USA > Ohio > Champaign County > A centennial biographical history of Champaign county, Ohio > Part 21
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Evan P. Middleton was elected prosecuting attorney of Champaign county in 1883, and re-elected in 1886, serving in the office for six years with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. In 1891 he
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was appointed by the supreme court and served for one year as a mem- ber of the board of examiners of the law school of Cincinnati. He be- came a candidate for nomination by the Republicans for congress in the eighth congressional district against the Hon. A. Lybrand, repre- sentative from that district, at the end of his second term in 1898, and in that convention received the solid support of the delegates from Champaign and Hardin counties and from a majority of the delegates from Logan county, but the support was not sufficient to nominate him. Ile has always been a Republican and has taken an active part as a cam- paign speaker in furthering the interests of his party for many years. He served one year on the Republican state central committee from his congressional district and four years as chairman of the Champaign county Republican executive committee. In 1900 he was unanimously nominated for state senator by the Republicans of the eleventh district, composed of the counties of Champaign, Clark and Madison, and was elected in November by an unusual majority. While in the senate he served as chairman of the committee on state buildings and was a mem- ber of the committees on judiciary, county affairs, common schools and school lands, insurance, federal relations and privileges and elections. On the 6th of September, 1901, Governor George K. Nash appointed him to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. C. B. Ileiserman as judge of the court of common pleas for the second sub- division of the second judicial district, to accept which he resigned the office of state senator. In the Republican convention he was unani- mously nominated for election to the office of judge of the court of common pleas and on the 5th of November, 1901, was chosen by popular suffrage for the office, so that he is the present incumbent.
Judge Middleton was married on the 29th of December, 1875, to Miss Zeppa Rippetoe, daughter of William and Martha ( Farmer ) Rip- petoe, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky, for years highly respectable residents of Champaign county. Mrs. Mid-
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dleton was born in Wayne township, this county, December 14, 1854. and died at her home, over which she so gracefully presided in Urbana, on the 3d of November, 1901, leaving three children : Lucy Edith, the wife of A. Jay Miller, an attorney of Bellefontaine, Ohio: William R. and George S. Mrs. Middleton was an active member of the First Presbyterian church of Urbana and a lady of many admirable accom- plishments. As an attorney at law Judge Middleton has long ranked with the most successful. . He secured his education unaided by friends or family and has always been a close and earnest student. As a speaker he is gifted and as an advocate he is strong and persuasive,-on the bench is distinguished by the highest legal ability. To wear the ermine worthily it is not enough that one possess legal acumen, is learned in the principles of jurisprudence, familiar with precedents and thoroughly honest. Many men, even when acting uprightly, are wholly unable to divest themselves of prejudice and are unconsciously warped in their judgments by their own mental characteristics or educational peculiari- ties. This unconscious and variable disturbing force enters more or less into the judgments of all men, but in the ideal jurist this factor becomes so small as not to be discernible in results and loses its potency as a dis- turbing force. Judge Middleton is exceptionally free from all judicial bias. His varied legal learning and wide experience in the courts, the patient care with which he ascertains all the facts bearing upon every case which comes before him, gives his decisions a solidity and an ex- haustiveness to which no members of the bar could take exception.
GEORGE M. EICHELBERGER.
The above named gentleman is actively connected with a profes- sion which has important bearing upon the progress and stable pros- perity of any section or community, and one which has long been con-
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sidered as conserving the public welfare by furthering the ends of jus- tice and maintaining individual rights. His reputation as a lawyer has been won through earnest, honest labor, and his standing at the bar is a merited tribute to his ability. He now has a very large practice, and his careful preparation of cases is supplemented by a power of argu- ment and a forceful presentation of his points in the court room, so that he never fails to impress court or jury, and seldom fails to gain the verdict desired.
Mr. Eichelberger was born in Montgomery, Ohio. December 16, 1843, and is a son of Joseph E. and Mary ( Maley ) Eichelberger. His father was born in Washington county. Maryland. near Hagerstown, December 16, 1816, and was a son of John and Catherine ( Zimmerman ) Eichelberger. the former born in Martinsburg. Virginia, and the latter near Frederick City, in Frederick county, Maryland. The Eichelberger family is of German lineage and was established in America in colonial days. The great-grandfather of our subject served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, rendering valiant aid in the struggle for independ- ence.
In the year 1824 John Eichelberger, the grandfather of our sub- ject, became a resident of Ohio, settling on a farm a half mile from Ger- mantown, in Montgomery county. He was a miller and followed his trade throughout the greater part of his life. He died in 1846 when about sixty-five years of age, and his wife passed away in 1868 at the age of ninety-three. In their family were eight children: Henrietta, Sam- uel. William and Daniel. all now deceased; llenry, of Dayton, Ohio; Joseph E .; John and Susanna have also passed away. Their son, Jo- seph E. Eichelberger, the father of our subject. in the year 1843, married Mary Eliza Maley, who was born in Urbana and was a daughter of the Rev. George W. Maley, a leading Methodist minister, who engaged in preaching the gospel in southwestern Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. They
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were the parents of eight children: George M., of this review ; Edwin S., deceased: Alonzo, who died at the age of three years; William .A., who has passed away ; Joseph F .. also deceased ; Isabella, of New York, the wife of Edgar M. Ward, an artist of wide reputation ; Katie, de- ceased : and Robert A., who also won distinction as an artist, but who has now passed away, having died at the age of twenty-nine. . In the year 1853, the father of this family became a resident of Miami county, Ohio, where he followed farming and also engaged in the grain busi- ness. In 1864 he came to Champaign county and built a warehouse. where he successfully conducted a grain trade for a long period, but is now living retired, having put aside business cares about twelve years ago. He still owns farm lands and this returns to him a good income. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is now eighty- five years of age.
George M. Eichelberger, whose name introduces this review, ac- quired his rudimentary education in the common schools and afterward attended the high school at Piqua. while later he pursued his studies in Cincinnati. In 1860 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Dela- ware and from the recitation room went to the army, joining Company C. Eighty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted in May, 1862. was made corporal and served for three months, after which he re- turned to college and resumed his studies, receiving a diploma of gradu- ation from the Ohio Wesleyan University in June, 1864. In May of the same year he again volunteered and re-enlisted in Company F. One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and at the close of his term of service he came to Urbana, to which place his parents had removed in the meantime. Here he and Mr. W. R. Warnock became fellow students of the law under Judge Ichabod Corwin. They were admitted to the bar in 1866, entering into partnership relations, and began the practice of law, which they continued together for ten years, when
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Mr. Warnock was elected common pleas judge. In 1871 Mr. Eichel- berger was elected county prosecuting attorney, in which position he served for four years with success.
On the 17th of October. 1872, Mr. Eichelberger was united in marriage to Miss Emma Ring, a daughter of Hamilton Ring, of Urbana, and their living children are as follows: George II., the eldest is a prom- inent and rising young attorney of Cleveland, Ohio, who served for two years as United States marshal of the consular court at Shanghai, China, Lut resigned the position to enter upon the practice of law ; Frederick Benteen, the second member of the family, is assistant chief in the agri- cultural division of the Census Bureau; Susie, who married Jerome B. Zerbe, of Cleveland, Ohio; and Frank and Robert, who are at home. Mr. Eichelberger is a charter member of the W. A. Brand Post, No. 107. C. A. R. In politics he has always been a stanch and active Re- publican and was a delegate to the Republican national convention of 1884. supporting James G. Blaine for the presidency. He was again a delegate to the national convention in 1896. He served as chairman of the executive county committee for many years and his oratorical abil- ity has been greatly sought in campaign work, his addresses being elo- quent, logical interesting and convincing. As a lawyer he has obtained a foremost position at the Urbana bar. his skill and ability placing him among those who have long since left the ranks of the many to stand among the successful few.
EDWARD B. GAUMER.
It is with particular pleasure and satisfaction that we turn attention to the life history of the honored citizen of Urbana whose name initiates this paragraph, for not only has he been for many years prominently identified with the industrial activities of the city, being now the only
MR. AND MRS. EDWARD B. GAUMER
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resident of the place who has been consecutively in business here from the time when he founded his enterprise-nearly a half century ago- so that huis is the distinction of being the oldest business man in the city ; but in addition to this circumstance stands the record of an honorable and prolific life and a genealogical history which bespeaks long identifica- tion with the annals of the nation, the Gaumer family having been founded in Pennsylvania prior to the war of the Revolution.
The original American ancestor in the agnatic line was Johannes Dietrich Gaumer, who was one of a company of about fifty emigrants who came from Wurtemberg, Germany, to the United States in the year 1720, locating in Pennsylvania, whither they had fled to escape religious persecution in their native land, all being of the Lutheran faith. Edward Benjamin Gaumer, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Macungie, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of August, 1827, the son of Charles and Lucy Ann ( Snyder ) Gaumer. Charles Gammer was a son of Frederick and Sallie ( Desch) Gaumer. the latter of whom was a daughter of Adam Desch, who came from Wurtemberg, Germany, and located in Pennsylvania, where he pur- chased a tract of land, on the 23d of September. 1788. He and his wife, Gertrude, had two sons and four daughters, namely: Jacob, Philip, Catherine, Elizabeth, Mary and Sallie. Lucy Ann Snyder, the inother of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Peter and Sophia (Friend) Snyder. the former of whom was a son of Peter and Dorothy Snyder, of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. In the various generations the families have clung to the faith of the Lutheran church and have represented the most sterling manhood and woman- hood. Charles and Lucy Ann ( Snyder) Gaumer became the parents of six children, namely : Edward B., the immediate subject of this sketch ; Sarah Ann. James Aaron and Charles Madison, who are deceased ; and Josephine Clarissa and Sophia. The father was a tailor by trade and
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vocation. and both he and his wife passed their entire lives in the Key- stone state.
Edward B. Gaumer was reared in his native town, where his edu- cational advantages were somewhat limited in scope, and there he served an apprenticeship of three years at the trade of carriage-making, after which, at the age of nineteen years, he left home and went to Reading, Pennsylvania, where he was employed as a journeyman at his trade for a period of about five years. Thereafter he was located about a year in Philadelphia, returning thence to Reading for a time and then com- ing to Marshallville, Wayne county, Ohio, the home of one of his aunts. Thence he went to Wooster, where he was employed for a time in making hoppers for threshing machines, after which he made his way on foot to Zanesville, the hardships encountered while en route being such that he was incapacitated for active work for six weeks after his arrival in the town mentioned. There he was employed at his trade for nearly a year and then passed an equal period in similar occu- pation in the city of Columbus. From the capital of the state he came to Urbana, arriving on the Ist of March, 1854. By industry and econ- omy he had accumulated a small financial reserve, and this proved adequate to enable him to engage in business on his own responsibility. He associated himself with William Warren in the purchase of a carriage shop in Urbana, and the firm of Warren & Gaumer thereafter con- tinued in business until the death of the senior member, in 1890, when the firm of E. B. Gaumer & Sons was organized and has since con- tinued the enterprise, which has grown to one of no inconsiderable scope and importance, involving the manufacture of all varieties of light vehicles, sleighs, etc. The factory is well equipped and its products are of the highest degree of excellence, being built upon honor and invariably showing the best workmanship and finish. This is the oldest manufacturing concern in the city, and its history has been one
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characterized by progressive methods and indubitable integrity on the part of the interested principals, while the venerable founder of the enterprise. still strong and vigorous, is well known throughout this section of the state and is honored and esteemed by all who know him. Mr. Gaumer has always been an uncompromising Republican in his political views, but has never consented to serve in any public office. He has been a lifelong member of the Lutheran church and upon his entire career rests no shadow of wrong or suspicion of equivocation in any of the relations of life, his sturdy honesty of purpose being a dominating characteristic. He has given close attention to his business and has not been denied a due measure of success nor the reward of public respect and good will.
On the 13th of March, 1856, Mr. Gaumer was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Hamman, who was born in Lehigh county. Pennsyl- vania, on the 28th of January. 1825. and who proved to him a devoted wife and true helpmeet. her gentle and noble character endearing her to all with whom she came in contact, while her memory remains as a benediction resting upon those who were nearest and dearest to her. She was summoned into eternal rest on the 17th of August. 1896, hav- ing been a devoted member of the Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Gaumer became the parents of five children, all of whom are living except Mary Lucy, who died in childhood. The survivors are Augustus H., George E., Alice L. and C. Blanche.
Augustus H. Gaumer was born in Urbana on the 18th of Decem- ber. 1856, completed his education in the high school of his native city. where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1874, and during his business career has been identified with the enterprise established by his father nearly a half century ago. In 1884 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Cyrena Johnson, of Urbana, and they have two daugh- iers .- Josephine .A. and Keran J.
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George E. Gauner, who is likewise associated with his father in business, was born in Urbana on the 25th of January, 1861, and was graduated in the local high school in 1879. In 1897 was soleinnized his marriage to Miss Martha Kunath, who was born in Neustadt, Ger- many. They have two children, -- Edward K. and Agnes H. The two daughters of our subject still abide beneath the paternal roof, and the old home is a center of generous hospitality.
THOMAS H. BERRY.
Thomas H. Berry was born January 5. 1820, in Urbana, and was a son of Judge E. C. Berry, one of the most prominent and leading factors in the early history of Champaign county. Thomas H. Berry spent his entire life in the city of his nativity with the exception of three years passed in Chicago and in Danville, Illinois. Throughout his connection with the business interests here he was largely engaged in the grocery trade. It is said that his characteristics in childhood were obedience and a tractable spirit which could always be influenced by reasonable methods. As a man he was upright and honest in all busi- ness relations, was kind, loving and considerate as a father in the house- hold and helpful as a friend and neighbor. In matters of citizenship he was loyal and trustworthy. and for nineteen years. served as town. ship treasurer, proving a worthy custodian of the public finances. His death occurred November 9. 1879. and his many excellent qualities had so endeared him to his family, however, and made him such a worthy factor in business circles that his loss was deeply felt through- out the entire community.
On the ist of May. 1846. Thomas H. Berry was united in mar-
J. O. Swy
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riage to Luxima Hughes, a daughter of James R. Hughes, of Oxford. Ohio, who was a son of the first Presbyterian minister of Champaign county and the first principal of Miami University. at Oxford, Ohio. The lady was born in that city, June 8, 1826, and now resides in Urbana. By her marriage she became the mother of seven children : One daugh- ter. Mary Lamme : Thomas C., who is connected with the grocery trade of this city; James H. and Harry M., both of Wichita, Kansas; Will- iam E., who is assistant cashier in the National Bank of Urbana : Charles J., of California : and Lou B., who is an insurance agent of Urbana. The father was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church for nearly thirty years and took an active interest in its work and in all that ex- tended its influence. His life was capable ; his honor unimpeached, and his integrity unquestioned.
THOMAS C. BERRY.
Thomas C. Berry was born in Urbana January 27. 1849, and in the schools of this city pursued his education, whereby he was fitted for life's practical and responsible duties. When quite a young man he entered his father's grocery store and thus became familiar with com- mercial methods. Later he was admitted to a partnership in the enter- prise, becoming a member of the firm in 1870, when twenty-one years of age, under the name of T. H. Berry & Son. As the years passed more and more of the management and control of the business devolved upon him, and upon his father's death he succeeded to the enterprise as sole proprietor, but retains the firm name of T. H. Berry's Son, out of respect for his father, who established the business. He has a large grocery house in which he carries a full and complete line of staple and
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fancy groceries and his business has assumed extensive proportions. so that his trade is now gratifying and profitable.
In 1874 occurred the marriage of Mr. Berry and Miss Eudora Vance, granddaughter of Governor James C. Vance, and unto them have been born two children: Bertha, the wife of Frank MeCracken, of Urbana; and Bessie, now Alrs. George McCracken. Both Mr. and Mrs. Berry hold membership in the Presbyterian church. He is an earnest adherent of Republican principles and for twenty years has been township treasurer, a fact which indicates unmistakably the confidence and trust reposed in him. Although he entered upon a business already established, many a man of less resolute principles would not have suc- ceeded in carrying forward the undertaking. In all trade transactions, however, he has shown keen discernment, unfaltering energy and hon- esty which is beyond question, and his career proves that success is not a matter of genius, but the outcome of labor and experience.
WILLIAM F. RING.
The subject of this review, who is one of the representative mem- bers of the bar of Champaign county, is one whose ancestral history traces back to the colonial epoch of the nation and to that period which marked the inception of the greatest republic the world has ever known. The family is of stanch Swedish extraction, the original American an- cestor having located in Maryland, where many of his descendants are still to be found and where the name has been one of no slight promi- nence in the public and private affairs of that commenwealth.
Though William F. Ring has passed the greater portion of his life in Ohio, he is a native of the sunny southland, having been born in the
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city of Natchez, Mississippi, on the 27th of June. 1858, the son of Dr. Hamilton and Susan ( Whitelock) Ring, both of whom were born in Maryland, where they were reared and educated. their marriage being st lemnized in the city of Baltimore. The paternal grandfather of our subject was David Ring, who bore the full patronymic of his father. David, Sr., and both were born in Maryland, thus giving assurance that the family there had its foundation in an early day. Prior to the war of the Rebellion the father of our subject removed from Maryland to Urbana, Ohio, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession for several years, after which he removed to Mississippi, locating in the city of Natchez, whence he later removed to Port Gibson, where he was located during the war. He then returned to Urbana, where he was actively engaged in the practice of medicine until 1884. when he suffered a stroke of paralysis, from the effects of which he died. at the age of sixty-two years. He was a physician of marked ability, controlled a representative practice and was uniformly loved and honored for his noble character and intrinsic kindliness. His widow still maintains her home in Urbana, as do her four children, namely: Emma, who is the wife of George M. Eichelberger: Dr. Charles F., who is here engaged in the practice of medicine : Elizabeth C., who remains with her mother ; and William F., the immediate subject of this review.
William F. Ring secured his preliminary educational discipline in the south, where he passed his boyhood days, and thereafter continued his studies in the Urbana public schools and the Urbana University. which institution he entered in 1872. completing the prescribed course and being graduated as a member of the class of 1879. In January of the following year he became deputy clerk in the office of the probate judge, retaining this incumbency until October of the following year. when he resigned the position in order to begin the work of preparing himself for the profession of law, which he had determined to adopt as
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his vocation in life. He was duly matriculated in the Cincinnati College of Law and was there graduated in May, 1882, simultaneously securing admission to the bar of the state. He returned to Urbana and entered upon the practice of his profession, his novitiate being of practically brief duration, since his talents, devotion and energy soon gained him recognition. He is a strong advocate, presenting no case until he has thoroughly summed up the salient points and prepared himself to meet all exigencies, while as a counsel he is safe and conservative. His knowl- edge of the science of jurisprudence is broad and accurate, and he has won distinction and prestige in his chosen profession.
In his political allegiance Mr. Ring is found stanchly arrayed with the Republican party, and though he takes a proper interest in publie affairs he has believed his profession worthy of his entire time and best efforts and has never been a seeker for political preferment. He is secretary of the Home Loan Company, fraternally is identified with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, in which latter he has passed the various official chairs, and his religious faith is that of the Swedenborgian church, in which he was reared.
On the 15th of June, 1882, Mr. Ring was united in marriage to Miss Luella Magrew, of Champaign county, and they have two chil- dren, -- Gertrude M. and Hamilton M.
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