Notes for Peter Zinn

Notes for Peter Zinn

!US Census 1860 (26 June) Ohio, Hamilton Co., Delhi, Cincinnati PO, Roll M653_981, Sheet 34, Page 428, House No. 207, Line 21-27: Peter Zinn (b. 1821 - 39 - in OH - Occ: Atty & Farmer - Property Value $21,500 + $6,000) married to Margaret (b. 1831 - 29 - in OH). Children listed (born in OH) are: Caroline (dau b. 1852 - 8); Franklin (son b. 1857 - 3); and Walter (son b. 1859 - 1). OTHERS LISTED are: Frank Ritter (b. 1831 - 29 - in Bavaria - Occ: Farm Hand) married to Margt. (b. 1835 - 25 - in Bavaria)

!US Census 1880 (3 June) Ohio, Hamilton Co., Riverside, Roll T9_1022, Family History Film 1255022, SD 3 ED 90, Sheet 6, Page 190B, House No. 51, Lines 26-32: Peter Zinn (b. 1819 - 61 - in OH - Occ: Lawyer - Fa: PA and Mo: PA) married to Elizabeth (b. 1830 - 50 - in OH - Fa: PA and Mo: DE). Children listed (born in OH) are: Carrie (dau b. 1856 - 24); Franklin (son b. 1858 - 22); and Walter (son b. 1860 - 20 - Occ: Working in ?? Mill). OTHERS LISTED are: Lillie Duncan (b. 1861 - 19 - in OH - Occ: Servant - Fa: Germany and Mo: Germany); and Edmond Van Blaricum (b. 1862 - 18 - in OH - Occ: Servant - Fa: OH and Mo: OH)

!"History of Cincinnati, Ohio" page 424; L.A. Williams & Co. 1881, by Henry A. Ford and Kate B. Ford: Peter Zinn was a well known citizen of Hamilton Co., Ohio. Born upon a farm now in part included in the lands of the State Agricultural College near Columbus, Ohio. His father is said to have owned and driven the first mail coach which ran out of that city. After some schooling and much work at the paternal home, in 1833 he entered the office of the "Western Hemisphere", one of the early newspapers of the State capital. He learned the printer's trade and finished his apprenticeship in the "Ohio Statesman" office. Mr. Samuel W. Fly the veteran agricultural editor of the Cincinnati "Gazette" who worked with him on the "Hemisphere" said in a communication to the "Gazette" after Peter's death: "He was as faithful then, as a printer's devil, as he was throughout a long and busy life, in its manifold and weighty duties. I knew Mr. Zinn twenty-five years ago as a strong advocate and helper in the cause of popular education, as encouraged by the Ohio School system. He was, in all respects, a steady, good citizen. I deem it worth while to add that in all my long acquaintance with him (forty-seven years) I never saw him angry nor heard him use a profane of improper expression.
At the age of 18 years he set his face toward Cincinnati to tempt the fates in the Queen City as a journeyman printer - little thinking how large a space he was destined to fill in its history and in that of Hamilton County. He readily found work and after two years at the case began February 8, 1839 in company with Mr. William P. Clark, afterwards a physician in the south, the publication of the "Daily News", or rather a new series of a journal of that name, which had been unsuccessful. Mr. Clark withdrew from the paper within thirty days and Mr. Zinn at the end of 4 months (although his paper was still alive and apparently prosperous). He was afterwards a reporter for the "Daily Times", but presently determined to enter the legal profession and began his studies in the office of that renowned advocate and judge, the Honorable Bellamy Storer, paving his way by alternating law study with type-setting in the Methodist Book Concern and afterwards clerical labor in the county court-house. He finished his preparation in the office of the Honorable William M. Corry - having taken ample time, 5 years, for thorough initiation into the mysteries of the law - and was admitted into the bar. He formed with Charles H. Brough, brother of the Governor, the law firm of Brough and Zinn, which John Brough subsequently chief executive of the State, himself joined after a time. The partnership was a fortunate one, as were nearly all the connections and enterprises into which Mr. Zinn entered; and in 1848 he had accumulated enough means to enable him to spend six months abroad, during which he visited the British Isles and also France, improving faithfully his opportunities for observation of the Revolutionary movements . He returned to practice in Cincinnati the next winter and remained a lawyer with an interval of about two years in the early part of the late war, until the engrossing cares of other business in which he had invested took him practically out of the profession. His most notable case - now celebrated in the English and American courts - affording him the most triumphant success of his life and one of the most remarkable victories known to the annals of the American bar, was that of the Covington & Lexington railroad vs. R. B. Bowler's heir et al., in which Mr. Zinn appeared for the road. In the elaborate obituary notice given by the "Daily Gazette", November 18, 1880, occurs the following notice of this episode in his life:
"The history of this case is still fresh in the minds of many, it having been decided in favor of the company by the court of appeals of Kentucky at the winter term of 1872. The records of the suit itself and the history of the case are almost romantic and would fill volumes. The Covington & Lexington railroad had been sold in 1859 to R. B. Bowler and associates. About the close of the Rebellion, Major Zinn as attorney for the stockholders of the company, undertook the recovery of the road and very soon litigation was commenced. At the beginning of the suit the stock of the company was not worth one penny on the dollar and in most cases was regarded as no more valuable than so much waste paper. Although the case was decided as above stated in 1873, a petition for rehearing and a modification of the court's decree entailed further delay and the case was not finally settled until 1875. This settlement resulted in a compromise and a readjustment of the company upon the basis of preferred and common stock under the name of the Kentucky Central Railroad company. Among other stockholders the city of Cincinnati owned stock to the amount of the one hundred thousand dollars for money loaned the company at its first organization. By the terms of the compromise, Cincinnati received in preferred stock one hundred thousand dollars, and ever since 1875 the city has been drawing semi-annual thereon a dividend of three per cent. Major Zinn, since the compromise, and up to the time of his death, has been actively and earnestly identified with the management and welfare of the road and was a member of the board of directors of the company. At present the Kentucky Central is one of the best roads financially and in every other respect, leading out of Cincinnati.