Madeira City

Madeira City

_ This is the last station on the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, before it leaves the township in its course northeastward. The village is situated a little south of the Sycamore township line, on the dividing line df sections six and twelve, just half way across the township from east to west. It was laid out in 1871 by Messrs. J. L. Hosbrook and J. D. Moore. They immediately began building and otherwise improving. A post office and railway station had previously existed. here, taking their name from John Madeira, treasurer of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, who owned a large tract of land in the neighborhood. A Methodist Episcopal church building was erected here in 1873 - a neat frame structure, thirty by forty feet. There is also a Presbyterian society here, meeting once a month. An Odd Fellows' lodge, also a lyceum, in due time became established institutions. The population of the place in 1880 was one hundred and ninety-nine.

One of the first purchasers of land in this part of the township was John Jones, who in 1795 secured two or three tracts from Judge Symmes. David Black, in 1796, bought hereabout three hundred and twenty acres, or a half-section, for two hundred and thirteen dollars. Lewis Woodruff also bought a large tract, which he leased in ten-acre lots for terms of ten years, conditioned that the lessee should clear the ground, erect a dwelling, and plant an orchard. The wolves and panthers were specially troublesome here in the old days, while the deer devoured the wheat. Bear-hunts were quite common.

Other early settlers in this region were Boltzelle, David McGaughy, Major Joseph Mann (who dida great deal in his day to develop the Madison and Camargo turnpike enterprise), Thomas Stearns, sen., Squire Clason, Oliver Jones, Jacob Heltzler, and- the Hosbrooks. Some of these receive due notice elsewhere in this chapter. The progenitor of the Hosbrooks in this township - grandfather of one of the founders of Madeira - was Daniel, who in the winter season, when the woods were almost impassable through deep snows, went to Columbia for salt, missed his way on his return and was frozen to death.

The following incident is related in Nelson's Suburban Homes, from which we derive many of these facts, of Hon. Daniel Hosbrook. His son, the younger Hosbrook, was several times member of the legislature from Hamilton county, and at one time sheriff. His early life was considerably spent in teaching, and the anecdote relates one of his experiences in-that profession :

An incident in his history as a teacher is worth mentioning. Like many of his profession in those days, he was ''barred out." Finding himself on the wrong side of the door one morning, at the time school should have been opened, he suspected mischief, and, after ineffectual attempts to gain an entrance, began to parley with the enemy. A council was proposed, but indignantly rejected by the occupants of the stronghold. Nothing short of an unconditional surrender and an indemnity of ''apples and cider" would be accepted by the belligerents on the otner side. Determined to regain possession, the governor issued a manifesto, which resulted in bringing over to his side one of success, he/nailed down the windows securely, fastened tne doors, and covered the chimneys. 'The result will be conjectured. 'The magnanimous victor stood the treat and cured the boys of a bad custom.

Madisonville, or rather Madison, as it was originally called, was laid out upon the north part of school section No. 16, in fractional range two, township four, as soon as the lands, under the old system of leases, were made available. A considerable settlement had already gathered upon and about the spot; and when, January 27, 1809, the legislature passed an act providing for the disposition of the school sections, the people of this. locality lost little time in proceeding to act thereon. The record of the survey of the town is dated March 30, 1809. John Jones, esq., William Armstrong, and Felix Christman, were chosen trustees for the purpose of platting the village and disposing of the lots; and Moses Morrison was their elerk. Joseph Reeder, Joseph Clark, and Ezekiel Lamard, were appointed to fix the valuation of the ground. William Darling was surveyer; Jeremiah Brand and Joseph Ward senior chain catriers; Nathaniel Ross senior marker. After the survey the following announcement was made:

Notice

The conditions on which lots will be let or leased are as follows, viz: Lot No, 1 on the first block of lots will be first offered, and so on in rotation, at the appraisement, and the highest bidder shall be the lessee. Six per cent. on what they bid will be the sum they pay annually, paying the first payment on the first day of April next. There will be required of the lessee bond and security for the building of a house at least eighteen by twenty feet, of good hewed logs, frame, stone, or brick, at least one and a half stories high, with a stone or brick chimney and a good shingle roof, within two years from the date of his lease. Any person bidding off two lots will be excused by building one house of the above description, the four corner lots excepted. Any person not complying with the terms of the articles of sale shall forfeit and pay to the trustees the sum of five dollars, The lessee will pay in proportion the expense of laying out and blazing, etc.

The same day of the date of this notice - April 24, 1809, entries of first sales were made in the minute book of the trustees, which has been preserved, as follows:

Minimum values had been fixed upon these lots by the valuers as follows: Lot one, ten dollars; two and three, each five dollafs; four and five, each three dollars and fifty cents.

The expenses of first sales, etc., to May 1, 1809, are noted in the minute book as fourteen dollars and seventyfive cents. Amount of interest on sale of lots for the first year, fifteen dollars and thirty-four cents.

The new town was named Madison, in honor of James Madison, who had just been inaugurated President of the United States. It afterwards, in 1826, became necessary to change the name to some other designation, under the rules of the Post Office Department, which.do not permit more than one post office of the same name in a State; and the present name was chosen instead. The old title is retained, however, in designation of the Madison turnpike and otherwise.

Agreed to meet on business on the 15th May 1819 at 10 oclk. The following extracts from the minutes will also be read with interest. The old spelling is retained:

Dec. 27 Joseph Clark met David_McGawghey at his own house, in order to attend to some business between Aurthur StC. Miller and Samuel W. Philps. Lewis Drake also attended and received of said Philps, for rent charged on lots held formerly by said Miller the sum of $106.90, which satisfies for the same up to the rst of this instant.

There is six acres of farm No. 9, and one acre of farm No, 8 to be charged to W. H. Moore. April r1th, 1820, the trustees met at the house of James Wood, in order to settle with him as treasurer, and made some progress therein, and agreed to meet again on the r4th at Madison, to finish said settlement. 14th. The trustees met at Madison, proceeded with the settlement with Wood, but could not finish it, and agreed to meet the next day at 8 o'clock A. M.

Following closely after the record of town officers is the record of leases, showing that the accruing rents were to be applied to school purposes., These leases were drawn for ninety-nine years, the first being from John Jones, Felix Crossman, and William Armstrong, on behalf of the town, to William and John Armstrong. Three years ago [in 1871] the last of these leases were canceled and surrendered to the State, and deeds exchanged; and while we were in the office a question arose as to what disposition should be made of a sum of money,received the same day on account of one of said leases.

Town lots were laid out on the roth of April, 1809. The first election in the township was held in the old homestead now owned and occupied by Eli Muchmore, then the property of his grandfather, Eli S. Muchmore. When Mr. Muchmore landed in Cincinnati, he had sufficient means to purchase the whole tract upon which it now stands; but fearing it would be a sickly place, he chose to purchase a tier of sections in adjoining townships. ?

Madison was at one time noted for the number of its distilleries, which used to attract large gatherings from the surrounding country, and be the occasion of much jollity and dissipation. Men would spend their time in gaming, and with outdoor manly and unmanly sports, until the affair would break up in a general Donnybrook fair. 'Traces of the distilleries seem to have disappeared, which was accounted for on the ground that, as soon as transportation for grain and pork was opened up, the corn that had been shipped in the compact form of whiskey brought higher prices in bulk and in pork;

Madison was also the home of several men who became distinguished members of the body politic. Among them we may mention Dr. Alexander Duncan, a well-known member of congress, who disappointed his democratic friends by stepping over to free soi. One who made his mark and his money in the insurance business, when there was money in it, was Louis Clason, who, was well 'sawn in Cincinnati. Madison was also the early home of James Whitcomb, who was afterward governor of Indiana, Old citizens tell some amusing stories about the youth of this intrepid lawyer and statesman. One of these relates to his love for and devotion to piscatory pursuits, which were so strong as to render him oblivious to the condition of his tc 'let. Linen would frequently display itself where it was impossible 'oi one so abstracted to be conscious of it, and where its obtrusion was sure to excite the laughter of bystanders; but that circumstance did not interfere with his success as an amateur sportsman and an enterprising vender of fresh fish, He made money enough to buy himself books, and enable him to attend school; worked hard and studied harder; was a keen lawyer and active politician; and so literally raised himself from penury to the highest office of the State. He afterward became a member of the United States senate, where sickness overtook him, and he died.

Contemporaneous with the history of Madison is that of the history of some of the surviving citizens, from one of whom, William Moore, we received much valuable infurmation, Mr. Moore is eighty-seven years of age, and bids fairly to approximate to the century. Heisa lively and intelligent conversationist, and retains dates «nd events with remarkable tenacity. When examining the records we found him generally accurate, and noticed that he could repeat verbatim the long forms and awkward phraseology of the early leases. i 2 came from Virginia and made Madison his home in 1811, when there were about twenty buildings in the town. At one time he kept a tavern, at another a country store; then he managed successively a brickyard anda nursery. He also seems to have made the circuit of all the town and township offices, from constable to magistrate. As clerk, the boo!:s show that he made creditable records; as a citizen, his record seems y\ite as clear and creditable.

The oldest citizen i$ Samuel.Earhart, who was Lorn January 22, 1784 Next to him is Esquire Isaac Giffin, born August 24, 1785. Mrs, Hattie Ward is the same age as Mr. Moore. Mrs. Duncan, Ayres Brainble, Colonel I. F. Waring, and Timothy Maphet, are all respectively about seventy-five years of age.

Durirg a pleasant interview with Mr. Bramble many interesting facts were elicited regarding the early settlements, and some anecdotes, of which we can give only a few. Mr. Bramble's father and family, with three other families, emigrated from Barnsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1806, taking with them in their boat of twelve by twentyfour, a horse, a cow, and a 'big black dog." T. ¢ entire wealth of the company was represented in one hundred dollars of Spanish silver coin; and that was the property of Mr. Bramble. They arrived in safety near the mouth of the Little Miami, but the broken character of the land and the sickly hue of the settlers discouraged Mr. bramble for the time being, so he waited by the river side for a passing keel-boat to take him back to his old home. While waiting in a state © uncertainty,.a proposition was made to him to settle near the present site of Madison, which he accepted. Houses being scarce, he wus obliged to take up his residence for the first six months in an unfinisie 1 log church, which was without doors and windows, That year a heavy snow-storm was experienced about the first of October, which compelled him to seek more comfortable quarters. It was an early w: ter, but 1806 was remarkable for strange freaks of nature. That year, February the 7th proved to be the coldest day ever experienced in this latitude. Old settlers talk of it as ''cold Friday," in contradistinction to ordinary cold winter days; and in 1806 was the great eclipse. Mr. Bramble distinctly remembers his being present at the raising of the first log house in Madison, which took place in 1809, when he was ien years of age. The building was afterwards used as a hotel, and was kept by Colonel William Perry, from Kentucky, an enterprising ci'izen, who seldom allowed himself to be sober. @ The following year, 1810, was remarkable for the tide of immigration that set in from the adjoining State, Kentucky. Thousands of the colored,inhabitants, black and brown, abandoned their homes, swam 'the river, and landed on the fertile bottoms of the Ohio. They came unarmed, without sw: d or spear, musket or ammunition, or other munitions of war than those bestowed upon them by nature. Immediately on landing they dispersed among the woods, prepared themselves log cabins or built more temporary structures, and set up housekeeping. Nothing could be more peaceable than their intentions., No class of citizens could have been more active, industrious, frugal, or cleanly in their habits. Bu , though as a class they were conceded to be productive, in political economy they were ranked as non-producers, and accordingly were doomed to suffer persecution. Then every white man was a Granger. Middlemen had not yet found their way out west; so war was immediately declared against the intruders, and every man, woman, and child arrayed themselves against these unarmed and inoffensive immigrants. War to the knife, bitter, relentless, exterminating war was waged, and speedily raged. From the township the war sentiment extended to the county; from the county to the State; until the legislature actually passed a law for the extinction of the races, black and brown, indiscriminately. Every atrocity was then practiced and encouraged; and scalping commanded a high premium.

In 1811, the payment of taxes in squirrel pelts was legalized, In 1811 was also the great earthquake, which rent the foundations of the first frame house built in Madison - one erected by Paddy McCollum, a man of note at thetime. Whether the earthquake had anything to do with the act of legislature and subsequent slaughter, our informant did not say.

As might be expected, the schools of that day were not conducted with the highest degree of efficiency. Mr. Bramble's teacher was an Irishman named John Wallace, who was intoxicated half his time, and would play ball with the boys half the balance. In proof of that Mr. Bramble said he attended .school five winters before he got out of his '* Abs."

Mr. Bramble was both a farmer and a trader in his boyhood, and sold corn and potatoes at tén cents a bushel in Cincinnati. Then property was equally cheap. School section sixteen was under lease to farmers and others, and the lease of a tract of forty acres of it was sold in 1810 for a ploughshare, then for a barrel of whiskey, and afterwards to Mr. Bramble for sixty dollars. -

One of the early incidents of the settlement was the killing of two of the citizens by the Indians - a brother of Captain Giffin; and a father and son named Paul were out in search for hogs when discovered by the Indians, who gave chase, overtook Giffin and shot him, and afterwards shot the elder Paul. Young,Paul could have made his escape with little trouble, as the station was near; but, anxious to save his father, he stopped in shelter of the trees, and with his rifle kept the Indians at bay as long as his father's strength held out. The latter finding escape hopeless sent his son off, and gesigned himself to his fate.

Another incident of a later date took place east of Madison, when the victim was an Indian. West of Madison was a station known as Nelson's, where were horses pasturing. A party of Indians on their way toward the hills rode off with some of these, one of which was hoppled. Nelson and others of the fort made pursuit, but failed in overtaking any except the one on the hoppled horse, whom Nelson shot when near the site of the present residence of Esquire Clason. 'There the Indian was buried, and the circumstance turned to account by naming the place Indian hill. Esquire Clason says that many years afterward the grave was discovered by accident, and the jawbone secured as a relic in his family. Judging from the relic, he says, the Indian must have been a giant in proportions.

One of the few mechanics of the place was Jeremiah Brand, a plowmaker, and the best in the county. Brand was an industrious, honest 'workman, anda good citizen; and, even for the times, primitive in his habits and his wardrobe. He never wore shoes, and so contrived his nether garment that a single button sufficed to maintain it in its proper position. That button was alike remarkable for its size, brilliancy, and conspicuity. In Brand's time a local law was enacted requiring every man attending meeting to bring his musket and ammunition, or pay a fine of one dollar. This was pretty hard on poor Brand, who was perfectly innocent of the use of firearms. What did he want with a musket, when he was as fleet-footed asan Indian? But he went to meeting - was duly fined in his dollar, and as duly absented himself therefrom until the author of the objectionable law remitted his fine. Brand died in 1856.

Madisonville, or rather Madison, as it was originally called, was laid out upon the north part of school section No. 16, in fractional range two, township four, as soon as the lands, under the old system of leases, were made available. A considerable settlement had already gathered upon and about the spot; and when, January 27, 1809, the legislature passed an act providing for the disposition of the school sections, the people of this local-

1809, John Jones, esq., William Armstrong, and Felix Christman, were chosen trustees for the purpose of platting the village and disposing of the lots; and Moses Morrison was their clerk. Joseph Reeder, Joseph Clark, and Ezekiel Lamard, were appointed to fix the valuation of the ground. William Darling was surveyor; Jeremial Brand and Joseph Ward, senior chain carriers; and Nathaniel Ross, senior marker,

The plat of Madisonville was not recorded until May 27, 1829. The village was incorporated under the old law, about ten years afterwards - March 16, 1839; and under the present State constitution, a certificate of incorporation was filed with the secretary of State, February 11, 1876.

The growth of the town was naturally slow, in its early day, under the circumstances of its inland position and the absence of means of rapid transit to the city; and it had but two hundred and eighty-five inhabitants, or a little more than one-tenth the population of the entire township in 1830. In 1841 it received notice in the State Gazette as containing four hundred inhabitants, with one hundred dwellings, five stores, one brick meeting-house, a two-story school-house, a brick seminary or academy, and a daily mail. Its largest growth has been received since the completion of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad in 1866, which induced a considerable emigration from the city to a place possessing so many superior advantages for suburban residence. It is fifteen miles from the Madisonville station to the depot of this road in Cincinnati.

The first church organized here was of the Methodist Episcopal faith, and the Madison circuit was organized at least as long ago as 1820. In that year Elder Henry Baker and Rev. William H. Raper were appointed to it; in 1821 Elder A. Wiley and William P. Quinn; the next year, James Jones and James Murray; the next, J. Stewart and Nehemiah B. Griffith; and the next, Elder John F. Wright and Thomas Hewson. Those were days of rapid rotation in the Methodist ministry. A new church was built by the Madisonville society in 1857, forty by sixty feet, with four hundred sittings, and costing ten thousand dollars. It was long the only Protestant church building in town. A parsonage has since been added, worth about five thousand dollars.

The Catholic church is built upon the addition made to the town by its former pastor, the Rev. Father A. Walburg, who reserved a lot for it and a parochial school, and also bore the major part of the expense of its construction - about fourteen thousand dollars. It is known as St. Anthony's church, and the congregation is now ministered to by the Rev. H. Stoppelman.

Other and generally prosperous societies in Madisonville are the Literary and Musical association, the Young Folks' Benevolent society, for literary and social culture, and to provide for the poor; the Free and Accepted Masons, and the Odd Fellows, who are strong here, and own a property of an estimated value of fifteen to twenty thousand dollars, The most notable institution, how- the department of archeology. April 1, 1879, the work upon ancient remains in the ancient cemetery near Linwood, which had previously been done somewhat irregularly by individuals, was systematically undertaken by this society. The expense of investigation is now shared by the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, and the collections made are divided between the societies. The late Professor E. B. Andrews, who was proficient in these matters, expressed the view that the discoveries in this cemetery would direct attention to a new line of investigatjon, and that explorations for the remains of these prehistoric people would not in the future be confined to opening mounds. The officers of the society in 1880 were: H. B. Whetsel, president; S. F. Covington, vice-president; E. A. Conkling, treasurer; Charles F. Low, secretary; Charles-L. Metz, M. D., superintendent.

Madisonville was incorporated as a village in the year 1876. The first officers were Louis W. Clason, mayor; Calvin Fay, clerk; George J. Settle, marshal; Timothy Maphet, W. W. Peabody, Michael Buckel, William Settle, James Julien, and Louis Cornwelle, councilmen. The place had one thousand two hundred and fortyseven inhabitants by the census of 1880.

Montauk

This village is eligibly situated at the bridge connecting the station on the Little Miami railroad nearest to Milford, Clermont county, with Milford. It is in the northeast corner of fractional section twenty-three, on the Little Miami river and railroad, and within half a mile of Camden City. It was laid out in 1840, while the railroad was in progress, by Messrs. Joseph Longworth, Larz Anderson, R. M. Shoemaker, and. L. E. Brewster.

Mount Lookout

This is a pleasant suburban locality, just at the northwest corner of the city, where the Observatory of the University of Cincinnati is situated, on the road from Walnut Hills, Woodburn, and O'Bryanville to the Red Bank station. The Mt. Lookout building association, for the improvement and development of this suburb, was incorporated June 10, 1871. It has a fine pleasurepark, owned by a private company; and a new Methodist Episcopal church was put up in the vicinity, in the fall and early winter of 1880, and dedicated December sth of that year, with services by Bishops Wiley and Warren.