OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 401 Today's Topics: #1 JOHN M. WATSON M.D. - HAMILTON COU [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] #2 HARRY J. WILLENBORG - HAMILTON COU [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] #3 REV. GEORGE J. O'BRYAN - HAMILTON [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] #4 HAMILTON COUNTY - PART 19 [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:12:07, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: JOHN M. WATSON M.D. - HAMILTON COUNTY BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SOUVENIR John M. Gresham & Co. Chicago Printing Co., 1889 - Part I, page 247-248 JOHN M. WATSON, M.D. -Was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on the 18th of November, 1837. His father, James Watson, was a native of Virginia and moved to Ohio more than a century ago. He came to Indiana in 1840, and settled in Scott county, one and half miles from Scottsburg. He was a carpenter by trade, and many of the early houses of the county were of his handiwork. He served a number of years as Justice of the Peace, and died in the spring of 1884 at an advanced age. His wife (the mother of subject) was Arabelle Pierson, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio. Dr. Watson, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his father's farm, and was educated int the common schools of the county. After quitting school he commenced to read medicine at Vienna, in Scott county, with Dr. Wm. B. stage in 1858. He attended the lectures at the Kentucky School of Medicine, Louisville, in 1858-59, and began the practice of his chosen profession at Vienna. In 1878, he was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Indianapolis. He located at Scottsburg in 1876, where he has since resided, and where he enjoys a large practice -the largest by far of any physician in the county, and to which he devotes his whole attention. He was married in 1862 to Miss Sarah E. F. Miller, of Clark county. She bore him one child, and then died; and he married a second time to Caroline A. Strong in 1865. By her he has six children. Dr. Watson is a prominent member of the I.O.O.F. and of the Knights of Honor, and a leading and deservedly popular man in the community where he lives. ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:12:05, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: HARRY J. WILLENBORG - HAMILTON COUNTY HISTORY OF KENTUCKY The American Historical Society, 1922 Volume IV, page 221 HARRY J. WILLENBORG, whose home has been in Newport most of his life, was formerly a dry goods merchant in Cincinnati, but is now manager of the Newport branch of the John J. Radel Company, funeral directors. Mr. Willenborg was born in Cincinnati May 9, 1887, son of Henry Willenborg, a native of Germany, where he was born in 1850, and was reared and educated in his native land, coming to the Untied States in 1871. At Cincinnati he engaged in the dry goods business, and built up one of the large and successful establishments of its kind in that city, continuing active until his death on June 12, 1909. He had made his home in Newport from 1889. He was a democrat and a Catholic, was liberal and kind hearted and had a large following of friends in Newport and Cincinnati. Before coming to this country he had served as a soldier in the Franco-Prussian war. Henry Willenborg married Mary Callahan, who was born in Cincinnati in 1860, and since the death of her husband has gone back to their former home in Cincinnati. Harry J. Willenborg, only child of his parents, was educated in the parochial and public schools of Newport, spending a year in St. Xavier's College in Cincinnati and in 1904 graduated from Nelson's Business College. For two years he assisted his father in the dry goods business. The firm name was Willenborg & Heiligg, and in March, 1906, Henry Willenborg acquired his partner's share in the business and then took in his son as an active partner. They continued the business together, and after the death of his father Harry Willenborg had all the responsibilities alone until 1913. He then entered the undertaking business as an employe of his father-in-law, Edward J. Schmolt, who managed the Newport branch of John J. Radel Company, Incorporated. Mr. Willenborg gave close study to every branch of the business during his apprenticeship, and by his abilities has earned his present position as manager and director of the company. The Newport office of this old Cincinnati concern was opened in 1904 at Sixth and Brighton streets. In 1906 the company erected a modern brick two-story structure at the southwest corner of Ninth and Patterson streets, the building being 100 by 40 feet, and is the best equipped funeral parlors in Newport. The executive officers of the John J. Radel Company at Cincinnati are John F. Ruehlmann, president; Henry J. Radel, vice president; Louis Guenther, treasurer; and Joseph Schoenberg, secretary, while Mr. Willenborg has the sole management of the Newport branch and is also a director of the company. He is president of the Newport Benevolent Association, the largest burial insurance company operating under the laws of Kentucky. He is a republican in politics, a member of the Catholic Church, and is affiliated with Newport Council No. 1301, Knights of Columbus, Newport Lodge No. 73, B.P.O.E., and the Sons of Pioneers of Newport. He had an active part in war work in Newport. Mr. Willenborg and family reside in a modern home at the northeast corner of Tenth and Patterson streets. On September 6, 1911, at Newport Mr. Willenborg married Miss Luella Schmolt, daughter of Edward J. and Louise (Degenhart) Schmolt. Her father, now deceased, was founder of the Newport branch of the John J. Radel Company. Mrs. Schmolt lives with Mr. and Mrs. Willenborg, who are the parents of two children: Mary Louise, born January 12, 1914; and Edward H., born January 24, 1918 ------------------------------ X-Message: #3 Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:12:18, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: REV. GEORGE J. O'BRYAN - HAMILTON CO. HISTORY OF KENTUCKY The American Historical Society, 1922 Volume IV, page 181 REV. GEORGE J. O'BRYAN. The work of the Catholic clergy is recognized to be a constructive character wherever evidences of it are found, and the men belonging to this body of remarkable men are always among the most scholarly of the residents of any community. Rev. George J. O'Bryan, pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of Winchester, is no exception to the general rule, and through his learning, his knowledge of human nature and his wisdom in handling and solving the problems which always arise he is rendering all of the people, as well as those of his own parish, valuable and unselfish service. Father O'Bryan was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 26, 1880, a son of Patrick O'Bryan, an Irishman by birth who, at the age of twenty years, came to the United States, and in time became a locomotive engineer on a southern railroad. His death occurred at Newport, Kentucky, in 1913, after a residence in the state of forty-five years. Eleven years old at the time of the family migration to Kentucky, Father O'Bryan attended the parochial schools of Newport, that state, and then took the classical course at St. Xavier College at Cincinnati, Ohio. Following the completion of that course he began his theological studies in Mount St. Mary's Seminary at Cincinnati, completing them in April, 1908, and on June 29th of that year he was ordained a priest by the Right Reverend C.P. Maes, bishop of Covington, Kentucky. For a short time following his ordination Father O'Bryan was assistant priest of St. Mark's Church at Richmond, Kentucky, to Rev. William Punch, now of St. Peter's Church at Lexington, Kentucky. Late in that same year he was made assistant to Rev. James McNerney of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Newport, Kentucky, and remained there until October, 1913, when he was made pastor of St. Mark's Church at Richmond, the same church which he had formerly served as assistant. In July, 1914, he was made administrator of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Newport, following the death of Reverend McNerney, and on December 8, 1914, he came to St. Joseph's Church as its pastor, and has been at Winchester ever since. The parish was in excellent condition. Father O'Bryan's predecessor, Rev. Herbert Hillenmeyer now secretary to Bishop Brossart of Covington, Kentucky, having built a new church edifice. The debt on this building Father O'Bryan cleared off within a year. He then began to make plans for the establishment of St. Agatha's Academy Boarding and Day School, which was opened in September, 1919, and which already is well attended. There are eight Sisters as teachers, and the school is well equipped with modern furnishings and appliances. Since he has been in charge the parish has increased to a membership of 325. The various church and social organizations are in a flourishing condition and doing excellent work along the several lines for which they have been established. In addition to his regular parish work Father O'Bryan visits outside missions, including those at Jackson and Quicksands, and keeps in close touch with all physical and moral welfare, and through his flaming sincerity and strong personality has been able to bring about a close co-operation of the various forces for good at Winchester. He is a genial, companionable, broad-minded gentleman, whose circle of personal friends is not restricted to religious or political beliefs. ------------------------------ X-Message: #4 Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:12:14, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: HAMILTON COUNTY - PART 19 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF OHIO By Henry Howe, LL. D., 1898 HAMILTON COUNTY - part 19 MUSICAL FESTIVALS. -A distinguishing feature of the city has been her musical festivals, to be still greater, for she is to be the centre of music in this country, especially so now that she has secured as her guiding spirit the graceful, manly maestro, Theodore Thomas, whom simply to see while wielding the baton is alone worth the price of admission. The opening of these festivals is always a gala day. The streets are gay with flags, the hotels and public buildings resplendent with artistic adornments, illustrative of music and musical celebrities, and at night illuminated. Multitudes come, some from hundreds of miles away, to attend these festivals; from Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and other Western States; and it is said that once there was a man who came all the way from Boston! But we never believed it. At the seasons of these festivals the streets are crowded with a body of ladies and gentlemen, elegantly attired, with refined and thoughtful expressions, perhaps, beyond anything seen there on any other public occasions, thus attesting to the elevating influence of music upon her votaries, and the elevated class which the art divine brings within the circle of her magic wand. INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITIONS. -In the past years Cincinnati has taken the lead in her industrial expositions. Her experience was so great that when Philadelphia gave her Centennial she wisely went there for her Director General. This she found in Alfred C. Goshorn, the Cincinnati manager, a gentleman of but few words, who, by silent energy and brain power, could bring order from chaos and master in harmonious and distracting elements to unite and move together as in the harmony and beauty of a grand symphony. INCLINED PLANES. -The city proper is on two planes, one called the "Bottom," 60 feet and the other 112 feet above low-watermark in the river. This, with the exception of New York and Boston, is the most densely populated area in the Union. Owing to the contracted dimensions of the plains, population is rapidly extending on to the river hills. These are nearly 400 feet above the city, and take one on to the general level of the country. Besides roads leading to their summits, there are in all four inclined railway planes -on the north, east and west -where, by stationary engines at the top, people are taken up, sometimes nearly a hundred in a car, and in ninety seconds. They, are hauled up by a wire rope large as one's wrist, which winds around a drum with a monotonous humming sound, quick resounding, as though in a hurry to get you up. An extra rope is attached to each car as a precaution in case the one in use should break. BIRD'S-EYE VIEWS. -The views from the hills are unique. Seemingly within a stone's throw one looks down from a height of between 300 and 400 feet into a huge basin-like area filled by a dense, compact city. Beyond this wilderness of walls, roofs and steeples, is seen the Ohio, with its magnificent bridges, the Kentucky towns of Covington and Newport opposite. Encircling hills everywhere bound the view, through which the Ohio pierces, turning its broad silvery surface to that sun which shines equally for us all. BEER GARDENS AND MUSIC. -At the summit of these planes are immense beer gardens with mammoth buildings, where on stifling summer nights the city hive swarms out thousands upon thousands of all classes and nationalities, who thus come together and alike yield to the potent influences of music and lager. One, the Highland House, travelers say, is not only the largest in the world but is unequalled in splendor and appointments. It is on Mount Adams, east of the city plain, where nearly 40 years ago John Quincy Adams, "the old man eloquent," delivered his oration on the occasion of laying the corner stone of the Cincinnati Observatory, the first astronomical building erected in human history by the joint contributions of private citizens. Thus early had this people initiated those habits of public beneficence which bring down blessings from the stars. In the summer of 1877 Theodore Thomas with his orchestra gave there three continuous weeks of music, with audiences on some nights of from 6,000 to 8,000 people, many of them around tables and taking in music with their beer. Viewed from the city the long lines of hundred lights, in places rising tier above tier, marking the spot, made the place appear as an illuminated palace in the skies; while the lighted car in incessant motion up and down the inclined plane looked like a huge fire ball in transit. The city itself, hundreds of feet below, with its miles of street lamps vanishing in the distance, and the broad Ohio with its moving steamers lighted up, gave to those on the hill top an equally picturesque view as they sat there listening to the music, their brows whilom fanned by the cool breezes from the west. This was comfort, solid comfort up there as one might say at an alighting place between the basin-placed city and its overhanging stars. THE GERMANS. -The prevalence of music and lager in the city is largely owing to the Germans. Of the 300,000 inhabitants at this centre nearly one-third are Germans or of German stock. In these respects the Americans have become largely Teutonized. The Germans are notably frugal and thrifty. The ambition of each family is to own its dwelling -their great ambition a three-story brick. They associate with and cultivate the acquaintance of their own families more thoroughly than our people do theirs. They resort on Sunday afternoons, with their wives and children, to the beer gardens on the hill tops, where there is music, green arbors, kindly skies an soft airs. The utmost decorum prevails. All classes of Germans with their families to the toddling infant thus mingle in calm, peaceful recreation. They learn to know and sympathize with each other, a matter seemingly impossible with a certain class of our snobbish countrymen who ever seem dreadfully apprehensive of soiling their gentility. LOVE OF FLOWERS. -A pleasing characteristic of the Germans is their passion for flowers. While an American woman of humble rank will spend her money for an article of personal adornment that perchance may destroy all grace of movement and crucify all beauty, a German woman will purchase a pot of flowers. On passing even tenement houses occupied by Germans, one will often see every window, may be thirty of forty in all, story upon story, filled with pots of flowers. These please the thoughtful passer-by as he thinks of a people who thus endeavor to make fragrant their hard work-day lives. GERMAN PECULIARITIES. -The original Germans are largely of the working class. Like old-country fold, generally, they are clannish and let their affections go back to the fatherland, while their children take especial pride in being thought Americans; indeed some manifest shame at being overheard by Americans talking in the German tongue. The very common sight in the German quarters is to see old men, grandfathers, on their last legs, acting as nurses for babies, pushing them around in carriages or dangling them on their knees, they meanwhile regaling themselves with their everlasting pipes. The common class of Germans in the city known next to nothing of the inner life of Americans. Some of them stigmatize us as "Irish." Their gross ignorance after a residence on our soil of often half a life-time impressed us with the sheer folly of people travelling in Europe, fancying they receive anything more than a surface knowledge of Europeans. Of the earnest spiritual life of our orthodox Christian people they have not the faintest conception. Nothing like it exists among them. As to Sunday, even the Protestant Germans attach to it no especial sanctity, while with the Catholics everywhere every day is equally "the Lord's." -continued in part 20 -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #401 *******************************************