or at Burnet Woods while Cincinnati's own regiment, the First, was located at Industrial Hall in the exposition buildings. Of course there were many to criticize the action of the mayor as being unnecessary. He called a meeting of the representatives of the labor organizations, which was held in his office with one of the strikers, James M. Morley, acting as secretary. A full and complete discussion of the situation was had in the most amicable tone, as a result of which Mayor Smith made it apparent that, although he would not interfere between the strikers and their employers, he would not permit a breach of the peace or interference with men who were at work. A proclamation was issued assuring protection to men at work, particularly to those who were laying the new streets. This brought forth a protest which simply resulted in making it still clearer that the law was to be observed and that no breach of it would be permitted. As a result the troubles were finally adjusted without bloodshed. Another very unpleasant incident of the year 1886 was the exposure of the corruption of the officials in charge of the City Infirmary. This was brought about by the Board of Revision and as a result of the investigation 36 indictments were found, followed by a number of convictions. Inclined Planes of Cincinnati —The Mount Auburn Inclined Plane was the first of these remarkable structures of which this city has had not less than four of. This one was opened to the public in 1872 and ran from the head of Main Street the length of 900 feet to a point on the crest of the hill known as Mount Auburn, 312 feet higher. After the terrible accident of October 15, 1889, which resulted in the releasing of a car at the head of the incline and its rushing with lightning like speed to the foot, carrying death and destruction with it, this plane was remodeled in 1890 at a cost of 8200,000. After the control of this line had 602 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE passed into the hands of the consolidated system, this plane was demolished and abandoned. The second inclined plane was that on Price Hill, built by the Price Hill Inclined Plane Company. This was on Eighth Street and was opened on July 13, 1875 ; it ascended 800 feet with separate tracks for passenger and freight traffic to an elevation of 35o feet. This was built at a cost of $300,00o. It is no longer used by the street cars. A year later the Bellevue Inclined Plane at the head of Elm Street was opened. It was remodeled in 1890 but reconstructed in 1892 at a cost of $375,000. Its length is 980 feet and its elevation 300 feet. In 1877 came the opening of the Mount Adams Inclined Plane, which was remodeled in 1880 and reconstructed in 1892 at a cost of $300,000. Its length is 945 feet and it ascends to an elevation of 268 feet. The latest to be built was the Fairview Inclined Plane, which was opened in 1894. This cost $200,000. Its length is 633.8 feet and elevation 210 feet. From the summit of each of the hills attained by these inclined planes can be had a view of the city which lies spread out like a map at the observer's feet. First Ferry at Cincinnati —On the 13th of February, 1792, the secretary of the Northwest Territory, then at Cincinnati, and, in the absence of Governor St. Clair, acting governor, issued the following proclamation : To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting:— WHEREAS, it has been represented to me that it is necessary for the public interests, and the convenience of the inhabitants of the county of Hamilton, that a ferry should be established over the river Ohio, nearly opposite the mouth of Licking in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Mr. Robert Benham having requested permission to erect and keep said ferry : "Now, know ye that, having duly considered of the said representation and request, I have thought it proper to grant the same, and by these presents do empower the said Robert Benham, of the county of Hamilton, to erect and keep a ferry over the Ohio River, from the landing place in the vicinity of his house-lot, which is nearly opposite the mouth of Licking, to both points of the said rivulet and upon the Virginia shore ; and to ask, demand, recover and receive as a compensation for every single person that he may transport over said Ferry - 6 cents For a man and horse - 18 cents For a wagon and team - 100 cents For horned cattle, per head - 18 cents For hogs, each - 6 cents until those rates shall be altered by law or future instructions from the governor of this territory. And he is hereby required to provide good and sufficient flats or boats for the purpose, and to give due attention to the same according to right MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 603 and common usage, and to govern himself in the premises by all such laws as hereafter may be adopted for the regulation of ferries, as soon as such laws shall be published in the territory. Given under my hand and seal, at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton, the 18th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1792, and of the Independence of the United States the sixteenth—and to continue in force during the pleasure of the governor of the territory. WINTHROP SARGENT. Cholera Epidemics —The distress which resulted from the fire and the flood and the famine, which was a consequence of these misfortunes, had not passed away, when an affliction more dreadful than all burst upon the city. This was the pestilence known as the Asiatic cholera, which carried more of the population to their graves than have all its visitations since, notwithstanding the then small population of 25,000. This dread disease was supposed to have landed from an immigrant ship at Quebec whence it ascended the St. Lawrence, entered the basin of the lakes and swept through the Upper Mississippi Valley into the valley of the Ohio. It had also proceeded down the Champlain Canal and Hudson River to New York City. From Buffalo it was carried by General Scott's soldiers, on their way to engage in the Black Hawk War, across the lakes to the little town of Chicago on a boat which arrived at that place on July loth. In the two or three days occupied by the trip, out of 200 men, 52 including an officer, died, and 80 were left sick at Chicago. From many of the other boats the soldiers, terrified by the disease, had deserted in large numbers and scattered into the country to die of starvation in the woods or be devoured by the wolves. They were shunned by the terrified inhabitants as the source of mortal pestilence as they struggled blindly on their way and in many cases were left to die in the very sight of assistance which fear of the disease kept from them. The cholera broke out extensively in Cincinnati about September loth and stayed for 13 months. At first an effort was made to deny its presence in the city but on October loth an official list of deaths from cholera was published. In the month of October 423 persons, 41 in one day, the 21st of the month, perished from the disease. The epidemic lasted almost to the end of the year but broke out again the following season, when in July 176 fell victims. The total mortality during the two years was 813. Cholera came again in 1834 and caused great anxiety among the people and seriously affected business, but fortunately the mortality was slight. "The city, during the prevalence of this dreadful epidemic, presented a mournful aspect. Thousands of citizens were absent in the country ; very many were closely confined by personal affliction or the demands of sick friends ; hundreds were numbered among the dead ; the transient floating population had entirely disappeared ; the country people in terror stood aloof ; business was almost wholly suspended. The tramp of hurry- 604 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE ing feet was no longer heard on the streets ; the din of the city was hushed, and every day appeared as a Sabbath. Instead, however, of the sound of church-going bells and the quick steps of happy throngs hastening to the house of God, were heard the shrieks of terror-stricken victims of the fell disease, the groans of the dying, and the voices of lamentation. For weeks funeral processions might be seen at any hour, from early morning to late at night. All classes of people were stricken down in this fearful visitation. Doctors, ministers, lawyers, merchants, and mechanics, the old and the young, the temperate and the intemperate, the prudent and the imprudent, were alike victims." (Life of Bishop Morris.) The return of the dread disease in 1834 seemed to cap the climax of Cincinnati's misfortunes. All business interests were at a standstill. The city seemed lifeless and property found no sale at even low prices. But by the close of another year business revived and many public works were planned and many later carried out successfully. It was then that the railways began to organize their corporations, as well as canals. In 1849 the cholera again returned in all its fury—worse than ever before. In September the board of health reported 6,459 deaths from that date to the previous September. Four thousand of these deaths were of cholera. From the middle of April to October, 7,000 deaths were reported, of which 4,600 were cholera. The mortality that year was 8,500, or one in every fourteen of the 116,000 population. The deaths among the Irish and Germans were four-fold larger than the Americans. Of the 4,114 above mentioned, 2,896 were Germans, Irish and Hebrews, while but 1,218 represented the other nationalities who formed 6o per cent of the population. The heaviest mortality was in the hot months of July and August. Huge fires were made in the streets with the notion that it might stamp out the poison, but all to no effect. Long funerals blackened all the highways of the city says Mansfield's Memoirs. The cholera again returned the following year and in 1852 with great loss of life, but not as bad as in 1849-50. Cholera in 1873 —The last cholera epidemic in Cincinnati was in 1873 beginning with the first death in the month of June. Between that time and October 18th the same year 207 persons died from it. The Board of Health was very active and soon stamped it out. Grand Army of the Republic Encampment —This society, the outgrowth of the Civil War period, with its posts scattered from one part of the country to the other, has held its annual reunions, and the one of which the following treats was held in Cincinnati in 1898, that one being the eleventh annual meeting of the organizations. This was in charge of a Citizens' Committee, who raised a guarantee fund and made the arrangements for entertaining the visiting comrades. This committee consisted of 31 members, each of whom was chairman of a sub- MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 605 committee. The chairman of the executive board was Melville E. Ingalls and the executive director, William B. Melish. Over 200,000 strangers visited the city as its guests. Four fine arches illuminated by electric lights were erected—one in front of the Government Building, one at Fourth and Race, one at Vine and Twelfth, and one at Sixth and Race. The arch in front of the Government Building cost $5,20o and its illumination $800. The other three arches cost almost $4,000. The arch at Sixth and Race was built largely from donations of colored people. The encampment was opened by the dedication of Camp Sherman in Chester Park on September 5th, which was followed by the labor parade in celebration of Labor Day and closed with a great camp fire in Music Hall. On the following day there was a parade of naval veterans, Union ex-prisoners of war, Sons of Veterans, and military organizations in charge of General M. L. Hawkins, grand marshal, and in the evening another camp fire. The third day was the day of the parade of the Grand Army of the Republic and its review by the commander-in-chief. General Andrew Hicklenlooper acted as grand marshal. This parade, which was a monster one, was noteworthy for the promptness with which it started and its orderly management. On Thursday there were meetings of the National Encampment and affiliated organizations and receptions of various sorts. In the afternoon came a grand "Civic and Industrial Parade and Peace Jubilee" in charge of Amor Smith, Jr. The day was closed by a fine display of fireworks on the river front. The Tyler Davidson Fountain —To the passer-by, especially the newcomer and stranger within the gates of the Queen City, there is no more imposing and striking object to thrill and inspire one than this fountain situated at Government Square between Vine and Walnut streets, on Fifth Street. It originated February 15, 1867, when Henry Probasco, in a communication from Sicily, to Hon. Charles F. Wilstach, mayor of the city, proposed in memory bf his brother-in-law, the then late Tyler Davidson, to erect a public fountain on the Fifth Street market space near the intersection of Walnut Street, to be made of Bavarian block granite, prophyry and bronze according to a design accompanying the letter. The conditions of the gift were that the city should maintain the fountain in complete order and supply drinking conduits of pure water for the free use of the public for a specified number of hours each day, and should keep the property guarded and cleaned. On March 15, 1867, the city council accepted the gift and an ordinance was passed granting permission to Probasco to erect the fountain in the market square, pledging the city to the conditions of the gift. The Franco-Prussian War caused some delay in its construction, but after litigation with the owners of market stalls at the market house then occupying the land by lease and contracts, was submitted to the Supreme Court and a final decision favorable to the 606 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE city, the work was commenced. The butcher men of the market place still resisted and would not remove from their stalls, but the following account will show how they finally changed their minds : "At the meeting of the council on February 24th by a vote of 25 to 8 the superintendent of the street cleaning department and chief of police were ordered to have the market house removed. These officials had already been notified the evening before to have their men in readiness and as a result Colonel Robinson, superintendent of the street cleaning department, had 90 men with axes, picks and crowbars and the chief of police 50 policemen ready for action. Immediately after the issuing of the order this force started for the market house. None of the 54 butchers who occupied stalls had any suspicion of such immediate action. Some were clearing up after their day's work and meat was hanging in some of the stalls. A committee of butchers was at that time at the office of the city solicitor, endeavoring to ascertain if the city expected to take any further proceedings. When Colonel Robinson's force, accompanied with wagon loads of tools and hooks and ladders from the fire department filed into the market space, it created a great sensation and a crowd collected at once, but the police kept it at a proper distance. The workmen immediately went to work, tore down the stalls and benches and signs, after which they climbed along the shed and in 43 minutes from the time the order was passed by the City Council the Fifth Street market house was without a roof. During the work on the east end of the roof, four men lost their footing and fell through the rotten ceiling, but none was seriously injured." Colonel Robinson himself met with a similar accident but was not seriously hurt. After the roof had gone, the brick pillars of the old rookery were undermined and section after section fell to the accompaniment of comments of approval on the part of the bystanders. Naturally the merchants about the place were pleased and this satisfaction was shared by all the citizens except those who occupied the stalls. By six o'clock the market house was a mass of ruins which were almost immediately removed by the poor people to be used as kindling wood. A piece of timber was stuck up at the west end on which was inscribed in chalk "Born in 1827 and died in 1870." The fountain was erected and presented to the city October 6, 1871. Its corner stone had been laid on July 12, 1870. On that occasion there were fully 4,000 persons seated about the esplanade. The roofs from Vine to Main streets were filled with people estimated at more than 20,000. At the unveiling of this beautiful work of art an hour and a half was consumed in the ceremonies. Mayor Davies accepted it on the part of Cincinnati. From a pamphlet published in 1872 it is gleaned that the total outlay for this fountain was not far from $120,000. Some of the stone blocks connected with the base of this huge bronze production MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 607 weigh 18,000 pounds. These were brought by steamers from Europe, one at a time. The superstructure, when the basin is filled, weighs two hundred tons, which great weight, of course, needed a strong, heavy foundation. The fountain proper is of pure bronze, cast from cannon bought from the Danish government. It is of the finest metal and weighs twenty-four tons. The entire height of the fountain, including the base, is forty-three feet, of which the bronze portion is thirty-eight feet. About the pedestal are fluted basins ornamented with shells, coral and wreaths of water lilies. From the center of the pedestal rises a shaft spread at the top with interlaced vines and foliage and about these are four groups. On the north is a workman standing upon a burning roof and imploring the aid of water ; at the south is a farmer standing in the midst of a field where are plainly seen the effects of a drought—he too is praying for rain. Upon these two groups the Genius of Water is dropping a gentle spray. At the west a young girl is offering the water to an old man with crutches. The face of the girl is said to be that of von Kreling's daughter. On the east side is what is regarded as the most beautiful group of all. A mother partially nude is leading her naked and sportingly reluctant boy to the bath. The modeling of these figures is exquisite and the group is in itself a masterpiece. The figures about the base are all of heroic size, some measuring seven feet in height. The central and crowning figure is that of the Genius of Water, a female in flowing robes standing over all with outstretched arms from which fall the life-giving spray. The expression of the face is most beneficent and the whole conception is of surpassing grace. The figure is nine feet high and weighs two tons. On the northern die of the pedestal is the name "Tyler Davidson," on the southern "Henry Probasco," on the eastern "To the People of Cincinnati," on the western "MDCCCLXXI." For fifty and four years this well-built fountain has stood in all of its beauty at Government Square, and from it has gushed the cooling, health-giving waters to its hundreds of thousands of thirsty passerby friends. The Cincinnati Society of Natural History —This institution has come down really through quite a lengthy ancestry. The Western Museum was projected in 1818 by William Steele and in it Dr. Daniel Drake took much interest. It was opened to the general public in 1820. The museum at that time owned a cabinet with philosophical and chemical apparatus and funds exceeding $4,000 and it was regarded as especially auspicious that the newly organized Cincinnati College was given access to the property of this institution. At a later time it will be remembered it was moved to Second and Main streets where, under the charge of Mr. Dorfeuille, it comprised specimens, including those from both the animal and mineral kingdom. At a later time it was at Pearl and Main and in 1834 it is said to have possessed specimens includ- 608 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE ing mammoth and Arctic elephant bones and the bones of other animals, fossile, mineral and botanical specimens, Egyptian and American antiquities and microscopic designs over 14,000 in number. It also included paintings and models in wax and plaster. In 1835 was formed the Western Academy of Natural Sciences, which in a way was the natural successor to the Western Museum. In 1904 historian Greve, in his "Centennial History," wrote : The Cincinnati Society of Natural History, today one of the most important of the city's educational institutions, is the successor of these early efforts to excite interest in the study of nature. It was organized on January 19, 1870, with 25 members and incorporated on June 20th of the same year. Its first president was Dr. John A. Warder. Among those taking an active part in its early days were Robert Clarke, Julius Dexter, Charles Dury, John M. Edwards, Horatio Wood, Henry Probasco, S. A. Miller, R. C. McCracken and J. Ralston Skinner, and Drs. R. M. Byrnes, H. H. Hill, W. H. Mussey, Charles F. Low, Joseph F. James, William Owens, E. S. Wayne, C. A. Miller, E. Williams and S. E. Wright. Rooms were soon rented in the College Building and Professor John M. Edwards was elected custodian and Charles Dury, taxidermist. In September, 1871, the society, which had already collected a number of specimens and a small library, received from the Western Academy of Natural Sciences, some 265 volumes, $351 in money and the remnant of the latter's collection. The collection of Robert Buchanan was acquired in 1872 through the generosity of Mr. Probasco and other members who gave for it $1,000 as a partial compensation for III volumes and three upright cases of fossils, shells and minerals. Mr. Buchanan was elected an honorary member and subsequently Robert Clarke, U. P. James, George Graham, D. E. Bowles, John L. Talbot, S. T. Carley and Mr. Buchanan, surviving members of the Western Academy, were elected to life membership. Donations were subsequently received from the Cincinnati Exposition, Dr. W. H. Mussey and others so that by 1874 it appeared from the custodian's report that the society had in its collection 22,200 natural history specimens and about 1,000 volumes. The building fund had increased to a little over $3,000. Charles Bodmann, a member of the society, died in May, 1875. By his will he left to the society an unconditional bequest of $50,000. Eleven thousand five hundred of this was invested in the purchase and repair of the property on the southeast corner of Broadway and Arch streets occupied by the organization and the collection, the product of the labor of so many years and so many organizations and persons; was removed to that building in 1877, where the first meeting of the society was held on November 6th of that year. The collection of specimens and books has been increased by donations and purchases until today it is regarded as one of the most valuable in the entire country. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 609 The 1926 officers of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History are inclusive of the following : Charles Dury, president ; Delisle Stewart, secretary ; Ralph Dury, director ; A. W. Fahrenbruck, treasurer. Offices are kept at No. 312 Broadway. William Henry Harrison and His Grave —On a beautiful knoll near the pioneer homestead of General Harrison, warrior and statesman, lies buried the remains of he who became President of the United States in 1840, but died April 4, 1841, in Washington, of bilious pleurisy. He was born February 9, 1773, at Berkley, Virginia ; was graduated from Hampden-Sydney College 1790; married Anna Symmes, by whom ten children were born. At the date of his election as President he was a quiet farmer at North Bend. Politically he was Whig and in religious faith an Episcopalian. He married the daughter of pioneer John Cleves Symmes, who was the founder of the village of North Bend, which place he designed to make the metropolis of the Northwestern Territory, but Cincinnati super-ceded it. Today there are less than 600 inhabitants in North Bend. When young Ensign Harrison asked Symmes for the hand of his daughter he was asked how he expected to keep a wife on $26 per month, whereupon the young officer replied, by drawing his sword from its scabbard, saying as he did so, "By this." Symmes liked his pluck and gave his consent to the marriage of his daughter to him. The following is a summary of the events making up the career of William Henry Harrison : Born 1773, "Berkeley," Virginia ; died in Washington, D. C., one month after taking his seat as President ; came to Cincinnati November, 1791, as ensign 1st United States Regiment ; went through Wayne's campaigns and fought at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 against the savage Indians ; was at Fallen Timbers and was commander at Fort Washington in 1795. He was secretary of the Territory in 1798 ; Territorial delegate to Congress 1799; governor of the Territory of Indiana, 1800-1814 ; Major-General United States Army 1812-15 ; was the victor at the battle of the Thames ; resident of the village of North Bend 1815-41 ; was member of Congress 1828-30; United States minister to Columbia. His grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was the twenty-second President of the United States. Within almost a stone's throw of one another are the monuments marking the last resting places of Judge Symmes and William Henry Harrison of "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" political campaign fame of 1840. Both of these men were an honor to American citizenship. A Beecher Family Reunion —Out at Walnut Hill, at the old Beecher residence and Lane Seminary, in the forties, was held a family gathering of Dr. Lyman Beecher, including his thirteen children, one of whom wrote the event up for the church organ of the Presbyterian Church in the following language : Cin.-39 610 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE "Long before Edward came out here the doctor tried to have a family meeting, but did not succeed. The children were too scattered. Two were in Connecticut, some in Massachusetts, and some in Rhode Island. That, I believe, was five years ago. But—now, just think of it! —there has been a family meeting in Ohio! When Edward returned, he brought on Mary from Hartford ; William came down from Putnam, Ohio ; George from Batavia, Ohio ; Catharine and Harriet were here already, Henry and Charles, too, besides Isabella, Thomas and James. These eleven—the first time they all ever met together ! Mary had never seen James, and she had seen Thomas but once. Such a time as they had ! The old doctor was almost transported with joy. The affair had been under negotiation for some time. He returned from Dayton late one Saturday evening. The next morning they, for the first time, assembled in the parlor. There were more tears than words. The doctor attempted to pray, but could scarcely speak. His full heart poured itself out in a flood of weeping. He could not go on. Edward continued, and each one, in his turn, uttered some sentences of thanksgiving. They then began at the head and related their fortunes. After special prayer all joined hands and sang Old Hundred in these words : "From all who dwell below the skies." Edward preached in his father's pulpit in the morning, William in the afternoon, and George in the evening. The family occupied three front pews on the broad isle. Monday morning they assembled, and, after reading and prayer, in which all joined, they formed a circle. The doctor stood in the middle and gave them a thrilling speech. He then went round and gave them each a kiss. They had a happy dinner. Presents flowed in from all quarters. During the afternoon the house was filled with company, each bringing an offering. When left alone at evening they had a general examination of all their characters. The shafts of wit flew amain, the doctor being struck in several places. He was, however, expert enough to hit most of them in return. From the uproar of the general battle, all must have been wounded. Tuesday morning saw them together again, drawn up in a straight line for the inspection of the king of happy men. After receiving particular instructions they formed into a circle. The doctor made a long and effecting speech. He felt that he stood for the last time in the midst of all his children, and each word fell with the weight of a patriarch's. He embraced them once more in all the tenderness of his big heart. Each took of all a farewell kiss. With joined hands they joined in a hymn. A prayer was offered, and finally the parting blessing was spoken. Thus ended a meeting which can only be rivaled in that blessed home where the ransomed of the Lord, after weary pilgrimage, shall join in the praise of the Lamb." Two Historical Characters —No history of "Greater Cincinnati" would be thought complete without reference to the two well-known school MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 611 book publishers and authors, Dr. William H. McGuffey and Dr. Joseph Ray, both Cincinnati men at one time. Dr. McGuffey, the well known author of the Eclectic series of readers, was born in 1800, in Trumbull County, Ohio. By most severe and unrelenting toil he succeeded in graduating from Washington College, Pennsylvania, in 1825. Soon after he became professor of ancient languages in Miami University, and remained until 1836, when he was called to the presidency of Cincinnati College. Three years after this time he accepted a similar position in the Ohio University. In 1845 he removed to the University of Virginia, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1873. During his life he was always active in the cause of popular education, rendering efficient aid in teachers' conventions, both by his presence and pen. The name of Dr. Joseph Ray is held in grateful remembrance by many for his mathematical works, which made simple and attractive what had been only a terror to the young beginner. He was born in Ohio County, Virginia, in November, 1807. From early youth he showed a great fondness for study. Supporting himself by teaching at intervals, he passed some months at Washington College, Pennsylvania, but left without taking a degree. Devoting his attention finally to medicine, he became a graduate of the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati ; but in October of the same year began teaching and continued through life. He was first professor and then president of the Woodward College, afterward Woodward High School, which position he held till the time of his death in April, 1856. He was prominently identified with the leading teachers of the State, and became president of the State Association in 1852. A Remarkable Will —The following is a correct transcript of the singular will of the founder of Cincinnati, Judge John Cleves Symmes, who died in Cincinnati on February 26, 1814, and was buried at North Bend, Ohio, according to his desire : The last will and testament of John Cleves Symmes. In the name of God, amen. I, John Cleves Symmes, of North Bend, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, being grievously afflicted with a cancer in my under lip, chin, and throat, which will undoubtedly shortly put an end to my life, while as yet I remain of sound mind and memory, do think it my duty to make and publish this my last will and testament, not so much for the disposition of the small personal property which I shall possess at my Death, as the constitution and laws of the State of Ohio anticipates the necessity of my making will in that respect, my will being the same with the law quo ad goods, chattels, rights, and credits; but the circumstance which renders it necessary that I should make and publish this my last will and testament is to authorize my executors hereinafter named, and the survivor of them, to sell and dispose of and make title to the purchasers of those few fragments of land which I have never sold, and which as yet has not been torn from me under color of law, as by the laws of the State administrators cannot dispose of the real estate of their intestate without a rule of court authorizing them so to do. Therefore I, the said John Cleves Symmes, do hereby declare and 612 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE appoint my worthy son-in-law William Henry Harrison, Esquire, and my beloved grandson John Cleves Short, Esquire, and the survivor of them, my true and lawful executors to this my last will and testament, hereby giving unto them and the survivor of them full power and lawful authority to sell all or any part of my lands and real estate, wherever any part or parcel thereof may be found or discovered within the said State of Ohio, and proceeds or monies arising from such sales equally to divide between them for their reward, in compensation for their trouble and services ; first, however, paying thereout for all deficiencies in contents or number of acres that may be found wanting in the several tracts of land which I have heretofore sold and been paid for, but which on a re-survey may have been deeded by me for a greater number of acres than there really is in the tract. On the other hand, many sections, quarter sections, fractions of sections, tracts and parcels of land, by me heretofore deeded for a given number of acres, strict measure, on a re-survey will appear to be larger, and contains a surplusage of land over and above the quantity of land sold or ever paid for. It is therefore my will and desire that my executors and the survivor of them seek after and enquire out these surplus lands by the assistance of the county surveyor, and that my executors dispose of such surplus lands at the same price with which they remunerate those whose deeds from me call for more land than is embraced within the limits or boundaries of my deeds to them. And my further will and request is, and I do hereby enjoin upon my said executors and the survivor of them, hereby investing in them and the survivors of them all lawful authority and full power for the purpose, to carry [out] all my special contracts with individual persons into full effect and final close, according to the tenor of each respective contract; provided, however, that the other party named in each several contract faithfully fulfill the conditions on their part stipulated to be performed, which conditions will appear on having recourse to their respective contracts. And my will is that my said executors have and possess, and I hereby give unto them, and the survivor of them, all further necessary and usual powers to sue for and collect all or any part of my dues and debts, whether owing to me on bond, on note, or book debt; and also to pay all such debts as I justly owe; but there are some unjust claims against me founded in the deepest conspiracy, fraud and perj uries. I hope I need make no apology to my children and grandchildren for not having so much property to leave to them as might have been expected from the earnings of a long, industrious, frugal, and adventurous life, when they recollect the undue methods taken, as well by the Government of the United States as by many individual private characters, to make sacrifice of my hardly earned property at the shrine of their avarice. It has been my particular lot to be treated with the blackest, blackest ingratitude, by some who now laugh at my calamity, but who would at this day have been toiling in poverty, had not my enterprise to this country, my benevolence, or the property which they have plundered from me, have made them rich. How dark and mysterious are the ways of Heaven! I shall add nothing further save that it is my particular desire to be buried in the graveyard at North Bend, where the last twenty-five years of my life have been chiefly spent. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand to this, my last will and testament, on the thirty-first day of December, in the year eighteen hundred and thirteen. JOHN CLEVES SYMMES. [SEAL] Subscribed and sealed in presence of JAMES FINDLAY, GEO. P. TORRENCE, JOSEPH PERRY, THOS. SLOO, Junr. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 613 Great Floods of 1883 and 1884 —The Ohio River has always been noted for its sudden rises and destructive floods, owing to the peculiar topography of the territory through which it runs, together with its extensive water-shed and numerous tributaries. The floods of 1883 and 1884 so far surpass all previous flood periods that special mention should be given in the annals of Cincinnati. Tradition says that fearful floods occurred in this great valley in 1773, and recorded history says others occurred in 1832 and 1847. In 1792 came a flood covering the entire bottom to the average depth of five feet and drove many of the people from their homes. In March the following year the plain below the hill was again inundated and in the same month twelve years later a freshet swept away houses, stock, and other property on the lower levels of the city. Drawing from all that has been written concerning this "flood in the eighties," the author has believed the following to be the important facts concerning the flood, so far as Cincinnati was concerned : In 1883 long continued rains had swollen the streams above and this caused the waters of the Ohio to rise slowly from day to day until, a little after noon on February 12th the high water mark of 1847 was reached and at 11 o'clock that same night that of 1832 was passed and there was no evidence of any cessation of flood. Many citizens had rested secure in the belief that the record could not be broken but this sense of security soon gave way to serious alarm. Upon the suggestion of Melville E. Ingalls, the Chamber of Commerce organized a relief committee of 15, which was subsequently increased to 20, and arrangements were made to assist the sufferers and divert as far as possible serious results. The rise of the waters stopped the pumping engines of the water works, but fortunately sufficient water remained in the reservoirs to supply the immediate needs of the city. The gas works, too, were submerged and the city was without its customary light. Lamps and candles could not be obtained at once as the demand was unprecedented. More than 1,500 business houses and many homes were under water in Cincinnati, which caused 2,400 people to be thrown entirely upon the charitable aid of the citizens for support. In Covington 35o houses and in Newport about 2,100 and in Dayton and Belleview (Kentucky) 400 houses were under water. The rise continued through the day of February 14th and until between four and five o'clock of the morning of the 15th, when the water stopped at the height of 66 feet 4 inches. Two hours' later it began to recede and fell over a foot during the day. By noon of the 24th the waters had resumed their normal position. A meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was called and a relief committee of 15 members, subsequently increased by 13 more names, was appointed by Chairman Henry C. Urner. Subscriptions were called for and the Chamber, by an unanimous vote, appropriated $5,000 to a fund. 614 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE S. F. Dana was chosen treasurer and Sidney D. Maxwell, secretary, and an executive committee of six members was appointed to cooperate. Buildings were secured for the storage of provisions and measures adopted for the relief of sufferers. At a meeting of the Common Council, a resolution was passed requesting the Legislature to authorize the city comptroller "to borrow a sum not to exceed $100,000 to be placed at the disposal of the relief committee of the Common Council to be used for the purpose of relieving the distressed and protecting life and property during the continuance of the great flood." As a result of this a committee of 15, consisting of the mayor as chairman and seven members from each of the representative bodies, was appointed, who reported to the relief committee of the Chamber of Commerce on February 7th, and was thereupon incorporated with that committee, thenceforth known as "The Relief Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Common Council of Cincinnati." By the 13th a decided cold wave set in throughout the Ohio Valley, which seemed to indicate the approach of the climax. The tributaries above began to fall and with the temperature at Cincinnati rapidly falling to 12̊ below freezing point, the end of the rise came on February 14th at 12 o'clock at which time the water stood at 71 feet and 34 of an inch. At the end of 90 minutes a fall of a quarter of an inch was reported, to the enthusiastic joy of the citizens and the whole Nation. For five hours the water stood and then the gradual decline at the rate of a quarter of an inch per hour set in and continued steadily until, by the end of February the stage of the water was 25 feet 6 inches. It may be stated here that the lowest water stage at Cincinnati was on September 18, 1881, when the record was one foot and eleven inches. The high stages recorded were February 18, 1832, 64 feet and 3 inches; February 15, 1883, it was 66 feet and 4 inches ; February 14, 1884, it reached 71 feet and three fourths of an inch. The Relief Fund —The entire amount contributed by Cincinnati was $96,680.12, while persons not citizens of Cincinnati contributed the sum of $97,751.22. This was all expended under the direction of the Relief Committee with the exception of a little over $5,000, which was turned over to the trustees of the sinking fund of the city. None of the funds received from outsiders was applied to the relief of the Cincinnati people but they were distributed throughout the Ohio Valley outside of the city. The large steamer "Granite State" was chartered and loaded with supplies ; it carried assistance to such people as could be reached along the shores of the river. Fifteen thousand dollars of the cargo was defrayed by the Ohio State Relief Commission while the government, through General A. Beckwith, placed on board supplies to the value of $1o,000 for the aid of those on the opposite side of the Ohio. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 615 The writer of this article stood in the railroad yards at Kansas City, Missouri, when a full train load of shelled corn, grown and donated throughout the entire State of Kansas, pulled out over the Alton Railway for the "Ohio Flood Sufferers." White canvas covered the entire sides of the fifteen freight cars containing the corn which was converted into cash for the sufferers. On these cloth sheetings were artistic emblems of the great corn country of the West—small corn, corn too high to cultivate and the ripened corn of golden autumn time. Another significant feature of this train was that on its foremost car, on top, was fastened a huge galvanized iron grasshopper many feet long and provided with eyes made of tea saucers. This was emblematic of the "grasshopper days" in Kansas and Nebraska when all the crops were destroyed and the people in Ohio and other States freely donated to the "grasshopper sufferers of the West." In this the West was but paying back the East for their kindness. The train mentioned carried a prominent inscription "Kansas Offers This to The Ohio Flood Sufferers." The Tornado of 1860 —On Monday afternoon, May 21, 1860, Cincinnati had her most serious experience with a tornado. The air grew suddenly dark and the heavy clouds to the southwest were repeatedly torn with brilliant flashes of lightning and, as the storm advanced, the city was almost engulfed by the rain. In a few minutes immense damage was done. Steeples were prostrated, dwellings overthrown, roofs whirled on high, shade trees uprooted, signs torn from their fastenings, chimneys beaten down, widows burst in and carriages driving along the streets were overturned and persons hurled from their feet. The roof of the new office building of the "Commercial" at the northeast corner of Fourth and Race streets, into which the staff of the paper had just moved, was torn off and large sections of it carried into different parts of the town. The most serious accident was at the 14th District School where the roof was torn from the building and swept to the opposite side of the street to the corner of Dayton and Baymiller. This exposed the infant department to the full fury of the storm and several children were badly injured, one having both legs broken. The roof of the Tabernacle Church at the corner of John and Clark was also torn off and the same fate befell a dwelling house at Liberty and John, a soap factory on Poplar, near John, a factory at Western Row and Poplar Street, a carriage factory on Western Row, near Bank, Lane & Bodley's machine shop, and many other buildings. The cupola was blown off the Brighton House and a frame beer saloon at the head of Dunlap Street disappeared from the face of the earth. The heavy brick wall at the west side of Reuben R. Springer's residence at Seventh and Plum was blown to the ground. A three-story brick building in process of erection on Fifth near Wood was blown to the ground and two workmen mashed into an unrecog- 616 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE nizable mass. Another man was killed in a brick-yard at Eighth and Freeman. The roofs of the Mechanics' Institute and also the United States Marine Hospital were blown off and the dome of the Little Miami depot floated away as if of feather weight. The minor casualties filled several columns of the papers.—(Centennial History.) "Sheridan's Ride"—There are many versions of the story of the writing of the poem, "Sheridan's Ride." All of them connect Judge Taft and Grafton, the artist, with promoting the effort. The truth seems to be that Judge Taft was at the head of a committee to raise funds for the returned soldiers of the Civil War. Grafton was helping him, as he usually did in such matters. Judge Taft and Grafton met T. Buchanan Read in front of a bookstore in which was displayed a picture showing General Sheridan riding to the scene of the battle at Winchester. The incident had been described in the newspapers and was very familiar to the people. As the three looked at it Grafton said to Read : "There is a fine subject ; write a poem on it." Judge Taft added, "Yes, and read it at our soldier's benefit next Thursday evening." The party separated, Taft and Grafton to go up to Pike's Opera House, where the entertainment was to be held, and Read to go home and write the poem. Read was then living in Connecticut. (From here on this story is best told by Mr. Leonard in his life of Alphonso Taft, recently published.) As a boy he had run away from his home in Pennsylvania and had come to the Queen City. In later life he had lived in London, Florence, Rome, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, but between times and between trades he usually vibrated back to Cincinnati. He was a poet, printer, tailor, cigarmaker and sign painter, and did not hesitate to take up any of these callings to keep things moving. Mr. David Sinton, Mr. Nicholas Longworth, Judge Taft and Miles Greenwood were accustomed to help him along when he got to Cincinnati. The occasion referred to was during one of his visits to the city and among the people he loved. Many theatrical stars had agreed to contribute to the entertainment in Pike's Opera House in which Judge Taft was so much interested, among them James E. Murdock, then in the zenith of his glory as a great actor. At the solicitation of Judge Taft, Murdock agreed to recite the poem which Read should produce. The night of the entertainment came and so did Read with "Sheridan's Ride." The announcement of a poem by T. Buchanan Read, to be read by James E. Murdock served to help secure a packed house and a big sum for the benefit. The poem was finished too late for Mr. Murdock to commit it to memory, but he read it in a most thrilling manner from the original manuscript. All the managers of the benefit were delighted with the poem and with the fine results which it produced. It is further told that next day, when they were rounding up the results, Judge Taft said to the poet : MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 617 "Now, Read, if you will make a drawing illustrating that poem I will give you $25 for it." Read accepted the offer promptly and collected on the spot, but at last accounts he had not furnished the drawing. The above-named poem was written one afternoon in the three-story red brick residence still standing near Walnut Street at No. 21 East Eighth Street, where under the window in the room which Read occupied, there is a tablet giving the facts about the same. Noted Settlement Anniversaries —The forty-fifth anniversary of settlement, or rather of the landing of the pioneers of Losantiville was celebrated by a large number of citizens. A banquet was given at the Commercial Exchange on the Public Landing which for convenience was determined upon as the site of the first log cabin built in Losantiville. Viands of native production only were served and the wine on the table was from the vineyard of Nicholas Longworth. The piece de resistance was a roast of two fat raccoons surrounded of course by the traditional sweet potatoes. The presiding officer was Major Daniel Gano and the vice-presidents were William R. Morris, Henry E. Spencer and Moses Symmes. The young orator of the occasion was Joseph Longworth and the poets, Peyton S. Symmes and Charles D. Drake, a son of Dr. Drake (afterwards United States Senator from Missouri and Chief Justice of the Court of Claims). Revs. James B. Finley and William Burke acted as chaplains. On the committee of arrangements were such prominent young men as W. M. Corry, N. M. McLean, J. M. Foote, William R. Morris, George Williamson, L. M. Gwynne, James C. Hall, George W. Burnet and R. S. Whetstone. Among the speakers were James C. Ludlow, the son of Colonel Isaac Ludlow, General Harrison, General Findlay, the Congressman ; Majors Gano and Symmes, Judge Goodenow, Nicholas Longworth and Samuel J. Browne. It was at this banquet that Dr. Drake made his celebrated speech upon the "Buckeye." Fiftieth Anniversary —On December 26, 1838, was celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first settlement of Cincinnati. This date was chosen by reason of the impression prevailing at that time that the pioneers landed on the 26th of December, 1788, instead of two days later as seems now to be the generally accepted view. This celebration, closing as it did a half century of civic life with but few parallels in the history of the world naturally is regarded as a very important event in the history of our city and an account of it seems appropriate to close the chapter on the period ending at that time. At sunrise the Cincinnati Independent Artillery's Invincibles fired a salute of thirteen guns in honor of the original States and at noon one of 5o guns, one for each year of the city's life, and at sunset one of 26 for the number of States in the Union at that time. At ten o'clock in the 618 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE morning a committee of arrangements, the mayor and city council, met at the council chamber and proceeded to the Pearl Street House accompanied by the Cincinnati Greys, the Citizens' Guards and a large number of citizens. Here they were joined by the invited guests—the pioneers who had come to this region before 1801, a list of whom is printed in an earlier chapter. A procession was then formed and, under the charge of the marshals of the day, George Graham, Jr., and James Saffin, marched down Walnut to Front and then over to Main and up Main to the First Presbyterian Church. Here an opening prayer was offered by Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, followed by music by Professor Mason's Eclectic Choir and the Buckeye Band, a discourse on the early history of the city by Dr. Daniel Drake and a. closing prayer by Rev. William Burke. Dr. Drake's oration was most exhaustive and, although it occupied three hours and twenty minutes in its delivery, it was received with enthusiasm. At the conclusion of the exercises in the church, the committee of arrangements, the invited guests, the Council and a large number of citizens dined together at the Pearl Street House. Nathan Guilford presided and was assisted by Griffin Yeatman, Major Daniel Gano and General Robert T. Lytle as vice-presidents. There were thirteen regular toasts including: The day we celebrate, the Country, the West, the State, the pioneer mothers, the city, the orator of the day, Kentucky, the schools, the manufactories and mechanics, the railroads and the military. In responding to the toast to the orator of the day, Dr. Drake, after a few remarks contrasting the city of that time with the town in 1800, offered the toast of the people of Cincinnati. The conclusion of the regular toasts, however, was but the beginning of the festivities. The voluntary toasts must have been fully fifty in number and many letters were read and reminiscences recited. Among those especially toasted were the Shawanee chief, Logan ; Captain John Bartle who was ninety-two years of age, sat at the right hand of the presiding officer and who is mentioned as the second merchant of the town ; General Harrison, the memory of General Lytle, Colonel McFarland, Simon Kenton, Judge Burnet, Judge Symmes, Miss Ross, the first Cincinnati belle ; Dr. Allison, William Goforth, William McMillan, William Wells, General Josiah Harmar, Colonel Israel Ludlow, General John S. Gano, John Filson, Benjamin Van Cleve, Joel Williams, Benjamin Stites, Colonel Kingsbury, the heroic defender of Colerain, Colonel John S. Wallace, Colonel David Strong and Captain Ephraim Kibby. The hilarities of the occasion were heightened by several songs and by fine music by the Buckeye Band, and it is not strange that the company which sat down in the afternoon dispersed at an early hour as stated by the report of the general committee.—(Greve's Centennial History.) The Naming of Cincinnati —According to the journal of the secretary of the Northwest Territory, Winthrop Sargent, Governor St. Clair MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 619 arrived at Losantiville on January 2, 1790. On that day he prepared a proclamation organizing the county of Hamilton, which proclamation was not issued until the 4th. There is no reference in this proclamation to the village at all. On the following day, January 5, 1790, having made appointments of justices of the peace and other officers, he issued his proclamation, directing the holding of the courts of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace "at the town of Cincinnati." This is the first official record in which the name Cincinnati appears, and it is therefore, in all probability, the first day in the history of the settlement when the name which it now bears was properly applied to it. The history of Cincinnati under its present name began without question as early as January 5, 1790, and certainly at no earlier date than the 3d or 4th. The name for this locality was Losantiville, from December 26, 1788, to January 2, 1790. The name was invented by John Filson, one of the original proprietors, who intended to express by it the town opposite the mouth of Licking River. He resided at Lexington, Kentucky, where the plan of the proposed village was formed and the name imposed in the month of August, 1788. Daniel Drake, pioneer, says "The settlement did not, however, commence till the 26th of December following. The place bore the name Losantiville and no other. It was changed to Cincinnati by Governor St. Clair." At the close of hostilities in the Revolutionary struggle, and peace negotiations were pending, the officers of the American Army, freed from its duties, decided to form a society which should perpetuate the memory of their long companionship-in-arms. Thisociety was formed May ro10, 1783, the constitution of this order was drawn up by a committee of which General Knox was chairman. On May 13th the representatives of the army met at the quarters of Baron de Steuben who presided on the occasion and the constitution was accepted and approved. The fundamental purposes of the society were "to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which they had fought and bled, and without which the high rank of a rational being is a curse instead of a blessing, . . . promote and cherish between the respective States that union and National honor so essentially necessary to their happiness and the future dignity of the American Empire, and to render permanent the cordial affection subsisting among the officers." Washington was chosen the first president-general of the order and held the position until his death. General Knox was the first secretary-general. State societies were formed and Major-general Arthur St. Clair was elected president of the society for the State of Pennsylvania. The constitution of the society provided that the eldest masculine descendant of an original member should be entitled to wear the insignia of the order and enjoy the privileges of the society. Some opposition to 620 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE the order was manifested at first because of the belief that it would tend to establish a hereditary order of nobility, but events proved that this fear was without justification. The name, of course, is taken, as is shown on the badge of the society, from Cincinnatus, who left his plow to take up the chief magistracy of his country in a time of need and who, after he succeeded in saving his country, returned to the quiet pursuits of agriculture. The motto of the society is Omnia relinquit servare rem publicam. (He gave up all to serve his country.) From the name of this society came the name of the present "Queen City." For many years there was a different opinion as to how the word should be spelled—some wanting it to terminate with an "a" while others insisted in the final "i," as spelled today. The local historial society has many pages preserved, by different writers and worthy historians of the long ago years, each giving their version of the "way the city was named." But for all practical purposes the above statements will suffice in this compilation. A Starvation Period at Fort Washington —Historian Greve, in his most excellent account of those pioneer years, gives the following : In the fall of 1789, even before the entire completion of the fort, there was danger that the troops would be forced to abandon it on account of the scarcity of food. In this exigency Colonel John S. Wallace, a noted hunter and Indian fighter, came forward and made a contract with the military authorities to supply the garrison with wild meat. He was assisted by two hunters named Drennan and Dement, and, about ten miles below Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side, they found game in great quantity—buffalo, deer, and bear—which enabled them without special difficulty to fulfill their engagements. At one hunt they secured enough to keep the seventy men then in the garrison supplied with this kind of food for six weeks. The troops were also kept in good heart by a sufficient supply of corn from Columbia, where the crop of the year was abundant, and contributed largely, as is elsewhere noted, to the safety of Losantiville and the fort. Major Jacob Fowler and his brother, Matthew, are also said to have had a contract to furnish the garrison, as well as the village, with the spoils of the chase, from the establishment of the fort till some time after St. Clair's arrival there. They received two pence per pound for buffalo and bear meat, and two and a half for venison—in Pennsylvania currency, seven shillings and six pence to the dollar. They hunted some in Mill Creek Valley, where the game was reputed good, but extended their hunting grounds ten to fifteen miles into Kentucky. The skins of animals killed were sold to a man named Archer, who kept a tannery in or near the town. After a time the authorities got behindhand in their payments, and the hunters would sell only to the citizens and the officers of the garrison. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 621 Writing of the currency of the times, it is worth noting that the soldiers at Fort Washington were paid in bills of the old Bank of the United States—a currency locally called "oblongs," especially at the gambling tables, which were much frequented by the officers, as well as the enlisted men and hangers-on of the garrison. A three-dollar bill was at that day sufficient for the monthly pay of a private soldier. Days of Mourning —Cincinnati, in common with all other American cities, has had its days of intense sorrow and mourning on account of the death of some State or National leader. These days include the days when people mourned for the beloved Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and President Grant. In the early days what might be called a mock funeral was held over noted deceased citizens of this country, as will be seen by the following notice February 5, 1800, in the "Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette": At 12 o'clock the troops formed on the flat in front of the garrison (then under command of Capt. Miller), where they were joined by Captain Findlay's and Capt. Brown's troop of horse, the Masonic brethren and a large concourse of citizens, all eager to testify their high veneration for the character of the deceased. The bier was received by the troops formed in lines, with presented arms, officers, drums and colors saluting. The procession then moved on in the following order—Minute guns firing from the garrison and the music performing a solemn dirge. Cavalry Regular Troops Horse, representing that of the General, with saddle, holsters and pistols, and boots reversed Rev. Mr. Wallace Pall Bearers To the left of Bier Dr. Sellman Capt. Prince Col. Spencer To the right of Bier Dr. Elliott Maj. Ziegler Major Goforth His excellency the Governor and the Attorney General, as Mourners Masonic Brethren Militia Officers in Uniform Citizens Having proceeded through different streets, and arrived at the place representing that of interment, the military halted, and opening their lines formed an avenue for the bier and those immediately attendant on it to pass through the troops leaning on reversed arms. The coffin having been deposited in the grave, a prayer suitable to the occasion was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Wallace, after which the Masonic Brethren performed their ceremony. Three discharges of musketry over the grave concluded the ceremonies. Memorial for President Lincoln —The next great public sorrow to come to the Nation was at the end of the Civil War—April 15, 1865— when the hand of an assassin struck down the good President. The news was flashed by wire to Cincinnati and the Cincinnati "Daily Times" was first to announce the death in public print in this city. The proprietors of the "Times" were C. W. Starbuck & Co. The editorial com- 622 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE ment was as follows : "On receipt of the notice of the death of the President this morning all business in the cities of New York, Cleveland and Dayton are totally suspended. The gloom is universal in all loyal hearts. "The streets are crowded in Cincinnati with solemn faces. The air is full of sadness. Men pace to and fro with tearful downcast eyes, and speak in low tremulous tones. Have we gone backward to the dark ages? For the first time in our life our cheek tingles for our American race ; ever and anon we catch our breath as awaking from an oppressive nightmare. Cut off in the vintage-time of victory, the great work done—the honor of the Nation restored with its right and might tears annihilated and freedom and free government made perpetual. Abraham Lincoln shut the book—he had only mercy to bestow—he had only the golden honor of a useful career to gather—he had but to husband out the pure light of his great life and die, like Washington, Jackson, with his household at his bedside and the Nation around his doorsill and the assassin might have spared his soul the everlasting torture of that cruel, cowardly, unnatural murder. In the midst of popular thanksgiving and acclaim we bow our heads in mourning. It is hard to bear this dispensation of God's providences ; but we shall bear them as fits a Nation of Christian freemen. Thy will be done, Oh God, and may Thy light shine into the darkest regions of the earth and bring forth the authors and the perpetrators of this deed, to a just retribution. Amen." The Cincinnati "Commercial" of that date had this paragraph : The bedside scene—A special from Washington said : "The scene at the bedside of the President is described by one who witnessed it as most effecting. It was surrounded by his cabinet ministers, all of whom bathed their faces in tears, not even excepting Secretary Edwin M. Stanton, who, when informed by Surgeon-General Barnes that the President could not live until morning, exclaimed 'Oh, no, General ; no, no,' and with an impulse as natural as it was unaffected, immediately sat down on a chair at his bedside and wept like a child ; Senator Charles Sumner was seated on the right of the President's couch, near his bed, holding the right hand of the dying President in his own. He, too, was sobbing like a woman, with his head bowed down almost on the pillow of the bed on which the President was lying." Lincoln's Bust —In the above named daily appeared this item : "A most excellent bust of the late President was made at Springfield, Illinois, after his election, but before his inauguration, by T. D. Jones, the Cincinnati sculptor. It is the best one taken of Mr. Lincoln and becomes of great interest, as it is a fine work of art and a capital likeness. John Nicolay, the late President's private secretary, said this was the 'historic MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 623 bust of Abraham Lincoln.' A more appropriate memorial of the murdered President cannot be had. Mr. Jones will be able to furnish about thirty of them a week. There should be thousands of them sold." Lincoln As Seen by the Opposition Press —The Dayton "Empire," noted for its bitterness and opposition to Lincoln's administration, the same being the property of Mr. Vallandigham—the sheet he talked through, said : Last night was a night of terror in Washington. President Lincoln perished by the hand of an assassin. At any time this would have been monstrous—inexpressibly horrible. Just now it is the worst public calamity which could have befallen the country. Great God! have mercy upon us! This is the beginnings of evils. The hearts and hopes of all men—even those who had opposed his policy earliest and throughout—had begun to turn toward Abraham Lincoln for deliverance at last. And not without reason; for his course for the last three months has been most liberal and conciliatory. But he has fallen by the most horrible of all crimes, and he who at this moment does not join in the common thrill and shudder which shocks the whole land, is no better than an assassin. The "Daily Cincinnati Commercial," then edited by M. D. Potter, in its issue of April 17, 1865, gave an account of the demonstrations at the Cincinnati Opera House, which was packed from pit to dome, and then not one-third of those who came could gain entrance. The stage was decorated with creped flags and other mourning emblems. Mayor Harris presided over the meeting and made a short address. It had been feared that violence might come from certain remarks made by some of the citizens of Cincinnati, but the mayor believed that the citizens of Cincinnati had faith in the determination of General Hooker and himself to arrest promptly any persons who would dare to utter disloyal sentiments. (Cheers.) He was glad to say that the destruction of property had not yet been much in importance, and that no lives had been lost ; he trusted that this would continue to be the case. Law, order, care had to be preserved, and he was determined that they should be. The speakers of that eventful evening included Judge Bellamy Storer, who was first to speak and his was indeed a masterly effort. Next came Aaron F. Perry who begged the people to stay the hands of vice-president (then President) Andrew Johnson, and to be loyal to him and to the high office he was called upon to fill, as otherwise one would be known as a traitor. Next came Colonel C. F. Noyes who, in his closing remarked : "A great people will mourn for the mighty departed ; but the wheels of free government and social progress will still move on. The arts of peace, watered by the tears of our national affliction, will at length spring up again. And when at last we shall rejoice once more in the Union restored, consecrated by universal freedom, the patriotic citizen of our own land, and the pilgrims of liberty from lands beyond the sea, shall water with 624 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE tears of gratitude the flowers and grasses above the graves of Washington and Lincoln— the Father and the Savior of this country." Then came the address of Rev. Mr. Chalfont, followed by music and remarks by Rev. M. P. Goddis and Samuel F. Cary, Esq. The Methodist Episcopal Preachers' Association passed resolutions, including these : "Resolved—That appropriate religious services be held in all the Methodist Episcopal churches (English and German) in Covington and Cincinnati and Newport, on Wednesday, the 19th instant, in pursuance with the announcement of the acting Secretary of State and that the members of our congregations are hereby earnestly invited to attend. Services will commence at 12 o'clock." (Signed by the committee.) The morning Business Men's Prayer Meeting, which met every weekday morning, on April 15, 1865, met as usual but when about one-half through with their services a messenger entered the room, which was the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Fourth and Main streets, bearing the intelligence that President Lincoln was no more—he had died at 7:2o that morning. This announcement melted the audience to tears. The forty-sixth Psalm was read with tremulous voice "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." The prayers were solemn and earnest, and the exhortions every way in harmony with the people's sadness. Philip Phillips (that matchless singer) led the singing of several solemn pieces, one of which seemed very suitable ; it was John Newton's melody, each verse ending with "The Lord will provide." This was the saddest of all prayer meetings ever held in Cincinnati. Garfield Memorial Services —Coming down to the sad period when the beloved President James Abram Garfield was stricken down by an assassin's hand in 1881, let it be stated that the shot that caused his death was shot July 2, 1881, and on September 19, the same year, the lamented President, after intense suffering, died. In Cincinnati all business was suspended, practically speaking. The churches all held their memorial services, either separate or in union demonstrations. Many of these from the Lincoln Club of the city made befitting speeches, but space forbids reproducing them in this connection, save the first one which was given by the Governor, Edward F. Noyes, who spoke as follows : "Mr. Chairman—We are gathered tonight in the house of mourning and in the very shadow of death. A great and overwhelming sorrow has settled down upon the whole Nation. Every class and creed and condition mingles their tears together over the untimely taking off of a much beloved President. As I remember General Garfield when last I saw him, he was manly in figure, great in intellect, kind and gentle in his disposition ; when I see him raised by the fascination of his genius and the nobleness of his character ; when I see him the idol of his family, of that dear old mother whose footsteps he was conducting into the dark valley, MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 625 his loving wife and devoted children, I, in bitterness of spirit cry out, Oh God, why should not this man have been spared to his family, his friends and his country? Why he died we may not know ; why and how he lived we all full-well know. For twenty years he has been the great and guiding influence in marking the course of the grand old ship of State over the rocks which besets it. His name will be an inspiration to the generations that come after. It will teach them that in this free land, where honor and prosperity is the result of labor and there is no position to which they cannot aspire. Let us teach our children to emulate the virtues for which he was so conspicuous. But he is asleep beyond the assassination of the body and the slanders of the life." Governor Noyes' remarks were indeed most eloquent and touching, he moved all eyes to tears. Not even when the city mourned the death of Lincoln in 1865 did Cincinnati show such universal sorrow and make near the great demonstration shown on the occasion of the death of Garfield. The longest speech made in Cincinnati at that time was the one by Judge Alphonso Taft, whose effort was masterly throughout. This speech may be found in public libraries of the city or wherever the file of the Cincinnati "Enquirer" is preserved. Death of President William McKinley —The third President this Nation has been called upon to mourn the loss of through the dastardly hand of an assassin was the lamented McKinley who was stricken down while attending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York, in September, 1901. A memorial was held in Cincinnati for the much-loved Presided died Sept9thr 14, 1901) on the 119th of that month. Not even at the time of the funeral of President Garfield in 1881 was there near the universal demonstration and sign of deep sorrow as on the occasion of Mr. McKinley's death. All of the Roman Catholic churches in Cincinnati said mass for the martyred President. The Jewish Synagogues all held appropriate memorial services. Rabbi Grossman delivered a fine tribute-oration. Services were conducted in most all Protestant churches. These services were supposed to all be held on the self-same hour on which the services were being held in Canton, where the departed President was buried. The Masonic bodies of Cincinnati held special services in the Avondale Masonic Temple. Rev. Eugene P. Edmunds, a former pastor of Mr. McKinley, preached this sermon. All kinds of business was at a stand-still on the day of this funeral, especially on the hour when the body was being lowered on the grave at Canton. In Cincinnati all was hushed in sorrow and reverence. The city offices were closed all day ; the banks were closed ; the public schools closed ; and be it said to their credit even the saloons were all by mutual 626 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE agreement, closed that day in Cincinnati. Street cars ceased to run for five minutes at one o'clock p. m., in respect to the memory of the "Great Captain of Industry." Motormen and conductors stood with bared heads, as did also the passengers. Memorial for President U. S. Grant —While not in office at the date of his death, it was highly appropriate that the citizens of Cincinnati should do him honor to hold public memorial services at the time his body was entombed at Riverside Park, New York. He was a native of Ohio and associated with the great generals, the two Shermans and others, from the Buckeye State, and his parents are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. It was on Sunday, August 8, 1885, that impressive services were held in Cincinnati, in the great Music Hall. The services were in the evening hour and more than 2,000 military men were in attendance, besides many who could not gain an entrance to the spacious hall. The building was artistically and heavily draped with befitting emblems of mourning in excellent designs. The inscription on one of the long streamers read : "The Nation Mourns Her Greatest Son." On a white ground in the center of dark hangings over the doorway leading to the Music Hall was the name of the dead here in black letters. The entire plan of festooning throughout the building was perfect. Even to the topmost balcony their whole length was faced with white-bordered mourning caught up at the gas pipes in graceful waves. A "Broken Column" seven feet high was the gift of the Grand Army of the Republic. It was surfaced with the most beautiful flowers grown on this continent. On top of the column rested a dove with outstretched wings. Beneath was a large laurel wreath half a yard in diameter. The words "Grand Army of the Republic" in scarlet immortelles with "In Memorium" in scarlet letters. Also the G. A. R. badge appeared on white satin in dainty fashion. On the base of the column in front appeared the words : "Our Comrade, U. S. Grant." Over the column was unfurled a handsome large silk United States flag. The program did not begin until later than 8:30. The order was as follows : Organ solo; prayer by Rev. I. W. Joyce, D. D. ; oration by General Edward F. Noyes ; memorial service of G. A. R. ; hymn "Nearer My God to Thee" by Miss Annie De Beck ; benediction, Rev. John H. Ely. The address of the evening was a masterly effort and quite lengthy. The nearby Grand Army posts came in to swell the throng. The choicest floral offering emblems on the stage at Music Hall were that very night sent to New York to be placed in Riverside Park, Grant's last resting place. Because General Grant's parents and other members of the family are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, the Ohio people so much wanted the remains of the great soldier-statesman to lie, but New York planned differently and both Mr. and Mrs. Grant lie entombed in a MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 627 fine, costly memorial building in Riverside Drive where guards pace back and forth day in and day out the year round. Market Quotations in April, 1865, at Cincinnati—Butter, 35 cents ; eggs, 22 cents ; cheese, 22 cents ; green apples, $4 per barrel ; ginseng root, 75 cents per pound ; New Orleans molasses, $1.20 ; potatoes, per barrel, $2.50 and $3.00 ; sugar, Cuba 15 cents, hard refined 21 cents ; salt per barrel, $2.80 ; linseed oil, $1.25 and $1.70; petroleum, 68 and 70 cents per gallon ; tobacco, fine wrapper 16 cents, select 20 cents, fillers 6 cents, Virginia fine leaf 30 cents ; lard, 17 and 19 cents ; mess pork, $28 per barrel ; whiskey, $2.08 and $3.00 per gallon ; wool per pound, 60 cents ; pig iron, $55 per ton ; bar iron, 6 and 7 cents per pound ; salted hides, 8 1/2 and 11 cents per pound ; Flour per barrel, $7.25 and $8.70 ; wheat, $1.55 ; corn, 68 cents ; oats, 7o cents ; rye, $1 ; barley, $1.10; coffee 33 and 38 cents per pound ; cotton, 28 cents ; coal, 4 and 16 per bushel ; hogs per cwt., $9.50 and $11.00; sheep, $6.00 and $8.50 ; beans, $2 ; beef cattle, $6.50 to $9.40. First School in the County —The first school in the county was opened in Columbia June 21, 1790, by John Reily, the settler before noticed. It was a six months' subscription school, and appears to have been kept right through the warm season. The next year Francis Dunlevy joined his pedagogic interests with Mr. Reily's, the former taking the classical department, while the other taught the English studies. In 1793 Reily gave the school over altogether to Dunlevy, and went to settle in the Mill Creek Valley, seven miles from Cincinnati. The system of "boarding round" must have existed in his time of teaching in Columbia, since he records in his journal : "In the month of August boarded twelve days with Mr. Patrick Moore ; in the month of September boarded twelve days with Hugh Dunn ; and in the month of December boarded with John McCulloch six days." He must have had a school building put up for him, as Dr. Goforth's diary names "Reily's school-house" as a certain place of meeting. If so, this was the first temple of learning in the Miami country. The Liberty Bell —The local daily of Saturday, May 15, 1926, in Cincinnati had this item, which is of historic interest, or may be in the future years : "A replica of the Liberty Bell was presented to Cincinnati on yesterday by the city of Philadelphia and the Sesqui-centennial Exposition. The ceremonies were conducted on Fountain Square Esplanade under the auspices of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. Howard M. Wilson, Secretary of Historical Sites Committee, presided. "Axel Malm, representing Philadelphia and the Exposition, made the presentation. Former Judge Stanley Matthews accepted the gift for the city. The loth Infantry Band played a number of patriotic selections. 628 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE After May 25th this gift to the city will occupy a space in some one of the public buildings of the city." This bell, representing the old broken Liberty Bell of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, was transported here mainly for the purpose of advertising the coming of the 150th anniversary of our National Independence, which opened June I, 1926. Early Events —For advocating the abolition of slavery, Birney's newspaper, the "Philanthropist," was mobbed in Cincinnati in 1836, and in 1841 another mob attacked the free negroes then living in the city, and the "Philanthropist" was again attacked. Several men were killed and many wounded, showing that the pro-slavery sentiment was once strong in what is now a Republican city. In 1842 the Bank of Cincinnati and the Miami Exporting Company's Bank suspended, and a mob destroyed some of their books and movable property. It became necessary to call out the militia, commanded at that time by 0. M. Mitchell, afterward a major-general in the Civil War. There was an epidemic of cholera here in 1832, and in October of that year as many as forty-one people died of it in a single day. It visited the city again in 1833 and lasted for six months. In 1834 there was a recurrence of the scourge. Though it came in less violent form than in 1832 and 1833, yet it had a depressing effect upon business. There was no more of it until 1845, and there were over 4,100 deaths from it in that year. In 1850 the deaths from cholera were over 4,800, or more than four per cent of the entire population. There was almost a panic among the inhabitants and they fled in large numbers. In 1866 and 1873 cholera came again. Over the Rhine —Cincinnati's great German settlement was for years situated on lands to the north of the old canal and on either side of Vine Street. This part of the city in those earlier days was styled "Over the Rhine." In a small but interesting correct history of Cincinnati published in 1875, more than a half century ago, the author, D. J. Kenny, gave the following account of this portion of the city : London has its Greenwich, Paris its Bois, Vienna its Prater, Brussels its Arcade, and Cincinnati its "Over the Rhine." Thither in each of these cities the citizens, weary of business and its exhausting details, wends his way when, like John Gilpin in his famous expedition to Edmonston, he is bent on pleasure and a holiday. Unluckily, however, for the Londoner and the Parisian, Greenwich and Bois are not within the limits of everybody's purse, and the gay and merry denizens of the Austrian capital, and the dwellers in Brussels cannot extract half as much change and variety from their Prater and their Arcade as the Cincinnatian can from his trip "Over the Rhine." He has no sooner entered the city's northern district beyond Court Street, across the canal, than he MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 629 finds himself in another atmosphere—in a foreign land, as it were. Germans and Americans alike love to call the district "Over the Rhine," and by that name it is known wherever Cincinnati is heard of. There is nothing like it in Europe—no transition so sudden, so pleasant, and so easily effected. There may be a parallel for the Frenchman visiting the English quarter in Boulogne, but there is nothing in all these at all comparable to the completeness of the change brought about by stepping across the canal. The visitor leaves behind him at almost a single step the rigidity of the American, the everlasting hurry and worry of the insatiate race for wealth, the inappeasable thirst of Dives, and enters at once into the borders of a people more readily happy, more readily contented, more easily pleased, far more closely wedded to music and the dance, to the song, and life in the bright open air. The canal is by no manner of means the Rhine, or any thing like it. No lordly Ehrenbreitstein towers over its shores ; no beautiful stories of old legendary folklore fill its banks and its waters with romance ; but none the less surely Fatherland is upon the other side of its bridges. The people are German ; their faces are German ; their manners and customs are German ; their very gossip is German. They dance the German waltz as none but Germans can ; they cook their food by German receipts, and sit long over their foaming beer, ever and again shaking it round their glasses with that peculiar circular motion which none but a German can impart to the beverage he loves. It can not be said that the Germans over the Rhine lead a pastoral or an absolutely innocent life. Like all the rest of the world, they are more or less sufferers from the curse of old Adam and the consequences of the apple that Eve ate in Paradise. They are not all Arcadians in their simplicity, but it is quite certain that there is less positive crime, less disposition to rioting and drunkenness among the beer loving Transthenes than in almost every district of any other city in the land. This, to many, may seem strange ; for the Germans "Over the Rhine" are as passionately attached to their national beer and their national wines as ever their fathers or grandfathers were in Munich or Vienna, in Rhineland or Berlin. But the fact is, to see a glass of whiskey or brandy called for "Over the Rhine" is a thing of rarest occurrence. Even the American born of American parentage whose national craving, according to Henry Ward Beecher, is for whiskey, seems like the Greek at Dodona, or the Roman at Tusculum, to feel the influence of the genius loci, the spirit of the spot, and after one or two visits almost invariably substitutes cool lager or red or white wine for the more fiery national drink. Nor is this to be wondered at, for Gambrinus and his staff are here in full force. The great officers of his court are the wealthy brewers whose immense cellars pierce the hill sides and penetrate deep below into the very bowels of the earth. The gnomes and tutelary deities of the recesses, teeming with beer, are the ruddy and hearty working brewers—jolly 630 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE fellows are they, and kind hearted, as many a tale can tell. Sober are they, too, although their mighty gullets and comfortable paunches—not often in shape and size unlike Falstaff's—think no more of absorbing forty or fifty, or even sixty glasses of beer a day, from the ever open cask in the corner of the brewery, than an ordinary man would of drinking a small bottle of champagne or a pint of sherry after a hearty dinner. The minor dignitaries of the great Gambrinus are the proprietors of the beer gardens and their attendant minions. These gardens are scattered all over the "Over the Rhine," but the principal, such as the old and favorite Lowen Garten, and the more modern glories of Wielert's saloon and garden upon Vine Street, are the first and foremost. In them, in the evening hours begin, for many Americans, the true perception of transrhenan life. In his hours of relaxation, the German has no thought of selfishness. He seems to think that if his wife is a helpmeet for him she should help him drink his beer in the evening, as well as scrub his floor, cook his dinner, prepare the sauerkraut, or wash the dishes. At half the tables of these German gardens the men are not alone. They may drink two glasses of beer to one by the frau ; but even this is rare, the frau generally gets as many glasses as her liege lord and master. And while the parents drink their ein or zwei glasses the children and the pretty little maid, with every day an apparently fresh bit of ribbon in her cap, drink their kleines, while the good-natured and happy mother gives the youngest of all, sitting upon her lap, a sip or two from her own glass. And meanwhile, hot as the day without may have been, it is cool within. The air streams through the lattice-work at either end of the gardens and gently bends the tops of the trees shading the tables or toys with the oleander blossoms fluttering over the dark green foliage or the darker bark of the trunk and branches. Many of the gardens are ornamented with portraits, generally of Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Carl Maria Von Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, or other great musicians, and in all the great ones there is an orchestra. It is astonishing to what a high pitch of excellence the German love of music is arrived and how critical is the taste. The best music worthily rendered is alone listened to with any degree of attention, and when a noble masterpiece is given with effect the delight of the listeners is keenly felt and warmly expressed. This is especially the case with such well-known and spirit-stirring strains as the "Wacht am Rhein." The German loves to sing the songs of his Fatherland and also to be accompanied by a good brass band. The effect is ever powerful. The vocalization may not be given with all the delicate accentuation of Italian melodies, but it rises and swells with all the strength and vigor and musical appreciation of the German character. It is difficult indeed to overestimate the German's love of music. It is part and parcel of his being. To it, indeed, the city owes the buildings which have subse- MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 631 quently been enlarged and used for the Exposition, for had not the Germans required them for the Sangerfest, it is doubtful whether they would have been erected to this very day. It may appear somewhat singular, but it is a fact of which every observer is cognizant, that the Franco-German War of 1870 and 1871 gave a great impetus to the music of "Over the Rhine." The trumpets of the German hosts under Moltke and Frederick Charles and "unzer Fritz" seemed to inspire their compatriots even here with a prouder, more confident, and more vigorous life. The enthusiasm "Over the Rhine," as victory after victory was flashed across the cable, was as great as in Berlin itself, and the gardens were never before so thronged. It was then that the glorious patriotic songs were revived, and they have never since been forgotten ; but charming as the topic is, it must, like the Laodiceans, in Dante's "inferno," be but glanced at for a moment and then passed by. The engraving of the interior of Wielert's garden from a sketch by Farney gives some idea of many aspects of these merry scenes in an evening "Over the Rhine." The Transrhenane waiter is above all things a man to be pitied, and a man to be admired. To be pitied because he seems to be perpetually on those not very fat legs of his with never a moment's time for a private dive into one of those glasses he hands about to his thirsty patrons literally by the hundred. He often brings them by the ten or a dozen in each hand. He is to be admired for his imperturbable good nature, for his freedom from flurry, his constant sobriety, and that prompt memory which rarely, if ever, makes a mistake in the precise number of beers, mineral waters, or glasses of wine ordered, or the exact table to which they are to be brought. He is a capital fellow, and probably "takes his" in the afternoon before his night work commences. There is another characteristic feature of these saloons and gardens which should not be omitted. The sausage man perambulates them at all hours of the day and evening; but chiefly at half-past nine and eleven in the morning, about six in the afternoon, and throughout the evening, from seven or eight till after midnight. He is as persistent, but not half so insolent, as the London itinerant vender. The more fastidious among those he approaches might say, to apply the words of Sam Weller, "Weal pie is a very good thing when you known as how it's made." But the German likes his sausage, and the hausfrau's taste is too keen to admit of much deception. The Vienna sausage man is another well known character "Over the Rhine." He is constantly to be met with, and is known by everybody. He carries with him a large tin full of sausages, while a small boy by his side bears the bread, the salt and the pepper. He is a man not without wit, but of an aspect which the irreverent declare to be bordering upon the ludicrous. Then there is the wienerwurst man and his attendant satellite. Every- 632 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE one "Over the Rhine" knows them both, and every kindly German has a nod and a smile for the man and boy. But it is not only the "Over the Rhine" of the beer garden, the Music Hall, the Turnverein, the Bunden, the breweries, the sausage venders, the Deutschen Apotheken, the masked balls of the Orpheus, the Mannerchor, and such societies, or the fashionable suppers of the elite of American and German society at Hoffman's, that distinguish the locality. Nobler features are to be seen there than these or any of these. It is here where in all America the true sweetness of the domesticity of the German family life is seen in all its pristine purity. But few servants are kept, and from early in the morning till the evening meal the mothers and the daughters are busy, and happily busy, too, in home duties. Like the girls waiting to be hired at the market place in Flotow's "Martha," they seem capable of every thing. They can bake and they can brew and net, and spin and, above all, knit. A thorough German woman's hands are never idle. Even in the evening, as she sits by the door step resting, or chatting with her neighbors, her dextrous fingers are ever at work with the knitting needle and the stocking or the children's or goodman's clothes. She is a happy creature, too, good natured and a careful economizing housewife, but let her neighbor, or her lodger even, be suffering or afflicted, then is none more bountiful, more tender-hearted than she. There is a deep vein of religion in the innermost recesses of the German nature. The purest and most elevated sentiments are the most loudly applauded at the Transrhenane Theatre. They have many churches, whose steeples and spires rise one above the other in the northern district. They are literally crowded every Sunday morning. In family attachment and the simple kindliness of their home life none can assume any superiority over the Germans. Of their amusements, of their faults and foibles, but, at the same time, of their nobler qualities, "Over the Rhine" is a moving panorama—a perfect epitome. Early Photography —Three years subsequently (1844) in the compilation of his Cincinnati Miscellany, Mr. Cist inserted an editorial note which has especial value at this day, as illustrating the rise—or rather early progress—of one of the most interesting and important industries of the Queen City : Winter's Chemical Diorama—Our townsman, R. Winter, has returned from the East with his chemical pictures, which he has been exhibiting for the past thirteen months in Boston, New York and Baltimore with distinguished success. He is now among his early friends, who feel proud that the defiance to produce such pictures as Daguerre's, which was publicly made by Maffel and Lonati, who exhibited them here, was taken up and successfully accomplished by a Cincinnati artist. Nothing can be more perfect than the agency of light and shade, to give life and vraisemblance to these pictures. They are four in number. The MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 633 Milan Cathedral at Midnight Mass, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, Belshazzar's Feast, and the Destruction of Babylon. These are all fine, each having its appropriate excellencies ; but the rich, yet harmonious coloring in the two last has an incomparable effect, which must strike every observer. But the pen cannot adequately describe the triumphs of the pencil ; the eye alone must be the judge. Commerce in 1834 —In round numbers, the commerce of Cincinnati for the year 1832 was estimated at $4,000,000 ; for 1835 at something more than $6,000,000. The steamer arrivals of this year numbered 2,237. Among the imports were 90,000 barrels of flour and 55,000 of whiskey. Old-Time Staging —Some racy reminiscences of this are given by that most graphic of writers, Mr. Charles Dickens, as he had experience of it upon the roads of Ohio in 1842. He was then upon his return from the West after a previous visit to Cincinnati. He says in his American notes "We rested one day at Cincinnati, and then resumed our journey to Sandusky. As it comprised two varieties of stage coach travelling, which, with those I have already glanced at, comprehend the main characteristics of this mode of transit in America., I will take the reader as our fellow passenger, and pledge myself to perform the distance with all possible dispatch. "Our place of destination in the first instance is Columbus. It is distant about a hundred and twenty miles from Cincinnati, but there is a macadamized road (rare blessing!) the whole way, and the rate of travelling upon it is six miles an hour. We start at eight o'clock in the morning, in a great mail coach, whose huge cheeks are so very ruddy and plethoric that it appears to be troubled with a tendency of blood to the head. Dropsical it certainly is, for it will hold a dozen passengers inside. But, wonderful to add, it is very clean and bright, being nearly new, and rattles through the streets of Cincinnati gaily. "Our way lies through a beautiful country, richly cultivated, and luxuriant in its promise of an abundant harvest. Sometimes we pass a field where the strong, bristling stalks of Indian corn look like a crop of walking sticks, and sometimes an enclosure where the green wheat is springing up among a labyrinth of stumps ; the primitive worm fence is universal, and an ugly thing it is ; but the farms are neatly kept, and, save for these differences, one might be travelling just now in Kent. "We often stop to water at a roadside inn, which is always dull and silent. The coachman dismounts and fills his bucket, and holds it to the horses' heads. There is scarcely ever anyone to help him ; there are seldom any loungers standing round, and never any stable-company with jokes to crack. Sometimes, when we have changed our team, there is a difficulty in starting again, arising out of the prevalent mode of breaking a young horse ; which is to catch him, harness him against his will, 634 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE and put him in a stage coach without further notice ; but we get on somehow or other, after a great many kicks and a violent struggle, and jog on as before again. "Occasionally, when we stop to change, some two or three half-drunken loafers will come loitering out with their hands in their pockets, or will be seen kicking their heels in rocking chairs, or sitting on a rail within the colonnade ; they have not often anything to say, though, either to us or to each other, but sit there, idly staring at the coach and horses. The landlord of the inn is usually among them, and seems, of all the party, to be the least connected with the business of the house. Indeed, he is with reference to the tavern, what the driver is in relation to the coach and passengers ; whatever happens in his sphere of action, he is quite indifferent, and perfectly easy in his mind. "There being no stage coach next day upon the road we wished to take, I hired an extra, at a reasonable charge, to carry us to Tiffin, a small town from whence there is a railroad to Sandusky. This extra was an ordinary four-horse stage coach, such as I have described, changing horses and drivers, as the stage coach would, but was exclusively our own for the journey. To insure our having horses at the proper stations and being incommoded by no strangers, the proprietors sent an agent on the box, who was to accompany us the whole way through ; and thus attended, and bearing with us, besides, a hamper of savory cold meats, and fruit, and wine, we started off again, in high spirits, at half-past six o'clock next morning, very much delighted to be by ourselves, and disposed to enjoy even the roughest journey. "It was well for us that we were in this humor, for the road we went over that day was certainly enough to have shaken tempers that were not resolutely at set fair, down to some inches below stormy. At one time we were all flung together in a heap in the bottom of the coach, and at another we were crushing our heads against the roof. Now, one side was down deep in the mire, and we were holding on to the other. Now the coach was lying on the tails of the two wheelers ; and now it was rearing up in the air in a frantic state, with all four horses standing on the top of an insurmountable eminence, looking coolly back at it, as though they would say "unharness us. It can't be done." The drivers on these roads, who certainly got over the ground in a manner which is quite miraculous, so twist and turn the team about in forcing a passage, corkscrew fashion, through the bogs and swamps, that it was quite a common circumstance on looking out of the window to see the coachman with the ends of a pair of reins in his hands, apparently driving nothing, or playing at horses, and the leaders staring at one unexpectedly from the back of the coach as if they had some idea of getting up behind. A great portion of the way was over what is called a corduroy road, which is made by throwing trunks of trees into a marsh and leaving them to MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 635 settle there. The very slightest of the jolts with which the ponderous carriage fell from log to log was enough, it seemed, to have dislocated all the bones in the human body. It would be impossible to experience a similar set of sensations in any other circumstances unless, perhaps, in attempting to go up to the top of St. Paul's in an omnibus. Never, never once that day, was the coach in any position, attitude, or kind of motion to which we are accustomed in coaches. Never did it make the slightest approach to one's experience of the proceedings of any sort of vehicle that goes on wheels. "Still it was a fine day and the temperature was delicious, and though we had left summer behind us in the West, and were fast leaving spring, we were moving towards Niagara and home. We alighted in a pleasant wood towards the middle of the day, dined on a fallen tree, and leaving our best fragments with a cottager and our worst with the pigs who swarm in this part of the country like grains of sand on the sea shore, to the great comfort of our commissariat in Canada, we went forward again gayly. "As night came on the track grew narrower and narrower, until at last it so lost itself among the trees that the driver seemed to find his way by instinct. We had the comfort of knowing, at least, that there was no danger of his falling asleep, for every now and then a wheel would strike against an unseen stump with such a jerk that he was fain to hold on pretty tight and pretty quick to keep himself upon the box. Nor was there any reason to dread the least danger from furious driving, inasmuch as over that broken ground the horses had enough to do to walk ; as to shying, there was no room for that ; and a herd of wild elephants could not have run away in such a wood, with such a coach at their heels. So we stumbled along quite satisfied." Last Man Society —In 1853 was held the last meeting (attended by but one person) of a curious organization founded on Sunday, September 30, 1832, in the studio of Joseph R. Mason, a portrait painter, at the southwest corner of Fourth and Main, known as the Last Man Society. The conversation turned on the dreadful scourge of the cholera which was raging in the villages about, but had not yet reached the corporate limits of the city and the uncertainty of life in view of such a scourge. A solemn compact of friendship was entered into, each vowing to aid the other and arranging for meetings at regular intervals. The first meeting was held on October 6, 1832, and it was determined that that day and month should be celebrated each recurring year so long as there should be a survivor. A casket in the shape of an obelisk, about ten inches high and on a base seven inches square was made and in it placed a bottle of wine which was to be opened and drank by the last survivor at the first meeting after the death of the other six members. In the base 636 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE of the receptacle, which now stands in the rooms of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, is a little drawer in which were placed slips of oil paper containing the names, ages, places of birth, residence and occupation of the members in their own handwriting. The obelisk was built of solid mahogany and passed in succession to each of the seven and was retained by him one year. At each supper seven plates were provided and if any were absent the place remained vacant. The first meeting was the only meeting at which all were present, although it was some years before death entered their ranks. The members of the organization in order of their death were as follows : Dr. James Mason, 1798- 1837 ; William Stansbury, 1805-1839; Joseph R. Mason, portrait painter, 1808-1842; William Disney, Jr., druggist, 1807-1849; Fenton Lawson, 1808-1853 ; Henry H. Tatem, 18-1853 ; and Dr. John L. Vattier. On the 6th day of October, 1853, Dr. Vattier for the first time sat alone. He broke the bottle and drank its contents in memory of those who had gone before. The papers in the base of the obelisk give an account of each of the meetings of this club closing with that of October 6, 1859. For a number of years Dr. Vattier celebrated the anniversary alone. The Race Problem —In the publication known as "Cincinnati—The Queen City" issued several years ago, its editor, Rev. Charles F. Goss, wrote thus concerning the race problem : In every period of rapid growth in cities there is almost certain to be some sort of spiritual fermentation, the collision of interests being so constant and irritating as to force upon people the consideration of the great problems of personal rights and duties. In the period now under consideration it was the problem of the ethical relations of the white and black races that all the time and everywhere disturbed and agitated the minds of men. As has been over and over again observed, the situation of the city involved it in unusual difficulties, and as the "irrepressible conflict" approached, Cincinnatians became more and more excited over the issue. A procession of runaway slaves was forever passing through this "gateway to the North" and their masters were forever pursuing them. The little band of agitators who read the "Philanthropist" and clamored for abolition grew apace, while the numbers of those who catered to the South because of its trade, multiplied with a rapidity but little less. There was much at stake with them and they busied themselves in organizing meetings to denounce the doctrines of the American Anti-Slavery Society and to point out that the only method of solving the question was by "the colonization of the whole race in Africa." No better guarantee of the sincerity of this movement could be given than that of the names of the men who were its principals. When Judge .Burnet, Daniel Gano, Jesse Justice, Robert T. Lytle, and William McGuffy acted, they did so conscientiously and they MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 637 constantly took part in these efforts. That they were misguided it is easy enough for us to see and as easy to realize that the true heroes of the period were men like D. F. Meader, W. T. Truman, Nathan Guilford, James G. Birney, Salmon P. Chase, Levi Coffin and a host of others who submitted to abuse and suffered in fortune because their souls could not endure the infamy of African slavery. But in those far-off days a veil hung over the eyes of many of the noblest members of the social body. As the years rolled slowly on, the conflicts of opinion often degenerated into those of brute force as in the riots of 1842 and 1843. When these street battles were not occurring to agitate the people, lawsuits over the capture of the escaped slaves served the purpose quite as well. A volume could be filled with the story of these trials and there have been none more exciting in the courts of any age. In all such great conflicts of opinion certain individual men and women, either because of their exceptional talents or unusual advantages, embody the different opinions and become the gathering points for parties. There were two of these in Cincinnati, men who made history and whose careers demand from us an especial notice. One of them was Salmon P. Chase, whose activities have already been described, and the other was Levi Coffin, who came to Cincinnati on the 22d of April, 1847. He was of Quaker ancestry and from his earliest years bitterly opposed to slavery. Born in North Carolina and in 1798, he removed to Wayne County, Indiana, where, in 1826, he opened a store which soon became a rendezvous for runaway slaves. At a convention of people who had covenanted to handle only "free-labor" goods, Coffin was appointed to open a store for their sale in Cincinnati and came here for that purpose in 1847. His business proved a great success and furnished him ample means to carry on the work of the "underground railway," of which he came to be regarded as the national president. Before long his name was known over all the South and a stream of fugitives claimed his interest and protection. The story of his devotion and helpfulness will ever adorn our annals and to tell it in detail would be a privilege indeed. What romantic accounts those are, of the shrewdness of the old Quaker who fooled the sharpest minions of the law and who never turned his back on a slave who claimed his chivalrous protection ! The skill with which the good man would walk along the very edge of a lie without falling over was a miracle, as was also that genius by which he extricated his proteges from apparently inextricable difficulties. To one of the emissaries of the law who inquired if he had seen a slave boy pass his gate, he replied that he had ; but shrewdly omitted to explain that it was to enter instead of to go by! Another of them asked at his door for a runaway girl and was adroitly detained until she had time to put on a fine silk dress, a fashionable bonnet and a veil, in which attire she followed her 638 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE pursuer down the street until she found an alley by which she turned off into a negro settlement. On a memorable occasion the wily Quaker organized an escaping band of twenty-eight fugitives into a funeral procession which marched not only to a cemetery, but far beyond to another station in the "Railway !" At another time he went to the pork house of Henry Lewis, one of his "stockholders" to ask for money to defray the expenses of a "passenger." In the office were three slave-holding customers and so eloquent was Coffin's appeal for money "to help some poor people" (of whose color he thoughtfully omitted to speak) that the customers cheerfully contributed and never knew, until sometime afterward, that their money had been used to liberate runaway slaves. At still another time he had a young slave girl dressed up as a nurse maid, put a dummy baby in her hand, and sent her boldly out upon the street to seek her liberty. A white man who protested against his business he converted by taking him to his house and exhibiting the wounds made upon a slave's back by the lash of the driver. Undoubtedly Mr. Coffin came as near to deception as the law allows ; but undoubtedly he never passed over. In his soul there was a remarkable mixture of shrewdness and courage. Not everybody can appreciate his kind of virtue. Multitudes regarded him then, and probably do today, with hatred and contempt because the objects of his charity belonged to a despised race ; while there are other multitudes of us in whose judgment this is his highest title to honor. Coffin did not labor alone, of course, and those faithful friends who helped him have always deserved and shall here receive a generous share in his honors. Among those loyal men were Joseph Emery, Henry Lewis, John J. Jolliffe, Robert Birney, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Harwood, Samuel Reynolds, John H. Coleman and a family of Englishmen by the name of Burnett. Nor were the good women of the city behind the men. They were Mrs. Sarah H. Ernst, Miss Sarah O. Ernst, Mrs. Henry Miller, Mrs. Dr. Ayedelott, Mrs. Julia Harwood, Mrs. Amanda E. Foster, Mrs. Elizabeth Coleman, Mrs. Mary Mann, Mrs. Mary M. Guild, Miss K. Emery, and they performed their services of love by means of sewing societies where clothes were made for the almost naked wretches who fled to Coffin for protection. Of course the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 served to increase the difficulties and dangers of the business of these heroic people, for it gave a sudden impetus to the search for fugitives, some of whom had lived in the North for many years. Many of these were brought to Cincinnati for trial and their faces are famous in the history of this great struggle between the friends and enemies of the blacks. Among these were the M'Queery case before Justice John McLean of the Supreme Court of the United States, August 16 and 17, 1853 ; the MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 639 case before the Commissioner S. S. Carpenter in 1853; the Rosetta case in 1855; the Margaret Garner case, in 1856; the Connelly case, in 1859, and the Early case in 1859. John Jolliffe, J. W. Caldwell, Salmon P. Chase, ex-Governor Corwin, and a young attorney with a name which afterward became one of the shining ones of our history, Rutherford B. Hayes, were the lawyers who did the most to defend these miserable victims of one of the greatest of the injustices of all time. In many, if not all these trials, rescues and returns, the shrewd old Quaker, Levi Coffin, had a hand. His tact, his humor, his courage, his patriotism, his persistence, were all of the highest order. Not for a moment did he and his heroic wife relax their efforts to assist the objects of their charity, until at last the emancipation of the slaves rendered such efforts forever unnecessary. Mr. Coffin resided in a house on the property where the Woodward High School stands, and tardy justice was done to his great and honored name when in May, 1911, a beautiful bronze tablet was erected in the corridor of the schoolhouse to commemorate his name and deeds. These stirring and often bloody scenes were premonitory of the great tragedy soon to be enacted and the student of those memorable days feels himself borne forward by an irresistible current toward the gulf of Civil War. First Events in Hamilton County —The first church erected in Hamilton County was that at Columbia, for the Baptist Society, organized in that settlement March 24, 179o. It was, further, the first meeting house built in the territory now covered by the State of Ohio, except the church building of the Moravian missionary band at Schonebrunn and Gradenhutten, in the valley of the Tuscarwas. The first ordination of a clergyman in the Miami country was that of the Rev. Daniel Clark, a young Baptist minister at Columbia, by the Rev. Messrs. Gano and Smith, in a grove of elms near that place, September 23, 1793. The first school in the county was opened July 21, 179o, also in Columbia, by John Reily, afterwards a distinguished citizen of Butler and Hamilton counties. The next year Francis Dunlavy was joined in the instruction of the school, taking a classical department, while Mr. Reily confined his labors to the English studies. The first regular schoolhouse was probably there. The first ferry from the front of Hamilton County on the river to the Kentucky shore at the present site of Covington was run in 1790 by Robert and Thomas Kennedy, one of whom lived at each end of the line. The first to Newport was run by Captain Robert Benham, under a license from the Territorial Government, granted September 24, 1792, from Cincinnati to the opposite bank, the present Newport, on the east side of the Licking. 640 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE The first mill run in Hamilton County was started by Mr. Neaiad Coleman, a citizen of Columbia, soon after the planting of the colony. It was a very simple affair, quite like that known at Marietta in the early day, and figured in Dr. S. P. Hildreth's pioneer history. The flat-boats were moored side by side near the shore, but in the current, and with sufficient space between them for the movement of a water-wheel. The grindstones, with the grain and flour or meal handled, were in one boat, and the machinery in another. This rude mill, kept going by the cultivation of the rich soil at or near Columbia, was the chief source of supply for the soldiers of Fort Washington and the citizens of Cincinnati for one or two years. Without it there would, at one time at least, have been danger of abandonment of the fort, if not of the settlements. Before its construction settlers who had no access to hand-mills or who wished to economize their labor, went far into Kentucky to get their grinding done. At one time Noah Badgeley and three other Cincinnati settlers went up the Licking to Paris for a supply of breadstuff, and on their return were caught in a flood, their boat overturned, Badgeley drowned, and the others exposed to peril and privation upon branches of trees in the raging waters for two or three days. It is possible that Coleman's mill is identical with that mentioned in early annals as the property of one Wickersham (Wickerham he is called in Spencer's "Indian Captivity," probably by error of the types), which is sometimes referred to as the first mill, and was situated at a rapid of the Little Miami, a little below the Union Bridge, where Philip Turpin's mill was afterwards erected. Soon after Coleman started his gristmill, another, but of different character, was built on Mill Creek, near Cincinnati. A horse-mill existed in that town at a very early day, near the site of the First Presbyterian Church, and some of the meetings of that society were held in it. The first cases of capital punishment in the county occurred at the southeast end of Fort Washington in 1789—the execution of two soldiers, John Ayers and Matthew Ratmore, for desertion. The first execution by the civil authorities was that of John May, in Cincinnati, near the close of the century, by hanging, under sentence for the murder of his friend, Wat Sullivan, whom he stabbed with a hunting knife during a drunken brawl at a party given in a log cabin then standing near the corner of Sixth and Main streets. He was hanged by Sheriff Ludlow at the spot on the south side of Fifth Street, east of Walnut, and where the first jail stood. The country for fifty miles around turned out its population to see the execution. The Suspension Bridge —The subjoined article appeared in Greve's "Centennial History of Cincinnati," and is an excellent account of the bridges over the Ohio between Ohio and Kentucky States : The subject of a bridge over the Ohio had been discussed from time to time in the various publications about the city as far back as the time MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - 641 of Dr. Drake. It was not until 1845, however, that the agitation seemed likely to produce any results. In January of that year John A. Roebling, who had just completed the Monongahela suspension bridge, outlined a plan for a wire suspension bridge over the Ohio at Cincinnati. He favored a single arch of a span of 1,200 feet, which would not obstruct the river. The misapprehension relating to his plan is shown by the criticism of Mr. Cist that the breadth of the Ohio at this point would necessitate a bridge of twice the length. In September, 1846, Mr. Roebling submitted a complete plan but work was not begun until ten years later, at which time the foundations for the towers were commenced. The crisis of 1857 put a stop to the proceedings. Up to this time it had been exclusively a Covington enterprise and Cincinnati capital had looked askance at the scheme. At one time the Cincinnati tower, 45 feet above the foundation, was threatened with a public sale to satisfy the claims of the proprietor of the ground on which it had been erected. The stock was considered of little value and the enterprise was about to be abandoned. Strangely enough it was the exigencies of the war that aroused the people to the necessity for such a bridge. The threatened attacks upon the city of Cincinnati opened the way for the conclusion of this great enterprise. Cincinnati capital became interested and the work was actively resumed in the spring of 1863. It was prosecuted with such rapidity that the roadway for foot travel was, as stated, opened on the 1st of December, 1866, and the bridge was opened for vehicles on January 1, 1867. The location of the towers was fixed at low water mark so that the middle span should present an opening of no less than 1,000 feet in the clear. The elevation of the approach near Front Street in Cincinnati was that of the height attained by the water in the spring of 1832-62 feet 6 inches. At this stage of water the width of the water way was over two thousand feet. The elevation of the floor above low water mark in the center of the span was fixed at 122 feet, reduced by a later enactment to too feet. As is actually built it was 103 feet in the clear at a medium temperature of sixty degrees, rising as high as one foot more in extreme heat. The bridge was 36 feet wide with two ways for pedestrians, two carriage ways and a double track for street railways. The cables contained 10,400 wires weighing nearly two million pounds. The total length of the bridge was 2,25o feet, of which 1,057 feet occupied the center span. The towers about 23o feet high were higher and contained more stone, than the Bunker Hill Monument. The total cost of the bridge was $1,800,000. At the time of its completion this structure had the largest single span of its class in the world and it was said by James Parton that the whole population of Cincinnati could get on it without danger of being let down into the water. It has since been rebuilt and considerably Cin-41 642 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE strengthened. Since the completion of the bridge, four others have been built connecting Cincinnati with the Kentucky shore—that of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, the so-called Central Bridge connecting the city with Newport ; the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Bridge, terminating in Covington and the Cincinnati Southern Railway Bridge, connecting the city with Ludlow, Kentucky. Within a space of about two miles and a half, five bridges serve to accommodate the large population living and traveling to the South. Death of President Lincoln —Tarbell's "Life of Lincoln," Vol. II, page 247, gives this account of the manner in which the news of the assassination of Lincoln was received in Cincinnati : The receipt of the news of Lincoln's assassination plunged the city into the deepest gloom. In Cincinnati, which had spent the day and night before in the most elaborate jubilation, the rage against treason broke out at the least provocation. "Some individuals of the 'butternut' inclination," says a former citizen, in recalling these days, "were knocked into the gutters and kicked, because they would make no expression of sorrow, or because of their well-known past sympathy with the rebellion. Others as loyal as any suffered also, through mistaken ideas of meanness on the part of personal enemies. Junius Brutus Booth, a brother of the assassin, was closing a two-weeks' engagement at Pike's Opera House. He was stopping at the Burnet House. While there was no violent public demonstration against him, it was well known that his life would not be worth a farthing should he be seen on the streets or in public. Of course the bills were taken down, and there was no performance that night. Mr. Booth was well pleased quietly to escape from the Burnet and disappear. The California Excursion —Another incident of city life in 1869 was the so-called Cincinnati excursion to California, which was organized under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce. In this excursion 53 citizens, including Mr. and Mrs. Robert Buchanan, Abram Swift, Robert Hosea, William Resor, Michael Werk, A. H. Smith, Alexander McDonald, Albert Mitchell, A. S. Merrell, B. S. Cunningham and Messrs. Morris White, D. J. Fallis, George Graham, C. B. Murray, George W. Jones, Frederick Burkhardt and others took part. The party traveled 6,000 miles and were received with enthusiasm at many of the large cities of the West, to which they carried the greetings of the city.   CHAPTER XL. NOTABLE PERSONS AND EVENTS. With the flight of years since Cincinnati had a place on the map of the world, numerous noted men and women have either resided in or visited the city, and it will be the object of this chapter to make a brief notice of their coming and going. Necessarily the list is incomplete, for their names are very numerous, but those vividly recalled by the writer include these : Among the distinguished visitors may be named Charles Dickens, the great English author, who, in 1842, when he was at the climax of his career, arrived in Cincinnati. This was an event of the first magnitude to many. His stay, however, was all too short to admit of public functions, so the populace were greatly disappointed at his brief sojourn. Louis Kossuth, the noted Hungarian patriot, in 1852 paid Cincinnati a visit. The daily papers reported his doings daily while he remained in the city. Banquets were frequent, speeches numerous, and Kossuth hats and Magyar caps were on sale. Processions were had on the streets, and for the time being all else was forgotten, each citizen trying to outdo the other in welcoming that brilliant character after whom many towns and counties in the United States were later named. He came on a money-raising mission to secure funds for the aid of his fellow countrymen, then in great distress, but the people hereabouts did not respond very liberally, hence he was disappointed. William Henry Harrison, President of the United States, after he had been the brave captain and finally General W. H. Harrison, resided at North Bend, but was practically a Cincinnatian. His original home was of logs, and it became a symbol of simplicity, and his elevation to the highest seat in the young republic was an inspiration. He was elected in the famous campaign of 184o. Processions in which the "Log Cabin," "Coon Skin Cap," "Hard Cider" and songs celebrating the hero's achievements were almost a part of the daily life of the city. April 4, only a few months after he had been elected, he died of pneumonia in Washington. His remains were brought back and buried in an obscure spot near the home in North Bend, within a stone's throw of the ashes of that great pioneer founder, John Cleves Symmes, neither today having a befitting monument. Indeed, the present only lives for itself, caring little for the departed dead. Meeting of Lincoln and Stanton —The first meeting of these two great Civil War figures— President Abraham Lincoln and his Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton—was at Cincinnati in 1855, when they came respectively from Springfield, Illinois, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. as 644 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE legal associates in a law suit styled "McCormick vs Manny (a reaper and mower case). It appears that Mr. Stanton did not like the looks of his associate, Lincoln, and one account says Stanton remarked : "I will not be associated with such a damned, gawky, long-armed ape as that," and that if he is to be in the case he would abandon it altogether. At any rate, Mr. Lincoln was so badly hurt that he refused to enter the case but remained and heard other lawyers try a part of the case and then returned home, and as he said to his friend Emerson : "I think I can get along with the way things go out our way as they are done now. But these college-trained men who have devoted their whole lives to the study of law are coming West, don't you see, and they study their cases as we never do. They have got as far as Cincinnati, now. They will soon be in Illinois. I am going home to study law. I am as good as any of them, and when they get out to Illinois I will be ready for them." Mr. Lincoln again visited Cincinnati in 1859. On Friday, September 9, Senator Stephen A. Douglas had spoken to 7,000 people in Cincinnati Court House Square, and on the Saturday following Lincoln delivered his well-known "Cincinnati speech" from the balcony of Mr. Kinsey's house in Fifth Street, Market Square. Here it was that he said he wanted the people over the river in Kentucky to hear this : "I think slavery is wrong, morally, socially, and politically." The only other time Lincoln visited Cincinnati was on February 12, 1861, while enroute from Illinois to Washington to take his seat as President, for the first term. By that time Lincoln had become an idolized standard bearer of the Republican party. Four years later the same man, Secretary Stanton above mentioned, stood at Lincoln's deathbed when life had flickered out, and remarked : "Now he belongs to the ages." In 1859 three celebrities visited Cincinnati—Ralph Waldo Emerson, General Winfield Scott, and Jenny Lind, the sweet Swedish nightingale. In 1860 came the Prince of Wales, arriving September 28, 1860. He made headquarters at the Burnet House, but was banqueted at the home of Robert B. Bowler. On the following Sabbath morning the royal party worshiped in St. John's Church, at Seventh and Plum streets. The people of those earlier days made more of such visits by celebrated men than they do nowadays. Stanley Matthews, son of the celebrated professor of Woodward College, Thomas J. Matthews, was born in Cincinnati July 21, 1824; educated at Kenyon College, grew to manhood's estate with leaps and bounds. He was both lawyer and journalist of more than ordinary ability. He hated slavery, and upon the opening of the Rebellion he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the 23d Ohio Infantry, the colonel of which was W. S. Rosecrans and the major was Rutherford B. Hayes. While in the field camp in 1863 he was elected judge of the Superior Court in Cincinnati. He resigned in 1865, and at once entered the prac- NOTABLE PERSONS AND EVENTS - 645 tice of law. He filled out the unexpired term of John Sherman as United States Senator, and in 1881 he was appointed to the Supreme bench and served until his death in 1889. Volumes can be written on such characters who have brightened the city of their nativity. Rutherford B. Hayes, another President chosen from Ohio, was born in Delaware County, this State, but resided in Cincinnati from 1849 on for many years. He was graduated from both Kenyon and Harvard Colleges, and was associated with such men as Chase, Ewing, Corwin, Matthews, Conway and their contemporaries. When the Civil War broke out he became captain of a military organization formed in the Literary Club. He served during the conflict and rose to the rank of major-general. He was sent to Congress from Ohio and was elected as Governor of his State, and in 1876 was the Republican standard bearer for President in which contest he was finally "counted in" by a commission, as against Samuel J. Tilden. J. B. Stallo is another worthy of mention in this list of important factors in Cincinnati. He was born of a race of schoolmasters in Oldenberg, coming to Cincinnati in 1831, at first being employed at St. Xavier College. He later studied law and became a very able advocate, and he succeeded Judge Stanley Matthews as judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He brought this court into National fame by his argument to sustain the School Board in its ordinance forbidding the reading of the Bible in the public schools. He was appointed minister to Italy, and there remained until his death in 1900. Judge Alphonso Taft, of whom a sketch appears in this work, appeared in the above celebrated Bible-in-the-school case and wrote the dissenting opinion, when his two associates, Storer and Hagans decided that the School Board were at fault in excluding the Bible. Ex-President William Howard Taft is a son of Alphonso Taft above named. A number of noted physicians and surgeons are entitled to a place in this list of worthies of the long ago years in Cincinnati, but as they have been noted in the Medical Chapter of this work will not appear here. By removals Cincinnati has also lost much in the way of talent. The city will ever be the poorer on account of the two Cary sisters (the wonderfully capable and sweet poets) removal to New York. Other highly gifted souls have been constrained to move to other parts, after having once for years been identified in Cincinnati. Run over the list hastily with the writer—Henry Ward Beecher, his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe ; also their father, Dr. Lyman Beecher, W. H. McGuffy, Hiram Powers, and General George B. McClellan. Other names include William D. Gallagher, Horace Mann, Moses Ezekiel, Elizabeth Nourse, and others. No other name is worthier to follow Major Anderson's than that of Robert L. McCook. There were fifteen members of this remarkable family in the Civil War, and all commissioned officers, save one, a boy 646 - GREATER CINCINNATI AND ITS PEOPLE of eighteen, who preferred on account of his youth to remain a private soldier. Robert L., a partner of Judge Stallo, had already won fame as a lawyer when the war broke out and gave him his opportunity to achieve glory upon the field of battle. He sprang at once to arms and organized the 9th Ohio from the German citizens of Cincinnati. He commanded a brigade in West Virginia under McClellan, was wounded at Mill Springs and continued fighting even when unable to mount his horse. He rose rapidly to the rank of major-general, and was on his way to greater honors when he was brutally shot to death in an ambulance where he was lying helpless from a wound. A death so terrible of a young man so full of promise shocked the whole country ; but sent a thrill of anguish through his native city, where his body was received with reverence and buried in Spring Grove Cemetery with military honors. Nor did this reverence cease with his death or the war ; but animated his admirers later on to erect a monument to his memory in one of our city parks. Take such a man as Rutherford B. Hayes, whose early manhood is one of the richest treasures of our municipal life, for up to his removal to Fremont, Ohio, he practiced in the courts of Hamilton County and took part in all the activities of those strenuous years of the war and afterwards. Born in Delaware, Ohio, 1823, graduated at Kenyon and Harvard, he came to Cincinnati in 1849. His culture gave him entrance into the highest circles and in the Literary Club he was associated with Chase, Ewing, Corwin, Matthews, Conway, Force, and other leaders in thought and action. Proving himself to be their equal, he rose from one position of honor to another, and when the war broke out, became captain of the military organization formed in the Literary Club. He served throughout the war with great distinction and before its close attained the rank of major-general. At different times he served the State in Congress and as Governor and finally was elevated to the highest office in the gift of the people. Of his personal purity, his Christian charity, his unselfish patriotism, too much cannot be said, and during his stay among us he added enormously to the richness of our life. Sister Anthony O'Connell was born in Limerick, Ireland, and was brought to this country when a wee little child by her parents. She lived in Maine and Boston and entered the community at Emmetsburg when twenty years old. Two years later she came to Cincinnati, beginning here her life of entire devotion to humanity as a Sister of Charity. She worked successively in St. Peter's Orphan Asylum, the St. Aloysius, the St. Joseph, and the St. John's hospitals, most of the time as head of these institutions. When the Civil War broke out she was the first to answer a hurry call for nurses after the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, and from that time on to the close of the struggle she gave her services to the sick and wounded soldiers. When it was over she returned to NOTABLE PERSONS AND EVENTS - 647 Cincinnati and started a foundling home, where she lived in her work till her death in 1898. She lies in the little Mt. St. Joseph Cemetery and her grave is always decorated on Memorial Day by the old soldiers, who have christened her "The Angel of the Battlefield." Her picture shows a pure, wistful Irish face, and the record she has left is that of the utter beauty of human kindness.    CHAPTER XLI. FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW AND "UNDERGROUND RAILWAY." It is of historic interest to here make mention of the days of Abolitionists in Cincinnati, at least in the forties and fifties. In 1842 a paper known as the "Anti-Abolitionist," published in Cincinnati, gave a list of abolitionists in the city for the purpose of informing Southerners and enabling them to avoid carrying on their trade with these people. The list, which has now long since become a roll of honor, included the following : Thomas Morris, attorney ; Nicholas Longworth, property holder ; G. Bailey, Jr., editor of the "Philanthropist" ; Samuel A. Alley, printer on the same paper ; Rev. William H. Brisbane, Rev. George Blanchard, James Dean, shoemaker ; George D. Fry, secretary Anti-Slavery Society; Harvey Hall, attorney ; E. F. Brush, D. De Forest, tinware ; C. Donaldson, David Williams, William Carson, C. C. Merrill, N. H. Merrill, Salmon P. Chase, Samuel Lewis, Amos Moore, tanner ; H. Miller, stove-maker ; A. Kellogg, auctioneer ; Murphy & Son, grocers ; A. W. Hicks, shoemaker ; William Birney, notary ; Caleb S. Burdsal, William Lewis, Joseph N. Hueston, James Blin, Rev. Dr. Park, and Jabez Reynolds. The "Underground Railway"—This was simply the name of a secret manner in which colored people in slavery were helped through the free States of the North to Canada, where they became safe from bondage. Among the strongest characters as connected with this "railway" was the good Levi Coffin, a Quaker by training. He opened a store in Cincinnati in 1846 and became a leader in the "Underground Railroad" cause. In his "Reminiscences" he writes interestingly as follows : I was personally acquainted with all the active and reliable workers on the Underground Railroad in the city, both colored and white. There were a few wise and careful managers among the colored people, but it was not safe to trust all of them with the affairs of our work. Most of them were too careless, and a few were unworthy—they could be bribed by the slave-hunters to betray the hiding places of the fugitive. . . . . We were soon initiated into Underground Railroad matters in Cincinnati, and did not lack for work. Our willingness to aid the slaves was soon known, and hardly a fugitive came to the city without applying to us for assistance. There seemed to be a continual increase of runaways, and such was the vigilance of the pursuers that I was obliged to devote a large share of time from my business to making arrangements for the concealment and safe conveyance of the fugitives. They sometimes came to our door frightened and panting and in a destitute condition, having fled in such haste and fear that they had no time to bring any clothing except what they had on, and that was often very scant. The expense of providing suitable clothing for them when it was necessary for them to go on immediately, or of feeding them when they were obliged to be concealed for days or weeks, was very heavy. Added to this was the cost of hiring teams when a party of fugitives had to be conveyed out of the city by night to some Underground Railroad depot, from twenty to thirty miles distant. The price UNDERGROUND RAILWAY - 649 for a two-horse team on such occasions was generally ten dollars, and sometimes two or three teams were required. We generally hired these teams from a certain German livery stable, sending some irresponsible though honest colored man to procure them, and always sending the money to pay for them in advance. The people of the livery stable seemed to understand what the teams were wanted for, and asked no questions. Learning that the runaway slaves often arrived almost destitute of clothing. a number of the benevolent ladies of the city—Mrs. Sarah H. Ernst, Miss Sarah O. Ernst, Mrs. Henry Miller, Mrs. Dr. Aydelott, Mrs. Julia Harwood, Mrs. Amanda E. Foster, Mrs. Elizabeth Coleman, Mrs. Mary Mann, Mrs. Mary M. Guild, Miss K. Emery, and others—organized an Anti-Slavery Sewing Society, to provide suitable clothing for the fugitives. After we came to the city, they met at our house every week for a number of years, and wrought much practical good by their labors. Our house was large and well adapted for secreting fugitives. Very often slaves would lie concealed in upper chambers for weeks, without the boarders or frequent visitors at the house knowing anything about it. My wife had a quiet, unconcerned way of going about her work, as if nothing unusual was on hand, which was calculated to lull every suspicion of those who might be watching, and who would have been at once aroused by any sign of secrecy or mystery. Even the intimate friends of the family did not know when there were slaves secreted in the house, unless they were directly informed. When my wife took food to the fugitives she generally concealed it in a basket, and put some freshly ironed garment on the top, to make it look like a basketful of clean clothes. Fugitives were not often allowed to eat in the kitchen, from fear of detection. Mr. Coffin tells many stories of the expedients to which he was put in endeavoring to aid escaped slaves. On one instance while two negroes, evidently plantation hands, were eating heartily in the kitchen, the marshal of the city accompanied by two planters came up the street. After a little parleying with Coffin who in response to questions described the escaping negroes very accurately, they passed on misled by his equivocations. Coffin said that he had seen two such boys not a half hour since pass his gate and that they inquired where the depot was and that if the marshal would make haste he might reach the depot before they left. This was all true, but he failed to state that the boys had returned after passing the gate and had no further use for the depot, as Coffin took them out of the city in his buggy. At another time a slave girl from Covington was eating her breakfast in the kitchen and a slave hunter was heard to make inquiries in the front part of the house. The girl was hustled up the back stairway dressed in the best black silk dress that the house afforded and on her head was put a fashionable bonnet to which was attached a heavy veil. Thereupon she and a fellow servant passed boldly out of the front door and followed the man who was inquiring after her a part of the way until she came to a side street, where she turned off to a negro settlement, in which she was secreted until opportunity afforded itself to permit her to escape to Canada. At another time twenty-eight slaves crossed the river at Lawrenceburg under the conduct of a white man, John Fairfield, a true friend of