MR. CHARLES McMICKEN was born in Bucks
county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1782, where he was
early trained to the habits of industry and economy.
At the age of twenty-one, he left the home of his youth
and set out on horseback as an adventurer to the far
West. He reached the then small village of
Cincinnati, in the spring of 1803; his horse, saddle and
bridle constituting his available means. He there
engaged in trade on the river by flat-boats, and by
close attention to business and rigid economy, in a
short time established himself as a merchant in the
South, at Bayou Sara. After several years of
successful business, he purchased a home in Cincinnati,
to which he resorted in summer, still spending his
winters, even to the lat, in the South.
Mr. McMicken's early educational advantages were
quite limited, which he, however, faithfully improved.
Blessed with a good constitution and strong and vigorous
frame, and being strictly temperate in his habits, never
using habitually intoxicating liquors or tobacco, he was
rarely ever sick, and retained undiminished vigor of
body and mind up to the time of his last illness;
possessed of indomitable energy and decision, he was a
man of fine business qualifications, and was eminently
successful in the accomplishment of all his plans.
His skillful management and correct business habits,
enabled him to accumulate a large fortune, probably
worth more than a million of dollars. He never
married, but was surrounded by an extensive circle of
relatives, who received many kindnesses at his hand;
quite a number of them having been educated by his
liberality.
Quiet and retiring in his manners, attending
exclusively to his own business, very few, north or
south, knew him intimately. Indeed it is
questionable whether any one knew anything about the
details of his business or the leading purpose of his
life. He was entirely self-reliant, rarely, if
ever, consulting an attorney - making his own bargains,
examining titles for himself, and never speaking of his
property or its extent, even, to his most intimate
friends. In his deeds of charity, which have been
more numerous than the world will ever accredit to him,
there was no ostentation.
Sometimes during the year 1848, the American
Colonization Society made an appeal in behalf of Free
Labor Tropical Cultivation, by the purchase of a large
tract of land on the coast of Africa. In April of
the same year it was suggested, through the Cincinnati
papers, that an effectual blow might be struck at the
Slave-trade by a liberal provision being made for the
settlement of a Colony; Mr. McMicken's sympathies
were thereby enlisted.
He saw at once that to encourage the emigration of the
Free Colored People from this and adjoining states, to
the Republic of Liberia; to consecrate the greatest
possible extent of the soil of Africa to free labor; to
protect its population from the direful consequences of
the renewal of the Slave trade; to render its labor
available to Tropical Cultivation upon its own soil; and
thus to deprive slavery of its monopoly of the markets
of Christendom, and check its extension on the American
Continent, were objects worthy his means and efforts.
The measure was responded to by Mr. McMicken, on
a plan proposed by himself, by an offer of sufficient
funds to pay for the necessary amount of land for such a
colony. President Roberts, of Liberia, on
reaching the United States shortly after the plan of
Mr. McMicken had been announced, gave to it his
decided approval.
When the Rev. Wm. McLain, Secretary of the
American Colonization Society, announced to Mr.
McMicken that the purchase had been made, he
promptly remitted to him the five thousand dollars which
he had pledged. Ohio in Africa was
purchased with these funds, and was expressly designed
for the colored people of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
On the consummation of which act a new era in African
colonization commenced.
He, from time to time, made liberal donations to other
objects; and a few years before his death he subscribed
ten thousand dollars for the endowment of the
Professorship of Agricultural Chemistry in Farmers'
College. This Institution was early regarded by
him with peculiar favor, and patronized by educating
within it a number of his nephews.
His last will, containing thirty-nine sections, will be
read with interest by all true philanthropists.
After remembering his numerous relatives and friends in
the bestowment of legacies and annuities - not in large
sums, believing as he did that every one should be
self-reliant, and that fortunes given without labor
oftener proved a source of evil and that fortunes given
without labor oftener proved a source of evil than
otherwise - he makes provision for the founding of two
Colleges, embracing in extent a course of University
education - one for each of the sexes; and should the
funds at length justify, an establishment for Orphans,
on a most admirable plan and one breathing forth a most
benevolent spirit. It provides for the
maintenance, clothing and education of those unfortunate
ones who should be bereaved of both father and mother.
This educational scheme had long been the single object
of his life. On unfolding it, as he said, for the
first time, to his intimate friend F. G. Cary, he
informed him that he had labored since early manhood for
its accomplishment. Opening his will, about a year
before his death, he attempted to read it to him, but
before he had completed the first paragraph, his
feelings choked his utterance, and with eyes suffused
with tears he handed it to his friend, requesting him to
read. It is as follows:
"Having long cherished the desire to found an
institution where white boys and girls might be taught
not only a knowledge of their duties to their Creator
and their fellow-men, but also receive the benefit of a
sound, thorough, and practical English education, and
such as might fit them for the active duties of life, as
well as instruction in all the higher branches of
knowledge, except denominational theology, to the extent
that the same are now, or may hereafter be taught in any
of the secular colleges, or universities of the highest
grade in the sufficiently favored to gratify the wish of
my heart."
The character of Mr. McMicken was no less marked
in his last illness, contracted on board the boat on his
return from New Orleans. For a number of days
there seemed to be no cause of alarm. But his
disease, which was pneumonia, soon assumed a most
malignant type, and threatened a fatal termination; and
he early became satisfied that his sickness was unto
death, yielding himself fully to the impression that the
time of his departure was at hand. His mind was
unclouded amid the most intense suffering even to the
last moment; not a murmur or complaint escaped his lips.
To an intimate friend, asking him if he desired to
recover, he calmly replied, "I shall soon have to go,
any way; and if it please the Lord, I am ready to go
now." He seemed like one satisfied that he had
finished his work on earth, and made his peace with God
through the only Savior of sinners. He made no
mention of his worldly matters during his entire
illness. In has last moments, he was attended by
the Rev. J. F. Wright, who, asking if he should
unite in prayer, he nodded assent. And after a
short petition was offered, he immediately yielded up
his spirit into the hands of his Redeemer, on the 30th
day of March, 1858, in the seventy-sixth year of his
age.
Mr. McMicken was for a number of years a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was uniform in
his attendance on the ministry of the word and the
ordinance of religion. He was catholic in his
views on all subjects, het tenacious and decided in his
own, and engaged in controversy with none. That he
had his faults in common with all, none will deny.
Let those who read his noble bequest for the cause of
education and humanity, write these in the sand; and
such as have enjoyed like good fortune, copy his
example.
From this hasty sketch of his life and character and
this, his finally developed purpose, justice can not be
done; but all must say that Mr. McMicken was a
remarkable man.
THE WILL OF CHARLES McMICKEN
I, CHARLES McMICKEN, a native of the County of
Bucks, in the State of Pennsylvania, now residing in the
City of Cincinnati and State of Ohio, being in good
health and of sound and disposing mind and memory, do,
for the disposition of all my worldly property of every
description, make this my last Will and Testament, in
manner and form following, to wit:
First, declaring that I have never been married, and
that I have no heirs in the ascending line now living.
I direct that immediately after my decease, an
Inventory under oath or affirmation, shall be made by a
Notary Public, assisted by two or more persons, whom my
Executors hereinafter named my appoint, of all my real
and personal estate, wherever situated.
I. I give and devise to
Charles M. Carr and Andrew McMicken and to
the survivors of them, his executors and administrators,
all my real estate in Clinton county, Illinois and St.
Charles county, Missouri, in trust, nevertheless, for
the use and benefit of the children of the said
Charles M. Carr and of Mary Carr - who
intermarried with Henry Lear, who is now deceased
to be divided between the said children and their heirs,
share and share alike, when the last child shall have
attained the age of twenty-one years; that is to say,
the said lands shall be divided by the said children
into parts of equal value and each child shall choose
his or her respective portion by lot; but if the whole
or any portion of the said land can not be equally
divided, or the said children should fail to agree upon
a division, then such portion which can not be divided,
or upon a division of which the said children fail
[signature of C. McMicken on page 7]
fail to agree, I direct shall be sold by the said
Trustees, who shall divide the proceeds thereof equally
among the said children or their heirs. The issue
of any child or children of the said Charles M. Carr,
or of his sister the said Mary Carr, or any
grandchild, shall take by representation of their
parents, respectively, such share of the said lands or
of the proceeds thereof, as the said child would have
been entitled to receive had he or she been living at
the time of the division or sale of the said estate.
This devise, however, shall not enure to the benefit of
such child or children of the said Charles M. Carr,
or his said sister Mary, who may hereafter receive a
deed or deeds from me for any portion of the said lands.
II. I give and devise until
William Crossman and Freeman G. Cary and to
the survivor of them, his executors and administrators,
all that plantation situated in Miami Township, County
of Hamilton and State of Ohio - in which my sister
Elizabeth, the widow of William Randall
deceased, now resides - containing about two hundred and
twenty acres, in trust, nevertheless, to permit my
sister, the said Elizabeth, to use, occupy and
enjoy the same during her life; and at her death, I give
and devise the same to her children, Andrew Jackson
Randall and Anna Maria Braley, and to their
heirs, in fee, share and share alike. The said
premises to be divided into parts of equal value, and
each to receive a part.
III. I give and bequeath to
Andrew McMicken and his heirs, two scholarships
in the Farmers' College, at Pleasant Hill in Hamilton
county, Ohio; to Anna Maria Braley and her heirs,
two scholarships in the said Farmers' College; and
[signature of C. McMicken on page 8]
and to Joseph L. Carr, one scholarship in said
Farmers' College.
IV. I give and devise to my nephew, Andrew
McMicken, in trust, for the use and benefit of his
wife, Rachel Ann, during the term of her life,
and after her death to their children, in fee, share and
share alike: the issue, however, of any such child or
children of said Andrew, now or hereafter born,
to take by representation, as I have already provided in
Item No. 1, (one) in the words of my devise to the
children of Charles M. Carr, aforesaid, and of
his sister Mary Carr, the following real and
personal estate to-wit:
1. All my real estate in the County of Madison and
State of Illinois, with power on the part of the said
Andrew to sell at public or private sale, any or all
of the said land, and to convey the same to the
purchasers in fee; the proceeds of such sale to be
invested in other real estate or in good securities, to
be held for the sue and benefit of said Rachel Ann and
the said children, in trust, as aforesaid.
2. All that Tract of Land in the Parish of West
Feliciana and in the State of Louisiana, in the Tunnica
settlement, containing five hundred arpens and known as
the "Carradine Gore Tract," and which was purchased at
the sale of the estate of William Collins about
the year Eighteen hundred and forty.
3. All my lots and lands in the Town of Bayou Sara and
other lands on Thompson's Creek, in the Parish of West
Feliciana, in the State of Louisiana.
[signature of C. McMicken on page 9]
4. All that Tract of
Land, containing about two hundred and fifty arpens,
situated in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, on the
Cypress Bayou, about twelve miles north of the Town of
Baton Rouge, known as the James McGill Tract.
5. All that Tract of Land in the State of Kentucky on
the Big Sandy River, containing about ten thousand
acres, and known as the Benjamin Wyncook Tract or
Patent, and which is now the subject of a suit in
Ejectment; reserving, however, if recovered, to the
heirs of Joshua F. Doyle one-third of the net
proceeds after the sale thereof and after the payment of
all costs and charges and expenses.
6. All my land in the State of Texas, except the Grants
in the names of Adam Carraway and James Brown,
which are hereafter devised to Levi S. McMicken.
All the lands as above devised to be sold and
disposed of by said Andrew at his discretion.
7. All that lot of ground in Spring Grove Cemetery near
Cincinnati, as a burial place for the family of my
brother and sister and of my nephews and nieces and
their descendants; and also my Pew, No. 75, in the Ninth
Street Baptist Church.
8. All debts now due me in Cincinnati, New Orleans, or
elsewhere, by Judgment, Bond, Note, accounts, or
otherwise; all the rents, issues and profits, which at
the time of my death may be due me from the land above
specifically devised to my said nephew, Andrew
McMicken; my carriages and horses; all my Library
and Household furniture of every description, and any
other personal property not hereinafter specifically
[signature of C. McMicken on page 10]
specifically devised, which said Library, furniture
and personal property, shall be equally divided by the
said Andrew with my niece, Lizzie McMicken.
9. I permit my nephew, and said Andrew
McMicken, and my niece, Lizzie McMicken, if
either see fit, to occupy, free of rent, and for the
period of five years after my decease, the house in
which I now reside. This permission, however,
shall not interfere with the objects of my devise,
hereinafter stated, to the City of Cincinnati, as to the
lot by which the said building is surrounded.
V. I give and devise unto
Levi S. McMicken of Polk county, State of Texas, and
his heirs, all my right, title and interest to two
leagues and labors of land, originally granted to
Adam Carraway and James Brown, and now in the
charge of General James Davis of the same county,
for the purpose of perfecting the title thereof, and
which are now devised to the said Levi, subject
to and chargeable with the provisions of my agreement
with General Davis.
All of the above devises and bequests shall be free
from any deductions or proportional payments for or on
account of any legacy or annuity with which I have
charged my real or personal estate.
VI. I charge my real and
personal estate with the payment of the following
legacies and annuities, which are to be paid and
discharged out of the rents, interest and dividends of
the said estate, free from every deduction whatever.
[signature of C. McMicken on page 11]
The said legacies
shall be paid at the period when each legatee
respectively shall attain the age of twenty-one years,
and shall be paid to such legatee in person only, and
not through an agent or attorney; but any legacy
shall be withheld, if in the judgment of the Corporate
authorities of the said City of Cincinnati, the person
to whom it is given shall, from habits of intemperance
and dissipation, be deemed unworthy to receive it, in
which case such legacy shall be retained in the
possession of the said Authorities for at least the
period of ten years, and if such legatee should at any
time within that period reform and become worthy to
receive said legacy, then the same shall be paid without
interest, otherwise it shall be forfeited and fall into
my residuary estate.
And I hereby further direct that should any annuitant,
for the reasons above stated with respect to any
legatee, be found unworthy to receive such annuity, the
proceeds thereof shall be withheld by said Authorities
until such annuitant shall reform and become worthy to
receive it, when it shall be paid, but without interest.
VII. 1. I give and bequeath
to Andrew McMicken, in trust for the use and
benefit of his wife and family, during the life of the
said Andrew, and not to be subject to any debts
due by him, now or hereafter contracted, the annuity or
yearly sum of fifteen hundred dollars, payable
semi-annually. This annuity shall be free from all
claims of every nature, which my estate may have against
the said Andrew, and in full satisfaction of any
claims or demands, which he may now have, if any such
there are, or which he may hereafter have against my
estate. [signature of C. McMicken on page 12]
2. I give and bequeath unto
the said Rachel Ann the wife of my said nephew,
Andrew McMicken, the annuity or yearly sum of
five hundred dollars, payable semi-annually, during the
term of her life, which shall commence to be paid to
her, on the death of her husband, should she survive
him.
3. And unto Sarah, Andrew and Joseph, the
children of my said nephew, Andrew McMicken, each
the sum of two thousand dollars, and unto any other
child or children which my nephew, the said Andrew,
may have by his present or any future wife, each the sum
of two thousand dollars.
VIII. I give and bequeath to
my niece Lizzie McMicken, now residing with me,
the annuity or yearly sum of one thousand dollars,
payable semi-annually, during her life, free from the
liabilities and engagements of any future husband and
for her sole and separate use and behoof. I also
give to my said niece Lizzie, my large walnut
bedstead, with the bedding in the room occupied by me.
Should my said niece marry and have issue, I give and
bequeath to every such child, when it arrives at the age
of twenty-one years, the sum of two thousand dollars.
IX. I give and bequeath unto
Andrew Jackson Randall the sum of two thousand
dollars, and to his wife Mary the sum of one
thousand dollars.
2. And unto the children of the said Andrew Jackson
Randall, each the sum of one thousand dollars; and
to any other child or children of the said Andrew
hereafter born, each the sum of one thousand dollars.
X. I give and bequeath unto
Charles, the son of Maria Bra [signature of C.
McMicken on page 13]
ley, the sum of two thousand dollars, and to
any other child or children of my niece the said
Maria Braley, now, or hereafter born, each the sum
of one thousand dollars.
XI. I give and bequeath unto
my niece Anna Maria Braley, the annuity or yearly
sum of five hundred dollars, to be paid semi-annually
during her life, for her sole and separate use, free
from the control or debts of her present or any future
husband.
XII. 1. I give and bequeath
to Charles M. Carr, the sum of two thousand
dollars, and to his wife Hannah E. Carr, the sum
of one thousand dollars.
XIII. I give and bequeath to
Joseph L. Carr, the son of the said Charles M.
Carr, the sum of two thousand dollars; and to the
brothers and sisters of the said Joseph, each the
sum of one thousand dollars. And to any child or
children of the said Charles M. Carr, hereafter
born, each the sum of one thousand dollars.
XIV. 1. I give and bequeath
unto Charles McMicken Perin, the son of Mary
McMicken who was the wife of Franklin Perin,
the sum of one thousand dollars; and if within the
period of ten years after my decease, or within the
period of ten years after his arrival at the age of
twenty-one years, he shall procure the passage of a law
authorizing him to assume the name of Charles
McMicken, instead of Charles McMicken Perin I
then give and bequeath to him the further sum of five
thousand dollars. [signature of C. McMicken on page
14]
2. I give and bequeath unto
Clyde and Mary Louisa Perin, the sisters of the
said Charles, each the sum of one thousand
dollars.
XV. I give and bequeath until
Mary Ann Revelle, the annuity or yearly sum of
one hundred dollars, payable semiannually during her
life.
XVI. I give and bequeath unto
Virginia McDowell, the sum of three hundred
dollars, and to Sarah her sister, the sum
of two hundred dollars; the said Virginia and Sarah
being the children of Joseph and Sarah McDowell.
XVII. I give and bequeath
unto the following named children of David McMicken,
of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, my second cousin, that
is to say.
1. Unto David Hays McMicken, and Sarah,
Elizabeth and Mary McMicken, each the sum of
five hundred dollars.
2. Unto Margaret, a daughter of the said
David McMicken, by his first wife, the sum of five
hundred dollars.
3. Unto Ann, the daughter of John McMicken
and granddaughter of said David McMicken, the sum
of five hundred dollars.
4. Unto the two unmarried daughters of Jane, the
widow of Charles McMicken, deceased, who was the
brother of the said David McMicken, each the sum
of five hundred dollars.
XVIII. I give and bequeath
unto Mrs. Mary E. Randall, of New Orleans, widow
of Charles M. Randall, deceased, an annuity or
yearly sum of two hundred dollars during her life,
payable semi-annually.
[signature of C. McMicken on page 15]
XIX. I give and bequeath unto
Sarah Burson, of Trenton, New Jersey, formerly
Sarah Dean, an early friend and much-esteemed
school-fellow, an annuity or yearly sum of two hundred
dollars during her life, payable semi-annually.
XX. I give and bequeath unto
Charles McMicken, the son of William B. and
Bethuli Cadwalader, now living in Trenton, New
Jersey, who is the grandson of Mrs. Sarah Burson,
who gave him that name, the sum of two thousand dollars.
XXI. 1. I give and bequeath
unto Wirtz McMicken, residing in the City of
Philadelphia, formerly Wirtz McMicksen Johnson,
but whose name was changed by an Act of Assembly of
Pennsylvania, an annuity or yearly sum of five hundred
dollars, payable semi-annually during his life.
And, in case he should have any legal issue, I give to
each child when it arrives at the age of twenty-one
years, the sum of one thousand dollars.
2. I further give and bequeath to Sarah, the
mother of the said Wirtz McMicken, an annuity or
yearly sum of two hundred dollars, payable semi-annual
during her life.
XXII. I give and bequeath to
Mrs. Kavanaugh, wife of Bishop Kavanaugh,
residing in the Town of Versailles, State of Kentucky,
the sum of five hundred dollars.
XXIII. I give and bequeath
until Charles McMicken Segur, the son of
Doctor Segur of Cincinnati, the sum of one thousand
dollars; and to Elizabeth, the daughter of the
said Doctor Segur, the sum of five hundred
dollars.
XXIV. I.
[signature of C. McMicken on page 16]
XXIV. I give and bequeath
unto Mary, the daughter of Andrew McMicken of
Philadelphia, the sum of five hundred dollars; and to
her sisters Josephine and Virginia, each two
hundred and fifty dollars.
XXV. I give and bequeath unto
my sister, the said Elizabeth Randall, an annuity
or yearly sum of two hundred dollars, payable
semi-annually, during her life.
XXVI. Having been on the
twenty-third day of November, Anno Domini, one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-two, I direct that the first
payment of the above Annuities shall be made on the
twenty-third day of November, whether the same be more
or less than six months. And the said payments
shall be made semi-annually thereafter on the
twenty-third days of May and November.
XXVII. All of the above
recited Annuities and Legacies shall be paid in full
without any deduction whatever, for, or on account of
any law or of any decision of the Courts, now or
hereafter in force or pronounced. The Annuities
shall be paid by the Treasurer of the City of
Cincinnati, or other proper officer of said City
appointed for the purpose; and those [signature of C.
McMicken on page 17]
those Legacies which shall have become payable by my
death, shall be paid by my Executors; but those
dependent upon the happening of any contingency, shall
be paid by the Treasurer or other proper officer of the
City aforesaid.
XXVIII. If I should die
owning any slaves, I direct my Executors to give them
their freedom, and if they are disposed to remove and
live in Liberia, Africa, I direct my Executors to expend
the sum of one hundred dollars upon each, for the
purpose of sending them to that country.
XXIX. Any monies which I have
advanced to my said nephew Charles M. Carr, or
Henry Lear, who intermarried with my niece Mary
Carr, as well as any claims, by Note or otherwise, I
may have against them; also any moneys advanced to, or
any claim by Note or otherwise, I may have against my
sister Elizabeth Randall or her two children,
Andrew Jackson Randall and Anna Maria Braley;
or against my nephew Andrew McMicken, or my niece
Lizzie McMicken, up to this date, I hereby
relinquish and forgive.
XXX. Should any of my
aforesaid kindred, or others to whom I have devised or
bequeathed any real estate, legacy or annuity, attempt,
by the institution of legal proceedings, to set aside
this my last Will, they shall by so doing forfeit any
devise or bequest I have made them, and the devise or
bequest so annulled and forfeited shall fall into my
residuary estate and enure to the benefit of the City of
Cincinnati, for the purposes hereinafter set forth.
[signature of C. McMicken on page 18]
XXXI. Having long cherished
the desire to found an institution, where white boys and
girls might be taught, not only a knowledge of their
duties to their Creator and their fellowmen, but also
receive the benefit of a sound, thorough and practical
English education, and such as might fit them for the
active duties of life; as well as instruction in all the
higher branches of knowledge, except Denominational
Theology, to the extent that the same are now, or may
hereafter be taught, in any of the secular Colleges or
Universities of the highest grade in the Country, I feel
grateful to God that through his kind Providence, I have
been sufficiently favored to gratify the wish of my
heart.
I therefore give, devise and bequeath to THE CITY OF
CINCINNATI, and to its successors, for the purpose of
building, establishing and maintaining as soon as
practicable, after my decease, two Colleges for the
education of white Boys and Girls, all of the following
real and personal estate, IN TRUST FOREVER, to wit:
1. All that piece of land called the "Davenport Tract,"
situated in the Parish of East Baton Rouge on the River
Mississippi, about fourteen miles below the Town of
Baton Rouge, in the State of Louisiana being about
fifteen arpens in front and eighty in depth, and
containing about twelve hundred acres.
2. All my property in the City of New Orleans, and Town
and Parish of Jefferson in the State of Louisiana,
which, as well as that called the "Davenport Tract,"
above devised, shall be sold by the said City as soon as
it may be deemed prudent, [signature of C. McMicken
on page 19]
and upon the most advantageous terms, at public or
private sale; and the same, if sold at public sale,
shall be sold in the months of January or February, for
which purpose the said city is empowered to make the
necessary conveyances. The said land shall be sold
upon the usual credits of one to three or four years
with a payment in each on account of the purchase money,
of ten to twenty per cent; the balance of the purchase
money shall bear interest from the day of sale at the
highest rate of conventional interest, which interest
shall be secured in the Notes given, as a part of the
principal sum, and the Notes after becoming due shall
continue to ear the same interest of interest. The
whole balances of the purchase money shall be secured by
a mortgage on the premises.
3. All that Tract of Land in Delhi Township, in the
County of Hamilton and State of Ohio, containing one
hundred and twenty-four acres and three tenths of an
acre. And I hereby authorize the said City to
lease or sell the same, and also to sell any other
property hereafter acquired by me, in the County of
Hamilton and State of Ohio, or elsewhere, except - as
hereafter particularly stated - Real Estate in the said
City of Cincinnati.
4. All my real estate in the City of Cincinnati,
subject, first, to the payment of the legacies and
annuities with which it is charged, which as I have
directed shall be paid out of the rents and profits
derived from the said estate.
5. All my real estate and personal property which I may
acquire after the date of this my Will.
6. All my Railroad Bonds and Railroad, Insurance and
oth- [signature of C. McMicken on page 20]
er Stocks. All Notes, secured by Mortgage, on
property I may hereafter sell. All moneys on
deposit in any Bank, and dividends due at the time of my
decease. And all rents due at my decease from my
Estate devised to the said City.
7. All taxes, claims, etc., to which my Estate, devised
to the said City, may be subject at the time of my
decease, shall be paid out of the rents of the said
Estate.
8. All surplus of funds at any time hererafter accruing
beyond the amount necessary to maintain the said
Colleges, and all rents, dividends and interest accruing
between the period of my decease and that at which the
said Institutions shall go into operation or any surplus
which may at any time hereafter accrue beyond the
expenses and requirements of the Institutions, shall be
judiciously invested, for the benefit of the said
Institutions, in real estate or mortgage securities in
the said City, or in good Railroad or Bank Stocks, or
Railroad Bonds.
9. All the residue of my real or personal estate, not
hereinbefore devised or given, as well as any legacy,
etc., which from the death of any legatee, etc., or
failure of any condition on which the same is given, may
hereafter lapse.
XXXII. None of the said Real
Estate, in the said City of Cincinnati, above devised to
the said Corporation, whether improved or unimproved, or
which I may hereafter acquire in the said City, or which
the said City may purchase for the benefit of the said
Colleges, shall at any time be sold, but any building or
buildings thereon shall be kept in repair from the
[signature of C. McMicken on page 21]
revenues of my Estate. And I hereby authorize
the Corporate authorities of the said City, should they
find it necessary or expedient from dilapidation, fire
or other cause, or for the purpose of securing the
largest income, to take down any house or houses, and to
rebuild the same out of the income of my Estate.
And I further empower the said Authorities to build upon
any vacant lot, lots, or grounds, I may possess, or
which they may under the authority of my Will hereafter
purchase; and as there will be a considerable space upon
the eastern boundary of the grounds devoted to the
College for the Boys, it would be a suitable and
convenient place for erecting Boarding-houses for the
accommodation of Students, from which a rental might be
derived.
2. The College Building shall be erected out of the
rents and income of any real and personal estate, and on
the premises on which I now reside, in the City of
Cincinnati - by me purchased from the administrators of
Luman Watson deceased - and which shall be
plain, but neat and substantial in their character, and
so constructed, that, in conformity with their
architectural design, they, from time to time, may be
enlarged as the rents of the Estate devised will allow,
and the ends of the Institutions may require.
The said buildings shall be erected on different parts
of the said grounds, to wit: that for the Boys on the
north, and that for the Girls on the south of the road
lately cut through said grounds.
And I direct that the plot of ground on which the
College for the Boys shall be built, shall comprise not
les than from [signature of C. McMicken on page 22]
five to six acres; and that on which the College for
the Girls shall be built, shall comprise all below the
said road, which plot may, I suppose, contain about
three acres. Should additional grounds be
requi8red for the buildings connected with the College
for the Girls, I would refer to lot No. 32, in the
subdivision made by Jacob Madeira, adjoining the
last described premises on the west, which may be found
a suitable place for the erection of dwellings for
Boarding-houses for the female students, and from which
a revenue might accrue, or Houses for Female Orphans
when required.
And I would recommend for the purpose of enlarging the
College grounds and for the general benefit of the
Institutions, that the said City should, if they deem it
advantageous, and are enabled to do so upon equitable
terms, purchase the property on the west side of my said
grounds, by which the said City will have the
opportunity if they see fit, of erecting a portion of
the College Buildings for the Boys to the westward of
the location I have assigned them. [signature
of C. McMicken on page 23]
XXXIII. I hereby authorize
the said City, if they believe it expedient, to lay out
into lots any unimproved property I may possess and to
lease the same for building purposes upon ground rents
renewable at the re-valuation, but no lease shall be
made for a longer period than fifteen yeas as aforesaid,
or the said City instead of leasing may build upon the
same as already empowered; and no lease of improved
property shall be made for a longer period than ten
years. The revenue therefrom shall be appropriated
to the use of the said Colleges.
XXXIV. The Holy Bible of the
Protestant version as con [signature of C. McMicken
on page 23]
tained in the Old and New Testament shall be used as
a Books of Instruction in the said Colleges.
XXXV. The preference in all
applications for admission to be given to any and all of
my relations and their descendants, to any and all of
the within names Legatees and their descendants, and to
Wirtz McMicken and his descendants.
XXXVI. 1. If after the full
and establishment of the said Institutions and the
admission of as many pupils as, in the discretion of the
said City should, for the purposes of Education, be
received, there shall remain a sufficient surplus of
funds, the same shall be applied in making suitable
additional buildings, and to the support of poor white
male and female orphans, neither of whose parents are
living, and who are without any means of support, and
who may be admitted as pupils, if not younger than five
nor older than twelve years, the preferences always to
be given to the youngest applicant, except in the case
of my own relations and collateral descendants, and of
any and all of the within named Legatees and their
descendants, and to Wirtz McMicken and his
descendants, who shall be received, whether such
applicant shall have lost either or both parents or
whatever may be the age of said minors.
2. The said Orphans shall receive a sound English
education, and where the talents of the Child shall
afford encourage, he or shall be transferred to the
respective Colleges and shall be educated to the extent
that I have provided by the Thirty-first Item of my
Will. It is my desire also that the moral
instruction of all the Children admitted into the
[signature of C. McMicken on page 24]
said Institutions, shall form a prominent part of
their education, and that as far as human means may
allow they shall be made not useful Citizens only, but
good Citizens deeply impressed with a knowledge of their
duties to their God and to their fellow-men, and with a
love for their country and its united republican
institutions, in the blessed and peaceful enjoyment of
which, it is my fervent prayer, they and their
descendants may continue to live.
3. No orphan shall be received until their Guardians,
or those in whose custody they are, shall have first
entirely relinquished their control of them, to the said
City, in order that they may not be capriciously
withdrawn from the benefits of the said Institutions.
4. Those orphans who may have remained until they have
reached any age between fourteen and eighteen years,
shall be bound out by the said City to some proper art,
trade, occupation or employment. The tastes and
inclinations of the orphans, in the selection of an
occupation, to be as far as practicable and
advantageous, always consulted.
5. This direction as to binding out, I do not intend
should be applied to those who, having displayed
superior talents and received instruction in the higher
branches of knowledge, as aforesaid, shall, if they see
proper, be permitted to pursue the study of the learned
professions.
6. Those male orphans who may intermarry with the
female orphans shall, if found deserving, in order to
their establishment in business, be entitled to receive
from any surplus revenues in hand, at an interest of six
per cent, per annum, a loan not exceeding five hundred
dollars, which shall be made [signature of C.
McMicken on page 25]
under such regulations, and refunded at such time, as
the said Corporate authorities may stipulate and direct.
XXXVII. The establishment of
the regulations necessary to carry out the objects of my
endowment, I leave to the wisdom and discretion of the
Corporate authorities of the City of Cincinnati, who
shall have power to appoint Directors of said
Institutions.
XXXVIII. The conditions on
which the above devise shall bequest to the said City of
Cincinnati, in trust, are made, are as follows:
That the accounts of the said Institutions shall be
kept entirely distinct from all other accounts whatever.
That the rents, issues and profits of the Estate devised
shall be used for no other purposes than those directed
by this my Will, the provisions of which shall be
faithfully complied with. And that the said City
shall annually remit to the Legislature, and also
publish a statement containing an account of the amount
of funds received and disbursed during the year, the
number of pupils receiving instruction and under charge,
and a representation of the general condition of the
Institutions. And also that no charge whatever
shall be made by the said City for the education of any
of the pupils admitted into the said Colleges, or for
the support and education of any orphans received.
XXXIX. Lastly, I hereby
nominate and appoint William Crossman, Freeman G.
Cary, John C. Chenoweth, William M. F. Hewson,
William Woodruff, and Andrew McMicken, the
Executors of this my last Will and Testament, and recom-
[signature of C. McMicken on page 26]
mend them to discharge the duties assigned them as
speedily as practicable.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I,
Charles McMicken, have to this my Last Will and
Testament, executed in duplicate, written on twenty-one
pages and on one side of the leaf, set my hand at the
foot of each page, and my hand and seal at the foot of
this page, this the Twenty-second day of September, in
the year of our Lord one Thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five [1855.]
C. McMicken
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SIGNED at the foot of each
and on this page, and Sealed, published
and declared by the said Charles
McMicken, as and for his Last Will and
Testament in the presence of us, who, in the
presence of the Testator and of each other, have
subscribed our names.
NOTE. - The name "Charles," in the 4th
Article of the XVII Item having been first
written on erasure before signing. |
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EDW. ARMSTRONG
WM. McLEAN
THOMAS S. FERNON.
W. C. PATTERSON.
WILLIAM WISTER.
JOHN JORDAN, JR. |
THE STATE OF OHIO, HAMILTON COUNTY, ss: -
Whereas, CHARLES McMICKEN, late of the County of
Hamilton, and state of Ohio, died, leaving a last Will
and Testament - a true copy whereof is hereto attached -
which said Will and Testament has been duly proven and
admitted to Record by our Probate Court, within and for
the County aforesaid, on the 10th day of April, A. D.
1858.
Know ye, therefore, that the said Probate Court has
granted unto FREEMAN G. CARY, WILLIAM CROSSMAN
and WILLIAM M. F. HEWSON, the Executors in said
Will and Testament named, LETTERS TESTAMENTARY thereon:
hereby granting to said Executors all and singular, the
power necessary, and by law required, to enable them to
take an inventory of, collect sue for and recover, all
and singular, the goods, chattels, and credits of the
said deceased; and out of the same, or such part thereof
as shall come to their hands, the debts of the said
deceased, and the legacies in said Will named, to pay
and discharge according to law and to the Will of said
Testator, and the same fully to administer in all
things, as required by law.
And the Court have appointed Timothy S. Goodman,
William M. Shiras and singular, the
goods, chattels, and credits of the said deceased,
together with the real estate of the said deceased, as
required by law.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto
set my hand and affixed the Seal of the said
Probate Court, at Cincinnati, this first day
of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
GEO. H. HILTON, Probate Judge. |
CHARLES McMICKEN'S WILL
SYNOPSIS.
Section.
First, directs immediate Inventory of his whole Estate.
1. Devise to Carr and McMicken, in trust,
for the children of Charles M. Carr and Mary
Lear.
2. Devise to Crossman and Cary, in
trust, for Elizabeth Randall and her children;
and see also §25.
3. Gives Andrew McMicken and Anna M. Braley
Scholarships in Farmers' College.
4. Devise to Andrew McMicken, in trust, for his
wife and their children.
5. Devise to Levi S. McMicken, Polk County,
Texas.
6. Directs all the foregoing to be free of charge.
Charges real and personal estate with payment of
legacies and annuities; directs when and how legacies
shall be paid, and in certain events withheld or
annulled, and by whom.
7. Annuity to Andrew McMicken, in trust, for his
wife and children for his life; and to his wife annuity
if she survives him; and legacies to their three
children.
8. Annuity to Lizzie McMicken, and legacies to
each of her children.
9. Legacies to Andrew J. Randall, his wife, and
each of his children.
10. Legacies to Charles, son of Maria Braley,
and each of her other children.
11. Annuity to Anna Maria Braley.
12. Legacies to Charles M. Carr, his wife and
their children.
13. Legacies to Mary Lear's children.
14. Legacies to Charles McMicken Perin
and his sisters.
15. Annuity to Mary Ann Revelle.
16. Legacies to Virginia and Sarah
McDowell.
17. Legacies to the children of David McMicken;
also to his granddaughter Ann, and to two daughters of
Jane McMicken.
18. Annuity to Mary E. Randall, widow of
Charles M. Randall.
19. Annuity to Sarah Burson.
20. Legacy to Charles McMicken
Cadwalader
21. Annuities to Wirtz McMicken and his
mother, and legacies to each of his children.
22. Legacy to the wife of Bishop Kavanaugh.
23. Legacies to Charles McMicken Segur, and
to his sister Elizabeth, children of Doctor
Segur, of Cincinnati.
24. Legacies to Daughters of Andrew McMicken, of
Philadelphia.
25. Annuity to Elizabeth Randall.
26. Directs when Annuities shall be paid.
27. Directs all the foregoing legacies and annuities to
be paid without deduction, also by whom respectively to
be paid.
28. Any slaves, to be liberated, and provision for their
removal.
29. All advances to certain parties relinquished and
forgiven.
30. Provision as to any legatees, etc., attempting to
set aside this Will.
31. Devise to city of Cincinnati, in trust, for
building, establishing and maintaining two Colleges, and
directions as to sales, leases, investments, and as to
certain charges on said devise.
32. Prohibits sale of certain property; directs as to
repair and improvements of property; and directs where
the Colleges shall be built, and in what style.
33. Authorities the city to lay out and lease lots, and
limits terms of leases and use of the revenue.
34. Directs that the Protestant Bible shall be used in
the said Colleges.
35. Prescribes preference of his relatives, legatees,
etc., and their children, in admitting pupils.
36. Directs surplus funds to be appropriated to
buildings for support of poor Orphans; terms of
admission, and provision for advancing them.
Prescribes what education they shall have, and that
moral education shall be the prominent object in said
Institutions. Provides for binding out Orphans to
trades, and aiding those who marry.
37. Empowers corporate authorities of the city to
make the necessary regulations to carry out the objects
aforesaid, and to appoint directors.
38. Conditions of the foregoing devise to the city
stated.
39. Appoints Executors, with a recommendation.
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