A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 5

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

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Early in 1861 he removed to Columbus to take charge of the Ohio Edu- cational Monthly, which he purchased. He conducted the journal for fif- teen years, making it the leading educational journal in the country. In 1870 he published a national edition of the Monthly with the title of the National Teacher, a journal of wide circulation and great influence. In these two journals were advocated most of the reforms in school administration, instruction and discipline which have since been realized in the best schools.

In 1863 Mr. White was honored by an appointment as state commissioner of common schools of Ohio, and in that position he was instrumental in secur- ing important legislation for the improvement of the schools, the more notable measures being the law which created the existing institute system of Ohio, the law creating the state board of examiners, and the provision requiring all teachers to possess an adequate knowledge of the theory and practice of teaching. In 1865 he prepared a codified edition of the school law, with opinions and directions, the whole constituting a valuable manual for school officers. His last service was the submission to the general assembly of a special report (authorized by the previous assembly by a joint resolution), recommending a plan of organizing needed normal training for the teachers of the state. Mr. White was the youngest man who has been called to this important position, being but thirty-four at the time he entered upon its duties, but no other commissioner prior to 1890 had rendered more important serv- ice. He retired from the commissionership in 1866 and the succeeding ten years were spent in conducting his two educational journals and in lecturing in teachers' institutes in Ohio and other states, his service in this capacity being in wide demand at the highest, compensation paid.

In 1876 Dr. White was called to the presidency of Purdue University,

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Lafayette, Indiana, bringing to the position unusual qualifications and resources. He laid the foundation of the young institution on an original plan, and so wisely that no essential change has since been made. The insti- tution has grown like a tree putting out new branches. He continued in this position for over seven years, during which the number of students increased over seven-fold! He resigned in 1883 and removed to Cincinnati to engage in literary work, and he was thus employed when elected, in 1886, superin- tendent of the public schools of the city. As superintendent of the Cincin- nati schools Dr. White introduced reforms in instruction and management of the most beneficial character (changes that attracted the attention of the country ), and the legislature of the state indicated its high confidence by entrusting him with the appointment of all teachers employed in the schools, subject to the board's approval-a new departure in school administration. At the close of his first term of service he was unanimously re-elected, and his salary raised from thirty-five hundred to forty-five hundred dollars a year. He retired from the position in 1889 and has since engaged in literary work.

Dr. White has been the instructor and lecturer on psychology and peda- gogy in several of the leading summer schools in the country, has been called to instruct teachers in scores of cities, and is increasingly in demand as an instructor in teachers' institutes and other associations. No educator in the country has a higher reputation as a lecturer on education, and he has few superiors as a platform orator, being often compared with Wendell Phillips.

Dr. White has been prominent for many years in state and national edu- cational associations. He was the president of the Ohio Teachers' Associa- tion in 1863; of the National Superintendents' Association in 1868; of the National Educational Association in 1872; and of the National Council of Education in 1884-5. He has taken high rank as a writer, especially on edu- cation. His papers and addresses before associations and conventions are noted for great excellence. Several have been published by the United States Bureau of Education, and widely disseminated. His masterly addresses on "Moral Training in Public Schools," "School Administration in Cities," "The Country School Problem," "Election in General Education," "The Duty of the State in Education," and other subjects, have exerted a wide and salutary influence. Dr. White's recent contributions to educational journals deal with live questions in a virile and able manner and are read with keen appre- ciation.

Dr. White has written a number of text-books for schools which have met actual school requirements in a very satisfactory manner. In his twenty- fourth year, when the principal of the Clinton street school, Cleveland, he prepared a "Class Book of Geography." which had a large sale. Four years later he wrote the "Bryant and Stratton Commercial Arithmetic," which was widely used in the business colleges of the country and also in counting-houses.

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His school arithmetics, first issued in 1870, have been especially popular and are extensively and increasingly used in the best schools of the country. The new series, consisting of "Oral Lessons in Number" ( for teachers), the "First Book of Arithmetic" and the "New Complete Arithmetic," are believed to have no superior. They present in practical form the most approved meth- ods of instruction. In 1894 Dr. White edited the "Elements of Geometry," written by Professor Macnie, and in 1896 prepared his "School Algebra," which has received the highest commendation of the teachers of mathematics in colleges and secondary schools.

Dr. White's works on pedagogy for teachers have been remarkably suc- cessful. His "Elements of Pedagogy," issued in 1896, was received with great favor, being declared by competent judges to be "the ablest treatise on the subject written by an American." It has been used as a text-book in nearly all the normal and training schools in the country. His "School Man- agement," issued in 1893, was at once recognized as a work of the highest practical value. It is believed that no other book on pedagogy has so wide a circle of readers. In these two books Dr. White has presented a system of pedagogy at once scientific, clear and practical. He is now preparing a work on "The Art of Teaching," and other works may follow.

In 1866 Dr. White read a paper before the National Superintendents' Association, at Washington, advocating the establishment of a national bureau of education. The paper was adopted by the association and Dr. White was made the chairman of a committee appointed to memorialize congress on the subject. He prepared an able memorial, and, at the request of General Gar- field, framed the bill for the creation of the new department, with the title of the "Bureau of Education." Both the memorial and the bill were intro- duced into congress by General Garfield and the bill, amended by substitut- ing Department for "Bureau," became the law under which the bureau has been administered.

In 1890 Dr. White prepared for the National Bureau of Education a monograph on "Promotions and Examinations in Graded Schools." The large edition issued was early exhausted, and, to meet the continued demand for it, a second edition was published in 1898. This monograph has exerted a wide and wholesome influence on school administration in cities.

Dr. White has long been a prominent layman in the Presbyterian church. In 1877 and again in 1896 he was sent as a lay delegate to the World's Presbyterian Council held respectively in Edinburg and Glasgow, Scotland, and in 1890 he was appointed by the general assembly a member of the com- mittee to revise the confession of faith. He has been for years the presi- dent of the board of trustees of Lane Theological Seminary, of Cincinnati.

Dr. White received the degree of Master of Arts from the Western Reserve University, and in 1876 the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred by the Indiana State University and also by Marietta College, Ohio.

He was married, in 1853, to Mary Ann Sabin, of Hudson, Ohio, by whom

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lie had five children. He now resides in Columbus, Ohio, still in the prime of his powers. In Dr. White are strikingly exemplified those characteristics and principles which are necessary in positions demanding eminent moral and executive ability. His life has been a succession of high achievements and honors.

THE "OLD NORTHWEST" GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

This society was organized in the city of Columbus, on April 27, 1897, by Professors Edward Orton and Samuel C. Derby, of the Ohio State Uni- versity ; Major Harry P. Ward, Messrs. Frank T. Cole, Daniel H. Gard, Wordsworth Gard, William G. Pengelly, Kenneth D. Wood, Mrs. Mary E. Rath-Merrill, Mrs. Angeline B. Chaplin, Miss May M. Scott, and Dr. Lucius C. Herrick. After adopting a constitution and by-laws, the following officers were elected : President, Edward Orton, Ph. D., LL. D. ; vice-president, Samuel Carroll Derby, A. M .; secretary and librarian, Lucius Carroll Herrick, M. D .; treasurer, William George Pengelly; executive committee-Frank Theodore Cole, A. B., LL. B .; May Mermod Scott, A. B.

On May 22, 1897, a meeting was called for the purpose of making appli- cation for a charter, and the charter was issued by the secretary of state of the state of Ohio. The purpose of the society is thus set forth in a circular which was sent out soon after its organization: "To collect a library pri> marily devoted to local history and genealogy; to gather material for the history of particular events, localities, and persons closely connected with the settlement and development of the states formed from the Northwest Terri- tory ; to ascertain the location, amount and condition of the various public and private records which are, or may become, accessible to students of genealogy and local history ; and to aid investigations of this nature by combining the efforts and resources of its members. The society will seek also to direct public attention to the value of complete and exact public records and to em- phasize the necessity of unremitting care in their collection and preservation."

In January, 1898, the society issued the first number of its magazine, the "Old Northwest." a genealogical quarterly, which has been issued regu- larly ever since, under the editorial supervision of the secretary, Dr. Herrick, taking at once a respectable position in this country wherever it has become known. Among the various matters it has published and rescued from obliv- ion are monumental inscriptions from two abandoned burial grounds in Franklin county: also, at its beginning, it commenced the publication of the marriage records of Franklin county, which will comprise all now at the probate office, from the first organization of the county to the year 1830. It has also published valuable records from the Episcopal church at Worth- ington.

The society now occupies a room at No. 106 East Broad street, Colum- bus, where the secretary is in attendance during the afternoon of each week-

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day. The membership consists of the following kinds: life, resident, asso- ciate, corresponding and honorary. Resident membership is confined to residents of the states formed from the old Northwest Territory, and associate members are those residing in other states. The membership of the various kinds now extends throughout the length and breadth of the country, and Great Britain, Ireland and Canada are represented in its corresponding mem- bership.

The library, started with a few books and pamphlets, presented by mem- bers, and others donated by authors for notice in the quarterly, now has six hundred and seventy-five entries in its accessions book, all acquired by donation in the same way, the society having no money with which to purchase books. It now possesses some books of great value, and the number and value of its acquisitions rapidly increase as times goes on,-showing that the objects of the society and the value of its publications are being appreciated in the same ratio that they are becoming known to the genealogical world.

At the present time, 1901, the principal officers of the society are: James Buckingham, of Zanesville, Ohio, president ; Colonel William A. Taylor, vice- president for Ohio; Lucius C. Herrick, M. D., secretary and librarian ; Alexander W. Mackenzie, treasurer; Professor Samuel C. Derby, A. M., historian, all residents of Columbus,-besides which are a vice president and honorary vice-president for the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and an honorary vice-president for such states as have associate or corresponding members.

SCHUYLER ORVILLE GIFFIN, M. D.

The medical profession is well represented in Columbus, Ohio, and among the successful and prominent practitioners is Schuyler Orville Giffin, who was born in Cass county, Indiana, coming with his family to Ohio when but an infant. He is the son of John V. and Anna ( Young) Giffin, residents of Miami county, Ohio, and was there reared and attended the public schools. Choosing medicine as his profession, he put forth every educational effort in that direction, finally graduating at the Medical College of Ohio in 1886. As soon as he had completed his professional course he entered into practice near his old home in Pleasant Hill, Miami county, but removed to Columbus in September, 1887, locating in the northeastern part of the city, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice.

Dr. Giffin has taken a deep interest in the development of his section of the city, as a member of the council for the years 1888-9. He was appointed a member of the board of commissioners of Franklin county, and in May, 1900, was made the secretary of the board. He is also the secretary of the League of Ohio Municipalities. He is a Republican in his political opinions and has been active in the councils of his party. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Junior Order of United American Me-

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chanics, having just retired from the office of past state counselor. He is also a member of the Columbus Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Giffin married Miss Minnette Vause, of Columbus. He has one brother, George E., in the Philippines, connected with the hospital corps. During his residence in Columbus Dr. Giffin has shown so much public spirit that he is recognized as a leader in the enterprises calculated to be of benefit to the city. He is personally popular and possesses the esteem of a large circle of friends.

JAMES KILBOURNE.

James Kilbourne, one of the most distinguished citizens of Columbus, whose name figures prominently in connection with business, social and polit- ical events in the capital, was born October 9, 1841, in the city which is still his place of residence. He comes of a family noted for its patriotism and good citizenship. His grandfather, Colonel James Kilbourne, was one of Ohio's first pioneers and the first to represent his county in congress. His father, Lincoln Kilbourne, was a leading merchant of Columbus, and thus for many years the family has been prominently identified with the commercial history of the city.

James Kilbourne was graduated with high honors at Kenyon College in 1862, and two years later received the degree of master of arts. The day after he passed his last examination, he enlisted in the Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteers, was transferred to the Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with distinction from the beginning to the end of the war, being pro- moted through the various grades to that of captain, and being breveted major, lieutenant colonel and colonel of the United States Volunteers. During a part of this period Colonel Kilbourne served on the staffs of General J. M. Tuttle and General John MacArthur. His war record is one of great gallantry.

After the close of the war Colonel Kilbourne entered the Law School of Harvard, where he was graduated in 1868, but he very soon decided to take up a more active occupation than law and entered business with his father. A few years later, he founded The Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Com- pany, the largest corporation of its kind in the world, and of which he became president and general manager. He is one of the largest employers of labor in Ohio, and his relations with his employes have always been ideal. Neither against him nor the company managed by him has there ever been brought a suit of law, and never have the wages of any man employed by him been reduced. He was a director, and in 1895 was president of the board of trade of Columbus ; was vice-chairman of the Franklinton centennial committee in 1897; has been a director of the Columbus Club and four times its presi- dent, and also one of the earliest presidents of the Arlington Country Club. He is a director of the First National Bank and the Clinton National Bank, of the Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo, and of the Columbus, Cincin-

JAMES KILBOURNE.

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nati & Midland Railways, and of many private business corporations, and political and social organizations.

For many years he has been president of the board of trustees of the Columbus Public Library, and largely instrumental in the growth of that institution. He is president of the Kenyon College Association of Central Ohio, also president of the Central Ohio Harvard Club. He is a life member of the Ohio Archaeological Society, and vice-president of the Old Northwest Genealogical Society. His fondness for children and his sympathy for them led him to institute the Columbus Children's Hospital, of which he was presi- dent for five years. He is the president of the Columbus Neighborhood Guild Association, and is a member of of the board of managers of the Associated Charities of Columbus. He attends the Protestant Episcopal church and is a vestryman at St. Paul's.

An eloquent, persuasive speaker, Colonel Kilbourne is continually called upon by his party to address the people, and has often been publicly urged to serve as candidate for mayor, governor, congressman and senator. He was a delegate from the Twelfth Ohio congressional district to the Democratic rational conventions in 1892 and in 1896, and at the Ohio Democratic state convention in 1898 received two hundred and thirty-seven votes for the nomination for governor. In 1900 he was a delegate at large to the convention at Kansas City and was chairman of the delegation. He was. nominated by acclamation for governor at the Democratic state convention at Columbus, July 10, 1901. He was appointed by Governor Campbell one of the commissioners from Ohio to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, but was compelled to decline from stress of business cares. In 1898 he was appointed a member of the Ohio Centennial Commission, and although the majority of the commission were Republicans, he was by nearly a unanimous vote elected president.

Besides being a member of the Grand Army, the Union Veteran Legion and the Loyal Legion, Colonel Kilbourne was formerly vice-president of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. He also belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution. At his home, also, was organized the Columbus Cuban League, which accomplished much in aid of the people of that island. Since its organization he has been president of the league. When the Spanish- American war broke out his services were tendered immediately to the gov- ernor, and the loyalty of his family was further attested by the offer of the services of his three sons. Of the sons and grandsons of Colonel Kilbourne's father, ten offered their services and seven were in the army, all but one see- ing active foreign service.

On the 5th of October, 1869, Colonel Kilbourne was married to Anna B. Wright, the eldest daughter of General George B. Wright, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter. James Russell, the eldest, was born December 24, 1870, and is vice-president of the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manu- facturing Company. He attended the University of Virginia and is a member 3

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of the Sigma Phi fraternity. In 1895 he was elected as a Democrat to represent Franklin county in the seventy-second general assembly, receiving the largest majority given any member of the delegation from that county. He was at one time a lieutenant of Battery H, First Light Artillery, Ohio National Guard. He was abroad at the beginning of the war with Spain. Returning he recruited a company of cavalry, but was unable to secure its acceptance by the government. George Bancroft, the second son, is presi- dent and general manager of the Kentucky Extract Company, is a graduate of Williams College, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society and of the Sigma Phi fraternity. He enlisted as private in the Fourth Ohio Volunteers, served in Puerto Rico, and was promoted to second sergeant for gallantry in action, and was one of four officers and men in his regiment recommended to receive a medal for bravery. His youngest son, Lincoln, born September 30, 1874, is purchasing agent of the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Com- pany. Presented himself for enlistment during war with Spain, but was rejected on account of sickness at the time. He attended Williams College, and is a member of the Sigma Phi fraternity. Alice Kilbourne was born August 7, 1877.

WILLIAM A. KELLERMAN, PH. D.

Professor William Ashbrook Kellerman, of the department of botany in the Ohio State University, was born in Ashville, Ohio, May 1, 1850. When he was five years of age his parents removed from the village to a farm in Fairfield county, where their large family of children had the usual propitious advantages of country life and a fair public school.

His father, who was of German descent, was a man of energy and abil- ity, prominently identified with local public affairs, being especially active in promoting improvements in the roads, schools and schoolhouses and taking an active interest in the agricultural fair, the grange, the township cemetery and other public concerns. He was also deeply interested in politics, and occasionally accepted a township office, but firmly resisted the repeated requests of his fellow townsmen that he should become a candidate for a county office or for representative to the state legislature; his farm duties were urged as a sufficient excuse. There his work was neat and thorough and his neighbors characterized his place as a model farm. He kept improved breeds of stock and new machinery, and the best implements were found upon the place, including good, light tools, suitable for boys.

The mother of our subject, who was of German lineage on the paternal side and of English descent on the maternal side, was a woman of unflagging energy, marked conscientiousness and was unselfishly devoted to the interests of her family. Both parents were deprived of good school advantages in their early days, but fully appreciated the necessity and importance of proper education. Books, newspapers and pictures were found in the home. A

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more propitious environment for the development of the ten children could scarcely be desired, and all the members of the family duly profited by their opportunities.

The subject of this sketch, like the other children, aided in the work, joined in the play, and attended the district school until sixteen years of age. Though going to school only upon persistent, daily urging in his earlier years -his reluctance attributed mainly to timidity and bashfulness-later he fully appreciated and keenly enjoyed the school. At about the age of twelve the distinct purpose of teaching as a life work had become fixed in his mind, and all of his subsequent study and reading was influenced by that determina- tion. One book, the first scientific book he ever read, Darwin's Origin of Species, should here be mentioned, because its slow and careful perusal exerted a marked influence on the taste and trend of thought, and may be said to have determined the department of knowledge that in later life was to be his field of mental work.

At the age of seventeen Professor Kellerman taught a winter term of school in a township adjoining that in which he resided. The following summer he continued preparation for his chosen calling, as a student in an academy ; in the succeeding winter he taught a country school nearer home, after which he began regular preparation for college in the Fairfield Acad- emy, at Pleasantville, Ohio. The work here was mainly in the languages and mathematics, yet the elements of various branches of the national sciences were not wholly neglected. About that time he began the study of botany and it proved to be so attractive that it was never afterward relinquished. In the winter of 1870 the principalship of the school at Lithopolis, Ohio, was held by him, and in the following September he became a student in Cornell University. There most of his attention was given to the natural sciences, botany receiving the major portion of his time and energy. In 1874 he won the degree of Bachelor of Science and immediately afterward received an appointment to a professorship of natural science in the Wisconsin State Normal School, at Oshkosh, on Lake Winnebago. Here in a new institution was opportunity for pioneer work both in the way of improved science-teach- ing and developing an educational museum of science, and his work in that direction was pronounced successful in a high degree during the five years of his connection with the institution.

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 5

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