HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 175 and were for many years the center of much which was inspiring and best for young and. old. In the meantime Col. J. E. Wharton, an old newspaper man and founder of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, a widely-circulated paper in. its time, had founded the library which formed the basis of the present institution. Although nearly seventy years of age he went about his work like an energetic, enthusiastic young man. His mode of collecting books was to take a wheelbarrow and day after day trundle it before him, until he had traveled over every street and called at every house in the GEORGE O. NEWMAN city for floating literature. When the vehicle was loaded he took it to the old Seminary Building on the corner of Court and Fifth streets, which belonged to the city and had been donated for library purposes. By the time the library was ready to be thrown open to the public, in the fall of 1879, it contained about seventeen hundred. volumes, which included many of the books turned over by the Young Men's Christian Association at the time its original organization suspended: Before Colonel Wharton's death, in 1881, the public library had increased to 5,000 volumes. After the death of the able and. beloved old gentleman who founded it the enterprise was placed in the hands f Miss Nana A. Newton, who has also been the efficient librarian f the larger institution, 176 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION which, since 1902, has been represented by one of the handsomest Carnegie homes in Southern Ohio. Legally and legislatively the public library of Portsmouth dates from May 14, 1878, when it was created by the passage f the bill which had been introduced and fathered by Hon. R. H. Hayman, a leading dry goods merchant and representative in the lower house f the Legislature in 18.77-79. On October 2, 1878, the board of education donated the school building, on the northwest corner of Fifth and Court streets, for library purposes, and Colonel Wharton, who had been appointed librarian, fitted up the second floor with cases for a cabinet; this proposed feature of the library was interrupted by his death. On June 18, 1879, the first library committee was appointed, consisting of George O. Newman, president ; H. A. Towne, secretary, and James PIONEER HOME BUILT IN 1810 Occupied by the Kinney Family Continuously up to Present Time F. Towell. Mr. Newman remains as president of the board and has given freely of his time and means to bring the public library to its present high standard. In September, 1888, a new public library building to cost $3,000 was proposed, and it was completed in the following year for substantially that amount. The money for the erection of the new building, which was an annex to the old building, was raised by public subscription. The home of the public library remained at that location until the completion of the Carnegie building, on Gallia Street. between Waller and Offnere, in 1902. In July, 1901, chiefly through the efforts of Henry A. Lorberg, connected With the local. press, Mr. Carnegie was induced to donate $50,000 for the erection of the building, on condition that the city should expend $5,000 annually kir the support of the library. The Board f Trade, composed f the leading business .men of Portsmouth, approved the plan, the proposition was accepted by. the common council HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 177 and the site was purchased, which furnished a fine' front of nearly one hundred and forty feet on Gallia Street. The three councilmen chosen to act as a committee to sperintend the erection of the building were George E. Matthews, Melvin Funk and Edward Poffenberger, and the two citizens, George E. Kricker and Charles F. Daehler. Under this board of management the structure was completed which is such an architectural ornament to the city. The Public Library, or the Public School Library, under control of the city board of education, and the Carnegie Library, under control of the common council, were merged in 1902, with the result that a collection of 12,000 books and 6,000 public documents were finally housed in a fine, safe library building. The present public library comprises 32,000 volumes, and a complete collection f standard periodicals. Its location is opposite the magnificent high school and its facilities are deeply appreciated not only by the pupils of the public schools but by the general public. The librarian, Miss Newton, shares with Mr. Newman, president f the board, the honor of the longest active connection with the institution f those who are still furthering its work. The late Capt. A. B. Alger, son-in-law of Colonel Wharton, was an active and efficient member of the library board for more than thirty years and until shortly before his death in 1913. A. T. Holcomb, now and for more than thirty years a member, has as such rendered valuable services to the library. The present members are George O. Newman, A. T. Holcomb, Irving Drew, George D. Scudder, Dr. G. Howard Williamson and Daniel Conroy. THE POSTOFFICE The Postoffice building stands, with the library and high school, as a worthy representative of public enterprise and taste. It is a massive two-story and basement structure, corner of Sixth and Chillicothe streets, and combines two periods of building. The main postoffice was completed in 1892 at a cost f $75,000 and the north and east additions in 1914 at an expense of $65,000. This handsome structure is surely a striking growth from the abiding place of the first mails which were received and distributed by the early postmasters at Portsmouth, commencing with John Brown in 1808. A small corner of one room in his house was all the space he needed, and Dr. Thomas Waller, the second postmaster, who served the Government for over a decade, combined residence, drug store and postoffice all under one roof, on Front Street. The Buckeye House, on the same street, the old Market House on Second, Massie Block, also on Second Street, a frame building on the corner of Court and Second streets, and perhaps other locations were selected for the transaction of postal matters and social gatherings previous to the completion of the present modern postoffice. Vol. I-12 178 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION CITY TRANSPORTATION AND LIGHTING Local transportation and the lighting of the city streets and the buildings within the corporation limits are matters which deeply concern the public, although undertaken and. performed by private agencies. The first gas company was incorporated in May, 1855, by Henry V. Barringer, J. W. Glidden, A. V. Barringer, ,S. R. Ross and J. V. Robinson, Jr. Mr. Glidden was elected president of the Portsmouth Gas Light Company, Mr. Ross secretary and Mr. Robinson treasurer. In 1877, after the company had been supplying the people with gas for many years, the capital was increased from $50,000 to $100,000. In 1886, when the name was changed to the Portsmouth Gas and Electric Company, there were 'about fifteen hundred gas consumers in the city and some two hundred street lamps. In 1894 the Portsmouth Street Railway and Electric Light Company was organized; taking over the electric lighting from the old company, as well as the operation f the street railways from an organization which had been in existence for twenty years. The first street railway in Portsmouth was begun in May, 1873, and in March, 1889, the small initial system was sold to a syndicate consisting of George B. Chase, of New York ; George F. Miller, of Massachusetts, and H. B. Wilson, of Ironton, Ohio. In April, 1892, the Portsmouth Street Railway and Electric Light Company was organized, absorbed the old lines and was in full operation by November, 1893. In January f the. following year it obtained the. contract for lighting the city for a period of ten years, and that arrangement is still in force. The headquarters of the company are in a well-constructed and convenient two-story building at Portsmouth, Completed in the fall f 1913, and its plant for the generation f electric light and power is at New Boston. Its transportation lines closely connect the main business and residence districts of Portsmouth with New Boston and Sciotoville to the east and include twelve miles of road, with well built beds and thorough equipment. The Ironton extension, twenty-one miles in length, is so far along that it is expected it will be completed in 1915. The present management of the Portsmouth Street Railway and Electric Light Company, under whom the most pronounced development f both its transportation and lighting systems have been made, is as follows : L. to. York, president ; R. D. York, vice president and general manager ; and H.. H: Higgins, secretary and treasurer. CHAPTER V SCHOOLS AND NEWSPAPERS. THE SUBSCRIPTION AND TUITION SCHOOLS-MASSIE'S SCHOOL LOTS- LEGISLATION IN 1821—STATUTORY PROGRESS IN 1825-31—THE SEMINARY- EDUCATIONAL MUSTER IN 1836—FOUNDING OF THE SYSTEM-THE FOURTH STREET SCHOOL BUILT-SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND MANAGING BOARD-SYSTEM AS FIRST ORGANIZED---INCREASED ACCOMMODATIONS DEMANDED-THE SECOND STREET SCHOOL BUILT-UNDER. MUNICIPAL RULE---THE BOARD OF EDUCATION SUPREME-SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS-HIGH SCHOOL ON GALLIA STREET- NEW FOURTH STREET SCHOOL-BOARD CONSTITUTED AS AT PRESENT-UNION STREET SCHOOL-NEW HIGH SCHOOL - LIST OF CITY SUPERINTENDENTS-SMALL BUT LIVELY NEWSPAPER FIELD-FIRST VENTURES-THE WEST-ERN TIMES-THE TRIBUNE AND EDWARD HAMILTON-THE BLADE AND PERSONAL JOURNALISM- THE CORRESPONDENT-THE TIMES AND JAMES W. NEWMAN-RISE OF THE MORNING STAR. The strongest and most constant moulders of individual thought and public opinion are the schools and the newspapers. As the state, the county and the civic corporations have absorbed the educational cream f the land, placing the private -establishments f learning so far in the background that they are almost a negligible factor in the intellectual evolution: of modern society, it is to the public system f schools that this chapter is virtually devoted. THE SUBSCRIPTION AND TUITION SCHOOLS At Portsmouth, the public school system was not organized until 1838; so that the first public school was that completed the following year on Fourth Street. Previous to that year, however, a number of subscription and tuition schools were in operation in various stages of animation. William Jones, a Maryland gentleman of good education, was the pioneer pedagogue f the place. After making a river trip with his brother to New Orleans he married in 1799 and settled at Alexandria, the county seat, but when Major Massie laid out Portsmouth he assisted in the survey, and for his services received a lot on. Second Street near Scioto. Mr. Jones had been teaching in Alexandria and in 1806 opened - 179 - 180 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION a subscription establishment in Portsmouth. He continued to teach for twenty-two years, and afterward was justice f the peace and deputy auditor. He raised a large family, was much respected. and lived until 1860, when he was eighty-five years of age. MASSIE'S SCHOOL LOTS In platting the town Mr. Massie donated lots 130 and 143 and outlot 39 for educational purposes; pon the last-named site the Fourth Street School was afterward built and upon the two lots preceding, the Second Street School. But considerable was to happen, in the way of state and town legislation and private experiments, before the public school system was fairly established. LEGISLATION IN 1821 The state law of January, 1821, provided that township trustees were to create school districts in their townships, each comprising from twelve to forty householders ; a school committee of nine was to be elected on the first Monday in May in each year, and a. collector who should. act as treasurer. The committee was to erect a schoolhouse ,and employ a teacher and the expense was to be assessed on the parents of the pupils. The school committee was to have its share f the school funds provided by the state. There is no record to show that either Portsmouth or Wayne Township ever acted. under that law. At that time, and for ten years afterward, various. academies and seminaries arose. and fell, Mr. Jones' school seeming, on the whole, to be the most permanent. Wheeler's Academy was on Market Street north f the courthouse, with open fields just beyond. Then there was a school conducted in the Methodist .Church, in which. William Kendall,. John R. Turner, Dr. Thomas Waller and others . equally prominent,. were interested. Of a somewhat later date. were the co-ed. academy conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Wood, the private school f Miss Eliza. Dupuy, who taught ornamental needlework arid painting on velvet, and the young ladies' school. taught Miss Harriet Goodspeed. STATUTORY PROGRESS IN 1825-31 Although the public school authorities who held nominal sway over the town of Portsmouth. were not prepared to take advantage f the various state laws which had been placed on the statute books, legisla-tion for other more advanced sections continued ; and the' county seat of Scioto County soon "caught up." An act of February, 1825, provided for a state levy of one-half mill on the dollar for a school fund ; also for school examiners and three directors for each school district. In HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 181 March, 1831, the system was further developed by the addition f a dis-trict clerk and treasurer. THE SEMINARY In 1836 a company f gentlemen consisting of James Lodwick, Wash-ington Kinney and Peter Kinney, desiring to establish a select female school, received as a donation from the town a lot, corner of Fifth and Court streets, on which, at a cost of $900, they erected a two-story brick house. The lower story was used for a school room and the pper by the All Saints' Church Sunday School. This building was long known as the Seminary and was afterward occpied by the Public School Library. EDUCATIONAL MUSTER IN 1836 In 1836 the total enrollment of youth of school age in Portsmouth was 454, and the value of the school buildings, exclusive of the seminary, was $500. Those then claimed as public schools were a tiny frame shell in the lower, or First Ward, and a rough, log house on the corner of Second and Chillicothe. About forty pupils were attending private schools. FOUNDING OF THE SYSTEM As stated, the system dates from 1838. In that year by an amendment to, the town charter, the common schools were, placed under the control of the president f the town board and the council. That body was given power to levy taxes for the erection of the buildings, for the purchase of sites and the payment of salaries, and for the general support and development of the system of public education. THE FOURTH STREET SCHOOL BUILT On June 1, 1838, a contract was entered into with Ratcliff and Schultz to build a public school on Fourth Street for $5,40. The building was completed in the following year, its final cost exceeding the contract price by about four hundred dollars. The Fourth Street School was built under the direction of a committee f the town council consisting of Joseph Riggs, Conrad Overturf and Gideon J. Leete. An old report describes it as follows: "This edifice is constructed on the model of the Boston and Cincinnati school houses, so remarkable for elegance of external aspect and convenient for the purpose designed. It is three stories in height and has six rooms, capable of accommodating 800 scholars." 182 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND MANAGING BOARD By an ordinance passed on September 21st of that year, the town was divided into three districts corresp- onding to the wards. The measure further provided that as soon as the schoolhouse then being built should be completed, the trustees should immediately employ the necessary teachers ; and that the said school "should be free and open to all white children and youth between the ages of four and twenty years of age, to be so continued and free until suitable houses should be erected in each of the districts." The ordinance further provided that one trustee. should be annually elected from each district to serve three years, who, together with the board of Visitors, consisting of five members, should have the management of the public schools. In 1839 Washington Kinney, Joshua V. Robinson and Gideon J. Leete were elected trustees, and the council appointed as examiners Dr.. G. S. B. Hempstead, Edward Hamilton, John McDowell, William V. Peck and Samuel Tracy. SYSTEM AS FIRST ORGANIZED In August of the year named the public school system of the town was practically organized at the Fourth Street Schoolhouse. The 266 pupils were divided into three grades ; non-residents were charged $1.25 tuition per month. The rules adopted retained the school age at from four to twenty ; the hours were fixed at from 8 A. M. to 12 M. and 2 to 5 P. M. in summer, and in winter from 9 to 12 and 1 to 4, with two recesses f fifteen minutes each in forenoon and afternoon. The rules also required clean hands, faces and clothes and strict truthfulness. The teachers who composed the first public school system of Portsmouth were as follows : A. L. Childs, superintendent ; Mrs. A. H. Wilcox, principal of the female department (boys and girls were taught separately) ; Miss Thankful Graves (afterwards Mrs. Gray), Miss H. Ratcliff, Miss E. Waller, Miss E. Young (afterward Mrs. Joseph Glidden) and Miss E. M. Connell. INCREASED ACCOMMODATIONS DEMANDED The year ending July, 1845, was one of great improvement in the management of the public schools. A. J. Rickoff was the superintendent. The attendance at the Fourth Street School had so increased that enlarged accommodations were recommended to the town council by the school board, the members of which suggested that new sites be secured in the First and Third wards. Finally the old Seminary Building was occupied, but that only furnished two additional rooms, and the cry was still for "more." HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 183 THE SECOND-STREET SCHOOL BUILT In 1849 the school authorities contracted with William Newman and J. W. Perdum to erect a building on the school lot at the corner of Second and Chillicothe. This was completed in 1850, at a cost f over seven thousand dollars. It was a substantial structure f twelve rooms and relieved the school congestion for some time. UNDER MUNICIPAL RULE Under the legislative act of March 1, 1851, by which Portsmouth became a city, the general superintendence of the public schools was placed in the hands of a board of public instruction, consisting of one member from each ward ; the examiners and inspectors created under town government were to hold office for two years and their duties were confined to the examination of those applying for teachers' certificates. A tax of two mills on the dollar was authorized for the support of the public schools, the purchase of sites and the erection of houses, and three mills to meet salaries and contingent expenses. All the revenue arising from. the taxation of black and mulatto persons was to be set apart exclusively for the education of their children, and whenever the revenue thus arising should be sufficient to spport a school for three months or more the city council should provide a suitable building and cause a school to be taught as long as there was means for its support. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION SUPREME Although the Portsmouth High School was instituted in January, 1853, the next marked improvement in the system was not brought about until April, 1857, when the common council adopted the state school law of 1853 and appointed the first board f education—Thomas McCauslen, for one. year ; E. Miller, for two years, and John P. Terry, for three years. On the 13th of April the council, by ordinance, transferred the control of all school matters to the new organization, and since then the board of education has been spreme. Under the new superintendent, Emerson E. White, formerly of Cleveland, the schools were reorganized and much improved. SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PUPILS In 1859 the first school for colored pupils was established. It was taught by Mrs. E. E. Glidden, the building being a one-story brick just west of the Portsmouth Public Library. A separate schoolhouse for the colored scholars was not completed by the board of education until 1866. In August of that year the board contracted for the erection of the building at the corner of Ninth and Washington, to cost $2,260. 184 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION HIGH SCHOOL ON GALLIA STREET In June, 1867, the Salter property on Gallia Street was purchased for $20,000 and the building thereon was enlarged and improved for high school purposes. It was first occpied for that purpose in January, 1868, but in June, 1871, the board commenced the erection f a new high school on the same site to cost $10,000. It was occpied in January f the following year, the high school and grammar grades being both accommodated. NEW FOURTH STREET SCHOOL In January, 1872, it was determined to replace the Fourth Street Schoolhouse of 1839 with a new one. The contract was awarded to Robert Raker for $23,000, and it was completed within the year accord-ing to plans furnished by I. Hobbs. and Sons, f Philadelphia. It was then the handsomest school in Portsmouth—two stories and basement, with ten large and comfortable rooms, well lighted and ventilated. City bonds were issued to the amount of $20,000 to meet the bulk f the expense thus incurred. BOARD CONSTITUTED AS AT PRESENT The year 1874 marked another important change in the personnel of the board of education. By legislative act of May 1, 1873, that body as made to consist of two members from each ward, instead f three members altogether. Under its provisions an. election was held in April, 1874, by which the following were chosen as the first board of education, as it is now constituted : First Ward—J. M. Lynn, two years, and J. M. Herder, one year ; Second Ward—H. Leete, two years, and H. T. Vincent, one year ; Third Ward--W. T. Cook, two years, and J. Q. Gibson, one year ; Fourth Ward—J. Q. Weaver, two years, and George A. Waller, one year ; Fifth Ward—G. S. B. Hempstead, two years, and Jacob Zottman, one year ; Sixth Ward—A. L. Norton, two years, and J. T. Miller, one year. The new board of education organized April 20, 1874, by the election of Dr. G. S. B. Hempstead, president; William Waller, clerk; J. Q. Gibson, treasurer. The number of examiners was fixed at three, and it was decided to hold an annual election for superintendent and teachers at the first meeting in. July. The council chamber was rented by the board as a, place of meeting. Continuing the chronological record of events which had a decided bearing on the progress of public education in Portsmouth, it may be stated that in July, 1874, the Y. M: C. A. Library was moved to the Sixth Street building, thus materially adding to the Public School Library, and that in September a lot was purchased for another colored school at the corner of Eleventh and John streets. HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 185 UNION STREET SCHOOL In May, 1875, ,the board purchased from Hannah Waller a lot on the northwest corner of Fourth and Union streets for $10,000, on which to build a schoolhouse to take the place of the Second Street building, and in the following September commenced the erection of an $8,000 building for the education f colored pupils at the site on Eleventh Street before mentioned. By the summer of 1878 the new Union Street School had been completed at a cost of over thirty-four thousand dollars. NEW HIGH SCHOOL Since that time the building and improvement f schools and the extension of the teaching force have kept pace with public needs, the MAGNIFICENT HIGH SCHOOL, PORTSMOUTH most noteworthy addition to the facilities. Of the public system having been the erection of the present magnificent high school on the corner of Gallia and Waller. It was completed in 1913 and is one f the institutions which has given Portsmouth a high standing among the municipalities f Ohio. The city has twelve public schools devoted to pupils in the grammar and primary grades, and to describe them, with the details of the prevailing rules and regulations governing them, would be but to review all that is modern and efficacious in the typical American system of popular education. " LIST OF CITY SUPERINTENDENTS The city superintendents of schools have been as follows : A. L. Child, 1839-44 ; A. J. Rikoff, 1844-1849 ; M. P. Wilson, 1849-50 ; A. J. Buell, 186 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION 1850-51 ; E. C. Selfridge, 1851-52 (died in February f latter year) ; J. H. Rolfe, 1852 ; S. M. Haslet, 1853-56; E. E. White, 1856-60; J. H. Allen, 1860-63; (no incumbent 1863-6.7) ; John Bolton, 1867-72 ; J. F. Lukens, 1872-75 ; N. S. Campbell, 1875-79; W. M. Friesner, 1879-81.; J. A. I. Lowes, 1881-83 ; E. S. Cox, 1883-88 ; Thomas Vickers, 1888-1901 ; J. I. Hudson and Frank Appel since 1901. SMALL BUT LIVELY NEWSPAPER FIELD Many newspapers have sprouted in Portsmouth, and several have grown to rather impressive proportions, but the list has narrowed down to three ; and two of them are virtually under the same management, which practically monopolize the local field, and one of them was only flve months old when these words were written (March 16, 1915). Consequently, it goes without saying that the Portsmouth newspaper field of today is small but lively. FIRST VENTURES The Portsmouth Gazette, venture No. i, lived from August 5, 1818, to March 17, 1819. It was revived in July, 1824, as the Portsmouth Gazette and Lawrence Advertiser, in March, 1825, and struggled along with its title until the following October. THE WESTERN TIMES The Western Times was started April 18, 1826, and during the succeeding twenty years Portsmouth had a newspaper organ and, for a very short time, several journals shared its crumbs of patronage. Ebenezer Corwin and Company published it a year, when Julius A. Bingham, who had probably been hiding under the company of the concern, assumed entire control. Mr. Bingham continued the publication of the Times with apparent equanimity until July 4, 1830, when he said something in the Times regarding Eli Glover, a young apprentice in his office, which stirred that gentleman to a high fighting pitch; so much so, that he dashed out of the office, saw some influential friends of the town, who had also had brushes with Mr. Bingham, and on the 1st-f January, 1831, issued the first number of the Portsmouth Courier. THE TRIBUNE AND EDWARD HAMILTON Young Glover had secured the county printing for Jackson, Lawrence and Pike counties, and had the whole enterprise on its feet before his former employer knew that anything f the kind had been contemplated.. Edward Hamilton was engaged to edit the paper, and it made such head-way that, after issuing a few numbers of the Times, Mr. Bingham boxed HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 187 up his printing outfit, stored it away and left town. Mr. Hamilton edited the Courier for about a year, when Mr. Glover and his brother conducted it until December, 1836. Hamilton then bought the entire establishment and changed the name f the paper to the Scioto Tribune. Silman Clark, who bought an interest in 1839, ehanged the name again to the Portsmouth Tribune and it was under the control of several editors until 1842, when Edward Hamilton again assumed the editorship and proprietorship and continued thus until he left for the Mexican front in 1846. During the preceding few years of the Scioto Tribune several papers found more or less favor with the local public. The Scioto Valley Post, a democratic paper, was published at intervals from 1840 to 1845, and the Portsmouth Clipper tried its best to live from 1845 to 1849. The ins and outs f the Tribune and Clipper, the Tribune and the Portsmouth Printing Company, were so involved that they would not interest the general reader, although the older generation of newspaper men have a lively recollection of the McFarlands. They—Albert and Daniel McFarland—were for many years the best known editors of the city and among its most prominent citizens. Both are deceased. About twenty years ago Albert McFarland moved to Los Angeles, California, and became part owner and treasurer of the leading newspaper in that city—the Times—whose building was wrecked by dynamiters, an event which became of nation-wide interest; When the Tribune suspended, it was the oldest newspaper in Scioto County and one of the pioneers of western journalism. An interesting item regarding the Tribune is to the effect that in 1843, some time after Horace Greeley had founded the New York Tribune, the great eastern editor claimed that his paper was the first one of that name to be published in America. To this Edward Hamilton, editor of the Portsmouth Tribune, claimed. that that statement was incorrect, as its predecessor, the Scioto Tribune, had been published several years before the establishment of the New York Tribune. THE BLADE AND PERSONAL JOURNALISM The Scioto Valley Republican, started in 1852, was consolidated with. the Tribune in 1876. But its plant and material were purchased by J. E. Valjean in September of that year, and the Valley Blade put forth. A publishing company was formed in 1879 and the name of the paper changed to the Portsmouth Blade. The daily was first issued in Novem ber, 1886. Mr. Valjean was ambitious to become a leader in. the personal style of journalism, of which the great exemplar was Wilbur F. Storey, editor and proprietor f the Chicago Times; and, considering the size of Portsmouth, Valjean really kept himself and his paper in as much hot water as the bigger man in the larger city. In 1896, under his management, or. mismanagement, the Blade was about to pass' into the hands of a receiver, but was saved, for the time, by Charles E. Hard and others, and Mr. Valjean then obtained control of the Tribune, in- 188 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION augurating a fierce newspaper war which burned itself out beneath the cooler judgment of the public. The Blade sailed along in comparatively smooth waters for a time, but the latter years of its life until its suspension, March 31, 1914, were also troubled and suffered from a series of entangling alliances with.. and against various interests, industyial, moral and social. THE CORRESPONDENT A German, weekly, the Portsmouth Correspondent, was established in 1855 by Edward Raine. At different periods it was both democratic and republican. It suspended publication. in 1914, Louis F. Korth, formerly of Cleveland, being its editor and proprietor for the last few years f its newspaper life. THE TIMES AND JAMES W. NEWMAN The Portsmouth Times was founded in 1861 by James W. Newman, the brother of George O. Newman, the editor f this work for Scioto County. For fully thirty years, under his management and editorship, the Times was one of the leading papers in Ohio and was long considered its, most prominent weekly. And during all that period Mr. Newman was reaching the position f a state leader in democratic statesmanship, being elected to the lower house of the Legislature in 1867 and to the Senate in 1871 and 1873. He was secretary f state from 1882 to 1884, but although defeated for reelection ran so far ahead f his ticket that he had the distinction of receiving the highest number f votes cast for any democrat in Ohio up to that time. Mr. Newman held the office of collector f internal revenue for four years from June, 1885. He wag always one of the stanchest spporters of Grover Cleveland, both as a politician and through the Times. In December, 1891, Vallee Harold bought a half interest in the Times and assumed active control of it, and in. February, 1893, Mr. Harold sold his interest to J. L. Patterson, who then assumed the entire direction f the paper. In that year Mr. Newman assisted in the founding of the Central Savings Bank of Portsmouth, of which he remained president until his death in 1901. In March, 1894, a stock company was formed, headed by Mr. Patterson, and the publication of the daily evening edition of the Times begun. It was at that time that Harry E. Taylor, who had been an Akron newspaper man for three years and had. had an 'even earlier training at his home town of McConnellsville, located at Portsmouth and became the city editor of the Daily Times. In 1898 he entered into partnership with Mr. Harold and the two bought a controlling interest in the establishment, including Mr. Newman's shares, and reorganized the Times Publishing Company, with Mr. Harold as president and Mr. Taylor as secretary and treasurer. They still control and manage the HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 189 property, which includes the Valley Sentinel, a democratic weekly established in 1893. Mr. Taylor has active editorial management, especially since the appointment of Mr. Harold as postmaster in 1914. RISE OF THE MORNING STAR The only other newspaper now in Portsmouth is the Morning Star, founded October 16, 1914. It is issued by a company, with F. W. Meyers as managing editor. CHAPTER VI CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES METHODISTS FIRST TO ORGANIZE-COMING OF REV. HENRY B. BASCOM- PORTSMOUTH CLASS FORMED-FIRST HOT:1SE OF WORSHIP-BIGELOW CHAPEL BUILT-OFFSPRING OF THE MOTHER CHURCH-BIGELOW M. E. CHURCH, 1829-1915—FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOUNDED-FIRST BUILDING ERECTED AS A CHURCH-CHURCH OF THE PRESENT-REACHING OUT HELPFUL HANDS- FOUNDING OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-NEW BOSTON PRESBYTERIANS ORGANIZED-CALVARY CHAPEL -PROGRESS OF LATE YEARS- PASTORS OF THE CHURCH, 1817-1915— ALL SAINTS PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH-SAMUEL GUNN AND REV. HENRY CASWELL-FIRST CHURCH BUILDING- REV. ERASTUS BURR-CHRIST CHURCH FORMED-RECTORS OF ALL SAINTS, 1831-1915 -THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH-FOURTH STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH-ERECTION OF PRESENT CHURCH BUILDING-BE-COMES FOURTH STREET CHURCH-PASTORS, 1844-1915—CATHOLICISM IN PORTSMOUTH-CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY- SEPARATE ENGLISH AND GERMAN ORGANIZATIONS-CHURCH OF THE HOLY REDEEMER-REV. JOHN E. McQUiRK—ST. MARY 'S CATHOLIC CHURCH-REV. LOUIS NONNEN-TRINITY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH-SPENCER CHAPEL -SIXTH STREET CHURCH-THE NEW TRINITY CHURCH-THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-BUILDING OF THE PRESENT HOUSE OF WORSHIP- FAREWELL TO THE OLD CHURCH-THE Y. M. C. A. AND Y. W. C. A.—HOME FOR AGED WOMEN-SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES - AURORA LODGE NO. 48, F. AND A. M.—MOUNT VERNON CHAPTER NO. 23—CAVALRY COMMANDERY NO. 13—SOLOMON COUNCIL NO. 79— THE MASONIC TEMPLE--THE INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS-THE TRIBE OF BEN HUR-OTHER FLOURISHING ORDERS-THE G. A. R. AND AUXILIARIES-WOMEN'S CLUBS AND FEDERATION-TRADE AND LABOR UNIONS. The elevating work of any community performed by its churches and societies is so broad and, at the same time, so correlative, that to describe and analyze it in detail would require the medium of a library. Within the space allotted to that subject by the limitations of this volume the salient features only can be sketched, simply by giving a straight-forward account f those organizations which have been the longest in the field and the strongest in their influences for good. - 190 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 191 METHODISTS FIRST TO ORGANIZE The Methodists effected the first organization among the religious bodies of Portsmouth. As early as 1800 perhaps half a dozen members off that faith met in the little stone house of Philip Moore, on the west bank off the Scioto River near its mouth, and formed the first Methodist society in Scioto County, as well as the pioneer religious organization of any kind whatever. The locality (for at that time there was no Portsmouth) was a part of the old Scioto Circuit in the Kentucky district, which embraced besides the work in Ohio, all of Kentucky and Tennessee and part of North Carolina. In 1805, about the time Portsmouth was re-surveyed, the Ohio district under the auspices off he Methodist Church was formed, and the renowned Peter Cartwright. was an assistant preacher on the circuit. COMING OF REV HENRY B. BASCOM In 1809 at a quarterly meeting held at Benjamin Turner's, James B. Finley was recommended as a suitable itinerant preacher for the Scioto circuit, but it was not until 1813 that Rev. Henry B. Bascom received his license .and preached his first sermon in the Moore stone house. PORTSMOUTH CLASS FORMED In 1813, also, the Scioto circuit was divided and the Salt Creek circuit formed; at the same time the class in the old stone house across the Scioto was divided and one organized in Portsmouth in the following year. Rev. Nelson Spring was the first circuit preacher after the division, who held services at Portsmouth, for the benefit of these seven members of the new society, which was the father organization of the present Bigelow Methodist Episcopal Church : Escrich Hall and wife, Rachel Barber, Rev. J. R. Turner and wife, Mary Scarboro and Anna Glover. Mr. Turner. was the first class leader. FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP In 1820 the Methodists of Portsmouth purchased and remodeled the academy on the corner of fourth and Market streets, for which they paid $1,100, partially in corn. This first church building was heated by two old-fashioned fire places, one on either side of the pulpit, and it was lighted by tallow candles held in tin candlesticks fastened to the walls. BIGELOW CHAPEL BUILT From 1814 to 1821, the society increased from seven to sixty members, and in the latter year John McDowell, who for nearly fifty years was the leading spirit of the church, was appointed class leader and susperin- 192 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION tendent of the Sunday school. In 1834 the church purchased a site on Second Street, between Market and Court, and on it was built the largest church edifice then in Portsmouth, then and for years afterward known as Bigelow Chapel. It was dedicated in that year by Rev. J. B. Finley, the presiding elder of the district ; its dimensions were forty by sixty feet and its cost $2,700. OFFSPRING OP THE MOTHER CHURCH In 1844 the German Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by a number of members who preferred to have the services conducted in their mother tongue ; notwithstanding, by 1853 the building on Second Street was too small to accommodate the congregation. Rev. R. A. Spencer donated a lot on Seventh Street near Chillicothe, and on that site a frame building was erected known as Spencer Chapel. Thus another branch went out from Old Bigelow ; it prospered and became well known as the Sixth Street Methodist Church. The old Spencer Chapel is now known as the Allen Chapel of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. BIGELOW M. E. CHURCH 1829-1915 In 1850 the Bigelow Church purchased a site on the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, and in 1852 Rev. George W. Brush preached the dedicatory sermon. The building has suffered seriously both from fire and flood ; the conflagration of March, 1867, left nothing but the walls, and the flood of 1913 did much damage to both the church and the parsonage. But the organization known as Bigelow Methodist Episcopal Church is still strong and progressive, and goes right on in spite of fire and flood. Since 1902 there has been built a large addition to the restored edifice, at an expense of some $16,000 ; also a new and modern parsonage. Its latest offshoot, known as Wesley Hall Mission, with headquarters on Second Street, was created in 1914. Since Portsmouth was a separate station in the circuit the following have served as the pastors of Bigelow Church : 1829, A. D. Fox ; 1830, James Callahan ; 1831, William Heer ; 1832, Elijah Truitt ; 1833, William Young ; 1834-35, George C. Crum ; 1836-37, Henry Turner ; 1838-39, William Simmons ; 1840, William H. Lawder ; 1841, R. S. Foster (afterward bishop) ; 1842, Cyrus Brooks ; 1843, Wesley Rowe ; 1844, William R. Anderson ; 1845, Clinton B. Sears; 1846-47, David Whitcomb ; 1848-49, P. P. Ingalls ; 1850, John W. White ; 1851, J. W. White and B. St. James Fry ; 1852; B. St. James Fry and G. W. Brush ; 1853, A. Brooks ; 1854-55, B. N. Spahr ; 1856, H. T. Magill ; 1857-58, A. B. See ; 1859-60, J. H. Creighton ; 1861, S. C. Riker ; 1862-63, T. H. Phillips ; 1864-66, Isaac Crook ; 1867-68, E. A. Cranston ; 1869-70, James Mitchell ; 1871-73, R. W. Manley ; 1874-76, J. C. Jackson ; 1877-79, J. W. Peters ; 1880, S. B. Matthews, who died in June after his appointment ; 1881-84, J. W. Dillon ; HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 193 1884-87, J. C. Jackson, Jr. ; 1887-90, W. L. Slutz ; 1890-95, B. L. McElroy ; 1895-97, W. V. Dick; 1897-98, M. W. Acton.; 1898-1907, Henry W. Hargett; 1907-10, J. N. Eason; 1910-12, A. F. Hughes; 1912-15, A. R. Connell. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOUNDED The homes of Christian families were used as preaching places until the first court house in Portsmouth was finished in 1816, when the Law shared its home with the Gospel, and Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians--the three denominations then represented at the county seat--held their church and Sunday school services under the same rof. The courthouse then stood in the center of Market Street between Front and Second, and it was there that Rev. Stephen Lindley organized the First Presbyterian Church of Portsmouth, on Saturday, May 24, 1817. The following persons, having been members of churches elsewhere, were then associated: Josiah Morton, David Mitchell, John Lawson and William Russell, elders; Nancy Morton, Andrew Galloway, Mrs. Gallo-way, Elizabeth Ewing, James Abbott and Nancy Lindley. FIRST BUILDING ERECTED AS A CHURCH Rev. Stephen Lindley was installed as pastor and remained as such until 1824. It was under his ministry, in 1822, that the congregation erected a frame church on the south side of Second Street—the first house of worship to be erected in Portsmouth, although the Methodists had remodeled a structure as their meeting house two years before. In 1840 an addition of eighteen feet was made to the original building, and the interior of the church somewhat remodeled, but with these exceptions the old -church served its purposes unchanged until 1850. CHURCH OF THE PRESENT In August, 1849, the First Presbyterian Church bought the site at the corner of Court and Third streets, although not a few of the congregation thought the location "too far uptown." The land was purchased for about one thousand dollars, and in April, 1851, the lecture room of the new edifice was occupied for the first time. In 1852, and before the large auditorium was completed, Dr. E. P. Pratt was installed pastor of the church with a membership of 119. The auditorium was dedicated January 8, 1854. The cost of the church was $16,000. REACHING OUT HELPFUL HANDS During the '60s the church enjoyed great prosperity, both spiritual and temporal, and by 1863 its membership had reached 270. Notwithstanding, also, that several additions and continuous improvements were vol. I-18 194 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION being made to the home church, numerous projects outside the society were generously assisted, such as Marietta College and the Bigelow Methodist Church. It generously assisted other struggling churches both in Portsmouth and other cities. FOUNDING OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH The parent body purchased the site for the Second Presbyterian Church, at a cost of $7,500, and $25,000 was subscribed for the erection of its building. Dr. Pratt was the great force in this "crowning act of benevolence" (as expressed by a grateful member of the Second), the movement being started by him in a sermon which he preached in January, 1871, suggesting that a subscription for that purpose be put under way as the contribution of the First Presbyterian to the $5,000,000 memorial fund with which the General Assembly of the denomination proposed. to celebrate the union of the two branches of Presbyterianism in the United States. On January 24, 1875, the Second Presbyterian Church was dedicated, and a colony of 173 members, with their families, went out from the old First to become a new center of Christian influence and activity. in the northeast section of the city. NEW BOSTON PRESBYTERIANS ORGANIZED Doctor Pratt died March 29, 1886, after his long and useful pastorate, and was succeeded in the following July by Dr. J. I. Blackburn. In 1899, through the co-operation of the First and Second churches, a Presbyterian church was established at New Boston, being placed in special care of the Second Church. This was during the pastorate f Dr. David S. Tappan, who had succeeded Doctor Blackburn in April, 1890, and who closed his work in Portsmouth to assume the presidency of Miami University in September, 1899. CALVARY CHAPEL Calvary Chapel, organized in 1901 (building dedicated in 1904), is also an extension of the First Presbyterian Church. PROGRESS OF LATE YEAS During the past few years the First Presbyterian Church has made as marked progress as at any period of its history. In 1911 a large and modern Sunday school building was added to the main body f the church building. The new structure contains large and convenient rooms and a handsome auditorium, as well as accommodations for primary and kindergarten teaching. In the basement of the old building is a fine gymnasium, which will meet the athletic ambitions of 250 boys and 100 HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 195 girls. Connected with the juvenile activities and wholesome attractions is also a company of Boy Scouts, 100 strong. The entire membership of the church is nearly eight hundred. PASTORS OF THE CHURCH, 1817-1915 The pastors of the First Presbyterian Church include the following: Stephen Lindley,. 1817-24; J. Wood, 1825-27 ; Elezer Brainard, seven years ; Edwin Nevin, one year ; Alexander B. Brown, two years; Aaron Williams, 1841-44; Hiram Brigham, 1844-46 ; David Cushing, 1846-49 ; Marcus Hicks, 1849-52; E. P. Pratt, 1852-86 ; J. I. Blackburn, 1886-89 ; D. S. Tappan, 1890-99 ; F. S. Arnold, 1900-06 ; James F. Elder, 1907-10; John W. Dunning, 1910—. ALL SAINTS PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH The parish of All Saints (Episcopal) of Portsmouth was organized on June 23, 1819. Among the twenty-three who signed the articles of association were Samuel Gunn, Thomas Waller and Aaron Kinney. Several months before, Rev. Intrepid Morse had visited the plcourthouseld services in the courthouSe. He was sent by Bishop Chase, whponde a personal visitation upon the organizatponof the parish, as noted; upon which occasion Samuel Gunn and Thomas Waller were selected as. wardens. In December, 1820, the first regular vestry was elected—two wardens and five vestrymen. Messrs. Gunn and Waller were reelected as wardens, and Samuel Wilkinson, John Smith, John Young and Ezra Hard were chosen vestrymen. SAMUEL GUNN AND REV. HENRY CASWELL It would appear from the records that Mr. Gunn was the mainstay of All Saints parish during the first years of its uncertain existence, as hefot only generously donated of his means, but generally readfhe services in the absfce of an ordained minister of the Gospel ; and they were generally absent from the parish unenryune 19, 1831, when Rev. Henry Caswell became its first settled rector. He remained until May, 1833. During his rectorship the congregation held services over the Commercial Bank on Second Street. FIRST CHURCH BUILDING Rev. Dexter Potter succeeded Mr. Caswell and amonths he only remained six month.s saw the completion opone little Gfhic building upon the site of the prefnt handsome church, corner of Fourth and Court streets. It was dedicated November 28, 1833. 196 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION REV. ERASTUS BURR The real building-up of All Saints parish dates from the coming of Rev. Erastus Burr on the 9th of November, 1838. He remained until November 9, 1873, a period of thirty-five years. In March, 1839, the church was regularly incorporated under the laws of the state. In 1850 the growth of the parish called for better church accommodations and the edifice was erected which, with numerous improvements and remodelings, is still occpied. On September 3, 1851, the original church was consecrated by Bishop McIlvaine. The interior of the chapel was destroyed by fire in January, 1893, but it was rebuilt and refurnished, the improve-ments including a new organ. CHRIST CHURCH FORMED In August, 1858, the rector of All Saints called a meeting of his parishioners and suggested that the growth of the parish and the prosperity of the city justified the formation of a second Episcopalian church. Washington Kinney and Peter Kinney, who were possessed of ample means, thereupon assumed the expense of building a new church edifice, and upon the completion of the same they donated the property to the wardens and the vestry of Christ Church. That organization dissolved about 1898. Most of the members of Christ Church returned to the original organization, and the work of All Saints has continued to broaden up to the present. In 1911 its activities were greatly facilitated by acquiring the First Baptist Church and converting it into a parish house. RECTORS OF ALL SAINTS, 1831-1915 The present membership of All Saints is about 460. Its rectors have been as follows: Henry Caswell, 1831-33 ; Dexter Potter, 1833 ; J. F. Eaton, 1834 ; Abraham Sanford, 1835-38 ; Erastus Burr, 1838-73 ; Isaac N. Stanger, 1873-76 ; Henry L. Badger, 1877-93 ; Dallas Tucker, 1893-97 ; Joseph D. Herron, 1897-1910 ; E. Ainger Powell, 1910—. THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH Of the German churches, the Evangelical was first organized in Portsmouth. As early as 1838 the German-Americans of the place organized a society and from that time until 1851 two small congregations worshiped in the Seminary, corner of Fifth and Court, and in a hall on Market Street, between Second and Third streets. In 1851 the two churches were united under Doctor Fisher, of Chicago, and in 1853 a house of worship was erected on the south side of Fifth Street between Washington and Chillicothe. In 1887 a larger and modern HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 197 church was completed on the corner of Fifth and Washington, at a cost of $23,000, and the original building on the opposite side of Fifth was used for Sunday school purposes. The old structure was afterward sold and in 1915 a large extension was made to the 1887 church building, to be devoted solely to the Sunday school. The latter has been repeatedly improved and answers every purpose of a prosperous and growing congregation of nearly 500 members. The pastors of the German Evangelical Church: Reverends Keberlen and Mayer, 1838-51 ; Dr. Fisher, 1851-52 ; G. Weihle, 1852-56 ; L. Alberti, 1856-59 ; H. Veith, 1859-66; J. C. Fleischhaker, 1866-69 ; B. T. W. Sickel, 1869-71 ; K. J. Zimmerman, 1871-75 ; P. Von Scheliha, 1875-81 ; C. Haas, 1881-83 ; F. Rahn, 1883-85 ; F. Baltzer, 1885-89 ; J. Dieterle, 1889-93 ; Adolph MaIlick, 1893-1904 ; G. H. Freund, 1904-12 ; S. Lindenmeyer, 1913—. FOURTH STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH The German Methodist. Episcopal Church (now the Fourth Street Methodist) of Portsmouth. dates from the visits of Revs. William Nast and John Schwahlen, of Cincinnati, who first held services there in 1839. A regular class, however, was not formed until 1844, when Rev. Peter Schmucker preached at the residence of Stephen Brodbeck ; also at the house of Daniel Emrich, both stanch German Methodists and anxious to have a society formed. This original class was placed in charge of Rev. John Hoppen, and regular services were held at the Fourth Street school-house. The first quarterly conference was held in 1844 at the residence of Mr. Emrich, and was attended by officials of the denomination from West Union, Piketon and Beaver, which were the other stations in. the circuit which Portsmouth had just joined. Among the twelve members of the original church were Vincent Brodbeck, Stephen Brodbeck, Daniel Emrich and Paul Brodbeck. On. May 2, 1846, the quarterly conference resolved to build a church in Portsmouth, and secured a lot for that purpose on the south side of Fourth Street west of Market. When completed in April, 1848, the building was thirty by forty feet and two stories in height, and combined under one roof a church, Sunday school and pastor's residence. The cost of the structure was about $1,200, exclusive of the labor and material furnished by members of the congregation, which amounted to considerable. ERECTION OF PRESENT CHURCH BUILDING A lot at the southwest corner of Fourth and Washington streets was purchased for the site of another church in 1860. The building, a two-story brick with a large steeple, was completed in 1867, but not dedicated until July, 1869, when the society had liquidated all indebtedness pon it. The cost of the church, which, with subsequent improvements, is still in use, was over $31,000. 198 - HANGING ROCK IRON REGION BECOMES FOURTH STREET CHURCH At first and for many years the services of the church were conducted in German, in accord with the wishes of the founders, but with the entrance of the younger generations into its work, there gradually arose a strong element which favored the adoption of English, the national language. Finally that step was taken and in 1914 the American sentiment became so strong, coupled with a conviction that the change would redound to the progress of the church, that the name of the society was changed to the Fourth Street Methodist Church. PASTORS 1844-1915 It has a membership of about 200, and its successive pastors have been as follows : 1844, John Hopper ; 1845-46, John Geyer ; 1846-48, J. H. Bahrenburg ; 1848-49, John Bier ; 1849-50, Henry Koch ; 1850-51, Karl Schelfer ; 1851-52, George Danker ; 1852-53, C. F. Heitmeyer ; 1853-54, Christian Vogel ; 1854-55, George Weidmann ; 1855-57, William Kaetter ; 1857-59, C. G. Tritsche, Sr. ; 1859-60, E. F. Wunderlich ; 1860-62, X. Wittenbach ; 1862-64, William Dressler ; 1864-66, John Pfetzing ; 1866- 69, J. C. Weidmann ; 1869-70, C. G. Tritsche, Sr. ; 1870-72, Henry G. Lich ; 1872-74, John Schneider ; 1874-77, Gottlieb Nachtrieh ; 1877-80, E. J. Wunderlich ; 1880-82, Herman Grentzenberg ; 1882-83, Gottlob Trefz ; 1883-85, Franz L. Nagler ; 1885-86, John H. Horst ; 1886-88, William Riechenmyer ; 1888-92, Carl Bozenhard ; 1892-97, W. A. Schraff ; 1897-1901, C. B. Koch ; 1901-05, E. W. Werner ; 1910-13, F. J. Baumann : 1913, Albert L. Marting. CATHOLICISM IN PORTSMOUTH Catholicism, in its organized form at Portsmouth, dates from 1842, although mass had been celebrated at various private houses since 1812, when Rev. Stephen Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, stopped at the little town on his way from Baltimore to Covington, Ken-tucky. His last visit was in 1835. The first move toward establishing a church at Portsmouth was made in 1831, when the Ohio Canal was in process of building. Many of the laborers at that place were of foreign nationality and members of the Catholic Church, and in April of 1831 Father D. Rapp held services for their benefit. Rev. H. D. Yonker, afterward bishop of Alton, also visited the place. CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY Early in 1842 a ten days' mission was held at Portsmouth by Rev. T. R. Butler, and a few months afterward Father Joseph O'Mealy was sent by Archbishop Purcell to carefully examine the religious field. He organ- HANGING ROCK IRON REGION - 199 ized a mission composed of English and German speaking Catholics, which took the name of the Church of the Nativity. Mass was celebrated in the houses of the worshipers, or in public halls, until 1844, when. Father O'Mealy purchased grounds on Third and Madison streets and built a church and rectory thereon. The building was dedicated on Christmas day, 1844. In November, 1845, Rev. E. Thienpont succeeded Father O'Mealy and in 1852 Rev. Richard Gilmour, afterward. bishop of Cleveland, assumed charge of the church. At the time of his coming Father Gilmour was in feeble health, and as the labor required was too great Rev. Francis Karge, a Franciscan monk from Poland, was sent as his assistant, or associate. SEPARATE ENGLISH AND GERMAN ORGANIZATIONS At that time a large portion of the members of the Church of the Nativity were Germans unable to speak or understand English, and as Father Gilmour was unable to preach in German, while Father Karge could conduct the required services in no other tongue, the congregation was divided—the English speaking element forming the Church of the Holy Redeemer and the German members, St. Mary's. From that time to the present, their histories have developed along separate paths. CHURCH OF THE HOLY REDEEMER Rev. Richard Gilmour purchased the ground on Sixth Street for the first Church of the Holy Redeemer, which was completed in 1853, awasuring its construction mass was celebrated in the Presbyterian Church on Second Street. Rev. James J. Donohue, who succeeded Father Gilmour, built the rectory and founded the school, which, at various periods has been in charge of the Sisters of Ch.arity, the Dominican Sisters and the Sisters opastoratecis. It was under the pastorate of Rev. A. O. Walker, who sergroundm 1867 to 1873, that the gi.ound was purchased upon which the present school was erected by his successor, Rev. D. B. Cull. REV. JOHN E. McQUIRK, Afterwards came Revs. Philip Steyle J. J. Slevin and Joseph Schmitt, covering the period from 1878 to January, 1889, when Bishop Watterson appointed Rev. John E. McQuirk to the pastorate, and he is still in charge. Under him the parish has grown in numbers and influence, and it is estimatedfhat he ministers to the needs of 1,400 souls. Soon after he assumed charge he commenced to remodel, and otherwise improve the church building, and early in the twentieth century placed a movement afloat. for a new and magnificent house of worship. The result is the massive two-spired edifice on Gallia Street near Offnere, which is one of the finest church homes in the city.