1419 Main St.
(597 Main St.)[1]
The current
building tenant, Vintage Poster Bank, has
35 years of collected items: posters,
“industrial art, mid-century modern furniture, lighting, sculpture and
ephemera of all types.” Arrow
Furniture Co. was at 1417-1419 Main St.
in 1952; Royal Furniture Co. in
1964.
In
1869, this building was the home and business of Francis (
Frances
) Goettheim. At that time, Frank
Goettheim was a partner with William Kleinoehle in Wernert, Goettheim & Co. [2]
at
597–599 Main St. They were “vermicelli,
macaroni, and chocolate manufacturers; importers and produce dealers,” as well
as “mustard manufacturers.” Ten years
earlier, in 1859, Goettheim and John Wernert were in business at
640 Race St. In 1857, Wernert & Goettheim
was at 596-598 Main St.
as produce importers, French and German, as well as vermicelli,
macaroni, and chocolate manufacturers.
From
1875 until at least 1885, Claus and Wolbert Claassen (Claasssen, C. & W.)
were brush manufacturers located in 597-599 Main St.
One
well-known Cincinnatian boarded at the Goettheim home.[3]
Civil War hero, General August Willich
spent several years, on and off, at 597 Main St.
Willich,
born Johann August Ernst von Willich in 1810, was from
Braunsberg
,
Germany. An associate of Karl Marx, and active in several democratic workers’
associations, Willich joined the 1848 German Revolt.
When that failed, he came to
America
, arriving in
Cincinnati
after working in a
Brooklyn
, NY shipyard. By 1858, he had established
himself in Cincinnati. Among
other ventures, he
edited the Deutscher
Republikaner, a publication
of the Social Workingmen's Club; his strong views on social issues earned him
the nickname “Reddest of the Red.”
When the Civil War began,
having prior military service in Germany, Willich helped raise the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861 under
Col. Robert Latimer McCook (see Elm, Race, 12th Sts.)[4]
Because so many
Cincinnati
members of the Turners Group (see 1407 Walnut St.) joined the regiment, it became known as Cincinnati's Turner Regiment. The all German regiment (although its commander McCook
was Irish) had a number of other nicknames: The
Niners; Dutch Devils; Bully Dutchmen, Die
Neuner.
After a short service
with the Niners, Willich
organized the 32nd Indiana Infantry Regiment upon request of the
Indiana
governor, who commissioned him as a colonel. In addition to soldiers from
Indiana
, other regiment troops came in from
Cincinnati,
Ohio
and Louisville,
Kentucky. Willich saw a great deal of action during the war, and was held captive for a
time. He was brevetted to major
general in 1865 because of his bravery at the Battle of Shiloh.
Upon his
heroic return to Cincinnati, Willich founded himself in the unfortunate situation of having a right arm
severely disabled from wounds suffered at the battle of Resaca in 1864.
He could no longer work as a carpenter, his usual trade.
Because wounded war volunteers, during this period, were often elected to
serve in public office, so as to have gainful employment, Willich ran, and was
elected, to serve as
Hamilton
County
auditor from for one term, 1867-1869. Judge
Johann Stallo, a local German leader who was a staunch Willich supporter, before
and after the War, stated that “a one-armed soldier could do this job as well
as a two-armed local politician.”[5]
His
government service was not without controversy. Allegations
against Willich and three other auditors (two Democrats and two Republicans)
revolved around the question of over-payment for two county projects (stone
bridges) and allegedly illegal payments to a bookkeeper and a tax omission
clerk, out of county funds. The
local editor of Der Hochwaechter, Frederick Hassaurek, conducted an anti-Willich
campaign, which degraded into slander. Eventually,
the Ohio State Legislature passed a law permitting the auditor to pay tax
omission clerks and bookkeepers out of county funds. [6]
August
Willich died in 1878 in
St. Marys,
Ohio
where he is buried in Elmwood
Cemetery.
[1]Format
of addresses: Current Address
(When known, address prior to the 1897 renumbering when the major
east-west divider was changed from Main St. to Vine St.)
[2]Williams’
Cincinnati
Directory, 1869.
[3]Williams’
Cincinnati
Directory, 1869.
[4]http://www.historicalpreservation.org/civilwar/ohio/
[5]Barnett,
James.The Vilification of August Willich. Cincinnati
Historical Society Bulletin. 24 (January 1966):
29-40.
[6]Barnett,
James.The Vilification of August Willich. Cincinnati
Historical Society Bulletin. 24 (January 1966):
29-40.