Our feature OKI Wanna Know roots around in the proverbial attic for answers to your questions about local history, animals, and whatever else. This week, we get introduced to some of Cincinnati's unofficial royalty.
Julie Johnson of Clifton wants to know more about a man named Thomas Sherlock — one of the "Barons of Clifton." There's a street named after Sherlock, and another street bears the name of his Clifton estate.
The so-called barons were very wealthy businessmen who lived in Clifton during the 19th century. You might recognize names like Henry Probasco, who donated the Tyler Davidson fountain at Fountain Square, and the first president of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club, Alfred Goshorn.
Sherlock was born near Dublin, Ireland, around 1817, to John and Anne Sherlock. They brought him to Cincinnati thought it's not clear exactly when. Many 19th century census records were destroyed during the Irish Civil War in 1922. Locally, a lot of records in the Hamilton County Courthouse burned during riots in 1884.
Thomas Sherlock first appears in the Cincinnati city directory as a produce merchant in 1839, located pretty much where the Alms and Doepke Building is today. By 1842, he's listed as a bookkeeper.
"He was a prominent Cincinnati businessman who made his fortune with, mainly shipping, but also insurance," says Beth Johnson, executive director of Cincinnati Preservation.
He co-owned and owned steamboat companies, and sat on the boards of several insurance firms.
In 1856, Thomas Sherlock was the treasurer of the Covington Cincinnati Bridge Company, which built and owned the Roebling Suspension Bridge.
During the Civil War, Sherlock was too old to fight but not too old to help the Union. He advised generals on the movement of troops and supplies along the river, and sat on a committee that meant to procure weapons for the citizens of Clifton, should it be attacked by the Confederates. He was also on the committee that organized a local celebration when the war ended.
He was a Democrat, but still a friend of General Ulysses S. Grant, and they stayed friends when the Republican was elected president.
Sherlock was part owner of a steamboat that bore his name. The Thomas Sherlock was built in Cincinnati in 1873. It was a sidewheel packet that carried both passengers and freight. The Brocky Tom, as it was nicknamed, carried passengers upriver to Coney Island for a time, and regularly traveled downstream to New Orleans.
The Sherlock sank in 1891 after colliding with the C&O Railroad Bridge, which still stands next to the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. Two people, a woman and her granddaughter, were killed.
Sherlock married Nancy Johnston in 1852. They moved to the independent village of Clifton, where he served as recorder. Clifton wasn't annexed by Cincinnati until 1896. There Sherlock built his home, Belsaw.
"It was built around 1855. Approximately 11 acres; it was an Italian villa, which is a very popular style of architecture, especially for large homes," Johnson says. "It was a type of style that... when you would approach it, it was very awe-inspiring."
Johnson says it's not clear why Sherlock named the approximately 30-room mansion Belsaw.
Sherlock listed his birthplace as "near Dublin," and there is a tiny community northwest of Dublin, in County Meath spelled B-a-l-s-a-w, so it's possible Belsaw is a reference to that.
Wherever the name comes from, Johnson says the house was magnificent.
"He'd gotten a lot of furnishings in 1864 from the Herter Brothers of New York, which was a premiere 19th century furniture and interior design firm," Johnson says. "That shows you the prominence and the wealth that they had to be able to have someone from New York, which at that time it was not an easy feat to travel from New York to Cincinnati."
Belsaw welcomed many visitors and hosted many a charity ball and garden party. It was also where Clifton neighbor, Henry Probasco, married one of the Sherlocks' daughters.
"It was actually Probasco's second wife. His first wife had died. He then married Grace Sherlock, who was quite a bit younger than him," Johnson says.
Thomas Sherlock died at home in Belsaw in 1895. The flag at the Public Landing was lowered to half-mast to honor him on the day of his funeral, and he was laid to rest in Spring Grove Cemetery.
Johnson says Belsaw was torn down in the 1920s, and the grounds carved up.
"When they were subdividing it, they said you could not build a residence for less than $20,000, which today doesn't sound like much," Johnson says. "The equivalent today would be about $350,000."
The city named a street for Sherlock in 1897. Sherlock Avenue lays between Ludlow and Howell. When his mansion was torn down, a street near where it stood was renamed Belsaw Place. It's located just off of Clifton Avenue, between Warren and Lafayette.
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