USA > Ohio > Butler County > A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers. Vol. 2 > Part 10
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William Barton Carr was born in Hanover Township in 1848, being the son of John W. and Elizabeth J. Carr. He attended the common schools, afterwards going to Otterbein University and the Miami University, and also received a commercial education at the college in Hamilton. He was married in 1872 to Clara Brown, daughter of William E. Brown and Mary Beckett. They have had four children. Bessie was born in 1873, May- nard in 1876, Mary ia 1880, and William Everett in 1881. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church. His occupation is that of the proprietor of a flouring-mill. His great-grandfather was in the Revolu- tionary War, and his grandfather in the War of 1812.
Mrs. Jane Hudson Corwin wa- born in Mourne, County Down, Ireland, October 6, 1809, and came to this country with her father, the Rev. James McMechan. in the Autumn of 1817, taking up her residence in this town in the Spring of 1818. She was thoroughly in- structed by her mother and older sister, and was pos- segel of great beauty and attractive manners. April 15, 1829, she was married by the Rev. Dr. MacDill to Jesse Corwin, one of the leading members of the Han- ilton bar. This pair of generous and genial people kept a hospitable home for many years in this city, which was
a pleasant resort for their many friends, and those of them who still survive will recall with grateful memo- ries the cordial civilities of their departe! hosts. Eight children were born to them, only three of whom are liv- ing. Thomas Corwin, one of her sons, rushed to the defense of the country when attacked by rebels, and in April, 1861, joined the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Mrs. . Corwin united with the Associate Reformed Church in 1840, and sat under the preaching of the Rev. Messrs. MacDill and Davidson for many years. She was natu- rally a believer in the truths of religion, and gave them her unquestioning assent. In both prose and poetry she wielded a facile pen, and her productions were warmly received by her friends. She was a welcome contributor to the newspapers, and five or six years ago gathered her verses from their files, added a few new ones, and published them in book form, entitling them " The Harp of Home." Her death occurred March 6, 1881. Few have left behind them more friends to lament their loss.
Leroy D. Brown, superintendent of the schools of Hamilton, was born November 3, 1848, in what is now Noble County, Ohio. He is the son of Jeremiah B. and Isabella (Harris) Brown. He attended district school until the age of fifteen, from three to six months cach year. Each school was provided, by legislative enact- ment, with a library, and during his boyish days Brown read every volume in the list. His choice was for biog- raphy, history, and travels. He was obliged to labor the rest of the year. When fifteen. having been unable to obtain the consent of his father to enlist, he ran away, and entered Company H, One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio. This was in January, 1864. He remained in the service until the close of the war. He was in the Shen- andoab Valley, and saw service under Siegel, Hunter, Crook, and Sheridan in this department, and afterward was in the Army of the James, near Richmond. When discharged he was the general's orderly.
After returning home he was in the district school, and afterward in a high school at Seneca, Ohio. He be- gan his career as a teacher on December 3, 1866, in a district adjoining the one in which he had lived in boyhood. In April. 1867, he entered Mount Auburn Academy, where he in part fitted for college, and in 1869 joined the preparatory department of the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he was afterward graduated. He taught in Noble County during the greater part of 1872 and 1873, and was also county ex- aminer. In 1873 he took charge of a graded school at. Newport, and was afterward made superintendent. In 1874 he was in charge of the public schools at Beipre, and in 1875 he was made superintendent of the schools of Eaton, Preble County. This position be filled until 1879, when he was elected superintendent of the schools of Hamilton and has since been re-elected. He is the secretary of the State Association, and a writer in edu-
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cational periodicals. He served a term as trustee of the Lane Free Library, and is a post-graduate student of the Cincinnati University. He was admitted to the bar in 1878. He married November 28, 1878, Esther Emma Gabel, daughter of Lucian and Mary A. Gabel. The father is an architect and builder, and now resides in Hamilton. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have one boy, Thomas Pollok Brown, who is about three years of age. Mr. Brown is a Mason, and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Torrence Edgar Crider was born in Madison Township, May 26, 1856, being the son of Abraham and Dorcas Smith Crider. His father was of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Scotch-Irish descent. He went to school un- til 1869, then beginning to work at telegraphing, which he had learned in leisure hours. He obtained a situa- tion in Middletown, and was afterwards at various places in the employment of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Road. He then received an appointment in the auditor's office, under S. B. Berry, in April, 1878, and has remained there ever since, being reappointed by J. B. Hughes. Since being in that office he has learned surveying, and has made several elaborate maps. One series, covering the whole of the county, was executed for the county commissioners. and was a beautiful piece of work. He is an ardent Democrat, and takes great interest in political affairs. He was nominated for county surveyor in August, 1882. He was married December 24, 1879, to Mattie H. Overpeck, daughter of David and Rachel Overpeck, and has two children.
Augustus H. Cisle was born in Mount Pleasant, Ham- ilton County, August 18, 1847. He is the oldest son of Thomas J. and Mercy (Seward) Cisle. With his par- ents he removed to Preble County in 1856. He at- tended school in these two counties, and afterwards in Morning Sun Academy, until 1863, when he enlisted in Merrill's Horse Regiment, and was with that command in the Missouri campaign, also being in .Arkansas, and at the battle of Nashville. He served until after the close of the war, being mustered out at Nashville, Ten- nessee, September 1, 1805. Returning to civil life, Mr. Cisle located in Hamilton in November of the same year, beginning an apprenticeship at the trade of blacksmith- ing at the establishment where he now is junior partner, then M. Shipley & Co. After acquiring the trade he was placed in charge of the shop as foreman, and contin- uing in that capacity till becoming a partner, in 1879. The firm name is now Millikin & Cisle, and the mem- bers are R. B. Millikin and A. H. Cisle. They are the successors to the Hamilton Piow Company, and employ on the average thirty-five men. . Mr. Cisle was married on the 34 of July, 1872, to Miss Amanda Walton. They are the parents of one daughter, Susie Merev, boru October 30, 1876. Mr. Cisle is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
is the fourth of ten children of Joseph Cornell and Eliza- beth Beeler. He was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, February 1, 1833. The father was a native of Penning- ton, New Jersey, and the mother was born in Hamilton County. The father came to Ohio in 1816, with his father, when seventeen years old. He was a school- teacher, Jolin B. Weller being one of his students. Jolin B. Cornell was educated in a lng school-house, and at college in Cincinnati, but on account of his health. with- drew at the age of twenty-one. He taught school a year and a half. He then went into Dr. Peck's private bank as book-keeper till 1861, when the bank suspended. In February, 1862, he engaged as book-keeper with Gwyn & Campbell, in a gun manufactory which made govern- ment carbines. In . August, 1863, the First National Bank was organized, and he was made assistant cashier. In April, 1864, he became cashier, a position he has ever since held. In 1878, he engaged in the ice business and has been president of the Lake Erie Ice Company since that date, in company with S. D. Fitton, its founder. He cast his first vote for Chase, as governor, and has been a Republican and Abolitionist all his life. He has been active in politics. He has been a Mason for many years, and was for some time secretary of his lodge in Sharonville.
Mr. Cornell was married April 9, 1857, to Miss Phebe F. Hageman, of Sharonville, Hamilton County, the daughter of Adrian and Mary Hageman. She died May 24, 1864, leaving two children, Carrie, born October 18, 1859, and Charles, born September 7, 1861. Carrie has spent the year in Berlin, studying the languages and music. The son is a book-keeper in the bank. Mr. Cornell was again married on the 18th of April, 1866. One child, John, was born October 18, 1869. With his two oldest children. Mr. Cornell went to Europe in 1881, taking a tour through the principal cities, and going as far south as Rome and Venice.
J. H. Carle, who was born in Butler County, June 6, 1841, is the only son of Pierson and Hannah (Seud- der) Carle. Pierson Carle was born in this conaty in 1815, and was the son of Thomas Carle, a pioneer of this neighborhood, who settled, in 1802, in Madison Township, close to what was afterward known as Ball's Ferry. Pierson Carle was a carpenter by trade, and lived in Trenton. He was a grain buyer, and came to Hamilton in 1865. He continued the grain business here until about 1870, when he organized the firm of P. Carle & Co., purchasing the Miami Canal Flouring- mills, and carrying them on for the remainder of his life, enlarged and improved. He was a successful busi- ness man, and maised a family of one daughter and one son, the former being the wife of J. H. Williamson of Milford Township. He died October 7, 1878.
J. H. Carte was educated in the common schools in Madison Township and assisted his father in purchasing
Jo!in B. Cornell, cashier of the First National Bank, i grain. After the mill was bought he became a partner.
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and after the death of his father was the head of the firm, which consists of himself and William Anderson. The mill is an extensive one, and with a much increased capacity within the past two years, making a superior brand of flour, and supplying a demand that exists in Richmond, Virginia, and New England. It is the most extensive flouring-mill in Hamilton.
Mr. Carle was married April 13, 1865, to Miss Dorcas, daughter of Samuel Young, a former well known resident of Milferd Township. They are the parents of one son, Charles C., born May 10, 1869. Mrs. Carle is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Thirty-fifth Ohio, and was in the battles of Mill Springs, Pittsburg Landing, and Stone River. Through an accident he lost his left eye, and was discharged from the service. He re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-seventh, and served in West Virginia for four months, his full term, and was mustered out in the Fall. After this he was a resident of Ander- son, Indiana, for some seven years, buying grain for P. Carle & Son.
Dr. John Cass was born in Westfield, Chautauqua County, New York, June 16, 1832. He is the son of Joseph and Jane (Dickson) Cass. When nineteen, he graduated from the Westville Academy, and afterwards, as well as before, taught school. He had also read medi- cine, beginning his books in the office of Dr. Levi A. Cass, in Westfield, and continued in that for one year. He then entered the Long Island Medical College, where he remained till he graduated from it in June, 1857. Hle commeneed to practice in Thirteenth Street, New York, staying there some four years, coming to Ohio in 1861, where he purchased a drug store in the northern part of the State. Before arriving in Ohio he had taken two courses of lectures at Bellevue Medical College, graduating at that, institute in 1853. He did a success- ful business in the drug line for some time, also practic- iag his profession. He then sold his drug store, locating afterwards in Massillon, Ohio, for four years, coming to Hamilton in September, 1877, and at once beginning practice, which is now extensive.
The doctor was married December 22, 1858, to Miss Marianne Parker, ef New Hampshire, and has had two sons, Daniel and Harry G., who are living with their father. Mrs. Cass died December 10, 1872. He was again married on the 27th of September, 1876, at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, Massilon, Ohio, to Miss Florence A. Bucher. They were the parents of one daughter, Florence B., who was born April 19, 1878. Mrs. Cass died April 24, 1878. He adheres to the Episcopal Church, and has been active in its behalf. He has belonged to the Masonic order for some twenty- three years, and is a member of the city board of health.
James E. Neal, ex-speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, was born in Hamilton, November 21, 1846. He is the son of JJames A. Neal and M. Giffen.
He attended the common schools of Hamilton, and after- ward enjoyed a collegiate education. He read law with Robert Christy, in this city, and was adinitted to the bar in 1868, inmediately beginning practice. As a lawyer, his success has been great. He is now one of the attor- neys for the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad. Soon after being admitted to the bar, he was chosen by the Democracy of this district as their candidate for the Legislature, and was triumphantly elected, serving two years as a member on the floor and two years as speaker, ending his term in 1870. He was the youngest speaker the House ever had, and proved an adept in parlia- mentary rules and usages. He has been lieutenant- colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Ohio National Guard. He has achieved an enviable reputation as a lawyer, legislator, and public man. He was married on the 5th of June, 1882, to Miss May B. Mckinney, of Hamilton.
Michael C. Ryan was born in Lancaster, Pennsylva- nia, of which place his mother and father were natives, in 1820, and removed to this State in 1832. He soon began his preparatory studies for Miami University, and was admitted to that school in 1835, graduating with the highest honors in 1839. During the last year of his stay in college, he, with seven others, founded the Beta Theta Pi, a Greek letter society of national reputation. He was admitted to the bar soon after leaving the ava- demic shades of Oxford. and became the partner of his brother-in-law, John B. Weller, who then was one of the most important men in the county. From 1848 to 1852 he was prosecuting attorney, and from 1852 to 1858 was clerk of the courts. In 1856 he was a dele- gate from the State of Ohio to the Democratic National Convention which met in Cincinnati that year, and which nominated James Buchanan. He was clerk of the fund commissioners of this county to distribute the sur- plus revenue of the United States among the various States. In November, 1847, in conjunction with O. S. Witherby, he purchased the Hamilton Telegraph, and in October, 1849, became its editor. Mr. Ryan was a Mason, having taken the degrees of knighthood, and for one term presided in the chapter. At the outbreak of the civil war he took a strong stand for the government, and was made colonel of the Fiftieth Ohio, but his death, which followed soon after, prevented him from taking any active part in the field. That occurred on the 23d of October, 1861. He was a great lover of books, and gathered a large and valuable library. He was married in 1845 to Emily Lefflar, and had three children. So- phia is now dead, Emma is Mrs. Samuel L'Hommedicu, and William is the only son. He was married in Decem- ber, 1860, to a daughter of Dr. Hale, of St. Louis. The father of Colonel Ryan, Isaac Ryan, was born in Peau- sylvania, and was a merchant; he married Sophia Davis, the granddaughter of a Swiss poble. Mrs. Emily Ryan was the only child of William and Margaret LetHar, also of Pennsylvania.
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John E. Slayback was born in Butler County Febru- ary 16, 1848, and is the son of William and Sarah A. Slayback. He attended the public schools, afterwards taking both the scientific and classical courses at the National Normal University, at Lebanon, Ohio. He spent one year in the Michigan University Law School, and one in the Cincinnati Law School. He taught school for six years, and located in Hamilton July 1, 1879, be- ginning the practice of the law. He is a Republican politically. He was married February 16, 1881, to Miss Irene A. Dodds, at Mason, Warren County. She is the daughter of John A. Dodds, a member of the Ohio Legis- lature in 1849, 1850, and 1851.
Among those whose deaths were most deeply regretted in Hamilton was Mrs. Eleanor A. Smith, the widow of Charles K. Smith. She was a daughter of the Rev. James McMechan, of Newry, County Down, Ireland, who had been regularly educated for the Presbyterian ministry at Glasgow, Scotland. Although possessed of ability as a preacher, he did not follow that calling alone, but was for many years a teacher. In April, 1800, he married Miss Margery Hudson, of Dublin, the daughter of a Quaker family, of whom a full account is given else- where. They lived happily together for nearly twenty years, and had six children, of whom Mrs. Smith was the eldest. They are now all dead.
Before Mr. McMechan came to this country, three brothers had settled in the Seven-Mile Valley in this county, where they left numerous and respectable de- scendants. He was solicited by thein to come here, and sailed from Ireland in the Summer of 1817. The voy- age was tedious, and lasted more than three months, but their journey was not yet ended. The Alleghanies were to be crossed, and a boat was to be taken down the Ohio River. This required six weeks longer. In the Spring of 1818 the family settled in Hamilton. The father, one of his sons, and Eleanor, at once began teaching, the latter on the north-east corner of Third aud Buckeye Streets. The building was on the lot adjoining that now occupied by Lane Library, and the well from which her pupils drank is still standing ou the library lot. But Mr. McMechan soon sickened and died, and was followed by his son William, a youth of great promise.
" Miss Ellen," as she was then known, assumed the responsibilities of the school, although she was but sev- entcon years of age, having been born on the 24th of June, 1801. She was the first female who ever taught in Hamilton. She proved herself equal to the situation, and the best families of the town sent their children to her to receive instruction. Among them were the names of Reily, Sutherland, Blair (two families), Millikin (three families), Wilson (three families), Hough, Greer, Davis, Kennedy, Caldwell, Murray, Monfort, Boal, Woode, Falconer, Dickey, and Cummins. After a year's resi- dence at the location named, she removed to Ludlow Street, where hier school was continued for seven years.
She was married on the 21st of November, 1827, to Charles K. Smith, then a young and rising man in the town, and destined ultimately to become a man of great distinction. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. Francis Monfort. There were nine children born of this union, of whom six survive, and except one son, are residents of this city. Her children were all carefully instructed by her, as she never considered that the knowl- edge derived at the schools could supersede the necessity of training on her part. Her own education had been far beyond the common, and she was well fitted for the task. She had been thoroughly grounded in the Scriptures in her youth, and always retained the sound and broad basis of religion then acquired. Not long after her marriage she united with the Associate Reformed Church, of which Dr. MacDill was pastor. To that organization she adhered until 1873, when she withdrew and became a member of the Episcopal Church. Her death occurred March 6, 1879, of chronic bronchitis. Mrs. Smith was a woman of great originality and decision of character, with manners refined and dignified, and was justly regarded as one of the most accomplished women of her day.
Ezra Potter, real estate agent, was born near Tren- ton, Butler County, December 10, 1810. He is the son of Samuel Maxwell and Elizabeth Coddington Potter. Samuel Maxwell Potter was born in New Jersey, in 1779, where his family had been for a long time settled. His great grandfather, Daniel Potter, purchased a tract of land one mile square, and moved up from Connecticut Farms and built a residence upon it. The town of Sumn- mit is now built on this land, in what was then Essex, but now Union County, a county since formed by de- tached portions of Essex and Somerset, with Elizabeth for its county-seat. Summit is a beautiful suburban town, twenty-two miles from New York, on the Dela- ware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. When he was about eight years of age, his father, Russel Potter, and family, left New Jersey and settled near Morgantown, Virginia. Maxwell remained with his father until he was about twenty-two years of age, when he married Elizabeth Coddingten, of Alleghany County, Maryland. He then left for the West, coming to Ohio in 1803, and purchased a tract of land now known as the Henry Sol- lers farm in Madison Township. There was a log-eatin upon this land, aud two or three acres partially cleared when he purchased it.
He was followed by his father and mother, Russel and Rhoda Potter (his mother was before marriage Rhoda Maxwell, of New Jersey), and their other sou, Levi, in 1805. They purchased a traet of land adjoin- ing the one above described (now known as the Edward Cornthwait farm), which became the farm of Levi, and on which they all lived together and where five of the two families died. Russel and Rhoda Potter, the parents. both died in February, 1814, with cold plague, and Levi and his wife Chloe, and their eldest daughter, Rachel,
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all died during the Winter of 1830, with typhoid fever. Russel Potter, of Hamilton, and Mrs. Charlotte Baird, of Trenton, are the only surviving members of the ehil- dreu of Levi and Chloe Potter, five of whom are dead.
Maxwell was twice married. He reared a family of eight children, seven of whom were by the first mar- riage and one by the second. His first wife, Elizabeth Coddington, died in 1819. His second wife was a widow, Sally G. Squier, her maiden name being Saily Gard. She was a native of New Jersey, and a highly esteemed woman. She died in 1852. Of the eight ehildren three only survive: William, a resident of Wayne County, In- diana; Mrs. E. Hartley, of Franklin, Warren County, Ohio, and Ezra, of Hamilton. Benjamin Potter, de- ceased, late of Middletown, Ohio, was the eldest of his children. The other daughters, after marriage, were Mrs. Hannah Emans, Mrs. Rhoda Morehouse, Mrs. Mary Lucas, and Mrs. Sarah A. Martin, who was the first wife of John L. Martin, now of Hamilton. Samuel Maxwell Potter died in March, 1842, at the age of sixty- three years. He was an earnest Christian, and an active member of the Baptist Church at Trenton, from the time he came to Ohio until the elose of his life. His bearing was such that his influenee for many years was felt in sustaining a good moral standing in the neighborhood where he lived.
Ezra Potter was born on the farm which his father purchased when he first came to Ohio. At that time there was so little land cleared and in a condition to cal- tivate, that it required the constant labor of father and sons to provide a living for the family. His opportuni- ties of acquiring an education were, therefore, very lim- ited. He remained on the farm with his father until he was twenty-three years of age, execpt that in the year 1830, he and two other young men formed a partner- ship and purchased a canal-boat which they run from Amanda to Cincinnati. It was generally freighted with whisky and flour on the down trip. The tow-path of the . anal at that time would compare favorably with the swamps of Darke County. In 1834 he entered into the employment of a store-keeper in Trenton, receiving six dollars a month. At the end of ten or twelve months he purchased the stock of goods from his employer on a long eredit, not having at the time fifty dollars in eash, but by good fortune and close attention to business, sue- ceeded in paying for it, and at the end of four years sold out completely and found he had gained a handsome little sum to commence business with again.
He was twiee married, first in 1835, to Mary L. Gard, daughter of the Rev. Stephen Gard, of Trenton. In February, 1841, he moved to Hamilton with his family, then a wife and two children and a nephew, E. P. Emana, whom he reared from a small boy until he wie twenty-three years of age, and commenced a grocery business in a one-story frame building on the north-west corner of High and Third Streets, where J. W. Fye's
grocery now is, and occupied as a dwelling the adjoining building, where Albert Kennedy lives. His term of busi- ness there was short. In a few weeks his family were all sick, and continued so with but little abatement for several months. In August, 1841, his wife died, after which he had a long continued illness at his father's house in Trenton, during which time he sold his Hamil- ton groeery and remained with his father's family. In 1844, he was married to Catherine Miller, daughter of Ellis Miller, who was also one of the pioneers of Butler County. He then returned to Hamilton and resumed mereantile business in the room now occupied by the Hughes Brothers.
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