USA > Ohio > Putnam County > A Portrait and biographical record of Allen and Putnam counties, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Ohio, pt 1 > Part 14
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But while this defeat retired him from con- gress it at the same time made him governor in i891, when he was elected over his opponent by a plurality of 21,511. In 1893 he was again elected governor by the phenomenal plurality of 80,995, his opponent this time be- ing the Hon. Lawrence T. Neal.
In 1884 Maj. Mckinley was a delegate at large to the republican national convention which nominated Hon. James G. Blaine. In 1888 he was again a delegate at large to the republican national convention, and this time was in favor of the Hon. John Sherman for the party's candidate, but the complications then were numerous and difficult of solution, because of Mr. Blaine's refusal to be again the nominee. Many thought the nomination of Maj. Mckinley would solve all problems and harnionize all factions, but in spite of all argu- ments and all persuasions he remained true to his state and to himself by steadfastly refusing to permit his name to be used as a presidential candidate. Again, in 1892, Maj. Mckinley was a delegate at large to the Minneapolis convention which renominated President Har- rison, and in this convention, in spite of all remonstrances that he could make, he re- ceived within a fraction of as many votes as were given to the idol of the republican party, James G. Blaine, the latter receiving 182 5-6 votes, while Mckinley received 182 1-6 votes. President Harrison was, however, renominated only to be defeated by the present incumbent of the presidential chair, Grover Cleveland.
In his political campaigns he has mani- fested brilliant qualities as an orator. It is probably true that more people have heard bim discuss political questions than have ever listened to any other campaign speaker in the United States. Thousands of people assemble to hear him; he always commands the rapt attention of his hearers, and he frequently clicits at least hearty applause. One of his
most notable addresses was that delivered at the Atlanta Chautauqua in 1888, upon the in- vitation of the late Henry W. Grady, the sub- ject selected for disenssion being protection to American industries. Although the weather was threatening in the morning, and notwith- standing that the people had to ride on the cars about-thirty-five miles out from Atlanta to reach the Chautauqua, yet there were assem- bled about 4,000 Georgians; and despite the deprecatory manner in which the subject of protection was referred to by the introductory speaker, yet Maj. Mckinley completely carried the day with his audience, a fact which indi- cates that the people of that state are inter- ested in the subject.
His great tour in the fall of 1894 is prob- ably without a parallel in the history of the United States. Everywhere thousands greeted him. For more than eight weeks he averaged seven speeches a day, and it is estimated that during that time 2,000,000 people listened to him. It is altogether likely that the secret of his power over an audience lies in his sincerity, as he employs no adventitious methods and is not amusing, his simple and single aim being apparently to convince by argument fairly and squarely.
Gov. Mckinley was married January 25, 1871, to Miss Ida Saxton, daughter of James A. Saxton, of Canton, Ohio, who is an ac- complished lady, but through illness is com- pelled to remain at home much of the time. When health will permit she accompanies her husband on his travels. They have had born to them two children, both of whom died in infancy. In religion both Gov. Mckinley and his wife are Methodists, as were his father and mother, and he has placed a memorial window to his father in the little Methodist church at Poland, Ohio. His grandfather, however, was a Presbyterian, and was a member of the Lis- bon Presbyterian church from 1822 to 1830;
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during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Vallandig- ham, father of Clement L. Vanlandigham. Gov. Mckinley's father died recently at the age of eighty-five, but his mother is still living, aged eighty-seven years.
SA S. BUSHNELL, governor of Ohio at the present time, is, without doubt and without qualification, one of the ablest men in the state. In many respects his career has been an exceptional one. His education and training have been those of a practical man of affairs, and to-day, at the age of sixty-two, having been born at Rome, Oneida county, N. Y., in 1834, he is one of the most clear-headed business men in the country.
At the age of eleven he left his home in the Empire state to begin his career in the Buckeye state, reaching Cincinnati in 1845, where he spent six years in the public schools, paying his own expenses by working out of school hours and in vacation seasons. At the end of the six years spent in Cincinnati he re- moved, in 1851, to Springfield, Ohio, in which city he has since lived and in which city he has acquired a princely fortune. His first three years in the "Champion City " were spent as a dry-goods clerk, during which time he be- came a thoroughly practical book-keeper, and at their expiration he was given a position as book-keeper with the old and well-known water-wheel firm of Leffel, Cook & Blakeney, which was even then doing an extensive busi- ness. This position he retained until 1857, when he formed a partnership with Dr. John "Ludlow in the drug business, a partnership which lasted ten years, or until 1867. The only break in the continuity of his labors here was while he was engaged as captain of com- pany E, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1864, in the Shenandoah
valley. Here his bravery and his kindly man- ner won for him the admiration of and made him very popular among his fellow-soldiers of the entire regiment. While he was in the army he was somewhat slight in build and light in weight, and he was not much given to physi- cal exercise, while at the present time he is unusually active and weighs fully 200 pounds.
In 1867 Capt. Bushnell purchased an in- terest in the large manufacturing firm of what is now known as the Warder, Bushnell & Glessner Co., of which the late Benjamin F. Warder was then the head, and of which the junior member was J. J. Glessher, now a prominent capitalist of Chicago. And it is in connection with this concern, which Mr. Bush- nell has so long and so successfully managed, that he has made the fortune which he to-day possesses.
Hon. Asa S. Bushnell has long been closely identified with the republican party in Ohio, though his attempt to become governor of the state was the first he ever made to secure pub- lic office. He became chairman of the repub- lican state executive committee in 1885, and from 1886 to 1890, he served the state as quartermaster-general, having been appointed by Gov. Foraker, who was largely instru- mental in securing for him the nomination for governor in 1895, at Zanesville. In the fall of 1888 he was assaulted in the streets of Spring- field by political enemies, and through that as- sault came near losing his life. This assault still remains a mystery, and no one has been brought to punishment. Ile was chosen as a delegate at large to the republican national convention which met at Minneapolis in 1892, and which nominated President Harrison for re-election, and on November 2, 1895, he was elected governor of Ohio by a plurality of 92,622, over Hon. James E. Campbell, the democratic candidate, this plurality being the largest ever given to a governor with the ex-
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ception of that given Gov. John Brough, dur- ing the progress of the Civil war, when the soldiers at the front voted almost unanimously for Brough as against Vallandigham. He was inaugurated governor on January 13, 1896.
In the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, Gov. Bushnell has long been a prom- inent participant, being a member of Mitchell post, of Springfield, Ohio. He is also an ar- dent Free Mason. Among other of Gov. Bushnell's benefactions may be mentioned the Ohio Masonic Home, which was in all proba- bility preserved to Springfield by his unsolicited contribution of $10,000, at a time, too, when he was not a Mason.
Dr. John Ludlow, with whom Mr. Bushnell, as a young man, found employment, had at that time a pretty daughter named Ellen, and these two young people were eventually mar- ried. Several children blessed the union, three of whom survive, as follows: Mrs. J. F. Mc- Grew: Mrs. H. C. Dimond, and John Ludlow Bushnell, the latter of whom graduated with honors from Princeton in 1894. Mrs. Bushnell is an ideal woman in every relation. While she is a society woman, yet she is not so in the ordinary sense of the phrase, her principal strength lying in her domestic qualities. Her two daughters are as happily married as is she herself. Mrs. McGrew is the wife of one of
Springfield's most promising young attorneys, and is the mother of two children, Ellen and Fanny; while Mrs. Dimond is the wife of a prominent young physician and also the mother of two children, Asa Bushnell and Douglas Marquand Dimond.
Brief reference can be made to the inau- gural address of Gov. Bushnell. Among other things he commended was the proposition of home rule or local option in matters pertaining to taxation-which means that counties should provide their own systems of taxation for their necessary expenses; that double taxation should be avoided, and that such taxation as is nec- essary should be distributed as to lighten the burden of government, and so as to retain and attract capital to the state. He also favored a purchasing board for state institutions, and the providing of some means by which the state could supply employment to such of its prison- ers as are now compelled to remain perpetually idle. He also favored the limitation by statute of local indebtedness to ten per cent of the tax duplicate, and in closing said: " Time only can tell how much or how little I shall merit your commendation, but it will be my constant aim . and purpose to serve you as faithfully and as wisely as there is light given me to show the path of right, and I shall ever remember that I am the servant of the people."
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ALLEN COUNTY, OHIO.
ALLEN COUNTY.
ON. CALVIN S. BRICE, one of Ohio's favorite and most distinguished sons, was born in Denmark, Marion (now Morrow) connty, of the Buckeye state, September 17, 1845, and is a son of Will- iam Kirkpatrick and Elizabeth (Stewart) Brice. The father was descended from an old Mary- land and Pennsylvania family, was a graduate of Hanover college and the Princeton Theo- logical seminary, and was a clergyman of inch note, while the mother, a lady of fine educa- tion and exemplary traits of character, was a native of Carrollton, Ohio.
Calvin S. Brice, now United States senator from the great commonwealth of Ohio, ob- tained his early education in the common schools of his district, and this was supple- mented by attendance at schools of a higher grade at Lima, and such was his native ability and industry that, at the early age of thirteen years, he was so far advanced that he was able to enter the preparatory department of Miami university, at Oxford, in his native state, where * he studied one year, and then entered the fresh- man class. To those who knew the man, when a young, red-haired boy, endeavoring to get an education at Miami university, his after life has always been a story of exceeding interest. What
wealth he may have has been earned through his own efforts, supplemented by a judgment and business capacity rarely equaled. He in- herited none of it. The only heritage that came to young Brice was a sonnd constitution, an active mind, a thorough brand of American pluck and grit, and an intelligent comprehen- sion of the way in which to put these to the best use. While at school his progress was marked, and he was looking forward to gradu- ation, when there came a call that his patriotic impulses and the ardor of a true-hearted American boy would not permit him to ignore. When the call of the president came, young Brice, although but fifteen years of age, re- linquished his studies, enlisted as a member of Capt. Dodd's Cuiversity company, and in April, 1861, took his first lesson in military dis- cipline at Camp Jackson, Columbus. In April, 1862, he was enrolled a member of company A, Eighty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, of which Prof. R. W. McFarland was captain, and served with the regiment during the sum- mer of that year in West Virginia. Returning to the university, he resumed his studies, com- pleted the regular course, and graduated in June, 1863.
Mr. Brice then took charge of one of the
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public schools of Lima, and while so engaged acted for some time as deputy county auditor. Hle had already formed the purpose of devoting himself to the profession of law, and made use of such spare time as he could command in study until the spring of 1864, when the old impulse to make his power effective for the good of the Union cause led him to again re- turn to the field. He recruited company E, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio volunteer infantry, and as captain served in the First division of the Twenty-third corps in Tennes- see, Georgia, and the Carolinas, until July, 1865. While still in the field he was pro- moted to lieutenant-colonel for meritorious services, but owing to the return of peace he was never mustered in under this commission.
With the return of peace, Mr. Brice again devoted himself to what he felt was the real work of his life. He applied himself, with re- newed activity and interest, to the study of law, subsequently entering the law department of the university of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and was admitted to practice by the state and the United States district and circuit courts at Cincinnati, in the spring of 1866. Asso- ciating himself with Mr. Irvine, he formed the law firm of Irvine & Brice, and began the practice of his chosen profession in Lima, where he remained more than ten years. As a member of this law firm Mr. Brice became connected with the legal department of the old Lake Erie & Louisville railroad. This was the beginning of the career of Mr. Brice as a railroad magnate. As one of the counsel for this road, he obtained an insight into the actual work of railroading and saw spread before him the opportunities which he subsequently grasped. He became interested in the road financially, modestly it is true, but his hold- ings gradually increased. His mind, capable of looking into the future, foreseeing what should be done and doing it at the right time,
saw where the money was being lost in the railroad business and where it should be made. Quick of conception and equally quick in exe- cution, Mr. Brice recognized that the exten- sion of systems and the opening up of new territory would enhance the property.
This idea developed and resulted in the construction of the " Nickel Plate " railroad, a name given to the road in jest by Mr. Brice, and which he and his associates constructed parallel to the Lake Shore road. The Lake Shore had refused to make a satisfactory ar- rangement for taking care of the traffic turned over to it by the Lake Erie & Western, and its refusal led to the building of this new line from Chicago to Buffalo, which it was com- pelled to buy to get rid of the dangerous op- position that it gave promise of being. This operation opened the eyes of the eastern rail- road world to this rising genius of the west. His subsequent career as the moving spirit of large railroad interests and corporate invest- ments is thoroughly familiar to the public.
In politics, Mr. Brice has likewise been singularly fortunate. He stands to-day the leading politician in a great state, and one of the men of national prominence as a demo- crat, with courage to do what he believes to be right, and what the best interests of the whole people demand. He first came before the people in politics when he was named for the Tilden electoral ticket in 1876. He was also on the Cleveland electoral ticket in 1884, and was a delegate to the Saint Louis convention in 1888, where he was elected to represent Ohio on the national democratic committee, and he was made chairman of the campaign committee in the ensuing national campaign. At the death of M. William H. Barnum, in 1889, Mr. Brice was made chairman of the national committee, making a vigorous, but unsuccessful fight for the re-election of Mr. Cleveland. No man ever spent more of his time for the advance-
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ment of his party than did Mr. Brice in that campaign, and it is notorions that no man ever spent more of his private means for the ad- vancement of the cause of the ticket which he was championing.
In January, 1890, Mr. Brice was elected by the legislature as a United States senator to succeed Hon. Henry B. Payne. In the senate Mr. Brice has not been compelled to serve the probationary period that usnall falls to the lot of young members. He forged at once to the front and became an active and important figure in the councils of his party. On the troublesome questions growing out of the railroad system and transportation prob- lems, his advice has been eagerly sought by statesmen of both parties. He devoted much time to the tariff question, and it was largely through his work that the party was able, so far as the senate was concerned, to agree upon a bill that consolidated the party vote in that body, and made it possible for the bill to be- come a law and tariff reform to be an assured fact. Mr. Brice will never be counted an orator. He is not gifted with rhetorical speech, but his short pithy five-minute speeches have condensed within them the essence of the subject upon which he speaks and drives a point home to his hearers in a way that im- presses itself npon the understanding. He has been a hard-working member and has reflected credit npon the state, which has honored him with a seat in the senate of the United States.
The vast railroad interests with which Mr. Brice has been and is connected, have not pre- vented his active labor in other fields of invest- ment or development. He organized and be- . came president of the gaslight company at Lima; assumed a controlling interest in the First National Bank of Lima upon its incor- poration, and has been the promoter of, or a large stockholder in, many of the manufac- turing interests in that thriving place. He is|
also identified with the Chase National Bank of New York, and a leading spirit and director of the Southern Trust company. Contrary to an opinion expressed, Mr. Brice does not specu- late in stocks. Purely speculative profits appear to have little charm for Mr. Brice, he rather preferring the fruits of a bold enterprise in his particular field wherein his many friends can share; and such is his prestige that the sub- scribers to such as are brought out by him are only limited by the amount of the subscription. As a trustee of the Miami university in Ohio, vice-president of the Ohio society in New York, vice-president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity of New York, a member of the Manhattan, the Lotos, the Athletic, and other leading clubs, and in like position of a public or social character, Mr. Brice has proven himself a useful and campanionable man.
Calvin S. Brice was most happily mited in marriage September 9, 1869, at Lima, Ohio, with Miss C. Olivia Meily, and this union is blessed by the birth of three sons and two daughters. Although engrossed in business and social affairs he never carries them into the quiet atmosphere of home. As soon as he turns from his office in the afternoon, by a wonderful power of self-control, he shakes off all business care, and goes happily to a home that is palatial in its appointments and restful in its luxury. There, environed by the tender- ness of family ties, and delighted by the grace of culture and the beanty of art, Mr. Brice welcomes his friends to royal hospitality and most enjoyable entertainment.
EV. WM. KIRKPATRICK BRICE, deceased, was born in Adams county, Pa., near Gettysburg, November 12, 1812.
Alexander and Margaret (Kearsley) Brice, his parents, moved to Springboro, Warren
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connty, Ohio, in 1815. In 1830 he became a member of the Washington church, and hav- ing the ministry in view, soon began his studies at Walnut Hills at the opening of Lane semi- nary, which was then a classical as well as a theological school. In 1836 he graduated at Hanover college and at once went to the Princeton seminary, where he finished his course in 1841. He was licensed to preach, by the Second presbytery of New York, March 17, 1841, and began his ministry in the churches of Washington and Muddy Run, in Miami presbytery, serving them six months and then took charge of Canaan church in Marion pres- bytery, and in 1843 he was ordained and in- Stalled as pastor of Canaan church, also preach- ing as stated supply of Mount Gilead one- third of his time. In the beginning of the year 1849 he took charge of the Truro, Kalida and Ottawa churches in Putnam county, Ohio, and was installed as pastor of Truro in 1850. His labors at Truro were blessed, the church becoming self-supporting and growing to be one of the largest in the synod. Here he re- mained about twenty years, up to the time of his death. In 1869 he had an attack of pneu- monia which left him with impaired lungs, from the effect of which he died July 19, 1870. In 1845 he married Elizabeth Stewart, of Carl- ton, Ohio, who died April 16, 1852, leaving.three children-Calvin S., William and James, the last named died in infancy. William died in the spring of 1890. In 1854 Rev. Brice married Clementine Cunningham, of Lima, Ohio, who is still living, by whom he had four children -- John K., Anna E. (Mrs. O. B. Selfridge, Jr.), Herbert L. and Mary, wife of Edward Ritchie, of Cincinnati, Ohio. By the first marriage of the Rev. William Kirkpatrick Brice, it will be perceived that he became the father of Ohio's eminent statesman and business prodigy, Cal- vin S. Brice, whose biography and portrait precede this sketch.
ERBERT L. BRICE .- Among the most active and prominent young at- torneys of Lima, Ohio, is Herbert L. Brice, a son of Rev. William K. and Clementine Brice. Mrs. Brice is a daughter of William Cunningham, a leading citizen of the same place. Herbert L. Brice, the subject of this sketch, was born near Columbus Grove, Ohio, April 9, 1865, and at the death of his father, which occurred when young Herbert was abont five years of age; his mother set- tled in Lima, her present home. Here Mr. Brice obtained his early education in the pub- lic schools, remaining in these schools until he was fifteen years old, and in 1880 entered Ox- ford academy, where he prepared for Wooster university. Entering Princeton college in 1883, he pursued his studies there three years, and was graduated from that institution in 1886. Having already chosen his profession he at once entered Columbia Law school in New York city, and was admitted to the bar at Columbus, Ohio, in 1888. So careful and thorough had he always been in his school and college courses that he found himself prepared to immediately engage in the practice of his profession, and at once formed a partnership with S, S. Wheeler at Lima, Ohio, which partnership continues to the present time.
Politically Mr. Brice is a republican and has always taken great interest in the success of his party. He is also to some extent en- gaged in business, being at the present writing president of the Lima Natural Gas company, and he is also a member of the B. P. O. E., No. 9, of Lima, Ohio. Few men in this part of Ohio have a brighter prospect before them than has Mr. Brice, who is thoroughly well qualified for any practice that may fall to his share. His social standing, it is needless to say, is co-eqnal with that of the most promi- nent citizens of the county, his ancestors, as well as hinself, having been quite eminent.
OF ALLEN COUNTY. 175
D ADISON W. ALEXANDER, farm- er of Marion township, Allen county, Ohio, and an ex-soldier of the late Civil war, was born in Lima, Ohio, November, 1838, and is of Scotch and Dutch descent. His paternal great-grandfather, com- ing from Scotland, settled in South Carolina, and of his children one of his sons fought in the patriot army during the Revolutionary war and one adhered the cause of his king.
Jolin Alexander, the grandfather of our subject, was born in South Carolina, was there a slave-owner, but in an early day left his native state and became a pioneer of Greene county, bringing his family with him, his chil- Jren being John, George W., Isabella, one whose name has lapsed from memory, and Bell .. Mr. Alexander was a lawyer by profes- sion, was a member of congress, and a promi- nent resident of Xenia, Ohio, in his early days, and there died at a very advanced age. John Alexander, son of the gentleman above named and father of Madison W., the subject proper of this memoir, was born in Xenia, Ohio, was a graduate of Yale college, Mass., and a Methodist minister of considerable note. He married Eliza M. Hoover, daughter of Josiah and Caroline (Adgate) Hoover-the Hoovers being of Holland origin. The Rev. John Alexander was a pioneer of Northwestern Ohio, early preached at Saint Mary's mission in Auglaize county, was a colleague of Rev. James B. Findlay, and after retiring from the ministry was one of the first clerks of Allen county. He died in middle life, leaving three children -Caroline, Madison W. and Isabella.
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