A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 17

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

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Mr. Borror still takes an interest in his fine farm of one hundred and forty-five acres, and well he may, for it is well cultivated and must be a gratifying return for the labor and expense put upon it. Politically Mr. Borror is a Democrat, and his religious connection is with the New Light denomination. Socially Mr. Borror belongs to Lockbourne Lodge, No. 232,

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F. & A. M., of Lockbourne, Ohio, having been connected with that lodge for thirty-five years. He and his family are justly considered representative citizens of the county, his name being regarded as good as his bond and con- nected with all measures for the public good.

DANIEL H. TAFT.

In mercantile circles in Columbus, Ohio, there is no name which more readily or unerringly suggests all those qualities which characterize the honorable and successful merchant than that of Daniel H. Taft, of the firm of Dunn, Taft & Company, who not only occupies an honorable position in the business community but is descended from an old first-class Ohio family.

Mr. Taft was born March 23, 1850, a son of Daniel H. Taft, Sr. His father was a native of Massachusetts, born in 1814, who came with his par- ents to Ohio early in life and settled at Reynoldsburg, a small village in Franklin county, where in due time he started on a mercantile career. In 1840 he married Miss Sarah Elizabeth Conine. Not long afterward he moved to Columbus, where for many years he had a dry-goods store at Broad and High streets on the present site of the Deshler bank, and later at another location on High street and still later at High and Gay streets. He retired from business after an honorable career of thirty years and died in 1876. His wife survived him until 1894, when she died, in her seventy- fifth year; she was born in New Jersey, in 1819, and came to Ohio with her father's family in 1821. Jacob Conine, her father, was a pioneer in Franklin county, and her mother was Sarah Lawrence, born in New Jersey in 1778. Daniel Taft, father of Daniel H. Taft, Sr., and grandfather of Daniel H. Taft, the immediate subject of this sketch, was a native of Massachusetts and was descended from ancestors who came to America from England about 1680.

Mr. Taft passed his boyhood and early school days in his native city and completed his studies in the high school. After that he assisted his father in his store and later accepted a position in the dry-goods store of J. D. Osborn & Company and was a clerk in their establishment for fourteen years, until the business was closed out. After that he was with Green, Joyce & Company until 1889, when he formed a partnership with Joseph H. Dunn and Joseph A. Hartley, under the style of Dunn, Taft & Company, purchasing the stock of William G. Dunn, a retiring member of Mr. Dunn's old firm. The present store of Dunn, Taft & Company, at 84, 86 and 88 North High street, occupies a ground space of forty by one hundred and eighty- seven feet and is a four-story-and-basement building. All of the several floors are crowded with the company's goods and customers and the business requires the services of sixty employes. The stock is large and varied and the store ranks as the largest exclusive dry-goods store in the state.

Mr. Taft was married, May I, 1882, to Miss Mary H. Ritson, a daugh-

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ter of Alfred and Jane E. Ritson, of Columbus. Mrs. Taft died in 1895, leaving a son and a daughter, Lawrence R. and Helen. Mr. Taft's present wife was Miss Martha Hill, daughter of Dr. John Hill, of Summit county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Taft are members of the Congregational church, in which they take much interest.

Mr. Taft is a man of much public spirit, influential to a great degree in political affairs, but too busy to be an active politician, a helpful, progressive citizen who has the welfare of his fellow citizens at heart and encourages every rational means to its advancement.

JAMES HOUSE ANDERSON.

William Anderson, of Scotland, an adherent of Prince James, son of James II, after the insurrection of 1715, fled in disguise to Virginia, the haven of discomfitted royalists, and settled on the north branch of the Potomac, in Hampshire county, in a beautiful valley known to this day as the Anderson Bottom. He was robust and chivalrous, participated in many battles with the Indians, and was one of the brave officers under General Braddock in his disastrous engagement with the French and Indians near Fort Duquesne. William Anderson was born in 1693, and died on his estate at the great age of one hundred and four. His son Thomas served with credit in various Virginia (colonial) expeditions against the Indians, including Lord Dun- more's to Chillicothe, in 1774. A soldier of the Revolution (six years), patriotic and valiant, he was in many battles and (tradition says) in com- mand of his company at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered. He was born on his father's place in 1733 and died in 1806.

James, the son of Captain Thomas Anderson, was born on the same plantation, February 17. 1768. He served as a private for three months at the close of the war for independence. In 1792 he entered the cavalry service as ensign, or second lieutenant, accompanied Anthony Wayne in his cam- paigns against the Indians, displayed great gallantry in battle, particularly at Fallen Timbers, and was advanced to a captaincy. He died October 24, 1844.

His son, Thomas Jefferson Anderson, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born at the old homestead in Virginia, April 2, 1801, and with his parents came to Fairfield county, Ohio, April 7, 1806. Here on his father's farm he spent his youth. At the age of eighteen he returned to Virginia to attend school. On the 7th of August, 1825, he was married to Miss Nancy Dunlevy, born January 12, 1805, a woman of taste, refinement and brilliant conversational powers, of a notable family of Jefferson county, Ohio, and the same year removed to Marion, Ohio. For three successive terms of seven years each he was an associate judge of the court of common pleas of Marion county, and during his long residence in Marion held many other posts of

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honor, profit and trust. He died January 25, 1871, respected by all. He was a man of strict integrity, stainless, honorable and just.

James House Anderson, son of Judge Thomas Jefferson and Nancy (Dunlevy ) Anderson, was born in Marion, March 16, 1833. He was edu- cated in the district and select schools of the town, also in the Marion Acad- emy and at the Ohio Wesleyan University. He studied law under Ozias Bowen, later a supreme judge of Ohio, and Bradford R. Durfee, graduated in the law department of Cincinnati College in the spring of 1854, and imme- diately began the practice of his profession in his native place. In April, 1855, he was elected mayor of Marion, and, in the October following, prose- cuting attorney of the county. In the trial of causes he was indefatigable, at times eloquent, and usually successful. Like many other young lawyers, he made stump speeches for his party during political campaigns, and occasion- ally accepted invitations to address lyceums and other associations. On No- vember 27, 1856, he was united in marriage to Miss Princess A. Miller, the youngest daughter of the late David Miller, a pioneer of prominence in Marion and Wyandot counties, whose nephew, Rear Admiral Joseph N. Miller, born in Springfield, Ohio, represented the United States navy by appointment of the president at the Queen's jubilee in London, in 1897. She was a granddaughter of Abner Bent, of Marion county, and a great-grand- daughter of Colonel Silas Bent of the Revolution, a member of the Ohio Com- pany, who, with General Rufus Putnam and other Revolutionary officers, settled in Ohio in 1788. In 1859 Mr. Anderson was a candidate for the state senate in the district composed of Marion, Logan, Union and Hardin coun- ties, and came within one vote of receiving the nomination. A nomination was "equivalent to an election."

In March, 1861, he was appointed by President Lincoln United States consul at Hamburg, one of the most important commercial cities in Europe, and with his family at once embarked for the scene of his duties. Ordinarily this consulate is a busy one, but the great Civil war in America trebled the responsibilities and difficulties of the position. Hamburg early became a rendezvous for privateers and blockade-runners, where they received their out- fit and supplies, and the necessary espionage of these vessels, their lawless owners and officers demanded sleepless vigilance. That Consul Anderson performed his arduous duties most efficiently is evidenced by the number of letters of commendation received by him from the secretary of state and other distinguished public functionaries. Under date of December 10, 1861, Secre- tary Seward writes: "Your vigilance in regard to the movements of the insurgents for the purchasing and shipping of arms and other equipments at Hamburg is highly appreciated." Again, under date of August 21. 1862, Secretary Seward writes: "The department this morning has been informed by the secretary of the navy that the steamer Columbia, concerning which you gave early and important information to this department, which was promptly communicated to the navy department, has been captured." This

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elegant vessel, including her cargo of arms and other munitions, was of great value.

Mr. Anderson was instrumental, it was said, in sinking a lighter, at Hamburg, that was conveying batteries, carriages, etc., to the steamer Bahama in the service of the Confederate government, and of thwarting the Confed- erate agents in other respects. Thereupon Secretary Seward wrote Mr. Anderson : "1 have transmitted to you, under another envelope, the National Intelligencer, in which is printed a letter of Mr. Huse, one of the Rebel agents in Europe, in which he confesses that his plans have been thwarted by the activity of yourself, and the minister of the United States in London. The department takes pleasure in acknowledging the service thus rendered to your country." (See dispatch of Caleb Huse, Captain of Artillery, C. S. A., to the war department, C. S. A., captured by our navy ).

Hon. Carl Schurz, United States minister at Madrid, writing to Mr. Anderson from Washington, March 1, 1862, detailing an interview with the secretary of state, says: "I must not forget to mention that Seward spoke very highly of you and your services."

General H. S. Sanford, United States minister at Brussels, who had just returned from a visit to Washington, writing from Brussels, August 24, 1862, says: "I was glad to learn at the department of state that your activity in following up Rebel enterprises in your port was appreciated. You have probably already received a dispatch commendatory of your zeal, which was to have been addressed to you about the time of my departure, the end of last month. I hope you are well, and that the work of detecting Rebel enterprises goes bravely on. I was just fourteen days in the United States, having been detained longer than I contemplated in South America." In 1863 the secre- tary of state writes: "The department is gratified to perceive the evidences of your vigilance and devoted loyalty."

Consul Anderson's diplomatic duties were even more perplexing than his consular. Naturalized American citizens were often arrested in Hamburg for non-performance of military duty in the fatherland-usually for service alleged to be due Prussia or one of the smaller German states. The persons thus apprehended invariably appealed to the consul for protection, and he, as invariably, by tact, good judgment and persistence secured their release. In 1863 Hon. G. J. Abbot, of the state department, writes : "Your assiduous labors in the consulate are known and appreciated here." While in Hamburg Mr. Anderson was notified by letter from the New York office that he had been elected a member of the American Geographical and Statistical Society. Sub- sequently he was elected a corresponding member of the American Institute and received the following notification :

AMERICAN INSTITUTE, New York, May 8. 1863. J. H. Anderson, Esq. : Dear Sir :- I take great pleasure in informing you that at a meeting of the American Institute of the city of New York, held

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last evening, you were unanimously elected a corresponding member thereof. The American Institute was chartered in 1829, for the purpose of encouraging and promoting domestic industry in this state and the United States, in agri- culture, commerce, manufactures and the arts.

Yours very respectfully, JOHN W. CHAMBERS, Act. Rec. Sec'y.

On the 30th of May, 1863, Mr. Chambers writes: "The American In- stitute has appointed you a delegate to represent the association at the Great International Agricultural exhibition at Hamburg, and the credentials of your appointment will be handed you by Mr. Wennberg, a member of the Institute." On the 29th of December, 1862, Secretary Seward notified Mr. Anderson that his dispatch relating to the exhibition had been published in the National Intelligencer, for general information. It was a carefully prepared paper and was soon followed by another, which the state department authorized the same journal to publish. On the 20th of March, 1863, the secretary of the Ham- burg International Exhibition wrote: "It is my pleasant duty to thank you most sincerely for the able manner in which you have called the attention of your government and countrymen to what it is hoped will be an occasion of bringing from your country the wonderful products of your agricultural and mechanical skill." The immediate results of Mr. Anderson's widely published dispatches on the subject of the Great International Exhibition at Hamburg in 1863, were a message from the president, and appropriation by congress, the appointment of a commissioner by President Lincoln,-Governor Joseph A. Wright, of Indiana,-similar action by many of the states as well as many of our agricultural societies, and a successful exhibition by our citizens of agricultural products, implements, live stock, etc. It is needless to quote at greater length from dispatches and letters in recognition and approval of Mr. Anderson's services.

That his efforts to stimulate immigration, to give to the people of Europe just views of our resources, finances, etc., to secure generous contributions in 1864 for our sick and wounded soldiers, and in 1865 for our helpless freed- men, as well as his labors in many other important directions not heretofore referred to, were eminently successful, testimonials from the secretary of state, and others of the highest character-women as well as men-clearly establish. Few American representatives abroad have ever served their coun- try with more diligence or fidelity ; and it is probably true that two-thirds of his time was employed in the discharge of extraordinary duties that do not occur in a period of profound peace.

Mr. Anderson finally became weary of official life, and, longing for his native land, sent in his resignation. This is the answer that came to him:

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, Aug. 6. 1866. J. H. Anderson, Esq. : Sir :- Your communication of July 28th, tend-

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ering your resignation of your office of consul at Hamburg and giving your views on the policy of the administration, has been received. Your resigna- tion is accepted, with regret. The department has every reason to be satis- fied with your manner of performing the delicate and responsible duties of your consulate. The records of the department show you to have been a faithful officer of the government. Your letter has been read by the presi- dent, who expresses much satisfaction at the sound and liberal views therein given. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Devoted as Mr. Anderson had been to President Lincoln throughout the war period, and despite his strong attachment to the Republican party, he could not conscientiously withhold his approval of the southern policy of Presi- dent Johnson; and in 1866 he was sent as a delegate from the eighth con- gressional district of Ohio to the National Union convention at Philadelphia. In 1866 President Johnson tendered him an appointment as chief justice of Montana territory, which he declined, not wishing to leave home again, but accepted the office of collector of internal revenue of the eighth congressional district of Ohio. While Mr. Anderson was discharging his duties as collector, Hon. John Sherman wrote the following letter to the president :

SENATE CHAMBER, February 18, 1867.

Sir :- I most earnestly recommend James H. Anderson of Ohio, late consul at Hamburg, for appointment to a mission or leading consulate. He is a gentleman of high character and abilities, who as consul at Hamburg, ren- dered very valuable services to the country. He is well qualified for any trust. I will not hesitate to urge his confirmation to any executive appoint- ment within your gift.

To the President.

Very respectfully yours, JOHN SHERMAN.

Mr. Anderson never called on the president after this letter was written, although invited to do so. He received a lengthy and very friendly letter from Senator Sherman, dated New York, April 6, 1867, which concludes as follows: "I am here arranging for my trip to Paris, and sail on the 13th. I certainly will miss no opportunity to do you a kindness, not only on your own account, but also on your father's, for whom I have always felt the highest regard." As the president, the secretary of state and both of the Ohio senators were friends of Mr. Anderson, an appointment to a high position might easily have been obtained ; but he had now resolved that he would not accept an office of any kind, and, having large landed interests in Wyandot county, he soon moved to Upper Sandusky, opened a law office, engaged in banking, also in farming, and stock and wool growing on a much larger scale than ever before,

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and continued in active and profitable business until 1874, when he removed to Columbus, his present place of residence .. While living in Upper San- dusky he was elected for three years a member of the board of education. In 1878 he was appointed by the governor a trustee of the Ohio State University, and for nearly seven years was the chairman of the executive committee of the board of trustees. At his suggestion the board conferred upon Allen G. Thurman, then president pro tempore of the United States senate, and upon Morrison R. Waite, chief justice of the United States, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws; and the resolutions appropriate to the occasion were drafted by Mr. Anderson. These distinguished Ohioans were the first to receive the degree from this eminent seat of learning.

· The year that General Thomas Ewing was the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, 1879, at his earnest request, Mr. Anderson became a member of the state executive committee, and its secretary. Mr. Anderson is now spending his time somewhat quietly, in the society of his books, in writ- ing, in social and literary pastimes, and in the management of his estate. He takes an active interest still in the proceedings of the patriotic and other organizations of which he is a member. At the national congress of the Sons of the American Revolution, held in May, 1899, in Detroit, he was elected the vice-president general of the national society. He was a delegate from the Ohio society to the national congress, Sons American Revolution, at Morristown, New Jersey, in May, 1898; at Detroit, in May, 1899; and at New York city, in May, 1900. He has long been a life member of the Ohio State 'Archaeological and Historical Society, and in May, 1899, was elected a trustee of the society for three years. It is the only state office which he now (1900) holds. He is also a member of the executive committee, which is the government body of the society. Mr. Anderson is still a member of the ancient and honorable order of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and ex- pects to remain one.

The children of James H. and Princess A. Anderson are: Mary Prin- cess; Lieutenant James Thomas Anderson, United States Army; Charles Finley, merchant, Paducah, Kentucky; Amelie Ellen, deceased; and Alice Florence, deceased. Mary Princess was married to Professor Edward Orton, Jr., of the Ohio State University, a son of the distinguished scientist, Dr. Edward Orton, LL. D. James Thomas was married to Miss Helen Bagley, the accomplished daughter of the late governor, John J. Bagley, of Detroit, Michigan. Charles Finley was married to Miss Minerva Ann Flowers, of Paducah, Kentucky, a descendant of one of the oldest slave-holding families in the south. Amelie Ellen died at the home of her parents at the age of seven. Alice Florence, always an invalid, died January 24, 1895, at Santa Fe, New Mexico, of pneumonia. Lieutenant James T. and Helen Bagley Anderson are blessed with one child, Helen Anderson. Charles F. and Minerva A. Anderson also have one child, Mary Princess Anderson.

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It may be proper to add that the old Scotchman, William Anderson, named at the beginning of this sketch, was the father of two sons and two daughters; that his son William was killed by the Indians in Virginia, and that his other son, Captain Thomas Anderson, lost three brave sons-William, Joseph and Abner-in the last war with Great Britain. Captain James An- derson, heretofore referred to, had seventeen grandsons in the Union army during the great Rebellion, several of whom gave their lives for their country.

The maternal ancestors of James H. Anderson, of Columbus, Ohio, are as follows : Mrs. Mary Barton Dunlevy, a widow, came to America from county Tyrone, Ireland, about 1771, and settled with her children near Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. She was the widow of Andrew Dunlevy, son of James, son of John, son of Francis, son of Anthony, who was living and very old, in Sligo, Ireland, in 1652. She was the mother of nine children, -eight sons and one daughter,-seven of whom accompanied her to this country, namely : John, Anthony, Andrew, Morris, Daniel, James and Nancy. Mrs. Mary Barton Dunlevy was born in 1730, was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and died August 18, 1827, at the home of her son Daniel, in Cross Creek township, Jefferson county, Ohio. Andrew, her hus- band, died in county Tyrone, some time before she left Ireland.

James Dunlevy was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, in 1770; came to America with his mother, as before stated; lived for years in Fayette county, Pennsylvania ; was educated at Dr. John McMillan's classical school, and its successor, Canonsburg Academy, which afterward became the famous Wash- ington and Jefferson College; was united in marriage in 1796, to Miss Hannah Rabb, born July 1, 1780, a daughter of Captain Andrew Rabb, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Captain Rabb was a man of great wealth and influence, and a Revolutionary soldier who recruited a company of mounted rangers at his own expense, which rendered gallant service during several years of the war for independence. David McKinley, a great-grandfather of the presi- dent of the United States, in his application for a pension, says that a part of his Revolutionary service was in Captain Andrew Rabb's company. Captain Rabb, whose will disposing of his great estate is on record in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, was married to his first wife, Mary Scott, the mother of Hannah Rabb Dunlevy, September 1, 1768; to his second wife, Catherine Pentecost, February 27, 1800; and died at Hot Springs, Bath county, Virginia, where he was undergoing treatment for poison administered by a slave, September 5, 1804.

James and Hannah Rabb Dunlevy removed from Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, in 1797, to Jefferson county, Ohio. Here James Dunlevy bought a farm about three miles from Steubenville, soon became prosperous and quite prominent, was elected the sheriff of the county for two years from October 9. 1804. and after more than two years' service retired from office in Decem- ber, 1806, and died, it is believed, on the day preceding "Cold Friday," that

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is, on February 5, 1807, leaving a handsome property to his four infant chil- dren. His will, and the wills of his brothers, Daniel and Morris, and of Captain Rabb, will be found in The History of the Dunlevy Family, written by Miss G. D. Kelley, of Columbus, Ohio.

James Dunlevy's only son, John, died very young, soon after his father's death. His daughter, Mary, married Edwin S. Tarr, a lawyer who first settled in Galveston, and later in Clay county, Illinois. Here Mary died childless, August 29, 1858. Her sister, Julia Dunlevy, born December 25, 1800, married John Plotner, in Jefferson county, Ohio, removed to Ingraham Prairie, near the home of her sister Mary, and passed away April 28, 1863, leaving several children.

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 17

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