Chapter XIV: Letter X: CINCINNATI, July 19th

_My dear E._--As much as we had heard of Cincinnati, we were astonished at its beauty and extent, and of the solidity of its buildings. It well merits the name bestowed upon it here,--_Queen of the west_. We have explored it thoroughly by riding and walking, and pronounce it a wonderful city. The hotel to which we were recommended, the Broadway House, was commodious and well conducted. The family is a very agreeable one, and well educated, but remain in their own private apartments. There are numerous other hotels of all descriptions, but none rival it, unless it may be the new one called the Henri House. Soon after breakfast we ordered a carriage, which we found to be quite as handsome as any we have in our city. We spent the morning slowly driving up and down each street, along the Miami canal, and in the environs of the city in every direction, and were quite astonished--not because we had never seen larger and finer cities, but that this should have arisen in what was so lately a wilderness. Its date, you know, is only thirty years back. The rows of stores and ware-houses; the extensive and ornamented private dwellings; the thirty churches, many of them very handsome, and other public buildings, excited our surprise. Main street is the principal business mart. While in the centre of this street, we mark it for a mile ascending the slope upon which the town is built, and in front it seems interminable, for the river being low, we do not observe we are looking across it to the street of the opposite city of Covington, until a steamboat passing, tells us where the city ends. Broadway is another main artery of this city; not, however, devoted to business, but bounded upon each side by rows of handsome dwellings. Third, Fourth, Seventh, Vine, and many other streets, show private houses not surpassed by any city we had visited. They are generally extensive, and surrounded by gardens, and almost concealed from view of the passers, by groves of shade trees and ornamental shrubbery. An accidental opening among the trees shows you a glimpse of a piazza or pavillion, where, among groves and gardens, the air may be enjoyed by the children or ladies of the family.

We visited a museum in hopes of seeing some Indian relics or organic remains, but found these curiosities had met with the fate of all things in America, destruction by fire. The owner of the museum had been nineteen years collecting it, and it contained, among other things, bones of mastodon, and mummies, taken from a cave in Kentucky. The last, we were informed by the wife of the proprietor, were in a sitting posture, wrapped in mantles, one having red hair, the other black. She was now doing her best to collect another museum. Their house is a very nice one, having three tiers of rooms, and is rented to them for one thousand dollars. ‘How did the fire originate?’ I asked of the lady of the museum. ‘Why, ma’am,’ said she, ‘you must know the cellar of this house, unbeknown to me, was let out to a _yellow barber_, who had some powder for sale which blew up to our garret one day, and set it on fire. I heard the explosion, but thought it one of the steamboats at the wharf----’ ‘Pardon me madam,’ I said, ‘but pray how many times a week do your steamboats blow up?’ ‘Why, I can’t exactly tell----’ ‘Oh, well; go on with your story.’ ‘That day I came into this room before it was burnt, and says, George, says I, to the man who is now playing on the organ just as he was then, George, what is that which smells so much like burnt paint? Why, missus, says he, it is the back of this yere bench which was almost a coal afore I put it out. Why, George, says I, how did that happen? Why, the yaller barber’s stove-pipe was so hot, says he, it sot it afire. I ran to the bench and found it had been, sure enough, burnt, and the wall felt quite hot. George, what is that crackling noise, says I. Why it’s the yaller barber’s stove-pipe what’s a cooling, says he. But I smelt smoke, and I said to George, George, do run up _stars_ and see if there aint any fire anyhow. He went, but soon came thumping down again, making as much noise as if he had been a great mastydone. George, says I, what’s the matter? Matter! why, gorry, massa missus! the roof’s burnt and fell on the garret floor, and the garret floor’s afire and fell on the third story floor---- Pshaw, George, you’re poking fun at me; but just then up runs my husband as wild as a prairie wolf. Wife! Good God! the roof is all afire! he cried and ran up stairs; when, just as he reached the second flight, the third floor fell down upon him, and he was enveloped in flames. He was dug out, and you may be sure he was a show; burnt to a mummy; his hat looking a bit of coke; his dress hanging in scorched tatters, and blind with smoke, he staggered about like a drunken nigger. He was six weeks before he recovered from that burning.’ ‘Indeed; this fire has cost you much suffering.’ ‘I have not told you all. There is a young girl, a distant relation living with me, to whom I am much attached; she was up stairs, heard a noise, saw the fire, and went to run down stairs, when behold the stairs was away--burnt and fell down. She ran about like a wild Injun, trying to escape, but could not, and at last sank down at the place where the stairs had been, and expected to die. Just at that moment, as if sent by Providence, some men from a flat boat ran up to help us. ‘Why, mother, you’re in a bad fix anyhow,’ said one; ‘what is your greatest treasure here, and we will try to save that first.’ My greatest treasure, I said, is a young girl, whom I dearly love, who is up stairs; but I am afraid you cannot save her. He ran along and looked up, when, just then, in a fit of despair, she flung herself down, thinking she might as well die so, as she must die up stairs anyhow, and he being just under caught her. She was very much bruised, and her head is still much affected with heat and wounds.’ I truly sympathized with the unfortunate dillitante, as the loss of a museum which one has been collecting twenty years is a serious evil. I think it behooves the citizens of Cincinnati to encourage her endeavors to gather a new collection, by patronizing her museum. From the upper balcony is a very beautiful view of the opposite shores of Kentucky. The two towns of Covington and Newport line the bank with numerous buildings, some of them very pretty; while behind them arise a range of picturesque hills, covered with luxuriant herbage. These two towns are separated by the river Licking, whose bright waters, after flowing for two hundred miles through the fair plains of Kentucky, enter the Ohio opposite Cincinnati. Beneath us we looked down upon the wharf, which was a scene of mixed gaiety and business. A row of steamboats lay along the shore, from and to which flowed a constant current of men and goods. From some of the largest, the music of the band which they always carry sounded merrily, while broad, bright flags floated out upon the summer breeze.

Re-entering our carriage, we drove down to Fulton, a town about two miles from Cincinnati, but which may be called a part of it, as the road is one long street leading to it, containing iron founderies, water works, lumber yards, &c. Omnibuses are constantly passing and re-passing along this street. We observed here several large steamboats upon the stocks, some of which were copper bottomed, as a guard against snags. Fulton looks pretty at a distance, seated at the foot of a round, soft green hill. After tea, we passed through the city, to the river, along whose bank, is a very pretty road. This is the fashionable evening drive, and we passed several carriages, containing ladies and children, and young persons on horseback, enjoying the bland evening air. Although the heat had been excessive during the day; it was now perfectly cool, which is usually the case here. Kentucky looked very lovely, as the setting sun tinged its hill tops, and threw a rosy haze over its groves, and fields and pretty cottages. The broad river looked placid and lustrous, as if rejoicing in the pretty reflections which lay upon its surface. A small fort opposite, we were told was erected in honor of the hero of Tippicanoe, Gen. Harrison, who is much beloved here, and whom they expect to be the next President of the United States.

* * * * *

_July 20th._--I am happy to inform you the state of religion and morals in this place, are such as would please every lover of Jesus and of good order. One fact speaks for itself, there are here thirty churches. There are also twelve public schools, and between two and three thousand scholars, who are there educated. What a blessed thing is it to see a city, instead of lavishing its surplus wealth upon theatres and places of dissipation, erecting schools, and such respectable, nay, elegant houses of public worship as we see in Cincinnati. The consequences are seen in the circumstances and behaviour of the people. Here is no haunt of vice, no Faubourg St. Antoine, no _five points_, the people keep the Sabbath, and are respectable and happy. Sunday morning we attended service at Christ Church, where we heard the beautiful episcopal service read by their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Brooks, who afterwards gave us a very good discourse. This is a very handsome church, in the gothic form, abounding in spires and abutments, it is a grey brick edged with stone. The interior is very elegant. The pews are all lined and cushioned with blue, while the pulpit, and chancel, and reading desk, are a dazzling mass of bronze, and crimson, and gold; they are of bronze and gilt Gothic open work, lined with crimson velvet. Some antique chairs, and benches of oak, carved, lined and cushioned with velvet, stand here, while the whole is surrounded with a railing, and kneeling cushion of the same material and lining. The lamps and chandaliers are profuse and rich, and the organ beautifully built of bronze. In the same street is another episcopal church called St. Pauls, which is in the Grecian style, with a pediment in front, supported by columns. There are six presbyterian churches here, some of which we visited, and which are handsome and well attended.

In the evening we went to the church of the Rev. Mr. Lynde, a baptist clergyman, whose church is in a very flourishing condition, he having baptised five hundred new members last winter. This chapel is in Ninth street, and is a large brick building having a tall white spire. Every thing within is plain but neat. The seats are in the sofa style, edged with mahogany, lined and cushioned with horse hair, and having, several of them, the owner’s name in brass plates upon the door, as in some of our churches. The lamps and chandaliers, as in the episcopal church, are more in number and richer than I have ever seen in our best churches. We were quite pleased with Mr. L. His manner had a dignity and firmness, as if thoroughly convinced of the truths he advanced; and his address to his people came with the power of one who spoke with authority. How pleasant it is to find this region, which so lately resounded with savage merriment or war cries, now echoing the truth as it is in Jesus.

* * * * *

_July 21st._--We arose early, and walked out to see the markets. There are three, well built. The one on Broadway was filled with a profusion of meats, fruits and vegetables, which last were uncommonly fine. The streets around the market, were blocked up with wagons loaded with country produce. During our rambles through the streets I was struck by the sight of a building, the oddest I ever beheld. It was a huge ugly thing, being a strange mixture of styles, and an attempt at Gothic, Turkish, and Moorish. This was Mrs. Trollop’s erection, built for a house of pleasure, and rooms were constructed for balls, refreshment, and dressing rooms, while below were to be shops. These balls were to be in the style of Almacks, quite exclusive. It is now a ‘Mechanic Institute,’ and when not using their rooms for the exhibitions, let them out to lecturers, exhibition of pictures, or a fair. The front is of brick adorned with Gothic arches, and the roof surmounted with Gothic ornaments. A square tower rises from the back of the building having a row of brick pillars in front, this contains a room having windows all around; on the top of this tower is another, a round one, having as I said, a sort of moorish top. We saw the time approach for leaving the ‘Queen City,’ with regret. We left it in the steamboat Agnes, a new and pretty boat, but small, ‘calculated to run any where it was moist,’ as the river is too low for the larger boats to ascend to Wheeling. The river’s greatest rise here is sixty-three feet, and it then runs with a current of six miles an hour. When out in the river we looked sadly back at Cincinnati, which appears Queen like indeed, while majestically reposing upon her throne of stately hills, with the glorious river at her feet. Cincinnati is built upon two plains which rise in gentle slopes from the river. Fifty years ago, fort Washington stood here, and now there is a large city of forty-five thousand inhabitants, containing churches, lyceums, colleges, and doing a business of six million dollars. There are a great many manufactories, and forges, and the steel and iron business is carried on to a considerable amount, ‘from ponderous beam of steam engine, cylenders and steam machinery, to household articles.’ Its doings in the pork line you have heard of, several of the largest ware-houses were pointed out to us as ‘pork ware-houses.’ The Miami canal comes into the Ohio at Cincinnati, thus bringing to it the produce from lake Erie. The little Miami railroad is also to terminate here. A bend in the river, and the ‘Queen of the West’ is lost to our eyes. The river scenery is very beautiful to day, lined with thriving farms, dotted with pretty villas and towns, having a back ground of those peculiar green hills which occur upon this river called the Ohio hills. Among the towns we passed were New Richmond, twenty-one miles from Cincinnati, Moscow, Mechanicsville, Augusta &c. &c. Maysville is quite a large town in Kentucky which looked very gay as the sun, setting over the shadowy hills lighted up its scarlet brick houses and gave a brighter tint to the cotton wood groves with which they were surrounded.

* * * * *

_July 21st._--When we left our state-room we found ourselves near Portsmouth, the largest town we had seen since leaving Cincinnati. It is seated upon a platform elevated above the river at the foot of a group of pretty ‘Ohio hills.’ Every one looked very busy here, the shops displayed a goodly show of merchandise, two large hotels seemed full of people, drays were travelling about, water carts were being filled in the river, and little boys and girls were hastening down to come on board and sell their cakes and fruit. I did not go on shore, as we were to stay only a short time, but amused myself gazing about, and eating black and whortleberries which the little buckeye girls sold for ‘a fip a quart.’ This town is the southern termination of the Ohio canal whose northern outlet we had passed at Cleaveland upon lake Erie. The Scioto river also enters the Ohio here. It is a pretty stream 175 miles long. In the country through which it flows is much iron; and forges and founderies are established in many places around Portsmouth, which is a market for their produce. The hills opposite this place are of a grander character than any we had seen upon the Ohio, and now, with the lights and shades of early summer morning upon them, formed a charming picture for the inhabitants of Portsmouth. I remarked several pretty dwellings surrounded by shrubbery, which showed there were many here who were ‘well to do in the world.’ What delightful residences must these Ohio towns be, for persons of small fortune, or to tradesmen. All the comforts of life can be obtained with little expense, while good air, and good laws, shed health and peace around. Our passengers and freight exchanged for others, we turned our course from the shore, and followed the bends of La Belle riviere, (worthy of its name) as it wound through a well settled country, its shadowy hills now appearing more frequently, giving a more varied character to the scenery. The water grows purer as we ascend, and shallower, so that we can at times distinguish the sand and stones at the bottom. The Buckeye tree is seen in large groves, or pretty groups or copses, giving a very cultivated air to the shores, as we had been used to see it, ornamenting our streets, under the ugly name horse-chesnut. But although much alike in external appearance our tree is a transplanted one, originally from Asia, the Æsculus Hippocastinum, while this tree is a native of Ohio, designated by the botanist as the Æsculus Ohioensis. There are here seven species of this tree, which from their deep green glossy leaves, and pretty flowers are a great ornament to the groves of Ohio. It is an useful tree, and from the softness of its wood is easy to cut. In the early days of Ohio, when the settlers were in want of many articles of household furniture, they resorted to the buckeye. After building their log cabins of its branches, they formed, according to Dr. Drake, cradles, tables, bowls, platters, spoons, and troughs for gathering maple sap. The covering of the nut can be used as soap, while starch and medicine are also procured from it. The nut being brown, with a round white spot upon it, is called buckeye; and in consequence of their frequent use, and constant praises of this tree, the people of Ohio received from their neighbors the soubriquet of Buckeyes. The western people are fond of these nicknames. I told you the Illinoisians were called Suckers, the Missourians are Pukes; the Kentuckians, Corncrackers; Virginians, Tuckahoes; Indianians, Hoosiers; Michiganians, Wolverines, &c.

While sailing, or rather to use the customary phrase here, riding along these western rivers, one is struck with the destruction of trees. What magnificent forests we passed to-day, where the huge and towering sycamore, the dark green buckeye, the lighter cotton wood, the tall and graceful shaft of the sugar maple, the white elm, with its beautifully arranged branches and purple flowers, the silvery white maple, the oak, the beech, woven together by missletoe and other creepers, on the Ohio shore; and on the Kentucky bank, the blue ash, the coffee tree, stately tulip, yellow locust, dark leaved hackberry, basswood, and hundreds of others, make a mass of glorious forest scenery, such as I am sure earth cannot surpass. But the great rise and fall, and changes of this river, and its shores, destroy hundreds of these noble creations in a year. Countless numbers we saw along the banks, with all their roots exposed, holding but by one slight one, which any blast of wind might loosen, when it falls and is washed away. The shores were strewed with them in all stages; many struck down in youth, with their young foliage about them; others in the sere and yellow leaf, while others again stripped of leaf and bark, are piled in great ‘wreck heaps,’ where the current has hurled them, or floating down the stream, in time to become a snag and lie in wait to impale some unconscious vessel. While looking upon them in their innocence and beauty, I could not but pity their vampire fate, so soon to be transformed into malicious snags, to destroy the passing voyager. The quantity of yellow clay marl which occurs along the shores, contributes to their destruction, as it easily crumbles away. This also gives the peculiar rounded form to the Ohio hills, as the marl is washed down, giving the hills a smooth round shape.

At Sandy river, a stream which runs one hundred and sixty miles through Virginia, we bade adieu to old Kentuck. The rich and fertile plains of Kentucky were the favorite hunting grounds of the Aborigines of the surrounding regions, as there the buffalo, elk, deer, &c. roved in large herds. Extremely unwilling to surrender it to the white intruders, the Indians fought long and bravely for it, and so many severe battles took place there, that Kentucky acquired among the Indians the name of ‘the dark and bloody ground.’ The inhabitants have long been celebrated for their valor. Some of the scenery of Kentucky is the most beautiful in the States, and some of the land the most fertile. It is four hundred miles long, and contains twenty-six million acres. The wonderful caverns which occur in the limestone formations, you have heard of. Population, between six and seven hundred thousand. Virginia, the land of the cavaliers, and of Pocahontas, looked very inviting, as we sailed past it; her pretty hills lending beauty to every view. At Guyandot, we landed a party to visit the Sulphur Springs in Virginia, which are now quite fashionable. Our springs at Saratoga and Ballston, lose many southern and western visitors, since these, and so many others have been discovered in those regions.

* * * * *

_July 22nd._--Off Gallipolis, a town settled by French people, who came here to avoid the excesses of the revolution. These persons, brought up in a delicate, luxurious manner, were obliged to plunge at once into all the hardships of a woodland life, and suffered much ere their houses were erected, and all things in order. Upon the opposite shore the Kenawha enters the Ohio, after coming from the iron mountain in North Carolina, through Kentucky three hundred miles. It has dug for itself a deep bed in the limestone rocks, and upon its banks is the most rugged and picturesque scenery in Kentucky. Coal, and salt springs abound along its shores. The rapids of the Ohio came in sight after this, and looked cool and pretty, as the water curled and foamed over the ledges of rocks and pebbles. The water was very clear and we seemed sailing upon the bottom; but being so unusually low, our boat, as small as she was, grounded several times. In these extremities recourse was had to _cordelling_. A rope was carried ahead by a small boat, and fastened to a rock, or anchored; and a windlass brought the boat up to the rock. After passing the rapids, the river becomes shallower and more narrow; but as our boat only drew twenty inches, we succeeded in going on, while some larger ones which had accompanied us thus far, were left in the river, or at some village. The islands are more frequent, and some of them very lovely, mazes of beautiful forest trees woven together in natural bowers by pea vines in blossom, scarlet creeper, and many other pretty and new plants. The island of the unfortunate Blennarhasset, is the largest and loveliest, containing seven hundred acres. Through the circle of forest trees which border it, we caught glimpses of the centre which was level, and once highly cultivated. Here he created a paradise of lawns and groves, and gardens, surrounding a dwelling, the residence of his charming family, to which were attached green and hot-houses, libraries and music rooms. Ambition has rendered this fair spot a desert; he never rose to the empire which he and his tempter, Burr, had hoped to create. After all, the saddest part of Herman Blennarhasset’s fate is, that every tourist who passes the island, must mention his name and utter an effecting sentimentality about ambition; it seems like dragging him out of his resting place, to hear our taunts; if you travel this way, let me beg of you--

“Breathe not his name, let it sleep in the dust,
Where cold and unhonored his ashes are laid.”

Parkersburgh at the mouth of the little Kenawha, is a quaint old fashioned town in Virginia; embosomed in hills. Here we intended to land and take the mail stage to Winchester, but it had just departed, and rather than remain there two days, until another stage, we concluded to go on in the Agnes to Wheeling. Accordingly we and our trunks were again on board, and we resumed our rambles. At sunset we stopped, at the town of Marietta, the first spot settled in Ohio. Its name was very prettily given in honor of the fair and unfortunate Maria Antoinette of France; in gratitude for the support she gave our cause. The town was laid out in 1788. The streets are wide, and adorned with forest trees, and parks. The houses are solidly built, having each its ornamented court and garden. The exchange, court-house, college, churches, and other public buildings are handsome structures. It is principally settled by New Englanders, whose love of good order and morality has not been left behind, for the motto upon the town seal pledges their ‘support of religion and learning.’ Marietta is upon the Muskingum, which is between two and three hundred yards wide, and navigable for one hundred miles with large boats. It is a remarkably pure, healthy, bright stream, ‘rolling its limpid waves over a sandy and pebbly bottom, variegated in summer months with the open valves of thousands of red and white shells scattered among the sand, rivalling in beauty the richest tessellated pavement of the Romans.’ Upon its banks stands Zanesville, a large and handsome town, and in the county through which this river and its branches flow, are quantities of iron, coal, salt, limestone, and many other useful productions. There are also ancient mounds and fortifications upon its shores. Marietta appears beautifully as we approach, seated upon an elevated bank, at the foot of a range of the picturesque Ohio hills. These are about three hundred feet high, formed of ‘argillacious earth, based upon sandstone.’ The scenery this afternoon is of a grander cast than any we had yet seen upon the Ohio. The hills which have generally risen at some distance from the shore, now come close down to the water, so that, as we ride along we can look far up into their recesses. They have the same gracefully regular appearance, except that now and then a ledge of sandstone or limestone, breaks the smooth green side.

I have said very little about the cooking and victuals upon these western boats. The latter are very good, and finer beef, fish, bread, etc., cannot be found any where; the most fastidious palate might here be satisfied were it not for one thing--our western brethren are so fond of fat. Almost every dish of animal food is swiming in a greasy liquor. Doubtless I should be used to it in time and like it as well as our young southern friend who used to expatiate upon the delights of hominy and ‘possum fat.’ However, I cannot expect persons, wherever I may choose to travel, to shape their table to please me, so I make a point of taking things as quietly as if I had ordered every thing. I generally succeeded, by declining gravey, to obtain a piece tolerably dry, and this, with their excellent vegetables, Indian bread, good butter, and nice stewed dried peaches, the unfailing accompaniment to every meal, to secure a pleasant and healthful repast. Tea and coffee we have met, of all shades and varieties, but none so unique as the prairie coffee, of which I wrote you. The accommodations are comfortable, and in the ladies apartment, towels, basins, and water enough, and leave to use your own brushes. The gentlemen were confined to tin washbowls upon deck, but if any one chose to ask, he might always have a basin and towel in his cabin. We found nothing to complain of as serious annoyances, but received every attention and politeness from captains and servants.