Flint's Letters from America, 1818-1820

by active 19th century James Flint

In the end of December, 1788, or beginning of January, 1789, Cincinnati was first founded by about {126} twenty persons. For some time the place was occupied more in the manner of a fort than of a town, the neighbouring country being in the possession of hostile Indians, who, on different occasions, killed several of the settlers. In 1790, a governor, and the judges of a supreme court, for the territory, arrived. In 1792, the first school and the first church were built. In 1799 the legislative authority of the governor was succeeded by that of an assembly. In 1803, the State government of Ohio was instituted. In 1806, the government was removed from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. In 1800, the town contained seven hundred and fifty people, and in 1805, only nine hundred and sixty. It was subsequently to the last date that Cincinnati showed indications of outgrowing a village and becoming a town. Within three-and-a-half years past, the population is supposed to have been doubled, and the amount is now believed to be nearly ten thousand.

January 1, 1819. To-day the boys of the town made a great noise by firing guns and pistols. They commenced last night about dusk. During the night I heard much noise of fighting and swearing amongst adult persons.

January 3. (Sunday.) Works of necessity form a numerous class here. To-day boats were loading pork, and drays carrying it down to the river.

January 8. To-day the river was almost covered with ice floating downward. Many large pieces adhering together form boards of one or two acres in extent. The pieces of hemlock tree intermixed make it plain that these masses of ice are from the Allegany river.

January 10. (Sunday.) Dealers in pork were (in one instance) busy cutting up and salting. I {127} saw some young men in a small boat examining the driftwood on the river; when pine logs came within their reach they dragged them ashore. Others were intercepting timber of every description, for fuel.

January 11. The weather frequently changes from frosty to humid. Yesterday at two P.M. the thermometer stood at 76° in sunshine. The hottest day since the ninth of December. To-day the temperature was 54° in the shade.

Jan. 13. At seven o’clock in the morning, the thermometer indicated 21°. By mid-day, the sun’s rays softened the mud in the streets. The people say that the winter has hitherto been milder than usual, and some infer that we will have no severe cold during the season. Last winter the thermometer was once observed to stand so low as 10° below zero. The greatest cold from 1787 to 1806 was minus 18°. The most intense frosts of this country have the effect of congealing the moisture in forest trees, and splitting them with a loud noise. Notwithstanding the moderation of the present season, the grasses and weeds on the ground are withered to whiteness. In the woods no evergreen plants are to be seen, except the tufts of mistletoe, which are perched on the branches of the tallest trees.

Examples of credulity are not rare. Yesterday a woman was deriving liberal emolument in town from fortune-telling, and from her supposed sagacity in knowing every thing respecting stolen goods. She also pretended to have the faculty of discovering springs of water and metallic ores, by means of the divining rod. Her speaking in the German language led me to suppose that she is descended from that part of Europe, where Rhabdomancy[73] {128} is prevalent. Almanack predictions of the weather are works of reference. I have seen several family registers of marriages, and the births of children, in which the sign of the zodiac in which the sun was, at the time of the particular events, is recorded. The positions are believed to have propitious or baneful influence on the fate of the individual. In some parts of the Union, what are called snake-stones are relied on as certain cures for the bite of the reptile, and of mad dogs, in opposition to the remonstrances of medical men. Such articles of belief having gained ground, a suspicion arises that the culture of the mind is much neglected, but unfortunately the position is established by more direct evidence. During my very short stay in this place, I have seen persons applying to others to read the addresses on packages of goods, or letters, and the sign-boards of merchants. A newspaper, in bewailing the want of schools, feelingly observed, that “the Ohian is in many cases growing up to manhood, with scarcely any other intelligence than that derived from the feeble light of nature.”[74] Books are scarce. I have seen a biography of General Washington; some notices of the military and naval characters of America; a history of the war; the Pittsburg Navigator; and some small almanacks more frequently than any others. The advertisements of booksellers indicate that they deal in romance. Many of the people are not in possession of a copy of the Apocrypha; of course such Jewish stories as the Idol Bel, or Susanna and the elders, are not often made the topics of conversation.[75]

{129} January 14. To-day I met with one of the passengers who came over with me in the ship Glenthorn. He has settled with his family about twenty-five miles from this place, having bought an hundred and seventy acres of land, fifty acres of which are cleared and fenced. There is a house, two barns, and a young orchard on the property. For the whole he paid seventeen hundred and twenty-five dollars, and can rent it out at twelve and a half per cent. on the price. He said that he meditates making another purchase, and that he does not regret having left his native country.

Since my arrival, I have seen an old acquaintance, who emigrated upwards of two years ago. He bought an excellent farm, which was well cultivated, in the State of Ohio, and paid two-thirds of the price in ready money. The money with which he ought to have paid the remaining part of the price, he imprudently lent to some neighbours, who never repaid him. The ultimate instalment was soon demanded, which, being unable to pay, he was obliged to sell the land. At this stage of the business, he found that he had originally agreed to pay for the farm twice its value, and was forced to leave it, after having lost nearly all his money.