A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 111

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1156

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio > Part 111

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wounds or capture, and in 1864 received an honorable discharge. After his return to Ohio he removed with his family to Westerville, where he died in 1889. His wife, Phoebe Thompson, was a native of New Jersey.

During his early boyhood Mr. Wickham, of this review, accompanied his parents to Westerville, where he acquired his education, being graduated at the high school with the honors of the class of 1886. Previous to that time he had worked on a farm, and he also engaged in teaching, both before and after his graduation. He has been a resident of Columbus for some years, and is recognized as a very active and efficient worker in political circles. Though he was reared a Democrat, and all of his family are connected with that party, he is a stanch Republican. His study of political issues has led him to the belief that Republican principles contain the best elements of good government. He has recently retired from two years' service as chief assist- ant to the clerk of the courts of Franklin county, and is now the candidate on the Republican ticket for the position of county recorder.

Mr. Wickham was united in marriage to Miss Grace McKane, a daugh- ter of Louis and Mary ( Caldwell) McKane, of Norwich township, Franklin county, where her father carries on farming. They now have two children. Mr. Wickham is an active member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and is also identified with the Knights of the Mystic Circle. His success and advancement in life he owes entirely to his own efforts. He has improved his opportunities and his talents, natural and acquired, enabled him to work his way steadily upward.

NATHAN MUNSHOWER.

A man of varied experiences and of prominence in different ways has a career always interesting even though it be written briefly and in a sense incompletely. Such a life story is that of Nathan Munshower, of Columbus, Ohio. His great-grandfather in the paternal line came to the United States from Germany. His son, Jacob Munshower, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Jacob Munshower, Jr., father of Nathan, was born and reared in Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he became a farmer and where he married Anna Clancey, a native of Chester county. The wife of Jacob Munshower, Sr., also of Pennsylvanian nativity, was a relative of Hon. John Wanamaker, of Philadelphia, ex-postmaster gen- eral of the United States.

Nathan Munshower was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1844. In 1861 he enlisted in the Thirty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and after the expiration of his term of service re-enlisted in the Eighty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He participated in all the fighting of the Army of the Potomac and took part in the battles at Manassas, Antietam, the Wilderness, Summit Mountain and Gettysburg, and in many minor en- gagements, receiving two bayonet wounds and one gunshot wound. He was

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promoted and given charge of the quartermaster's department, First Division, Sixth Army Corps, and was detailed as quartermaster sergeant. In 1868 he removed from Chester, Chester county, Pennsylvania, to Ironton, Ohio, where he was connected with rolling mills for ten years. He filled the offices of chief of police and marshal at Ironton from 1872 to 1883, and during that period from time to time was brought successfully into conflict with criminal classes, and as deputy United States marshal under United States Marshal Wright was active in suppressing the historic riot in Cincinnati in 1882.

In 1887 Mr. Munshower came from Ironton to Columbus, and was superintendent of subsistence at the Ohio State Penitentiary from 1887 to 1895, under the administrations of Governors Foraker and Mckinley. Since 1895 he has been general agent for the Born brewery for Ohio and other states, with headquarters at Columbus. As a Republican he has taken a deep and active interest in politics, and for the past two years he has been chairman of the Franklin county Republican central committee. He was influential in securing the election of Hon. D. K. Watson, a Republican, to congress and in overcoming a Democratic majority in his district of over thirty-six hundred. He is a Knight Templar and a thirty-second degree Mason, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He organized Lambert Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Ironton, and was foremost in the building of Grand Army hall of that city; was senior vice commander of the Grand Army of the state of Ohio in 1883, and is past commander in the Union Veteran Legion.

Mr. Munshower was married at Ironton, Ohio, to Miss Jennie Hopkins, daughter of Mark Hopkins, a prominent pioneer and merchant of that part of the state, who died about 1862. Mr. Hopkins was a descendant of old Scotch families and his parents came to the United States from Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Munshower have a son and a daughter: Harry Munshower learned steam and gas fitting and plumbing, and is a successful manufacturer at Wheeling, West Virginia; Mabel Edna was graduated at the Western School of Oratory, at Evanston, Illinois, and at the Ohio State University, and became well known as an elocutionist and as a teacher of elocution and physical culture. She married Dr. August Sulzer, of Portsmouth, Ohio.

JAMES DENNY OSBORN.

Among the prominent families of Columbus, one of its foremost, is that which was established by Hon. Ralph Osborn, and of which James Denny Osborn is a worthy representative. James Denny Osborn, Sr., son of Hon. Ralph Osborn and father of our subject, was born near Circleville, Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1814, the second in order of birth of the fifteen children of his parents.

Hon. Ralph Osborn was a member of the state senate of Ohio, and was for eighteen years auditor of the state. He broke down under stress of hard work, and died in 1835, after an all too brief career of usefulness and honor,

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which made him well known throughout the country. He was an unswerving Whig. He married Catherine Renick, of Pickaway county, Ohio. In 1816, when his son, James Denny Osborn, was two years old, he took up his residence in Columbus. About 1827, at the age of about thirteen years, the son became a clerk in the dry-goods and general store of Francis Stewart, and after 1840 the firm was known as Stewart & Osborn. Mr. Osborn was an active business man until he died, May 5, 1865. aged fifty-two years. He was not only a prominent merchant, but was in a sense a banker to most of the farmers in Franklin county, and he was faithful to every trust reposed in him. His life was a busy and a successful one, and he left an ample estate. His wife was Emeline Lathrop, daughter of Dr. Horace Lathrop, who came to Columbus from Waynesville, Warren county, and practiced medicine there for many years. Not only was he a prominent private practitioner, but he long held the office of physician to the state penitentiary, and the fact that when cholera broke out in that institution he remained at his post of duty and did everything that he could for these criminal but unfortunate patients. is a fact in local medical history. Born in the year 1800, he was educated in the state of New York, and died in 1848. Mrs. Osborn is still living in Columbus, in good health and in the possession of all her faculties, and takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the advancement of the city and of Franklin county.

James Denny Osborn and Emeline (Lathrop) Osborn had children as follows: Charles Lathrop Osborn is a retired business man of Columbus. He married Miss Mary Galloway, a daughter of the Hon. Samuel Galloway and a sister of Hon. Tod B. Galloway. Frank Stewart Osborn, of New York city, married Margaret Andrews, a daughter of the late Dr. A. L. An- drews, who was president of the Ohio State Bank. Jennie L. Osborn mar- ried the late William Faxon, who was graduated from Yale College, was a major of artillery in the Union service of the Civil war, and rose to promi- nence as a banker in Columbus. Mary Osborn married Edwin A. Dawson, of Chicago, who is connected with the Pennsylvania Railway. James Denny Osborn, Jr., is the immediate subject of this sketch. Susan Osborn mar- ried Professor Nathan Lord, of Cincinnati, now of the Ohio State Univer- sity, at Columbus.

James Denny Osborn, Jr., was born at Columbus in 1862, and was edu- cated in the high school of that city. He has for many years been connected with coal interests. He is a Republican, and a Knight Templar and a thirty- second-degree Mason, and is well known as a prominent and influential citizen of much enterprise and public spirit.

John Osborn, lawyer of Toledo, Ohio, who died about ten years ago, was the eldest son of Hon. Ralph Osborn, and left a large family. William Osborn, a well-known lawyer of Ashland, Ohio, is also a son of Hon. Ralph Osborn. Charles Lathrop Osborn bas two sons : Frank, who is court-house reporter at Columbus for the Ohio State Journal: and Samuel Galloway, who was graduated from the law department of the Ohio State University and

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admitted to the bar in 1897, and has since practiced his profession success- fully, and is prominent as an Elk, a Mason, and a member of the Olentangy Club. Josiah Smith is a grandson of Hon. Ralph Osborn. Frank Stewart Osborn has three sons, Ralph, who is second officer on the American liner St. Paul and who was educated at Philadelphia; Abner, a graduate of the Ohio State University, who is now taking a post-graduate course in civil engineering and mining; and Eliphalet, who is a student at the Ohio State University.

FREDERICK W. C. WIECHERS.

To the substantial upbuilding of Columbus Frederick William Christian Wiechers has contributed in a large degree, for his efforts have been instru- mental in securing for the city many of its leading and extensive industries. The history of a country is no longer a record of wars and conquests, but is an account of business activity, of the work of men in agricultural, indus- trial, commercial and professional life, and of their development and use of the natural resources which nature has so bountifully supplied. Therefore in preparing history of the present time it is not meet that mention should be made of those whose efforts have led to an increase in business activity and thereby promoted the growth, prosperity and progress of the community. In this regard Mr. Wiechers is certainly deserving of creditable mention.

Born in Hanover, Germany, in 1854, he is a son of Louis Wiechers, who when a young man had removed to Hanover. The father died in 1871, and two years later his son Frederick came to America, making his way direct to Columbus. For five years he was a student in Capital College, and gradu- ated in that institution in 1878. He entered the Lutheran ministry at Pat- ricksburg, Indiana, and in 1882 returned to Ohio to accept the pastorate of a church in Morrow county, where he remained until January, 1891. Thence he went to Covington, Ohio, where he continued for three years, and later spent two and a half years in Marysville, Ohio. In 1895, owing to impaired health caused by la grippe, he resigned the ministry in the latter place and located permanently in Columbus. He had taken an active part in educa- tional matters in Covington, and was an efficient member of the school board there.

On coming to Columbus Mr. Wiechers engaged in the coal business at Parsons avenue and the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad crossing. Since then Parsons avenue has been paved with brick, and the street railway has been extended. This section of the city has enjoyed marvelous growth and prosperity, largely owing to the efforts of Mr. Wiechers. He induced Mr. Craiglow to locate the Ashville Bent Wood Works here, secured the extension of the water system, lighting, paving and the street railway. In connection with the efforts of the board of trade, he was instrumental in having the Columbus Iron & Steel Company locate its extensive works in this portion of the city in 1899, five hundred men being employed in their foundry.

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Through his labors other enterprises have been secured, including the mallea- ble iron works on the same street, where they purchased thirty-one acres of land and will erect a large plant, furnishing employment to between twelve and fifteen hundred men. The Handle Works Company has also erected a factory just west of Mr. Wiecher's coal yard, employing seventy-five men. The Federal Glass Company has built a factory just east of Parsons avenue, and will employ about five hundred men. It was Mr. Wiechers who induced the Federal Natural Gas Company to come into Columbus from Perry, Hock- ing and Pickaway counties by way of Parsons avenue and High street. All these concerns have proved of immense value and benefit to the city, and the subject of this review certainly deserves great credit for what he has accom- plished in the way of promoting the material welfare and consequent pros- perity of Columbus.

He was united in marriage to Miss Katie Heintz, a daughter of Adam Heintz, who came to Columbus in 1835, and was for many years engaged in business at the corner of Fourth and Main streets. He died in 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Wiechers have two sons: Herbert Arthur, who is with his father in business; and Oscar Frederick, who is yet in school. The daughters are Mary Eleanora, the wife of Millard Craiglow, who is with the Ashville Bent Works, of Columbus; Clara Catherine and Flora Amelia, at home. Mr. Wiechers and his family are members of the Trinity Lutheran church, in which he is serving as a trustee. In 1898 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the city council, and in 1900 was elected by a double majority. He has taken an active part in the affairs of the city as a member of the committees on parks, plats, engineering, railroads and viaducts. Although his residence in Columbus covers a comparatively brief period, few men are more promi- nent or more widely known than Mr. Wiechers. He has been an important factor in business circles, and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, unabated energy and industry that never flags. He is public spirited and thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of Columbus.

FREDERICK SWICKARD.

Frederick Swickard, who is following agricultural pursuits in Plain township, was born within that territorial division of the county February 24, 1831, and is one of the seven children whose parents were John and Eliza- beth (Baughman) Swickard. He represented one of the pioneer families of Franklin county, for at an early day in the development of this portion of the state his grandfather, Daniel Swickard, who was probably a native of Germany, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio and settled in Jefferson town- ship on Black Lick. After several years he removed his family to Plain township, where he purchased a farm, making his home there until his death. John Swickard, the father of our subject, was born in Washington county,

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Pennsylvania, August 25, 1806; and with his parents came to Ohio about 1822. Here he became an extensive land owner, his realty possessions aggre- gating about six hundred acres. For more than half a century he was an active member of the United Brethren church, and by precept and example he taught the truths of Christianity. In early life he was a stanch Republi- can, but in his last years his views on the temperance question led him to ally himself with the Prohibition party. He died September 10, 1898, and his wife passed away January 2, 1882. She was a native of Plain township, Franklin county, born September 6, 1804, probably the first white child born in the township. Her parents, Adam and Priscilla Baughman, were among the earliest white settlers of the neighborhood.

Frederick Swickard was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads of the day, his time being devoted to the duties of the school room, to the cultivation of the fields and to the enjoyment of such pleasures as were indulged in by the young people of the period. When he was only eighteen years of age the work of the home farm largely devolved upon him, owing to the ill health of his father. After his marriage he located on a farm of fifty acres in Plain township, then the property of his father, who sold the land the following year, at which time Frederick removed to what was known as the Grove. It was a tract of one hundred and forty-seven and a half acres of land which his father had previously purchased. He bought of his father a half interest in this land and made his home thereon for seven years, when he gave a part of the land in payment for ninety-four acres of his present home. Upon this place he has since resided, and his farming operations have been crowned with a high degree of success. As his financial resources have in- creased he has added to this property from time to time until he now has one hundred and seventy acres, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation, showing his careful supervision and giving evidence of his industry and capable management.

Mr. Swickard has been twice married. He first wedded Miss Sarah A. Smith, a native of Plain township, and a daughter of Abraham P. Smith, who removed to Franklin county from Sussex county, New Jersey. Four children were born of this marriage, of whom three are yet living, namely : Robert A., who operates the home farm; Dora M., the wife of Harry B. Taylor, of Plain township; and Minnie A., wife of Willis Johnston, of Mifflin township, Franklin county. The wife and mother died March 22, 1890, and on the 22d of March, 1893, Mr. Swickard was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Sarah M. Fravel, a native of Plain township, and a daughter of John Goodrich, one of the pioneer settlers of Lincoln county, Ohio, who came to this state from Connecticut. Subsequently he took up his abode in Franklin county. His father, Ezekiel Goodrich, was an old sea captain, and lived to the advanced age of ninety years. After attaining to womanhood Sarah Goodrich gave her hand in marriage to David Fravel, and they became the parents of four children, of whom three are living, namely : Eveline, the wife of George Beem, of Licking county; Felix C., a farmer of

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Plain township; and Joseph W., who carries on agricultural pursuits in Lick- ing county. There are no children by the second marriage of Mr. Swickard. This worthy couple are well known in the community and enjoy the warm regard of many friends. Mr. Swickard is a member and one of the trustees of the United Brethren church. He warmly espouses Democratic principles, and for eight years has served as trustee of his township. In 1893 he was appointed as one of the commissioners for the building of the Gahanna & New Albany free turnpike, and was made trustee and treasurer of the pike, in both of which offices he is still serving. He is one of the highly esteemed men of the county, reliable and trustworthy in all public affairs and faithful to the duties of the home and of the country at all times.

JAMES D. POSTON.

The existing strength and prosperity of the Democratic party in Ohio is due to those men who have devoted to its interests their natural energies, intellectual endownments, loyalty and a marked executive ability in conduct- ing public affairs of vital importance to the country; and to such men, who have consigned the best portion of their lives to the faithful discharge of the trusts reposed in them, is tendered the grateful acknowledgment of an appre- ciative party. Conspicuous among those who have labored long and conscien- tiously for the success of that party, and whose' active services have extended over a period of more than thirty years, is the gentleman whose name appears above .- a leading Democrat and citizen of this section of the state. He is especially prominent in connection with the work of the Columbus board of election, and when entering upon his work as a member of that board he puts aside all partisan prejudices and feeling, and is extremely fair and impartial in his rulings.

Colonel James D. Poston is a representative of two of the most promi- nent pioneer families of Ohio, and is descended from good old Revolutionary stock. The Poston family was represented in the war for independence by the great-great-grandfather of our subject and two of his brothers. The great-grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Alex Poston, the grand- father of our subject, was the father of Wesley W. Poston, who removed from Hampshire county, Virginia, to Athens county, Ohio, in the year 1835. He was a very successful merchant and became known as the richest man in the Hocking valley. The Postons were the largest mine owners in the valley and took a very active part in developing the resources of the state and thus promoting its material upbuilding. Wesley Poston gave his attention strictly to his business affairs, and his efforts were attended with a high degree of prosperity. He died in 1876, leaving to his family a comfortable compe- tence. In early manhood he married Elizabeth Dew, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Zane) Dew. The Dews were pioneer people of Athens county, Ohio, locating there on their removal from Virginia, and the grandfather of our subject was a wealthy farmer.

Elizabeth Dew, afterward Mrs. Poston, aided the soldiers in the Revo-

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lutionary war. With many others her family had taken refuge in a block- house at Wheeling, West Virginia, where they were attacked by Simon Girty and a band of Indians. Although only nine years of age, she ran bullets which were used in repelling the attack. She lived to the very advanced age of ninety-four years, and frequently related to her grandson, Colonel James D. Poston, events which were connected with the Revolutionary and Indian wars and with the early history of the country. She was a cousin of Elizabeth Zane, whose story is familiar to all students of our early American annals. As related by the grandmother of the Colonel, the incident is as follows: On one occasion the settlers had sought refuge in a block-house and were ear- nestly endeavoring to keep back the band of Indians who threatened their destruction, when it was learned that their supply of powder was very low. Another keg of powder was in a building some distance away, and it was absolutely imperative that the men have it. Elizabeth Zane volunteered to secure it. The men objected to her attempting the errand, but she insisted that they were all needed in the block-house,-that not one could be spared. She had just returned from school in Philadelphia, and was then eighteen years of age. She made her way from the house, and as she passed quickly along the Indians were so surprised that they thought this meant surrender on the part of the whites and did not attack her. When she started to return with the keg of powder, however, they had sufficiently recovered from their surprise to understand her mission, and the bullets flew thick and fast around her, but she escaped almost miraculously and in safety reached the house. To her fearlessness the entire band of people undoubtedly owed their lives.

Colonel Poston, of this review, was born in Nelsonville, Athens county, Ohio. He attended college for several years, his educational privileges in- cluding a course in the Ohio University. He was afterward connected with business interests in Logan, Ohio, until 1878, when he came to Columbus as the chief mine inspector of the state, having been appointed to that position by Governor Bishop for a four years' term. After a year and a half, however, on account of ill health, he resigned. He is now a retired business man, resid- ing at No. 853 South Champion avenue. Since the age of fourteen years he has taken a very deep and active interest in political affairs, and is a stal- wart supporter of the Democracy. For twelve years he served as a mem- ber of the board of elections, and from 1887 to 1890 was its president. He was first appointed by Governor Foraker, a Republican, and after the power of appointment was vested in the mayor he was chosen for the position by Mayor Karb, and four years later by Mayor Allen. There has been a wonderful improvement in the manner of conducting elections in Ohio in the past fifteen years, and the present splendid arrangement is the growth of the public senti- ment following the discovery of the election frauds in Cincinnati and else- where in the fall of 1885. The prostitution of the ballot was comparatively an easy thing prior to the law of 1887, providing for the registration of voters in the cities. Before that time there was a statute providing for the selec- tion of judges and clerks by the electors, but in the year mentioned, in pursu-

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 111

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1156

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1156