This history now approaches a period so recent, that it will hardly be necessary to chronicle the events of the next decade with as much minuteness as has heretofore been attempted. The reader will doubtless long ago have perceived the difficulty of stringing together incidents, interesting in themselves, yet having so little bearing upon each other, as frequently to present more the dryness of a chronological table of events, than to offer the interest of a consecutive history. It is believed however, that in preparing a book of this character, this difficulty could not well be avoided, especially if intended, as this is, to be used as a work of general reference. The events of the next ten years are however so entirely within the memory of all, that the same attention to minutiÆ need not be preserved, such things possessing interest less from their inherent value, than from the period of their occurrence. It will, however, be still necessary to notice all that pertains absolutely to the interests or prosperity of the city.
Commencing then with the year 1840, and keeping in view the fact that the effects of the disastrous crisis of 1837 were not yet passed away, the first thing claiming notice, is some account of the state of the city as it then was. The census of the United States for this year assigns to Louisville: 1 commercial, and 11 commission houses, [a somewhat indefinite phraseology,] in foreign trade, with a capital of $191,800; 270 retail stores, with a capital of $2,128,400; 3 lumber yards, with a capital of $52,000; 2 flouring mills; 2 tanneries; 2 breweries; 1 glass cutting works; 1 pottery; 2 ropewalks; 7 printing offices; 2 binderies; 5 daily, 7 weekly, and 3 semi-weekly newspapers; and 1 periodical; total capital employed in manufactures, $713,675. One college, 80 students; 10 academies, 269 students; 14 schools, 388 scholars. The aggregate of population by this census was 21,210; of which 9,282 white males, 7,889 white females; 609 free colored persons, and 3,420 slaves. This census is not considered authentic, as many transparent errors were found in various parts of it. Other computations made from reliable data at the same period, give to the city 23,000 to 24,000 inhabitants. As the former number, however, has received official sanction, it would be idle to dispute its correctness.
Two events belong also to this year which were of vital importance. Of these, the first was the lighting of the city with gas. This was done by a corporate company, established by charter in 1839, having a capital of $1,200,000, with power also to erect water-works and with banking privileges, except the issue of bills. The city is better supplied with gas, and better lighted than any in the United States, if not in the world; most of the wealthier citizens use it in their dwellings, and all the shops are lighted with gas. The perspective view of the miles of brilliant lamps stretching away in the distance is very beautiful, and very attractive to strangers. Before the introduction of this sort of light, the city had been for two or three years greatly infested by robbers, who favored by the darkness, made nightly attacks upon passengers through the streets, striking and disabling them with colts, and in no few instances murdering them outright. Residents were seldom attacked by these banditti, but the streets were considered unsafe for strangers. Finding it impossible to pursue their avocation where every street was brilliantly illuminated, these gentry changed their place of operations immediately on the lighting of the town, much to the relief of the citizens as well as the re-establishment of the fair fame of the city.
The second of the events above alluded to was the conflagration which will be long known as the Great Fire in Louisville. It originated about midnight, on Third Street, between Main and Market, in the chair factory of John Hawkins, and burned south within one door of the Post Office, (then at the corner of Market and Third Streets,) and north to Main Street. It then took a westwardly direction down Main Street, destroying all the houses to within two doors of the Bank of Louisville. Its further progress having been arrested here, the flames crossed the street, and coming back upon their course destroyed nine large stores and one boarding house on the north side of Main, east of the middle of the square. Upwards of thirty houses were consumed, and the loss was estimated at more than $300,000. The houses destroyed were chiefly large importing and commercial stores; many of the goods were saved, but all the buildings were entirely destroyed. This conflagration however, proved in the end rather a gain than a loss to the city in general, as the site of the fire was speedily rebuilt in a much better style than before.The friends of the city were at this time urging the propriety of establishing manufactures here, a want not felt less at that time than now. In an article upon this subject in one of the daily papers, the following statistics of the sale of cotton goods were elicited, in which reference is had to the year 1841. “At this time there were sold, brown cottons to the value of $276,095; prints amounting to $249,824; cotton yarns to $224,819; bleached cottons $89,589, and checks and tickings $68,180, making a total of $908,772 taken from the city, which, it was urged, could have been easily and profitably furnished on the spot.” It was then said and may be now repeated that too little attention is paid to the vast advantages to be derived from the establishment of manufactures, especially at this point where the necessary power could and can be so easily and so cheaply attained. It is somewhat remarkable that this population has depended and still depends so entirely upon commerce as a means of gain. No other city perhaps in the world has so large a commercial business in proportion to its population. This is probably accounted for in the fact that the increase of commerce has been so rapid and the difficulty of overdoing the business so apparently impossible that every temptation has been offered to the capitalist to prefer this mode of investment. The time, however, cannot be far distant when the advantages offered to the manufacturer will be acknowledged and embraced. Indeed the commencement of what must before long become a very large branch of prosperity here was already established, but it has not grown with a rapidity commensurate with the increase of other departments of trade. A few foundries and manufactories of bagging and rope were established about this period. These, with the addition of a lard oil factory, begun by C. C. P. Crosby, in 1842, may be said to embrace the whole manufacturing business of the city in that year. Future statistics will show how it has increased, and will demonstrate the value of this addition to the trade; and to these we will now turn.
The Louisville Directory for 1844-1845, compiled by N. Peabody Poor, and the best directory ever published here, gives a very complete and interesting view of the city for that year. As no events in any degree connected with the public interests, or of any especial political value, are referable to the period between this year and 1840, it will be as well to pass on at once to a notice of the results of these five years of steady progress. Beginning then with the population, which, it will be remembered, amounted in 1840 to 21,210, we find that in September, 1845, an actual census shows it to have reached 37,218 souls. Of these 32,602 were whites, 560 free blacks, and 4,056 slaves. The increase of five years is thus shown to amount to 16,008. Nor was it alone in the matter of population that such rapid progress had been made. The number of houses engaged in the wholesale and retail trade had increased from 270 to upwards of 500, and in addition to these purely commercial houses, there were then “12 large foundries for the construction of steam machinery; 1 large rolling and slitting mill; 2 extensive steam bagging factories, capable of producing about 2,000,000 of yards annually; 6 cordage and rope factories, some of which produced 900,000 pounds of bale rope annually, beside which there were several smaller rope walks for the making of sash cord, twine, &c.; 1 cotton factory; 1 woolen factory; 4 flouring mills, producing about 400 barrels daily; 4 lard oil factories; 1 white lead factory; 3 potteries; 6 extensive tobacco stemmeries, employing a large capital, where the leaf is stripped from the stem and re-packed for the English market; several tobacco manufactories; 2 glass cutting establishments; a large oil cloth factory; 2 surgical instrument makers; 2 lithographic presses; 1 paper mill; 1 star candle factory; 4 pork houses, which will slaughter and pack about 70,000 hogs annually; 3 piano forte manufactories; 3 breweries; 8 brick yards; 1 ivory black maker; 6 tanneries; 2 tallow rendering houses, rendering about 1,000,000 pounds annually; 8 soap and candle factories; 3 planing machines; 2 scale factories; 2 glue factories; 3 large ship yards, at which have been built some of the fastest running boats on the river; besides several factories of less note.”[16] The simple statement of these facts furnishes a more convincing demonstration of the rapid and healthy progress of the city, than whole volumes of argument could afford.
Another event bearing directly upon the prosperity of the city during the rest of this decade was the opening of the Louisville and Frankfort Railroad. The subject of this road had for a long time agitated the city; many surveys had been made, and indeed the work had at one time progressed to the actual digging and embankment of several miles of the track. The opening of the road was finally effected by the subscription of one million of dollars by the city herself, which was paid by a tax of one per cent, for four years on all real estate within her limits, and this tax was re-paid to the owners in shares of stock. Although sanctioned by the vote of a very large majority of the citizens, this measure was for a while a very unpopular one; but the malcontents have lately found that the present loss was to them in the end a gain, and they are ready once more to submit to similar taxation, if by so doing other roads can be constructed. Indeed the subject of railroads was now eagerly taken up, and a just and most effective feeling in their favor was taking the place of the former apathy and indifference. The Louisville and Lexington Railroad had opened so many new sources of wealth and developed such advantages before unthought of, that the policy of stretching out iron arms to embrace in their circle all possible resources was no longer doubted. Acting upon this feeling, the people of Louisville united with those of Jeffersonville in building a road from that point to Columbus, and with those of New Albany in uniting that growing city with Salem. The purpose had in view in the construction of these roads is the ultimate and not very distant connection of Louisville, Jeffersonville and New Albany with Lake Erie, St. Louis and Lake Michigan. The entire line of the first of these roads is now in progress of construction, and the greater part of the other is under contract. Beside these, a railroad hence to Nashville, Tenn., is now being surveyed, which will unite with roads already partly under operation leading to some point on the Atlantic coast, near Charleston, S. C. The Louisville and Nashville end of this route will be put under contract as soon as proper surveys can be established. Other roads are had in contemplation, but nothing has yet been done toward their construction. The effect of these improvements will be the subject of notice in another chapter.
With the opening of the year 1850, was commenced the first of a series of movements which led to the formation of a new charter for the city. This document makes all city officers elective by the people, and places the government in the hands of a Mayor, a Board of Common Council, and a Board of Aldermen. Many of the provisions of this charter are found healthful and wise in their operation, while many others are incomprehensible or impracticable. The first Mayor under this new charter felt himself obliged to resign his office, on the plea of incompetence to perform the duties assigned to him by the instrument. The Council, however, unwilling to dispense with so efficient an officer as he had proved himself, continued him in place as “Mayor pro tem.,” until the end of his term. Experience and the necessities of the city government will doubtless, as time progresses, so modify this instrument as to make its provisions work well and harmoniously.
The annals of the city up to the year 1852 having now been presented to the reader, it only remains to offer a view of its present state in regard to population, commerce, manufactures and social position; which, together with a chapter on its future destiny, will conclude this history. It is not the intention of this work purposely to mislead any, as to the actual position of the city, and therefore, instead of embracing with the statistics of Louisville those of all the suburban villages and cities in the vicinity, as has universally been done by other western places, we purpose to give such statistics as belong exclusively to this city. If, however, it is ever honest for a city to aggrandize to itself all the prosperity of its suburban neighbors, it is eminently so with Louisville. The towns immediately around the falls are as ready to concede, as Louisville is to claim a perfect identity of interests. The pre-eminence which it has already gained over the neighboring towns forbids all hope of rivalry on their part, and compels them to unite their interests with those of Louisville as a means of their own prosperity. In certain branches of trade, New Albany or Jeffersonville may and do successfully compete with this city, but it is idle to imagine that this partial success can benefit them in such a way as to afford them any superiority in point of fact. On the contrary, this very success is owing entirely to their proximity to Louisville. Those branches of manufacture or of trade in which they excel find encouragement just so far as they are part and parcel of the manufactures or commerce of Louisville; and they would find no market for such wares, and no sale for such manufactures, did they depend only on their own resources of trade. It is the immediate contiguity of the large city which is their stimulus to exertion, and their means of preservation or of prosperity. They cannot but be considered as identical in interest with their elder sister. Nor, on the other hand, can it be denied that these places are of immense advantage to Louisville. Firstly, because they are situated in a free state, and hence can offer freedom from the disadvantages of slavery; secondly, because, as smaller towns, they are cheaper residences for those whose means require attention to careful economy; thirdly, because they claim for Louisville the sympathy and encouragement of the State in which they are situated; and finally, because they extend the area of the trade and manufactures of the city. It is probable that if the same advantages which have made Louisville great had been offered to New Albany or to Jeffersonville, either of those places might have exceeded their more fortunate compeer. But now the supremacy once gained, cannot but be maintained; and the growth and prosperity, or the decay and adversity of Louisville, must either make or mar the fortunes of her sister towns.
Before entering upon the commercial statistics of Louisville, it may be well to consider its social position, and to endeavor to convey some idea of the advantages offered by this city as a place of residence, aside from its character as a commercial emporium. It is believed that there are few commercial cities on this continent which possess the same characteristics as this. The restlessness, the turmoil and the eagerness in the pursuit of wealth which is ever the characteristic of large commercial cities, has generally produced a littleness of feeling, and a selfishness of manner which does not at all tend to elevate the social position of those places, but rather causes them to lack that feature which in other countries is known and valued by the name “tone.” In Louisville, this does not appear. Indeed it is difficult to reconcile the manner of pursuing traffic here with its results. As will be seen hereafter, the business of the city is of great extent, and yet the stranger in its midst would perceive nothing to indicate such prosperity. Business is pursued quietly and without ostentation; no efforts are made by any to convince others of their successes; no factitious means are employed to display the results of labor, no hurry or restlessness or confusion attends even the largest and most prosperous houses. Trade is pursued as a means of gain, but is not allowed to blind its votaries to every other pursuit of life: business closes with the close of the day, and is forgotten in other things, until it is revived on the morrow. While pursued, it is pursued with all the avidity that is consistent with the dignity of manhood; but it is never allowed to obtrude where it does not belong, nor is it permitted to make any forget that there are other duties than those of the merchant, and other pleasures than that of adding dollar to dollar. Yet it is believed that there is no city in the Union where the aggregate amount of sales in any one department of business, divided by the number of houses engaged in that business, will show so large a result. Doubtless this state of things is in a great measure caused by the peculiarities of character which belong to the Kentuckian, and which are so essential an element in the society of this city, which society comes now to be considered in its proper form.
There are certain traits in the Kentucky character which are everywhere spoken of with approbation. A manly independence, a generous frankness, and a careless but attractive freedom of manner, united with unbounded hospitality, and that true politeness and deference, which proceeds rather from natural instinct than from a knowledge of the rules of etiquette, are perhaps the chief of these characteristics. All these, and much more which will elude description, and which can be appreciated only by acquaintance, go to make up that praiseworthy trait of character which has always and everywhere distinguished the Kentuckian, as fully as the most elaborate description could do, we mean his chivalry.
Despising alike the narrow prejudices, the suspicious reserve, the silly dignity, the proud self-gratulation of the Yankee; and the pride of birth and of purse, the ostentation of manner and the foppish pretension of the Southerner, he takes from the first his respect for talent, his patriotism and his spirit of enterprise, and from the last his genial warmth of heart, his worship of the beautiful, his deference for the other sex, and his manly independence of heart. Add to these a bold and reckless frankness, an easy confidence, a love of adventure, a scorn of oppression, a noble intolerance of even seeming insult, and an almost criminal indifference of life when duty or honor seems to call it into peril, and you have a fair picture of the true Kentuckian, of the character which forms the basis of the society now under consideration. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of this society is the readiness with which it receives and swallows up all those sectional differences which in other cities remain intact. Society here is generalized; the spirit of cliqueism does not prevail, social distinctions are marked in broad, plain lines, but the highest class is open to all who merit a place. The test of position is neither wealth, birth, nor pretension; respectability as readily enters the higher circles, and receives as ready encouragement as either of these. In other cities, society divides into numerous little circles, each claiming superior position to the other, each ridiculing the pretension and refusing the association of the other. Here, all are honored in their respective spheres, and few claim a position to which they are not entitled.
Society here has also the power of generalization to the extent that sectional differences are lost by its members, and the Northern, Eastern or Southern man, as well as the native of another country, seems to lose all identity of manner, and becomes only an integral part of one great circle. The fashionable world acts as if with one common impulse, while the other, the larger and better class of respectable people, who do not aspire to this title, but who could claim it by the mere exercise of their will, are neither led by the beau monde, on the one hand, nor, on the other, do they make a virtue of opposing this class. Society is correct in its outline and harmonious in detail. Distinctions of class, though plainly marked, are never offensively shown.
Perhaps the worst feature of society is its lack of a proper reverence for the intellectual, its tendency to frivolity. The amusements most prized by all classes are of a frivolous character. The song, the play or the dance, are valued far above the lecture or the conversation. The pleasures of the intellect are considered dull and tame, when compared with those which excite but for a moment, and are then forgotten. That the power of the intellectual man is acknowledged is true, but the acknowledgment is not practical, it is merely theoretical. While a high respect is had for the man of letters, he does not command that sympathy which should be accorded him. The great singer or actor receives far more at the hands of society than the profound philosopher or the elegant essayist. People of all ranks are bent upon attaining pleasure with the least possible intellectual exertion. Libraries are little patronized; public amusements of all sorts meet with unbounded success.
Another glaring defect of a certain part of society is found in a desire for notoriety, even if purchased at the expense of good taste. This feeling is one hardly deserving the name of ambition, for ambition has ever a laudable object in view, while this purposes to itself no more than merely having one’s name coupled with some eccentric freak, or being pitied as the victim of outre tastes in dress or manner. It has resulted from the thoughtless admission of very young persons into terms of social equality, and will doubtless be corrected as these grow mature or pass over the stage, and admit a new group to the places they have just yielded up.
The first of these defects is by far the worst in its general tendencies; for it reduces the educational standard, causing daughters to be educated merely with a view to shine in society, and leading young men to eschew pursuits which they find do not advantage them with their daily companions. It is in society that the young man first feels the promptings of ambition; and if excellence in the Redowa or the Mazourka gain for him more admiration than skill with the pen or the pallet; if genius in ball-room prattle make him more friends than learning or philosophy, it is easy to see that the Redowa and the ball-room will carry the day. Nor, on the other hand, can it be doubted that if young ladies were so educated as to show their appreciation of useful talent; if their tastes would lead them to smile on the endeavor of merit, and to frown on him who had neglected the graces of the mind to bestow his time and attention on those of the person, a very great social change would ensue. Men would then have a proper point for their ambition to aim at; the parlor or the ball-room would become a place of real and rational enjoyment, and society would take a rank far above that held by the ballet girls and singers of the conservatoire.
But society here has its virtues as well as its defects. It is singularly free from absolute vice of all sorts. It discourages gaming, drunkenness and sensuality; its prevailing tone is virtuous and moral; and, while people are hedged in by few conventionalities, yet a character for respectability is imperatively demanded from all who knock at its portals for admission. No society could be more agreeable to the stranger than that of Louisville. Its unbounded hospitality, and generous, confiding frankness are characteristics which are to him a screen against any minor defects.
It is not to be argued from anything which has been previously said that this city can boast of no prominent intellectual men. On the contrary few cities of corresponding size in the country can show as many widely known and respected names connected with the world of letters. There are now living in Louisville eighteen authors who have each contributed one or more successful volumes to the literature of the day. But authorship and intellectual exertion, like business or physical labor, seems to form no part of the every day life of society.
The next subject which presents itself as connected with the social review of the city is a glance at the religious statistics of Louisville. This is offered to the reader in the following
TABLE OF CHURCHES.
| CHURCHES. | Congregations. | Communications. | Number in
Congregation.
(Attendance.) | Church
Accomodations
for | Value of
Property. |
| Baptist | 5 | 1,729 | 2,200 | 2,650 | 80,000 |
| Episcopal | 3 | 431 | 1,425 | 2,150 | 76,000 |
| Methodist | 17 | 3,036 | 5,900 | 8,250 | 109,000 |
| Presbyterian | 5 | 913 | 2,225 | 3,300 | 128,000 |
| German Evangelical | 4 | | 1,200 | 2,150 | 21,700 |
| "Lutheran | 1 | | 100 | 100 | |
| "Reformed | 1 | 75 | 200 | 200 | 2,250 |
| Disciple | 2 | 410 | 520 | 950 | 18,000 |
| Unitarian | 1 | 63 | 240 | 320 | 12,000 |
| Universalist | 1 | 70 | 200 | 500 | 8,000 |
| Roman Catholic | 4 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 3,540 | 125,000 |
| Jews | 2 | | 400 | 400 | 11,000 |
| Total | 46 | 11,727 | 19,610 | 24,510 | 590,900 |
The tasteful and elegant structures which many of these churches have erected are great additions to the beauty of the city. Those most worthy of note are the Walnut Street Baptist, First Presbyterian, Catholic Cathedral, St. Paul’s (Episcopal) and the Synagogue; the last mentioned of which is the most elegant building in the city, although it is probably less expensive than either of the others. The pulpit of Louisville is eminently well supplied. Some of the most distinguished divines of the country are among its members; and few, if any, of the clergy are men whose talents do not rank above mediocrity.
Beside the churches above mentioned, Louisville has also many beautiful public and private buildings. The city is perhaps more thoroughly classified and better arranged, both for business and for comfortable residence, than any other western place. The wholesale business of the city is entirely confined to Main Street, which is more than four miles long, is perfectly straight, and is built up on either side with good substantial brick buildings for more than half its entire length. The stores, taken as a whole, are the largest and finest ware-houses anywhere to be seen; having fronts of from twenty to thirty feet and running back from one hundred and ten to two hundred feet, and three to five stories in height. The houses thus referred to occupy the most central part of the business street and extend from First to Sixth cross streets, a distance of 5,040 feet in a direct line. On the north side of Main Street, throughout this whole extent, there are but two retail stores of any kind, and even these only sell their goods at retail because they are enabled to do so without interference with their wholesale trade. On the south side of the same street are about twenty of the fashionable shops side by side with many of the largest wholesale houses. Market Street is exclusively devoted to the retail business. It is on this street that the principal small transactions in country produce are made. With the exception of the squares bounded by Third and Fifth Streets, where most of the retail dry-goods business is done, the entire extent of this street is given up to the retail grocers, provision dealers and clothiers. Jefferson is recently beginning to be used as a fashionable street for the retailers, but yet contains many handsome residences. The streets south of Jefferson are all entirely occupied with dwelling houses. No business is done on any of them except an occasional family grocery or drug store. The fashionable shops are fitted up in a style of unexampled magnificence and contain the most beautiful products of human ingenuity. No city in the Union is better supplied with or finds more ready sale for the finest class of articles of every description than Louisville. The city south of Jefferson Street is very beautiful. The streets are lined on either side with large and elegant shade trees, the houses are all provided with little green yards in front, and are cleanly kept, presenting a graceful and home-like appearance. An impression of elegant ease every where characterizes this part of the city. The houses seem to be more the places for retirement, comfort and enjoyment than, as is customary in most cities, either the ostentatious discomforts of display, or the hot, confined residences of those whose life of ease is sacrificed to the pursuit of gain. There is little appearance of poverty and little display of wealth; every house seems the abode of modest competence that knows how to enjoy a little with content, careless of producing a display of wealth to feast the eyes of a passing idler. Even the more ambitious residences on Chestnut and Broadway Streets are constructed rather for the comfort of the inmates than to produce an impression on the stranger. This latter is the most beautiful street in the city. It is one hundred and twenty feet in width from front to front and is perfectly straight. The side-walks are twenty-five feet wide. The view up and down this street is extended and beautiful. It is destined to become the fashionable street for residence. Already many beautiful buildings are being erected upon it and the former less elegant houses are being removed to more remote situations.
The subject of Public Education comes now to claim its share of consideration. The free school system is the same in its outline here as in other cities. The city schools are under the direction of a Board of trustees, who are elected by the people, and are open to all those persons who are not able to pay for the tuition of their wards; children of all ages and of both sexes are placed under the care of competent instructors, and educated in all the ordinary branches of learning without any charge to the pupil. The sexes are kept separate and male and female teachers are employed. The standard of study is as high as in other unclassical schools, and every pupil has equal advantages of improvement. A high school is about to be established where all the branches of study usually employed in colleges will be taught to those pupils who have successfully passed through the lower schools, also without any charge. By this magnificent educational scheme, the children even of the poorest and humblest member of society are afforded all the advantages which the wealthiest person could purchase. The attendance at the public schools of Louisville has not been so large as it should have been; firstly, because there are comparatively few parents who are not able to pay for the tuition of their children; and secondly, because of a foolish pride which prevents parents from accepting this education as a gratuity. The number of children taught in private schools as compared with those who embrace the free school privileges show that these reasons have immense weight with the people. It is probable, however, that the opening of the new high school will bring about a change in this regard. The advantages which will then be offered to the pupil will be so great as to overcome, in a great measure, the absurd prejudices which have existed in the city against the common school. There are twenty-four free schools in the city, having thirty-one female and twenty-five male teachers, whose salaries range from two hundred and fifty to seven hundred dollars. The number of pupils entered for the year reaches about three thousand, six hundred and fifty, while the number in attendance does not exceed one thousand, eight hundred and fifty. This affords an average of only thirty-three pupils to each teacher; so that all the pupils are able to receive every requisite attention.
The city also has control of a Medical and of a Law school, which are recognized as departments of the Louisville University. The first of these is one of the most distinguished schools of its class in the United States. Something has been said of its history in a previous part of this volume. Three thousand, eight hundred and sixty-one young men have been attendants on this school since its commencement. The names of its Professors are well known in the medical world and afford a sure guarantee for its position. They are as follows:
Charles W. Short, M. D., Emeritus Professor of Materia Medica and Medical Botany. [17]Jedediah Cobb, M. D., Professor of Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy.
Lunsford P. Yandell, M. D., Professor of Physiology and Pathalogical Anatomy.
Samuel D. Gross, M. D., Professor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery.
Henry Miller, M. D., Professor of Obstetric Medicine.
Lewis Rogers, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.
Benjamin Silliman, Jr., M. D., Professor of Medical Chemistry and Toxicology.
[17]Daniel Drake, M. D., Professor of the Theory and
T. G. Richardson, M. D., Demonstrator of Anatomy.
The venerated name of Charles Caldwell, M. D., was also, for a long time, associated with this school, and much of its earlier success is attributable to his exertion.
The law department of the University has been in active operation only since the winter of 1847. It has, however, obtained a wide spread and deservedly great reputation as a school. The number of pupils educated in this department since its commencement is one hundred and ninety-six.
The Professors of the Law Department of the University are as follows:
Hon. Henry Pirtle, L. L. D., Professor of Constitutional Law, Equity and Commercial Law.
Hon. Wm, F. Bullock, Professor of the Law of Real Property and of the Practice of Law, including Pleading and Evidence.
Hon. James Pryor, Professor of the History and Science of Law, including the Common Law and International Law.
The prospects of this school for the ensuing year are more flattering than they have ever been. The distinguished gentlemen who are at the head of this institution have reason to congratulate themselves as well on their past success as on their brilliant prospects for the future.
Besides these two schools under the immediate control of the city, the Medical Department of the Masonic University of Kentucky is also located here. This school has been in operation for a very short time, having been organized in 1850, but its claims seem already to be recognized throughout the West. The institution opened with a class of 103 young gentlemen, which number was increased in the second year of its existence to 110. With so auspicious a commencement, and under the direction of its distinguished faculty, there seems to be no reason why it should not soon equal in point of numbers and utility the other and older college. The advantages of Louisville over other western cities as a location for medical schools does not need any further notice than these statistics will afford. What has already been accomplished by these institutions will establish its advantages with the reader more fully than any deliberate reasoning could do. The faculty of the Kentucky School of Medicine is composed of the following gentlemen:Benj. W. Dudley, M. D., Emeritus Professor of Anatomy and Surgery.
Robert Peter, M. D., Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology.
Thos. D. Mitchell, Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine.
Joshua B. Flint, M. D., Professor of Principles and Practice of Surgery.
James M. Bush, M. D., and Ethelbert L. Dudley, M. D., Professors of Special and Surgical Anatomy and Operative Surgery.
Henry M. Bullitt, M. D., Professor of Physiology and Pathology.
Llewellyn Powell, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children.
Erasmus D. Foree, M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Clinical Medicine.
David Cummings, M. D., Demonstrator of Anatomy.
St. Aloysius college, under the care of the Jesuits, is an academical institution of some celebrity. It has six professors and several tutors. The Kentucky Institution for the Education of the Blind is also located here. This noble monument of philanthropy has been the means of much good to the class for whom it was intended. It has had an average attendance of about twenty pupils. The course of instruction is ample and the results have been in the highest degree creditable to the teachers. The proficiency of many of the pupils is truly wonderful; and their aptitude in learning many of the branches taught them, more especially that great solace of the blind, music, is everywhere noted. They are also instructed in various kinds of handicraft, by which they are enabled to earn an honorable support after leaving the school. The price of board and tuition for those who are able to pay is only one hundred dollars per annum; while indigent children, resident in the State, are educated gratuitously. The spacious building erected for the use of this school was recently destroyed by fire, but will be speedily rebuilt on a more favorable site and in a better manner than before.
Beside the schools above mentioned there are a great number of private schools of various grades of excellence. Among these the Young Ladies’ Schools of Bishop Smith and of Prof. Noble Butler are perhaps the most widely known. They offer advantages for the education of young ladies which are not surpassed in any city. Indeed the educational opportunities afforded by the many excellent public and private schools of Louisville are in the highest degree creditable to the city and have attracted and still continue to attract to it many families from distant parts of the country. To those who know how properly to estimate the value of educational privileges, the training of their children is an all-important consideration; and, as nothing can supply the want of parental care, it is not uncommon for families to seek as a residence those places which at once possess great facilities for instruction, and are free from the dangers of ill-health. Louisville has both these advantages, and hence this city owes to these facts much of her best population.
The healthiness of Louisville is everywhere a subject of remark. Its past reputation for insalubrity is long since forgotten, and its singular exemption from those epidemic diseases whose ravages have been so terrible in other places, have gained for it a very enviable distinction among cities. The following recent report of the Committee on Public Health of the Louisville Medical Society will tend still further to confirm what has just been said: “Since the years 1822 and 1823,” says this document, “the endemic fevers of summer and autumn have become gradually less frequent, until within the last five or six years they have almost ceased to prevail, and those months are now as free from disease as those of any part of the year. Typhoid fever is a rare affection here, and a majority of the cases seen occur in persons recently from the country. Some physicians residing in the interior of this State see more of the disease than comes under the joint observation of all the practitioners of the city, if we exclude those treated in the Hospital.
“Tubercular disease, particularly pulmonary consumption, is not so much seen as in the interior of Kentucky. Our exemption from pulmonary consumption is remarkable, and it would be a matter of much interest if a registration could be made of all the deaths from it, so that we could compare them with those of other places.
“For the truth of the remarks as to the extent and frequency of the diseases enumerated we rely solely upon what we have observed ourselves, and upon what we have verbally gathered from our professional friends.
“This exemption of Louisville from disease, can be accounted for in no other way than from its natural situation, and from what has been done in grading, in building, and in laying off the streets.
“Louisville is situated on an open plain, where the wind has access from every direction; upon a sandy soil, which readily absorbs the water that falls upon it; susceptible of adequate drainings; supplied bountifully with pure lime stone water, which is filtered through a depth of thirty or forty feet of sand; its streets are wide and laid off at right angles—north and south, east and west—giving the freest ventilation; and the buildings compact, comfortable, and generally so constructed as to be dry and to admit freely the fresh air. It is situated upon the border of the beautiful Ohio, and environed by one of the richest agricultural districts in the world, supplying it with abundance of food, and all the comforts and luxuries of life. It must, under the guidance of science and wise legislation, become, if it is not already, one of the healthiest cities in the world. Its proximity to the rapids of the Ohio may add to its salubrity, and it is certain that the evening breezes wafted over them, produce an exhilarating effect, beyond what is derived from the perpetual music of the roar of the falls.”
It may be proper to add the following table of the comparative statistics of annual mortality of the resident population as ascertained from official sources.
| In | Louisville | the | deaths | are | one | to | 50. |
| Philadelphia | | do | | do | | 36. |
| New York | | do | | do | | 37. |
| Boston | | do | | do | | 38. |
| Cincinnati | | do | | do | | 35. |
| Naples | | do | | do | | 28. |
| Paris | | do | | do | | 33. |
| London | | do | | do | | 39. |
| Glasgow | | do | | do | | 44. |
The Market Houses of Louisville, five in number and all located upon Market Street, are profusely supplied with every production of this latitude. Markets are held every day, and prices are much lower than in Eastern cities. The Kentucky beef and pork which is everywhere so celebrated, is here found in its true perfection. The vegetables and fruits peculiar to this climate, are also offered in excellent order and in great abundance. Irish and sweet potatoes, green peas, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, asparagus, celery, salsafie, pie plant, melons, peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries, and many other vegetables and fruits are plentifully supplied. The Irish potato is sold at from twenty-five to forty cents per bushel, green peas command about twenty cents per peck, strawberries fifty cents per gallon. The choice pieces of beef can be had at from six to eight cents per pound, less desirable pieces bring three and four cents. Pork is bought at about five cents per pound. Turkies bring fifty to seventy-five cents each. Spring chickens, from seventy-five to one dollar and fifty cents per dozen. Ducks, fifteen to twenty-five cents each. Eggs are sold at four to eight cents per dozen. Butter, fifteen to twenty cents per pound. The lamb and mutton sold in this market, cannot be surpassed in point of quality in the United States. The extreme fertility of the country around Louisville, and its perfect adaptation to the wants of the gardener and the stockraiser, must always give to this city the advantage of an excellent and cheap provision market.
The following is a list of all the publications issued from this city:
| Journal | Daily and Weekly | Whig. |
| Courier | "" | " |
| Times | "" | Democrat. |
| Democrat | "" | " |
| Beobachter am Ohio | "" | " |
| Louisville Anzeiger | "" | " |
| Union | Daily | Neutral. |
| Bulletin | " | " |
| Sunday Varieties | Weekly | " |
| Presbyterian Herald | " | Presbyterian. |
| Western Recorder | " | Baptist. |
| Watchman and Evangelist | " | Cumb. Presby. |
| Christian Advocate | " | Methodist. |
| Kentucky New Era | Semi-Monthly | Temperance. |
| Christian Repository | Monthly | Baptist. |
| Indian Advocate | " | " |
| Bible Advocate | " | Neutral. |
| Theological Medium | " | Cumb. Presby. |
| Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery | Monthly. |
| Transylvania Medical Journal | " |
This review of the social statistics of Louisville will be concluded with a notice of the number of persons engaged in the various avocations of life, as shows in the following:
| Agents | 58 |
| Agricultural Implement Makers | 5 |
| Apothecaries | 113 |
| Architects | 6 |
| Artificial Flower Makers | 2 |
| Artists | 10 |
| Auctioneers | 26 |
| Barbers | 198 |
| Bakers | 362 |
| Bar Keepers | 231 |
| Basket Makers | 15 |
| Bellows Makers | 5 |
| Blind Makers | 5 |
| Blacking Makers | 4 |
| Blacksmiths | 251 |
| Bird Stuffers | 2 |
| Brush Makers | 15 |
| Brokers | 28 |
| Bricklayers | 265 |
| Brick Makers | 45 |
| Brewers | 37 |
| Bristle Cleaners | 4 |
| Book Sellers | 18 |
| Boot and Shoe Dealers | 58 |
| Book Binders | 102 |
| Butchers | 201 |
| Candle and Soap Makers | 38 |
| Caulkers | 18 |
| Carpet Weavers | 8 |
| Carvers | 13 |
| Cartmen | 452 |
| Carpenters | 874 |
| Camphine Makers | 4 |
| Cabinet Makers | 275 |
| Cement Maker | 1 |
| Clerks | 1130 |
| Clothing Dealers | 57 |
| Cigar Makers | 159 |
| Composition Roofers | 2 |
| Cotton Packers | 22 |
| Cotton Caulk Makers | 3 |
| Collectors | 22 |
| Confectionaries | 96 |
| Coach Makers | 78 |
| Coopers | 116 |
| Comb Makers | 3 |
| Dancing Teachers | 10 |
| Daguerreotypists | 23 |
| Dentists | 13 |
| Distiller | 1 |
| Doctors | 162 |
| Druggists | 75 |
| Dry Goods Dealers | 275 |
| Dyers | 11 |
| Editors | 18 |
| Edge Tool Makers | 11 |
| Egg Packers | 4 |
| Engravers | 15 |
| Engineers | 139 |
| Farmers | 17 |
| Feed Dealers | 15 |
| Fishermen | 10 |
| File Cutters | 3 |
| Foundrymen | 369 |
| Fringe Makers | 4 |
| Gardeners | 31 |
| Gentlemen | 36 |
| Gilders | 8 |
| Glass Setters | 3 |
| Glass Cutters | 2 |
| Glass Stainer | 1 |
| Glass Blowers | 21 |
| Glue Makers | 2 |
| Grocers | 504 |
| Guagers | 3 |
| Gunsmiths | 17 |
| Hatters | 117 |
| Hackmen | 95 |
| Hardware Dealers | 34 |
| Hucksters | 45 |
| Hose Makers | 2 |
| Ice Dealers | 6 |
| Ink Makers | 6 |
| Insurance Agencies | 27 |
| Iron Safe Maker | 1 |
| Lamp Makers | 2 |
| Laborers | 1920 |
| Last Makers | 3 |
| Leather Finders | 16 |
| Lawyers | 125 |
| Liquor Dealers | 45 |
| Locksmiths | 47 |
| Livery Keepers | 43 |
| Lightning Rod Maker | 1 |
| Lathe Makers | 2 |
| Match Makers | 12 |
| Machinists | 33 |
| Marble Cutters | 21 |
| Merchants | 85 |
| Millers | 37 |
| Milliners | 186 |
| Milkmen | 8 |
| Millwrights | 17 |
| Midwives | 23 |
| Music Dealers | 9 |
| Music Teachers | 30 |
| Music Publishers | 3 |
| No Occupation | 127 |
| Oil Cloth Makers | 15 |
| Oyster Brokers | 5 |
| Organ Builders | 4 |
| Oil Stone Makers | 10 |
| Opticians | 2 |
| Oil Makers | 27 |
| Paper Makers | 22 |
| Paper Box Makers | 8 |
| Painters | 267 |
| Pedlars | 47 |
| Plasterers | 94 |
| Plane Makers | 26 |
| Planing Mill and Lumbermen | 33 |
| Piano Makers | 36 |
| Printers | 201 |
| Paper Hangers | 48 |
| Potters | 17 |
| Professors | 26 |
| Pump Makers | 16 |
| Pickle Dealer | 1 |
| Plumbers | 9 |
| Pork Packers | 25 |
| Preachers | 57 |
| Presidents Company | 45 |
| Policemen | 32 |
| Queensware Dealers | 26 |
| Railroad Car Makers | 6 |
| Refrigerator Makers | 6 |
| River Men | 330 |
| Rope Makers | 65 |
| Saddlers | 195 |
| Semptresses | 311 |
| Scale Makers | 7 |
| Silver Platers | 5 |
| Silversmiths | 63 |
| Shoemakers | 356 |
| Ship Carpenters | 133 |
| Soda Makers | 8 |
| Speculators | 43 |
| Starch Makers | 10 |
| Stereotypers | 3 |
| Stone Cutters | 219 |
| Stocking Weavers | 2 |
| Surveyors | 13 |
| Students | 638 |
| Saw Millers | 8 |
| Stucco Workers | 4 |
| Stove Makers | 4 |
| Sail Makers | 2 |
| Surgical Instrument Makers | 4 |
| Tailors | 375 |
| Tanners | 42 |
| Tavern keepers | 275 |
| Teachers | 67 |
| Telescopic Instrument Makers | 1 |
| Tinners | 115 |
| Turners | 22 |
| Tobacconists | 61 |
| Trunk Makers | 35 |
| Upholsterers | 29 |
| Umbrella Makers | 5 |
| Variety Dealers | 46 |
| Vinegar Makers | 8 |
| Wig Makers | 3 |
| Wire Workers | 12 |
| Wagon Makers | 144 |
| Whip Makers | 3 |
| Wood and Coal Dealers | 30 |
| White Lead Makers | 2 |
| Wall Paper Makers | 1 |
The commercial and manufacturing statistics of Louisville come next to be considered. And it is well to state here, however discreditable such statement may be to the city, that no business organization of any kind has ever been attempted and no statistical tables have ever been kept either by the city government, by societies or individuals. The only means left to the statistician, therefore, have been the tedious and often incomplete process of personal application and investigation. The statistics which are here offered to the reader are derived from the best authority and are believed to be correct, but are necessarily far less complete than could have been wished. This outline will, however, serve to give some idea of the general business character of the city.
All departments of business in Louisville are transacted upon a very large scale. It is perhaps the greatest fault in the commercial character of the city that everything is conducted upon too large a scale. There is, to use a painter’s phrase, too much of outline and too little in detail. The wealth and importance of cities depends less upon the great than upon the small dealers and manufacturers; these latter are content with doing each a small and careful business which may gradually rise to be of vast extent, and which will thus really improve and profit the city more than the mighty efforts of the large dealer. In Louisville, however, none are contented to do a little business. The feeling seems to exist that mercantile or manufacturing pursuits are respectable just in proportion to the capital employed in them, and the desire of every one seems to be to attain a high point of respectability. Louisville greatly lacks that class of inhabitants, so useful to a city, who are content to attain wealth by careful and laborious means, who can commence with the basket of apples and gradually work up to the proud proprietorship of extensive ware-houses or factories. There is everywhere prevalent among those who should seek to rise gradually, a desire to place themselves at once in a rank with the largest dealers. It is the small dealer and the small manufacturer, who is content to rise by his own efforts, unaided by factitious means of any sort, who is needed here. There is abundant room and abundant work for such, their advent is courted; and, if they will avoid the characteristic desire for extensive business relations and be content to seek their fortunes by pains-taking progress, their success is infallibly certain.
It has already been remarked that the aggregate amount of sales in any one department of business divided by the number of houses engaged in that business would show a very large result. In this statement reference is had only to those exclusively wholesale houses, whose sales are made to dealers. No exclusively retail houses of any sort are placed in the enumeration, though the sales of many of the retail stores would fully equal, if indeed they did not exceed, some of the wholesale houses. The difficulty of reaching any proper account of the retail business will, however, prevent any notice being taken of it in this volume.
Louisville contains twenty-five exclusively wholesale Dry Goods houses, whose sales are made only to dealers and whose market reaches from Northern Louisiana to Northern Kentucky and embraces a large part of the States of Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi and Arkansas. The aggregate amount of annual sales by these houses is five million, eight hundred and fifty-three thousand (5,853,000) dollars, or an average of two hundred and thirty-four thousand (234,000) dollars to each house. The sales of three of the largest of these houses amount in the aggregate to one million, seven hundred and eighty-nine thousand (1,789,000) dollars. Neither this statement nor those which follow include any auction houses.
In Boots & Shoes, the sales of the eight houses of the above description reach one million, one hundred and eighty-four thousand (1,184,000) dollars, or one hundred and forty-eight thousand (148,000) dollars to each house. The sales of the three largest houses in this business reach six hundred and thirty thousand (630,000) dollars.
The aggregate amount of annual sales by eight houses in Drugs, &c., is one million, one hundred and twenty-three thousand (1,123,000) dollars, or one hundred and forty thousand, three hundred and seventy-five (140,375) dollars to each house; and the sales of the three largest houses amount to seven hundred and fifty-three thousand (753,000) dollars.
The sales of Hardware by nine houses amount annually to five hundred and ninety thousand (590,000) dollars, being an average of sixty-five thousand, five hundred and fifty-five (65,555) dollars to each house.
The sales of Saddlery reach nine hundred and eighty thousand (980,000) dollars, of which nearly one-half are of domestic manufacture.
The sales of Hats and Caps, necessarily including sales at retail, amount to six hundred and eighty-three thousand (683,000) dollars.
The sales of Queensware, less reliably taken, reach two hundred and sixty-five thousand (265,000) dollars.
There are thirty-nine wholesale Grocery houses, whose aggregate sales reach ten millions, six hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred (10,623,400) dollars, which gives an average of two hundred and seventy-two thousand, four hundred (272,400) dollars to each house. A brief statement of some of the principal annual imports in the Grocery line will perhaps give a better idea of this business. The figures refer to the year 1850:
| Louisiana Sugar | | 15,615 | hhds. |
| Refined" | | 10,100 | p’ckgs. |
| Molasses | | 17,500 | bbls. |
| Coffee | | 42,500 | bags. |
| Rice | | 1,275 | tierces. |
| Cotton Yarns | | 17,925 | bags. |
| Cheese | | 25,250 | boxes. |
| Flour | | 80,650 | bbls. |
| Bagging | | 70,160 | pieces. |
| Rope | | 65,350 | coils. |
| Salt, Kanawha | | 110,250 | bbls. |
| "Turk’s Island | | 50,525 | bags. |
The following Recapitulatory Table will enable the reader to see at a glance all that has just been stated:
TABLE.
| Description of Business. | No of
Houses. | Aggregate Annual
Sales. | Average Sales to
each house. |
| Groceries | 39 | $10,623,400 | $272,400 |
| Dry Goods | 25 | 5,853,000 | 234,000 |
| Boots and Shoes | 8 | 1,184,000 | 148,000 |
| Drugs | 8 | 1,123,000 | 140,375 |
| Hardware | 9 | 590,000 | 65,555 |
| Queensware | 6 | 265,000 | 44,166 |
| Hats, Furs, &c. | 8 | 683,000 | 85,375 |
| Total | 103 | $20,321,400 | $197,295 |
It will be seen that these tables do not include many of the largest departments of business. Beside the houses already mentioned are many commission houses, whose sales in cotton, tobacco, rope, bagging, hemp, provisions &c., would very greatly increase the amounts above stated. The impossibility of procuring accurate and reliable statistics of the amount of sales by these houses will prevent any attempt to fix the exact ratio of their business. The Western reader who is at all connected with commerce does not, however, need to be told that the trade in these articles in Louisville is of immense extent. The great superiority of this city as a market for hemp and its products, bagging and rope, is so obvious, so well known and so widely acknowledged, that any dissertation upon these merits is unnecessary here.
As a Tobacco Market, Louisville possesses advantages which are not afforded by any other Western or Southern city. The rapid and healthful increase in the receipts and sales of this article during the last few years is of itself sufficient evidence of this fact. Even as early as the year 1800 the prospects of the city in this regard, though in the distant future, were looked upon as highly flattering. A Mr. Campbell had at that time a tobacco ware-house, which was situated opposite Corn Island. This ware-house was suppressed by the legislature in 1815, and a new one ordered to be erected at “the mouth of Beargrass.” The building thus directed was located on Pearl Street, about one hundred feet from Main, and the salary of the Inspector was fixed at £25, currency, per annum. This inspector resided at some distance from the city, and when a sufficient quantity of tobacco had been collected at the ware-house to make it an object, he was sent for to come and perform his duties. The entire crop did not then exceed 500 hogsheads. There are at present in the city three large tobacco ware-houses, all receiving and selling daily immense quantities of this article. Speculators are attracted to this market from great distances and the receipts are continually upon the increase. The following table of receipts since 1837 will show how steadily and securely this increase has been effected:
| 1837 | | 2,133 | hhds. |
| 1838 | | 2,783 | " |
| 1839[18] | | 1,295 | " |
| 1840 | | 3,113 | " |
| 1841 | | 4,031 | " |
| 1842 | | 5,131 | " |
| 1843 | | 5,424 | " |
| 1844 | | | " |
| 1845 | | 8,454 | " |
| 1846 | | 9,700 | " |
| 1847 | | 7,070 | " |
| 1848 | | 4,937 | " |
| 1849 | | 8,906 | " |
| 1850 | | 7,155 | " |
| 1851 | | 11,300 | " |
| 1852 | | 16,176 | " |
These figures are of themselves a strong argument in favor of this city as a market for tobacco. The reasons for the steady and rapid increase in the receipts of this article, as well as for the opinion that this is the best market for tobacco in the United States, are very simple, very convincing and very easily stated. In the first place, it is a fact well known to all tobacco dealers, that in the three divisions of Kentucky—to-wit: the Northern, Southern and Middle—a variety of leaf, suitable to all the purposes of the manufacturer, is grown. In no other State is so great and so complete a variety of leaf produced. The cigar maker, the lump manufacturer and the stemmer all find in this State the article just suited to their various purposes. These tobaccos all naturally find their way to Louisville as a market, and, of a necessary consequence, attract buyers to this place. Beside this advantage, another important point is gained in the presence of the numerous manufacturers of tobacco in Louisville. These persons, having to compete with the established markets of older States, offer large prices to the planter and so attract here great quantities of the article. It is well known that really fine tobacco, for manufacturing purposes, has brought and will always command here as high rates as can be had for it at any other point in the United States. The number of manufacturers is rapidly increasing, the character of the article which they produce is steadily growing into favor, and the market for its sale is enlarging every day, so that planters cannot be so blinded to their interests as to seek foreign markets for an article which will pay them so handsomely at their own doors. Again: the facilities for the shipment of the article from this point to the various Eastern markets are recently so increased that an entirely new demand has sprung up for Louisville tobacco. Western New York, Western Pennsylvania, Northern Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, all of which were formerly obliged to look to New York City for their supplies of this article, have recently turned their faces westwardly, for the simple reason that they can now get the same article at less rates of freight and without the former numerous and onerous commissions. Nor is this the only benefit procured to these purchasers in choosing this market. It is well known that, unless tobacco is in unusually excellent order, it is always seriously injured by being confined on shipboard in its passage through the warm climate of the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast of the Southern States. And as Louisville is the only other prominent shipping point for the article, it has, of course, this great advantage over rival markets. The facts above enumerated indicate only the prominent and leading reasons for believing Louisville to be the best tobacco market in the Union. Many other advantages might be enumerated, but these, which are all acknowledged and have been demonstrated over and over again, are considered sufficient to establish the proposition. However much Louisville has gained in regard to this article, there is yet much to gain. Her destiny is but beginning to be unfolded, and only a few years will elapse until the largest of the receipts above quoted will appear quite insignificant and worthless beside the swollen columns of the statistician of a future period.
The assertion that Louisville is destined very soon to become distinguished also as a Cotton Market may excite some surprise among those who have not had their attention called to this matter. But that this is a fact can readily be shown to the most skeptical. The consumption of cotton in the West amounts to 35,000 bales, and heretofore this has constituted the entire demand of this section of the country. But the recent opening up of new means of communication with the Atlantic coast at the East has begun and will complete an entirely new state of affairs in this regard. Let us look for a moment at the effect of these new facilities of transport. By the 1st of January, 1853, an uninterrupted communication with the Atlantic at the North will be effected by the lake route, continuing from 1st of May to 1st of November. At the same time the Jeffersonville Railroad will have established connection with other railroads reaching to New York. Beside all of which, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad will have been completed from Wheeling to Baltimore, from which point all descriptions of Western produce can reach Philadelphia and New York, either by railroad, or, more cheaply, by means of propellers, steamers and sail-vessels. The completion of this latter road will be the signal for the establishment of a line of steam-packets from Louisville to Wheeling, another to Memphis, and yet another to Nashville. These lines are already established and merely wait the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to go at once into operation. A line of packets to Tuscumbia and Florence is already in successful operation. The facts above stated are well known to the community both East and West. It only remains, therefore, to examine how they will affect Louisville as a market for cotton. New Orleans, it cannot be denied, has heretofore been considered the only proper point of shipment for this article, but if both the seller and the buyer can be benefited by a change of markets, surely that change will ensue. New Orleans is certainly the natural depot for Southern cotton, but if the cotton raised in Alabama, Tennessee and North Mississippi, or that which finds its way to market down the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, can be placed in Louisville at less rates of freight than would be charged to New Orleans, and thence can reach the Eastern markets in less time and at less rates than from that city, it is surely the interest of both seller and buyer to make Louisville their market. Now it is certain that from these points cotton will be carried to Louisville at one dollar per bale less than to New Orleans; it is equally certain that insurance can be had via Louisville to New York at one-half the rates charged via New Orleans, and that freight, after the 1st of January next, from this city onward, will be the same as from New Orleans; beside which the time of transit will be thirty days less, thus saving no inconsiderate sum in interest. Again, the trade of North Alabama, Tennessee and North Mississippi with this city is ascertained to reach two and a half millions of dollars. To pay this debt seventy thousand bales of cotton, valued at seven cents per pound, would be required. Here is presented another reason why this cotton should seek Louisville as its natural market. One of our most sagacious and enterprising merchants has recently returned from the East, where, with laudable energy, he had been presenting the claims of this market to Eastern buyers. And the result of this mission is, that reliable arrangements have been made for buying whatever cotton may come to this market at New Orleans quotations. It is perfectly safe then to predict from January of next year a spirited and regular demand for all the cotton which may be sent here. The 140,000 bales produced in Tennessee, or finding its way to market from Tennessee river, will find ready sale in Louisville and at the regular New Orleans prices. Can it be doubted, in view of all these facts, that Louisville is entirely certain to attain prominence as a market for cotton. This has long been the natural market for the article, and only waited the completion of lines of connection with the East, which, now they are about to go into operation, must of necessity make it the first cotton market of the Western country.
Louisville also deserves consideration as a market for pork. This market, though perhaps less in extent here than in some other Western cities, is steadily increasing in the amount of its operations and rapidly growing into favor with the dealers. In 1827 there were but two pork houses in the city; one of which was owned by Patrick Maxcy and the other by Colmesnil and O’Beirne. It was then the custom to buy the hog in small lots from the farmers by means of agents who traveled through the State. These hogs so procured were concentrated at some point and corn was bought and fed to them until the time for slaughtering arrived, when they were driven to this city and here butchered. The number of hogs killed by these two houses did not then exceed fifteen thousand, while at the end of the pork season in 1851, this amount had been increased to one hundred and ninety-five thousand, four hundred and fourteen. It is fully calculated by the packers that this number will be exceeded ten per cent in the ensuing year. Both the farmer and the buyer have reasons for prefering this city as a pork market. The farmer, because it is not the custom here to “scale” the hog—that is, to make a standard weight for which the market price is given, while all below that point are taken at reduced figures—and the buyer, because pork is here packed under the same roof where it is butchered. This last may be considered a small inducement; but when it is remembered that where the butchering and packing are carried on by different individuals and in different parts of the city, the hog is obliged to be transported at all seasons and in all states of weather from house to house at considerable labor and cost and with danger of damage to the meat, it will be found an item worthy the serious consideration of the buyer. The meat put up here is surpassed in quality by none in the world, and when the facilities of transportation referred to in the above remarks upon cotton are established, the growth of this city as a pork market will be yet more rapid than it has before been. There are at present eight large pork houses in the city. The importance of Louisville as a pork market is well enough known to need no further elaboration of its merits in these pages.
The manufacturing interests of Louisville come now to claim their share of attention. And it is somewhat singular that, with the resources and capacity of this city as a place for manufactures, there should be so little to boast of in this regard. Of her commercial statistics, as has already been shown, Louisville has abundant cause to be proud, but she has at the same time reason to regret the little use which has heretofore been made of her immense advantages as a manufacturing point. It is not to be denied that there are many excellent manufacturing establishments in and around the city, but the number is greatly below what is needed and greatly disproportioned to the advantages offered here. There are many reasons why this city should hold prominent rank as a place for manufactures. The facilities in the way of water-power, the immense surface of level and highly productive country by which it is surrounded, the cheapness of rents and of building lots, and the advantages for placing the manufactured article in market, are among the most prominent of these reasons. There is, perhaps, no city in the Union where similarly great inducements are offered to the judicious and enterprising manufacturer. And yet the results of commercial enterprise of other sorts have been so successful and so rapidly produced as to lead away from the manufacturing interests much capital which would otherwise have been invested in them. The brilliant success of any one department of trade in a city has usually led to precisely similar results as are alluded to here. Of this Cincinnati furnishes a notable example. Her earliest success was effected by means of her manufactures, and persons seeking investment for their capital naturally gave it the direction which had already proved productive. Louisville, on the contrary, owing to her peculiar location, found her earliest and most promising evidences of prosperity in commerce, and consequently all the capital seeking employment was naturally drawn into this channel. And it is unfortunate for Louisville that this has been true, for however important commercial prosperity may be to a city, it is far inferior in point of utility and universal profit to the advantages conferred by successful manufactures. During the last four or five years this matter has begun to engage the attention of capitalists and a proper and healthful feeling is rapidly gaining ground in favor of this branch of trade. Many new factories have already sprung up, and several more are on the eve of establishment. The public mind is fully awakened to the necessity for building up and for encouraging the products of home industry, and the producer has taken new rank in public estimation. The prejudice which may once have existed against mechanical employments of all sorts is no longer felt, but the manufacturer and his employees are held alike high in favor and in social rank.
The following table of manufactures in Louisville is chiefly taken from the census report of 1850. Additions have been made to the more important branches of manufacture as far as reliable data could be obtained, so as to enable the reader to have a comprehensive view of the subject up to the present time. It is believed that the figures in this table are under the actual amounts; it is certain, at any rate, that they do not in any instance exceed the truth. A more extended and special notice of the principal manufacturing establishments of the city will be given in an appendix to this volume, to which all who feel an interest in the state of manufactures here are especially referred.
TABLE OF MANUFACTURES.
| Kind of Manufacture. | | No. of
Factories. | | No. of
hands. | | Annual
product. |
| Animal Charcoal | | 2 | | 12 | | $15,000 |
| Awnings and Tents | | 2 | | 12 | | 7,500 |
| Artificial Flowers | | 1 | | 3 | | 6,000 |
| Bagging Factories | | 3 | | 120 | | 184,000 |
| Bakers | | 96 | | 332 | | 469,200 |
| Bandboxes | | 3 | | 9 | | 3,800 |
| Baskets | | 3 | | 7 | | 5,400 |
| Bellows | | 2 | | 7 | | 15,000 |
| Blacking | | 3 | | 12 | | 7,500 |
| Blacksmiths | | 49 | | 254 | | 163,400 |
| Blinds, Venitian | | 3 | | 12 | | 14,200 |
| Blocks and Spars | | 2 | | 12 | | 7,500 |
| Bootmakers | | 63 | | 302 | | 375,100 |
| Brewers | | 6 | | 30 | | 108,600 |
| Brushes | | 2 | | 9 | | 5,813 |
| Bricks | | 36 | | 339 | | 224 000 |
| Bristle Dressers | | 1 | | 3 | | 2,500 |
| Burr Stones | | 1 | | 8 | | 12,000 |
| Boiler Makers | | 4 | | 30 | | 64,200 |
| Candy | | 9 | | 56 | | 184,800 |
| Camphine, &c. | | 1 | | 3 | | 31,500 |
| Carpenters | | 144 | | 916 | | 1,027,600 |
| Cars, &c. | | 1 | | 100 |
| Carpet Weavers | | 2 | | 14 | | 6,000 |
| Coach Makers | | 9 | | 98 | | 123.300 |
| Cotton and Wool | | 3 | | 135 | | 173,500 |
| Clothing | | 45 | | 1,157 | | 941,500 |
| Composition Roofing | | 1 |
| Combs | | 6 | | 18 | | 9,800 |
| Coopers | | 20 | | 60 | | 56,800 |
| Cement | | 1 | | 4 | | 10,000 |
| Edge Tools | | 2 | | 9 | | 16,000 |
| Feed and Flour Mills | | 9 | | 47 | | 283,800 |
| Flooring and Saw Mills | | 14 | | 190 | | 420,200 |
| Fringes, Tassels, &c. | | 1 | | 6 | | 8,700 |
| Furniture | | 25 | | 446 | | 638,000 |
| Foundries | | 15 | | 930 | | 1,392 200 |
| Glass Cutters | | 1 | | 3 | | $2,500 |
| Glue | | 2 | | 6 | | 5,000 |
| Gunsmiths | | 4 | | 8 | | 14,000 |
| Glass | | 1 | | 50 | | 50,000 |
| Hats | | 6 | | 68 | | 201,700 |
| Last Makers | | 1 | | 2 | | 2,500 |
| Lath Makers | | 1 | | 4 | | 5,000 |
| Lock Makers | | 6 | | 38 | | 37,400 |
| Leather Splitter | | 1 | | 1 | | 1,000 |
| Lithographers | | 2 | | 9 | | 20,000 |
| Looking Glass, &c. | | 2 | | 11 | | 12,000 |
| Machinists[19] | | 2 | | 5 | | 6,200 |
| Marble Workers | | 4 | | 41 | | 35,000 |
| Mathematical Inst. Makers | | 1 | | 3 | | 6,500 |
| Mustard | | 2 | | 13 | | 21,000 |
| Musical Inst. Makers | | 3 | | 60 |
| Millinery | | 35 | | 344 | | 340,000 |
| Oil Cloth | | 2 | | 12 | | 11,500 |
| Oil Stones | | 1 | | 6 | | 22,900 |
| Oil, Lard and Linseed | | 3 | | 16 | | 140,000 |
| Nail | | 1 | | 2 | | 3,000 |
| Paper Mill | | 1 | | 36 | | 113,000 |
| Plane | | 3 | | 8 | | 13,000 |
| Platform Scale | | 1 | | 11 | | 12,000 |
| Patent Medicines | | 24 | | 127 | | 467,400 |
| Printing Offices | | 12 | | 201 | | 214,000 |
| Plows | | 4 | | 32 | | 35,000 |
| Perfumery | | 2 | | 10 | | 8,000 |
| Pottery | | 2 | | 14 | | 11,500 |
| Pork Houses | | 4 | | 475 | | 1,370,000 |
| Pumps | | 3 | | 16 | | 15,100 |
| Rope | | 11 | | 166 | | 460,000 |
| Saddlery | | 17 | | 114 | | 236,000 |
| Saddle Trees | | 1 | | 7 | | 7,500 |
| Soap and Candles | | 6 | | 59 | | 409,000 |
| Starch | | 1 | | 8 | | 20,000 |
| Steamboat Carpenters[20] | | 4 | | 75 | | $235,000 |
| Stocking Weavers | | 1 | | 10 | | 5,000 |
| Silversmiths | | 4 | | 18 | | 34,500 |
| Stucco | | 1 | | 5 | | 7,000 |
| Tobacco and Segars | | 82 | | 1,050 | | 1,347,500 |
| Tin, Copper, &c. | | 17 | | 87 | | 122,300 |
| Tanners | | 9 | | 64 | | 176,000 |
| Trunks | | 3 | | 27 | | 29,500 |
| Turners[21] | | 4 | | 8 | | 11,600 |
| Upholsterers | | 5 | | 21 | | 56,000 |
| White Lead | | 1 | | 8 | | 12,600 |
| Wigs | | 1 | | 4 | | 8,000 |
| Whips | | 1 | | 2 | | 1,500 |
| Wire Workers | | 2 | | 12 | | 12,500 |
| Wagons | | 20 | | 144 | | 184,800 |
To this list may be added the following memoranda of steamboats for 1850. It has been found impossible to bring this list forward as far as 1852. In the former year there were employed on 53 steamboats, owned in Louisville, 1,903 hands. The amount of capital invested in these boats was $1,293,300, and the annual product for freight and passage reached $2,549,200.
