USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio > Part 23
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During the war the services rendered to the Federal cause by Mr. Gallo- way were many and constant, although he was unable to undertake military ‹luty on account of his ill health, and his eloquence contributed as much as that of any other man to inspire people with patriotic ardor and to keep the quota of Ohio always full. After the close of hostilities his professional duties and business cares kept him busy in Columbus, but he was always ready for public duties; and it is probable that few men have rendered a larger amount of unrequited service to their party than has Mr. Galloway, and it was not unnatural that he should expect some recognition of this indebtedness. In 1871 he became a candidate for gubernatorial nomination, and his defeat in the convention was a disappointment from which he never recovered. His health almost entirely forsook him, and although he sought relief in travel it was in vain, and at last he came home to die. He was at one time a member of the First Presbyterian church, in the councils of which he was an acknowl- edged leader, was more than once a commissioner to the general assembly, and in the final reunion of the old and new school bodies he bore an important
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part. But when the Westminster church was formed he, perhaps, more than anybody else, was the moving spirit, and his loyal love and service were given to that church until his death.
Mr. Galloway was deeply interested in educational matters, and when he came to Columbus in 1844, as the secretary of state, that officer was also, ex officio, superintendent of schools, and he took hold of the interest of public schools with vigor and enthusiasm. The secretary of state who had preceded him had given three or four pages to that department, while Mr. Galloway gave to his first report twenty pages, to his second thirty-two and to his third fifty-six, all of which were full of facts gathered with the greatest indus- try and patience. Illiterate teachers and slipshod methods were severely criticised and within ten years from the time Mr. Galloway began his agita- tion the public-school system of Ohio was revolutionized and the schools compared favorably with those of any other state.
Personally the character of Mr. Galloway was of a most admirable kind. He was a genial and agreeable companion, a kind neighbor, possessing gen- erous impulses and true compassion, a loyal and self-denying helper of the church, a stout champion of the freedom of the slave and of the unity of the nation, and a great friend of the free school. His death, which occurred April 5, 1872, was mourned not only by his family but also by hosts of friends, and the state of Ohio suffered a loss that was irreparable.
A son of one of the renowned citizens of Columbus, Tod B. Galloway entered a profession where family connection, inheritance or influence are of little or of no avail, for in the law success must depend upon individual effort and personal merit. His childhood days were passed quietly in his native city, his time being largely spent in the public schools until he took up the more advanced studies in Amherst College, of Amherst, Massachusetts, where he was graduated with honors in the class of 1885. On his return to Colum- bus he began preparation for his life work as a student in the law office of the firm of Nash & Lentz, the senior partner, Judge Nash, being his preceptor. When he had become familiar with many of the fundamental principles of jurisprudence and had gained considerable knowledge of statutory law, he was admitted to the bar in 1888 and entered into partnership relations with the former firm, in whose office he had previously been a student. He was thus associated until 1896, when he became the candidate for the office of probate judge of Franklin county, winning the election by a very gratifying majority, as he ran far ahead of his ticket, a fact which stands in unmis- takable evidence of the confidence reposed in him and of his personal popu- larity among the people amidst whom his entire life has been passed.
Political questions have always been of deep interest to Judge Gallo- way, and few men are better informed on the issues of the day than he. Since age won for him the right of franchise he has labored untiringly for the growth and success of his party, and in 1893 his fitness for leadership was recognized by his election to the office of chairman of the Republican
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county executive committee. Devoting all his time during that campaign to public work in the interest of the cause he espoused, it was due in a large measure to his earnest and well directed labors that every candidate on the ticket in the county was elected for the first time in the history of the party. In 1893-4 he served as an alderman of Columbus and gave his co-operation to every movement calculated to secure the advancement of the city along substantial lines of progress. He has been the president of the Buckeye Club and is connected with various public and charitable institutions. His administration of the office of judge of the probate court won him high com- mendation from his brethren at the bar as well as from the public. Future successes in the law and in politics may safely be predicted for him, as there is always opportunity for men of ability and discrimination to win advance- ment in every line.
JAMES U. BARNHILL, M. D.
In a brief sketch of any living citizen it is difficult to do him exact and impartial justice-not so much, however, from lack of space or words to set forth the familiar and passing events of his personal history as for want of the perfect and rounded conception of his whole life, which grows, develops and ripens, like fruit, to disclose its true and best flavor only when it is mel- lowed by time. Daily contact with the man so familiarizes us with his many virtues that we ordinarily overlook them and commonly underestimate their possessor. Nevertheless, while the man passes away his deeds of virtue live on and will in due time bear fruit and do him the justice which our pen fails to record.
One of the most distinguished representatives of the medical fraternity, Dr. Barnhill, has attained prominence not only by reason of his skill as a prac- titioner, but also on account of his marked ability as an educator in the de- partment of medical science. He has carried his investigations far and wide into the realm of medical knowledge and he has led the way into new and untried fields wherein his gleanings have proven of special benefit to mankind.
Dr. Barnhill was born October 22, 1853, on a farm near Wattsville, Carroll county, Ohio, and was the fifth child born unto Rev. Williamson and Catherine (Dennis) Barnhill. The blood of Scotch, Irish and English ancestors flows in his veins and many of the characteristics of those people are manifest in his character. His grandprents, Robert and Elizabeth (Carter) Barnhill, joined a company of brave pioneer people who left their homes in Baltimore, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania to establish a settlement at what is now Bacon Ridge, Jefferson county, Ohio. This was two years before the admission of the state into the Union. Its lands were in their primitive condition, the forests uncut, the prairies uncultivated, and through the wooded avenues the Indians stalked in motley garb, having full dominion over the wild game then so plentiful. The Barnhills bore an active
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part in reclaiming their section of the state for purposes of civilization, and the grandfather of our subject was numbered among the loyal defenders of the nation in the war of 1812, thus following the example of his ancestor, James Hall, who was a hero of the Revolution. The maternal ancestor of our subject was also represented in the war for independence by James and John Dennis.
The Doctor spent his boyhood days upon the home farm, learning many lessons from nature and at the same time mastering the elementary branches of English knowledge in the district school. Later he became a student in the Napoleon high school. His father died in 1868, when the son was fifteen years of age, and for two years he was thrown largely upon his own re- sources. The necessity for self-help early brought forth the elementary strength of his character, which developed and grew with the passing years and enabled him to press forward on the highway to prosperity where many another falters by the wayside. In his seventeenth year he was employed as a teacher in the Barnhill school, in his home district in Henry county, and he was afterward a teacher in the village school in Canaan, Wayne county, and the adjacent district school. The desire for learning led him to prepare for college in the Canaan Academy, under the direction of Professor Wirts Reese. A. B., and Rev. J. W. Cummins, A. M., of Wooster. In 1876 he was graduated at the National Normal University, at Lebanon, and is a matricu- late in the post-graduate course of the University of Wooster. For four years he was the superintendent of the Holgate public schools, resigning that po- sition to enter medical college. He read medicine under the direction of J. J. Stees. M. D., of Holgate, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, and was graduated in 1883 at the Columbus Medical College, since which time he has been engaged in the successful practice of his profession in this city. Two months after his graduation he was appointed assistant to the chair of materia medica in his alma mater, and his previous experience as a teacher well qualified him for the duties which therein devolved upon him. Three years later he was made adjunct professor of materia medica, therapeutics and tox- icology ; in 1891 he was appointed to the full professorship of the same chair and was made secretary of the faculty and physician to Mount Carmel Hos- pital. He has the ability to impart clearly, correctly and concisely to others the knowledge he has acquired, and is peculiarly successful in his educational labors. From 1892 to 1897 he was professor of mental and nervous diseases and clinical neurology, since which time he has filled the chair of obstetrics and clinical obstetrics in the Ohio Medical University. He was the secretary of the medical faculty from 1892 to 1897, and has been vice chancellor since that time. He is also surgeon to the Columbus Hospital for Women; obstetrician to the Protestant Hospital ; a member of the Academy of Medi- cine : and also holds membership in the Central Ohio Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a valued contributor to various medi- cal publications, is a member of the Columbus Publishing Company and editor
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of the Columbus Medical Journal. During the administration of President Harrison he served as one of the United States examining surgeons for pen- sions, also as the secretary of the board and holds the same position under President Mckinley.
Dr. Barnhill is a man of broad mind, of liberal culture and of humani- tarian principles. He takes an active interest in public affairs, especially along. the line of educational advancement. He served for two terms on the board of education and for one term was its president. He drafted the plan for the organization of the normal school on its present successful basis; was active in securing a public-school library building; in establishing vital re- lations between the library and schools; and in adjusting the high school curriculum to college courses of study. The article which he prepared on the Columbus schools, embodied in Captain Lee's history of Columbus, is a valuable contribution to the educational annals of Ohio.
On the 8th of October, 1879, Dr. Barnhill was united in marriage to Miss Bianca Jane Reese, a daughter of Rush and Matilda (Freeman) Reese, of Wooster. She was educated in the public schools and Canaan Academy and Oberlin College, and for three years was a teacher in the grammar grades of the Holgate schools. Two children grace the home of the Doctor and his wife-Eva Annetta and Helen Bianca. The parents are members of the First Congregational church of the city, and occupy an enviable position in . social circles where true worth and intelligence are received as passports into good society.
At this point it would be almost tautological to enter into any series of statements as showing the Doctor to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in his individuality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions, but there are as dominating elements in this individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained to him the respect and confidence of men.
JOHN KNOX.
The value of a life well spent is appreciated by a man who has lived it when he retires from an active career and considers the esteem in which he is held by his fellow men. The well known citizen of Westerville, Franklin county, Ohio, whose name is above, has no disappointment in this connec- tion, for those who know best how he has attained success in life are en- thusiastic in the belief that he richly deserves every good thing which he possesses.
Mr. Knox was born in Frederick county, Maryland, May 7, 1821, son of William Knox, a native of Leesburg. Virginia. William Knox's father died when he was a young child, and his mother contracting a second mar-
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riage, the family moved from Leesburg to Maryland, where William was apprenticed to a blacksmith and learned the trade. In early life he married Mary Gertrude Freidinger, a native of Maryland, who was ever prominent in the Methodist Episcopal church, where her husband was for many years a class-leader. William Knox was an active Democrat, served long as a justice of the peace, and was always honored for his stanch principles. He was the proprietor of a hotel in Burkittsville, Frederick county, Maryland, until 1842, when he caught the migratory fever and started westward with his family. He located for some time in Circleville, Pickaway county, Ohio, then tried several towns in the northern part of the state, remaining but a short time in each place. He then journeyed farther westward, settling for some time in Illinois. He finally returned to Columbus, where he was en- gaged in farming until several years before his death, which occurred in his eightieth year. His wife also died in Columbus, in 1873.
William and Mary ( Freidinger) Knox had eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest. All of these except one were born in Maryland. Two are dead-Mary, who was unmarried, and Rebecca, who was the wife of Isaac Ely and spent the greater part of her married life in Paris, Illinois. Joseph F. is a resident of Westerville, Ohio. William and Thomas have retired and are living in Columbus, Ohio. Lewis is a resident of Chi- cago, Illinois, and has also retired from active life. Harriet is the wife of Andrew Dobbie, a merchant of Columbus.
In his youth Mr. Knox, the subject of this sketch. learned the black- smith trade. and after his marriage to Sarah Johnson, of Circleville, he moved to Tiffin, Ohio, where he conducted a shop and engaged in various enterprises by which he accumulated some little capital. He soon turned his attention, as a contractor, to the construction of plank roads which terminated at Tiffin, Fremont. Fostoria and other smaller towns. For a time he lived at Fort Seneca and was engaged as a member of the Seneca Company in the manufac- ture of plows, a venture which proved successful. At the latter place his wife died, at the early age of twenty-four, leaving three children, of whom only one is living-Mary A., the wife of Andrew J. Willoughby, principal in the public schools of Dayton, Ohio.
Mr. Knox built the first plank road in Franklin county, from Columbus north to the county line near Westerville. He moved to Westerville in 1852 and engaged in farming. Two years later he became manager of an ex- tensive grist and sawmill. His career from that time until his retirement has been that of a general business man. He has several times established himself as a merchant, has bought and sold town property extensively, besides dealing on a considerable scale in wheat and live stock. For eighteen years Mr. Knox was treasurer of the People's Mutual Benefit Association, whose offices at that time were located in Westerville. He laid out two additions to the town, and was one of the builders of the first brick block there. For
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a time he was the proprietor of a hotel and owned hack and stage lines from Columbus to Westerville and Sunbury.
Mr. Knox's second wife was Susan Berkey, of Seneca county, who died when about thirty-seven, leaving four children. Joseph J. is a lumber dealer of Westerville and Columbus. Letitia is the wife of Oscar Rowe, of Colum- bus. William Otterbein is engaged in farming near Westerville, and Frank E. is connected with railroading in Columbus. Mr. Knox's present wife was Miss Rebecca Shauck, of Morrow county, Ohio. Their only child, Nellie Shauck, is the wife of Professor Frank E. Miller, of Otterbein Uni- versity.
In the institution just mentioned Mr. Knox has long taken a deep in- terest and has in many ways aided in its maintenance and advancement. At one time when Otterbein was crippled by enormous debt, he originated a plan to secure donations, which brought the institution eighty-five thousand dol- lars without any outlay to the college, and his own contributions were very liberal.
Politically Mr. Knox is a Democrat. He has filled the office of justice of the peace, has been a member of the city council, and was for some years a member of the school board. Since boyhood he has been identified with the church of the United Brethren in Christ, and for many years has been prominent in its work, having passed up to the general conference as lay delegate, besides holding many subordinate positions in the service of the church.
Going back to Mr. Knox's ancestors, a noticeable characteristic, both on the maternal and paternal sides, was the strong religious tendency. In the paternal line, Mr. Knox's grandfather, Thomas Knox, was a man of sterling principles and deep religious fervor. Descending from Scotch ancestors who fled from the mother country to the north of Ireland during the persecu- tions, his high moral character was the natural inheritance of a people suffer- ing tribulations and hardships for the sake of peace and religion.
Thomas Knox was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, about 1770, and while yet a young man his noble character attracted the admiration of youth- ful Lady Letitia Parker, of the adjoining county, Antrim. Though her parents opposed the intimacy of the young people for reasons of a difference in station, true worth finally prevailed, and Thomas Knox won Lady Letitia for his bride. After their marriage they lived several years in Ireland, where Joseph was born. In 1796 they embarked for America, a daughter being born to them on the ocean. They settled in Leesburg, Virginia, where Will- iam (John Knox's father) was born and where Thomas died.
Going still farther back, on the maternal side, was Mr. Knox's great- grandfather, Christian Kemp, who, with three brothers, John Conrad, Gilbert and Frederick (under sixteen), sailed from Rotterdam for America in the ship "Samuel," August 27, 1733. They settled in Frederick county, Mary- land, where they and their sons became prominent in the political affairs of
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the colony and were founders of churches and Sunday schools. Some by thrift and industry, and others by land grants, became large landowners and established their estates.
Christian Kemp had eight children. Of these, the two youngest, Susan- nah and Esther, were bequeathed a plantation in Frederick county, where they resided together, their place being described in Maryland history ( west- ern) as "The Two Sisters." They, like their father, were devout church workers. Esther was married in 1796 to Nicholas Freidinger, a youth who had come to America from Germany two years previously. Nicholas and Esther (Kemp) Freidinger were the grandparents of John Knox.
And again, on the Freidinger side were deep religious inclinations. Nicholas Freidinger was born in 1769, in oberamt Zweibrucken, in Verk- neim on the Briest, Germany, and came to America in 1794. Diplomas and papers of recommendation which he brought from Hamburg describe him as a man of pious nature and high moral character.
Such were the ancestors of John Knox, whose long, successful life has been the result of those only methods satisfactory to old age-honesty and piety.
JOHN CUMMINS.
The middle portion of the nineteenth century may properly be termed the age of utility, especially in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. The vast regions comprised within those portions of the country were but then opened up to civilization, and the honored pioneers who found homes in this fertile but undeveloped region were men who had to contend with the trials and difficulties of pioneer life. Theirs were lives of toil. They were endeavor- ing to make homes, to cultivate farms, to establish business enterprises, and often from early youth to old age their lot was one of labor: but their im- portance to the community cannot be overestimated, and the comforts and luxuries which we to-day enjoy we largely owe to the brave band of pioneer men and women who came to the west during its primitive condition. It is also encouraging and interesting to note that many who came here empty- handed worked their way upward from a humble position in life to one of affluence ; that as the years passed and the country improved prosperity at- tended their efforts and wealth rewarded their earnest endeavors.
The Cumminses were among those who became active in the development of Ohio, and the subject of this review is numbered among the worthy repre- sentatives of an honored pioneer family. He was born in Pickaway county on the old family homestead, December 14, 1828, and traces his ancestors back to the Emerald Isle, whence his great-grandfather, a native of Ireland, crossed the Atlantic to Virginia, there spending the remainder of his days. William Cummins, the grandfather of our subject, when a youth came with his parents to America, the family taking up their abode in Virginia, and in
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the Old Dominion he remained throughout his life. William Cummins, the father, was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, and was reared on a farm, his educational privileges being very limited. He was married in his native state to Miss Mary Myers, a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, and in 1816 he came with his wife to Ohio, the trip westward constituting their bridal tour. The journey was made by wagon, and on reaching Pickaway county they first settled in Harrison township upon a tract of wild land of one hundred and forty acres. Mr. Cummins then cleared a small portion and erected thereon a log cabin, after which he continued to work and improve his farm, becoming one of the enterprising agriculturists of that locality until his life's labors were ended in death. His wife also died in Pickaway county. In politics he was a Democrat, and both he and his wife were mem- bers of the United Brethren church. This worthy couple were the parents of eight children: Sydney, who died in Pickaway county; Mary, the wife of J. M. Spindler, of the same county; George F., of Columbus; William, of Franklin county ; John, of this review ; James, who died in Galloway ; Frances Marion, of Decatur county, Iowa; and Edward, who is living in Galloway, Ohio.
Amid the wild scenes of the frontier John Cummins was reared on a farm in Pickaway county and received his education in a log schoolhouse, his first teacher being Mr. Harper, who believed firmly in the old adage, "to spare the rod was to spoil the child." He entered heartily into the arduous task of developing the home farm, in grubbing up the stumps, splitting rails, plowing and planting, carrying on the work after the primitive manner of those days when improved machinery for the purpose was unknown.
In Pickaway county in 1853 Mr. Cummins was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ellen May, a daughter of Charles May. She was born in that county April 24, 1830, and as a bride was taken to the home of her husband's father, where the young couple remained for a year. Mr. Cummins then purchased a small tract of land at the edge of Madison township in Pickaway county, where they lived for a few years, after which he rented a farm in Walnut township for several years. In November, 1859, however, he came to Pleasant township, Franklin county, locating upon a farm now owned by his son, J. F. Cummins. It was then but little improved, and with character- istic energy he began the work of its further development. He first owned one hundred and thirty acres and afterward purchased forty acres adjoining the first tract on the west. Later he bought sixty-three acres of D. B. Peters and sold the forty-acre tract, and afterward he bought seventy-seven acres of Mr. Peters. By his next purchase he became the owner of seventy-seven acres of his present farm, upon which he took up his abode, ultimately adding to it fourteen acres and eighteen acres at different times. He now has fine farming land, having, however, sold a portion of his realty, while to his son, J. F. Cummins, he gave seventy-two acres, to his son George Edward sixty- three acres and to his daughter, Mrs. Mary E. O'Harra, seventy-seven acres.
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