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Memoirs of the Miami Valley - Volume Two
Courts & Lawyers, Banks, Cincinnati & Hamilton County in the World War

Courts and Lawyers

 

            The history of the administration of justice in Cincinnati discloses the fact that the city has ever boasted one of the most distinguished bars that can be encountered in any part of the United States. Many of the country's most brilliant legal minds have conducted campaigns in the courts of the city from its earliest inception to the present, and no history, however brief, of the bench and bar of Cincinnati would be at all complete without short biographies of some of the more outstanding figures of the profession in this particular locality.

            When Hamilton county was erected by Governor St. Clair in 1790, he appointed William McMillan, William Goforth, and William Wells to be judges of the county court. The first of these was one of the distinguished men at the western bar, and as a jurist he ably administered justice in the General Court of Quarter Sessions, as the county court was styled. He was a Virginian by birth, engaging in farming in his native state until he was nearly thirty, at which time he came to the Miami country to seek his fortune. He was a graduate of William and Mary college, and being a man of exceptional ability and learning among his fellow settlers, he was elected to the first Territorial house of representatives. Later he was a representative of the Territory in Congress, in which capacity he had succeeded General Harrison, and as a crowning tribute to his genius he was given the commission of first United States attorney for Ohio. This appointment showed to better advantage than in any other way the popularity of the man with the people in his community, for at this time there was an unusual amount of spirit displayed in party politics. In a letter written by Governor St. Clair to the president in 1800 relative to the appointment of McMillan to a judgeship, the governor said in part: "I have taken the liberty to inclose to you the written request of the gentlemen of the bar of Hamilton county for the appointment of Mr. McMillan. The object of it I know to be a man of integrity, much esteemed, and of considerable influence. * * * Although I have ever thought it wrong that offices should be trusted to enemies of the government, I doubted of Mr. Harrison's authority to say that an express declaration that he would support the administration would be required of any person, and it has not even been hinted to Mr. McMillan." He was a public-spirited citizen of the finest character, perpetually working for the good of the city on the side of right and justice, and in his will he bequeathed to the "Local lodge of Masons the lot on the corner of Third and Walnut streets where the Masonic temple now stands.

            (page 619) In 1790, the year in which the first county court, was created, a crude log building was erected near the comer of Fifth and Main streets in which the sessions of the court were held, and this may be looked upon as the first courthouse in Cincinnati. The presence of several frog ponds near this building proved to be a great annoyance to those conducting the court, as the noise made by the frogs militated against the easy dispatch of business. In the year 1802, this log structure was superseded by a substantial stone courthouse, which was the pride of the city until it was destroyed by fire in 1814, when it was being used as a barracks for soldiers. But the city was not destined to go long without a courthouse, for Jesse Hunt, one of the prominent men of the town, donated a lot at the corner of Court and Main streets, on which it was specified a courthouse and a jail were to be built. This was done, and the new structure completed in 1819, of such an imposing size for that time that it was for many years looked upon with pride and admiration by the citizens of the town. Its single courtroom was a large room arranged in such a manner as to facilitate the efficient discharge of business. A bar bisected the room, separating the spectators from those connected with the court proceedings, giving ample room for both spectators and court. Many years later the second floor of the building was remodeled to accommodate the superior court of Cincinnati, which consisted of a single judge.

            The judicial system of this period, 1819 and the years immediately following, consisted of a city court composed of the mayor and three aldermen. This court had original jurisdiction over all cases which were not penitentiary offenses, and had concurrent jurisdiction with the court of common pleas where the defendant was a resident of Cincinnati. Appellate jurisdiction existed from the decisions of the mayor in all cases, and he was also an ex ofcio justice of the peace to determine, in the first instance, all causes arising under the laws and ordinances of the corporation. Besides the city court, there existed at this time the Hamilton county court. of common pleas and the supreme court, the one held at Cincinnati three terms in each year, and the other one term. In spite of these frequent sessions of the various courts there was such an accumulation of business in every year that the greatest delay was experienced in the conduct of business and "amounted almost to a denial of justice." The mayor and three aldermen who composed this first city court were Isaac G. Burnet, and David E. Wade, William Burke, and Francis Carr. The prosecuting attorney for the city of Cincinnati was Nathaniel G. Pendleton, and the president judge of the court of common pleas was George P. Torrence, those associated with him being Othniel Looker, James Silvers, and John C. Short, while the prosecuting attorney for Hamilton county was David Wade, an alderman of the city and treasurer of the county. There were, at this time, twenty-five attorneys at the Cincinnati bar, and the names of several illustrious followers of the legal profession appear on this list, which was as follows : William Corry, Nicholas Longworth, James Gazlay, Benjamin M. Piatt, David K. Este, David Wade, Stephen Sedgwick, Daniel Roe, William M. Worthington, David Shepherd, Nathaniel Wright, Samuel Q. Richardson, (page 620) Nathaniel G. Pendleton, Richard S. Wheatly, Joseph S. Benham, John Lee Williams, Nathan Guilford, Bellamy Storer, Thomas Clark, Francis A. Blake, Elisha Hotchkiss, Samuel Todd, Chauncey Whittlesey, Thomas P. Eskridge, and Hugh McDougal. Hamilton county was the ninth circuit of the court of common pleas, and by far the most prominent of all the men who rode the circuit was judge Jacob Burnet, who did, indeed, take the most important part, in all the public affairs of Cincinnati that related to its civic welfare and government.

            He was born on February 22, 1770, the son of Dr. William Burnet of Newark, New Jersey, a surgeon general in the Continental army. He was educated at Nassau hall, Princeton, and in 1796 came to the Miami valley country to practice law, being immediately admitted to the Ohio bar. He was a man of strong convictions, and did more toward securing the passage of correct legislation in the territory than any other man who features in the history of territorial days. The profundity of his wisdom and the scope of his learning became of instant value to the new community when he was elected to the first territorial legislature, taking a leading part in the framing of new laws, and exercising a guiding hand over the body to the final consummation of its business. His ability as a judge caused him to be appointed a member of the supreme court of Ohio, but he resigned this important position to go to the United States senate, where he succeeded William Henry Harrison. He was Harrison's firm friend and staunch ally, and it was largely due to his efforts that the general was elected president. After the conclusion of his life in public office, he returned to Cincinnati to practice his profession at the bar, and during all the years of his active business life there was not an important case which did not find him either on the one side or the other. Perhaps the most notable of all his cases was when he defended Blennerhasset, who was charged with being associated with Aaron Burr in his conspiracy to establish an independent government in the far southwest. Judge Burnet's home sheltered many of the country's leading men who visited Cincinnati, and his far-famed hospitality was never found lacking to his friends, until his death in 1853. His character was unimpeachable, his integrity and honesty undoubted, and for over half a century he was looked upon with respect and esteem by all with whom he came in contact.

            The opportunities for wealth which Cincinnati even at that time held forth to the enterprising men of this and other countries attracted so many settlers to this region that it was soon evident that there were insufficient courts to meet the requirements of the inhabitants. In 1838, therefore, the superior court of Cincinnati was inaugurated. A court room was arranged on the 'second floor of the courthouse, as has been previously stated, where a single judge, with a salary of $1,200 a year presided. The first judge of this superior court was David K. Este, who remained on the bench until 1845.

            Fire has always been the nemesis of Cincinnati courthouses, and in 1849 *the building which had been the pride of the city thirty years before was burned to the ground. However, the population (page 621) was increasing so rapidly during this period that the courthouse was entirely inadequate to the needs of the community, so little was done to extinguish the flames, which were looked upon as rather a blessing. The records were removed from the burning building, and preparations were immediately begun toward the erection of a new courthouse.

            This was completed in 1853, and in the four years required for the construction of the building the sessions of the courts were held in the packing house of a pork establishment immediately across the street on Court street. This courthouse endured until 1884, when it, too, was destroyed by fire, but this time with disastrous results. A large mob of citizens were infuriated by what they considered an extremely injudicious acquittal of one Berner. This man Berner had been tried on a particularly revolting murder charge, and when he was found not guilty the people, who had been following the case with the keenest interest, were impelled into the belief that illegitimate means had been used to bring about the verdict. Accordingly the mob, in some attempt to show their disapproval of the working of the court, quickly assembled, marched on the courthouse, and, making a fire in the recorder's office out of broken furniture and papers started a conflagration which reduced nearly the entire structure to ashes and entailed the loss of many irreplaceable documents and records. The militia were called out to quell the rioters, but were unable to cope with the situation. Militia from other cities was called in, as the affair lasted for several days, and after many of the soldiers and perhaps 150 citizens had been killed, peace was restored to the city just as a detachment of regular army soldiers appeared on the scene.

            In order that a new courthouse might be built to take its place, the state legislature passed a law empowering Gov. George Hoadly to appoint a board of trustees to take its construction in charge. Wesley M. Cameron, John L. Stettinius, Henry C. Urner, and William Worthington were appointed by the governor as the board, and these gentlemen gave two and one-half years of their time and zeal to the task assigned them without recompense, to the great benefit of the public. That courthouse endured until recently, when it gave place to the present structure.

            Hamilton county's new $3,000,000 courthouse is nearly completed. Work on the building has been delayed on numerous occasions on account of labor troubles and lack of materials brought on by the war. Thirty-five strikes tied up the work on the building, and these strikes were caused by jurisdictional disputes between unions. The courthouse was built by the New Courthouse Building Commission, President James Alber Green, Thomas W. Allen, Dr. Charles F. Bauer, Martin Daly, George F. Dieterle, A. E. Mittendorf, and Frank L. Pfaf.

            The structure is fireproof throughout, the only wood in the entire building being the chairs used to furnish it, the desks, tables, and other furniture being of steel. The- building was designed by architects Rankin, Kellogg & Crane, their representative on the work being George E. McDonald, jr., a Cincinnati architect. It is modern in every respect, and it is at once one of the most pretentious (page 622) and ornamental structures in the middle west. It has been stated that three distinct types of architecture typify the uses to which the building is to be put. The first two stories are plain in their general lines, and on these two floors are located the county offices.

            The third, third mezzanine and the fourth stories are more imposing, being marked by stately pillars ; here are located the courts. The fifth and sixth stories are divided into three distinct parts, the county jail, the law library, and the juvenile place of detention. Saturday, October 4, 1919, has been definitely set as the date for the dedication of the courthouse, and the speakers are to be William Howard Taft and Justice John H. Clarke, of the United States supreme court. Inasmuch as the lawyers of a city are not bound together in any business organization, the meetings of which are recorded by a duly appointed secretary, and as there are no fluctuations in prices connected with their stock in trade, and no specific instances of development can be noted, as is the case in industrial enterprises, it becomes necessarily difficult to treat in a comprehensive manner the history of the bench and bar in Cincinnati. Its relative importance to other factors in the development of the city throughout the years which have elapsed since the days of the first settlers varies directly with the brilliance and ability of the individuals engaged either at the bar or on the bench. Fortunately for justice in Cincinnati, there has been no lack of such men here during the whole history of the city, and brief biographies of the more important, if here incorporated, may serve to show in a better way than any other a history of the courts.

            In the early days of the city, if a man wished to be admitted to the bar, it was first necessary for him to go through a period of study for the profession which he intended to follow. This studying was usually styled "reading law," and was done in the presence of a judge or lawyer who from time to time examined his protégé in the precepts of the law. The first man to be admitted to practice in Cincinnati was Thomas Goudy. He arrived at Cincinnati, or Losantiville as it was then called, in the year 1789, and in the next year was a member of the party who settled Ludlow's station. He was one of the important men of the locality and time, and was known as the beau of the town. In 1893, he married the daughter of Col. John S. Wallace, Sarah Wallace, and one of his daughters married an Alexander C. Clark of Sycamore township. How many other children he had does not appear in the records. His office was on St. Clair square above Seventh street, and was for many years the only building of any description for several blocks around.

            One of the earliest figures, who stands out prominently from his associates at the bar, was Bellamy Storer, who was noted throughout the entire countryside for his ability as a lawyer, for his wit, and for his public spiritedness. He was a native of Maine, having been born in that state in 1796, and was admitted to the bar in Boston in 1817, after studying successively at Bowdoin college and at Boston. Soon after being admitted, he came to Cincinnati and took an active part in public and political life. He became so popular that he was able, in 1834, to defeat Gen. Robert T. Lytle for (page 623) congress in the face of the administration's opposition. While in congress he made for himself an enviable reputation as an orator and statesman. He supported Harrison firmly throughout the latter's career, and was presidential elector in 1844. In 1854 he abandoned his political career, taking a position as one of the three judges of the superior court of Cincinnati, to which he was elected in that year. For eighteen years he and his two associates presided over the court, to the eminent satisfaction of the public, and when he retired in 1872, three years before his death, he returned to his old profession, practicing with his son.

            One of Storer's associates on the bench of the superior court was Oliver M. Spencer, a native of this locality, having been born in West Walnut Hills in 1809. He received his education at the Cincinnati college and fitted himself for the practice of law at Litchfield Law school at Litchfeld, Connecticut. Upon his return to his city, he was met with success in his chosen profession, early becoming the attorney for the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust company, and enjoyed a large practice. In 1854, he was elected to the superior court of Cincinnati, where his ability as a jurist was rewarded by re-election to his office in 1858, but he unfortunately died three years later, before the completion of his second term.

            The third member of the first superior court of Cincinnati was William Y. Gholson, a Virginian by birth and educated at Princeton. He was born in 1807, and after completing his schooling, practiced for a time in the State of Mississippi. He was still a young man when he came to Cincinnati, but in spite of his youth, very shortly convinced the other lawyers of the time that he was an opponent not to be lightly reckoned with. His knowledge of the law found public recognition by his election to the superior court. His talent as a judge was quickly demonstrated, and he filled this seat for only a single term, being appointed to the supreme court of the state in 1859, serving in this capacity for four years. He then returned to Cincinnati to take up his law practice, now greatly increased, and continued in it until his death in 1870.

            The project of the Cincinnati Southern railroad received its most vigorous opposition from one of the greatest lawyers of Cincnnati, Vachei Voirthington. He was born in Kentucky in 1802, and his ability was early demonstrated by his being graduated from Transylvania university when he was twenty years of age. Three years later he was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, and made such consistent progress during the next few years that he formed a partnership with Nicholas Longworth and his nephew Thomas. This firm was known by the name of Longworths and Worthington and did a gratifyingly large business, of which Worthington took charge upon the retirement of the elder Longworth, and managed his estate between the time of his death and 1866. After a long and lucrative practice at the bar, he was elected to the state senate in 1873, where his most conspicuous work was the construction of what was known as the Worthington bill-a bill designed to require the payment of cash in all city transactions.

            A brilliant figure in the political life of the time, but more particularly remembered for his invincibility at the bar, was George E. (page 624) Pugh. He was born in Cincinnati in 1822, and his powers matured so rapidly that he was graduated in the Miami university in 1840.

            Although exceedingly young, he immediately took up the practice of law, and such was his remarkable memory, his brilliance as an orator, and the force with which he presented his cases, that he instantly sprang into the limelight of success. At the age of twenty-six he began his political career, being elected to the legislature in 1848. The next step in his rapid rise was in 1850, when he was elected city solicitor of Cincinnati, and in the next year he was elected attorney general of the state. He allied himself with the Democratic party, and was elected to the United States senate in 1855, and he here became a leader in his party, and an orator feared by his opposition. His term lasted until 1861, and at the beginning of the war he was one of those most instrumental in suggesting to the president that Gen. George B. McClellan be placed in charge at Cincinnati. In 1863, he was a candidate for lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Vallandigham, but met defeat for the first time in his career, as he did also the next year when he was defeated for congress. He refused to act as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1873, being then in poor health, and he died in 1876, mourned by the entire city.

            Nicholas Longworth, one of the most prominent citizens of Cincinnati during the first half of the nineteenth century, was born at Newark, New Jersey, January 16, 1782. His father had been a Tory during the Revolutionary war, and after the successful outcome of that struggle, for the colonies, all Tory property was confiscated. This left Nicholas Longworth and his brother Robert without property, and the former came to Cincinnati to make his way in the world. He arrived at this city in May, 1804, and began the practice of law. He became known as the lawyer who would take land for his services, and it was not long before he had accumulated such a vast estate that he was able to give up the practice of his profession to devote his entire time to the management of his property. He became immensely wealthy, and in 1850 paid taxes to the amount of over $17,000, which was the next to the highest amount paid by any individual in the United States, William B. Astor paying upwards of $23,000 in the same year. He devoted a great deal of time and money to the cultivation of grapes, doing much to popularize that fruit in the community, and materially aiding the farmers in its production. In the words of a contemporary, "Longworth is a problem and a riddle ; a problem worthy of the study of those who delight in exploring that labyrinth of all that is hidden and mysterious, the human heart, and a riddle to himself and others. He is a wit and a humorist of a high order ; of keen sagacity and shrewdness in many other respects than in money matters ; one who can be exact to a dollar, and liberal, when he chooses, with thousands ; of marked peculiarity and tenacity in his own opinions, and yet of abundant tolerance, however extravagant, of others-a man of great public spirit and sound general judgment. All these things rarely accompany the acquisition and the accumulation of riches." He gave liberally to charity, and was one of the most highly respected citizens of the town until his death in February, 1863.

            (page 625) A man who was especially prominent in public affairs for many years, and especially during the time of the Civil War, was Stanley Matthews. He was born in Cincinnati in 1824, but spent his boyhood in Kentucky. His father was one of the scholars of the day and when he accepted the presidency of Woodward college in 1832 took his son with him to study at that institution. For seven years the boy applied himself at Woodward, and then went for a year to Kenyon college, where he displayed marked ability as a student. He then returned to the city of his birth to study law for two years, following this with a two-year period of teaching in Tennessee. While there he became married to Mary Black, a native Tennesseean, in 1843. Abandoning his profession of teaching, he began the practice of law in that state, and also engaged in the editing of a weekly newspaper called the Tennessee Democrat. But deciding that this field did not give sufficient scope to his powers nor present the advantages which he desired, he removed, in 1844, to Cincinnati to form a partnership with Isaac C. Collins and Judge Key. He was appointed assistant prosecuting attorney, but his enthusiasm on the side of abolition caused him to give up his law practice for the time and devote all his energies to the promotion of the anti-slavery cause through the columns of the Cincinnati Herald, of which he was one of the chief editors. In 1848, he was elected clerk of the House of Representatives of Ohio, and returning two years later to Cincinnati became a judge. He resigned from the bench three years later, however, to associate himself with Vachel Worthington in the practice of law, and such was his reputation as a skilled lawyer, that President Buchanan appointed him to be United States district attorney in 1858. He joined the Union army at the very beginning of the war, accepting the commission of lieutenant-colonel in a regiment of Ohio volunteers, afterward becoming colonel of another regiment of infantry, the 51st Ohio. In 1863, although still in the army, he was elected a judge of the superior court of Cincinnati with Storer and Hoadly as the other two judges of the court. He served only two years of his term, however, resigning to practice law in the city. Then followed several years during which he took an active part in national politics, appearing before the electoral commission as counsel for Hayes. The crowning reward for all his mighty labors in the cause of justice came to him when he was appointed by President Hayes to fill a vacancy in the supreme court of the United States. He was confirmed in this new office in May, 1881, and continued to serve until 1899, when his death occurred.

            Rutherford B. Hayes, though known principally for his active participation in national affairs, was a member of the bar of Cincinnati for several years before the war, being a conspicuous member of the profession. He was born in Delaware in 1822, and was educated in Kenyon college and the Harvard Law school. Admitted to the bar in 1845, he established himself in a lucrative practice in this city in 1849. In 1858, as also in 1859, he was elected city solicitor. but when the war broke out he immediately joined the Union army being first elected captain of a volunteer company formed here, and then appointed as major in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer infantry. He served throughout the war with such gallantry and distinction, that (page 626) he was elected by the Republicans to Congress, and also nominated by the soldiers in the field for governor of the state. At the end of the war he held the rank of brevet major-general, and in 1866 he was re-elected to Congress. His rapid rise in political life is familiar to everyone, and it is therefore unnecessary to go into it in further detail here. After the conclusion of his administration he retired to his home. at Fremont to spend. the remainder of his days until 1893.

            George Hoadly, at one time governor of the state of Ohio, was born in Connecticut in 1826, but at the age of six came with his parents to Cleveland. He received his education in the public schools of that city and in the Western Reserve university, from which he was graduated in 1844. He further prosecuted his studies at the law school at Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1846, he came to Cincinnati, being engaged in the office of Chase & Ball, and he showed such promise that he was taken in as a member of the firm under the name of Chase, Ball & Hoadly, shortly thereafter becoming married to Mary Burnet Perry, a grandniece of judge Jacob Burnet. Mr. Chase's election to the United States Senate made it necessary for Mr. Hoadly to appear in the courts on many important cases, and such a general good opinion was formed by the public of his abilities, that he was elected to the superior court of Cincinnati by the state legislature in 1851. Within a few years after this date he refused two appointments to the supreme court of Ohio. He was re-elected to the judgeship of the superior court in 1864, resigning in 1866 to establish the law firm of Hoadly, Jackson & Johnson, one of the foremost firms of the west. He took an active and influential part in the constitutional convention of 1873-74. In 1883, he ran on the Democratic ticket for governor of the state, defeating Joseph B. Foraker in the election of that year, but being himself defeated by Mr. Foraker two years later. After this second campaign he returned to Cincinnati to take up his practice, but soon went to New York to become a member of the firm of Hoadly, Lauterbaoh & Johnson. He died in 1902, mourned as one of Ohio's greatest sons. Rufus King was a native of Ohio, having been born at Chillicothe in 1817. Both his father and his grandfather were prominent in the development of the state, and his mother became well known in Cincinnati as Mrs. Sarah Peter. He himself came to Cincinnati in 1841, equipped for his subsequent public and professional life by his studies at Harvard Law school. Throughout his life he took an active interest in the affairs of the public schools, and did much toward their betterment. He was a public-spirited citizen of the highest order, serving the public for years in various capacities, principally in an educational way, but also as a member of the board of tax commissioners until it was abolished in. 1891, and was a director of the Cincinnati Southern and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroads, refusing in all instances to accept payment for the invaluable services which he rendered his city. And yet, busied as he was with civic life, he was during all these years one of the most distinguished members of the local bar, his ability as a lawyer being established by the many successful legal campaigns which he waged in the courts of the city. He was a member of the (page 627) constitutional convention, and was otherwise prominently identified with the history of the state and city until his death in 1891. Salmon P. Chase has carved his name deep in the history of the nation and in the annals of Cincinnati. He was born in 1808 in New Hampshire of an American line of ancestry tracing back to the earliest days in our colonial history. The boyhood of Salmon was attended by the greatest hardships of poverty, for his father died in 1817, leaving his wife with ten children to support, and no means of so doing. Fortunately for Salmon, his uncle Philander Chase took him to live with him in Ohio. This uncle was then Episcopal bishop of Ohio, but so meager were his earnings that the boy was forced to contribute to the support of the family by the most arduous work of the farm. His education was not neglected by the bishop ; on the contrary every opportunity was given the boy to progress with his studies, and when the bishop was appointed president of the Cincinnati college, the boy entered the institution to further prosecute his studies as a sophomore. But his uncle resigned this position after one year, and Salmon, then sixteen years of age, returned to the east to support himself. That same fall he entered Dartmouth college as a junior, and supported himself until the time of his graduation by teaching in the summer time. Then, armed with letters of introduction to another uncle, at that time United States senator, he went to Washington to seek his fortune. He met with very little success in his attempt to establish a school in that city, having but one pupil, and addressed himself to his uncle for government employment. He received nothing but discouragement in this project, and so, through the efforts of the bishop, his uncle, he became head of a boys' school, which position he retained for three years. In 1827, he became more or less interested in the study of law, reading from time to time in order to prepare himself for admission to the bar, but his efforts in this direction were not very great, as he preferred to mingle in the society of notable persons in Washington, and it was therefore with difficulty that he persuaded justice Cranch of his fitness to practice law in 1829. On the advice of judge Burnet, at that time senator from Ohio, he came to Cincinnati in 1830 to follow his profession as a lawyer. In a short time he became one of the prominent men at the bar, and took a special interest in the slavery question. He was too keen a constitutional lawyer to be an abolitionist at first, but his sympathies were enlisted on the side of the slaves, and when a mob in Cincinnati destroyed the establishment of an anti-slavery paper, his opinions were crystallized into the conviction that slavery must go. He was the leader of the Abolitionist party from 1841 to 1849, and his prominence in politics secured for him the election to the United States senate in 1849. After his term was completed he was elected by the people of his state as governor in 1856, which office he retained until 1860. He was seriously considered by many for the nomination in the presidential campaign of 1860, and was appointed by Lincoln as secretary of the treasury in 1861. In 1864, he became chief justice of the United States supreme court, serving until the time of his death in 1873. His home life was anything but happy, for he was married three times in seventeen years, each of his wives and (page 628) five of his seven children dying in that time, and he was a widower for more than twenty years after the death of his last wife.

            George H. Pendleton, or "Gentleman George," as he was popularly known, was the son of Nathaniel Greene Pendleton, and grandson of Nathaniel Pendleton, both of whom were among the foremost men of the country during the times in which they lived. The last, named was prominent in political life in Virginia, and held public office for over fifty years dating from 1752. Nathaniel Greene Pendleton, the father of George H., numbered the great men of the nation among his friends, and he was Alexander Hamilton's second in the unfortunate duel which took place between him and Aaron Burr. George Pendleton's maternal grandfather was Jesse Hunt, one of the pioneers of Cincinnati, and. the man who gave to the city the site for the court house. George. H.. Pendleton was born July 19, 1825, in Cincinnati, and began the practice of law at the age of twenty-one years in the city of, his birth. But the call of politics was strong upon. him, and he entered public life in 1853 never again to return to his professional career. In that year he was elected to the senate. In 1857, he was elected to Congress as the representative from Hamilton county, and continued in this office. until 1865. When General William B. McClellan was nominated by the Democrats for the presidency, Pendleton was nominated as vice-president on the same ticket, and four years later he narrowly missed the nomination for the presidency, being defeated at the last moment by a few votes. His next public office was that of United States senator from Ohio, which office he held from 1878 to 1884, and at the conclusion of his term he was appointed United States minister to Germany. He died in Brussels, Belgium, in 1885, one of the most popular statesmen of all time.

            Alphonso Taft, until the time of his death on May 28, 1891, one of the prominent members of the Cincinnati. bar and bench, was born at Townsend, Vermont, November 5, 1810. Until he was sixteen years of age he lived upon his father's farm, teaching schools in the winter months, until he had sufficient money to pay for a course at Amherst academy. Having completed this course, he entered Yale college. He was nineteen when he was matriculated, and was graduated with high honors. But deciding to take up the study of law, he continued in the law department of Yale, serving as a tutor to defray his expenses. In 1839, he came to Cincinnati and began the practice of law in which he was eminently successful. He was identified with the development of the railroad system of .Cincinnati, was for years a director of the Little Miami railway, was one of the incorporators of the Ohio & Mississippi, and one of the first directors of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad. He was an advocate of the Cincinnati Southern railroad, and as a judge of the superior court sustained the constitutionality of the act authorizing the city to expend the first $10,000,000 in construction of the road. He was a trustee of this road from 1875 until 1876, when he entered the United States cabinet as secretary of war. In 1865, he was appointed to the superior court of Cincinnati, and was elected to the office the following term. He was candidate for nomination of governor in 1875 and in 1879. After serving three months as secretary (page 629) of war, he was made attorney general of the United States, and held the office until the end of President Grant's administration. In 1882, he was appointed United States minister to Austria-Hungary, and in 1883 he became minister to Russia, filling that office for two years. In 1841, he was married to Fannie Phelps of Vermont, who, at her death in 1852, left two sons, Charles P. and Peter R. Judge Taft was married a second time, his last wife being Louise M. Torrey of Massachusetts; by whom he had four, children, William Howard, Henry W., Horace D., and Fanny Louise.

            William Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati September 15, 1857. He has been so prominently in the public eye for the major part of his life, that it is unnecessary to make further mention of his activities than to give a mere outline of the important offices which he has held during his life. He is the son of the Hon. Alphonso Taft and Louise M. (Torrey) Taft. He received his elementary education in the pubic schools of Cincinnati, and in 1878 was graduated from Yale, being salutatorian and class orator, as he had finished second in his class of 120. Two years later he was graduated from the Cincinnati Law school, and during the time he was in attendance at this institution he studied law in the office of his father. Admitted to the bar in 1880, for one year he held the position as law reporter of the Cincinnati Commercial, giving up this work when lie was appointed by Miller Outcalt as assistant prosecuting attorney of Hamilton county. In 1882, President Arthur appointed him to the position of collector of the internal revenue for the First district of Ohio. In the following year, however, he resigned this position to take up the practice of his profession in partnership with Major Harlan Page Lloyd under the firm name of Lloyd & Taft. But his services were too much in demand in public life, and he gave up this practice in 1887 when Governor Foraker nominated him as judge of the superior court of Cincinnati to fill the vacancy occasioned by judge Harmon's resignation. When this partial term ran out, he was elected for the full term to the position.

            But he was destined never to complete this term, for in 1890 President Harrison appointed him solicitor general of the United States. His father had been a member of the superior court many years before, and the career of judge Taft in this office, though not of many years' duration, was such to reflect the greatest credit upon himself and upon the court. The formation of a new court, the United States district court of appeals, called Mr. Taft from his position as solicitor general to preside over the Sixth circuit, there being nine in all. The Sixth circuit comprised the four states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and the appointment of judge Taft's associates, Howell E. Jackson, to the supreme court of the United States, made him senior and presiding judge of the circuit. The splendid showing which he made in this court is known to all, and one of the acts in which he participated was the organization of a law library for the Sixth circuit, than which there is no better in any of the other circuits. In 1896, he further showed his interest . it his profession by taking an active part in the formation of the law school of the University of Cincinnati, and served as dean of the school, which was incorporated with the law school: of the old (page 630) Cincinnati college, until 1900. In that year President McKinley offered him the presidency of the United States- Philippine commission. He accepted the position, administering the government of this new dependency, and in 1901 was made the first civil governor of the islands. At the time of President Roosevelt's election, he resigned his governorship, and returned to Washington to become secretary of war. In 1908, he was the choice of the Republican party for the presidential nomination and was elected in. November of that year. The events of his administration are matters of common history, and in 1912 he was again the Republican nominee for president, but he was defeated in the election by a party split. He is now engaged in lecturing on federal constitutional law to classes at Yale university.

            Judson Harmon was born in Newtown, Ohio, February 3, 1846. He was the eldest of the four sons of Benjamin Harmon, a teacher and Baptist minister who preached for over forty years in the same parish. Judson Harmon received his preliminary education from his father, and in 1862 entered Denison university at Granville, Ohio. He helped _pay his expenses during his four years at the college by teaching school in vacations and tutoring other students in the school year. He was graduated in 1866, ranking among the best of his class. For a time he taught school for a living, but as he had decided to become a lawyer, read law diligently at the same time. In 1867, he came to Cincinnati, entering the office of judge Hoadly, and attending the Cincinnati Law school from which he was graduated in 1869. He was then admitted to the bar, and in a short time his ability as a lawyer won for him a gratifying practice. The treatment accorded the south after the war, as' well as. the tariff policy of the Republicans, caused him to change his politics, and take an active part in the Greeley cause. In 1877, he was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati, and made such an excellent record in this capacity that he was re-elected in 1883. However, he did not complete his second term on the bench, resigning in 1887 to become the head of the firm of Harmon, Colston, Goldsmith & Hoadly. This step was occasioned by the retirement of ex-Governor Hoadly from the firm of Hoadly, Johnson & Colston to take up the practice of his profession in New York. This new firm, of which judge Harmon was head, became known as one of the best law firms in the country, and judge Harmon's unfailing support of Grover Cleveland was rewarded in 1895, when he received the appointment of attorney-general of the United States to complete the term. In 1897, he returned to Cincinnati to continue practice with his firm, and was elected president of the Ohio Bar association for that and the following year. He was receiver for the C., H. & D., Pere Marquette, and Toledo Terminal railways from 1905 until 1909, when he was elected governor of Ohio on the Democratic ticket. He was re-elected in 1911, and since 1913 has engaged in practicing law in Cincinnati.

            Joseph Benson Foraker, one of Ohio's most prominent citizens and a brilliant member of the Cincinnati bar, was born in Highland county, this state, July 5, 1846. When he was but sixteen years of age, he joined the Union army as a private in infantry, and after the (page 631) vicissitudes of several major campaigns, was mustered out with the rank of captain at the age of nineteen. He then determined to ft himself for the legal profession, and accordingly entered Cornell university, from which he was graduated in 1869. Then after a short period of careful preparation, he was admitted to the Cincinnati bar. As a lawyer he won the appreciation of his clients, and his rise was steady. He was elected to the superior court of Cincinnati within ten years after his admission to the bar, and discharged the duties of that position until 1882 with marked ability. In the following year he was Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, but was defeated in the election by judge Hoadly. However, he was again the candidate of his party two years later, and this time he was elected, as he was also in 1887. But he was to receive still more honors at the hands of his party which he had served so well. In 1895, the state Republican convention indorsed him as candidate for the United States senatorship, and in January, 1896, he was elected by the legislature to succeed Calvin S. Brice for the term 1897 to 1903. He was re-elected to the senate, his second term expiring in 1909. He has filled a prominent place in many state and national conventions, having been chairman of the Republican state conventions in Ohio in 1886, 1890, 1896, and 1900; and delegate at large from Ohio to the Republican national conventions in 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904. He was chairman of the Ohio delegation in 1884 and 1888 and presented both conventions with the name of Hon. John Sherman for the nomination for the presidency.

            He acted as chairman of the committee on resolutions in the conventions of 1892 and 1896, and presented the name of William McKinley for the nomination in 1896 and 1900.

            Joseph Cox, the son of one of Cincinnati's pioneer physicians, Hiram Cox, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania,, in 1822, coming to this city with his parents when he was eight years of age. After being excellently educated in law, he entered upon his professional career in Cincinnati, enjoying a rapid rise to success. He was for fifteen years judge of the common pleas court, and for fourteen years judge of the First judicial circuit of Ohio. He was married in 1848 to Mary A. Curtis, a Virginian by birth, and the union was blessed by four sons and two daughters. After a long and useful life, during which he won the esteem and respect of his fellow men, Judge Cox died October 13, 1900.

            It is impossible in this brief review of the bench and bar in Cincinnati, to include all those who are worthy of special mention, but it is believed that the more prominent in the history of the city have been taken up. However, some few others whom it is impossible to overlook when considering the  influential members of the bar, are: Nathaniel Wright, born in New Hampshire in 1817, a firm friend of Bellamy Storer, died in 1875. Charles Fox was born in England in 1798, came to Cincinnati in 1818, studied law with Nathaniel Wright, was admitted to the bar in 1823, was judge of the superior court of Cincinnati from 1862 to 1868, and died in 1882.

            Joseph S. Benham, a Kentuckian of great eloquence, who delivered the address welcoming Lafayette, was noted as a teacher of law, and was one of the faculty of the Cincinnati Law School. Samuel R. (page 632) Miller, lawyer, associate judge, and speaker of the house of representatives. Daniel Van Matre was for a great many. years prosecuting attorney. Peyton Short Symmes, for many years prominent in the affairs of the city, and in social and literary circles, was especially noted for his ability as caricaturist. Henry Starr, an easterner, was a lawyer of much local renown in the early days ; his most important case was contesting the attempt to break the will -of Elmore Williams, the richest man of the town. Timothy Walker was graduated from Harvard in 1826 and then fitting himself for the bar came to Cincinnati in 1831, where he became prominent for the establishment of the Cincinnati Law school in association with J. C. Wright, where he was a professor of law until 1844, and for his "Introduction to American Law," a very generally used text book. John C. Wright, editor of "Wright's Reports of Supreme Court Decisions," came to Cincinnati in 1834 and was for many years associated with Walker in the practice of law, and was later connected with the Gazette, in which he had bought an interest. George R. Sage came to Cincinnati from Pennsylvania in 1849, was educated at Granville college and the Cincinnati Law school ; was prosecuting attorney for Warren county, district judge for the Southern District of Ohio. Johann Bernhard Stallo, for many years a school teacher, became prominent at the bar, associating in practice with Kittredge and Wilby ; his most important case was the so-called "Bible case" ; he was appointed United States minister to Italy. Jacob Wykof Piatt, brother of Donn Piatt, the famous journalist, correspondent, and diplomat, was born in Kentucky in 1801; he engaged actively in politics, being a leader among the Democrats.  William Martin Dickson, an Indiana man by birth, went to Harvard Law school, and came to Cincinnati where he became the first prosecuting attorney of the police court; took an active part in the fugitive slave cases, and the Bedini riots and agitation against the Germans ; devoted much time to literary work toward the end of his life, which came in 1889. William Johnston, who came to Cincinnati after he had made considerable reputation in state politics, being a member of the legislature, was elected judge of the superior court; in 1861 he was called to Washington by Lincoln to act on the commission to revise the statutes of the United States. William Haines Lytle, born in Cincinnati in 1826, was for many years prominent in state politics, military affairs during the war; he was killed at the battle of Chickamauga and was buried at Cincinnati in October, 1863. William S. Goesbeck practiced law in Cincinnati from 1836 to 1857, during which time he made such an enviable reputation that he was elected to Congress, and so great was his ability as an orator and lawyer that he was chosen by President Johnson as counsel in the impeachment case.

 

Banks

 

            A record of the banking business in Cincinnati must necessarily date back to 1803, the time of the inception of the first banking institution in the Miami valley. This was the Miami Exporting company, formed with the original purpose of reducing the difficulty (page 633) and expense attached to the transportation of agricultural products to New Orleans, and was incorporated for forty years. The trade and commerce of the western country was at a very low ebb at that time, and it was primarily to relieve the depression at Cincinnati that this establishment was begun. Its charter permitted the corporation to issue bank paper, but at first banking was of a secondary importance. However, in 1807, the conditions of commerce being materially improved, the attentions of the proprietors were turned toward the operation of a bank, and on March 1 of that year offices were opened for this purpose and all commercial operations were ceased. The capital of the company was divided into shares of $100 each, and totaled $450,000 paid in the number of shareholders being 190. The shareholders in the corporation annually elected eleven directors, who chose one of their own number to be president. In mentioning this bank in 1815, Dr. Daniel Drake said : "The reputation and notoriety of this institution are equal to that of any bank in the western country; and its dividends correspond, having for several years fluctuated between 10 and 15 per cent. Oliver M. Spencer and Samuel G. Vance are the president and cashier." The second bank to be established in Cincinnati was the Farmers' & Mechanics' bank. This bank was established in 1812 and incorporated in 1813 for a period of five years, at the expiration of which time the charters of all banks in the state expired with the exception of the Miami Exporting company. The law prescribed that this institution should have a capital of $200,000, and this amount was subscribed in shares of $50 each. The bank paper of this institution was circulated quite extensively throughout the surrounding country, and the dividends varied between 8 and 14 per cent. One feature of the charter was that one-third of the directors of the bank must be practical farmers and one-third practical mechanics. In 1815, the cashier of this bank was Samuel W. Davies, the man to whom the town council, two years later, gave the exclusive privilege of supplying the city with water.

            The Bank of Cincinnati was founded in the year 1814 and made its first issue of paper in June. By the following year there were 8,800 $50 shares sold, of which $140,000 had been paid in. The first president of this institution was Ethan Stone, and the cashier was Lot Pugh. That the institution was in excellent credit in the community is shown by the fact that the dividends advanced during the first year from 6 to 8 per cent.

            During the war of 1812 there was comparatively little foreign merchandise imported by this country, but after the war was over in 1815, the tendency of the people was to dispose of the excess of money accumulated in the United States by importing luxuries from overseas. In this manner there quickly became noticeable a shortage of money in the land with a consequent contraction of commerce and domestic trade. Soon credits became destroyed, debts had to be collected by force, and the financial panic of 1817 was brought on, lasting until 1823, with an accompanying disastrous depression in trade. All the principal manufactories of the town were wiped out in this panic, and the leading citizens suffered extensive losses.

            (page 634) In 1817, John H. Piatt & Company's bank was founded, and had sufficient monetary backing to gain the confidence of the, community, and weathered the storm of financial distress then raging over the country. In April of the same year, a branch of the second bank established by the federal government was opened in Cincinnati. This had been brought about by a deputation from the city and from other places in Ohio. It was opened as an office of discount and deposit, but in 1820 it closed its doors, not being reopened until 1825. A great controversy arose in connection with this bank on account of the State of Ohio asserting its right to tax it.

            The legislature passed a law stating that a tax of $50,000 would be levied upon any branch bank in the state remaining in operation after September 15,, 1819. But when the time arrived for the collection of the tax the state authorities appointed for that purpose were restrained from so doing by an injunction. Through some slight technical error in the serving of this injunction, however, it was decided by the counsel for the state that no injunction had been served, and the collectors were therefore ordered to collect the tax, and if refused to take the $50,000 by force, unless too violently opposed. The collector was refused payment, but as no force was used to prevent him he took of with him $98,000 in gold, silver and bank notes. He was then arrested on a charge of contempt of court for violation of the terms of the injunction. Finally, upon appeal to the United States supreme court, the case came to a settlement, making- it unnecessary for the branch bank to pay the tax. During the trial of the case, the state legislature adopted the following resolution:

            "That the Bank of the United States is a private corporation of trade, the capital and business of which may be legally taxed in any state where they may be found."

            It was due to an order received by the officers of this bank to put in suit every debt due and overdue that many of the foremost citizens of Cincinnati came to ruin, among whom was judge Burnet, who was obliged to part with his home to meet his obligations. The financial disorders prevailing throughout the entire country left ruin in their wake, and all but one of the banks in Cincinnati were wiped out by 1829. This institution that was able to live through the trying times was the United States Branch bank, and in that year it had a capital of $1,200,000.

            However, a reflex action of the money market soon set in, and there was a corresponding boom in business of nearly every kind.

            This betterment of conditions found expression in the formation of the Commercial bank which was incorporated in the winter of 1829, but not organized until April, 1831. It was located at 45 Main street and had a capital stock of $50,000. March of the same year saw the organization of the Cincinnati Savings institution with an office on West Third street. The primal object of this bank was to provide a place where small sums of money could be deposited and draw interest, and was well calculated to stimulate the saving instinct in the laboring classes of the city. By the charter it was provided that any person making a deposit of not less than $5 and not more than $300 was to receive interest at the rate of 5 per cent per (page 635) annum, no interest. being, allowed where the principal was drawn out within four months after deposit. At the end of three years profits of the institution over and above 5 per cent were to be divided among the depositors in such manner as was to be determined by the directors. This bank was expressly restrained from issuing any paper in the nature of bank notes.

            In reviewing the financial condition of the country in 1831,. the directory of 1831 stated that money was in great demand in Cinnati. Banks were discounting notes at 6 per cent and the market price of money was much greater than that, selling for its real value account of there being no usury laws in Ohio at that time. Ten per cent was in that year considered to be the market price of money. The high rates at which money could be safely invested. at interest acted eastern capital, and in spite of the high interest rates, business could be profitably. conducted on borrowed money. In 1833, the Franklin bank was incorporated with a capital .of $1,000,000. In 1834 the Exchange bank was established, and in the me year the Ohio Life and Trust company was founded, with the power to make insurance on lives, grant and purchase annuities, and        eral had the powers of an insurance company. Besides these powers it had the privilege of receiving money in trust, accumulate, accept trusts of every description, receive and hold lands for the transaction of business, and issue bills and notes not exceeding times the amount of the deposits other than the capital stock. This charter was not to be repealed until 1870, and in a very short time the company became a power in the financial affairs of the city.

            A notable step in the progress of the banking affairs of the city was the erection of the Franklin Bank building on Third street in 1840. This was long one of the most imposing buildings of the city, one in the classic style of architecture, and built of freestone from the banks of the Ohio river.

            In 1841, there were five incorporated and two unincorporated banks in Cincinnati which furnished the business accommodations applied much of the circulating medium. The largest of these institutions was the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company bank with a total of $2,000,000, and of which M. T. Williams was president ; J. M. Perkins, cashier ; Samuel R. Miller, secretary; V. Worthington, solicitor; T. J. Matthews, actuary, and Isaac G. Burnet, notary.         The board of trustees was composed of men from Cincinnati, Warren, Galliopolis, Columbus, Cadiz, and Dayton, Ohio, from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. The other banks in the city were the Franklin bank with a capital of $1,000,000 and John H. Groesbeck as president; the Lafayette bank with a capital of $1,000,000 and Josiah Lawrence, president ; the Commercial bank with a capital of $1,000,000 and James S. Armg, president; the Bank of Cincinnati, capital not stated and G. R. Gilmore, president; the Miami Exporting company with a capital of $600,000 and N. W. Thomas, president; the Mechanics' apd Traders' bank with E. D. John, president ; the Exchange bank; chiefly owned by John Bates and with a capital of $200,000; and the Agency of the United States bank with T. Kirby as agent.

            (page 636) The Cincinnati Savings institution had been operating then (1841) for ten years, and had met with the greatest success, the average rate of interest paid to depositors being 8 per cent throughout its entire existence. The president of this institution was George W. Jones, and the secretary, P. Outcalt.

            In 1851, there were only six banks in Cincinnati that were incorporated. These were the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust company, the Commercial, the Franklin Branch, the Lafayette, the Mechanics' and Traders', and the City banks. An explanation for this small number of banking institutions being incorporated appears in a publication of the time : "From the limited amount of banking capital, heretofore allotted to Cincinnati by the Ohio legislature, the business of private banking has become an interesting feature in the growing commercial operations of our city. Among the most important private banking institutions of Cincinnati may be termed, the banking house of Ellis & Morton, located on the corner of Third and Walnut streets, which paid an interest of 6 per cent on accounts and charged 12 per cent on discounts, the latter rate being invariable. The average amount of the deposits in this bank was about $800,000 for that year, and the sales of exchanges on the eastern cities were above $10,000,000. It paid a tax on capital used in business to the amount of $70,000, and held real estate and other assets to the value of $80,000; it was founded in 1838, and was about the first to allow interest on current accounts."

            Another old private bank was that of T. S. Goodman & Co., which did a business on the same general principles as Ellis & Morton. A house dealing extensively in exchanges was George Milne & Co., and the oldest-of all the private banks was the Citizens' bank, W. Smead & Co., the deposits of which were about $750,000. Other banks of private ownership were B. F. Sanford & Co., Langdon & Hatch, Gilmore & Brotherton, S. O. Almy's bank, Western Bank Scott & McKenzie, Burnet, Shoup & Co., bankers; Phoenix Bank of Cincinnati, Merchants' Bank of Cincinnati, Brown & Ramsey, A. J. Wheeler, A. G. Burt, P. B. Manchester, Wright, Clark & Co., J. R. Glenn & Co., and P. Outcalt & Co.

            The passage of the national bank act presented advantages of which the capitalists of Cincinnati were not slow to avail themselves, and by the latter part of 1863 there were four national banks in the city, the First with a capital of $1,000,000, the Second with a capital of $100,000; the Third with a capital of $300,000, and the Fourth with a capital of $125,000. In the same year, the aggregate capital of the private banks was $723,599, an amount which was more than doubled during the next year. In spite of the depression following the war, there was an increase annually in the amount of bank capital invested in Cincinnati, there being eight national banks in the city in 1867 with more than $4,500,000. Then as the long period of sluggishness which fell upon trade began to be felt more acutely, there was a slight dropping of in the banking business. In 1870, five national banks remained with a total capitalization of $3,500,000, and there-were in the same year nineteen private banks with a capitalization of nearly $3,000,000. With the upturn in commercial activity, the banks once more began to flourish, and the five national (page 637) banks had a capitalization of $4,100,000 in 1872, and five years later the capital invested in bank stock in the city was $6,828,000, including both national and private institutions.

            In 1873, a monetary panic was precipitated by the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, a banking house in New York, which occurred in September of that year, and for the protection of the bankers the Clearing House association passed a resolution to the effect that payment of currency on all but small cheques should cease for the time being, and that the bankers were to certify cheques drawn on balances, payable through the clearing house only. Near the middle of the next month, there was general resumption, and by the middle of November all the Clearing House certificates which had been issued to facilitate business were withdrawn, over $500,000 in all.

            These certificates issued by the Clearing House were secured by a deposit of securities in the Safe Deposit company to be accepted at 75 per cent of their current value. This Safe Deposit company had been formed in 1866 on the plan of the first institution of the kind, established by Francis H. Jenks of New York. A number of Cincinnati capitalists combined and sent Samuel P. Bishop to become acquainted with the method of operating Mr. Jenks' company, and upon his return they formed a similar organization. After the necessary legislation had been secured, Mr. Joseph C. Butler was elected president and Mr. Bishop secretary, a position which he held for a great number of years. One-half of the Lafayette Bank building, which was fireproof, was leased in perpetuity, and the safe installed. It was thirty-five feet long, twelve and a half feet wide, and seven feet high, and constructed of five alternate layers of steel and iron. So difficult was the task of construction that eighteen months were required to complete it, and the cost was nearly $50,000, much greater than had been anticipated.

            The number of national banks continued to increase, and in 1883 there were thirteen in Cincinnati having a total capital stock of $9,100,000. Besides the national banks there were several private banks at that time, with an aggregate capital of $1,185,000. There prevailed, at this time, a season of almost unprecedented prosperity throughout the country which continued until about the middle of 1893. The cause for the panic which occurred then was attributed to a general expansion in almost all lines of business, than accompanying inflation of credit and overstocking of the market. On June 6th of that year the Clearing House association authorized its officers to issue certificates to the amount of $1,000,000 which were secured by deposits of securities at 75 per cent of their market value. The securities delivered were valued by a committee f three members of the association, L. B. Harrison, William A. Goodman, and James Espy. But the banks of Cincinnati proved themselves able to withstand the depression which was felt generally, and protected the credit of the merchants without it being necessary for a single certificate to be used. The panic was not of long duration and there were no failures during it among the financial institutions of the city. Two years later, the Commercial bank failed, bringing considerable loss to its depositors. It was a state (page 638) bank at the time, having passed through all the various phases from a private to a national bank. It was the oldest institution in the city, having been in existence since 1829.

            There were still thirteen national banks in 1900, and their capital amounted to $7,700,000, but the deposits were many times greater, being nearly $50,000,000. Beginning with that year, there was a rapid increase in the number of banks in Cincinnati, due to the need for more trust companies, the increasing popularity of savings banks, and the establishing of banks in sections of the city more removed from the center of the business district, where almost all the financial institutions were located.

            In the year 1900, two trust companies and a savings bank were established ; in 1902, another savings bank was organized ; in 1903, four banks were instituted. In 1904, the nineteen-story First National Bank building was erected on Fourth street, and four other banks built on Fourth street, making the banking house street Fourth instead of Third, as it had been for so many years. From 1905 until the panic of 1907 ten new banks were chartered by the state, and commenced operations under the provisions of their charters.

            The panic of 1907 was distinctly a money panic, the actual scarcity of money being so great that the manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the country were almost unable to continue their trade, and in many instances failures resulted. As soon as the money shortage began to be felt, it devolved upon the banking institutions to make provisions for the protection of business in their respective communities, and the needs of Cincinnati were cared for by the banks through the Cincinnati Clearing House association. A special committee was appointed to take charge during. the depression, composed of- W. S. Rowe, president of the First National bank, chairman ; G. P. Grifth, vice-president of the Citizens' National bank; W. W. Brown, vice-president of. the Merchants' National bank ; George Guckenberger, president of the Atlas National bank ; Charles A. Hinsch, president of the Fifth National bank ; and Casper H. Rowe, vice-president of the Market National bank. The committee, inasmuch as the money stringency was not a local matter, took steps to issue cashier's cheques, to be put out by each bank in the clearing house, fourteen in number. Each bank deposited securities with the committee, and in return received 75 per cent of their value in the so-called "script." Excellent co-operation was given by the merchants of the city, who advertised that they would freely accept Clearing House certificates in payment for their wares, and in some cases a discount was offered for payment in either certificates or cash. The minds of the people were thus made easy as to the ability of the banks to care for the monetary needs of the city and surrounding country districts, and currency, which had been hoarded by many persons, began to be more in evidence. Within a short time after the issuance of the first certificates, 25 per cent of them were called in and retired.

            Each bank sending in to the committee that proportion of the certificates on hand, receiving an equal value of collateral in return. From this time on the retirement of the certificates was very rapid, (page 639) and in a short time practically the entire number were called in and destroyed.

            But while the panic was quickly over, and had been met with adequate preparations by the bankers, the depression in business circles which it caused was felt throughout the country for several years, which naturally retarded the progress and growth of banking establishments. It was thought generally that a more elastic currency system should be adopted, and in order to effect some changes in the monetary laws of the country the administration appointed the national monetary commission. The first fruits of this commission came in 1911 in the form of the suggested National. Reserve association, which was to be a central bank owned by all the banks in the country, and which was to have the power to issue certificates in lieu of money in times of financial stringency, these certificates to be secured by deposits of collateral made by the banks.

            Thus it was that once more the Cincinnati Clearing House association, as the instrument of the banks, came to the rescue of the merchants and manufacturers, as well as to the people in the surrounding rural districts, and the credit of the city had been saved largely through the prompt action of this useful organization. It was organized in 1866, and has since that time greatly facilitated banking operations in Cincinnati. It was first located in the third story of the building at 70 West Third street, and -Mr. George P. Bassett was for many years the manager. Within ten years after it commenced operating its aggregate clearings were annually over $600,000.

            During the last few years, the banks have proved themselves to be institutions of the utmost importance to the welfare, not only of the community, but of the country at large. During the war, with the attendant financial campaigns, Liberty loan drives and the like, the banks were compelled to do a great amount of new and detailed business without compensation. The requirements of the government were, however, met cheerfully and gladly, and the work was most efficiently done. Mr. G. M. Mosler, president of the Ohio Valley Bankers' association, speaking about the excellent efforts of the banks in behalf of the of the war work, said in effect that the main object of the association was to carry out the wishes of the government from a financial point of view. That, composed of forty-one national and state institutions in Hamilton county, it had a most important duty to perform, but in each and every instance their total subscriptions to the issues of Liberty loans, United States certificates of indebtedness, as well as the part they have taken with reference to the sale of War Savings certificates, were in excess not only of their quota, but of the largest totals that they thought it would be possible to reach. In spite of the fact that many of the banks in the association are precluded from membership in the federal reserve system, either because of capital requirements or otherwise, and did not, therefore, enjoy the wonderful help of that system, they all arranged their finances to the best advantage and did their      part. All banks subscribed at least the amounts allotted. them to the various sums that were solicited, such as the Red Cross, (page 640) Y. M. C. A., and the War Chest. In conclusion Mr. Mosler stated that the same course which had been followed throughout the war would continue as long as necessary, and that the only regrets that were expressed were that it was not possible to do more along some special lines, and that each and every institution had adapted itself to the new conditions of affairs, the operation of which in many cases simplified itself to an appreciable extent.

            In reviewing the year 1918 in financial circles, Mr. Edward A. Seiter, president of the Cincinnati Clearing House association, said :

            "The year has been of unusual and intense activity for the bankers of the country, trying their resourcefulness and energies to the utmost. In every instance they have stood firmly back of the government, giving of their services, facilities and resources without recompense or personal interest other than the consciousness of having performed their patriotic duty in a time of need. "In the flotation of the Liberty bonds the large oversubscriptions were stimulated by the liberality of the banks in the nominal rates of interest charged for loans secured by Liberty bonds, making it possible for investors to pay for their purchases without sacrifice of interest to themselves.

            "While the officials of all banks were actively engaged in various war committee work, the accounting forces were taxed to the limit of endurance by the avalanche of clerical details which the sale of the bonds and other government securities entailed. Payments for these securities were all passed through the banks, and when you visualize the millions of dollars in payments ranging from small amounts up you can appreciate the stupendous task accomplished. Take into consideration the number of trained bank men who were serving with the colors, the remaining forces stood steadfastly to the glorious work and the accounting was accomplished in the allotted time. The checks passing through the Cincinnati Clearing house for 1918 will aggregate nearly $3,000,000,000.

            "The bankers conserved their loanable funds for the use of customers engaged in essential industries and, although the calls for such funds were many, none were denied where the use of the same meant one step further in winning the war. Loans for any other purpose were not considered, regardless of the attractiveness of interest rates offered.

            "With an assured peace 'and the new responsibilities that confront the bankers of the country in the readjustment of conditions, there will be a co-operation of the business and manufacturing interests and the bankers, in order that the evolution will be intelligently managed and conducted to bring business to a peace basis in an orderly way."

 

Cincinnati and Hamilton County in the World War

 

            A few items of interest in connection with the work of this city and county in the great war which has just been brought to a, successful close, have already been given under the various chapter headings, but it is altogether fitting that a brief summary of the splendid efforts of the citizens of Cincinnati and Hamilton county should be here given.

            (page 641) In the financial department, the response of the people was indeed most gratifying, 86 per cent more money being given in the first four Liberty loan drives than was asked for by the government, and this is one of the best records in the entire United States. Mr. T. J. Davis was chairman of the Liberty loan campaign committee, and he stated that Cincinnati and Hamilton county had oversubscribed each of the first four loans, as was the case with the fifth and last, but in that loan the government did not accept oversubscriptions. Although the spirit of loyalty and patriotism which moved the people was the principal cause for success in these campaigns, it was nevertheless true that much less would have been accomplished without the aid of the efficient army of bond salesmen who had the campaigns in charge. Without this organized selling, a great number of the citizens could not have been reached, and it was fortunate that the Hamilton county Liberty loan army was one of the models of the country. It consisted of approximately 7,000 workers, men and women, all volunteers, with the exception of a few in the permanent employ of the office. These volunteers worked night and day in each of the five drives, and in the first four sold over $171,000,000 to over 500,000 subscribers. Following is a record of the first four Liberty loans, the fifth being omitted for the reason that since the oversubscriptions were not accepted the figures do not show the real efforts of the people :

 

 

Total.

Pct. of Quota.

No. of Sub’ns

First loan

$32,824,750

190

33,122

Second loan ...

52,224,250

250

58,674

Third loan ...

36,421,650

180

91,078

Fourth loan ...

50,242,000

125

174,099

Totals ...

. $171,712,650

186

356,973

 

 

            At the very outbreak of the war voluntary enlistments in the armed forces of the United States were made in Cincinnati and throughout the country in large numbers. Many young men enlisted in the Ninth infantry, a regular army regiment, but the most of the army enlistments were in the State National Guard units. The organizations that were recruited in Cincinnati were First Ohio infantry, Third Ohio Field artillery, First Ohio Field hospital, 112th Military police (a company), and the Third Ohio Ambulance company. There were many who also enlisted in the Third Ohio infantry. These units were stationed at Camp Sheridan, Alabama, and when they were merged into the United States National Guard, the numbers of the units were changed as follows : 147th infantry. 136th Field artillery, and the Field Hospital and Ambulance companies were placed in the 112th- Sanitary train. The voluntary enlistments in the army from Cincinnati approximated 4,500; in the navy, 1,900, and in the Marine corps, 1,700. Besides these volunteers, there were 14,720 inducted into the service through the draft law, most of whom received their training at Camp Sherman, although many were sent to Camp Zachary Taylor, Camp. Wadsworth and Camp Jackson. The mobilization officer who had charge (page 642)  of sending the men to the various camps was Capt. J. G. Maycox.

            As to the manner in which the men acquitted themselves, the following is extracted from-the press : "The manner in which the men from Cincinnati have conducted themselves has been well shown in several of the largest battles of the war. Many Cincinnati men were in the Ninth infantry and the Fifth and Sixth regiments of Marines, all units of the Second division, which turned the tide of battle at Belleau Wood. Hundreds of Cincinnatians participated: in the battle of Chateau Thierry. The 147th and 148th infantry regiments sustained severe casualties at St. Michael, but were instrumental in defeating the huns there and at other places." That the men in the service had the whole-hearted support of the people at home is evidenced, not only by the financial support given to the cause, but also by the splendid work of the Women's. clubs through the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., and kindred organizations, thousands of dollars were subscribed, and thousands of medical necessities provided by these women. They served in the Liberty Loan drives and in the Victory exposition, and in innumerable ways aided the government in its great task.

            The various manufacturing establishments of Cincinnati and Hamilton county also did yeoman service. It has been estimated that government contracts amounting to a greater money valuation than the combined annual business of all retail and department stores of the city were handled by the Cincinnati office of the Army Ordnance department. It is stated that this business in the city amounted to more than $50,000,000, and C. L. Harrison was chief of the department. Cincinnati was the headquarters of a district composed of nine states south of Ohio and Indiana, and the contracts placed outside of Cincinnati amounted to many times the above value. This district was one of ten into which the entire United States was divided for army ordnance work. The Cincinnati ordnance office was organized in April, 1918, with a force of fifteen men. At first it was divided into but two departments, production and finance, but so great was the amount of work to be done that it swiftly grew until the office force alone was 400 and the field force was 2,000. In Hamilton county there were over 12,000 workmen employed in the manufacture of war materials, and the office had control over the manufacture of almost every kind of war material. As Cincinnati is the largest machine tool center in the world,. it was natural that the emphasis should be placed on this character of production, and every factory was used for turning out tools under government contract. At the signing of the armistice the Cincinnati department was divided into thirteen departments : Inspection, finance, property, stores, personnel, industrial education, military intelligence, engineering, procurement, traffic, fuel, industrial service, and production.

            Some of the facts in reference to the part which greater Cincinnati played in the war are summarized in an edition of the Enquirer, as follows:

            "And from Greater Cincinnati 176 men made the supreme sacrifice, most of them on the blood-stained fields of France. Casualties, up to Christmas day, numbered 1,255.

            (page 643) "These figures tell their own story and leave no room for comment other than that Cincinnati was one of the heaviest losers among all the American cities.

            "However, actual government records prove that Greater Cincinnati, one of the heaviest losers in the way of casualties, also was ever in the first line of attack,' so far as war activities were concerned, and in this connection established reputations for patriotism and loyalty which have made her nationally, if not internationally, famous.

            "In four liberty loan campaigns Cincinnati and Hamilton county raised $171,000,000 for the successful prosecution of the war, or an average of more than $300 for each and every man, woman and child. This amount represented an oversubscription of 86 per cent.

            "During the period of the war the Red Cross grew from an organization of 1,000 members to one of 170,000 in Hamilton county. More than 5,250,000 surgical dressings were supplied, or four times Cincinnati's quota ; 200,755 knitted articles were furnished, 1 1/2 per cent of the total production of the United States. More than 100,000 garments, or one for every wounded man in France, was another notable contribution which helped to attract national attention to Cincinnati during the war.

            "Cincinnati, too, was one of the first cities to volunteer for food conservation, with the result that 7,000,000 pounds of sugar were saved in five months.

            "In addition to contributing so generously for the support of her own men, big-hearted Cincinnati contributed $30,000 to the war sufferers of Belgium, $123,000 to the fatherless children of France and $40,000 to Armenian relief.

            "Contributions through the public library included 64,000 books and magazines and $16,000.

            "The 1918 war-chest drive netted $5,707,000.

            "Commodities handled by Army Ordnance department through Cincinnati office amounted to more than the combined business of all department and retail stores in the city, which approximates $50,000,000 annually.

            "The United States Employment Service bureau furnished 25,000 employees for Uncle Sam, in addition to local workers.

            "The inspector of engineering of the United States navy handled more than $50,000,000 worth of business through the Cincinnati district office.

            "More than 2,000 Cincinnatians directly assisted in administering the draft.

            "Cincinnati was headquarters of the United States Railroad administration for the Ohio-Indiana district, H. A. Worcester, director, with 167,000 employees. Tonnage handled through the Cincinnati gateway included all kinds of war materials, from supplies and munitions to heavy siege guns.

            "Hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for war work were placed through the Cincinnati office of the War Industries board.

            "The Soldiers' and Sailors' club entertained some 70,000. guests in uniform.

            (page 644) "Women played a leading part in all of the war activities. Troop trains and visiting soldiers and sailors were met, entertained and provided for from the outbreak of the war.

            "One-half of the physicians of Cincinnati gave their services entirely or in part to their country."

 

            See the Gold Star List of Cincinnati and Hamilton County here (pages 645-652)

 

The Beginnings of Catholicity in the Miami Valley

 

            (page 652) According to conjectural evidence the first celebration of Catholic worship in the Miami Valley occurred in 1749, when under the authority of the Marquis de la Galissoniere, governor ad interim of Quebec, Canada, an expedition was prepared by Celoron de Bienville to proclaim the sovereignty of France over the western territory of the United States. England through her continental governors had begun to claim this territory. To meet the attack, France determined to assert her right of previous occupation by an official expedition through the territory in question. Accordingly, a number of French and Indians were assembled for the purpose at Quebec under the leadership of Celoron.

            Our information of this expedition is derived from a report made under the orders of Celoron by Father Joseph Peter de Bonnecamps, S. J., who accompanied the expedition in the office of chaplain. Father Bonnecamps was the first to give us a good map of Ohio of that time and was the first priest, apparently, who offered the sacrifice of the mass in southern Ohio. The report was dated October 17, 1750, though it is given in journal form, telling of the events day by day during the expedition.

            Comprising about 250 men, French and Indians, and occupying 23 canoes, the party left La Chine, near Montreal, on June 15, 1749. From Niagara, which they reached on July 6, they proceeded through Lake Ontario and entered Lake Erie. Thence they made their way via Chautauqua portage to the Alleghany river, which they entered on July 29. Here, at a place now known as Warren, Pa., on the south bank of the river, Celoron buried the first of a number of lead plates. By these notices he solemnly announced the sovereignty of France over the contiguous regions. Similar plates were deposited at five other points along the route, viz., below Venango (now French Creek), on the north bank of Wheeling Creek at its juncture with the Ohio, at the mouth of the Muskingum, on the south bank of the Ohio and the east bank of the Great Kanawha

of Virginia, and at the mouth of the Great Miami.

            (page 653) The first meeting of some members of the party with Indians in Ohio came nearly being disastrous. Celoron had sent Joncaire and Niverville to the Shawnees in the village on the Scioto to announce the coming of the party. Their reception was anything but gracious. They were greeted with bullets, were made prisoners, and would have been executed except for the mediation of a friendly Iroquois. After Celoron came up, he erected a fort opposite the Scioto; friendly councils were held with the Indians on August 23, 24 and 26, whilst the English traders among them were ordered to withdraw from the territory.

            Pursuing their journey down the Ohio, the party reached the Little Miami, where they encamped on the 28th and found a small band of Miamis with their chief, named "the Barrel." These Indians had established themselves here only a short time previously, having located their cabins, to the number of seven or eight, about a league from the river. They were persuaded to accompany Celoron to the village of "la Demoiselle" up on the Great Miami. The entire party embarked on the morning of the 31st and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon entered the Great Miami, where they buried the last plate on the western bank of that river. Ascending the river, they arrived at the village of the Miamis on Loramie Creek on September 13. This was the village under the leadership of "la Demoiselle" or "Old Britain," the friend of the English. "La Demoiselle" refused to yield to the entreaties of Celoron to return to the old settlements on the Maumee, but made his village a center of English trade and influence. A week was spent by Celoron on this spot, as it was not till September 20 that he resumed his journey northward by land. Without much loss of time the party pursued its way to Montreal and Quebec, reaching those towns on November lo and 18 respectively.

            We stated above that the first celebration of Catholic worship in the Miami valley occurred on this expedition. On such expeditions as this 'of Celoron, accompanied by Father Bonnecamps, it was customary for the chaplain to exercise the functions of his ministry for the members of the party. Though no mention of such ministrations occurs in the entire relation, we think ourselves not at all stretching the bounds of great probability when we state that Father Bonnecamps celebrated the holy sacrifice of the mass whilst the party was encamped at the mouth of the Little Miami between August 28th and 31st, and at the village of "la Demoiselle" on Loramie Creek in Shelby county between the days of September 13th and 20th.

            This expedition of Celoron was really the beginning of Ohio history. We heartily endorse the sentiment of Rufus King when he writes : "The State may be proud of the auspices under which she first emerged from obscurity."

            When the eighteenth century had closed, Ohio had begun to assume a new aspect. Various settlements had been made in the state and invariably there followed the establishment of churches (page 654) in them. The first Catholic settlement in the state of Ohio was near Somerset in the valley of the Scioto. But quite early had some few-Catholics found their way into the Miami valley. As early as 1805 Michael Scott and his family had located in Cincinnati. There, just as at Somerset, was felt the need of a Catholic church with a resident pastor. In 1811 we find the first evidence of a desire on the part of the Catholics to have a Catholic church. On December iith in that year appeared the following advertisement in the Liberty Hall of Cincinnati :

 

CATHOLIC MEETING

 

            As the Constitution of the United States allows liberty of conscience to all men, and the propagation of religious worship, it is earnestly requested by a number of the Roman Catholics of Cincinnati and its vicinity, that a meeting be held on the 25th of December, next, at the house of Jacob Fowble, at 12 o'clock a. m., when it is hoped all those` in favor of establishing a congregation and giving encouragement will attend and give in their names, and at the same, time appoint a committee of arrangements. Repetitions of the advertisement occurred in the editions of December 18th and 25th.

            No evidence has come down to us as to how many persons attended the meeting or what occurred at it, and since Father Fenwick, the first priest in Ohio, had not reached Cincinnati as early as 1811, we were at a loss to know the occasion of the advertisement until we chanced upon an obituary notice in the same periodical of an earlier date, October 16, 1811:

            Died-On Friday evening last, after an illness of about thirty hours, Mrs. Margaret Fowble, aged 36 years, consort of Mr. Jacob Fowble, of this place, a few years since from the city of Baltimore. For fifteen years past, she has been the meek and humble follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. She had a confidence of her acceptance with her God and has gone to take her seat with the blessed. She_:, was a tender and affectionate wife and mother, a sincere fiend, and beloved by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance ; and has left a husband and several children to lament a loss that can never be made up to them in this world. A large concourse of friends and relatives attended her remains to the Methodist meeting house, where a solemn and impressive discourse was delivered by Bishop McKendree on the mournful occasion, to a very attentive congregation, whose countenances bespoke the share she held in their affections.

            The sudden death of his dear wife without the last rites of the. Catholic religion, the necessity of her burial from the Methodist church, and the danger of a similar fate overtaking himself and his Catholic neighbors, aroused the energies of Jacob Fowble to consult with the other Catholics, few though they were, regarding the erection of a church.

            (page 655) A second attempt, which was to meet a similar sad fate, was made in 1817 by Michael Scott, at whose house Father Fenwick lodged on his visits to Cincinnati. Advertisements were inserted in two of the weeklies, the Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gazette, and the Western Spy, both of which carried requests to the Ohio Watchman of Dayton to give three insertions. We quote from the Gazette in its issue of September 8, 1917:

 

A CATHOLIC CHURCH

 

            The Catholics of the town and vicinity of Cincinnati and those of the county of Hamilton, are requested to attend a meeting to be held at the house of Mr. Michael Scott, Walnut street, a few doors below the Seminary, on Sunday, October 12th, for the laudable purpose of consulting on the best method of erecting and establishing a Catholic church in the vicinity of Cincinnati. They will likewise please to take notice that great encouragement is already held out to them.

            "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God."

            Cincinnati, Sept. 8, 1817.           Hebrews Chap. 12 v.ii

            Speaking of this meeting of 1817 on the occasion of the cornerstone laying, in 1858, of St. Francis Seraph church, which now occupies the site of the first church of Cincinnati, Rev. Edward Purcell, who had his information no doubt from living witnesses, says that

nine Catholic men, seven women and four children answered the call of the advertisement. The undertaking had again to be abandoned for the time being, but a new impulse was given to the enterprise by Bishop Flaget the next May when he visited Cincinnati for a few days on his way north. The bishop arrived at Cincinnati on May 19 and spent two days there, urging the people to erect a chapel as the surest means of obtaining a priest. Writing of this visit to Cincinnati, Bishop Flaget says :

            "In the beginning of the Spring of 1818 I left for Cincinnati, the chief city of the State of Ohio, taking with me Messrs. Bertrand and Janvier, whom I had to place with Mr. Richard, the cure of Detroit and the only priest in all Michigan. The eagerness with which the small number of Catholics of the city of Cincinnati received my visit, persuaded me to remain there a few days in order to give them the aid of my ministry. They were so poor that they were unable to build a church, so that we held our meetings in one of their homes. My exhortations to them always concluded with the words that they build a church as a sure means of obtaining a missionary. They gave the most solemn promise that they would do so, and they kept their word ; for a year later it was under roof."

            It was as a result of this encouragement from the bishop that a committee of Catholic men at Cincinnati, seeing themselves unable (page 656) to procure among themselves the means necessary for the building of a church, sent out an appeal for help to the Catholics of the East. When they had perhaps heard from the East, they called another meeting to be held this time in the house of John White. Notice was given in the Western Spy:

 

TO ROMAN CATHOLICS

 

            A general meeting of the Roman Catholics of Cincinnati and the county of Hamilton is requested, at the house of John White, in Columbia street near Broadway, on Sunday, 7th of March-next. On business of importance.

            By order of the Committee

            February 26, 1819.         JOHN SHERLOCK, Sec'ry.

 

            We are not left to conjecture long what this "business of importance" was ; it was none other than the organization of the congregation and the building of the church, for which moneys were needed, as we may discern from the next notice inserted in the Western Spy of Saturday, March 13.

 

TO ROMAN CATHOLICS

 

            The Roman Catholics of Hamilton county are requested to forward to the Treasurer, in the course of the next and the following month, as large a portion of their subscriptions as they possibly can, as the committee will thereby be enabled to have the church ready for Divine Service by next Easter Sunday.

By order of the Committee

MICHAEL SCOTT, Sec'ry.

 

            The site chosen for the church was on lots one and -two in a tract of land adjoining the northern boundary of the city of Cincinnati, which James Findlay had laid out into fifty-two lots and had denominated the Northern Liberties. Lots one and two are now occupied by the present St. Francis church at the northwest corner of Vine and Liberty streets. The reasons prompting the Catholics in the choice of that site were that it was a more central site for the county, as the advertisements given above show that the interests of the people outside of the boundaries of the city were also consulted ; secondly, the paucity of their numbers and their very limited means did not permit them to buy property within the city limits, as that property was high priced. On the other hand they obtained very easy terms from. James Findlay, who had advertised that he would sell under "easy terms." As a matter of fact, the congregation agreed to purchase the two lots from Mr. Findlay for $1,200.00; but on the day of the transfer of the property, they executed a mortgage to James Findlay for $750.00, a transaction which speaks for itself in reference to the poverty of the Catholics at Cincinnati.

            (page 657) In this connection it may be interesting to follow up the names of the early- Catholics of Cincinnati in the Cincinnati Directory of 1819.

            Byrne, James W., 12 E. New Market (no occupation given;' Directory of 1825 says : brewer, Water b. Main and Walnut). Boyle, Wm., millwright, 47 Lower Market. Cazelles, Peter, silversmith, 112 Main St. Fowble, Jacob, grocer, 21 Water St. Lynch, Edward, tailor, 20 E. Front. Moran, Michael, grocer, Congress b. Broadway and Ludlow. Reily, Patrick, brewer, h. Congress b. Lawrence and Pike. Scott, Michael, house-carpenter, Walnut b. Third and Fourth. Sherlock, John, distiller, 56 W. Front: street. Walsh, Patrick, 57 Broadway. Ward, Robert S., house-carpenter, 6o Fifth, b. Walnut and Vine. White, John, innkeeper, Second; b. Sycamore and Broadway.

            Three names, those of Thomas Dugan, John M. Mahon and James Gorman, signatures to a petition in 182o to Archbishop Marechal of Baltimore, appear neither in the Directory of 1819 nor of 1825. It is possible that they lived outside of Cincinnati. Taking advantage of an act for the incorporation of religious societies, passed by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio on February 5, 181g, these men organized themselves into a congregation of the Roman Catholic Church at Cincinnati to be known as Christ Church, with the following five trustees: Patrick Reily, John Sherlock, Thomas Dugan, Edward Lynch and Michael Scott. The actual work on the church did not take much time. Mr. Michael Scott, a house-carpenter by profession, prepared the plans,

which were given to Mr. Wm. Reilly, of Alexandria, Ky., for execution. The latter tells us in his Diary:

            "Having followed carpentering in Cincinnati, and having put up a number of frame buildings, I was employed by a gentleman of the denomination of Catholics, to build a Frame Church, which I agreed to do. I got all the timber on my own land and framed it on my own premises, about a mile east of Alexandria, hauled the timber to the river, rafted and landed it down low in Cincinnati. It was hauled out to a vacant lot, no house of any kind near it. We put up the house and they paid me honestly for my ,work." The church, a plain frame structure, measuring about 55 feet by 30 feet, was probably completed according to intention for Easter Sunday, 1819, and on that day mass was said in it for the first time. The congregation numbered about one hundred souls. This was the first Catholic church in the Miami valley. Before the second Catholic church was built, Cincinnati had been chosen as the episcopal see of the diocese of Cincinnati, which had been erected on June 1g, 1821, and defined with the entire state of Ohio as the limits of its jurisdiction. Since that date four bishops, Fenwick, Purcell, Elder and Moeller, have ruled the destinies of the (page 658) Catholic church in the Miami valley. Before continuing the history of the parochial development we shall give a short sketch of each of these bishops of Cincinnati.

            Bishop Edward Dominic Fenwick, O. P.,.D. D., the first priest to reside permanently in the state of Ohio, was born on August 19, 1768 in St. Mary's county on the Patuxent river, Maryland. His parents were Ignatius Fenwick of Wallington, a descendant of Cuthbert Fenwick of the Fenwicks of Fenwick Tower, Northumberland, England, through the cadet branch of the Longshaws, and Sarah Taney, daughter of Michael Taney and Sarah Brooke. Of both of his parents he was bereft before the age of fifteen, but was sufficiently provided for by the large paternal estate in Maryland. In the fall of 1784 he was sent to Holy Cross College, Bornheim, Belgium, which was conducted by refugee Dominican monks from England. Upon the completion of his studies in the humanities, he entered the Dominican order at Bornheim on September 4, 1788, and was professed therein on March 26, 1790. After a study of theology, he was ordained priest in the order, probably on February 23, 1793. His first charge was that of teacher in the college. When the advent of the French revolutionary troops in the spring of 1794 caused the English monks of the convent to take flight to England, he was made procurator of the convent, as it was thought that his American citizenship would protect him and the convent from harm. Taken prisoner notwithstanding, he effected his escape to England, where he joined his confreres at Carshalton, County of Surrey. He remained in England until September, 1804, when he sailed for the United States, where he planned the establishment of a branch of his order. The site eventually selected for the foundation was St. Rose's, Springfield county, Kentucky, whither after two years' labor on the missions of Baltimore, Father Fenwick betook himself in July, 1806. In Kentucky he exerted himself not only in the erection of the necessary convent buildings, but also in the neighboring missions. The latter work seemed to be his work of predilection. Having had his attention called to some Catholics near Somerset, Ohio, he visited them. first in 1808, then yearly or twice a year as he found it possible for him until 1816, when he took up his residence permanently near Somerset. Here, with the aid of the Dittoe and Fink families, he constructed the first Catholic church in the state of Ohio. From Somerset he visited also the incipient congregations throughout the state. When the diocese of Cincinnati was erected on June 19, 1821, he was chosen the first bishop of Cincinnati, for which office he was consecrated at St. Rose's, Kentucky, on January 13, 1822. In the following March he took possession of his see at Cincinnati. His first enterprise was to move the Catholic church, which was then located beyond the corporation limits of Cincinnati, at Vine and Liberty streets, to Sycamore street, between Sixth and Seventh streets, where now stands the St. Xavier church. This was effected before the winter of 1822, as the church had seen service (page 659) on the new site by December 5th of that year. This church, which up till then had borne the name of Christ church, was now called St. Peter's church. As a building, it was practically the same old frame building which had stood at Vine and Liberty streets. An attempt had been made to transfer it in its entirety to the new site, but failed, as after it had begun to fall apart, it had to be broken up and put together once more on Sycamore street. A year's residence at Cincinnati sufficed to convince the bishop of the necessity of outside help. His colaborers were few, calls for their ministrations many, his flock widely scattered and in most instances poor in the possessions of this world. At Cincinnati there were about 100 persons, from whom he could manage to receive but two or three dollars in the Sunday collections. This was all the support that be received. On the church property at Vine and Liberty streets there was a mortgage of $750.00, whilst he had bought the lot on Sycamore street on credit. Difficulties, too, arose from the apportionment of Dominicans to Kentucky and Ohio. Bishop Fenwick resolved, therefore, to lay his case before the authorities at Rome; to resign his heavy office, if permitted to do so; if not permitted, to appeal for European aid in his missions. Leaving Cincinnati on May 30, 1823, he arrived at Rome on September 26th. On the following October 6th he was received. in audience by the newly-elected Pope Leo XII. From this audience dates the beginning of the great amount of alms which was showered upon the diocese of Cincinnati. The Pope led in the charity which he urged upon cardinals, bishops and laity of Italy and the other countries of Europe. Ten to twelve thousand dollars ecclesiastical furnishings and paintings inestimable were the fruit of this European quest, which was carried through all of Europe during the year 1824.

            When the bishop returned to his episcopal city in the spring of 1825, he began at once the erection of a cathedral to replace the structure on Sycamore street. The plan was drawn by Mr. Michael Scott, a Catholic builder of Cincinnati. The cornerstone of the building was laid on May 10th; 1825, and the dedication of it in honor of St. Peter was made on December 17, 1826. For a description of this building, which attracted favorable comment generally, we refer to the following communication of a subscriber to the United States Catholic Miscellany on May 3, 1828: "The Cathedral is a neat and elegant building of about one hundred feet by fifty, distinguished on the outside only by the regularity of the brick work, fine Gothic windows, a large cross formed by the pilasters, in front, and a small spire, not yet finished, designated to support a clock; a handsome iron gate and railing separate it from the street. The interior is remarkable for grand simplicity and chasteness of design, finished in the Gothic order. The altar, pulpit, and Bishop's chair are handsomely finished and richly decorated. The effect produced by the splendid bronze tabernacle, surmounted by a beautiful crucifix, in the midst of ten (page 660) superb candlesticks of the same material, is truly imposing. There is nothing light, frivolous. or gaudy to be seen; dignity is sustained throughout, and imparts an awful solemnity to the performance of the divine service. Thirteen large and choice paintings, presented to the Bishop, I understand, by his Eminence Cardinal Fesch, uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte, embellish the walls. There is a handsome well-toned organ in the gallery; on each -side of which I perceived the confessionals, where the priests attend to discharge that awful part of their ministry. The floor of the church is paved with tile, which must render it cool in summer, and prevents the great noise occasioned by walking up the aisles, which is a considerable annoyance in churches, where the floor is of wood. The good Bishop assured me that he was wholly indebted to the Common Father of the faithful, and to the benefactors in Europe, for his establishment in Cincinnati, which is, in turn, like himself, modest and unaffected; he has, doubtless, made a judicious, economical and prudent application of the! funds, which he received from his trans-Atlantic friends; he has received none from any other source. No prophet is received in his own country.

            A building which soon arose to: be the companion of the cathedral was the Athenaeum, the plans of which had been drawn by Mr. Alpheus White. The cornerstone of the structure was laid on May 14, 1830, whilst the opening occurred on October 17, 1831. In caring for the needs of the city of Cincinnati, Bishop Fenwick did not neglect the rest of the state nor even the state of Michigan, the spiritual administration of which had been entrusted to him. These parts he visited regularly during the summer months of the year. It was in the performance of this exacting task that the final summons came to him. He was on his return to his episcopal city after several months visitation of cities in Ohio and Michigan, when he became violently stricken by the cholera, which was then raging along the Great Lakes. Having left Canton, Ohio on September 25th, 1832 for Wooster, he succeeded in reaching Wooster, where he had to retire immediately, so acute had become the pains from which he was suffering. Near noon on the following day he passed away, unattended by any priest, as none could reach him in time. A faithful Catholic neophyte was his companion in his last hours. His remains were interred at Wooster, but in the next year were transferred to Cincinnati, where they are deposited in the mausoleum at St. Joseph Cemetery, Price Hill. The successor to Bishop Fenwick was the Rt. Rev. John Baptist Purcell, D. D., who was born on February 26, i8oo in the town of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, of Edward and Joanna Purcell. After a classical course at Mallow, John wished to pursue his studies for the priesthood, but was unable to do so with the means at his disposal. He betook himself, therefore, when but eighteen years of age to America, expecting to be able to attain -his object there within a brief period. His excellent talents and classical education enabled him to obtain from the faculty of Asbury (page 661) College a certificate of qualification to teach. Upon the strength of this he became private tutor in the family of Dr. Wisson, resident on the eastern shore of Maryland. When two years had been spent in this manner, he applied for and obtained admission as a student in Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg. Finding him an apt student, his superiors at Emmitsburg decided to have him prepare himself to occupy a chair in that institution after his ordination. Accordingly, he was sent, on March 1, 1824, to the seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris. At the end of his theological course, on May 20, 1826, he was ordained priest by Archbishop de Quelen in the cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. Two years were spent in further study at Paris before his return to his Alma Mater at Emmitsburg, where he became professor, then vice-president in October 1828, and president in November 1829. He was occupying this last position when the summons to Cincinnati came to him in 1833. Having been nominated bishop of Cincinnati on February 25, 1833, he received the brief of nomination on August 2nd at Emmitsburg. His consecration to the new office occurred on October 13th in the Baltimore cathedral at the hands of Archbishop James Whitfield. A month later, on November 14th, he arrived at Cincinnati to be inducted into office by Bishop Flaget of Bardstown. This was the beginning of an episcopate which was to continue for nearly fifty years. When those fifty years had passed, Catholicity in the Miami valley and in the State of Ohio had assumed an enviable position. The might of the intellect of Bishop Purcell had won- to his cause many of the most influential men of the city of Cincinnati as well as of the entire state. His influence in affairs of every kind had become of first importance. His labors, despite the small physical strength with which he had been endowed, were so extensive as to conduce most highly to the development of parishes throughout Ohio. As a consequence of this development the original diocese of Cincinnati suffered a necessary division in its territory; once in 1847 when the entire northern section of Ohio was erected into the diocese of Cleveland, and again in 1868 when the southeastern section was erected into the diocese of Columbus. In 1850, when the diocese of Cincinnati was raised to the dignity of an archdiocese, Bishop Purcell became the first archbishop of Cincinnati. During his forty-nine years of episcopate numerous occasions caused him to journey to Europe, where he prosecuted the cause of Catholicity in his own diocese and where he became known in all influential circles. Both at home and abroad his name was respected. It was, therefore, with great sorrow that the news of the financial failure which became associated with his name was received throughout the world. The failure sapped the strength of the archbishop, who then retired to the convent of the Ursuline nuns at St. Martin's, Brown county, to spend his last days in preparation for the day of his death, July 4, 1883. The cemetery of the Brown county convent covets the remains of this great archbishop of Cincinnati.

            (page 662) Immediately upon his death, Bishop Elder became the archbishop of Cincinnati, as he had been coadjutor to Archbishop Purcell. since January 30, 1880. William Henry Elder, son of Basil Spalding. Elder and Elizabeth Snowden, was born on March 22, 18ig at Baltimore, Maryland. After a private school education in Baltimore he was sent at the age of twelve to Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, where he continued for the next six years, graduating from the classical course in June 1837. In the fall of the year 1837 he entered upon his philosophical and theological studies in the seminary at Emmitsburg.. Like his predecessor at Cincinnati, he, too, was destined for a place on the staff of the faculty of the college, for which reason he was sent to the college of the Propaganda towards the end of 1842. There he was ordained priest on March 29, 1846.

            Returning to his native land and archdiocese he. was at once appointed professor of dogmatic theology in his Alma Mater, a position which he occupied until his resignation in 1857, when he was appointed bishop of. Natchez, Mississippi. His consecration as bishop of that see occurred on May 3, 1857 in the cathedral at Baltimore, where Archbishop Kenrick, assisted by Bishops John McGill, of Richmond and James F. Wood, ,of Philadelphia, performed the ceremony. In the diocese of Natchez, where he labored until his coming to Cincinnati in 188o, Bishop Elder won the hearts of all his faithful by his labors and unceasing charities. In the Civil war he was virtually imprisoned by Union officers. for failure to comply with their mandate to order prayers said in his churches for the Union officials and the success of the Union arms. Upon appeal to Washington the iniquitous sentence was revoked.

            . At Cincinnati Archbishop Elder had before him the embroglio of the financial failure of 1878. To bring order out of chaos was his most arduous task, wherein he displayed 'great prudence. He continued his work almost up to the time of his death, which occurred at Cincinnati on October 31, 1904. His body was borne out to St. Joseph’s cemetery. where it lies in a grave on the priests' lot.

            The day of Archbishop Elder's death ushered in the fourth bishop of Cincinnati, Archbishop Moeller, who had been the coadjutor to Archbishop Elder since April 27, 1903. Henry Moeller was born at Cincinnati on December 11, 1849 of Bernard Moeller and Teresa Witte. After a primary education at St. Joseph's school, he was sent to St. Xavier college, where he continued for six years. He was sent then to the American college, Rome for his philosophical and theological studies. Upon, the completion of seven years of study in these branches he was ordained priest in the basilica of St. John Lateran on June 10, 1876. In the following September he received his first appointment in his native diocese at Bellefontaine, Ohio. He was summoned to. Cincinnati in October 1877 to become professor in Mt. St. Mary Seminary, Price Hill. In November 1879 he was granted leave of absence from the (page 663) diocese in order to become -the secretary of Bishop Chatard of Vincennes, Indiana; but when Bishop Elder came to Cincinnati in the following spring, he was charged with the same office of secretary to Bishop Elder at Cincinnati, July 14, 1880.

            At Cincinnati he was appointed chancellor in 1886, and in that position he continued until his consecration as bishop of Columbus, Ohio on August 25, 1900. On June 26, 1903 he returned to Cincinnati to take up the duties of his new office, that of coadjutor to Archbishop Elder. Since the death of Archbishop Elder Archbishop Moeller has governed the archdiocese of Cincinnati.

            Returning to our consideration of the beginnings of the parochial development of Catholicity in the Miami valley, we direct our attention to the parish of St. Martin's in Brown county, which was the second Catholic parish in the valley. The first sign of Catholic activity in Brown county is seen in the following letter, which was addressed to Bishop Carroll of Baltimore on September 25, 1820 by several Catholic inhabitants of Cincinnati.

 

Cincinnati, Ohio, September 25, 1820.

 

            We the Roman Catholic Committee of this city, beg leave to inform you, that about thirty miles from hence, on the East branch of the little Miami river, there have several families of the Catholic faith established themselves on a body of fertile lands, purchased by them from William Lytle, Esq.; who in order to encourage settlers of our faith, has with that liberality for which he stands distinguished, granted a considerable tract of land for the use and benefit of 'a Roman Catholic church to be established there, in addition to which several of the settlers have contributed portions of land contiguous to the same, so as to form a respectable fund for the above pious purpose.

            It having hitherto been matter of deep regret and bitter disappointment to many of our. countrymen, that on settling in the western wilds of this country, they have been deprived of the comforts and benefits arising from the exercise of our holy religion, we consider it of prime importance to give information to such persons as are inclined to emigrate hither, that on the extensive tracts of land, of first rate quality now on sale by Mr. Lytle, all of which are situated on the waters of the. East branch of the little Miami river, and are either intersected by, or contiguous to, the state road from hence to Chillicothe, they may have the opportunity of augmenting the number of Roman Catholic settlers under well founded hopes, that a regular and permanent establishment will speedily be made, of a church and pastor, so much to be desired by every sincere Christian.

            It may be farther necessary to state that Nr. Lytle is determined to make that settlement strictly (give every encouragement to Roman) Catholic and that he appears to us disposed to give the most liberal encouragement to purchasers of our Communion as well on his lands above alluded to as on his other property. And also, that we have lately succeeded in the establishment of a (page 664) respectable Roman Catholic church in this town which unhappily had been so long deprived of that important benefit. Our object, therefore, in this and similar addresses is to inform emigrants, ' of these circumstances, in order that they may not by religious considerations be deterred from endeavoring to better their fortunes by coming to the western country, either by settling on the above lands as agriculturists or in this town as mechanics or men of business.

 

To the Right Revd. Catholic Bishop, Baltimore,. Md.

P. Reilly

John White William Boyle James W. Byrne

Michael Scott

Edward Lynch

John Sherlock

James Gorman

Thomas Dugan

P. Cazelles

Michael Moran

 

            It required a little time before affairs became promising. On August 12, 1823, in keeping with the promise of a donation of land for church purposes, Mr. Lytle transferred the title of 200 acres of land to Rev. John Austin Hill, O. P., who in turn on November 2, 1826 transferred it to Bishop Fenwick. Another 100 acres of land was transferred for like purposes to the bishop by Michael Scott. The priests of Cincinnati visited the place as occasion offered, but not until 1829 could a priest be stationed there- permanently. This priest was the Reverend Martin Kundig, who had been ordained early in that year. After two years' work Father Kundig completed the brick church which he had begun at St. Martin's. The third Catholic parish to be formed in the Miami valley was at Hamilton, Butler county, where in response to the preaching in 1829 of Bishop Fenwick and Father Mullon the inhabitants of the town, though there was but a solitary Catholic man in it, took up a subscription for the purpose of buying ground and building a Roman Catholic church in their midst. The ground was bought, the deed of conveyance presented to the bishop, and a building to cost $2,000 begun in 1831. For some reason or other, the building was not completed until 1836, when it was dedicated in honor of St. Stephen.

            The fourth Catholic parish to be organized in the Miami valley was that of Holy Trinity, Cincinnati. However, to render our treatment of the subject more methodical, we shall defer a consideration of that parish to the place where we shall show the development of the first parish of Cincinnati.

            (page 665) The fifth parish in the valley was the church of Emmanuel at Dayton. In December 1833- Father Edward Collins was visiting Dayton, all prepared with the necessities for celebrating, mass. The organization of the church, however, was due to Reverend Emmanuel Thienpont, who in 1835 was collecting money in the town to erect a church on a lot 96 by 156 feet that had been given to the bishop of. Cincinnati by Mrs. Prudence Pierson. As in Hamilton, the Protestants came to the assistance of the Catholics, and that not unstintingly, as $1,300 had been donated by them in 1835. It required two years, however, before the church could be dedicated to God under the title of Emmanuel.

            At about the same time was started the parish of Petersburg, Auglaize county, one mile south of Freyburg, and two and one-half miles northeast of Botkins. A log church was built in 1836, but just as elsewhere, the formal organization did not occur till later.

            It was on January 1, 184o that the parish, counting seventy-two families, was organized by Father Horstmann. The church, which was blessed under the invocation of the Apostles Peter and Paul, was to serve as the central point for the German Catholics at Freyburg, Botkins and Rhine.

            A group of French Catholics had settled about the present towns of Frenchtown, Versailles and Russia, in Darke and Shelby counties. Thither Bishop Purcell despatched Father Louis Navarron upon that Father's arrival at Cincinnati in 1839. As none of the places alone could support a church, and to give opportunity to all, a site between Frenchtown and Russia three miles northeast of Versailles was selected in Darke county, where a log church was built and dedicated on December 4, 1840 under the patronage of St. Valbert, a saint chosen to gratify the donor of the ground, Mr. Marechal.

            About these churches may be grouped all the Catholic churches in the Miami valley. Beginning with the first church in the valley at Cincinnati, St. Peter's cathedral, located in 1822 on

            Sycamore street, the first parish to be organized from it was Holy Trinity parish on West Fifth street. In the early 2o's Cincinnati had received a number of German Catholic families, who for want of proper attention had affiliated with the Lutheran church. The advent to Cincinnati in 1824, of Reverend Frederic Rese, a native of Germany, proved propitious to these Germans so that they came back into the fold of the Catholic church. In 1827 separate services began to be held for them in the cathedral. In 1833, when they numbered 5,ooo souls, it was realized that a church had to be built for them. The new bishop, the Rt. Rev. John B. Purcell, on March 1, 1834, decided to proceed with such a building. A lot was procured on West Fifth street, where the church of Holy Trinity was built, and then dedicated on October 5, 1834. This church was   to serve as ,the mother-church of all the German-speaking parishes of the city of Cincinnati. The third parish of Cincinnati was organized in 1839, when plans were laid for the transfer of the parish on (page 666) Sycamore street to the Jesuits and the building of a new cathedral at Eighth and Plum streets. This building was completed and dedicated on November 2, 1845. Around these three churches may be grouped all the churches of Cincinnati and Hamilton county. We shall arrange them in the order of the time of their organization.

            From the old cathedral parish, now the parish of St. Francis Xavier, are descended, directly or indirectly, the parishes of All Saints, 1845; St. Thomas, 1852; Holy Angels, 1859; St. Jerome, 1863; Assumption, 1872; St. Andrew, 1874; St. Mary, Hyde Park, 1898; Holy Name, 1904 ; St. Cecilia, 1908 ; Annunciation, 1910. From the new cathedral parish are descended, directly or indirectly, the parishes of St. Augustine, 1852; St. Patrick, Cumminsville, 1861; St. Boniface, 1862; St. Edward, 1864; Blessed Sacrament, 1874; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 1878; St. Clare, 1909; St Pius, 1910; St. Bernard, Winton Place, 1919. From the Holy Trinity parish are descended, directly or indirectly, the parishes of St. Mary, 1840; St. John, 1844; St. Bonaventure, 1844; St. Philomena, 1846; St. Joseph, 1846; St. Michael, 1847; St. Paul, 1847; St Francis de Sales, 1849; St. Augustine, 1857; St. Francis Seraph, 1858; St. Anthony, Madisonville, 1858; Immaculate Conception, 1859; St. Anthony, Budd street, 1860; St. Rose, 1867; St. Stephen, 1867; St. George, 1868; St. Lawrence, 1868; St. Louis, 1870; Sacred Heat, Camp Washington, 1870’ Holy Cross, 1872; St. Henry, 1873, Holy Family 1884; St. Leo, 1886; St. mark, 1905; St. William, 1909; St. Monica, 1910; St. Teresa, 1916; Resurrection, 1919.

            Traceable to the churches of the city of Cincinnati are the following churches on the rest of the county of Hamilton: Our Lady of Victory, Delhi, 1843; White Oak, 1844; St. Bernard, 1850; SS. Peter and Paul, Reading, 1850; Harrison, 1851; Mt Healthy, 1854; Glendale, 1859; Dry Ridge, 1860; Bridgetown, 1866; Taylor Creek, 1867; St. Sloysis, Delhi, 1868; Carthage, 1869; Sacred Heart, Reading, 1874; St. Elizabeth, Norwood, 1884; Wyoming, 1886; North Bend, 1886; Elmwood, 1887; Deer Park, 1891; Bond Hill, 1892; Westwood, 1902; St. Matthew, Norwood, 1906; SS. Peter & Paul, Norwood, 1906; Cheviot, 1911; Pleasant Ridge, 1917; Sharon, 1919.

            Around the second parish of the valley, St. Martin's, Brown county, may be grouped the churches at Fayetteville, 1837; Arnheim, 1837; Stonelick. 1840; Milford, 1854; Owensville, 1856; Greenfield, 1857; Loveland, 1859; Lebanon, 1883.

            The third Catholic parish in the Miami valley served as the mother-parish of the congregations in Hamilton,. Piqua, Sidney and Middletown. At Hamilton the following churches were organized: St. Mary, 1848; St. Joseph, 1865; St. Veronica, 1894; St. Peter, 1894; St. Anne, 1908. Oxford and Eaton were organized in 1844 by the pastor of St. Stephens, Hamilton. To the former must be (page 667) referred the foundation of a second parish, that of St. Boniface in 1855 at Piqua itself, and of the parishes at Troy and Tippecanoe in 1858. To Sidney must be assigned the formation of the parish at St. Patrick, Ohio, in 1862. Holy Trinity, Middletown, was formed in 1852. It served as the mother-parish of St. John's, Middletown, 1872, and of St. Mary's, Franklin, 1854.

            From Petersburg were formed the parishes of Wapakoneta, 1839; Freyburg, 1849; Rhine, 1856; Botkins, 1865. From St. Valbert's, Jacksonville, were formed the parishes at Russia, 1846; Frenchtown, 1846; Greenville, 1839 (1863); Newport, 1858; Versailles, 1864; North Star, 1892, Osgood, 1906.

            To the sixth Catholic parish in the Miami valley are to be referred all the remaining parishes in the northern part of the valley. Emmanuel church, Dayton, served, first of all, as the mother parish of all the following parishes in the city of Dayton : St. Joseph, 1847; St. Mary, 1859; Holy Trinity, 1860; Sacred Heart, 1883; Holy Rosary, 1887; St. John, 1881; Holy Angels, 1902; Holy Family, 1905; Corpus Christi, 1911; St. Anthony, 1913; St. Agnes, 1915; St. James, 1919; Resurrection, 1920. Next, from it was organized the parish of St. Raphael, Springfield, 1849: which in its turn became, directly or indirectly, the parent of the churches in the city of Springfield, namely, St. Bernard, 1861; and St. Joseph, 1882, and of the Catholic churches in the following towns : Urbana, 1849; Xenia, 1849; Morrow, 1852; Bellefontaine, 1853; Yellow Springs, 1856; South Charleston. 1865; Wilmington, 1866; Jamestown, 1871. Lastly, the parishes at Miamisburg, 1852, and Osborn, r868, are related to the church of Emmanuel, Dayton. Parochial development, however, was not the only kind of activity displayed by the Catholic church in the Miami valley. In keeping with the history of the universal church in her earliest existence, from the days when her members supported the indigent by their combined alms, the Catholic church of Cincinnati undertook to provide for the various social needs of her members also. She has provided a place for the care of mothers and of foundlings; homes for the orphans ; schools, academies, colleges, and universities for the training of youth ; literature for all classes; homes for the homeless working boy and girl ; charitable associations to assist the poor, to lift up the down-trodden and the out-cast; missions for the deaf-mute;. hospitals for the sick; asylums for the aged and infirm; and even hallowed cemeteries under the shadow of the Cross of Calvary for the departed.

            From the beginning the Catholic church in the Miami valley endeavored to erect and maintain parochial schools for the primary education for her children. The first two bishops of Cincinnati considered the necessity of such schools as a matter of course, so that wherever Catholic churches were built, Catholic parochial schools were sure to follow, if, indeed, they had not even proceeded them. The erection of parochial schools became the subject of earnest and effective legislation in the synods and provincial (page 668) councils of Cincinnati. As early as 1825, four years after the establishment of the diocese of Cincinnati, there was a Catholic school at Cincinnati, conducted by a Sister of Mercy and Miss Powell. From the days of this first school Cincinnati never lacked its Catholic school. In 1848, when Cincinnati enjoyed the privilege of nine

            parochial churches, each of these parishes boasted of its school. In 1854 nearly every church in the entire diocese of Cincinnati, which then extended over two-thirds of the state of Ohio, enjoyed connection with a Catholic school.

            To give her children opportunity for higher education under Catholic auspices, the Catholic church of Cincinnati began, in 1830, a college, named the Athenaeum, on Sycamore street. This college was transferred to the Jesuits in 1840, by whom it has continued ever since, to be conducted under the name of St. Xavier college. For like purposes the St. Joseph college on west Eighth street was chartered by the Fathers of the Holy Cross in 1873. At Dayton St. Mary's college, which like St. Xavier college developed into a university in 1920, was begun in 185o by the Brothers of Mary. Girls were always more favored than boys in the number of academies and colleges conducted for them. The first Catholic academy in the valley was opened by the Sisters of Charity in 1836, at Third and Plum streets, Cincinnati. It was known as St. Peter's academy. The same sisters opened Mt. St. Vincent's academy on Price Hill in 1853, St. Mary's academy at Sixth and Park streets in 1853, and Mt. St. Joseph academy in 1870. The Sisters of Notre Dame founded the Young Ladies' Literary Institute and Boarding school on Sixth street near Broadway in 1841. Other establishments at Cincinnati were, made by them at Reading in 186o, at Court and Mound streets in 1867, and on Grandin road, Walnut Hills, in 1890. These sisters also conduct academies at Franklin and Ludlow streets, Dayton, and at Second and Washington streets, Hamilton. In 1845 the Sisters of St. Ursula began the St. Ursula Literary Institute at St. Martin's, Brown county. These sisters likewise conduct the Ursuline convent of Our Lady of Victory at Oak street and Reading road. A branch of this society opened the St. Ursula convent and academy on McMillan street in 1910. The Sisters of Mercy opened their first academy in 186o on Fourth street, near Central avenue, where they continued for forty years. They then opened their new academy of Our Lady of Mercy on Freeman avenue. A recent development of these sisters has been the, Mother of Mercy Villa, at Westwood. The college and academy of-the Sacred Heart, Clifton; was begun in 1869 by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. St. Joseph's academy, Mt. Washington, was begun in 1915 by the Sisters of St. Joseph, of Bourg, France.

            Having provided well for the instruction of youth, the Catholic church of Cincinnati has likewise been the promoter of good Catholic literature and has sought by periodicals in the two languages spoken by the majority of the people of the diocese of Cincinnati (page 669) to foster Catholic intelligence. Cincinnati has a double honor in the two periodicals which it established. The Catholic Telegraph, which issued its first number on October, 22, 1831, is today the oldest Catholic periodical in the United States, whilst the Wahrheitsfreund, which appeared for the first time on July 20, 1837 and for the last time on June 19, 1907, was the first Catholic German periodical published in the United States.

            In the realm of social relief, hardly an avenue of sorrow remains which some Catholic Good Samaritan has not trodden to pour in wine and oil to heal a festering sore or a gaping wound. In many instances Catholics have not hesitated to admit to their charities other than themselves, even though the burdens which they bore weighed heavily upon them. To afford a haven of refuge to distressed and unfortunate mothers, there was instituted in 1873 the St. Joseph's Maternity and Infant Asylum, conducted by the Sisters -of Charity, at Norwood, Ohio. To care for the orphan girl, St. Peter's Orphan Asylum was begun in .1829 on Sycamore street, transferred in 1836 to Third and Plum streets, and again in 1854 to Cutnminsville. The name of St. Joseph was substituted then for that of St. Peter. For the orphan boy, the St. Aloysius Orphan Society was organized in 1837. After being located at several places in Cincinnati, the institution became permanently established at Bond Hill in 1856. For like charities have been established the House of Mercy for Destitute Children, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy at Freeman avenue and Kenner street, and the St. Joseph Orphan Home on St. Paul avenue, Dayton, conducted by the Sisters of the Precious Blood. To provide a home for the homeless working boy and girl, the Boys' Home was founded at Cincinnati by Father John Poland, S. J. in 1885; the St. Vincent Home for Boys, established in 1868 by the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis Seraph ; the Fenwick Club, opened in 1915 by Reverend Charles Baden; the Sacred Heart Home for Girls, begun by Miss Margaret McCabe in 1882, but conducted at present by the Sisters of St. Joseph ; the Mt. Carmel Home for Working Girls and Women, managed since 1905 by the Sisters of Mercy; the Loretto Guild for business women, conducted by Dominican Sisters at Dayton, Ohio. To care for homeless and wayward boys, the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis Seraph opened the Protectory for Boys on Lock street in 1868, and moved it in 1870 to Mt. Alverno, Delhi. The same kind of charity is undertaken for wayward girls by the institutions of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd at Cincinnati. Of very special, yet most beneficial purpose have been founded the Santa Maria Institute for work among the poor Italians of Cincinnati, and the St. Rita School for the deaf. The first Catholic hospital in Cincinnati, St. John's, was established in 1852 by the Sisters of Charity at Broadway and Franklin streets. This was the beginning of the present Good Samaritan hospital, now situated at Clifton and Dixmyth avenues, Clifton. The Sisters of Charity are likewise in charge of Seton hospital on west Sixth street. The Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis conduct (page 670) the St. Mary's hospital at Linn and Betts streets, begun in 1859; the St. Francis hospital, Fairmount, begun in 1888; and the St. Elizabeth hospital, Dayton, founded in 1878. The Sisters of Mercy took charge of Mercy hospital, Dayton, in August, 1892.

            To provide a home for the aged poor and infirm the Little- Sisters of the Poor were invited to Cincinnati in 1868. They opened their first home on George street, transferred it to Lock street, and then in 1873 built the Home for the Aged on Florence avenue. In 188) the Sisters built their second Home for the Aged Poor on Riddle road, Clifton Heights. To care for the poor whom institutions cannot reach, societies of St. Vincent de Paul have been established in most of the parishes.

            That all this social and charitable endeavor might be co-ordinated and secured from abuse, a Bureau of Catholic Charities was established in 1916. Finally, in almost every village where a Catholic church. may be found, there too, may be found a Catholic cemetery, where the bodies of the once living temples of the Holy Ghost may find sweet repose until the day of resurrection.*

 

            *For a detailed account as well as for the proof of the statements contained in this article, the reader is kindly referred to the work published by Frederick Putet Co.. Inc.. entitled, "The History of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. 1821-1921." written by Rev. John H. Lamott. S. T. D.

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