Skip to main content

Full text of "An outline of the history of Dayton, Ohio, 1796-1896"

See other formats 


.02  D18 


'-■  *'^'"-^. 


^    ,0-' 


AN  OUTLINE 

OF  THE 

History  of  Dayton 

OHIO 
1796-1896 


Prepared  from  "  Early  Dayton,  by  Robert  W.  Steele  and 

Mary  Davies  Steele,"  and  from  the 

"History  of  Dayton  " 


Published  for  the  Board  of  Education 


Vm  of  cOj^"^^^ 

-■"V  2  1896  ■ 


DAYTON,  OHIO 

Untteb  Brettjren  piiblist^ing  f^onse 

W.  J.  Shuey,  Publisher 


INTRODUCTION 


If  Dayton's  centennial  is  properly  to  be  observed,  the  schools — 
including  the  three  hundred  teachers  and  the  more  than  ten 
thousand  boys  and  girls— must  fill  an  important  place  and  take 
a  leading  part.  The  children  of  to-day  should  become  acquainted 
with  the  past,  and  duly  recognize  the  planning  and  struggles  that 
have  made  present  advantages  possible.  Besides,  every  one  who  is 
to  become  a  useful  citizen  must  be  led  to  cherish  a  local  pride  and 
public  si)irit  such  as  a  worthy  celebration  of  the  founding  and 
growth  of  the  city  will  surely  tend  to  promote. 

The  Board  of  Education  have  therefore  provided  that  necessary 
books  be  supplied  to  the  various  schools  and  that  a  souvenir  book- 
let containing  an  outline  history  of  the  city  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  each  teacher  and  jjupil.  Class  exercises,  covering  the  history  of 
Dayton  and  extending  through  a  number  of  weeks,  will  be  con- 
ducted by  the  teachers,  the  course  to  be  followed  with  a  suitable 
celebration  in  all  of  the  schools. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Miss  Mtwy  D.  Steele,  author  of  the 
volume  entitled  "Early  Dayton,"  and  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Shuey,  the 
publisher  of  the  same,  the  following  summary  of  history  and 
excellent  illustrations,  chiefly  taken  from  said  volume,  are  made 
available. 

The  Board  desire  to  congratulate  the  teachers  and  pupils  and 
the  general  public  on  the  prosperity  of  the  past,  and  to  express  the 
hope  that  higher  successes  will  crown  the  years  to  come. 
For  the  Board, 

Charles  J.  Hall, 
A.  H.  Iddings, 
H.  C.  Thomson, 
Committee  on  Centennial  Celebration. 


Copyright,  1896,  by  W.  J.  Shuey. 

All  rights  reserved. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  DAYTON 


The  original  inhabitants  ol  the  region  of  which  the  Miami 
Valley  forms  a  part  were  the  Mound -Builders.  Nothing  is 
known  of  their  origin,  and  they  have  left  no  trace  of  their  his- 
tory except  the  many  relics  found  in  the  numerous  mounds 
which  they  built,  and  which  still  exist  in  various  places.  The 
Mound-Builders  were  followed  by  the  Indians,  who  were  in 
possession  of  the  country  when  it  was  explored  by  white  men, 
and  continued  to  occupy  portions  of  it  after  settlements  had  been 
made  by  the  whites.  The  principal  tribes  inhabiting  this  por- 
tion of  Ohio  were  the  Miamis  and  the  Shawnees. 

When  the  forests  of  the  Ohio  Valley  were  first  penetrated  by 
Europeans,  the  region  was  claimed  by  Spain,  France,  and  Eng- 
land. England  afterward  gained  possession  of  it,  but  in  1783,  at 
the  close  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  yielded  it  to  the  United 
States.  The  title  to  the  land  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River  was 
also  claimed  by  Virginia,  but  in  1784  was  ceded  to  the  United 
States.  In  1787  the  Northwest  Territory  was  formed  by  Con- 
gress, including  the  present  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota. 

The  land  lying  between  the  Great  Miami  and  Little  Miami 
rivers  was  not  inhabited  by  the  Indians,  but  was  reserved  as  a 
hunting-ground,  and  it  is  probable  that  there  was  no  Indian 
village  in  all  this  region  after  the  year  1700. 

Long  before  any  permanent  settlement  was  made  in  the  Miami 
Valley,  its  beauty  and  fertility  were  known  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Kentucky  and  the  people  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  and  repeated 
efforts  were  made  to  get  possession  of  it.  These  efforts  led  to 
conflicts  with  the  Indians,  and  until  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  valley  was  known  as  the  "Miami  slaughter-house." 

As  early  as  1749  the  French  Major  Celoron  de  Bienville  as- 
cended the  La  Roche  or  Big  Miami  River  as  far  as  Piqua.  In 
1 75 1  Gist,  the  agent  of  the  Virginians  who  formed  the  Ohio  Land 


4  HISTORICAL   SKETCH    OF   DAYTON 

Companj',  visited  the  same  region,  and  wrote  a  description  of 
it  in  English.     The  countrj^  he  sa3S,  abounded  with  "turkeys, 

deer,  elk,  and  most  sorts  of  game,  particularly^  buffaloes 

It  wants  nothing  but  cultivation  to  make  it  a  most  delightful 
countr}-.  The  land  upon  the  Great  Miami  River  is  verj^  rich, 
level,  and  well  timbered,  some  of  the  finest  meadows  that  can 
be.  The  grass  here  grows  to  a  great  height  on  the  clear  fields, 
of  which  there  are  a  great  number,  and  the  bottoms  are  full  of 
white  clover,  wild  rye,  and  blue  grass."  Buffaloes  and  elk  were 
found  here  until  1795. 

In  the  summer  of  1780  General  George  Rogers  Clark  led  an 
expedition  against  the  Shawnees  near  Xenia  and  Springfield. 
He  defeated  the  Indians  and  destro3'ed  their  property.  Among 
the  ofiicers  under  Clark  was  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  from  1804 
to  1827  a  citizen  of  Dayton. 

In  1782  Clark  led  a  second  expedition  of  one  thousand  Ken- 
tuckians  to  Ohio.  They  met  the  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  Mad 
River,  and  on  the  9th  of  November  a  skirmish  occurred  on  the 
site  of  Da}' ton,  in  which  the  Kentuckians  were  victorious. 
These  two  expeditions  were  campaigns  of  the  Revolution,  as 
the  Indians  were  friendly  to  the  British. 

In  1786  a  force  under  Colonel  Logan  was  sent  against  the 
Wabash  and  Mad  River  villages  of  the  Indians.  One  of  the 
brigades  was  commanded  b}'  Colonel  Robert  Patterson.  On 
their  retvirn,  the}-  met  a  part\'  of  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  Mad 
River,  and  gained  the  second  battle  between  whites  and  Indians 
on  the  site  of  Dayton. 

In  1789  Major  Benjamin  Stites,  John  Stites  Gano,  and  William 
Goforth  formed  plans  for  a  settlement  to  he  named  Venice,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber,  as  they  called  INIad  River,  but  their  plans 
failed. 

In  1794  General  Anthony  Waj'ne  defeated  the  Indians  and 
ended  four  years  of  Indian  war.  August  3,  1795,  the  General 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Indians,  at  Greenville,  Ohio,  which 
was  regarded  as  securing  the  safet}'  of  settlers  in  the  Indian 
countr}'. 

August  20,  1795,  seventeen  daj'S  after  the  treaty  was  signed,  a 
party  of  gentlemen  contracted  for  the  purchase  of  the  seventh 
and  eighth  ranges  between  Mad  River  and  the  Little  Miami  from 
John  Cleves  Symmes,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionar}'  army,  who, 
encouraged  by  the  success  of  the   Ohio   Company,   had,  after 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH    OF   DAYTON  5 

much  negotiation,  obtained  from  Congress  a  grant  for  the  pur- 
chase of  one  million  acres  between  the  two  Miamis.  The 
purchasers  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  ranges  were  General 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory;  Gen- 
eral Jonathan  Dayton,  afterward  Senator  from  New  Jersey ; 
General  James  Wilkinson,  of  Wayne's  army,  and  Colonel  Israel 
Liidlow,  from  Long  Hill,  Morris  County,  New  Jersey.  On  the 
2ist  of  September  two  parties  of  surveyors  set  out,  one  led  by 
Daniel  C.  Cooper  to  surve)'  and  mark  a  road  and  cut  out  some 
of  the  brush,  and  the  other  led  by  Captain  John  Dunlap,  which 
was  to  run  the  boundaries  of  the  purchase.  On  the  ist  of 
November  the  surve3'ors  returned  to  Mad  River,  and  Israel 
Ludlow  laid  out  the  town,  which  he  named  for  General  Da3ton, 
Three  streets  were  named  St.  Clair,  W^ilkinson,  and  Ludlow  for 
the  proprietors.  Another  was  called,  as  a  sort  of  compromise, 
Jefferson,  as  the  proprietors  were  Federalists.  Daj'ton  was 
founded  by  Revolutionary  officers  and  bears  their  names.  It  is 
also  linked  to  the  War  of  1S12  b3^  a  street  called  for  Commodore 
Perr}'. 

On  November  i  a  lottery  was  held,  and  each  one  present  drew 
lots  for  himself  or  others  who  intended  to  settle  in  the  new 
town.  Each  of  the  settlers  received  a  donation  of  an  inlot  and 
an  outlot.  In  addition,  each  of  them  had  the  privilege  of  pur- 
chasing one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  at  a  French  crown,  or  about 
one  dollar  and  thirteen  cents,  per  acre.  The  proprietors  hoped 
by  offering  these  inducements  to  attract  settlers  to  the  place. 

Forty-six  men  had  agreed  to  remove  from  Cincinnati  to  Day- 
ton, but  only  nineteen  came.  The  following  men  and  about 
seventeen  women  and  children  were  the  original  settlers  of 
Da^'ton  :  William  Hamer,  Solomon  Hanier,  Thomas  Hamer, 
George  Newcom,  William  Newcom,  Abraham  Glassmire,  Thomas 
Davis,  John  Davis,  John  Dorough,  William  Chenoweth,  James 
Morris,  Daniel  Ferrell,  Samuel  Thompson,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve, 
James  McClure,  John  jNIcClure,  William  Gahagan,  vSolomon 
Goss,  William  Van  Cleve. 

In  March,  1796,  the}^  left  Cincinnati  in  three  parties,  led  by 
William  Hamer,  George  Newcom,  and  Samuel  Thompson.  Two 
parties  came  b\'  land  and  one  by  water. 

The  party  coming  by  water  made  the  voj'age  down  the  Ohio 
and  up  the  IMiami  River  in  a  boat  called  a  pirogue.  In  the 
pirogue  came  Samuel  Thompson  and  his  wife,  Catherine  ;    their 


O  HISTORICAI.   SKETCH    OF   DAYTON 

children,  Sarah,  two  years  old,  Martha,  three  months  old,  and 
Mrs.  Thompson's  son,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  then  about  twenty- 
five,  and  her  daughter,  Mary  Van  Cleve,  nine  years  of  age ;  the 
widow  McClure  and  her  sons  and  daughters,  James,  John, 
Thomas,  Kate,  and  Ann,  and  William  Gaha^an,  a  young  Irish- 
man. The  passage  from  Cincinnati  to  Da;,  ^on  occupied  ten  days. 
Mrs.  Thompson  was  the  first  to  step  ashore.  Two  small  camps 
of  Indians  were  here  when  the  pirogue  touclied  the  Miami  bank, 
but  they  proved  friendly  and  were  persuaded  to  leave  in  a  day  or 
two.  The  pirogue  landed  at  the  head  of  St.  Clair  Street  April  i, 
1796.  The  Thompson  party  was  the  first  to  arrive.  The  other 
two  parties  arrived  a  few  days  later. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  arrival  of  the  pioneers,  the  whole 
of  Water  vStreet,  now  Monument  Avenue,  was  cleared  of  brush 
and  trees.  The  country  around  for  many-  miles,  with  bixt  few 
exceptions,  was  covered  with  unbroken  forest,  or  a  thicket  of 
hazel  bushes  and  wild  fruit-trees. 

Colonel  George  Newcom,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  built  a  log 
cabin,  immediatel}'  after  his  arrival,  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Main  Street  and  Water  Street,  now  Monument  Avenue.  Other 
cabins  also  were  built,  all  of  them  being  one  story'  high  and  con- 
taining only  one  room.  In  the  winter  of  1798-99  Colonel  Newcom 
built  Newcom 's  Tavern  on  the  site  of  the  first  cabin.  The  new 
cabin  was  two  stories  high  and  contained  four  rooms. 

For  several  years  the  settlers  were  much  annoyed  by  the 
Indians,  and  in  1799  a  blockhoUvSe  was  built  on  the  site  of  the 
Soldiers'  Monument. 

In  1798  Rev.  John  Kobler,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopp..  Church, 
preached  the  first  sermon  in  Dayton,  and  a  class  of  eight  persons 
was  formed,  which  has  grown  into  the  present  Grace  Methodist 
Church. 

In  1799  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized,  and  in 
1800  built  the  first  meeting-house,  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Main  and  Third  streets.  It  was  constructed  of  logs,  and  was 
eighteen  by  twenty  feet  in  size.  From  these  small  beginnings 
the  number  of  churches  has  grown  until  there  are  now  in  the 
city  eighty -one  churches  of  all  denominations. 

In  1800  the  first  wedding  in  the  little  town  occurred  —  that  of 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve  and  Mary  Whitten.  April  14.  of  the  same  year 
was  born  the  first  child  — Jane  Newcom.  During  the  same  j^ear  the 
first  store  was  opened  in  the  second  story  of  Newcom's  Tavern. 


^^,\V 


Joi^hct^x  /C/co^/imy 


'CCy, 


'A 
-  /  ■" 


£:.^^iijLU^<i 


^  i-v>-^  cs.-axv-f 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH   OF   DAYTON  9 

The  nine  cabins  which  in  1799  constituted  Daj'ton,  contained 
only  a  few  home-made  benches,  stools,  beds,  tables,  and  cup- 
boards, often  of  buckeye  and  beechwood.  Doddridge  in  his 
"Notes"  sa3-s  that  a  pioneer's  table  furniture  consisted  of 
"some  old  pewter  dishes  and  plates;  the  rest,  wooden  bowls 
or  trenchers,  or  gourds,  and  hard-shelled  squashes.  A  few 
pewter  spoons,  much  battered  about  the  edges,  were  to  be 
seen  on  some  tables.  The  rest  were  made  of  horn.  If  knives 
were  scarce,  the  deficiency  was  made  up  bj-  the  scalping-knives, 
which  were  carried  in  sheaths  suspended  from  the  belt  of  the 
hunting-shirt."  The  cabin  was  warmed  and  lighted  wholl}- by 
the  huge  open  hickory  fire,  over  which,  in  pots  suspended  from 
cranes  or  on  the  coals  or  in  the  ashes,  the  cooking  was  done.  At 
an  earl}'  date  the  pioneers  raised  flax,  hemp,  and  wool,  and  the 
women  spun,  wove,  and  dyed,  with  colors  made  from  walnut 
and  butternut  hulls,  or  wild  roots,  the  fabrics  from  which  they 
made  the  clothes  of  the  family.  Ever}'  cabin  had  its  spinning- 
wheel  and  loom,  the  latter  built  b})-  the  ingenious  pioneer  weaver, 
Abraham  Glassmire.  One  wonders  whether  pioneer  women 
were  reallj'  harder  worked  than  their  granddaughters.  The}' 
had  little  to  occupy  or  amuse  them  outside  their  own  homes  — 
no  benevolent  societies,  clubs,  receptions,  calls,  concerts,  or 
lectures,  and  only  occasional  church  services.  The}'  had  only 
one  or  two  rooms  to  keep  in  order,  and  no  pictures,  books,  cur- 
tains, carpets,  rugs,  table-  and  bed-linen,  bric-a-brac,  china,  gla.ss, 
or  silver  to  take  care  of.  Their  wardrobes  were  scant}-,  and  the 
weekly  washing  must  have  been  small.  Wheat  flour  could  not 
be  obtained ;  corn  hoe-cake,  ash-cake,  johnny-cake,  dodgers, 
pone,  hominy,  and  mush  and  milk  were  the  principal  articles 
of  diet.  Meal  was  slowly  and  laboriously  ground  in  handmills. 
Wild  plums,  crab-apples,  blackberries,  and  strawberries,  sweet- 
ened with  maple  sugar,  furnished  jellies  and  preserves.  There 
was  an  abundance  of  wild  honey,  and  of  wild  goose  and  turkey 
.md  duck  eggs.  They  often  tired  of  venison,  bears'  meat,  rabbits, 
squirrels,  wild  turkeys,  ducks,  geese,  quail,  and  pheasants,  and 
longed  for  pork.  There  was  great  rejoicing,  no  doubt,  when, 
in  1799,  Mr.  Cooper  introduced  hogs. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  our  history  settlers'  families  were  often 
dependent  upon  the  father's  gun  for  a  breakfast  or  dinner,  and 
hunting  was  oftener  an  occupation  than  an  amusement.  Deer 
and  bears  were  killed  in  large  numbers  for  both  their  pelts  and 


lO  HISTORICAL  SKETCH    OF   DAYTON 

flesh,  and  the  bears  also  for  their  oil.  Deerskin  was  made  into 
men's  clothes  and  moccasins,  and  bearskins  were  used  as  rugs 
and  coverlets.  The  meat,  and  also  that  of  wild  birds,  was  salted 
and  eaten  as  we  eat  dried  beef.  Raccoon  skins  were  in  demand 
for  winter  caps.  Pelts  of  various  kinds  were  used  instead  of 
money. 

There  was  little  money  in  circulation,  and  business  in  the 
Northwest  Territory  was  chieflj'  conducted  by  barter  of  articles 
that  were  easily  transported  on  packhorses,  such  as  ginseng, 
peltries,  and  beeswax,  which  had  fixed  values.  A  muskrat  skin 
passed  for  twenty-five  cents ;  a  buckskin  for  one  dollar ;  a  doe- 
skin for  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents ;  a  bearskin  for  from  three  to 
five  dollars  ;  a  pair  of  cotton  stockings  cost  a  buckskin  ;  a  yard  of 
calico  cost  two  muskrat  skins  ;  a  set  of  knives  and  forks,  a  bear- 
skin ;  a  yard  of  shirting,  a  doeskin  ;  a  pair  of  moccasins,  a  coon- 
skin,  or  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents.  The  want  of  small  change 
led  the  pioneers  of  the  Ohio  Valley  to  invent  what  was  called  cut- 
money,  or  sharp  shins.  They  cut  small  coins,  chiefl}-  Spanish, 
into  quarters,  and  circulated  them  as  readily  as  money  that  had 
not  been  tampered  with.  American  merchants  had  not  yet 
learned  to  use  the  United  States  currencj',  and  their  charges  were 
in  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence. 

The  habits  and  surroundings  of  the  people  were  very  primi- 
tive. Wildcats  and  panthers  strong  enough  to  carry  off  a  live 
hog  prowled  in  the  surrounding  woods,  and  wolves,  which 
destroyed  stock,  poultr}'-,  and  young  vegetables,  were  shot  by 
moonlight  through  the  chinks  of  the  cabins.  The  wolves 
howled  from  dusk  till  dawn  like  innumerable  dogs,  as  any  one 
who  has  visited  prairie  countries  can  understand. 

The  settlement  did  not  grow  rapidl}'.  As  stated  above,  in  1799 
only  nine  cabins  constituted  the  town  of  Dayton,  and  in  1802,  when 
Ohio  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  only  five  families  remained.  In 
1801  Daniel  C.  Cooper,  who  had  settled  in  Dayton  in  1796,  became 
titular  proprietor  of  the  town,  and  secured  satisfactory  titles  by 
patent  and  deed.  He  made  several  plats  of  Dayton,  and  was 
very  liberal  in  his  treatment  of  settlers.  To  him  we  owe  Cooper 
Park  and  other  advantages  which  we  now  enjoy. 

In  1803  Mr.  Cooper  resuscitated  the  t.^wn,  Montgomery  County 
was  separated  from  Hamilton  County,  and  Dayton  was  made  the 
county-seat. 

The  first  county  court  was  held  on  the  27th  of  July,  1803,  in 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH   OF  DAYTON  II 

an  upper  room  in  Nevvcom's  Tavern,  Hon.  Francis  Dunlevy 
being  the  presiding  judge.  Colonel  George  Newcom  was  sheriff. 
There  was  no  business  to  transact,  and  the  court  adjourned  on 
the  same  day.  Afterward,  when  there  were  prisoners  to  be  cared 
for,  white  prisoners  were  confined  in  a  dry  well  on  the  Colonel's 
lot,  and  Indian  prisoners  were  bound  and  placed  in  his  corn-crib. 

In  1806  the  first  Court-house  was  built,  of  brick,  on  the  present 
Court-house  lot.  In  1817  a  new  Court-house  on  the  same  site 
was  finished.  The  present  old  Court-house  was  completed  in 
1850,  and  the  present  new  Court-house  in  1884. 

In  1804  a  log  jail  was  built  on  the  Court-house  lot.  A  rubble- 
stone  jail  was  completed  in  1813,  in  the  rear  of  which  a  cut-stone 
building  was  erected  in  1834  or  1835,  which  was  used  until  1845, 
when  the  present  work-house  was  built  and  used  as  a  jail.  This 
was  followed  by  the  present  jail  building,  completed  in  1874. 

In  1804  a  postoflice  was  established,  with  Benjamin  Van  Cleve 
as  first  postmaster.  For  many  5'ears  the  mails  were  carried  on 
horseback,  and  later  by  stage-coach.  At  first  mail  was  trans- 
ported only  once  in  two  weeks,  between  Cincinnati  and  Detroit, 
via  Dayton.     The  postage  was  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents. 

In  1805  the  town  of  Dayton  was  incorporated.  Up  to  this  time 
the  government  had  been  conducted  bj^  the  county  commissioners, 
township  assessors,  and  justices  of  the  peace.  In  this  year  the 
first  town  election  was  held,  and  seven  trustees  were  elected,  one 
cf  whom  served  as  president.  In  1829  John  Folkerth  was  elected 
the  first  Mayor.  In  1841  Dayton  was  incorporated  as  a  cit\%  and 
the  City  Council  took  the  place  of  the  Town  Trustees. 

In  1S04  Henry  Brown  built  on  ]\Iain  Street,  near  the  High 
School,  a  frame  building  for  a  store  —  the  first  house  erected  here 
specially  for  business  purposes.  In  1808  Mr.  Brown  built  the 
first  brick  residence  in  the  town,  on  the  west  side  of  ]\Iain  Street, 
on  the  alley  between  Second  and  Third  streets. 

The  town  at  first  occupied  only  a  small  area  near  the  river, 
between  Main  and  St.  Clair  streets.  It  was  many  years  before 
the  business  center  moved  as  far  south  as  at  present.  The  orig- 
inal plat  of  the  cit}'  included  only  the  land  as  far  south  as  Sixth 
Street,  as  far  west  as  to  a  block  west  of  Perry,  and  as  far  east  as  a 
little  be3'ond  the  present  line  of  the  canal. 

Communication  between  the  early  settlements  was  ver}^  diffi- 
cult. The  roads  were  narrow,  muddy,  and  full  of  holes,  and  the 
best  mode  of  travel  was  on  horseback.     For  manv  vears  there 


12  HISTORICAL   SKETCH    OF    DAYTOX 

were  no  bridges  across  the  streams,  and  it  was  necessary  to  ford 
or  use  ferries.  The  first  bridge  in  Dayton  was  built  across  Mad 
River  in  1817.  In  1819  Bridge  Street  bridge  was  completed  and 
in  1836  Main  Street  bridge  was  opened  for  travel.  In  1838  the 
Third  Street  Bridge  Company  was  formed.  In  181S  a  stage-coach 
line  began  to  run  between  Dayton  and  Cincinnati.  In  1825  a 
stage  line  was  established  between  Columbus,  Dayton,  and  Cin- 
cinnati. Between  1836  and  1840  several  turnpikes  were  built, 
leading  to  Cincinnati,  Springfield,  Lebanon,  Covington,  and  other 
towns. 

In  1810  the  Town  Council  passed  an  ordinance  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  sidewalks  on  the  principal  streets.  They  were  to  be 
laid  with  stone  or  brick,  or  graveled,  and  a  ditch  was  to  be  dug 
on  the  outeredge  of  the  walks.  In  1836  the  Council  ordered  the 
streets  and  walks  through  the  town  to  be  graded.  The  abundance 
of  gravel  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cit}'  has  been  of  great  advantage 
in  the  improvement  of  the  streets  and  walks. 

Within  the  last  few  years  a  -complete  sewer  system  has  been 
projected  and  largely  finished,  the  principal  .streets  of  the  city 
have  been  handsomely  paved  with  asphalt,  brick,  sandstone, 
and  granite,  and  many  of  the  residence  streets  have  been  parked 
by  narrowing  the  roadway  and  making  lawns  along  the  borders 
of  tlie  sidewalks.  These  improvements,  together  with  the  large 
number  of  shade-trees  which  abound  in  the  city,  make  the 
streets  very  attractive. 

In  1838  Cooper  Park,  donated  by  D.  C.  Cooper,  was  prepared 
for  the  use  of  the  public. 

At  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Dayton  and  for  many  years 
after,  the  Miami  River  was  regarded  as  a  navigable  stream,  and 
flatboats  and  keel -boats  were -used  to  carry  merchandise  between 
Dayton  and  Cincinnati,  and  Dayton  and  New  Orleans.  A  ware- 
house stood  for  some  years  at  the  head  of  Wilkinson  Street,  but 
was  floated  away  in  the  freshet  of  1828.  'Navigation,  however, 
was  often  obstructed,  and  in  1825  the  Legislature  authorized  the 
construction  of  a  canal  between  Dayton  and  Cincinnati.  This 
was  completed  in  1828,  and  in  January,  1829,  the  first  canal-boat 
arrived  from  Cincinnati.  In  1841  the  canal  was  extended  north- 
ward, and  forms  the  present  Miami  and  Erie  Canal. 

The  first  railroad  which  entered  the  city  was  the  road  from  Day- 
ton to  Springfield,  which  was  finished  in  1851.  In  the  same  year 
the  Cincinnati,   Hamilton  &  Dayton  Railroad  was  completed. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH    OF    DAYTON  15 

Other  roads  followed,  until  the  city  now  has  eleven  railroads, 
which  form  parts  of  four  great  railway  S5'stems. 

The  first  street-railroad  was  chartered  in  1869,  as  the  "Dayton 
Street-Railroad,"  though  generally  known  as  the  "Third  Street 
Railroad."  Others  followed  rapidly  until  in  1896  there  are  few 
parts  of  the  city  not  reached  by  street-cars.  Electricity  has  taken 
the  place  of  horse-power  on  all  but  one  road. 

The  blockhouse  built  in  1799  was  never  needed  for  defense 
against  the  Indians,  but  was  used  as  a  church  and  school-house. 
In  this  rude  building,  on  the  ist  of  September,  1799,  Benjamin 
Van  Cleve  opened  a  private  school,  the  first  school  in  Dayton,  but- 
taught  for  only  a  few  months.  ]\Ir.  Van  Cleve  was  an  enter- 
prising citizen,  and  to  him  we  owe  most  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  settlement  and  early  histor}-  of  the  cit}-. 

For  many  years  the  town  was  dependent  entirely  upon  private 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  the  children.  Among  these  schools 
was  the  Dayton  Academy,  incorporated  in  1807  and  continuing 
until  1850.  Cooper  Female  Seminary  was  opened  in  1845,  in 
charge  of  E.  E.  Barney,  and  at  once  became  known  throughout 
Ohio  as  an  attractive  and  scholarly  institution.  Mr.  Barney  was 
also  principal  of  the  Dayton  Academy  from  1834  till  1839,  ^"^  in 
1S49  became  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Dayton  Car  Works. 

The  first  Dayton  public  school  was  opened  Decembers,  1831,  by 
S3'lvanus  Hall,  in  a  school-room  on  Jefferson  Street,  between 
Water  and  First  streets.  Public  money  was  appropriated  to  sup- 
port it,  but  the  amount  not  being  sufficient,  each  pupil  paid  a 
dollar  per  quarter  for  tuition.  Three  additional  rooms  were  soon 
afterwards  opened  in  different  parts  of  the  town.  Before  183 1 
schools  had  been  partly  supported  hj  taxation,  but  in  this  year 
the  school  district  of  Dayton  was  formally  organized.  In  1838 
the  first  public-school  buildings  were  erected  on  the  sites  now 
occupied  by  the  old  Second  District  and  the  Fourth  District 
buildings.  In  1850  the  Central  High  School  was  opened  in  the 
present  First  District  building,  but  was  removed  in  the  fall  of 
that  year  to  the  old  Academy  building,  located  where  the  Central 
District  building  now  stands.  The  present  Steele  High  School 
building  was  occupied  in  the  fall  of  1893.  The  Normal  School 
was  opened  in  1869,  and  the  Manual-Training  School  January  2, 
1896.  There  are  now  nineteen  district  schools,  with  twentj^-nine 
buildings.  The  growth  of  the  schools  is  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing table : 


l6  HISTORICAL  SKETCH    OF   DAYTON 


IS!.:. 

1S57. 

1367. 

1875. 

ISSO.          1S90. 

1S95. 

Pupils  enrolled..., 

827 

3,440 

4,213 

5,238 

6,144          8,465 

10,982 

Av.  dally  attend.. 

544 

1,600 

2,809 

3,611 

4,527         6,565 

9,437 

No.  of  teachers..., 

16 

45 

70 

98 

125            202 

310 

School  fund 

.    S2,483 

$40,000 

$60,000 

$139,066 

$189,261    $219,124 

$314,878 

School  property.. 

.     $6,000 

$75,000 

$143,000 

$210,000 

$321,706  i$600,000  i$l,323,525 

The  interests  of  the  public  schools  were  under  the  control  of  a 
Board  of  Directors  until  1842,  and  of  a  Board  of  Managers  under 
direction  of  the  City  Council  from  1842  to  1855.  Since  the  latter 
date  the  schools  have  been  in  charge  of  a  Board  of  Education. 

Ofiicers  of  the  schools  may  be  named  as  follows  : 

Presidents  of  the  Board  of  Education  :  1842,  E.  W.  Davies ; 
1843,  W.  J.  McKinney;  1844,  E.  W.  Davies;  1845,  Thomas 
Brown ;  1846,  Henry  Stoddard,  Sen.  ;  1847,  R.  W.  Steele ;  1848- 
49,  H.  ly.  Brown  ;  1850-61,  R.  W.  Steele;  1861-63,  H.  L.  Brown; 
1863-64,  Thomas  F.  Thresher ;  1864-69,  H.  L.  Brown  ;  1869-73, 
E.  Morgan  Wood;  1873-75,  Charles  Wuichet ;  1875-78,  E.  M. 
Thresher;  1878-79,  C.  L.  Bauman  ;  1879-80,  J.  K.  Webster;  1880- 
82,  E.  M.  Thresher;  1882-83,  S.  W.  Davies;  1883-87,  R.  M. 
Allen;  1887-90,  C.  H.  Kumler ;  1890-92,  John  E.  Byrne;  1892-93, 
A.  W.  Gump  ;  1893-95,  A.  H.  Iddings  ;  1895-96,  A.  W.  Drury. 

Superintendents  of  Instruction  :  1855-59,  James  Campbell ; 
1866-68,  Caleb  Parker;  1873-74,  Samuel  C.  Wilson;  1874-84, 
John  Hancock  ;  1884-88,  James  J.  Burns  ;  1888-96,  W.  J.  White. 

Principals  of  the  High  School :  1850-58,  James  Campbell ; 
1858-66,  John  W.  Hall;  1866-72,  William  Smith;  1872-95, 
Charles  B.  Stivers  ;  1895-96,  Malcolm  Booth. 

Principals  of  the  Normal  School:  1869-71,  F.  W.  Parker; 
1871-73,  Miss  Emma  A.  H.  Brown  ;  1873-74,  W.  W.  Watkins  ; 
1874-83,  ]\Iiss  Jane  W.  Blackwood  ;  1883-90,  Miss  Mary  F.  Hall ; 
1890-94,  INIiss  E.  Kate  Slaght;  1894-95,  Mrs.  Jane  B.  Marlay  ; 
1895-96,  Miss  Grace  A.  Greene. 

Principals  of  the  District  Schools  in  1896 :  First  District, 
James  M.  Craven ;  Central,  Miss  Margaret  Burns ;  Third  ( Nor- 
mal), Miss  Grace  A.  Greene;  Fourth,  G.  A.  Lange ;  Fifth,  S.  A. 
Minnich  ;  Sixth,  Sigmund  Metzler  ;  Seventh,  W.  J.  Patterson  ; 
Eighth,  J.  T.  Tuttle ;  Ninth,  A.  J.  Willoughby  ;  Tenth,  Miss  Ella 
Beistle ;  Eleventh,  Miss  INIary  B.  Westfall ;  Twelfth,  Perry  A. 
Winder ;  Thirteenth,  C.  C.  Davidson  ;  Fourteenth,  Miss  Eeoti 
E.    Clark;    Fifteenth,   J.    R.    Fenstermaker ;    Sixteenth,   A.   l,. 

»  Including  the  Public  Library  building 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH    OF   DAYTON  1 7 

Girard ;  Seventeenth,  Miss  INIary  K.  Teriy ;  Eighteenth,  Harrj^ 
Weidner  ;  Nineteenth,  J.  M.  Ebert. 

St.  Mar3''s  Institute  was  founded  in  1850. 

Union  Biblical  Seminary  was  founded  in  1871,  and  this  year 
celebrates  its  quarter-centennial. 

In  1805  the  citizens  of  Da3'ton  obtained  from  the  Legislature 
the  first  act  of  incorporation  for  a  public  library  granted  by  the 
State  of  Ohio.  This  library  existed  until  1835,  when  it  was  sold 
at  auction.  In  1832  the  Dayton  Lj'ceum  was  established,  and  in 
connection  with  it  a  library.  About  1833  there  were  no  less  than 
six  public  libraries  in  Da3'ton.  The  Dayton  Library  Association 
was  formed  in  1846,  and  soon  collected  an  excellent  librar3\ 
After  a  few  3^ears  it  was  removed  to  an  elegantly  furnished  room 
in  the  Phillips  building,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  INIain  and 
Second  streets.  It  is  said  of  it  that  at  that  day  there  was  no  library- 
room  in  Ohio,  outside  of  Cincinnati,  that  would  compare  with  it  in 
beauty  and  convenience.  A  reading-room  was  connected  with  the 
library.  In  the  fall  of  1855  the  Public  School  Library  was  opened 
in  a  room  on  the  second  floor  of  the  United  Brethren  Publishing 
House.  W.  H.  Butterfield  was  the  first  librarian.  In  1858  the 
library  was  removed  to  the  Central  High  School  building.  In  i860 
the  library  of  the  Library  Association  was  united  with  it,  and  it 
came  into  possession  of  the  elegant  rooms  of  the  Association.  In 
1867  the  library  was  removed  to  the  City  Hall.  In  1876  it  occupied 
temporarih'  a  room  in  the  building  next  north  of  the  Court-house. 
When  the  new  City  Hall  was  completed,  it  was  given  excellent 
quarters  in  the  second  stor3',  at  the  INIain  vStreet  end,  where  it  re- 
mained until  its  removal  to  the  elegant  library  building  in  Cooper 
Park  in  1S88.     ]\Iiss  ]\Iinta  I.  Dr3'den  is  the  present  librarian. 

The  first  newspaper  was  published  in  1806.  Only  a  few  num- 
befs  were  issued,  and  its  name  is  now  unknown.  Its  editor  was 
a  Mr,  Crane,  from  Lebanon,  Ohio.  In  1808  the  Repertory  vidiS 
published,  and  was  succeeded  in  1810  by  the  Ohio  Centinel. 
Since  that  time  Dayton  has  never  been  long  without  a  news- 
paper. The  Da3^ton  Journal  is  the  oldest  of  those  now  in 
existence,  and  traces  its  history  back  to  the  period  preceding 
1826.  The  city  now  has  six  dail3^  papers,  and  forty-nine  periodi- 
cals of  all  kinds  are  now  published. 

Daytonians  have  always  been  generous  toward  all  philan- 
thropic movements.  The  Young  INIen's  Christian  Association, 
the    Woman's    Christian    Association,    the    Young    Women's 


r8  HISTORIC AI.  SKETCH   OF  DAYTON 

League,  the  Young  Men's  Institute,  St.  Joseph's  Institute,  the 
St.  Elizabeth  Hospital,  the  Deaconess  Hospital,  are  all  examples 
of  what  has  been  done  for  the  good  of  the  city.  The  many 
literary,  musical,  and  social  societies  prove  that  Dayton  people 
are  interested  in  whatever  cultivates  the  mind. 

The  first  member  of  the  Dayton  bar.  Judge  Crane,  with  his 
well-trained  mind,  legal  learning,  courteous  and  commanding 
bearing,  simple  life,  and  kind  and  helpful  friendliness,  had 
uncon.sciously  done  much  to  mold  the  character  and  ambitions 
of  the  young  lawyers  who  were  his  companions  and  successors, 
so  that  the  spirit  of  integrity  came  to  be  a  characteristic  of  the 
early  Dayton  bar.  Of  the  members  of  this  early  bar,  Charles 
Ander.son  became  Governor  of  Ohio,  four  were  judges,  two  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  and  ten  members  of  the  Ohio  Legislature. 
Several  of  the  later  attorneys  have  been  members  of  Congress, 
and  some  of  them  are  known  throughout  the  country. 

The  medical  profession  has  been  represented  in  Daj-ton  by 
many  excellent  physicians.  Karly  in  the  history  of  the  city 
medical  societies  were  formed,  and  some  of  the  later  physicians 
have  acquired  more  than  local  reputation. 

Dayton's  most  di.stinguished  citizen  was  General  Robert  C. 
Schenck.  He  came  to  Dayton  in  1S31  and  began  the  practice 
of  law.  He  afterwards  became  a  member  of  Congress,  United 
States  Minister  to  Brazil,  a  general  in  the  Civil  War,  Minister  to 
Great  Britain,  and  a  menilier  of  the  Joint  High  Commission 
providing  for  the  Geneva  Conference.  He  was  said  by  President 
Lincoln  to  have  been  the  first  man  who  in  a  public  address 
named  him  for  the  Presidency. 

The  first  male  child  born  in  Dayton  was  John  W.  Van  Cleve, 
the  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  Whitten  Van  Cleve,  born  June  27, 
1801.  He  had  a  very  tender  feeling  for  this  corner  of  the  earth, 
which  his  father  had  helped  to  hew  out  of  the  wilderness.  Orig- 
inal in  character,  odd  in  appearance,  the  J0II3'  band  of  children 
who  followed  his  burly  figure  through  many  holida}^  excursions 
grew  wiser,  happier,  and  healthier.  Men  and  women  found  in  him 
an  intelligent,  cultivated,  and  agreeable  companion,  and  a  very 
true  and  loyal  friend.  As  a  citizen  he  was  advanced,  enterpris- 
ing, and  of  unbending  integrity.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Ohio 
University,  at  Athens,  and  was  especially  di-stingiiished  for  his 
fine  scholarship.  He  was  a  lawyer,  editor,  musician,  painter, 
engraver,  engineer,  and  botanist,  and  served  at  different  times  as 


From  a  water-color  portrait 


BENJAMIN  VAN  CLEVE, 

THE    FIRST   SCHOOL-TEACHER,  THE   FIRST   POSTMAfSTKB,    AND   THE 

FIRST   HISTORIAN   OF   DAVTON. 


DANIEL  C.  COOPER. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH   OP  DAYTON  21 

Maj'or,  cit}-  engineer,  and  chief  of  the  Fire  Department.  In  1839 
he  made  a  map  of  the  cit}-.  To  him  more  than  to  an}-  other  we 
are  indebted  for  onr  beantifnl  Woodland  Cemetery.  He  made  the 
suggestion  of  a  rural  cemetery,  and  from  the  organization  of  the 
Woodland  Cemeter}-  Association,  in  1842,  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  1858,  served  as  its  president  and  gave  to  its  affairs  an  amount 
of  labor  and  watchful  supervision  which  money  could  not  have 
purchased.  In  June,  1843,  the  cemetery  was  opened,  being  the  third 
rural  cemetery  of  any  importance  established  in  the  United  vStates. 

Calvary  Cemetery  and  the  Hebrew  Cemetery  are  also  beauti- 
fully situated  on  the  bluffs  below  the  city. 

Cooper's  Mills  were  burned  on  the  20th  of  June,  1S20,  and  four 
thousand  bushels  of  wheat  and  two  thousand  pounds  of  wool 
destroyed.  This  was  the  first  fire  of  any  importance  that 
occurred  in  Dayton,  and  led  to  the  organization  of  the  first 
fire-compau}-.  Council  provided  ladders,  which  were  hung  on 
the  outside  wall  of  the  market-house  on  Second  Street,  and  also 
passed  an  ordinance  requiring  each  householder  to  provide  two 
long,  black,  leather  buckets,  with  his  name  painted  thereon  in 
white  letters,  and  keep  them  in  some  place  easily  accessible 
in  case  of  an  alarm  of  fire.  Before  this  no  public  provision 
for  putting  out  fires  had  been  made. 

In  1827  a  fire-engine  was  purchased,  and  the  first  volunteer 
fire-compau}^  was  organized.  At  the  same  time  a  hook-and-ladder 
company  was  formed.  The  church  bells  sounded  the  fire-alarm, 
and  fifty  cents  were  paid  to  each  sexton  when  the  fire  happened 
after  nine  in  the  evening.  The  one  who  rang  his  bell  first  received 
a  dollar.  The  engine  was  a  small  affair,  filled  with  the  leather 
buckets,  and  the  water  was  thrown  b}-  turning  a  crank  in  its  side. 

An  alarm  of  fire  brought  oiit  the  whole  population  of  the  town, 
and  the  greatest  excitement  and  confusion  prevailed.  Double 
lines  were  formed  to  the  nearest  pump,  one  line  passing  down 
the  full  buckets  and  the  other  returning  the  empt}-  ones.  Women 
were  often  efiicient  workers  in  these  lines.  The  water  in  a  well 
would  soon  be  exhausted,  and  a  move  had  to  be  made  to  one  more 
remote.  It  was  hopeless  to  contend  with  a  fire  of  any  magnitude, 
and  efforts  in  svicli  cases  were  only  made  to  prevent  the  spreading 
of  the  flames. 

In  1863  the  first  steam  fire-engine  was  purchased,  and  our 
present  splendidly  equipped  and  perfecth*  ordered  paid  department 
inaugurated. 


22  HISTORICAIv  SKETCH   OF   DAYTON 

In  1S69  the  citizens  voted  to  introduce  water-works,  and  the 
present  admirable  water-works  system  was  established  in  1870. 

January  3,  1834,  an  ordinance  was  passed  by  Council  for  the 
appointment  of  one  or  more  watchmen.  The  marshal  and  these 
watchmen  constituted  the  police  of  Dayton.  After  1841  two 
constables  were  elected  each  year  in  addition  to  the  marshal  and 
deputy.  In  1850  sixty  men  were  added  to  this  body.  In  1873  the 
metropolitan  police  force  was  organized.  The  cit}-  had  no  prison 
before  1858,  its  few  offenders  being  confined  in  the  county  jail. 

The  first  market-house  was  opened  July  4,  1815.  The  markets 
were  held  from  four  to  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  Wednesdays 
and  Saturdays.  The  house  was  a  frame  building,  and  stood  on 
Second  Street,  between  Main  and  Jefferson.  In  1829  a  new 
market-house  was  built  on  Main  Street,  between  Third  and 
Fourth  streets.  In  1836  this  was  extended  to  Jefferson  Street. 
In  1876  the  present  market-house  was  built. 

In  1812  Dayton  furnished  a  company  of  soldiers  for  the  war 
with  England.  It  was  also  an  important  camping-place  for  the 
soldiers  of  this  region,  and  was  honored  with  visits  from  Gov- 
ernor Meigs,  General  Harrison,  General  Hull,  and  other  men 
prominent  in  the  war.  Among  the  citizens  of  Dayton  in  com- 
mand of  troops  were  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  Captain  William 
Van  Cleve,  Captain  James  Steele,  Captain  A.  Edwards,  and 
Sergeant-Major  Joseph  H.  Crane.  A  militarj^  hospital  was  located 
on  the  Court-house  corner,  in  charge  of  Dr.  John  Steele.  The 
business  of  the  town  was  very  much  increased  by  the  war,  as 
Dayton  furnished  large  quantities  of  supplies  for  the  arm}'. 

In  1846-4S  occurred  the  Mexican  War.  Several  companies 
were  organized  in  Dayton  and  fought  in  numerous  battles. 

The  city  of  Da^'ton  did  loyal  service  in  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. The  great  majority  of  its  citizens  were  on  the  side  of  the 
Union,  and  man}'  of  them  laid  down  their  lives  for  their  coun- 
try. The  city  furnished  for  the  United  States  service  2,699  ^o^ 
diers ;  under  special  calls  of  the  vState,  965  ;  or  a  grand  total  of 
3,664.  Prominent  among  these  were  General  Robert  C.  Schenck, 
General  T.  J.  Wood,  Admiral  James  F.  Schenck,  and  Rear-Admi- 
ral  Greer. 

C.  E.  Vallandigham,  one  of  Dayton's  most  talented  citizens, 
and  the  Representative  of  the  Third  Ohio  District  in  Congress  at 
the  opening  of  the  War,  was  opposed  to  the  War.  He  was 
arrested  at  his  residence  in  Da3'ton  May  5,  1S63,  on  a  charge  of 


HISTORICAI,  SKETCH  OF  DAYTON  23 

"  declaring  S3aupathy  for  the  enemy."  His  arrest  was  followed 
the  next  night  by  an  attack  on  the  Jo7ir)ial  oiBce,  which  was 
burned  by  a  mob  composed  of  men  who  sympathized  with  the 
South.  In  1864  the  Empire  office  was  mobbed  by  a  small  number 
of  Union  soldiers. 

Citizens  who  could  not  enlist  in  the  army  helped  to  support 
the  families  of  those  who  became  soldiers;  societies  of  ladies 
were  formed,  who  made  clothing  and  prepared  hospital  supplies  ; 
and  in  various  ways  assistance  was  rendered  to  the  Union. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  War,  the  Central  National  Military 
Home  was  located  near  Dayton,  and  there  the  Government  is 
providing  for  the  soldiers  who,  having  imperiled  their  lives  for 
their  country,  are  so  disabled  that  they  can  no  longer  care  for 
themselves. 

In  1S84  a  soldiers'  monument  was  erected  by  the  county,  at 
the  head  of  Main  Street,  in  memory  of  the  brave  men  who  went 
forth  to  battle  never  to  return. 

Numerous  floods  have  caused  damage  to  propert}'  in  the  city. 
The  most  destructive  w^as  that  of  September,  1866,  which  cost,  in 
losses  to  individuals  and  to  public  property,  no  less  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

In  1832  there  were  a  number  of  deaths  in  the  town  caused  by 
cholera.  The  first  Board  of  Health  was  appointed  in  that  year. 
In  1849,  t)y  a  cholera  epidemic,  Dayton  lost  more  than  two 
hundred  of  her  people. 

Houses  were  first  lighted  by  gas  in  1849,  but  street-lighting 
came  a  little  later.  At  present  the  city  is  well  supplied  with 
both  gas  and  electric  light. 

In  1889  natural  gas  was  introduced  in  Dayton  for  fuel  pur- 
poses. Although  not  sufficiently  plenty  to  supply  many  fac- 
tories, it  has  proved  a  great  convenience  to  housekeepers. 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  Dayton  have  long  been  prom- 
inent. There  has  been  a  steady  and  substantial  gro*vth  in  the 
number  and  size  of  manufacturing  establishments,  until  in  1894, 
according  to  the  report  of  the  State  Labor  Statistician,  the  city 
ranked  as  the  third  in  the  vState  in  number  of  industries,  capital 
invested,  and  wages  paid,  and  fourth  in  the  value  of  its  manu- 
factured products.  INIany  of  its  establishments  are  very  large, 
some  employing  from  one  to  two  thousand  persons,  and  a  number 
of  them  are  known  in  almost  every  part  of  the  globe. 

The  stores,  banks,  building-associations,  insurance  companies, 


24  HISTORICAL   SKETCH    OF   DAYTON 

and  other  branches  of  trade  conduct  a  large  amount  of  business, 
and  rank  high  in  the  commercial  world. 

On  the  226.  of  October,  1892,  the  Columbian  Centennial  was 
appropriately  celebrated  in  Dayton  by  an  immense  procession  of 
school-children  with  historical  floats  exeniplifN'ing  the  discovery 
and  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  nation,  and  of  military  and 
civil  societies  and  industrial  exhibits,  followed  by  appropriate 
addresses  and  music  in  Cooper  Park. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  a  grand  occasion  in  Dayton  in  the  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  often  celebrated  with 
processions,  speeches,  and  dinners,  and  many  of  the  prominent 
citizens  served  on  the  committees.  The  first  "jubilee  of  the 
United  States,"  commemorating  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  was  celebrated  July  4,  1826,  by  a 
procession  from  the  Court-house,  services  at  the  brick  church, — 
First  Presbyterian, — a  dinner  at  Mr.  Rollman's  tavern, — -formerly 
Nevvcom's, — and  a  picnic  at  the  medical  spring  near  the  present 
buildings  of  St,  Mary's  Institute,  on  Brown  Street.  The  Declara- 
tion was  read  by  J.  W.  Van  Cleve,  and  an  oration  was  delivered 
by  Peter  P.  Lowe. 

Never  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest  has  there  been  a  more 
exciting  Presidential  campaign  than  that  which  preceded  the 
election  of  General  W.  II.  Harrison  in  1840,  and  nowhere  was  the 
enthusiasm  for  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe  greater  than  in  Dayton. 
A  remarkable  Harrison  convention  was  held  here  on  the  loth.  of 
September,  the  date  of  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  and  tradition 
has  preserved  extravagant  accounts  of  the  number  present,  the 
beauty  of  the  emblems  and  decorations  displayed,  and  the  hospi- 
talit5rof  the  citizens  and  neighboring  farmers.  A  procession  five 
miles  long  met  General  Harrison  at  the  junction  of  the  Troy  and 
Springfield  roads,  and  escorted  him  into  the  cit}'. 

In  early  times,  when  hotel  and  boartling-house  accommodations 
in  Dayton  were  vfery  limited,  it  was  the  custom,  whenever  there 
was  a  political  or  religious  convention,  or  any  other  large  public 
meeting  here,  for  the  citizens  to  freel}'*  entertain  the  delegates  at 
their  homes.  At  night  straw-beds  were  laid  in  rows,  with  a  nar- 
row path  between  the  rows,  on  the  floors  of  rooms  and  halls  in 
both  stories  of  dwellings,  and  in  this  way  accommodation  was 
furnished  for  many  guests.  When  a  meeting  was  of  a  religious 
character,  the  different  denominations  assisted  in  entertaining 
the  guests.      A  great  part   of  the  labor  of  preparing  for  the 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH   OF   DAYTON 


25 


hiiiigr}'  crowd  of  guests  Avas  performed  by  Dayton  ladies  with 
their  own  hands. 

Among  the  men  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  city  may 
be  mentioned  D.  C.  Cooper,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  Colonel  George 
Newcom,  Robert  Edgar,  Henry  Brown,  Judge  Isaac  Spining, 
William  King,  John  H.  Williams,  Cyrus  Osborn,  Colonel  Robert 
Patterson,  George  S.  Houston,  Joseph  Peirce,  Judge  Joseph  H. 
Crane,  Charles  Russell  Greene,  Judge  James  Steele,  Dr.  John 
Steele,  Matthew  Patton,  Abram  Darst,  Dr.  H.  Jewett,  Rev.  James 
Welsh,  M.D.,  Dr.  John  Elliott,  Alexander  Grimes,  Henrj' Bacon, 
Luther  Bruen,  Jonathan  Harshman,  William  Eaker,  George 
W.  Smith,  William  Huffman,  Horatio  G.  Phillips,  J.  D.  Phillips, 
Thomas  Brown,  Obadiah  B.  Conover,  Samuel  Forrer,  Colonel 
Jerome  Holt,  Judge  George  Holt,  Dr.  Job  Haines,  James  Perrine, 
Henry  Stoddard,  John  W.  Van  Cleve,  Collins  Wight,  INIilo 
G.  Williams.  E.  E.  Barney,  James  Hanna,  John  Folkerth,  Aaron 
Baker. 


Note.— For  a  full  account  of  the  history  of  Dayton,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  booli  entitled  "Early  Dayton,"  just  issued  by  the  publisher  of  this 
pamphlet.    Price,  in  paper,  60  cents;  cloth,  $1.25. 


^^■jt^tiC^       ^_^^^^-     -^-r^ 


BLOCKHOUSE. 

EEPBESENTATION  OP  THE  BUILDING  IN    WHICH    THE   FIKST  SCHOOL  IN  DAYTON 
WAS  TAU(iHT,    IN    1799. 


From  a  drawing  by  Kiigene 


THE  ACADEMY  BUILDING,   1833-1857. 
OCCUPIED  BY  THE   HIGH  SCHOOL   FROM  1850  TO   1857. 


HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 


LOCATION  AND  AREA. 

Dayton,  the  county-seat  ot  jioxitgomery  County,  Ohio,  is  located  on  both 
banks  of  the  Great  Miami  River,  at  the  confluence  of  Stillwater,  Mad  River, 
and  Wolf  Creek  with  the  Miami,  and  on  the  line  of  the  Miami  and  Erie 
Canal,  sixty  miles  north-northetist  ot  Cincinnati,  and  seventy-one  mile.^  west 
by  south  of  Columbus.  Its  latitude  is  thirty-nine  degrees  forty-four  minutes 
north,  and  its  longitude  is  eighty-four  degrees  eleven  minutes  west  from 
Greenwich,  or  seven  degrees  eleven  minutes  west  from  Washington.  It  is  an 
important  station  on  eleven  railroads,  which  belong  to  four  great  systems, 
namely:  The  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  and  the  Dayton 
&  Western,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines;  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago 
&  St.  Louis  and  the  Dayton  &  Union,  of  the  "Big  Four"  System;  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Hamilton  &  Dayton,  the  Dayton  &  Michigan  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton 
&  Ironton,  and  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton  &  Chicago,  of  the  C,  H.  c:  D.  System; 
the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio,  of  the  Erie  System;  th;-  Dayton, 
Lebanon  &  Cincinnati  Railroad,  and  the  Home  Avenue  Railroad.  Thirty- 
six  hard-graveled  roads  radiate  in  all  directions  from  the  city,  with  an 
aggregate  length  of  over  six  hundred  miles.  The  extreme  dimensions  of 
Dayton  are:  east  and  west,  five  and  one-eighth  miles;  north  and  south,  three 
and  one-half  miles.    Its  area  is  about  ten  and  three-quarters  square  miles. 


POPULATION. 

1796.. 

..About  36. 

1840....  6,067. 

1870.. 

..30,473. 

1802.. 

..Five  families. 

1845....  9,792. 

1880.. 

..38,678. 

1810.. 

..38a 

1850.... 10,976. 

1890.. 

..61,220. 

1820.. 
1830.. 

..1,139. 
..2,954. 

1860....20,08L 

1896.. 

..About 

CITY  GOVERNMENT  AND  INSTITUTIONS. 
(Compiled  from  latest  reports.) 

MAYOR. 

Elected  for  two  years;  ex  officio  president  of  Board  of  Police  Directors  and 
Board  of  Health,  and  organizes  the  City  Council;  appoints  the  Board  of  City 
Affairs,  the  Tax  Commission,  Board  of  Work-House  Directors,  and  Board  of 
Elections. 

BOARD  OF  CITY  AFFAIRS. 

Four  members;  term  of  office  four  years,  one  being  appointed  each  year 
by  the  Mayor;  powers  executive. 

27 


2»  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

CITY  COUNCIL. 

Sixteen  members,  elected  from  eight  wards  by  tlie  voters  of  the  wards; 
term  of  office  two  years,  half  expiring  each  year;  powers  legislative. 

Measures  involving  expenditure  and  public  franchises  must  be  approved 
by  both  City  Council  and  Board  of  City  Affairs. 

BOAKB  OF  ELECTIONS. 

Four  members,  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  one  secretary. 

BOARD  OF  EQUALIZATION. 

Six  members,  elected  by  the  City  Council. 

M ISCELL  AN  EOUS. 

City  clerk,  elected  by  the  Council;  treasurer,  elected  by  the  people;  comp- 
troller, solicitor,  engineer,  sealer  of  weights  and  measures,  mariiet-master, 
superintendent  of  levees,  appointed  by  the  Board  of  City  Affairs;  wood- 
measurer,  elected  by  the  people. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

Board  of  Education.— i^x-aieen  members,  elected  for  two  years  from  eight 
wards  by  the  voters  of  the  wards,  half  being  elected  each  year. 

Officers  and  Teachers.— Cler^,  superintendent  of  instruction,  superintend- 
ent of  buildings,  truant  officer,  city  board  of  examiners  with  three  members, 
twenty  principals,  twenty-five  High  School  teachers,  throe  Normal  School 
teachers,  two  Manual-Training  School  teachers,  four  special  teachers,  251 
district-school  teachers;  total  number  of  teachers,  305. 

Enumeration  of  School  Youth  ( Between  six  and  twenty-one  years  of  age). — 
Public  schools,  10,960;  private  schools,  210;  church  schools,  2,102;  not  attend- 
ing, 7,276;  grand  total,  20,578. 

Xumber  of  Pupils  in  Public  iS'e/ioofe.— District  schools,  5,143  boys,  5,037  girls, 
or  a  total  of  10,180;  High  School,  207  boys,  474  girls,  or  a  total  of  771;  Normal 
School,  31;  grand  total,  10,982.  In  Manual-Training  School,  45  pupils  from  the 
High  School  and  76  pupils  from  the  eighth  grade  of  the  district  schools; 
total,  121. 

/ScTwo^s.— Nineteen  district  schools,  one  high  school,  one  manual-training 
school,  one  normal  school,  two  night  grammar-schools,  two  night  drawing- 
schools. 

Buildings.— Tvfeniy-nine  district  buildings,  including  annexes,  one  high- 
school  building,  one  library  building.  Total  value  in  1895,  $1,269,416.50;  in- 
cluding personal  property,  81,323,525.50.  Value  of  High  School:  lot,  $60,000; 
building,  $255,000;  personal  property,  ^11,358;  total,  $326,358. 

i^'monces.— Receipts,  exclusive  of  temporary  loans  and  bonds,  for  the  year 
ending  August  31,  1895,  $314,878.14;  expenses,  exclusive  of  bonded  debt  and 
temporary  loans,  $355,700.81;  bonded  debt,  August  31, 1895,  $485,000. 

PUBLIC  LIBRARY. 

Board  of  six  members,  elected  by  the  Board  of  Education;  librarian,  cat- 
aloguer, five  library  assistants;  occupies  a  fine  stone  library  building,  fire- 
proof, erected  in  Cooper  Park  in  1886-87,  and  valued  at  $100,000;  contains 
35,325  volumes  and  1,292  pamphlets;  card  and  printed  catalogues;  museum 
attached;  expenses,  1894-95,  $10,830.50,  of  which  $2^01.70  was  spent  for  the 
purchase  of  books  and  periodicals,  and  $1,094.03  for  the  museum. 


CITY   GOVERNMENT  AND   INSTITUTIONS  29 

POLICE  DEPARTMENT. 

Organ kation.— Mayor  and  four  police  directors,  secretary,  police  judge, 
clerk  of  the  police  court,  superintendent,  captain,  five  sergeants,  detective 
sergeant,  surgeon,  seventy-five  patrolmen  (eight  mounted),  two  turnkeys, 
court  bailiff,  two  telephone  operators,  one  police  matron. 

Headquarters.— In  City  Building. 

Equipment.— One  ceiitral  station,  two  substations,  one  patrol  house,  two 
patrol  wagons,  one  ambulance,  sixteen  horses. 

Finances.— lS9i  :  Receipts,  $76,622.31 ;  disbursements,  $69,959.99;  balance,  Jan- 
uary 1,  1895,  $6,662.32. 

A  police  benevolent  association. 

WORK  -  HOUSE. 

Four  directors,  appointed  l)y  the  Mayor,  superintendent,  matron;  one 
work-house. 

FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

Organization.— ¥onr  fire  commissioners,  chief  and  secretary,  first  assistant 
chief,  second  assistant  cliief,  seventy-six  firemen. 

Equipment.— TweWe  engine,  hose,  and  hook-and-ladder  houses;  a  fire- 
alarm  telegraph  system,  with  over  one  hundred  boxes;  four  steam  fire- 
engines;  two  chemical  engines;  thirteen  hose  wagons;  three  hook-and-ladder 
wagons;  two  telegraph  wagons;  three  buggies;  thirty-six  horses. 

Finances.— l9ldo:  Cost  of  maintenance,  $67,217.29;  value  of. real  estate,  $90,500. 

iSeri'tce.— Number  of  alarms  in  1895,  344;  total  loss,  t21, 978.05;  total  value  of 
property  where  fires  occurred,  $2,012,675;  total  insurance,  $1,611,5.57.  The  loss 
amounted  to  only  about  twenty-five  cents  per  capita  of  the  population. 

A  firemen's  benevolent  association. 

WATER -WORKS. 

Established,  1870,. 

Organization.— Three  tmstees,  secretary,  assistant  secretarj',  chief  engineer, 
first  assistant  engineer,  second  assistant  engineer,  superintendent  of  street 
department,  two  inspectors  and  collectors. 

Equipment.— One  pumping-house;  three  engi"nes,  with  combined  daily 
capacity  of  29,000,000  gallons;  eighty-five  eight-inch  tube-wells,  driven  to  a 
depth  of  forty-five  to  fifty  feet;  over  ninety-six  miles  of  street  mains,  987 
fire-hydrants,  8,607  service  connections,  1,300  meters. 

Finances.— TotuX  expenditures,  1870  to  December  31, 1895,  $1,792,560.39;  total 
income  to  December  3L,  1895,  $938,872.77;  net  cost  to  December  81,  1895,  $853,- 
687.62;  water-works  bonded  debt,  November,  1895,  $765,000,  which  is  gradually 
being  paid;  cost  of  pipe,  hydrants,  etc.,  and  laying  of  same,  1870-95,  $700,000; 
received  from  sale  of  water,  1870-95,  $860,926.83;  net  earnings,  1870-95,  $342,000. 

Quality  of  the  Water.— The  quality  of  the  water,  by  recent  analysis,  has 
been  found  to  be  first-class.  It  is  clear,  cold,  and  remarkably  free  from 
injurious  matter.  In  a  recent  analysis  an  average  of  only  forty-eight  germs 
to  the  cubic  centimeter  were  found  in  the  samples  examined.  The  average 
temperature  in  the  pipes  is  about  50'. 

BOARD  OF  HEALTH. 

Mayor  and  six  members  of  the  board,  health  officer,  secretary,  meat 
in.spector,  four  sanitary  policemen. 


30  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

CITY    INFIRMARY. 

Three  directors,  superintendent,  clerk,  city  physician. 

MARKETS. 

Two  marliet-bouses,  with  street  markets  adjoining;  one  market-master. 

TAX  COMMISSION. 

Six  members,  appointed  by  the  Mayor. 

TAXES. 

City  Expenses,  1891,-95, 

Board  of  Health  and  Sanitary 10  mills  f4,104  82 

Bridges 25  mills  10,262  05 

Elections 15  mills  6,157  23 

Fire  Department 1.75  mills  71,834  37 

General  Expense 60  mills  2-1,628  93 

Hospitals  ( Deaconess  and  St.  Elizabeth ) 05  mills  2,052  41 

Infirmary 05  mills  2,052  41 

Lighting 70  mills  28,733  75 

Police  Department 1.10  mills  45,153  03 

Parks  and  Levees 05  mills  2,052  41 

Street  Cleaning 75  mills  30,786  16 

Street  Improvement 35  mills  14,366  87 

Sewers 05  mills  2,052  41 

Work  -  House 05  mills  2,052  41 

School  Paving 10  mills  4,104  82 

6.10  mills  KoO,3!)4  08 

City  Interest  and  Sinking  Fund 5.45  mills  223,712  73 

«474,106  81 
Board  of  Education,  1895-96. 

Regular  Levy 7.00  mills  $288,974  49 

Manual-Training  School 20  mills  8,256  41 

Public  Library .25  mills  10,320  52 

Taxes  for  All  Purposes,  1S95-96. 

s^vy.  County,  and  State 20.00  mills   $1,073,333  82 

Tax  Valuation,  1895-96. 
Taxable  Property $41,282,070 

BONDED  DEBT. 

General  Bonds. 

(Principal  and  interest  payable  from  a  direct  tax  upon  the  General 
Duplicate.) 
Outstanding  March  1,  1895— 

Bridge $68,000  00 

City  Hall 71,000  00 

City  Prison 10,000  00 

Extending  Indebtedness 150,000  00 

Fire  Department 24,000  00 

Funded  Debt 249,000  00 


PERIODICALS  —  CHURCHES 


31 


Outstanding  March  1,  1895— 

General  Street  and  Improvement ^,(XIO  00 

Levee 30,000  00 

Park  Street  Sewer 126,000  00 

Police  Deficiency 36,000  00 

Se  iver 150,000  00 

Street  Paving 528,000  00 

Southwestern  Sewer 17,000  00 

Street  Improvement 150,000  00 

Wolf  Creek  Improvement 50,000  00 

"Water  -Works 505,000  00 

Water- Works  Enlargement 3,000  00 

Water-Works  Improvement 280,000  00 

Total $2,497,000  00 

Improvement  Bonds. 

(Principal  and  interest  payable  from  assessments  upon  abutting  or 
benefited  property.) 
Outstanding  March  1,  1895— 

Street  Paving $1,178,000  00 

Sewer 180,000  00 

Special  Assessment 36,165  00 

Total $1,394, 165  00 

FER'ODICALS. 


SECtTLAR. 

Daily. —  Six,  one  of  which  is  Gerinan. 
Weekly.— ^ii\Q,  one  of  which  is  German. 
Monthly.— Two. 

Total.—  Seventeen. 

RELIGIOUS. 

Weekly. —  Eleven,  one  of  which  is  German. 
Semimonthly.— 'Nine,  one  of  which  is  German. 
llonthly.— Three. 
Quarterly.— Nine,  one  of  which  is  German. 

rotoi.- Thirty -two. 

Grand  Total.— Forty-nine. 


CHURCHES. 


Baptist,  11. 
Baptist  Brethren,  1. 
Christian,  2. 
Congregational,  1. 
Disciples  of  Christ,  2. 
Dunkards,  2. 

Evangelical  Association, : 
Hebrew,  3. 
Lutheran,  7. 
Methodi-st  Episcopal,  10. 


Methodist  Episcopal,  African,  2. 
Methodist  Protestant,  1. 
Methodist,  Wesleyan,  1. 
Presbyterian,  7. 
Protestant  Episcopal,  3. 
Reformed,  5. 
Roman  Catholic,  7. 
Salvation  Army,  1. 
United   Brethren  in  Christ,  12. 
United  Presbyterian.  1. 


32  HISTORICAIv  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

CHURCH  AND  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS. 

PROTESTANT. 

Union  Biblical  Seminary,  the  theological  school  of  the  Church  of  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ;  four  professors,  one  general  manager,  and  forty- 
three  students. 

St.  Paul's  German  Lutheran  School,  common  branches. 

KOMAN  CATHOLIC. 

Eight  parochial  schools  and  academies. 

St.  Mary's  Institute;  twenty-one  officers  and  professors,  275  students  in 
institute,  and  120  students  in  normal  department. 


Miami  Commei-cial  College.  Young  Ladies  and  Misses'  School. 

Dayton  Commercial  College.  Home  School  for  Boys. 

English  Training  School.  Conservatory  of  Music. 

Deaver  Collegiate  Institute.  Dayton  College  of  Music. 

BENEVOLENT  AND  CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association.— A  Protestant  institution,  founded  in 
1870;  occupies  a  fine  stone-front  building  on  the  south  side  of  Fourth  Street, 
between  Main  and  Jefferson;  value  of  property,  over  $100,000;  membership, 
over  2,500;  conducts  religious,  educational,  and  physical  departments,  includ- 
ing manual  training  and  industrial  education;  has  reception-room,  par- 
lors, reading-room,  junior  room,  educational  rooms,  shop,  entertainment 
hall,  gymnasium,  bath-rooms,  and  athletic  park;  receipts  in  1894-95, 119,386.95; 
expenses,  119,269.6.5. 

Woman's  Chi-istian  Association.— A  Protestant  institution,  founded  in  1870; 
occupies  excellent  brick  buildings  on  the  south  side  of  Third  Street,  between 
Ludlow  and  Wilkinson;  value  of  property,  $60,000;  membership,  about 
350;  includes  a  young  woman's  department;  conducts  religious,  charitable, 
educational,  and  physical  departments,  lunch-room,  and  exchange;  has 
reception-room,  parlors,  reading-room,  educational  rooms,  entertainment 
hall,  industrial  class-room,  gymnasium,  bath-rooms,  etc. ;  receipts  in  1894-95, 
$4,279.41;  expenses,  $4,242.92. 

Young  Women's  League.— Founded  in  1895;  occupies  a  brick  building  on 
the  west  side  of  Jefferson  Street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  streets;  member- 
ship, 450;  conducts  religious,  educational,  and  physical  departments,  and 
lunch-room. 

Young  Men's  Institute.— A  Roman  Catholic  institution;  occupies  a  brick 
building  on  the  south  side  of  Fourtli  Street,  lutwcon  Ludlow  and  Wilkinson. 

St.  Joseph's  Institute.— Condwcied  by  tlic  (alliolic  Gcsellen-Verein,  for  the 
benefit  of  young  men;  organized  in  ISdS;  furnislies  reading-room,  gymna- 
sium, and  free  circulating  library;  building  located  on  Montgomery  Street. 

Protestant  Deaconess  Home  and  Hospital.— Founded  in  1890  by  the  Protestant 
Deaconess  Society  of  Dayton;  occupies  an  expensive  pressed-brick  building 
on  south  side  of  Apple  Street,  between  Main  and  Brown,  costing,  with 
equipment,  about  $150,000;  capacity,  175  patients. 

St.  Elizabeth  Hospital.— A  Roman  Catholic  institution,  founded  in  1878; 
conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Poor  of  St.  Francis;  occupies  a  large  brick 


SOCIETIES  AND   CIvUBS  33 

building  on  the  west  side  of  Hopeland  Street,  between  Wasliington  and 
Albany,  costing  over  165,000;  capacity,  242  patients. 

Widoios'  Home.— Founded  in  1875,  by  the  Woman's  Christian  Association; 
occupies  a  brick  building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Findlay  and  May 
streets;  capacity,  twenty-eight  inmates;  endowment,  137,3.58.79;  receipts, 
lor  year  ending  October  .5, 189.5,  $3,124.99;  expenses,  $2,911.59. 

Montgoimry  County  Children's  i/oHie.— Founded  in  1866;  occupies  a  bricli 
building  on  the  east  side  of  Summit  Street,  south  of  Home  Avenue;  number 
of  inmates  in  February,  189.5,  fifty-one,  of  whom  thirty-eight  were  boys  and 
thirteen  were  girls;  total  received  from  the  founding,  1,864. 

Christian  Deaconess  Home. —  Monument  Avenue,  West  Side. 

Children's  7/ome.— 116  South  Ringgold  Street. 

Bethany  Home.— For  homeless  girls  and  women;  159  East  Park  Street. 

National  Soldiers'  Home  (Central  Branch).— Founded  in  1867;  located  a 
short  distance  west  of  the  city;  grounds  cover  six  hiindred  and  twenty-flve 
acres;  number  of  inmates,  about  6,000. 

Southern  Ohio  Asylum  for  the  Insane. —  Founded  in  18.52;  located  at  the  south 
end  of  Wayne  Avenue;  capacity,  800  patients. 

Humane  Society. 

Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  No.  1. 

Women's  Christian  Tcmjjcrance  Union,  No.  2. 

St.  Joseph's  Oerman  Catholic  Asylum. 

Other  Societies.— 'Swraerous  lodges  of  Masons,  Knights  of  Pythia.s,  Knights 
of  St.  John,  Odd  Fellows,  Grand  United  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  Sons  of  Veterans,  Woman's  Veteran  Relief  Union,  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics,  Knights  of  Labor,  trades  unions,  and  other 
orders. 

LITERARY  AND  MUSICAL  SOCIETIES. 

Present  Day  Club.  Shakespeare  Club. 

Woman's  Literary  Club.  Philharmonic  Society. 

"  H.  H."  Club.  Mozart  Club. 

Emerson  Club.  Harmonia  Society. 

Friday  Afternoon  Club.  Maennerchor. 

POLITICAL  CLUBS. 

Garfleld  Club.  Tliurman  Club. 

Jackson  Club.  Lincoln  Club. 

Gravel  Hall  Club. 

SOCIAL,  CYCLING,  GYMNASTIC,  AND  OTHER  CLUBS. 

Dayton  Club.  Dayton  Gymnastic  Club. 

Dayton  Bicycle  Club.  Dayton  Turngemeinde. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Wheelmen.  Stillwater  Canoe  Club. 

Dayton  Lawn  Tennis  Club.  Ruckawa  Canoe  Club. 

Dayton  Angling  Club.  Dayton  Camera  Club. 

MILITARY  COMPANIES. 

Phoenix  Light  Infantry,  Company  G,  Third  Regiment  Infantry,  Ohio 
National  Guard. 

Gem  City  Light  Infantry,  Company  I,  Third  Regiment  Infantry,  Ohio 
National  Guard. 


34  HISTOx  --^i^T,   A.ND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

STREET-RAILWAYS. 

City  Hailivay.— Third  Street  Line,  from  the  east  end  of  Third  Street  to  the 
Soldiers'  Home;  electric;  len^h  of  line,  over  six  miles  of  double  track  and 
less  than  one-quarter  mile  of  single  track. 

Fifth  Street  Line,  from  the  east  end  of  Huffman  Avenue  to  the  Soldiers' 
Home;  electric;  length  of  line,  six  and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  and 
about  one-half  mile  of  single  track. 

Green  Line,  from  the  east  end  of  Richard  Street  to  the  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Wilkinson;  electric;  length  of  line,  over  two  miles  of  double  track. 

Authorized  capital,  $2,100,000;  total  length  of  lines  operated,  over  fourteen 
and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  and  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  of 
single  track. 

Oakivood  Street-Railway.—  Yrova.  the  north  end  of  Salem  Street  in  Dayton 
View  to  Oakwood,  at  the  south  end  of  Brown  Street;  electric;  capital,  $;300,- 
000;  length  of  line,  about  four  miles  of  double  track. 

White  Lhie  Street -Railway. —  Frora  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Forest 
Avenue  in  Riverdale,  via  Main,  Third,  Ludlow,  Washington,  and  German- 
town  Ntrc'cts  to  the  Soldiers'  Home;  electric;  capital,  $400,000;  length  of  line, 
about  >ix  inil<s  of  double  track. 

Wdlinc  Aviiiiw  and  Fifth  Street  Railway.— From,  the  south  end  of  Wayne 
Avenue,  via  Wayne  Avenue,  Fifth,  Jefferson,  First,  Keowee,  and  Valley 
streets  to  the  east  end  of  Valley  Street  in  North  Dayton;  horse-cars;  capital, 
$100,000;  length  of  line,  about  three  miles  of  double  track  and  about  one 
mile  of  single  track. 

Dayton  Traction  Company. — South  Main  Street,  from  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
extending  to  Calvary  Cemetery;  electric;  capital,  $250,000;  length  of  line,  one 
and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  and  one  and  one-half  miles  of  single  track. 

Total  length  of  street  railways  operated,  over  twenty-nine  miles  of  double 
track  and  about  three  and  one-quarter  miles  of  single  track.  About  two 
and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  being  used  jointly,  the  net  length  of 
double  track  is  about  twenty-six  and  one-half  miles. 

STREET  IMPROVEMENTS. 

Total  length  of  streets  in  the  city,  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  miles,  of 
which  nearly  twenty-five  miles  are  paved,  as  follows:  asphalt,  fourteen 
miles;  brick,  nearly  nine  miles;  granite,  over  one  mile;  Medina  stone,  over 
one-half  mile.  Total  cost  of  paving,  $l,800,iX)0.  Eighty-three  miles  of  streets 
are  graded  and  graveled,  and  fifty  miles  are  unimproved. 

Thirty-nine  miles  of  sanitary  sewers  and  forty  miles  of  storm  sewers  have 
been  laid,  at  a  cost  of  $495,000. 

COMMERCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL. 

Board  of  Trade.— Officers  :  president,  first  vice-president,  second  vice-pres. 
ident,  secretary,  treasurer,  fifteen  directors. 

National  Banks.—  Seven,  with  combined  capital  of  $2,.500,000,  and  cash  assets 
of  over  1:3,000,000;  a  clearing-house. 

Building  and  Loan  Associations.— Beventeen,  with  combined  capital  amount- 
ing to  $43,350,000. 

Fire-insurance  Companies  (Home).— Seven,  with  investment  of  $700,000, 
and  net  assets  amounting  to  $1,213,204;  one  underwriters'  association. 

Incorporated  Companies.— One  hundred  and  seventy,  with  capital  stock  of 
over  $25,000,000. 


COMMERCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  35 

Siiilders'  Exchan(/e.— Officers:  president,  first  vice-president,  second  vice- 
president,  secretary,  treasurer. 

6r0.s  Company. 

jS'atural  Gas  Company. 

Electric  Light  Company. 

Telegraph  and  Cable  Compaiiies. — Two. 

District  Telegraph  Company. 

Teh'pJione  Exchange. 

.^"'hvays: — Eleven,  with  sixty-four  passenger  trains  daily. 
:  aiu/acturing  Establishments.— dumber,  about  one  thousand;  capital  in- 
vested in  1S94,  $11,6.50,043;  value  of  manufactured  products,  1894,  $10,103,913.60; 
wages  paid,  1894,  8^2,176,156.15.  In  number  of  factories,  in  capital  invested  in 
manufacturing  industries,  and  in  wages  paid,  Dayton  ranks  as  the  third 
city  in  the  State;  in  value  of  manufactured  products,  fourth. 

POSTOFFICE  STATISTICS,   1895. 

Postage  Receipts S178,451.08 

Expenses  of  Office $74,648.98 

Number  of  Money  Orders  Issued 19,852 

Value  of  Money  Orders  Issued $154,367.35 

Number  of  Money  Orders  Paid 60,058 

Value  of  Money  Orders  Paid $;i33,093.77 

Pieces  of  First-Class  Mail  Received 4,480,000 

Pieces  of  All  Other  Classes  Received 3,948,800 

Special  Letters  Received 9,831 

Pieces  of  First-Class  Mail  Dispatched 7,620,907 

Pieces  of  All  Other  Classes  Dispatched 7,054,850 

Special  Letters  Dispatched 6,257 

Registered  Letters  and  Parcels  Received .  40,920 

Registered  Letters  and  Parcels  Dispatched 19,742 

Total  Number  Pieces  Received  and  Dispatched 23,120,645 

"S^'eight  in  Pounds  of  Second-Class  Matter  Mailed  by  Publishers...  47,441 

Number  of  Carriers 40 

Mail  Trains  Arriving  Daily 39 

Mail  Trains  Departing  Daily 42 

CHRONOLOGICAL  RECORD. 

1749— French  Major  Celoron  de  Bienville  ascended  the  La  Roche  or  Big  Miami 
River. 

1751  — Gist  visited  the  Twightwee  or  Miami  villages. 

1780— General  George  Rogers  Clark  led  an  expedition  against  the  Indians  of 
the  Miami  region,  one  of  his  officers  being  Colonel  Robert  Patterson. 

1782  — November  9,  A  skirmish  between  American  soldiers  under  General 
Clark  and  the  Indians  on  the  site  of  Dayton,  in  which  the  Amer- 
icans were  victorious. 

1786— Americans  under  Colonel  Logan  again  defeated  the  Indians  on  the  site 
of  Dayton,  one  of  the  brigades  being  commanded  by  Colonel  Robert 
Patterson. 

1789— Plans  formed  for  a  town  named  Venice  on  the  site  of  Dayton. 

1795— August  3,  A  treaty  of  peace  made  with  the  Indians  at  Greenville,  Ohio, 
by  General  Wayne  — August  20,  The  site  of  Dayton  purchased  by 
Generals  St.  Clair,  Dayton,  and  Wilkinson,  and  Colonel  Ludlow  — 
November,  The  town  laid  out  by  Colonel  Israel  Ludlow. 


36  HISTORICAI,  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

1796— April  1,  Arrival  of  first  settlers,  by  the  Miami  River,  landing  at  the 
head  of  St.  Clair  Street;  two  other  parties  coming  a  few  days  later 
by  land— Newcom's  first  log  cabin  built. 

1798— First  sermon  preached  in  Dayton  by  Rev.  John  Kobler,  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  — First  Methodist  Episcopal  class,  now  Grace 
Church,  organized,  with  eight  members  — Newcom's  Tavern  built— 
Taxes  paid,  S29.74. 

1799— First  Presbyterian  Church  organized  — Blockhouse  built— First  school 
opened  — First  industries  established,  consisting  of  di^illery,  saw- 
mill, and  corn-cracker  mill  — First  lime  made  — First  fiatboat  left 
for  New  Orleans  — Dayton  three  years  old  and  contained  nine  cabins 
—  Only  two  houses  on  Main  Street— D.  U.  Cooper  appointed  Justice 
of  the  peace. 

1800— Presbyterian  meeting-house,  eighteen  by  twenty  feet  in  size,  built  of 
logs,  on  northeast  corner  of  Main  and  Third  streets  — August  28, 
First  wedding  in  Dayton,  that  of  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  and  Mary 
Whitten— April  14,  First  child  born  in  Dayton,  Jane  Newcom— First 
store  opened,  in  Newcom's  Tavern. 

1801—  First  male  child  born  in  Dayton,  John  W.  Van  Cleve. 

1802— Only  five  families  in  Dayton  — Oliio  admitted  into  the  Union. 

1803  — D.  C.  Cooper  resuscitated  the  town  — Montgomery  County  organized  — 
Dayton  made  the  county-seat  — First  court  held  in  Dayton  — New- 
corn's  Tavern  used  as  court-house,  jail,  church,  and  country  store. 

1804— Postoflice  and  mail-route  established  — Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  first  post- 
master—Mail every  two  weeks,  between  Cincinnati  and  Detroit,  via 
Dayton  — Letter  postage  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  — Log  jail  built 
on  Court-house  lot  — First  grist-mill  erected —Taxes  for  the  year, 
fl58.40. 

1805— The  town  of  Dayton  incorporated  — First  town  election  held  — Presby- 
terian lofi  meeting-house  sold  for  twenty-two  dollars  and  services 
continuccl  in  log  tavern  — Dayton  Social  Library  Society  incorpo- 
rated—First brick  building  erected  — First  disastrous  flood. 

1806 — First  Court-house  built,  of  brick,  on  present  Court-house  lot  —  Two 
brick  stores  erected— First  newspaper  published. 

1807  —  Dayton  Academy  incorporated. 

1808—  First  brick  residence  built  — 196  votes  cast—  Repertory  first  published. 

1809— Freigiat  line  of  keel-boats  established  between  Dayton,  Laramie,  and 
St.  Mary's  — Fourth  of  July  celebrated  with  a  procession —First 
drug-store  opened  — First  political  convention  in  the  county. 

1810—  Population,  383— New  sidewalks  ordered  by  Select  Council— OAio  Centi- 

nel  first  published. 

1811—  Nine  flatboats  left  for  New  Orleans,  with  products  of  the  surrounding 

country  — A  comet  visible,  and  severe  earthquake  shocks  felt. 
1812— A  company  enlisted  for  the  War  of  1812  — Ohio  militia  encamped  in 

Dayton. 
1313— First  society  of  mechanics  organized— First  Dayton  bank  chartered — 

August  13,  Present  Grand  Opera  House  lot,  on  southeast  corner  of 

Main  and   First  streets,  purchascLl  by  James  Steele  and  Joseph 

Peirce  for  twenty  dollars. 

1814—  First  Methodist  church  completed— Ferry  began  to  operate  at  Ludlow 

Street— OMo  Repuhhcan  first  published  — First  Dayton  bank  opened 
for  business  — A  flood. 

1815—  Dayton  Female  Charitable  and  Bible  Society  organized  — First  market- 


CHRONOLOGICAL    RECORD  37 

house  opened  — About  cue  liuudrcd  dwellings  in  Dayton,  chiefly  log 
cabins— Moral  Society  and  Society  of  Associated  Bachelors  formed 

—  First  school  for  girls  opened. 

1S16  — First  theater  held  in  Dayton— O/iio  Watchman  first  published. 

isi7_Xe\v  Court-house  finished- Presbyterians  erected  a  brick  church  — 
St.  Thomas  Episcopal  Parish  organized  —  Bridge  across  Mad  River 
built  — Bridge  Street  Bridge  Company  incorporated  — First  Sabbath- 
School  Association  organized  — Only  two  carriages  owned  in  Dayton. 

1}^18_ Stage-coach  line  began  to  run  between  Dayton  and  Cincinnati. 

lj^iy_A  keel-boat  arrived  from  Cincinnati  — St.  Thomas  Episcopal  Church 
organized— An  African  lion  exhibited  at  Reid's  Inn  — Bridge  at 
Bridge  Street  completed. 

1820  — Cooper's  Mills  burned  — Population,  1,000. 

1822— Montgomery  County  Bible  Society  organized  — Lancasterian  method  of 
instruction  introduced  — The  Gridiron  published— Seven  flatboats 
and  one  keel-boat  left  for  New  Orleans. 

1823  — J/ia«u  Republican  and  Dayton  Advertiser  first  published. 

1824— First  Baptist  Church  organized— First  cotton  factory  erected,  by  Thomas 
Clegg. 

1825  — Law  passed  authorizing  the  construction  of  a  canal  from  Dayton  to 
Cincinnati— Stage-line  established  between  Columbus,  Dayton,  and 
Cincinnati— 497  passengers  by  stage  passed  through  Dayton  during 
the  year. 

1826— The  Waichman  and  Miami  Republican  consolidated,  and  named  the 
Ohio  yational  Journal  and  Montgomery  and  Dayton  Advertiser,  after- 
ward becoming  the  Dayton  Journal. 

1827— First  volunteer  fire  company  organized— Baptist  society  built  a  church. 

1828— Water  first  turned  into  the  canal  — First  canal-boat  launched  — Twenty 
stage-coaches  arrived  every  week  — First  iron  foundry  established, 
now  the  Globe  Iron  Works  — A  flood. 

1829  — First  arrival  of  canal-boats  from  Cincinnati  — First  temperance  society 
formed— A  new  market-house  built  — Last  factory  established,  now 
Crawford,  McGregor  &  Canby's  Dayton  Last  Works  — Steele's  dam 
constructed— A  majority  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  established  a 
Campbellite  church,  now  the  Church  of  Christ. 

1830— Population,  •l^'i'A  — Dayton  Republican  flrst  published. 

1831  — First  public  school  opened  — Christ  Church  Parish  organized- First 
Catholic  family  arrived  in  Dayton  — R.  C.  Schenck  began  practice 
of  law  in  Dayton. 

1832— A  fugitive  slave  captured  in  Dayton  — First  Board  of  Health  appointed 

—  Fifty-one  brick  and  sixty-two  wooden  houses  built  — A  silk  man- 
ufactory established  — Dayton  Lj^ceuni  organized  — First  parochial 
schoolopened— Aflood  — Mad  River  &  Lake  Erie  Railroad  Company 
incorporated. 

1833— First  Reformed  Church  organized  — Mechanics' Institute  orgajiized  — 
Population,  4,000  — Thirty- three  deaths  from  cholera. 

ISi^— Democratic  Herald  first  published  — Police  Department  organized. 

1835— Firemen's  Insurance  Company  chartered. 

1S3G— Main  Street  bridge  opened  for  travel  — First  book  published. 

1837 — Emmanuel  Catholic  Church  dedicated. 

1838— The  "  public  square,"  now  Cooper  Park,  prepared  for  and  planted  with 
trees— Convention  held  in  the  interest  of  free  schools— Dayton  and 
Springfield   turnpike    constructed— Montgomery  County  Agricul- 


38  HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL   TABLES 

tural  Society  organized— Erection  of  public  school-liouses  ordered 
— Tliird  Street  Bridge  Company  formed. 

1839  — Dayton  Township  first  divided  into  election  precincts  — First  county 
agricultural  fair  held  —  Day  ton  Silk  Company  organized,  with  capital 
of  $100,000— First  English  Lutheran  Church  orgr.uized. 

1840— Harrison  campaign —General  Harrison  visited  D:. ,  ton  —  Dayton  Journal 
began  to  issue  first  daily  paper— Emmanuel  Church  of  the  Evangel- 
ical Association  organized— Population,  6,067— Paper-mill  established 

—  Montgomery  County  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  organized. 
1841— Dayton  incorporated  as  a  city— The  works  of  W.  P.  Callahan  &  Com- 
pany established. 

I&i2— Western  Empire,  now  Daj'ton  Times,  established. 

1843— Woodland  Cemetery  opened— John  Quincy  Adams  ente  tained— Bank 
of  Dayton  chartered  by  the  State  Legislature. 

1844— St.  Henry's  Cemetery  opened. 

1845— Bank  of  Dayton  ( a  State  bank ),  now  the  Dayton  National  Bank,  organ- 
ized—Dayton Bank,  to  which  the  Winters  National  Bank  traces  its 
origin,  organized. 

1846— Dayton  furnished  soldiers  for  the  Mexican  War. 

1847  —Disastrous  flood— Dayton  Library  Association  organized  — First  United 
Brethren  Church  organized— First  telegraph  message  received. 

1849— Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  deaths  from  cholera— The  Barney  & 
Smith  Car  Wcriis  established— Dayton  lighted  by  gas— St.  Mary's 
Institute  founded— W.  C.  Howells  purchased  the  Daytoa  Transcript. 

1850  — Central  High  School  established  — Present  old  Court-house  completed 

—  City  Bank  and  Farmers'  Bank  opene;^  — D.  L.  Hike,  now  tLi;  C'^'y: 
Dry  Goods  Company,  began  business  — First  Hebrew  Congregt  tion 
organized-  Population,  10,976. 

1851— First  railroad,  from  Dayton  to  Springfield  completed- Cincinnati, 
Hamilton  &  Dayton  Railway  coiapleted  to  Dayton  — First  passenger 
station  located  at  northeast  co.'ner  of  Jefterson  and  Sixth  streets- 
Miami  Va'ley  Banli  estaul. shed  — Dayton  Insurance  Company 
organized  —  Hebrew  cemetery  opened. 

1852— Probate  Court  of  Montgomery  County  first  opened  -southern  Ohio 
Insane  Asylum  located  at  Dayton  — Exchange  Bank,  successor  of  the 
Dayton  Bank,  opened  — Dayton  &  Union  Railroad  opened  for  traffic. 

1853— United  Brethren  Publishing  House,  established  in  1834  at  Circleville, 
Ohio,  removed  to  Dayton— Dayton  &  Western  Railroad  opened. 

1854— First  Orthodox  Congregational  Society  organized. 

1855— Public  Library  established  — Works  of  Pinneo  &  Daniels  established. 

1856— Union  Passenger  Station  erected. 

1857— Old  Central  High  School  building  erected. 

1859— Stomps-Burkhardt  chair  factory  established. 

1860— Miami  Commercial  College  established— Population,  20,081. 

1861-65  — Dayton  furnished  to  the  United  States  service  2,699  soldiers;  under 
special  calls  of  the  State,  965;  grand  total  of  Dayton  men  in  the 
service,  3,664. 

1862— Lowe  Brothers'  paint  factory  founded. 

1863— First  J^ational  Bank,  no>«v  the  City  National  Bank,  established- Sec- 
ond National  Bank  chartered  — Miami  "Valley  Insurance  Company 
organized  — First  steam  fire-engine  purchased  — Vallandigham  ar- 
rested  —  Jounml  office  burned  — Dayton  &  Michigan  Railroad  opened. 

186i  — Empire  office  mobbed— The-Bro^nell  Company  began  business. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    RECORD  39 

1865— Miami  Valley  Boi.er  Works  established— Teutonia  Insurance  Com- 
pany organized-  Ohio  Insurance  Company  began  business  — Atlan- 
tic &  Great  Western  Railroad,  now  the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  & 
Ohio,  formed  by  the  consolidation  of  several  roads. 

18ed— Great  destruction  by  flood  — National  Soldiers'  Home  located  near 
Dayton— Stil well  &  Bieree  Manufacturing  Company  began  business 
—  T'b?A-s-^eiYu?!g' established  — Christian  Publishing  Association,  estab- 
lished in  1843,  reincorporated  and  located  in  Dayton. 

1867— Central  Branch  National  Military  Home  established  near  Dayton  — 
Dayton  Buildi'-g  Association  No.  1  organized  — Montgomery  County 
Children's  Home  founded  — Cooper  Insurance  Company  incorpo- 
rated. 

1868— McHose  &  Lyon  Architectural  Iron  Works  established  — John  Dodds 
began  to  manufacture  agricultural  implements. 

1860- First  street-railway  constructed,  on  Third  Street  — Normal  School 
opened  — Dayton  Malleable  Iron  Company  incorporated— Thresher 
&  Company  began  to  manufacture  varnish— Sunday,  May  16, 1  a.m., 
Turner's  Opera  House  and  adjoining  buildings  burned;  loss,  $500,000 ; 
insurance,  $128,000. 

1870— Holly  Water- Works  established  — Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
organized— Woman's  Christian  Association  organized  — Population, 
30,473— Cincinnati  "Short  Line"  Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the  Cleve- 
land, Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  incorporated. 

1871— Union  Biblical  Seminary  opened —Merchants  National  Bank  incorpo- 
rated—Wayne and  Fifth  Street  Railway  and  Dayton  View  Street- 
Railway  chartered. 

1872  —  Calvary  Cemetery  opened. 

1873 — Metropolitan  police  force  organized  —  Mutual  Home  and  Savings  Asso- 
ciation organized. 

1874— Philharmonic  Society  organized  — New  jail  completed  — Smith  &.  Vaile 
Company  began  business. 

1875— J.  W.  Stoddard  &  Company  began  business. 

1877  — Free  night  schools  established— Crume  &  Sefton  Manufacturing  Com- 

pany established  — Dayton  &  Southeastern  Railroad,  now  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Dayton  &  Ironton,  opened. 

1878  — St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  founded— Woodhull's  carriage  and  buggy  works 


1879— Dayton  Daily  Herald  first  published. 

1880 — Fifth  Street  Railway  Company  incorporated  —  Population,  38,678. 

1881  -St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  erected. 

1882— Third  National  Bank  chartered  — Columbia  Insurance  Company  organ- 
ized—Reformed Publishing  Company  organized. 

1883— Serious  flood  — Montgomery  County  Bar  Association  organized — Elec- 
tric light  introduced  — Dayton  Manufacturing  Company  incorpo- 
rated—Historical Publishing  Company  incorporated. 

1884  — New  Court-house  completed— National  Cash  Register  Company  organ- 
ized—Montgomery County  Soldiers'  Monument  dedicated  — Ohio 
Rake  Company  incorporated. 

1886— A  destructive  flood,  damaging  West  Dayton. 

1887— White  Line  Street-Railway,  the  first  operated  by  electricity,  constructed 
—  Union  Safe  Deposit  and  Trust  Company  incorporated  — Pasteur- 
Chamberland  Filter  Company  incorporated— Board  of  Trade  organ- 
ized. 


40 


HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 


1888— New  Public  Library  building  occupied  — Fourth  National  Bank  incor- 
porated—Davis Sewing-Macliine  Company  removed  to  Dayton  — 
First  street-paving  laid,  on  East  Fifth  Street. 

1889— Woman's  Literary  Club  organized  — Natural  gas  introduced  — Teutonia 
National  Bank  chartered. 

1890— Protestant  Deaconess  Society  organized  — First  sanitary  sewei-s  laid  — 
Lorenz  &  Company,  music  publishers,  began  business  — Population, 
61,220. 

1891  —  Dayton  Computing  Scale  Company  incorpoi'ated — Dayton  Under- 
writers' Association  incorporated — Deaconess  Society  opened  a 
temporary  hospital— Dayton  P?-e«s  established. 

1892— Columbian  Centennial  celebrated— Sey bold  Machine  Company  incor- 
porated. 

1893— New  High  School  building  completed  — Thresher  Electrical  Company 
began  business. 

1894— Deaconess  Hospital  completed  and  dedicated— Police  matron  appointed. 

1895— All  street  railways  except  one  operated  by  electricity —Dayton  Traction 
Company  began  to  operate  its  line  — Present  Day  Club  organized- 
Young  Women's  League  organized. 

1896— Manual-training  school  opened- Population,  about  80,000— Sixty-four 
passenger  trains  daily —  April  1,  Centennial  celebration  begun. 


jnD^'A^/^f^ 


FIREPLACE  AND  SPINNING-WHEEL. 


DOBBS  BROS. 

■IBRARV  BINDING 


LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 

nil 


0  014  750  163  8       #1