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Memoirs of the Miami Valley - Volume Two
The Story of Hamilton County, Agriculture

(page 521)

 

THE STORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY

 

            HAMILTON COUNTY is in the southwest corner of the Miami H valley and was erected January 4, 1790, by a proclamation of Gov. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory. The county received its name from John Cleves Symmes, the original purchaser of the district around Cincinnati, and to whom was given the privilege of choosing the name. Alexander Hamilton was at that time secretary of the treasury, and it was for him that Hamilton county was named. The first topographical description of the county appeared in 1815, as follows: "In the vicinity of the Ohio, Miamis and Mill creek, it is hilly; but the other portions are generally level. The soil of a considerable portion is second rate; the four extensive valleys; however, which either bound or intersect it, possess great fertility. Permanent springs are not numerous, but well water is easily obtained."

            "In addition to Cincinnati, the subject of the following chapters, the county contains several villages, of which the principal are Columbia, Newton, Reading, Montgomery and Springfield. The first of these, in the year 1879 and '90, had the largest settlement in the Miami country, and was expected to flourish ; but the bayou which is formed across it from the Little Miami almost every year, and the occasional inundation of nearly the whole site, have destroyed that expectation, and is now inhabited chiefly by farmers."

            Hamilton county is bounded on the south by the Ohio river, on the east by Clermont county, on the north by Warren and Butler counties, and on the west by the Indiana state line.

            The existence of the county began under impressive circumstances, Gov. St. Clair arrived at Fort Washington, the most impregnable fort in the western country, on January 2nd and received a salute of fourteen guns when he stepped ashore, and again when he marched into the fort at the head of his suite. The official record of the erection of the county said :

            "1790; January 2.-His Excellency arrived at Fort Washington in the purchase of judge Symmes and on the 4th was pleased to order and direct that the whole of the lands lying and being within the following boundaries, viz.: Beginning on the bank of the Ohio river at the confluence of the Little Miami, and down the said Ohio river to the mouth of the Big Miami, and up said Miami to the Standing Stone Forks or branch of said river, and thence with a line. to be drawn due east to the Little Miami, and- down said Little Miami river to the place of beginning-should be a county by the name and style of the county of Hamilton, and the same was-accordingly laid off agreeably to the form which has been transmitted to Congress.

            (page 522) The county so laid of was approximately the original purchase of judge Symmes. The present city of Cincinnati was then known as Losantiville, but was at this time changed to Cincinnati in honor of the famous order of that name, of which Major General St. Clair was a prominent member. The governor, in 1792, issued a proclamation that the territory lying between the Scioto and the Little Miami was to be included in Hamilton county. At that time the county comprised a great part of the territory now covered by the State of Ohio, extending clear to the northern boundary of the Northwest territory, the eastern and western boundaries extending respectively to Lake Erie and Lake Huron, including Detroit and the eastern half of the southern part of what is now the state of Michigan. In 1796, Winthrop Sargent, secretary of the territory and acting governor, proclaimed Adams county, which cut of the northern part of Hamilton county. The boundary of the territory was moved westward by the Wayne treaty, and thus Hamilton county was extended to include a large part of what is now Indiana, the western boundary being drawn due north from Fort Recovery on the Wabash. In 1798, a section along the eastern line of the county was added to Adams county, the northern part of the new Adams county being made into Ross county. By act of Congress, the western part of the Northwest Territory was separated from the eastern part, and called the Indian territory, and by act of Congress passed in 1802 the western line of what is now Ohio due north from the mouth of the Great Miami. In 1800, Gov. St. Clair made Clermont county from a part of Hamilton county, and in 1802 the county surveyors were instructed to make surveys of the county and determine the boundary lines. In 1803, the State of Ohio was admitted into the Union, and its attentions were immediately turned to the subject of counties. By an act of the legislature passed March 24, 1803, Warren and Butler counties were erected from Hamilton, and from the counties of Hamilton and Ross, Montgomery and Greene counties were formed. Numerous errors were made in the surveys, and to this cause may be placed the irregular northern boundary of Hamilton county as it now stands.

            The settlement of Hamilton county was attended with the greatest of dangers and hardships, and the pioneers who first sought the wilderness of the Miami valley were necessarily of the hardy breed that is now remembered with pride and pleasure. The frontier settlements were subjected to the attacks of roving bands of hostile Indians, and many of the early inhabitants gave their lives for the protection and advancement of civilization. It was so hazardous an undertaking to work in the fields even at the very outskirts of a village, that for protection and strength, the men were in the habit of doing their farming in parties, one part being posted to watch for Indians. 'The tales of personal heroism on the part of the whites are many, and the tenacity with which they clung to their posts along the frontier of progress reflects to their undying

credit and honor.

            After the battle of Fallen Timbers in August of 1794, in which Gen. Wayne decisively defeated the united forces of the Indian bands, the settlements in Hamilton county suffered but little from (page 523) the red marauders. There were in that year sixteen settlements in Hamilton county, where six years before there had been but four, so rapid was the progress of the white race in the Northwest Territory.

            At the time of the erection of Hamilton county Gov. St. Clair, in accordance with an act passed by the legislative council in 1788, appointed several officers for the First Regiment of militia in the county of Hamilton, in which regiment there were at first four companies. The four captains appointed by Gov. St. Clair were John Stites Gano and James Flinn of Columbia, Israel Ludlow of Cincinnati, and Gersham Gard of North Bend. The lieutenants were Francis Kennedy, John Ferris, Luke Foster and Brice Virgin. The ensigns appointed were John Dunlap, Ephraim Kibby, Elijah Stites and Scott Traverse. Various regulations governing the militia were made by the legislature, one of which was to the effect that all firing of guns within one mile of any fort except for defense or alarm was forbidden. The alarm for the calling out of the militia was stated to be the firing of one gun or three muskets. A patrol was sent out every morning from the settlements for reconnaissance, and no one was permitted to leave the confines of the village until the patrol had returned and reported the coast to be clear of savages. In April of 1790 all persons between the ages of fifteen and fifty were enrolled as militia, and in December the militia in Hamilton county was more fully organized and equipped under the command of Lieut -Col. Oliver Spencer.

            After the treaty of Greenville, by which the Indians gave up all the lands which they had claimed, the militia of Hamilton county was called upon for various duties, such as police duty, ordinary sentry duty, and the removal of squatters from government lands west of the Great Miami. In 1794, the Hamilton county militia under the command of Lieut.-Col. John S. Gano, was reviewed and inspected by General Harrison, who, since his resignation from the army, had been acting as chief officer of the territorial militia. The Hamilton county militia went along for many years without being called upon for any active duty, being added to from time to time, a company of light infantry here, and a troop of cavalry there, until the war of 1812 made it necessary for the government to call upon all available military organizations.

            The records of the formation of the several townships of the county are incomplete at best, and there is much doubt as to just the manner in which they were erected. However, the general system followed in the early days before the adoption of the state constitution was for them to be described and erected by action of the courts of General Quarter Sessions, and later by the county commissioners working in conjunction with the associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas. The first act in the formation of the townships was the creating of three, which included the entire river front of the county and extended northward to the military range, a line about five miles north of the present northern boundary of the county. The names given to these first three townships were Columbia, Cincinnati and Miami. During the changes in the amount and extent of territory comprised in Hamilton county there were (page 524)  frequent changes in the townships of the county. One of them, South Bend township, which comprised Delhi and part of Green, no longer exists under its original name, and many other territorial changes occurred too numerous and intricate of explanation to be here further mentioned. In 1809, the making of Mill Creek township practically completed the organization of the townships in their present form. The officers in the township organization of the eighteenth century were not many, being the township clerk, constable, overseer of the poor, overseer of roads, and, where the township had towns of sufficient size to warrant it, a commissioner of streets.

            In 1801, the list of townships in the county were Columbia, Cincinnati, Southbend, Miami, Anderson, Colerain, Fairfield, Springfield, Dayton, Franklin, Ohio, Deerfield and St. Clair, seven of which do not appear in later lists.

            In 1819, the first city directory of Cincinnati was published, and included a list of county officers, so many of whom were men prominent in the moulding of the affairs of the county that the list as given is here incorporated : Court of Common Pleas-president judge, George P. Torrence; associates, Othniel Looker, James Silvers, John C. Short. Prosecuting attorney, David Wade. Clerk, Daniel Gano. Sheriff,. Richard Ayres. Coroner, William Butler. Jailer, Samuel Cunningham. Commissioners, Ezekiel Hall, Clayton Webb, Adam Moore. Clerk, Micajah T. Williams. Treasurer, David Wade. Recorder, Thomas Henderson. Collector, Thomas Clark. Notary Public, Griffin Yeatman.

            Justices of the Peace for Hamilton County: Cincinnati township-Ethan Stone, John Mahard. Miami township-John Palmer, Daniel Bailey. Crosby township-Luther Tillotson, Jacob Comstock, Isaac Morgan, Samuel Halstead, William McCanee. Delhi township-Peter Williams. Whitewater township-Patrick Smith. Springfield township-Abraham Lindlay, William Snodgrass. Mill Creek township-James Sisson, Robert Merrie, Abraham Wilson, James Lyon, Joseph McDowell. Colerain township - Isaac Sparks, John Runyan, James Carnahan, Joseph Cilley. Sycamore township-Peter Bell, Beajah Ayres, Hezekiah Price, Jonathan Pittman. Columbia township, John Jones, Abner Applegate. Green township-William Benson, William J. Carson. Anderson township-Jonathan Garrard.

            There were, then, in 1819 twelve townships in the county, and by the directory of 1825 it appears that a thirteenth had been added, Symmes.

            As has been heretofore stated the militia of the county, and indeed of the entire state, had had no active duty after the cessation of hostilities with the Indians until the war of 1812. When the news of the declaration of war reached Cincinnati and the rest of the county, the greatest excitement prevailed, as there had been a strong feeling throughout the western country in favor of war with Great Britain. In April of 1812, Gen. John Stites Gano was ordered by Governor Meigs to recruit eight companies of militia from his division, either volunteer or draft, and needless to say the required number quickly volunteered their services. The (page 525) government had made a provision to stimulate volunteering to the effect that sixteen dollars was given to each recruit when he entered the service, and three months.-, additional pay and 160 acres of land when he received an honorable discharge. A recruiting office was opened in Cincinnati, and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed. After the defeat of Gen. Hull, which left the territory of Michigan undefended and exposed the state to invasion by the British, Governor Meigs called out the state militia, and together with eighteen hundred Kentucky troops Ohio was placed in a fair condition to defend itself. Many of the prominent men in Hull's army were men from Hamilton county, and their disappointment at the half-hearted way in which the general conducted the campaign in Michigan can readily be imagined.

            The next call made upon the military forces of Hamilton county came in the Civil war. There was at first much anxiety displayed by the people along the river, who were engaged in manufacturing, over the attitude of Kentucky. That state was so evenly divided against itself that it neither declared for the Union nor tried to secede. The governor of the- state refused to comply with the demands for military forces which were made by the national government, and the governor of Ohio patriotically volunteered to- fill Kentucky's quota from his own state after the demands made upon it were met. Much indignation was expressed over Kentucky's lack of loyalty, and the citizens of Cincinnati and the rest of the county, refused. absolutely to sell to any Kentuckian such goods as were declared to be contraband of war. The history of the glorious part which Hamilton county played in the great war is too well known to be here undertaken in detail. The brave youth of the cities, villages, and farms responded almost as one man to the call of the country. The industries of the community were turned toward the most useful work. Large army contracts were filled in record time. Men gave unthinkingly and without stint, and the girls and women raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable purposes by the successful conduct of the Cincinnati Sanitary Fair and Christian Commission. The Soldiers' Home which was conducted on Third street for the benefit of the men in service was operated from May, 1862, until October, 1865, and during that period of time gave out lodgings, food, stationery, information and clothing with a liberal hand. The number of lodgings furnished in this time was 45,400 and meals 656,704, and the total expenditures of the institution for the time it was open were only $64,000. Again in the Spanish-American war, Hamilton county was called upon to furnish its quota of men for the military service of the country, and it is a matter of common knowledge how quickly and how eagerly the young men of the county came at the president's call, and to what an extent they shared the hardships and vicissitudes of the campaigns incident to that conflict. In the last great struggle in which the United States took so important a part, the county of Hamilton and Cincinnati fulfilled its duty to mankind in splendid manner. To what extent the men of the county thronged to the armed service of their country is well known, and the deeds of valor accredited to them have been too (page 526) lately upon the lips of all to need repetition. They fought gloriously for the right and that it might triumph over might, and the everlasting thanks of a grateful people are theirs. An approximation of the numbers of men who served during the war can only be arrived at at present. In the city of Cincinnati 4,500 volunteered for service in the army, 1,900 for the navy, 1,700 for the marine corps, and 14,000 entered the service under the draft law. On a proportionate basis there were about 5,000 men in service from the rest of

the county, making a total number of men who went to the colors from Hamilton county of approximately 27,100.

            After the foregoing brief and general survey of the organization and development of Hamilton county throughout its territorial changes and the varying phases of its civic and military life, it is desired to give a more detailed account of the progress of civilization as typified in the settlement, growth, and government of the county. In order to present such an account in an orderly and more comprehensive manner, a brief survey of each township will be recorded, in order that due representation may be given to every section of the county.

            Taking up the townships in their alphabetical order, the first one to be considered is Anderson. This township lies in the southeast corner of the county, and is bounded by the Ohio river on the south and west, the Little Miami river on the west and north, and by the county of Clermont on the east. The topography of the township is rough and hilly, as is characteristic of the land along the banks of the Ohio, and there are four creeks to be noted which drain the land, Little Dry run, Big Dry run, Five Mile creek, and Clough creek. The township was erected in 1793, and was at that time much larger than it is now, but was cut down to its present size in the year 1800 by the organization of Clermont county. A military post of some importance during the trouble with the Indians was located in this township, and was known as Covalt's Station, being named in honor of one Abraham Covalt, an early settler in the township. When Virginia, in 1784, reluctantly ceded to the federal government the Northwest Territory, certain property reservations were made, the rights of which were to be used for the support of Virginians who had taken part in the military service during the Revolutionary war. Anderson township was entirely within this district which was known as the Virginia Military Reservation, and many of the original settlers were purchasers under the law governing it.

            A part of the township was annexed by the city of Cincinnati in the year 1909. The village of Mount Washington, which had a population of 984 according to the last or thirteenth census of the United States, dates its beginning to the year 1846, when it was laid out by John L. Corbly on what was then known as the Ohio pike. The village was incorporated October 24, 1867, and is connected with Cincinnati by direct railroad transportation. The village of Newtown, one of the oldest in the county, was incorporated in 1908. It can be traced back as far as 1798. In 1890 it had a population of 552, and according to the last census decreased to 546 during the next twenty years. The thirteenth census, from which all the population (page 327) data are hereafter taken, gives the population of the township, including Mount Washington and Newtown, as 4,050. The first officers of Anderson township were John Gerrard, clerk ; Jesse Gerrard, constable ; Richard Hall, overseer of roads ; Joseph Frazee and Jacob Backoven, overseers of the poor ; Joseph Martin and Jonathan Garrard, viewers and appraisers.

            Colerain township is in the north central part of Hamilton county, being touched on the north by Butler county, on the east by Springfield township, on the south by Green and Miami townships, and on the west by the Big Miami river. The first man to settle in the township was one of the original members of the Symmes expedition, John Dunlap, a native of Coleraine, Ireland. His project was to form a settlement in the interior of the county, and he chose for his site a place on the left bank of the Big Miami in the extreme northwestern part of what is now Colerain township. The name given to this settlement was Colerain, and the first settlers came in 1790, and as trouble from the Indians was anticipated, the log cabins were built facing in on a square enclosing about one acre. A stockade and a blockhouse were constructed to ward of any attacks from marauders, and it was well that these steps were taken, for the Indians quickly began to terrorize the little frontier settlement with their attacks. In order to protect the inhabitants of the village more effectively than could be done by their own efforts, General Harmar, then the commandant at Fort Washington, sent Lieutenant Kingsbury and thirteen men to Colerain. The establishment of this post was immediately a signal to the savages to commence the most violent efforts to exterminate the village, and in 1791 a most ferocious attack was made by them which took the villagers completely off guard, before sunrise. The most powerful attempts were made by the Indians until the morning of the following day, but they were repulsed at every point, although the white men suffered some losses.

            The township of Colerain was erected in 1794 by the order of the County Court of Quarter Sessions, with boundaries as above except that it extended far to the northward until 1803 when Butler county was erected by act of the state legislature. In topography it is quite broken in places, the majority of the township being rolling. Creeks that carry off the water and are effective in the drainage of the area Blue Rock; Taylor's, the west branch of Mill creek, Dunlap’s, and Bank Lick creeks.

            There are no incorporated villages in Colerain township, but some of the villages to be noted are Georgetown, Bevis,. Groesbeck, and Taylor's creek. The population of the township is given as 3,034, and is essentially of an agricultural character.

            Columbia township is located in the east central part of Hamilton county, and is bounded on the north by Sycamore and Symmes townships, on the east by the Little Miami river, on the south by the Little Miami river and the city of Cincinnati, and on the west by the city of Cincinnati. The topographical features of the township include bottom land along the Little Miami, a long and fertile valley in the interior of the township, and some rough and hilly country as well. - The creeks worthy of mention are Duck, Mill and (page 528) Sycamore. In 1791, the County Court of Quarter Sessions erected three townships in the county, Columbia, Cincinnati and Miami, and these townships were given the cattle brands of A, B and C, respectively, and on account of the priority of Columbia in this respect, that township is usually considered to be the oldest one of the county. The township passed through some territorial changes before the year 1803, but in that year, when the. attention of the state legislature was turned toward the county organization, the township was restricted t o approximately its present limits. The county received its name from the village of the same name which was later within the boundaries of Spencer township when it was formed, and is now within the corporate limits of Cincinnati. This village was founded on November 18, 1788, by Major Benjamin Stites and a party of twenty-six men, women and children. But the village, according to Dr. Daniel Drake, "in the years .1789 and '90 had the largest settlement in the Miami country, and was expected to flourish ; but the bayou which is formed across it from the Little Miami almost every year, and the occasional inundation of nearly the whole site, have destroyed that expectation, and it is now inhabited chiefly by farmers."

            In 1903, part of the township was annexed to Cincinnati, but nevertheless it has the largest population of any of the townships in the county. Including Madisonville city, Kennedy Heights, Oakley, Pleasant Ridge and Terrace Park villages, parts of Silverton and Milford villages, and wards 2 and 4 of Norwood city, the population according to the last census was 23,387. Wards 1 and 3 of Norwood City were at the time of the taking of the census in Mill Creek township, but that township no longer appears, as it had been absorbed by the city of Cincinnati. Kennedy Heights has a population of 598; Madisonville, 5,193; Milford (part of), 58; Oakley, 1,039; Pleasant Ridge, 1,769; Terrace Park, 448; Silverton (part of), 329.

            Crosby township did not come into existence until 1804, the territory which it comprises being originally in Whitewater township. It is bounded on the south by Whitewater township, on the west by Harrison township, on the north by Butler county, and on the east by the Big Miami river. It is one of the smaller townships of the county. The country is hilly and rolling, and the principal streams are the Dry Fork of Whitewater, and two creeks tributary to it, Lee's and Howard's creeks. The first man to come to this particular section of the county for the purpose of settling there was Joab Comstock, who came from Connecticut to try his fortunes in the new western territory that had been booming so swiftly since the victory of Gen. Wayne over the Indians and the treaty of Greenville. He platted a village in the township, and-called it Crosby in honor of his mother's maiden name, and it was to this settlement that the name of the township was due. When the township was opened to settlement the largest land purchase was made by six men who associated for the purpose of purchasing a 2,000-acre tract of land in the northeastern corner near the Butler county line. Joab Comstock was instrumental in founding another settlement, the village of New Haven, which he and Charles Cone-had surveyed (page 529) in 1815, offering the lots for sale. The site of this village was selected on account of its being at the meeting place of the Cincinnati, New Baltimore highway and the state road from Hammond to Lawrenceburg. New Baltimore, a village with a population of about 200, was founded by Samuel Pottinger in 1819, and the early establishment of a flour mill, sawmill, and a distillery, added greatly to the prosperity of the village. An interesting settlement in this township is what is commonly called the Shaker settlement. This village or community is known as Whitewater, and is under the control of the United Society of Believers. The original settlement comprised forty acres of land and eighteen men and women of this faith, but since that time their numbers have been from time to time augmented until now it is a thriving community, owning thirteen hundred acres of land. Villages are but few in the township, and there are none incorporated, the population being primarily engaged in the pursuits of farming. The population of the township given in the thirteenth census was 866.

            Delhi township is a small triangular shaped township in the south central part of the county. It is bounded on the east by Cincinnati, on the south and west by the Ohio river, and on the north by Green and Miami townships. The topography of the township is rolling upland country common to the banks of the Ohio river. The streams which are to be noted in the drainage of the territory are, Rapid run, Trautman's run, Muddy creek, and Bold Face creek. Settlements were made here very early in the history of the Miami country, Symmes laying out the village of South Bend in 1789, on account of the large number of applications which were being made to him for houses and lots in North Bend, a village seven miles farther down stream. It was located near the spot where Trautman's run emptied itself into the Ohio river. High hopes were at first entertained for the future of this village, but when Cincinnati was made the military post, and the majority of settlers located themselves in that city, it quickly lost the impetus of its start, and exists now in name only. Of later years, parts of the township have been annexed to the city of Cincinnati. The incorporated villages are Delhi, with a population of 872; Fernbank (part of), with a population of 157; and Saylor Dark, ro ?v Home City, with a population of 877. The total population of the township according to the thirteenth United States census is 3,704. Green township is in the south central part of the county, contains thirty-six sections, and is bounded on the east by Cincinnati, on the south by Delhi township, on the west by Miami township, and on the north by Colerain township. The surface or general topography is gently rolling, tending towards hilly country in some parts, and is drained by Taylor's creek which empties into the Great Miami, Muddy creek, Lick run, and some branches of Mill creek in the eastern sections. In the original Symmes Purchase this township had been intended to be used for the purpose of establishing a college, and had the purchase amounted to a million acres as was the original plan, the township would have been so used. However, when the size of the Miami purchase was cut down, no single township was reserved for this purpose, although by act of (page 530) Congress in 1792, the president was authorized to grant Symmes one entire township for the establishment of a college. Symmes then desired to keep the township for his own personal land reservation, but in 1788 made a contract for its sale with Elias Boudinot of New Jersey. Transfer of the property was not made, and Boudinot sued Symmes in the United States court, and on account of this suit, the governor of the state was forced to refuse acceptance of the township at the hands of Symmes for use in establishing a school. Neither the territorial legislature, the state legislature nor the Congress of the United States would accept the township under the conditions by which it was being presented, and after much trouble in the law courts throughout the state in regard to the ownership of the township it came into the hands of Burnet, Findlay & Harrison, and these men granted titles to the settlers who applied to them for land.

            The largest village in the township is Cheviot, with a population of 1,930. It was platted in 1818 by John Craig, a native of Scotland. The only other incorporated village in the township is Mount Airy, part of which only lies within Green, the remainder in what was Mill Creek township. The total population of Green township is given as 6,306.

            Harrison township is in the northwestern corner of the county, comprises eighteen sections, and is bounded on the north by Butler county, on the east by Crosby and Whitewater townships, on the south by Whitewater township, and on the west by the state of Indiana. For the first half of the nineteenth century the land in this township lay in Whitewater township and in Crosby township, but in 1853 it became desirable to erect another township in that locality, and Harrison township was formed. The topography of the country is gently rolling as is most of the county, and the surface is drained by Lee's creek, the Whitewater river, and the Dry Fork of the Whitewater. The only incorporated village in the township is Harrison, which lies partly in Hamilton county and partly in Harrison township, Dearborn county, Indiana, the Indiana part of the town being called West Harrison. The town plat was first surveyed in 1810, and the founder was Jonas Crane. He as a farmer who lived a half mile south of the town site, and after the Indiana side of the town had been platted he laid of an addition to the town in Ohio. The Whitewater canal was constructed and completed by the year 1840, giving the town direct communication with Lawrenceburg, Indiana, two years later it was connected with Cincinnati, and its life has been assured since that time, its growth and development being that of a thriving village dependent on the rural districts for its support. In 1864, the first railroad to pass through Harrison was opened, and was known as the Whitewater Valley Railroad. The population of Harrison here given is the joint population of the village in Indiana and in Ohio, and as such is included in the population for the township. In the thirteenth census of the United States Harrison village had a population of 1,368, and Harrison township, 1,963.

            Miami township lies almost wholly between the Ohio river and the Big Miami river. It is bounded on the east by Green (page 531) township, on the south by Delhi township and the Ohio river, on the west by the Big Miami river, and on the north by the Big Miami and Colerain township. As originally established in 1791, it was one of the three first townships to be erected in the county, and at that time comprised the territory now included by Delhi, Green and Colerain townships. Its organization was directed by the County Court of Quarter Sessions. Judge Symmes made his first settlement in the Miami Purchase here on February 2, 1789, a town plat of one mile square being laid off under the name of North Bend. It was at first hoped that this village would grow to be the metropolis of the territory, but when the military post was located at Cincinnati, the rapid growth of that town which was thereby caused eliminated the possibility of North Bend ever becoming a city of importance. The incorporated. villages in the township are Addyston, with a population of 1,543; Cleves, 1,423; Fernbank (part of), 148; and North Bend, 560. The total population of Miami township is 4,498.

            Mill Creek township no longer exists under that name. Since 1902 parts of it have been from time to time annexed to the city of Cincinnati until now the entire township has been absorbed by the growth of the metropolis of the valley, with the exception of the cities of Norwood and St. Bernard. These two cities have not been incorporated with Cincinnati, and have an area of 2,062 and 1,015 acres respectively.

            Springfield township is in the north central part of the county, and comprises approximately thirty-five sections. To the north of it lies Butler county ; to the east, Sycamore township ; to the south, Cincinnati ; and to the west, Colerain township. The old Miami canal cuts through the southeastern corner of the township, but there are no important creeks or rivers within its limits, except Mill creek, which is also in the southeastern corner. This township was settled to some slight extent in the earliest days of the purchase, but so great were the depredations of the Indians at that time that settlers were considerably discouraged in their attempts to found settlements. However, after General Wayne had successfully and decisively overwhelmed the combined forces of the savages, and the treaty of Greenville assured comparative peace to the inhabitants of the frontier districts, settlers came to the country in large numbers. In 1795, Springfield township was established.

            Subsequently its two eastern and two southern tiers of sections were taken away from it to be given to Sycamore and Mill Creek townships respectively. The total population, according to the thirteenth census, of Springfield township, including Glendale, Hartwell, Mount Healthy and Wyoming villages, and parts of Arlington Heights, College Hill and Lockland village, was 14,797. Parts of the township have been annexed to the city of Cincinnati since the compilation of the census, and the present township does not include so large an amount of land or such a large village population.

            Sycamore township is one of the northern tier of townships in Hamilton county, lying directly to the east of Springfield township, to the south of Warren county, to the west of Symmes (page 532)  township, and to the north of Columbia township. As originally laid out, Sycamore township included what is now Symmes township, but did not include its present western two tiers of sections. In the first days of its settlement it was characterized by its forests which covered almost the entire township. Many settlements were made, the first dating back to about 1793. Little difficulty was experienced with the Indians, the forests which surrounded the settlements being a natural protection from the raids of the savages. The first occupations of the settlers were farming and the operation of saw mills, for much fine lumber was to be had for the taking, lumber that is now all too scarce, black walnut and other woods suitable for the manufacture of furniture. The population of Sycamore township, including Reading village, and parts of Arlington Heights, Lockland and Silverton villages, was 9,934, Reading village being the largest in the township with a population of 3,985.

            Symmes township is located in the extreme northeastern corner of Hamilton county. It is bounded on the east by the Little Miami river, on the south by Columbia township, on the west by Sycamore township, and on the north by Warren county. The topography of the township is generally rolling, although it is rather broken toward the river. As has been stated in connection with Sycamore township, Symmes township was originally included within the boundaries of that township, and its individual establishment did not occur until about the year 1825. Loveland is the only incorporated village in the township, and it is in both this and Miami township, Clermont county, the river dividing the two sections of the village. That part which lies within the limits of Hamilton county has a population of between five and six hundred, and the total population of Symmes township is 1,789. Camp Denison is the most interesting point in the township from a historical viewpoint.

            It was surveyed as a military camp at the outbreak of the Civil war, although General Scott had previously chosen it as a good location for a military hospital. The work of laying out the camp was conducted under the supervision of General Rosecrans, a system of drainage, and a force water supply was put in that met with all the requirements and demands made upon it. The location of the camp was well chosen, as it extended from the river to the hills, natural drainage being thus afforded, and a constant supply of water constantly at hand.

            Whitewater township lies in the southwestern corner of the county, is bounded on the east by the Big Miami river, on the west by the state of Indiana, and on the north by Harrison and Crosby townships. The majority of the land comprised in the township is of fertile bottom land, but there is also some hilly country to be met with. As originally erected in 1803, Whitewater township included all the land lying west of the Big Miami, but in 1804 Crosby township was formed from part of it, and in 1853 Harrison township was laid off, reducing the township to its present size. There are no incorporated villages in the township, the rich land being so eminently adapted to the pursuits of agriculture that more of profit is to be gained by farming than in any other way. The population of the township is 1,337.

            (page 533) The subjoined table is of interest because it is an analysis of the territorial distribution in Hamilton county, showing the area of cities; incorporated villages and townships, inclusive and exclusive of the municipalities.

 

            See Territorial Distrubution of Hamilton County here

 

Agriculture

 

            The remarkable growth and development of the city of Cincinnati has been in large measure due to its location in respect to the farming district surrounding it, and its importance throughout its history as a shipping point for agriculture products. In the early days, before the manufactures had grown to an exportable amount, the river business outbound from Cincinnati consisted almost exclusively of farm products. As a milling center, the town was early known to the whole Miami valley country, and it was to meet the demand of the farmers amd dealers in produce that the highways of the the surrounding farm lands were made insto something besides impassable bogs.

            The first definite information to be obtained relative to the land and its products is contained in Dr. Drake's "Pictures of Cincinnati," which was published in 1815 in order to bring to the attention of eastern travelers the advantages of the Miami country.

            For the prices of land in that year it was estimated that- "Within 3 miles of Cincinnati, at this time, the prices of good unimproved (page 534) land, are between $50 and $150 per acre, varying according to the distance. From this limit to the extent of 12 miles, they decrease from $30 to $10. Near the principal villages of the Miami country, it commands from $20 to $40; in remoter situations, it is from $4 to $8-improvements in all cases advancing the price from 25 to 100 per cent. An average for the settled portions of the Miami country, still supposing the land fertile and uncultivated, may be stated at $8; if cultivated, at $12." From this very low average it may be seen that the amount of improved land near Cincinnati was in the early part of the nineteenth century very scarce indeed, only the alluvial bottom lands close to the city being settled or improved to any extent. The principal kinds of grain raised were corn, wheat, rye, oats, and barley. Corn and wheat were raised on almost every farm, the latter being slightly better adapted to the soil than was corn. The average corn crop for the region was said to be forty bushels to the acre, although the yield was much higher in some instances, and twenty-two bushels was about the average yield per acre of wheat with a medium weight of about sixty pounds per bushel. Oats averaged about thirty-five bushels to the acre but was not so extensively cultivated as corn or wheat, and rye found its only uses as horse feed and in the distillation of whiskey, being, therefore, much more limited in amount than the two leading grains. The erection of two breweries in Cincinnati, and a demand for the beer all down the Mississippi valley, even to New Orleans, created a demand for barley, which increased rapidly. Fruits in large quantities were raised even at that early day, apples being particularly successful in this climate, and annually large amounts of cider were made. Peaches of unusual perfection were found on nearly every farm, and pears, cherries, and plums were common throughout the district, although apricots and nectarines did not thrive.

            Flax and hemp were raised on nearly every farm, but the fax was said to be poorer in quality than that of the eastern states, especially in point of oil from the seed, and the hemp production early fell of because of the low price obtained for it. The raising of stock, hogs, sheep, and cattle; was prosecuted with the utmost profit on account of the rich meadow lands of the country, and the flesh was said to be of a superior quality to the eastern meats. However, as was universally true in new countries, the methods of cultivation, or rather the lack of method, worked harm to the soil, as the farmers relied too greatly on the fertility of their land and too little upon their own labor. An excess of ambition to grow wealthy, led to an over planting with the. result that either a large share of the land went to waste, or the crops were neglected on the whole, and briars and weeds grew so profusely that they seriously retarded the development of the soil.

            In 1819, it was stated that the Land District of Cincinnati was bounded on the east by the Virginia Military reservation, on the west by the Jeffersonville and White River districts, on the north by Cass and McArthur's purchase, and on the south by the Ohio river. The land comprised within this district was offered for sale for the first time in 1801, and for eighteen years the sales averaged (page 535) not far from 250,000 acres per year, there being left only 75,000 acres open for entry in the year 1819.  If advantage was taken of the discount offered for payment in advance of the time money was due, the person taking out the claim could have the land for $1.64 per acre, although a change in the terms of sale was anticipated. There was at this time a very universal period of hard times throughout the United States, and in order to alleviate in some measure these conditions in the vicinity of Cincinnati an agricultural society was formed, and to give an idea of its aim its constitution follows, together with the preamble and the declaration which was adopted by the society:

            "A society has been recently instituted in Cincinnati for the promotion of Agriculture, Manufactures and Domestic Economy. This society, as it is patronized by the wealthiest and most respectable part of our citizens, cannot fail to produce the most beneficial effects; more especially, as it was created at a time when the people of this, in common with the other states in the Union, very sensibly feel the effect of a universally embarrassed commerce.  If the society is managed with ability and made the means of promoting all the objects of which it is capable, we may safely predict, that within a short period, we shall manufacture the principal part of our most expensive clothing; see agriculture carried to the highest perfection, and acquire an extensive, profitable and uninterrupted commerce with every foreign country that receives the products of our nation. The following is the constitution adopted at the organization of the society:

 

"Preamble

 

            "Feeling with the citizens in this and other sections of our country the unhappy effects of an excessive importation of foreign merchandise, and conscious that the most effectual remedy for our present difficulties lies in our increased attention to economy, and the improvement of agriculture and our various domestic productions, the undersigned agree to form themselves into a society for this purpose, and to be governed by the following:

 

"Constitution

 

"Article 1. The se of the society shall be the Cincinnati society for the promotion of agriculture, manufacture and domestic economy.

"Art. 2. The officers of the society shall consist of a president, four vice-presidents, secretary and treasurer, whose term of office shall be one year, and until their successors shall be chosen.

"Art.  3. The president shall preside at the meetings pf the society, shall have power to call special meetings and shall discharge such other duties as the society may require.

“Art. 4. The secretary shall record the proceedings and proceedings and preserve the books and papers of the society.

"Art. 5. The treasurer shall receive the moneys of the society and pay them to the order of the president, and make report of his receipts and expenditures, accompanied with regular vouchers, to each annual meeting.

            (page 536) "Art. 6. In the absence of the president, the senior vice-president present shall preside, and in case of the death, resignation or absence of the secretary or treasurer, the society shall appoint one pro tem. or for the residue of the year, as occasion may require.

            "Art. 7. A standing committee shall be annually appointed who shall superintend the concerns of the society during the intervals meetings, and who, with the assistance of the secretary, shall conduct the correspondence of the society, audit all accounts presented and report their proceedings annually.

            "Art. 8. The annual meeting of the society shall be held on the last Tuesday in September, and the other stated meetings on the last Tuesdays in December, March and June, to commence at 10 o'clock, A. M.

            "Art. 9. All elections for members or officers shall be held by ballot.

            "Art. 10. The society may annually propose prizes for the best productions in agriculture or domestic manufactures, and for the best essays on such subjects as may be proposed, and may publish der such regulations as may hereafter be made.

            "Art. 11. The society shall have a library containing such works as are calculated to promote its objects.

            "Art. 12. All claims from prizes shall be presented to the secretary in writing, and by him laid before the next stated meeting, and succeeding annual meeting the judgment of the society shall be given. Where there is but one applicant for any particular prize, may award or withhold it according to the merits of the performance.

            "Art. 13. Each member on subscribing the constitution shall pay $2, and $2 on the day of each annual meeting thereafter ; s sum remain unpaid for more than one year after it becomes due, it shall be considered as a forfeiture of membership.

            "Art. 14. The members present at any stated or called meeting of the society, or of the standing committee, shall be a quorum ; and a concurrence of two-thirds of the members present at an annual meeting, shall be necessary to an amendment of this constitution.

            "The following gentlemen were elected officers of the society, viz :

            "William H. Harrison, president; Andrew Mack, 1st vice-president; Ethan Stone, 2nd vice-president ; Zaccheus Biggs, 3rd viceWood, 4th vice-president; Jesse Embree, secretary ; James Findlay, treasurer.

            "Standing Committee : James Taylor, Ephraim Brown, Daniel Drake, Jacob Burnet, William Corry, Gorham A. Worth, Isaac H. Morris, Jacob Broadwell."

            Believing that the prosperity of the country depended in a large measure on the observance of the most rigid economy in reportations, a resolution was adopted by the society toward this end. It will be seen in glancing over the above names y's foremost citizens were in back of this movement toward better agriculture and manufactures, but as the manufacof the city were at that time insignificant in comparison to the (page 537) farming interests, it is safe to say that the principal effort of the society was for the improvement of agriculture.

            With the development of the valley, it was soon realized in Cincinnati that better means of transportation into the interior country must be furnished for the movement of farm produce, or there would be an inevitable retardation in the progress of the city.

            Before 1840, the importance of the surrounding agricultural region was quite fully realized, canals and turnpikes were in the process of construction or were already completed, and their influence was being felt upon the city. Cincinnati was then known to be near the center of the largest and most fertile growing region in the world, comprising more than 10,000,000 acres of tillable soil, which, if properly worked, could produce sufficient farm products to support a population of 4,000,000. The region was particularly adapted to the growing of grains and stock, wheat, corn, barley, oats, and hops being produced abundantly, and horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and hogs in great number. In addition to these products there were many others of less importance, such as hemp, tobacco, strawberries, grapes,- etc. It was highly important to the business welfare of Cincinnati that the roads and canals, and the railroads which came later, should traverse this fertile district in such a manner as to concentrate at this city the immense agricultural business of the valley.

            The growing of grapes had been attempted from the earliest days in the vicinity of Cincinnati, but not without a very qualified success until about the middle of the century, when that branch of horticulture began to take on proportions entitling it to the consideration of the city. At that time Cincinnati became noted to visitors for the number of vineyards which the surrounding hills boasted, and it was confidently believed that the time was not far distant when the region would be to America what the Rhine country was to Europe. In 1851, there were, within a circle of twenty miles from the city, more than 300 vineyards which totalled about 900 acres. Only half of this acreage was bearing in that year, the rest being newly planted, but the production of wine for 1850 was estimated at 120,000 gallons. This demonstrated that the culture of grapes could be prosecuted successfully and with great profit in the valley, and new vineyards yearly made their appearance. Emphasis was placed on the superior grade of wine made from the native Catawba grape, which were said to be equal to the better qualities of Rhenish wines, and it was believed that it would be but a short time before foreign wines would be displaced on the market by the native wines. Mr. Nicholas Longworth did more than any other man in this region toward the promotion of this industry, conducting experiments for twenty-five years with both native and foreign grapes. He expended money liberally in this interest, and published occasional newspaper articles to aid the farmers who were attempting to produce grapes commercially. That the raising of stock for the markets was an industry of magnitude is indicated by the large amount of meat business done in Cincinnati in 1851. To accommodate this business there were at that time six market houses or markets, all of which were of (page 538) considerable size. They were called Lower market, Canal, Pearl, Fifth, Sixth and Wade street markets. The Pearl street market was 340 feet in length, the Wade, 250 feet, and the others ranged between 370 and 395 feet; most of the markets were thirty-six feet in width. Here meats and vegetables were displayed for sale, but so great was the amount of business done that it could not all be transacted in the markets, and almost an equal amount was done at stands outside. There was no lack of supply for these markets, and. as high as 1,950 market wagons have brought the produce from the fertile Miami farms in a single day.

            Cincinnati was known in those days as "Porkopolis," but its pre-eminence in pork packing was but little greater than the beef operations conducted here, although the latter phase of packing was less well known to the outside world. No comparisons with other cities engaged in the industry can be made for that date (1851), but it is quite certain that the quality of beef marketed at Cincinnati was unexcelled in any other market.

            Christmas day was the occasion of an annual exhibit of stallf-ed meat, and the excellence of the display was the pride of the men engaged in the industry, and a description of one of these exhibitions appeared in a publication of 1851. "Sixty-six bullocks, of which probably three-fourths were raised and fed in Kentucky, and the residue in our own state ; 125 sheep, hung up whole at the edges of the stalls ; 350 pigs, displayed in rows on platforms ; ten of the finest and fattest bears Missouri could produce, and a buffalo calf, weighing 500 pounds, caught at Santa Fe, constituted the materials for this Christmas pageant. The whole of the beef was stall-fed, some of it since the cattle had been calves, their average being four years, and average weight of 1,600 pounds, ranging from 1,388, the lightest, to 1,896, the heaviest. This last was four years old, and had taken the premium every year at exhibitions in Kentucky since it was a calf. The sheep were Bakewell and Southdown, and ranged from ninety to 190 pounds to the carcass, dressed and divested of the head, etc. The roasters or pigs would have, been considered extraordinary anywhere but at Porkopolis, the grand emporium of hogs. Suffice to say, they did no discredit to the rest pf the show. Bear meat is a luxury unknown in the East, and is comparatively rare here. It is the ne plus ultra of table enjoyment."

            It is evident from this that the quality of meats at Cincinnati was unrivalled anywhere else in the world. It was stated that the fat on the flanks of the beef measured over seven inches in thickness, specimens of all meats sent to eastern points were received with little less than wonder, and the price of beef at that time was eight cents for the choicest.

            Cincinnati, being the center of the hog raising district and the corn growing district, was without exception at that time the largest pork market of the world. The corn crop of the United States was excessively heavy even at that time, but in 1847 only three per cent of the crop was exported. It became necessary, therefore, for the farmers to either distill spirits from the corn or feed it to hogs in order to get returns for their labor. Thus it was that the pork (page 339) industry, especially of Cincinnati, increased rapidly to an enormous extent. The most popular breed of hogs was a cross of Irish Grazier, Byfield, Berkshire, Russia, and China, for it was discovered that this breeding gave the best results in regard to fat, quality, size, and shape. The general run of hogs reached from eleven to eighteen months of age before slaughtering, although some few attained a greater age. They were allowed to run in the woods until about six weeks before they were to be slaughtered, when they were driven into the corn fields to fatten. Some farmers brought as many as a thousand head of hogs to the slaughter houses annually, although the average number was between 200 and 300 head. Lots of fewer than 100 were bought up by drovers and driven into the-pens close to the various packing houses. The packing industry was at first more or less scattered over the whole of the valley, but toward the middle of the century it became centered in Cincinnati almost to the exclusion of other points. In 1833, hogs were packed in Cincinnati to the number of 85,000 in 1844, to the number of 240,000 or 43 per cent of the hogs packed in Ohio, and in 1850 Cincinnati packed 80 per cent of the hogs in Ohio, 563,645 hogs being packed by local operators. The various classes of the manufactured articles from these 500,000 hogs were as follows : Barrels of pork, 180,000; pounds of lard, 16,500,000; and bacon to the amount of 25,000,000 pounds. The residue of the pork, that is to say that part of the carcasses which entered into the manufacture of other articles, was used by others than the packers. For instance, one business house was engaged in the extracting of grease and its operations reached as high as 36,000 hogs in a season. Lard was shipped to Havana where it was used not only for cooking, but also for butter; it was also shipped extensively to the eastern markets for export to England and France either as lard or lard oil. It will be seen by the following list, to what an extent the manufacture of articles from the hog reached in 1850 aside from the three important classes of hog products mentioned. above. Lard oil was manufactured to the amount of 1,200,000 gallons, star candles to the amount of 2,500,000 pounds, bar soap, 6,200,000 pounds, fancy soap, 8,800,000 pounds, prussiate of potash (Prussian blue) 60,000, the last named being used in eastern print factories. The pork packing of Cincinnati was over one-fourth, in fact 28 per cent, of the whole amount of the Mississippi valley, and was directly due to the city's favorable location with respect to this fertile agricultural region. Another farm product which found an important place in the markets at that time was the strawberry. Four thousand bushels of them were grown in the vicinity of Cincinnati and sold in the markets here in 1845, and so rapid was the increase in demand and production that 7,000 bushels was approximately the amount of that fruit consumed in 1848. Of these 7,000 bushels, 4,865 bushels were sold in the markets of the city, the rest being sold directly to the homes, and to steamboats, hotels, confectioners, and similar places. At least two-thirds of the strawberries sold in Cincinnati were cultivated along the Licking river, and thus water transportation was afforded for most of the crop, which was an important feature in the handling of such a delicate product. The remainder of the (page 540) crop was brought in for the markets in wagons carrying cases of the fruit. These cases were large, containing from five to eight drawers, each of which contained from thirty to forty quarts. They were packed in flat boxes of wood or tin holding in general one quart, although some boxes were of two-quart capacity. The prices varied with the time of the season, the character of the season, and the condition of the strawberries. For the first two days or so of the season they brought from 20 to 25 cents a quart, but this price rapidly dropped until the abundant season when they brought from 5 to 6% cents, or sold even as low as 3 to 4 cents. In favorable seasons the price for the entire season averaged about 7 cents. The market was supplied by about 250 acres of strawberries, most of which was divided into patches of three to five acres each, although account is given of one family, the Culbertsons, who raised annually sixty acres of this berry. Four varieties were cultivated in this vicinity, but on account of its being best adapted for transportation to the markets, the Hudson was the most widely grown, and of this variety more than of all the others combined were cultivated. After the strawberry season had closed, the raspberries appeared to some extent on the markets, but their total was only about one sixth, at that time, of the strawberry crop.

            To increase the interest of the people of the city in agriculture, as well as to give aid to the farmers of the vicinity, the Farmer's college did excellent work. The college was located on the top of a beautiful hill six miles north from the city near the site where F. G. Cary, in 1833, began a boarding school with four pupils. This institution met with the increasing approval of the community, and in eight years the pupils numbered a hundred. It then became necessary for larger buildings to be built to accommodate the patrons of the school, and in 1845 a stock company was formed to finance the new building which was completed in the following year under the name of the Farmer's college. From the date of its organization six instructors were employed besides Mr. Cary who was elected president of the faculty, and annually more than 2b0 were graduated from the college. It was well equipped with the various kinds of experimental apparatus, and especially was this true in the chemistry department, great emphasis being placed on the relation of chemistry to the soil and farming. Very little time was devoted to the study of arts and classics in this school, the practical side of education receiving the major portion of the faculty's attention, and the main object being "to assert the dignity of labor."

            During the Civil war there was, of course, the greatest demand for farm produce of all descriptions, and the importance of Cincinnati as an export point for the farmers of the Miami valley became apparent to its fullest extent. The demands of the army had to be met with foodstuffs as well as with manufactured articles, river transportation for the former was essential, and the number of barges and steamers built during the war at Cincinnati for the transportation of foodstuffs and other articles was far in excess of any other like period of time. At the conclusion of the war, the southern states were so prostrated agriculturally, as well as (page 541) financially and commercially, that a state of starvation nearly reigned. To alleviate this condition, vast quantities of foodstuffs were shipped to them by the northern states, and the commercial prosperity of the north continued for a short time after the war ended for this reason. In 1865, an increase in the exports was noted in such commodities as apples, beer, barley, beans, butter, cheese, beef cattle, eggs, four, hay, hogs, leather, molasses, malt, oats, onions, potatoes, flax seed, leaf tobacco, and vinegar. The total value of the exports of 1865 was about three times that of 1860, but in the next few years there was such a retro gradation in business prosperity throughout the entire country caused by the inflation of prices during the war, and the natural return to the normal from the unusual activity of war times, that the business life of the country was nearly paralyzed. There was, in 1867, a considerable setback to the corn crop in the Ohio valley, but for the most part the year was considered to be a successful one as regarded the crops; and inasmuch as the farm products and the farmer constituted the true basis for prosperity in the entire business world, the people of Cincinnati rested their faith on the farmers of the Miami valley to bring about a change in their condition of depression, and give them a fresh start toward wealth.

            The upturn began in 1869. There was a general decline in prices, but notwithstanding this, there was an improvement in the commerce of the city. The reaction which followed the war had not completely run its course in this year, but there was an improvement over the preceding year in the exportation of almost all agricultural products, the grocery business especially showing a marked increase. The season was most favorable to the farmers on the whole, most crops showing a satisfactory gain over the year before. The corn crop was an especially good one, maturing early in the season, and the crops of fall and winter wheat were profitable to the producers. The other crops in that year were average, with the exception of the peaches which were almost a complete failure. In order to show what the increase in the city's trade in agricultural products has been during the last half century, the following comprehensive table has been arranged, giving the imports into Cincinnati of the most important commodities every tenth year since 1868. The year 1868 is chosen to begin the table for the reason that it was the first year in which trade conditions approached their normal state after the Civil war. There are some items incorporated in this table which do not give the receipts at Cincinnati exclusively for this district, that is to say from the farms immediately surrounding Cincinnati, but it serves to show to what an extent the commercial prosperity of the city is dependent on the movement of farm products. Some difficulty was encountered in its preparation, because there have been changes made from time to time in the methods of reporting some of the commodities, but it is hoped that a comprehensive knowledge of the relation of the city to agriculture can be gained from a perusal of it: (page 542)

 

             See Agricultrual changes over the years here.

 

            (page 543) In recent years, due to the efforts of the Agricultural committee of the Chamber of Commerce, great progress has been made in bringing the city and farming districts into closer co-operation, a close relationship being effected between the County agent, the Experiment farm, the schools and the Chamber of Commerce. The schools of the city have conducted classes in agriculture offering prizes for the best gardens and for the best work done by the students, and students from Woodward high school were sent to Columbus in 1915 to attend lectures during Farmers' Week. The experiment farm has done splendid work in Hamilton county, having made a complete soil survey, introduced new methods of bookkeeping and distributing farm record books free to the farmers of the county in order that better records may be kept, and many other things of benefit to farmers too numerous to be here set forth. The Chamber of Commerce also took a great interest in farming conditions, and has given prizes for best crop results in the district. In order to be of still greater assistance to the farmers of Hamilton county, the Chamber of Commerce appointed Mr. Charles Moesser as its representative in the Executive committee of the Hamilton County Co-operative Farm Bureau association, and the County Agricultural agent, Mr. D. R. Van Atta who has offices in the Chamber of Commerce was appointed by the association as its representative in the chamber.

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