March 2015 Flooding

St. Rose Church from the air 3-16-2015
Photo Credit: Tim Jeffries

Over the years, I've taken numerous pictures of St. Rose Church -- but never from this view. Once again, photographer Tim Jeffries outdid himself when he captured this picture of the recent flood. If I recall correctly, this year's flood crested at 58.6 feet. Flood stage is 52' so it was just enough to flood the parking lot of St. Rose Church. Note that the "little red benches" featured in the previous post were completely submerged.

In talking with Tim, I asked him if he had any pictures of the flooding of Rivertowne Marina. He shared this one with me.

Rivertowne Marina

Photo Credit: Tim Jeffries

As you can see, the buildings and the boats stored in the surrounding lot are high and dry. Just to add a few pictures of my own, Bill and I went down and captured the Jennie Wade, normally undergoing restoration in the parking lot, surrounded by water and some of the local ducks.

Jennie Wade 3-8-15

Finally, here is a picture of my husband, Bill Reed, sitting on the "little red bench" the week before it would be completely submerged in the rising flood waters. I think we are all ready for spring.

The Little Red Bench

The Little Red Bench
2-20-2015
Used with the permission  of Tim Jeffries, Photographer

I'll admit it -- I spend way too much time on facebook. One recent discovery seems to have justified the time. Photographer, Tim Jeffries, posted a picture of a red bench behind St. Rose Church on the banks of the Ohio River. I responded to Tim that this was a special place in the hearts of all Jones descendants as Elizabeth Kinley Jones and family lived on the river bank in a small frame house in 1870. I wrote about this in detail in 2011. I jokingly told Tim that our family would probably love to have a four-season set of pictures from this spot. Since then, Tim has posted numerous pics from this spot.

For those of you who are not aware, a Sandborn Fire Map pictures the exact location of the little frame house sitting on the river bank on land that is now occupied by the city-owned water works.

The frame building is described as being 250' from the corner of St. Rose Church. My brother, Tim, his wife, Dusty, and I went with tape measure in hand and tried to determine the exact location. You can read about our efforts here.

So the bench, for me, has become a symbol. It is a symbol of the Jones family connection to the river and to St. Rose. And due to numerous facebook posts during the past few weeks, I know it is symbolic for many Joneses, Scardinas, Brevings and Kramers. So think of our family when you visit the bench. Hopefully, the next pictures will have a lot more green.

Note: I encourage you to check out some of Tim Jeffries photos of Cincinnati. I recently purchased a beautiful picture of the Over-the-Rhine area printed on canvas.

Just My Luck!

I have a new-found friend, Bryan Phillips, who has a facebook page on Cincinnati's East End, Columbia-Tusculum and Linwood. If you have an interest in this old Cincinnati neighborhood, his site is a gold mine.  Since meeting him I've been able to have a few lunches with other "old" East Enders who have helped me get a better understanding of the neighborhood that defined four generations of my family.

People from the neighborhood are constantly sending Bryan pictures and information for his page.  Bryan knows I have a wish list:

• Locating a picture of my great-grandfather's house on Gladstone.
• Any pictures on Eastern Avenue (Riverside Drive) from the 2200-2500 block.
• Pictures of the old homes on the street that now is Columbia Parkway.
• A picture of the house on the riverbank behind St. Rose Church.

Today he struck gold!  A follower of his page, Gary Sunday, made five more 1937 flood pictures available for the site. A short time later, I got a phone call from Bryan. He knew this picture would get me going.

1937 Flood - Pictured is Highland School
My grandparent's home is to the far right with the chimney in view.
Photo Credit:  Gary Sunday and Bryan Phillips

When I first saw the picture, I thought the house was the building just behind the telephone pole.  My brother, however, recognized an unmistakable pattern in the brick work of the chimney. I still remember being shown the "line" about four inches below the ceiling that marked the crest of the flood.  Paint could never completely cover it. Other pictures that we've seen of the flood show water levels that are not nearly as high.

Gary had some other priceless pictures in his collection.

St. Rose Church and School
My Joneses lived on the river bank BEHIND this church in the 1870s.

At the  height of the flood, the city was no longer able to pump water to the residents.
This building is now surrounded by an unattractive wall 3' higher than the high water level of the '37 flood.

From Torrence Rd. looking west on Eastern Ave.

Looking west with St. Rose steeple on the far left.  All of the houses no longer exist.

There are a few more pictures on my "wish list". Why do I feel so hopeful?  It takes a community.
Thanks Bryan and Gary.

The Great Ohio River Flood of 1937

Note:  This is a copy of a post printed on the Jones Family Matters blog on January 26, 2012. Since it had such relevance for "A River Runs Through Us" I chose to reprint it here.

View of 1937 Flood Looking East on Eastern toward St. Rose Church

Seventy-five years ago today the Ohio River crested in the Great Flood of 1937.  Over a million people were displaced from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois.  My Dad was 16 years old when it flooded and yet I feel like it is part of my DNA.  Their house was directly across the river and the water got up almost to the second floor.  I heard stories of them using a row boat and going into a second floor window.

My Dad's house across from Highland School at 2424 Eastern Ave.

The area covered by the flood was extensive.  The Cincinnati Post published this aerial view.

At one point, the city even lost it's water supply as flood waters submerged much of the Cincinnati Water Works pumping station on Eastern Ave.  One East End resident recently told me that they gave everyone a half hour notice that the water supply would be stopped.  Everyone was instructed to fill containers, tubs and anything they had before the water was turned off.  He said that he was a child at the time, came in and saw the tub filled with water and decided to give his dog a bath.  Somehow he didn't get the message.

One of my favorite childhood memories was when Dad would take us behind St. Rose Church so that we could see where they recorded each flood's crest on the back of the church.

Although you can't see the numbering from this distance, imagine the 80' crest at the top of the white rectangle on the back of the church.  The river had a normal pool stage of about 13' in 1937.  Changes to dams in the river have increased the normal pool stage to about 26' today.  Recall that our earliest Joneses lived 250' of the southeast corner of that church.  Their house on the river bank flooded every spring.  Good thing they were long gone before this disaster.

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is sponsoring a wonderful commemoration of the flood and its impact on Ohio and surrounding states.  You can check out their wiki here.

The Marriage of Fred and Norine Jones

St. Rose Church

On December 16, 1909 my grandparents, Charles "Fred" Jones and Norine Cronin married.  St. Rose Church played a central role in the life of my grandmother.  She was a devout Catholic.  

Based on the collage of the interior of the church below, I'd love to imagine my grandmother walking down the aisle of this historic church dressed in a beautiful dress that she undoubtedly sewed.  The reality is that they most probably were married by the priest in the rectory and never set foot in the church.  My wonderful, religious grandparents were a "mixed" marriage.  When both potential spouses were not Catholic, they had to be granted a "dispensation" to marry and the non-Catholic spouse had to agree to raise all children Catholic.  I have several relatives on both sides of my family who got "married in the rectory."

There are so many interesting connections between the location of this church and my Jones family ties to the river.

• My gg-grandmother, Elizabeth Kinley Jones, had a "cottage" located behind the church on the river bank.  The family lived there for at least 10 years after she was widowed.
• Her son, Charles Henry, lived in that home and probably contributed to his family's support.  When he married in 1882, he and Rachel moved into a home on Gladstone.  This location was pretty much "up the hill" from St. Rose.
• Charles died on September 9, 1909.
• My grandparents married at St. Rose on December 16, 1909, a couple of months after his father's death.  I believe they were initially living on the Gladstone property.
• On February 7, 1910 (102 years ago today), Edith Jones Hodges filed a lawsuit forcing the eventual sale of the property.
• Fred and Norine became borders of the Zins family on Eastern where they began their new lives together.
• Following the birth of their first-born, Edith, John and Caroline Zins became the Godparents of Edith who was baptized (where else) at St. Rose Church.

It doesn't look like we will be leaving the East End and the Ohio River any time soon.

Living on the Ohio

Note:  This post, with minimal updates, was originally posted on Jones Family Matters on June 10, 2009.



Rear of St. Rose Church facing the Ohio River. The Water Pumping Station is to the right.

I knew from City Directories and Census documents that Elizabeth Kinley Jones (widow of Alexander) and her family lived on the banks of the Ohio River. Family stories as well as the 1880 Census showed the family living on Lumber St. off of Eastern Ave. Lumber St. is right next to St. Rose Church which was built in 1867. It was originally known as St. Rosa and was built to serve the German population of the area.

A few years back I went to the Hamilton Co. Recorder's Office and did a property search. I discovered that the property occupied by St. Rose Church was originally part of the George Torrence Estates. He divided his property among his children, and his daughter Nancy inherited Lots 10 and 11. The Church is on Lot 11.

The deed states that Nancy Torrence sold Lot 11 for $10,000 to Bishop John Purcell. She then donated $1000 back to help fund the construction of the Church. This was in 1867. No mention was made of any part of the property being used for a home.

This frustrated me for years because Elizabeth Jones, widow of Alexander, is listed in the 1868 City Directory as living in a house, east of Lumber St. The 1880 Census lists Elizabeth and her children as the only residents on Lumber St. besides the three priests serving St. Rose and their housekeeper.

At a meeting of the Hamilton County Genealogical Society, Bill Graver, a volunteer for the Cincinnati Historical Society introduced himself and told me he thought he could help solve the mystery.  The following week my husband Bill and I met with Mr. Graver at the Historical Society Library.  He had located a historical map showing the house in question 250' from the southeast corner of the church on the river bank. The house was a two-story frame house with an iron chimney. It was located on Lot 10 of the Torrence Estate on property that is currently occupied by the Cincinnati Water Works Pumping Station (not the Gas Works) owned by the City of Cincinnati.

Based on this information, my brother Tim, sister-in-law Dusty and I went with tape measure in hand to find the exact location of the "Jones Homestead." The river level in 2009 is much higher than the level in 1880 but you can get a distinct feel for their closeness and love for the Ohio. Note: I mislabeled the map as the "Cincinnati Gas Works." It should have read "Cincinnati Water Works Pumping Station."

Tim marking the approximate spot of the Jones Homestead.

 

Current look of the river bank. The walls at the top of the bank surround the Water Works Pumping Plant.  See below.

View of the river bank from the St. Rose Church parking lot.



Photo Credit:  http://www.cincinnativiews.net/ohio_river_2.htm

This is how the Pumping Station looked on Eastern Ave. (now Riverside Dr.) before the 1937 flood.  Because the plant was not originally protected by tall walls, the pumps failed and the city was without clean water for a week.  The picture of the bank as it appears now shows the walls that now surround the plant.  Notice St. Rose Church located to the right of the plant.

Since the Church was built in 1867 and the Cincinnati City Directory lists the family as living in the house on the river bank in 1868, the Joneses and St. Rose saw the beginning of a relationship that would last for 100 years.  So how did the family pay the rent?  I'll tell you about that in the next post.