OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 38 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 April 24, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits - Part 38 notes by S. Kelly +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ part 38. Kelley Bank Bill of 1845 The Kelley Bank Bill resulted from Andrew Jackson's attack on the Second Bank of the United States and the Panic of 1837. In 1832, Jackson ordered the withdrawal of federal government funds, approximately ten million dollars, from the Bank of the United States. The President deposited these funds in state banks and privately owned financial institutions. Ohio had nine of these banks. As stated before, Nicholas Biddle, the director of the Bank of United States, tried to keep the national bank operational by calling in loans, yet many businesses did not have funds available to pay off their debts. As a result numerous businesses had to close their doors due to the lack of funds during 1833 and 1834. After this brief economic downturn, the United States' economy boomed. State banks began loaning money to industrialists and farmers. The banks also began printing exhorbitant amounts of currency. This action led to high inflation. At the same time that banks were loaning out large sums of money and printing out currency, foreign governments and businesses, hoping to benifit from the United States burgeoning economy, loaned large sums of money to American businessmen. Due to high inflation, United States and individual state currency quickly depreciated in value. In July 1836, Jackson issued Specie Circlar. Under this act, the government would only accept gold or silver in payment for Federal land. Foreign investors also did not want to accept American currency as payment, and they began to call in their loans to American businessmen before the currency depreciated further. American citizens rushed banks to withdraw the necessary funds to pay off their debts. Unfortunately, many banks had loaned out too much money and did not have sufficient funds or reserves on hand to meet the demands of their customers. Approximately 800 banks closed their doors in 1837, stifling economic growth and bankrupting numerous businesses, including many of the banks. In 1845, the Whig Party controlled Ohio's govenment. Mordecai Bartley served as governor, and the Whig representatives dominated the state legislature. Whigs had traditionally favored the creation of banks. The Kelley Bank Bill hoped to regulate banks operating within Ohio's borders. It also intended to encourage additional banks to open their doors within the state, providing Ohio residents with access to loans. Alfred Kelley, a Whig member of the Ohio legislature and a banker, introduced the bill. The Kelley Bank Bill would still permit private banks to operate in Ohio, but a new State Bank of Ohio would oversee the activities of these other financial institutions. Under the Kelley Bill, the state would be divided into twelve districts. Each district would have at least one bank that belonged to the State Bank of Ohio and oversaw the State Bank's actions. In reality, the State Bank was no more than a commission made up from other banks in Ohio, and they were responsible to the Ohio legislature. The Kelley Bank Bill gave this commission, also known as the Board of Control, the power to regulate the amount of currency produced by the individual banks. It also required all banks to maintain thirty percent of the total funds deposited in the bank in reserve. The banks could invest the other seventy percent as they saw fit, it would be primarily be through loans. As a result of the State Bank of Ohio and its regulatory ability, Ohio's banking system became more stable. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14,1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her father, Lyman Beecher, placed a heavy emphasis on education. He was a Congregational minister and dedicated his life to spreading God's word and helping others. Harriet received her formal education at the Hartford Female Seminary, a school opened and operated by her sister, Catherine Beecher. Upon graduation, Harriet became a teacher at the seminary, as was her brother, Henry Ward Beecher. In 1832, the Beecher family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Lyman Beecher had accepted a position as president of Lane Theological Seminary. Harriet accompanied her father. While in Cincinnati, she met Calvin Ellis Stowe, a professor at the Lane Teological Seminary. The two of them fell in love and eventually married. It was during 1830s that Harriet became an abolitionist. Cincinnati was locatd on the Ohio River, just north of Kentucky, a slave state. Thousands of runaway slaves passed through Cincinnati as they traveled to their freedom along the Underground Railroad. She soon become friends with several Ohio abolitionists, including John Rankin, whose home in Ripley, Ohio served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The stories she heard from runaway slaves and the Underground conductors while she was in Cincinnati served as a basis for her book. "Uncle Tom's Cabin." In 1850, her husband Calvin Stowe accepted a position a Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. It was there in Maine Harriet wrote her book, " Uncle Tom's Cabin." The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 inspired her to write the novel. She objected to the federal government actively assisting slaveowners to reclaim their runaway property in Northern States. Like William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet realized that most white Northerners had never witnessed slavery firsthand. Most Northern whites had no idea of how brutal slavery could be. Through Uncle Tom's Cabin, she sought to humanize slavery for the readers. She wanted to educate them about the brutalities of the institution, hoping her readers would rise up against slavery if they understood the beatings, the rapes, and the division of families that sometimes occurred. Because her book was a work of fiction, she received much criticism for her supposedly inaccurate portrayal of slavery. It is important to note that Harriet Beecher Stowe's noval was based on extensive research with former slaves and with active participants, both whites and blacks, with the Underground Railroad. Despite criticism, the book became a bestseller. An abolitionist newspaper originally published the book as a serial in 1851 and 1852. In 1852, the story was published in book form and sold 500,000 copies in its first five years in print. It brought slavery to life for many white Northerners. In 1862, Harriet Stowe met President Abraham Lincoln while she was visiting Washington, D.C. Lincoln purportedly stated, " So, you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War!" To place the blame for the Civil War on Harriet Beecher Stowe's shoulders would not be entirely correct, however, Uncle Tom's Cabin did help exacerbate the animosity between the North and rhe South. Harriet Beecher Stowe became an instant celebrity. She traveled extensively including, Europe, to promote her book and to encourage other people to protest slavery. In 1853, she moved with her husband to Andover, Massachusetts, where Calvin had accepted a teaching position at the Andover Theological Seminary. He retired in 1864, and the Stowes than moved to Hartford, Connecticut. She continued her literary career and eventually published thirty books. In 1852 was published " The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin." which was an influential collection of documents and testimonies opposing slavery and "Dred; A tale of the Great Dismal Swamp," published in 1856, was a novel of the same vein. Her literary reputation was strengthened further by four novels revealing the influence of her New England background They were " The Minister's Wooing," published in 1859; "The Pearl of Orr's Island" published 1862; " Oldtown Folks," published 1869; and " Pogamuc People." published 1878, and others. Harriet Beecher Stowe died in 1893. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Globe Theater The Globe theater was one of the first theaters in the city of Cleveland. It was built by J.W. Watson in 1840. It was located on the 2nd floor of a business building on the norh side of Superior Ave., approximately midway between Bank ( W. 6th ) St and Seneca ( W. 3rd ) St. The theater was 60' wide by 100' long and approximately 25' high. The Globe had good accoustics and seated nearly 1000, but the shallow stage measured 40' wide by 15' deep. Although quite handsome, it was redecorated frequently because of changes in ownership and name. Over the years the facility was known as Watson's Hall ( 1840-45 ), Melodeon Hall (1845-60), Brainard's Hall (1860-72) Brainard's Opera House ( 1872-75 ), and the Globe Theater ( from 1875 until its demolition in 1880.) Among its many interesting attractions held in the theater, Ralph Waldo Emerson lectured on 10 Jan 1847 on the " Man of the World " and Louis Kossuth , the orator and eminent Hungarian patriot, spoke on 2 Feb 1852, The Great Royal Japanese Troupe from the Imperial Theater of Yeddo appeared on 28 Feb 1873. The last performance, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was held 29 Jan. 1880. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Cleveland Academy The Cleveland Academy was created in 1821, when the trustees of the village of Cleveland raised over $ 200 for the construction of a new and larger school. The two story brick schoolhouse, completed in 1822, was located on the north side of St.Clair Ave. On 26 June 1822, the academy was opened under the direction of Rev. William McLean as headmaster. Other instructors included John Cogswell, who followed McLean, and Harvey Rice, who served as instructor and principal until 1826. Curriculum at the academy consisted of reading and writing, geography, greek, Latin, and mathamatics. Students, or scholars ranging in age from 8 to 21, were charged a tuition of $4 by the trustees for each term of 12 weeks. The academy was operated as a private primary school until 1830, when competition from other private institutions in Cleveland prompted its sale by the trustees. Following the incorporation of Cleveland in 1836, the Board of Managers repurchased the academy property and rented spaces in the building to small classes and businesses. On 5 May 1847, Chas. Bradburn, school manager for Cleveland, recommended to the city council that the academy, now in disrepair, be demolished and the lot be used for new schools. It was demolished in the winter of 1849, and in its place the city built a new $6,000 school, called the West St.Clair Street School. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits continued in part 39.