A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 57

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

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In his political views Mr. Stelzer was a Republican, and throughout his career he supported that party. He voted for John C. Fremont, its first candidate, and that was his first presidential vote. He was school director in 1890 in Mifflin township, and the cause of education found in him a warm friend, his labors being earnestly given to the advancement of the schools. During the time of the Civil war he was a member of the home guards of the Third Ohio Regiment, and during the period of hostilities he was trans- ferred to Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-third Infantry, being in the service for one hundred days, when he received an honorable discharge. He was a member of John A. Miller Post, No. 192, G. A. R. Mr. Stelzer spent almost his entire life in Franklin county, and had a wide acquaintance and many warm friends, for his industry and honesty, his genial manner and his sterling worth gained him the high regard of all who knew him. He was called to his final rest on the 29th of March, 1901.

FRANCIS E. DUTOIT.

Francis E. Dutoit, who resides at No. 183 Lexington avenue, is a well- known and popular traveling salesman. He has made many friends through his business connections, and wherever he goes he has the high regard and confidence of those with whom he is associated. He was born in Spring- field November 29, 1846, and is a son of Philip Dutoit, and a grandson of Eugene Dutoit, both of whom were natives of France. During his early boyhood our subject resided with his grandfather, in Dayton, Ohio, and remembers distinctly many interesting incidents which were related to him by his grandfather concerning the history of early days in Ohio. He acquired much of his education in the schools near Columbus.

In 1866 Mr. Dutoit was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Korn, at her home in Columbus. She was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was the youngest child of John Adam and Elizabeth Korn. The father was a native of Germany, and during his boyhood came to the United States, where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1851, when he was forty-four years of age. His wife was a native of Pennsylvania, and died in 1895, at the age of eighty-six years. Mr. Korn engaged in business as a boot and shoe merchant. Mrs. Dutoit is the only member of the family

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who came to Ohio, save her half-sister, with whom she was living in Colum- bus at the time of her marriage.

For thirty-three years Mr. Dutoit has been a commercial traveler, rep- resenting reliable houses and enjoying a liberal patronage. He is a member of the Commercial Travelers' Association, and is a wide-awake, enterprising business man, quick to note and improve opportunities. He is known through- out Ohio for his genial manner and trustworthy business methods, which have gained him the respect and good will of all with whom he has been associated.

HENRY GARST.

Westerville, Franklin county, Ohio, has been well known as a seat of learning, and it has been made so by those who have had in charge the des- tinies of Otterbein University. It is the purpose of the writer of this sketch to give some account not only of Professor Garst's connection with this insti- tution, but of his life as well. He was born at Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, January 30, 1836, a son of Jacob Garst, who was a native of Pennsylvania and who settled in Ohio in 1810. Jacob Garst married Clara Troup, a native of Canada. He secured government land and entered upon a career as a farmer, which was cut short by his untimely death in 18.45, at the age of fifty-eight years, as the result of a fall from a scaffold while he was building a house. He was a Whig and a prominent member of the United Brethren church. The Miami annual conference of that body was held in his house in 1829. His farm in Montgomery county adjoined that of Bishop Andrew Zeller. Nicholas Garst, father of Jacob Garst and grand- father of Henry Garst, was born in Germany, was a Dunkard preacher, and lived to the age of eighty-eight years. Clara ( Troup) Garst, Professor Garst's mother, died in 1877, at the age of sixty-eight years, having lived nearly all her life in the communion of the United Brethren church.

Professor Garst passed his boyhood days on the home farm, and at the age of sixteen became clerk in a store in Dayton, Ohio. In 1853 he entered Otterbein University, where he was graduated in 1861, having during his college days taught several terms of school in Fairfield county, Ohio. In 1864 he entered Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, at which he graduated in 1867. Beginning in 1861, he was a preacher at Dayton and at Cincinnati, and in Butler county, Ohio, until 1869, when he was called to Otterbein University as professor of the Latin language and literature, a posi- tion which he filled with great success for seventeen years. In 1886 he was elected president of the college, but resigned that position in 1889, and was elected professor of mental and moral science, continuing a member of the faculty until commencement, 1900. During all his career as a teacher he had never missed a class on account of ill health or other personal disability.

Professor Garst married Mellie Catherine Flickinger, whose father was a member of the Applegate Book Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and who

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has borne him six children, three of whom are deceased. William Augustus is a lawyer of Columbus, Ohio, and Mira Louise and Minnie Pauline are members of their father's household. Professor Garst is a stanch Repub- lican, taking an active interest in public affairs, but, having the financial man- agement of Otterbein University on his hands, he has no time to devote to political work, but his, interest in education has led him to consent to be a member of the school board of his township, with which he was connected for some years. He has been identified with the United Brethren church since he was fifteen years old.

WINSLOW FULLER SANDERSON.

A brave soldier and an efficient officer during the Mexican war and the uprisings among the Indian tribes in 1852-3, Major Winslow Fuller San- derson, deceased, deserves more extended biography than can be given here. He was a native of Massachusetts, and was about eighteen years old when he first came to Columbus, Ohio, and entered the boot and shoe trade. Possessing the qualities that made him so efficient a commander in later years, he took great interest in military affairs and was made captain of the Colum- bus Guards, an independent organization. About 1845 the United States government organized in this locality a mounted rifle regiment, called the United States Mounted Rifles, and of this regiment our subject was made captain, later being promoted to the position of major, having as his lieuten- ant John Kerr, a son of Congressman Kerr, well remembered by citizens of this locality.

This regiment was intended for service in exploring Oregon, but when it reached St. Louis, Missouri, the Mexican war had been declared and the regiment was sent to that war. During the progress of this struggle our subject was in all of the principal engagements, beginning with Palo Alto, making a brilliant record which the history of the time did not fail to record. Following the close of this war Major Sanderson was stationed at Fort Lar- amie, in Wyoming, and at Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, trouble being appre- hended in both places from the Indians. In 1852 Major Sanderson was ordered to take command of a moving column composed of mounted rifles and patrol the road from Fort Leavenworth, on the Oregon route, to the South Pass in the Rocky mountains, in order to make a show of strength great enough to intimidate the Indians. Heavily loaded trains were then traveling overland to California and these were being constantly subjected to violence by the Indian bands.

Returning from the satisfactory discharge of this dangerous duty, Major Sanderson was intrusted to take his men through the Indian tribes, and in the performance of the duties of this trust he visited the Osage, Comanche, Kiowa, Arapahoe, North and South Cheyenne, Pawnee and some of the Sioux tribes, intimidating these savages and making possible the peaceful days which later followed. In 1853 our subject was ordered to Texas and two years

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later, in the city of Galveston, he died of yellow fever when about fifty-five years old. So passed away one of the brave officers of border warfare. His memory is still cherished and his example of bravery descends as an honor- able gift to his descendants.

Major Sanderson was married, in 1833, to Miss Martha Nelson, a resi- dent of Columbus and a member of an old pioneer family. Her father and uncle located here in 1802, buying six hundred acres each of city land, the property being that now contained in Franklin Park. Her death occurred in 1895, when she was seventy-nine years old. Her sisters became the wives of four distinguished residents of the city, marrying David Taylor, ex-Gov- ernor Brough, Joseph Armstrong and Dr. James McConnell, now of Upper Sandusky. The children of Major Sanderson were: Frances, the wife of A. G. Willard, of Indianapolis, Indiana; Julia; Amelia; Henry, who died when young ; Winnie, who died at the age of seventeen; and William Allen, now an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad, having been with that road since 1868. His uncle, Governor John Brough, was part owner and built the Bellefontaine Railroad, now the Big Four, and William Allen was con- nected with that road from 1863 until 1868, since which time he has been in his present position. He married Miss Frances Cotton, a daughter of Dr. Smith Cotton, of Cleveland, and has one daughter, Grace, now Mrs. F. C. Baker, of Columbus. During life Major Sanderson was a valued member of both the Masonic and I. O. O. F. fraternities, and in every relation of life proved himself a man of honor and unimpeachable integrity.

REUBEN H. COLLINS.

Reuben H. Collins, one of the oldest engineers now on any of the lines running out of Columbus, was born July 11, 1843, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Elijah Collins, was one of the first engineers of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He was born in Carroll county, Maryland, in 1821, and throughout the greater part of his business career was connected with rail- road service. After a long period spent as fireman on the Baltimore & Ohio and as engineer he was killed while serving in the latter capacity, on engine No. 27, October 14, 1863, the train at that time going westward. He was killed by Colonel Mosby's troops nine miles east of Martinsburg, Virginia, for the Rebels wished to stop the train. His widow is still living. in her seventy-ninth year, and makes her home with a son in Washington. D. C. She is a native of Virginia. In the family were the following named: Jo- seph T., who served as a corporal in a company of the Thirteenth Maryland Federal troops in the Civil war and is now conductor on the Chicago & Alton Railroad ; Frank S .. who is engaged in the real estate business in Washington ; Clara, wife of J. Tallifaero, also of Washington; and Reuben H., of this review.

The latter began railroading in 1859 and has since been in the service, with the exception of two years which he spent at the front during the Civil

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war. He began as fireman on an old wood engine, and was thus employed for a year, when he began working at a trade, but put aside his labors in April, 1861, to join the army as a defender of the Confederacy. He was then in Virginia and was commissioned sergeant in Kemper's Virginia troops. He participated in both engagements at Bull Run and in other battles of 1861-2 in Virginia. In the fall of the latter year, while carrying some choice peaches to his "best girl" near Gainesville, Virginia, he was taken prisoner and sent to Fairfax Court House and thence to the old capital prison in Wash- lington. After some months he was exchanged and made the trip down the Potomac and up the James river on the steamer Charles A. Warner. In After being dis-

1863 he was with Colonel Mosby's famous troopers. charged from the Confederate service he returned to Maryland and became fireman on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, making the run with his father. He was placed in charge of engine No. 183 on that road in the fall of 1865, and in 1869 he ran a passenger engine from Cumberland to Wheeling, West Virginia. He then went on the old Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, but after- ward returned to the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and was again in the passenger service. In 1873 he was on the Louisville & Nashville Rail- road in Tennessee, but left the south on account of the cholera epidemic, returning to Pittsburg, and again entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio. In 1885 he was conductor on the Norfolk & Western Railroad, and in 1893, while serving as a conductor on the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad, he lost two of his fingers in coupling cars. When again able to work he secured his present position as engineer on the Columbus, Sandusky & Hock- ing Railroad, and is a most trustworthy and reliable man for the position.

On the 6th of July, 1869, Mr. Collins was united in marriage to Miss M. E. Brosius, of Piedmont, West Virginia. Her father, John Brosius, was born in Hancock, Maryland, October 9, 1806, and died in Grafton, West Virginia, October 1, 1896. His wife was a native of Woodstock, Virginia, born in 1805, and died at their Grafton home February 6, 1870. The chil- dren in their family, in addition to Mrs. Collins, were as follows: George H., of Columbus, who was born in 1831 and is now an engineer; William H., who was a conductor on the Illinois Central Railroad and was accidentally killed while on duty in 1861 ; Isaac, a farmer of Ohio; Mrs. Amanda McGill, who is living in Grafton, West Virginia : and Mrs. Sally Graham, who resides in Columbus. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Collins have been born seven children : Charles H., who was born June 8, 1870, died February 9, 1872; Claude M., who was born July 13, 1872, is at the present time employed as a conductor on the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad: Annie G., born August 1, 1874, was married, March 21, 1894, to Wesley C. Houser, of Columbus, and they now reside in California; Loyd E., born August 1, 1876, is now running an engine on the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, between Parkersburg and Grafton; Sally B., born October II, 1878, died September II, 1881 ; Martha R., born March 3, 1881, died May 21, 1891 ; and Leo G.,

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born April 25, 1883, is employed in the AArcadie Hotel at Santa Monica, Cali- fornia.

Mr. Collins became a member of the Order of Railway Conductors in Columbus seven years ago. He was mustered into Breckenridge Post, of the Confederate Association, at Lexington, Kentucky, December 18, 1896. He recalls that his certificate of discharge was signed by the famous Lieutenant General P. T. G. Beauregard. For forty-one years Mr. Collins has been in the railway service, a record that has few parallels among the representa- tives of this line of business in Columbus. It stands as an unmistakable evidence of his fidelity to duty and his trustworthiness.

GEORGE W. MEEKER.

No compendium such as the province of this work defines in its essential limitations will serve to offer fit memorial to the life and accomplishments of the honored subject of this sketch,-a man remarkable in the breadth of his wisdom, in his indomitable perseverance, his strong individuality, and yet one whose entire life has not one esoteric phase, being as an open scroll, inviting the closest scrutiny. True, his were "massive deeds and great" in one sense, and yet his entire accomplishment but represented the result of the wise utilization of the innate talent which was his, and the directing of his efforts along those lines where mature judgment and rare discrimination lead the way. There was in George W. Meeker a weight of character, a native sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose that com- manded the respect of all. A man of indefatigable enterprise and fertility of resource, he carved his name deeply on the records of Columbus.

The name of Meeker has been long and honorably associated with the history of Ohio, and the ancestry of the family can be traced back to the early development of the new world. While its representatives have not attained fame as national, military or political leaders, they have ever been loyal and progressive citizens. In speaking of his ancestry at a family re- union the subject of this review said: "A free government and a new country are great levelers of class and distinctions, and no family is accorded precedence in a new settlement except that conceded by reason of superior intelligence, virtue and honor. Therefore the Meeker and Van Brimmer families have held the even tenor of their way since their advent in the new world bearing the burdens, braving the dangers of flood and field and accept- ing the sorrows and disappointments incident to life in common with their fellows. They were cheered with the belief that if they did not rise very high they would not have very far to fall, and that there was inherently no difference among people except that which is due to external influences. They believed in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man-a religion as old as the immortal hills and as fresh as the dawn."

The first ancestor, of the name of whom we have record came to America

GEORGE W. MEEKER.

GARRY W. MEEKER.

CLAUDE MEEKER.

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in 1638, with a large company from the city of London. Under the leader- ship of Theophilus Eaton and the Rev. John Davenport they left England and disembarked at New Haven, Connecticut. The former was elected the first governor of the new colony, but later new settlements were formed and the Meekers, among others, became residents of Wyoming county, Pennsyl- vania, where Joshua Meeker, the father of our subject, was born. In the meantime settlements had been made on Manhattan island and in New Jer- sey by members of the family, and on the roster of Revolutionary soldiers in the latter place appeared the name of many Meekers. Joshua Meeker, the father, became one of the first settlers of Franklin county, Ohio .- He mar- ried Hannah Van Brimmer, a daughter of Thomas Van Brimmer, also an honored pioneer. He was descended from the Knickerbockers that founded New Amsterdam. The maternal grandmother was Mary Le Van, and her people were natives of the French province of Lorraine. Christian Van Brimmer was one of the officers on the Half Moon, a vessel that was sent out by the East India Company to explore the new world. A few years after- ward, in 1623, there were large settlements of the Dutch on Manhattan island, and there the Van Brimmers located. At a later day, as civilization moved westward, many of the family settled in Delaware and Marion coun- ties, Ohio. Thomas Van Brimmer, an uncle of Mrs. Meeker, established the first distillery and mill in this part of the state. His ancestry was estab- lished in Millville, on the Scioto river, at what is now Warrensburg, Dela- ware county, and the pioneers over a distance of one hundred miles traveled to this mill to have their grist ground.

Joshua Meeker, the father of our subject, secured a tract of wild land and developed a farm in the midst of the wilderness. He died during the early boyhood of his son, George W. Meeker, but his wife long survived him, passing away about 1880, at the age of eighty years. One of his sons, Albert P. Meeker, of Delaware county, Ohio, is well known as a clever, pop- ular gentleman, an entertaining conversationalist, a man of versatile talents, who can readily and easily apply himself to any position; who is highly esteemed by his many friends and neighbors, and has held several positions of trust and honor in his county. Like the rest of the Meekers, with only one exception, he is also a Democrat, and his party has seen fit to entrust the management of its campaign in his hands, having been but a short time ago made the chairman of the county executive committee. Another brother was Thomas V. Meeker, who in 1861, when President Lincoln issued the proclamation to the brave men of the north to come forward and crush a rebellion formed for the dissolution of the Union, responded to the call and went to the front, enlisting in an Illinois regiment. He took part in many hard-fought battles and for bravery and meritorious conduct won a com- mission, which he never was permitted to use, for cruel fate made him a prisoner of war, and in one of the loathsome prison dens of the south he succumbed to a dread disease. He had hoped to reach home and had sent

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the message to his brother, "Meet me in New York;" but death came and his remains were interred in Jacksonville, Florida.

George W. Meeker, whose name introduces this review, became one of the most prominent and distinguished citizens of Columbus. He was born in this city in 1834, on High street, opposite the present courthouse, and his life record reflects credit upon the state of his nativity. He acquired his early education in the public schools and afterward attended Otterbein Uni- versity, at Westerville, where he was graduated. He also pursued a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, at Buffalo, New York, becoming very proficient in mathematics and bookkeeping. He taught several terms of school and also filled the position of bookkeeper for a time. While serv- ing in that capacity he was elected a justice of the peace, and by re-election was continued in that position for a considerable period, his "even-handed justice" winning him "golden opinions from all sorts of people." He became actively interested in politics and exerted strong influence in political circles throughout the remainder of his career. Having studied law he was admitted to the bar and attained distinction by the capable manner in which he handled the litigated interests entrusted to his care and applied to them the prin- ciples of jurisprudence. His strong mentality, his keen discrimination, and above all his patriotic devotion to the welfare of his native city, made him a capable leader, and in 1869 he was elected the chief executive of Colum- bus, filling that position from 1870 until 1872.

On the expiration of his term as mayor George W. Meeker was appointed the land commissioner of the Midland Pacific Railroad and removed to Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he became the leading spirit in numerous enterprises. He was the promoter of the first gas-works in that city, was park director and one of the proprietors of a daily newspaper and a large general store. He also had extensive landed interests. When the Midland Pacific Railroad Company became financially embarassed he returned to Colum- bus, in 1876, and was thereafter prominently identified with the political and journalistic interests of the city. He was an ardent lover of literature, an omnivorous and thoughtful reader and a forceful writer of most at- tractive style. His exhaustive and able papers published upon the constitutional relations of the Mormon religion and the power of the government to subvert them attracted attention among the learned and scholarly men, and particularly among the eminent lawyers of the country, and extracts were copiously published in the leading magazines and news- papers. For many years he was extensively engaged in newspaper work as proprietor and editor and later in legislative correspondence for leading jour- nals. His history of the advent of the Dutch and Huguenots in Africa, the commingling of the two people who are known in history as the Boers and their protracted struggle for independence, is said to be more comprehensive, accurate and thorough than anything yet published on the subject. His labors upon that immense work, "The Portrait Gallery and Cyclopedia of the Dis-

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tinguished Men of Ohio," is said by critics to be a splendid monument to his memory.

In politics Mr. Meeker was an unfaltering and uncompromising Demo- crat, and through the period of nearly thirty years he was connected most of the time with the county and state committees of his party. For more than two decades he served as an officer and was intimately connected with the Democratic state executive committee, which defines the policy and directs the campaigns of that party. He was a leading spirit in controlling political movements during that period, and with the skill of a general on the field of battle he marshaled his forces and won many a notable victory. He was closely identified with leaders like Thurman, Pendleton, Brice, Hoadley and Campbell. He established prominent Democratic headquarters in Colum- bus, and died while still serving as secretary of the Democratic state com- mittee. His death occurred in 1890, when he was fifty-six years of age.

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 57

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