Brooklyn History
By Jim Reis
Brooklyn traces its roots to Ohio and beyond that to the Northeast. Tradition has it that Brooklyn was incorporated by the state on February 27, 1849, but the plat for the community was filed with the county clerk on November 9, 1848.
The man behind Brooklyn was a real estate dealer named Burton Hazen, and his background is somewhat confusing. He or someone in his family told a US Census worker in 1850 that he was born in Vermont. But 10 years later when another census worker asked the same question, he was told Hazen was born in Canada. Indications are Hazen moved to Kentucky from Ohio, possibly from right across the river in what was then Fulton, a shipbuilding area.
Fulton-one of Cincinnati's first suburbs was settled between 1820 and 1840 and populated by native born Americans and immigrants from Canada and Great Britain. The Hazen name was well known then in Cincinnati, but exactly how Burton Hazen fits in is not clear.
William Babcock Hazen, born in West Hartford, Vermont, settled in Ohio and became friends with James A Garfield. Hazen became a colonel and then a general in the Union Army of Ohio during the Civil War and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Lawrence Hazen born in Cincinnati in 1829, became police chief and the father of a well known Cincinnati contractor, Harry Clay Hazen.
Two of his brothers, Richard and William served in the Mexican War. Richard died during the Battle of Monterey. William later served in the Civil War. After the war, he moved to Covington and died at his Powell Street home in November 1900 at the age of 82. Burton's wife Sarah listed her native state as Delaware. They had five children all born in Ohio, Henry, Caroline, Burton Jr. Louisa and Elloner.
An early partner in Burton Hazen's town plan was Lewis Hazen, most likely a relative. According to Campbell County deed records, Lewis Hazen lived in Hamilton County, Ohio. The town of Brooklyn that Burton Hazen laid out in November 1848 was basically the west side of Dayton.
Running east to west from the river, the streets were Front, Fulton, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Winston, Brooklyn and High. The western border of Brooklyn was Berry Street, the eastern border was McKinney Street and the only other north south street was Main.
Burton and Lewis purchased most of the land for their new town from Robert and Mary Ann Todd in August 1848. Brooklyn's incorporation included a clause for establishing a ferry. That clause was later repealed from the incorporation by a state act on March 7, 1850. Brooklyn further developed in the early 1850s with the addition of two subdivisions.
On August 24, 1850 A M Taylor, W C Davis, James Taylor and Joseph W Taylor filed in the courthouse the Taylor and David Addition. On October 8, 1852 Burton Hazen also submitted an addition.
The connection between Brooklyn and Fulton is clear in the 1850 census, which showed Brooklyn's residents were primarily born in Ohio or the East.
During the Civil War, Brooklyn with its strong northern roots was a bastion of Union support. A Cincinnati newspaper on December 16, 1863 noted that Brooklyn's 58 families furnished about 40 soldiers to the Union Army.
In March 1866 Brooklyn voted with its neighboring community Jamestown to merge the two cities. On April 26, 1866 a meeting of trustees said the combined city would have to have a new name. A Cincinnati newspaper account on July 4, 1866 said the name selected was "Dayton and we predict at some future day she will rival the beautiful city in Ohio after which she was named."
Dayton was created March 9, 1867 when Governor
Thomas E Bramlette signed the act merging the two cities. The first
meeting of the new Dayton council was on March 12, 1867.