USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 1 > Part 38
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he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county of Butler, in which office he served till 1825, at which time his services as member of Congress commenced, when le resigned.
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On the 20th of June, 1820, John Woods was married to Miss Sarah Ann Lynch, of Springborough, Warren County. She was a native of South Carolina, born on the 20th of December, 1801. They forthwith commenced housekeeping in. Hamilton. At the general election in October, 1824, he was elected a representative in Con- gress from the Second Congressional District, composed of the counties of Butler and Warren, over Thomas R. Ross, of Lebanon, who had been the former representa- tive. Ilis term of service commenced on the 4th of March, 1825, but he was not required to take his seat until the first, Monday of December following.
On the 18th of October, 1824, Mr. Woods formed a partnership with Michael B. Sargent in the practice of the law. Mr. Sargent was a fine classical and literary scholar, as well as a thorough lawyer. His qualifications and strict attention to business in superintending the affairs of the office, while Mr. Woods was absent attend- ing Congress, were of great advantage to Mr. Woods. Mr. Sargent died suddenly on the 19th of May, 1830.
When Mr. Woods's first term in Congress expired he was again elected for a second term, so that he served four years from the 4th of March, 1825, until the 4th of March, 1829. While there he was distinguished for his industry and attention to business. On the 18th of Jan- vary, 1828, Mr. Woods, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, made a report accompanied by a bill "to aid the State of Ohio in extending the Miami Canal from Dayton to Lake Erie." The bill was twice read and committed, and finally passed, and became a law ou the 4th of May following. By this law there was granted to the State of Ohio a quantity of land equal to the one-half of five sections in width, on each side of that canal between Dayton and the Maamce River, at the mouth of the Auglaize. The same law also granted to the State of Ohio the further quantity of five hun- dred thousand acres of land for the purpose of aiding the State in the payment of the debts which had been or might thereafter be contracted in the construction of her canals. Mr. Woods was a warm friend of internal im provements, and while in Congress advocated these meas_ ures with all his energy. At the session just referred to, the subjects of the tariff, internal improvement, Indian appropriations, and Indian affairs were largely debated, in all of which he took a prominent part. He was de- vided and ardent in politics as he was in every thing else. He warmly opposed the election of General Jackson to the presstones. This threw him in the minority in But- For County, which was they alsont thrco fourths in favor of farkong. The consequence was that, at the end of las second term, he was defeated by the election of Jame- Shichis.
After Mr. Woods retired from Congress he became the proprietor, publisher, and editor of the Hamilton Intelligencer, which he conducted with great ability for three years, a portion of the latter part of the time in connection with Lewis D. Campbell, who assumed the business management of the concern. Although Mir. Woods was engaged in editing a newspaper and attending to various other kinds of business, be did not relinquish the practice of his profession as a lawyer, but proscented it, vigorously until the year 1845.
On the 30th of January, 1845, the Legislature of the State of Ohio elected him auditor of state for the term of three years from the 15th of March ensuing, at which time he went to Columbus and entered on the duties of his office. At that time the State of Ohio hal been running in debt from year to year, borrowing money to pay the interest on the State debt, and thus com- pounding it, until the public obligations loomed up in fear- ful magnitude. John Brough, the former auditor, had vainly endeavored to accomplish a reform in taxation ; fear brooded over the members of the Legislature, and none dared to touch the dreaded subject. It was neces- sary that something should be done. Mr. Woods repre- sented the condition of affairs to the Legislature, and strongly urged upon them to take measures to remedy the evil; and it was mainly through his instrumentality, and by his courage, industry, and perseverance that the State was saved from repudiation, bankruptcy, and ruin. By virtue of his office, Mr. Woods was one of the board of fund commissioners who contracted the loans on be- half of the State, and had the control of the public debt. When he went into office there was not to be found in any of the offices at Columbus a book in which was en- tered an account by which the condition of the Siate debt could be clearly seen. Mr. Woods procured a set of books, and from the loose papers found in the office of the fund commissioners and in the auditor's office he had a set of accounts opened, showing the amount of each description of public debt and the balance remain- ing standing. He also intro.lueed important reforms in the mode of keeping some of the accounts in the office, by which they were simplified and rendered more intelli- gible. As auditor he left indelible marks on the policy and history of the State. He had determined to relin- quish his office at the expiration of his first term of three years, but through the persuasion of a number of his influential friends throughout the State, he was induced to serve for another term, and accordingly was re-elected aud remained until March, 1851, when he returned to Hamilton.
His habits of industry and restless energy would not. however, permit him to remain idle. He became presi- dent of the Eaton and Ilumilton Railroad Company. and brought his strong powers to bear on the press- cution and completion of that work. Previous to the sceoud election, after Mr. Woods became president,
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a proposition was agitated and advocated by many for the construction of a branch road from Eaton to Piqua by the Eaton and Hamilton Company. This Mr. Woods strongly opposed, and, in consequence, was de- fented at the second election. Subsequent events have proved the correctness of his judgment on this subject. With some difficulty and trouble the Eaton and Hamil- ton Railroad Company have since been released from their obligation to construct that branch road. Imme- diately after retiring from the Eaton and Hamilton ยท Road, Mr. Woods was appointed and accepted the office of president of the Junction Railroad, leading from Hamilton to Oxford, Connersville, and thence to Indian- apolis; to the prosecution of which work he brought his energy to bear, and faithfully attended to the business of the office, with honor to himself and to the advantage of the company.
Until the time of his death Mr. Woods was indefati- gable and persevering in every thing he undertook. His energy was untiring, and his firmness indomitable. His early course of life had rendered his constitution hardy and capable of great endurance. At the bar his conduct was a model for imitation, despising all low and illiberal practice. To the junior members of the bar he was ever prompt to extend bis friendship and patronage; and as an adviser to young men beginning life he won many friends among rising men by his generous treatment and sympathy. To the judges of the court he was polite and respectful; and to witnesses he was considerate and can- did, never attempting to puzzle or embarrass them, except when there were strong signs of falsehood or corruption. No one, it is believed, ever discharged his trusts as a lawyer with more scrupulous fidelity and spotless integ- rity. The strong mind and energy of Mr. Woods have left their impression on almost every publie improve- ment in and about Hamilton. He was a liberal contrib- utor to every thing which had for its object the promotion of the happiness of man. Many years ago he took a leading part in founding and establishing the Hamilton and Rossville Female Academy. He was active in the construction of the Cincinnati and Hamilton Turnpike Road, of which he was a director. He was president of the Darrtown and Fairhaven Pike. He was one of the leading spirits in projecting and constructing the Ham- ilton and Rossville Hydraulic Works. He spent consid- emable the in procuring subscriptions for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayron Rafiroad, in which he was largely interested, and of which he was a director during his life. Indeed, far more of the energy displayed in carrying forward that great work came from Mr. Woods than from any other man.
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In his temperament he was decidedly amiable, and of a most kiad and forgiving disposition. His walk through life was without any deviation front the paths of honor and reetiende. In his dealings and business relations la was prompt, honorable, and expert, and a pattern of integ-
rity. Law and order had in him an undeviating advo- cate. He was always found on the moral side of every public question. He was a regular attendant at the house of worship of the Associate Reformed Church, of which he was a consistent member. The purity of his private morals has never been questioned.
In the early part of the month of July, 1855, Mr. Woods was attacked with inflammation of the lungs, so severe as to cause strong apprehensions of its fatal ter- mination. However, he became better, and hopes were entertained that his system would rally, but the disease finally terminated in typhoid fever with ulceration of the bowels, which ended his existence on Monday, the thir- tieth day of the month, in the sixty-first year of bis age. His funeral took place at five o'clock P. M., on Tuesday, the thirty-first. The services on the occasion were by the Rev. William Davidson, of the Associate Reformed Church, of which Mr. Woods was a member; after which the corpse was conveyed to Greenwood Cemetery, fol- lowed by one of the largest concourses of citizens evec assembled in Hamilton on a similar occasion. His re- mains were consigned to the tomb amid the regrets of numerous friends, and with the respect due to a life of integrity and useful public services.
Mr. Woods left a widow, who survived until 1881, and several children. They had born to them six daugh- ters and two sons.
Mary Woods was born Jane 3, 1821. She married Dr. Cyrus Falconer, and died September 18, 1870. Sarah Woods was born January 18, 1823, and died Fri- day, February 21, 1823. Martha Woods, who married William Beckett, was born February 14, 1824. Sarah Woods (second) was born October 10, 1827, and died July 23, 1840.
Rebecca Woods was born February 17, 1831. She married William H. Miller, a lawyer of Hamilton, who went out as lieutenant in the Twelfth Ohio Regiment of infantry, and fell in the Western Virginia campaign un- der General Rosecrans, in August. 1861. His remains were interred in Greenwood Cemetery.
Rachel Woods was born April 6. 1835, and was mar- ried on the 13th of September. 1855, to Samuel Wor- thington, a commission merchant of Buffalo, New York. Cyrus Falconer Woods was born December 8, 1840, and died November 24, 1844. JJohn Woods, the young- est. was born on the 19th of June, 1838. He graduated at Miami University in 1860, subsequently studied theol- ogy at Alleghany and Princeton seminaries, and was or- dained to the ministry in the Old School Presbyterian Church by the presbytery of Oxford.
GEORGE JUNKIN.
George Junkin, president of the Miami University, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of November, 1790. He was the son of Joseph Jenkin. and Eleanor Cochran, both descended from Scotch cov-
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enanters who had settled in Ireland. Nowhere. proba- Ny, have religious duties been more strenuously attended to than among those of this descent, and the Junkin family were no exceptions to the rule. In his eleventh year he became impressed religiously, but made no pub- lic acknowledgment of his conversion until his nineteenth year, when he united with the Church.
George Junkin was a boy of exceeding diligence, and as a man he fulfilled in this respect the promise of his youth. There was nothing to help him in his efforts to obtain an education ; but, by dint of industry, he qual- ified himself to enter Jefferson College in 1809. In 1813 he graduated, although not having been the whole term at college. For the sake of lessening his expenses he had been much of the time at home, studying, and keeping pace with his classes.
He had early entertained the idea of becoming a min- ister, and immediately after graduation entered the Theo- logical Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, then under the supervision of the illustrious John M. Mason, the great pulpit orator. In this place he stayed the custom- ary three years, and was then licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Monongahela of the Associate Reformed Church, in September, 1816. He was immediately sent to the presbyteries of New York and Saratoga, preach- ing in various places in 1816, and afterwards laboring in the same way in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In June, 1818, he was ordained at Gettysburg, and was soon in- vited to take charge of the united congregations of Mil- ton and Pennell, a call which he accepted.
He preached to these flocks about eleven years, but in 1824 changed from the Associate Reformed Church to the Presbyterian Church. In 1830 he resignel this charge, accepting the position of principal of the Man- ual Labor Academy at Germantown, near Philadelphia. Two years of successful labor followed. Easton offered him, however, inducements to remove his students to that place, and, taking advantage of the opportunity, a charter was procured , from the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania granting the institution the title of a college, named after the illustrious Lafayette, who had shortly before been in this country on his last visit. The new institution was successful, and it has since performed a great work. Mr. Junkin toiled assiduously. He gave regular instruction in the college, an1, besides, preached on the Sabbath. In 1833 he was made a doctor of di- vinity by Jefferson College.
In 1841 he came out to Ohio and entered upon the presideney of the Miami University at Oxford. He can uot be said to have been very successful in this place. He was a man naturally of an autoeratie disposition, and la found in the free West difficulties in maintaining the same discipline that was to be enforced in the East. Many Friends of the institution considered him as the choice of a cabal which had ousted De. Bishop and the other professors who were not meck-minded, and he was
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offensive also to some patrons who were not Presbyterians. This was a State institution, and yet entirely controlled by one sect. There was still another grievance which was felt, although not in the university. Dr. Junkin had imbibed a strong friendship for the " peculiar insti- tution," or at least for its friends, and his politics were tinctured by the Jeffersonian school of State rights. The anti-slavery discussion had then begun, and was not to be stopped. Dr. Junkin became involved in a contro- versy with the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, of Rossville, one of the most eloquent preachers of the day, in which these questions were brought up. The discussion was oral, but was afterwards published in a very large vol- ume. No decision, of course, was reached satisfactory to the minds of the public. Each party thought as be- fore. Finally Dr. Junkiu concluded to resign and give up his unquiet seat. He did so, and went back to his former place at Easton.
There he continued till the Autumn of 1848, when he accepted an invitation to become president of Wash- ington College, Lexington, Virginia, to which he Was followed by twenty-six of his former pupils, who thus indicated their high appreciation of his merits. He con- tinued in this place nutil May, 1861, when he was ad- monished that it was time to withdraw. The clonds and portents of disunion were thickening fast, and he felt that he could no longer remain in this college, which was a hot-bed of secession, or even occupy an equivoral posi- tion. His love for the Union was strong and ardent, and he foresaw the certain ruin that would follow to the inhabitants of the Southern States if they took up arms against the United States. He went from there to Phil- adelphia, where, for the remainder of his life. he found a home in the family of his son, George Junkin, an em- inent lawyer. He did not desist from labor. He preached carnestly and often. To the soldiers he was a friend ; their encampments were visited, their wants inquired into, and their souls' prosperity solicirously regarded. He visited the Southern prisoner, at Point Lookout and Fort Delaware, and looked after the unhappy wounded made at the battle of Gettysburg. He also wrote much. For a long time he contributed articles to the newspapers on the proper observance of the Sabbath. He published a " Treatise on Sanctification," a "Treatise on the Ancient Tabernacle of the Hebrews," and some smaller works : and he left behind him in manuscript a full commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews.
He was married in June, 1819, to Julia Rash Miller, of Philadelphia, and by her had five sous and three daughters. One of the daughters married General Jack- son ("Stonewall"), of the Confederate army. Mes. Junkin died in February, 1854.
Dr. Junkin was a man of great general ability. Im- patient of contradiction or procrastination, he had an : x- cellent insight into the ways of remedying difficulties. Church matters were thoroughly understood by him, and
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he was at home in a Church trial. He knew instinet- ively the measures to be taken. Ile was well liked by those with whom he was brought into contact unofficially, and his memory will long be cherished by those who had the honor to know him. He died May 20, 1868.
JOHN B. WELLER.
John B. Weller, who filled more important public stations than any one else who ever lived in this county, was born in the village of Montgomery, Hamilton County, Ohio, on the 22d of February, 1812. He was of German descent, his ancestors originally settling in New York. From that State his parents removed to Ohio some few years before his birth. He was educated at the Miami University, but did not graduate. At the age of eighteen he commenced the study of law in the office of Jesse Corwin, in Hamilton. . Lewis D. Campbell, his principal competitor in the politics of this eounty, came here at the same time, and the two young men slept together in the same bed. They were then of the same politics. Before attaining his majority young Weller was admitted to the bar, and soon after was nom- inated by the Democrats for the office of prosecuting attorney, his opponent being Jesse Corwin, his old tutor, whom he defeated by a handsome majority.
In 1838, when barely of legal age, he was elected to represent the Second Congressional District in the lower house of Congress, consisting of the counties of Butler, Preble, and Darke. He held his seat for three terms, twice defeating the Hon. Lewis D. Campbell. Mr. Weller, though very young, early took a leading part in all debates before the House, and proved himself'a ready and powerful speaker.
At the end of six years' service he deelined a nomina- tion for a fourth term, and returned to the practice of his profession.
Mr. Weller, at an early age, had married Miss Ryan, daughter of one of the leading merchants of Hamilton ; but this lady lived but a short time. Early in his con- gressional career he married Miss Bryan, whose father, the Hon. John A. Bryan, was auditor of the State at that time. Ilis second wife lived but two years. In 1845 he married Miss Taylor, a niece of Thomas H. Benton, senator from Missouri. She lived three years.
Mr. Weller was not allowed to practice his profession for any length of time; for on the breaking out of the war with Mexico he volunteered as a private, but was elected captain of his company, which breame part of the Second Ohio Regiment, of which he was elected Hienten- ant-colonel. He fought all through the war, and led his regiment in the charge through the streets of Monterey, when the gallant Colonel Mitchell sas wounded.
After peace was declared, Colonel Weller returned to his home in Hamilton, and took up his profission, but was called on by the Democrats of Ohio to lead them in the great gubernatorial fight of 1848. His opponent,
the Whig candidate, was Seabury Ford, and the cam- paign was the fiercest and most bitter ever known in this State. This was virtually a fight to decide the presiden- tial question as far as Chio was concerned; for it was coneeded that if Weller carried the State, Cass wouldi get Ohio's vote. After a canvass carried on in all parts of the State, in which Colonel Weller spoke in seventy- eight counties, and after weeks of doubt as to the final result-for it took the official vote to decide -- it was found that Weller had beeu defeated by a majority of three hundred and forty-five votes out of an aggregate of almost three hundred thousand. In one county over four hun- dred votes were cast for Jolin Weller, which were thrown out. But the great point was won. after all; for Ohio went for Cass.
In January, 1849, President Polk tendered to Colonel Weller the appointment of commissioner under the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, to settle the boundary line be- tween California and Mexico. On President Taylor's accession to the office, Colonel Weller was relieved, and proceeded to San Francisco, where he pursued his pro- fession. In 1852 he was elected United States Senator in the place of John C. Fremont, for the long term eud- ing in 1857. Upon his return to California in that year he was elected governor of the State by a large majority. At the termination of his career as governor he settled in Alameda County, near Oakland, but was sent by Pres- ident Buchanan as minister to Mexico in the fall of 1860. When President Lincoln came into office, Colonel Weller was succeeded by his old Ohio friend. Tom Cor- win. In 1867 Governor Weller removed to New Orleans. where he was appointed master in chancery for all of the Gaines eases. Here he lived until his death, on the 17th day of August, 1875.
Governor Weller left two children, -- John B. Weller, Jr., whose mother was Miss Taylor, and Charles T .. Weller, Jr., who was the only child by his marriage with Mrs. G. W. Staunton in 1854-still living.
FRANCIS MONFORT.
One of the earliest preachers of the Gospel in this neighborhood was Francis Monfort, who, for a long time, was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hamilton. Ile was a descendant of the Huguenots. The founder of the American family fled from France, after seeing the oppressions he would be subject to it he remained a Protestant in that country, first going to Holland, and then coming to the American colonies. The father of Francis Monfort was Lawrence Monfort, and his mother was Elizabeth Cassat, and he was born seven miles north-east of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in what was then York County, Das is now Adams, on the 15th of Deeta- ber. 1782. Mr. Monfort moved to the West wica le- finally, in 198, and arrived in Cincinnati, May 25th. He seop removel to Warren County, remaining for the Summer on a place three-quarters of a mile south of Leha-
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non, pod in November taking a place eight milles west of that town, on the way to Hamilton. Francis. Monfort assisted his father on the farm until he was of age. In 1800 he experienced a religious change, and he united with the Presbyterian Church of Turtle Creck, which was the nearest to his house, and which was then under the pas- toral. charge of the Rev. Richard MeNemar. As he grew eller he determined to enter the ministry, and began his studies under the supervision of his pastor, occupying more than two years. There was then no theological seminary in Ohio, and it was the common plan for those who could not go East and complete their studies to take thetu up with some approved .clergyman in their neighborhood. The one then best known here- abouts was che Rev. John Thompson, of the place now called Springdale. He taught many, and continued in the labor year after year. Previously to going with Mr. Thompson, Mr. Monfort studied for a time with Mr. Malcolm Worley. After being instructed by Mr. Thompson for a year, he passed eight months with the Rev. Barton W. Stone, at Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky, and he was six months with the Rev. Robert Marshall, in Fayette County, of the same State. He then considered himself qualified to preach, and on the 31st of July, 1807, he was licensed to preach the Gos- pel, delivering his first liscourse at New Castle, Ken- theky. Through the south of Kentucky he soon after went on a preaching tour, extending it into Tennessee, in the neighborhood of Nashville. Then he came over into Ohio, in the Mad River country, and afterwards- preached in Kentucky. He did not at this time belong to the Presbyterians, but from the time he began his. studies was a "New Light." His Church, with many others, had seceded from tis previous denominational relationship and joined the new body, which was then thought to be more thoroughly moved by the grace of God. On the 6th of June, 1809, he was married, in Scott County, Kentucky, to Sophia Glass, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Glass, formerly of Frederik County, Virginia, and sister of Mrs. Marshall, the win- of the Rev. Robert Marshall. After being married he mime back to Olio, being fir-c on Clear Creek and then on Dick's Creek, and preached till October. 1811. when le pineri the Presbyterian Church, returning at the same time as the Rev. John Thompson. He was placed on probation for sixteen months, at the same time pursuing additional studies under the direction of the Rev. Daniel Hayden and the Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, D. D. No stop, however, was put to his conducting religious meetings. ! wist he continued them until licensed by the presbytery at Dayton, Ohio, in March, 1818.
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