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CHAPTER XVI.

THE GERMANS IN CINCINNATI,

EARLY AND DISTINGUISHED SETTLERS-FIRST HISTORY OF THE TOWN WRITTEN BY HECKEWELDER-- THE FIRST EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE TOWN A GERMAN-LANG LINE OF A EMINENT IN LITERATURE AND THE PROFESSIONS -GREAT RESULTS.

NO element has been more intimately and powerfully identified with the success and prosperity of Cincinnati than the German. Always noted for their industry, frugality and steady habits, these people have contributed largely to make the city what it is to-day; and to no class of settlers, therefore, is more credit due. The sturdy German came with the first settlers; first in a military capacity in the service of his adopted country, and when the wars were over he quickly resumed the peaceful habits of his race, and turned a willing hand to aid in the development of the county just reclaimed from the savage.

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The first man to write a full account of the settlement of Cincinnati was the celebrated John Heckewelder, the pious Moravian missionary among the Indians. He came here July 2, 1792, accompanied by Gen. Putnam, of Marietta, and spent several days in the town. While here he preached to the people and mingled among them freely. He was then on his famous journey to the Wabash, and the journal be kept on that occasion is one of the most interesting contributions to our early history. His description of Cincinnati is very full and interesting, and those who care to read it will find it in the " Pennsylvania Magazine of History " for 1887. Mr. Heckewelder was somewhat acquainted with the Northwest Territory, having some years before aided in founding Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas, where the Christian Indians were so atrociously butchered in 1788 by Williams and his militiamen from Pennsylvania. After making his great journey through the wilderness, and conferring with numerous tribes, be returned to his beloved Bethlehem.

In the first years of the legal existence of the infant village, two Germans were elected to fill the first municipal offices, viz.: Maj. David Zeigler, 1802-3; Martin Baum, 1807-12. The former was here as early as 1788, in the military service.

CINCINNATI'S FIRST OFFICIAL.

Maj. David Zeigler was born at Heidelberg in 1748. At an early age he began his military career as a subordinate officer under Frederick the Great. He also served in the Russian army during the reign of Catharine the Second in the campaign against the Turks, which ended with the cession of the Crimea to Russia. He came to America in 1775 for the purpose of entering the Revolutionary army. Early in that year he was commissioned third lieutenant in Capt. Ross' company at Lancaster, Penn., which was recruited in that county, and was immediately sent to escort a supply of powder to Washington's army at Cambridge. On the 25th of June, 1775, he was promoted first lieutenant and adjutant of Col. William Thompson's battalion of riflemen. This regiment was the second in Pennsylvania to enlist for the war. On the 6th of January, 1776, he was promoted first lieutenant of a company of the First Pennsylvania Continental Infantry, and December 8, 1778, he was raised to the rank of captain. From his promotion to the end of the Revolution he served as senior captain in this famous regiment, which Wayne said " always stepped to the front for glory." He distinguished himself in the battles of Long Island, Brandywine, Monmouth, and Bergen Point. The same day he was promoted he was made inspector of the Pennsylvania brigade. He was once taken prisoner, but was soon exchanged. He served in the Carolinas in 1783, returning to Philadelphia by water. At the close of the war he became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. When Gen. Harmar was sent on his western expedition Capt. Zeigler accompanied him. He was also with Gen. Lincoln. On the 29th of December, 1791, he was promoted to the rank of major. He saw much hard service during the Indian wars in the Northwest Territory. As an officer he stood high, being noted for his military bearing, promptness to obey orders, and for having one of the best drilled companies in the service. In the spring of 1789 he married Lucy, youngest daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Coggeshall) Sheffield, of Marietta, while stationed at the fort there. Maj. Zeigler resigned in 1792, settled in Cincinnati, and engaged in business as a storekeeper. After serving as the first president of the village council in 1802, he was appointed by Jefferson in 1804 the first marshal of the Ohio District, and in 1809-11 he filled the office of surveyor of the port, of Cincinnati. Maj. Zeigler was greatly esteemed by the people for his many noble qualities as a soldier and civilian. He died in 1811, aged sixty-three years, and was buried with military honors. His name and fame have always been held in grateful remembrance by his posterity.

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A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.

Martin Baum (born at Hagenau, July 16, 1761; died in Cincinnati December 14, 1831.) did much---more. perhaps, than any man of his time-to improve and elevate the German element, in Cincinnati and the great Ohio Valley. Through his great wealth, which he had accumulated through many successful business enterprises, he helped a great deal to raise his people to a higher standard. As early as 1803, he called into existence the first. bank in the West. entitled the " Miami Exporting Company," whose president he remained for many years. Through this company, which carried on at the same time a great transportation business, Bantu became one of the most important promoters and improvers of the navigation of the rivers of the West.. He called to life the first sugar refinery, the first iron foundry, the first woolen factory, the first steam flouring-mill, and other industrial establishments so much needed by the people. Through these industries many persons found work and profit who otherwise would have been compelled to struggle hard for existence; and when he could not find enough good and skilled workmen in the new country, he would enlist in Baltimore and Philadelphia newly-arrived immigrants, and bring them to the new settlement on the Ohio. In this way the current of emigration was directed toward the West, and it increased in strength and volume from year to year, Not only this, but the first ornamental garden, as well as the first vineyard, which Bantu laid out at Deer Park--now within the city limits-marks him as one of the most industrious and progressive men of his time.

His spirit was ever active-his mind was restless. He aided more than anybody else to push along improvements. His taste for art, science and literature attracted the attention of men of culture who settled here early, largely on account of the beautiful natural surroundings and the loveliness of the scenery. The foundation of the Lancaster School in 1813, out of which arose the Cincinnati College in 1818, was, besides Judge Burnet's, principally Baum's work. He was its first vice-president, and served for many years as an active member of the board. This great and good man, whose restless mind ever yearned for the intellectual advancement of his people. was one of the original stimulators and founders of the first public library of the West in February, 1802; of the Western Museum in 1817; of the Literary Society in 1818; of the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture in the West in 1819; and of the Apollonian Society in 1823.

As early as 1812 he was nominated for Congress, but positively refused to be a candidate, because he could not spare the time to be absent from his many business operations. If we consider that he was in those clays the wealthiest and most respected citizen of Cincinnati; that he was also president of the Cincinnati branch of the Bank of the United States; and that he stood in connection with the most important men of the land, it is clear that Baum was to the German element in the first period of the history of the settlement a powerful support. His house was always open and his hospitality was unbounded. All intellectually great men were especially welcome. Julius Ferdinand von Salis, cousin of the great German lyric poet, Count Johann Gaudez von Salis, lived with him about the year 1817. He had traveled through the Orient as a natural philosopher, "and wrote here," says Klauprecht " in the retirement of this western market town, his experiences and impressions of the cradle of mankind for a German publisher, when in the year 1819 death took the pen out of his hand."

OTHER PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS.

In 1817 Albert von Stein came to Cincinnati. Previous to this he had gained in the United States quite a reputation as an engineer. He was the promoter and builder of the, Cincinnati water-works. the first water-works of the country which were worked by pumps. Afterward Stein was for a while engaged in Philadelphia

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as draughtsman for Wilson's " Illustrated Ornithology." He built the waterworks at Richmond and Lynchburgh, Va., the Appomattox canal, near Petersburgh, Va., and the water-works at New Orleans, Nashville, and Mobile. Of the last named works he was the owner until his death, which occurred in 1876, when he was aged eighty-four years.

Dr. Friedrich Reese, a very learned, active, and popular man, was the first German Catholic priest in Cincinnati. This was in 1825. He was at one time bishop of Detroit. He was born at Vianenburg, near Hildesheim, and had, like Pio Nono, first served in the cavalry, and then studied theology. He died at Hildesheim December 27, 1871, after having been called to Rome and given up his episcopate in 1841. While in Cincinnati Dr. Reese was the founder of the Scientific School, the Athenaeum, which passed afterward into the hands of the Jesuits, and was changed by them into the present St. Xavier College. He wrote a history of the Bishopric of Cincinnati, which was published in 1829 at Vienna, and was otherwise busy in literary pursuits. Joseph Zaslein, Jakob Gulich, and Ludwig Heinrich Meyer were the first German Protestant pastors in Cincinnati. Reference to the founding of the first German papers, political as well as religious, will be found in the chapter on the Press.

Another prominent early settler was Karl Gustav Rumelin (now spelled Reemelin). He was born in Heilbronn, March 19, 1814, and came to the United States in 1832, when the great emigration from Wurtemberg and Hessen took place. He landed in Philadelphia August 27, 1832, and remained there for some time. He reached Cincinnati in 1833, and soon found a position in a store. Having a taste for politics he took much interest in political affairs and public life. In 1834 he was one of the founders of a German society, of which he remained a member for forty years. In 1836 he became connected with the German press, and took an active part in politics. He learned the trade of a printer, set type on his own paper, ran the press, and, when it was necessary, carried and delivered his own papers. It was largely through his influence that Hamilton county, which in 1834 had given a majority for the Whigs, gave from 1836 to 1840 a majority for the Democrats. In 1837 he married a Swiss lady, and in the spring of 1843 he sold his press and removed to the country. After making a visit to Europe he returned in time to be elected from Hamilton county to a seat in the Lower House of the Ohio Legislature for 1844 and 1845; and in 1846 be was elected for two years to the Senate. he made an active member of both bodies. His report in favor of the annexation of. Texas was reprinted in many Democratic papers, and attracted much attention. In 1846, 1847, 1848 he studied law with Judge Van Hamm, passed his examination and was admitted to the law. But ho did not follow his profession. In 1849 he visited Europe again, and while abroad acted as correspondent for the New York Evening Post. While in Germany he was elected a member of the convention which was to revise the Constitution of Ohio. This was in 1850. He took his seat in the convention, and the article in the Constitution of 1851, which prevented the legislature from making arbitrary divisions in the electoral districts, was due to his efforts. He supported Fremont, but did not vote for Lincoln or Douglas. He was a warm friend of Breckinridge, whom he knew personally and greatly respected. Altogether he made six journeys to Europe. In 1876 he voted for Tilden. This same year he was elected by popular vote for two years to the honorary office of a member of the board of control for Hamilton county. In addition to his newspaper work, he found time to write several books, many scientific and descriptive articles, as well as magazine contributions. One of his most important works is a "Treatise on the Science of Politics," which was published by Robert Clarke & Co. At this writing (1893) he is still living at the ripe age of eighty years.

Among the German literary celebrities of Cincinnati none stand higher than

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Heinrich A. 'Ratterman, for many years editor of the Pionier. He is a native of Ankum, District of Osnabruck, Germany, where he was born October 14, 1832. He came to this country with his parents in 1846, and settled in Cincinnati. At leisure moments he devoted his time to learning the English language, which he speedily acquired, and there are few in the city to-day who speak it more correctly. ' On the death of his father in 1850, the care of the family devolved on him, but be did not shrink from the task. He continued his studies in the meantime, and finally graduated from a commercial college, becoming then bookkeeper for one of his relatives who was engaged in the lumber business. Through his influence and continued efforts, the German Mutual Fire Insurance Company was founded in the spring of 1858, and became soon after one of the most successful institutions of the kind in the United States. For more than thirty years he has served as secretary and business manager of the concern. But the great activity which he has devoted to this institution has not checked his inner impulse for literary work and music. He has written poetry in the German and English languages, and worked with especial industry in the field of historical investigation, particularly in the history of civilization. He traces up, with a peculiar zeal and genuine enthusiam, the generations of the German immigrants into the most remote period, and his investigations into this and kindred subjects are not only deeply prosecuted, but betray a sharp and critical judgment. And it is doubtful if there is a better posted man to-day in Cincinnati on the history of the early German settlers. There is hardly a book or pamphlet which can give him any material for his historical work that is not known to him. He takes especial pride in the fact that the first history of Cincinnati was written by a German in 1792. Being engaged for a number of years with such historical work, be edited for eleven years the Deutscher Pionier -started in 1869-which aimed to give in an entertaining style a view of the past and present of German life in America. This journal, which was discontinued at the end of the eighteenth volume, contains a vast amount of valuable information, which no one can use to better advantage than Mr. Ratterman in compiling a history of immigration, and there is a strong desire that he will put it in shape not only for the benefit of the present generation, but for posterity. Several years ago he published an historical sketch of Cincinnati, several novels, and a history of the Great West. He is also very fond of music, and is himself a good musician; be was one of the founders and a member of the Saengerbund, the Maennerchor and, the Orpheus societies; also a member of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio; a member of the Cincinnati Library Club; a corresponding member of the New York Historical Society, and one of the founders of the German Literary Club of Cincinnati. He owns a large and valuable library, which is particulary rich in works of a historical character. In the interest of the insurance company he has also studied law, especially that branch which relates to insurance, and is, therefore, qualified to give advice on matters pertaining to his business.

LITERARY AND PROFESSIONAL MEN.

In noting the literary and professional lights the name of Dr. Joseph H. Pulte should not be omitted. He was a native of Westphalia. After finishing his medical studies, he emigrated to the United States in 1834, following a brother who was a well-known physician in St. Louis. Settling in Allentown, be devoted his attention to the practice of homeopathy, then but recently introduced in this country. After laboring there for several years in the Homeopathic College of that place, he came to Cincinnati in 1840 and settled. In 1850 he published a work entitled "The Domestic Practice of Homeopathy," which appeared also in London, in English; and in Havana, in Spanish. He followed this by several other medical works from time to time. He also conducted for several years the "American Magazine of Homeopathy and Hydropathy." In 1852 he became professor of clinical

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practice and obstetrics in the Homeopathic College at Cleveland, and founded in Cincinnati, from his own means. the Pulte Homeopathic College, which was opened September 27, 1872. Besides his poetical writings mention should be made of his philosophical work, with which he enriched the literature of the country. It is art attempt to bring revealed religion into harmony with philosophy. Dr. Pulte did much to advance and elevate his school of medicine, and his name stands high among those who have followed in his footsteps. He died about 1883,

Another eminent physician, Dr. Friedrich Roether, is eminently deserving of notice in this connection, He was born in Germany in 1809, and educated in that country. After finishing his studies he taught for a short time in Osnabruck, whence he came to this country in 1835. In 1837 he located in Cincinnati and became an English teacher. He held this position two years, when he was made principal of the Catholic Trinity School. At the end of a year he resigned to study medicine at the Ohio Medical College, Having graduated he devoted himself to the practice of medicine in Cincinnati. His position as English teacher in the public schools had brought him into association as well with the most prominent men of the city as with the most influential members of the board of education: and when the Germans nominated him as a candidate for the school board in 1843 he was elected. He was appointed chairman of the committee on instruction in German, and succeeded in mollifying the hostile feeling which formerly existed in the board against instruction in German, by his moderate and thoughtful, but earnest efforts. Tire German-English schools, which so far had shown very little life, rallied and flourished under his untiring care. That was a triumph for the Germans which filled everybody with gladness, and a meeting of German citizens was called to give Roelker publicly their thanks for his zeal, activity and success. His re-election in 1844 was easy. He understood clearly that the preservation of the German language did not depend on school instruction alone, but that continued effort afterward would be necessary to ripen the seed planted at the school. For this purpose he proposed the founding of a library company, which was brought about, in the autumn of 1844. It was called the " German Heading and Educational Society," and in its foundation Roelker was largely aided by a number of eminent and well known German citizens. He was made tire first president of the society, and it continued to grow and prosper until the Civil war caused its dissolution. The four thousand volumes owned by the library were presented to the Maennnerchor singing society for the free use of its members. Dr. Roelker resigned his position as a member of the school board in 1846, and in 1810 he made a visit to Europe. There has not, been a man in Cincinnati who is entitled to more credit for tire successful introduction of German instruction in the public schools than Dr. Hoelter, nor one, whose name is mare honored on this account. He died at Providence, E. I., about 1883.

MILITARY HEROES,

In the military line the name of August Moor is worthy of mention. He was born in Leipzig March 18, 1814, became a pupil in a military school, and there developed a decided taste for the military profession. He came to the United States in and found occupation in Philadelphia. There he became a lieutenant in the Washington Guard of that city, and during the Seminole war of 1836 he enlisted in a volunteer dragoon company, in which he became lieutenant-colonel. When his term of service expired he came to Cincinnati and engaged in business. On the breaking out of the Mexican war in 1846,, he became captain of a company of Ohio Volunteers, and so distinguished himself in several battles that; be was soon advanced to major, then lieutenant-colonel, and finally colonel of the regiment. A few years after his return he was made major-general of the First Division of the Ohio Militia. but resigned in a few years. On the breaking out of the Civil war he was

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one of the first to enlist tinder the hat, of the Union, and was made colonel of the Twenty-eighth Ohio Volunteers-the second German regiment-which was attached to Gen. Rosecrans' army. He distinguished himself in West Virginia-fought under Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley and was considered one of the best and bravest officers of the army. He led a brigade during the whole of his three years' service, but was net until his discharge made a brevet brigadier-general. He was highly appreciated by Rosecrans, Averill, Burnside and Hunter, and by these his advancement was urged, but owing to the jealousies which prevailed among officers he did not receive the recognition to which he was entitled until he was out of service. He died about 1853.

Gen. Gottfried Weitzel, another adopted Cincinnatian, was born in Germany November 1, 1835, but came to this country in early youth. His parents settled in Cincinnati, and in his seventeenth year he was sent to West Point, whence he was graduated in 1855, after having passed an excellent examination, when he was made second lieutenant in the Engineer Corps. When the war broke out he was already a captain, became attached to Gen. Butler's staff, and accompanied him to New Orleans, Having reached the rank of brigadier-general he was assigned to the command of a brigade in the corps of Gen. Banks, when that, officer undertook his unfortunate expedition up Red river. Afterward he was assigned to the army of the Potomac, under Gen. Grant, and was given the command of a brigade. It is well-known that he took an active part in the operations against Richmond, and he was the first general officer, who, at the head of his command, entered the city of Richmond by the side of President Lincoln. Strange coincidence! The German Gen. Schimmelpfenning was the first who led his brigade into Charleston, and another German general was the first who carried the flag of the Union into the abandoned capital of the Confederacy. Gen. Weitzel was an officer in the United States Engineer Corps with the brevet rank of a major-general. That he was a German by birth is proved by the fact that he was a member of the German Pioneer Society of Cincinnati, to which only German natives are admitted. He died many years ago.

ART AND MUSIC.

The tutor of Hiram Powers was a German named Friedrich Eckstein. He was born at Berlin about the year 1787, studied art, and came to Cincinnati in 1825 or 1826, and founded an Academy of Fine Arts, of which he remained a director until his death in 1832, which was caused by cholera. It was in his school and under his direction that Powers took his first lessons in sculpture, and from him he drew the inspiration which made him famous. Aside from the busts of Governor Morrow and President William H. Harrison, but few of Eckstein's works are known to be in existence. These busts, however, are of great artistic value. The first is in the State Library at Columbus, and the second is in the possession of Gen. Harrison's descendants. After the death of Eckstein his art school was discontinued, but his eminent pupil achieved high distinction in after years, and always bore in kind remembrance the name of his German tutor.

About the time of Eckstein came the two brothers, Johann Peter and Gottfried N. Frankenstein, as painters, The latter made a great reputation. His large landscape painting of the Niagara Falls has been multiplied by engravers and lithographers, and a bast of Hon. John McLean, executed by him in marble, was much admired. Mr. Ratterman says of him in one of his lectures: "His paintings show individuality in their conception, combined with a bright coloring, which later has been surpassed only by his genial pupil Wilhelm Sonntag." In 1838 Gottfried Frankenstein succeeded in bringing to life again in Cincinnati the Academy of Fine Arts, and became its first president. It was, however, of short duration. Another artist, Friedrich Franks, was in 1828 the founder of a gallery of fine arts in Cincinnati, and afterward the owner of the Western Museum.

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ACADEMIES OF ART.

It is worthy of notice that the various endeavors to found academies of art in Cincinnati have always proceeded from Germans. About the efficiency of these artist schools it need only be said that some of the most prominent American artists have come forth from them, as for instance Miner K. Kellogg, William H. Powell, the brothers Read, the American artist and poet, T. Buchanan Read, and others. Mr. Ratterman thus speaks of their artistic worth: "The artists of this first period of art in Cincinnati were principally the pupils of nature, and only reached in their studies the point where greater justice is done to the real than the ideal. They belonged, therefore, more to the realistic school. Only Eckstein, who was a pupil of the celebrated Schadow, and who has been honored by the title of professor, was an idealist. His pupil Powers, however, in spite of all his efforts at idealism, had a natural tendency to realism, as is observable in all his productions."

That music has been introduced by the Germans, and has been especially fostered by them in Cincinnati, as well as throughout America, is well known. As early as 1823 there existed here a musical society, and in 1839 another singing society was founded, from which originated in 1844 the Deutsche Liederlafel. Ever since 1846 the three German singing societies, which existed at that time in Cincinnati, have celebrated every year a musical festival, and in 1849 the first great German musical festival of the United States was held in this city. On this occasion the first German Saengerbund of North America was founded, whose musical festivals have now gained a world-wide reputation, and prepared the way for the foundation of the magnificent Music Hall and the Cincinnati College of Music. The idea for the erection of the great Music Hall was conceived soon after the festival of 1875. It was carried out by public-spirited citizens, who raised $302,000 for the purpose, and in November, 1875, the Cincinnati Music Hall Association was incorporated. Mr. Reuben Springer and Mr. John Shillito were the moving spirits in this great enterprise, and contributed the bulk of the money for the building. The association entered into an agreement with the City Council, by which the perpetual control of the lot was vested in the association, tax free, on a covenant that it would build the hall, keep it in repair, and as nearly free from cost to the public as might be consistent with the expense of repairs and insurance, neither stockholders nor trustees to receive any dividend or compensation in any form therefrom. The building is immense in size, and contains a hall with a seating capacity of 4,428. The organ cost $20,000, not including the case or screen.

The College of Music has rooms for study and practice in the great Music Hall building, also in the Odeon adjoining, with seating capacity of 1,200, also in the Lyceum, with seating capacity of 400. The aim of the college is to impart instruction theoretically in all branches of musical education. Competent professors are employed and special instruction is given in German, Italian and English elocution, as well as the theory of music and its practice, both vocal and instrumental.

The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, a leading private school for musical education, is well conducted and liberally patronized. In a word Cincinnati abounds with public and private musical societies, orchestras and bands. In the German portion of the city, or "Over the Rhine," there are at least fifty musical and singing societies.

PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE.

Very few are aware that S. N. Pike, the founder of the great opera house which bears his name, was a Jew. He was the son of parents by the name of Hecht, and was born near Heidelberg in 1822, and came to this country in 1827. His father changed his name from Hecht to Pike, because that is the English meaning of the word. After receiving a good education he traveled about the country considerably, when he finally settled in Cincinnati in 1844 and engaged in business. he married,

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in Cincinnati, the youngest, daughter of Judge Miller. Having engaged in tare liquor business, he soon acquired great wealth. When Jenny Lind visited the city he became greatly interested in her singing, and resolved that he would build an opera house specially adapted for such concerts, and which should be a credit to Cincinnati. The foundation was laid in 1805, but, owing to the financial panic which then prevailed, the magnificent building was not completed until the Winter of 1858. On the 22nd of February, 1859, the Opera house, at that time the largest, finest and most beautiful in this country, was opened with due solemnity. It marked the beginning of an epoch in the musical and dramatic history of the city. Nut contented with this splendid building, he commenced, in 1866. the erection of a dramatic palace in New York called the Grand Opera House, which he sold to James Fisk, then in the zenith of his career, for $850,000. But he had not more than got his New York building fairly under way, than his Cincinnati Opera house was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1866. It was rebuilt, and is still one of the principal ornaments of the city. Pike was afterward successful in a land speculation near New York City which brought him great profit, and at the time of his death, in 1872, his fortune amounted to several millions of dollars.

AN EMINENT SCHOLAR.

One of the most eminent of German scholars, teachers and authors, was Johann Bernard Stallo, born in 1823 in the Grand Duchy of Oldenberg. He received a good education and adopted teaching as a profession. In 1839 he carne to Cincinnati. Being provided with letters of introduction from his father and grandfather, he at once found a position in a private school. There he compiled first book on the rudiments of spelling and reading, which immediately became very popular, and many editions were called for. Soon afterward he was engaged as a teacher of the German language in the newly founded St. Xavier College, where he retrained three years. His tastes ran to mathematics and physics, and in these studies he excelled. The study of the higher mathematics led him to German philosophy. He was called to New York in 1843. and made teacher of mathematics, physics and chemistry at St. John's College, which position he filled until the end of the year 1847. Returning to Cincinnati, he took up the study of the law, passed a brilliant examination, and was admitted to the Bar in 1849. He soon distinguished himself in his new calling in such a way that in 1853 the governor appointed him judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton county, to fill a vacancy. The people elected him the same year for the regular term of that office, but he resigned in 1855 on account of the inadequate salary, and returned to the practice of the law. His career as a lawyer, politician and author has been brilliant in the extreme.

AS MANUFACTURERS.

'The Germans of Cincinnati early became identified with the manufactures, and down to the present tune they have ranked among the highest engaged in fostering the great industries of the city. In the chapter on manufactures it is shown that their investments in the production of seer alone amount to many millions of dollars, and that some of their manufacturing plants rank among the largest and most costly in the United States. They sire also engaged hi other large industries, notably- the manufacture of organs, pianos and other musical instruments, The manufacture of organs was commenced as early as 1831, when a factory was established by Mathias Schwas, from which have gone forth great numbers of excellent instruments. This plant is the oldest of its kind in this country, and it is still in existence.

About, 1836 the first attempt to use machinery extensively in the fabrication of furniture was made by Friedrich Rammelsberg a Hanoverian, by the introduction of Woodworth's planingmachines. Some years later others became interested with Rammelsberg. His practical knowledge thus united to a moderate capital soon

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'began to realize important results. Not only does the gigantic building which is still in existence under the name of the Mitchell Furniture Factory, employing more than 1,500 workmen-the largest furniture factory in the world-owe its existence to him, but the general successful rise of the furniture trade in Cincinnati, and in the West, is due to him. This active, progressive, and pioneer manufacturer died in 1863. The history of Mr. Mitchell will be found in the biographical department.

WONDERFUL ATTAINMENTS.

The wonderful success attained by Germans in the brewing business, together with the millions of dollars they have invested in this productive industry, will be found very fully described in the chapter on manufactures. In the founding of this line of business their achievements have been greater, almost, than those of their countrymen in any other American city, and when the amount of money invested and the products are considered, one is amazed at what has been accomplished. No class of people have contributed more in brains, sinews, labor and money, toward building up Cincinnati, and making it what it is to-day, than the Germans. And no class is entitled to greater credit. They are modest and retiring in their disposition, not given to brag or blaster, and make no boisterous claims of what they have accomplished, but are content to plod along in the paths of industry, and let their work tell the stranger what they have accomplished. To write the history of this German element of fully one hundred thousand people, from the beginning of Cincinnati tip to the present time, would require a book as large as this volume. All we call do, therefore, is to point to a few of the early settlers, as has been done, and call attention to the fact that the illustrious example which they have set is worthy of emulation by the coming generations, because it demonstrates the fact that the humblest, most obscure and helpless, if they cultivate industry and economy, find it possible to rise to eminence and wealth, obtain political preference, and command the respect of their fellow men.