A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth, Part 38

Author: Evans, Nelson Wiley, 1842-1913; Stivers, Emmons Buchanan
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: West Union, O., E.B. Stivers
Number of Pages: 1101

USA > Ohio > Adams County > A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth > Part 38

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On February 23, 1843, he married Cornelia Robinson, daughter of Joshua Robinson, then and for many years afterward one of the foremost citizens of Portsmouth. During the time of Mr. Robinson's activities in business in Portsmouth, nothing in the way of public en- terprise went on unless he was engaged in it. Naturally, such a father- in-law was a great aid to a young lawyer, but Mr. Hutchins would have succeeded without such aid. In his political views, at the time he located in Portsmouth, he was a Whig. He became a member of the lower house of the legislature in 1852 and 1853 as such. When the Whig party dissolved, he became a Democrat, which he remained during his life. In 1862, he was a candidate for congress on the plat- form, "a more vigorous prosecution of the war," being endorsed by the Democratic party. He was elected on his platform, defeating Hon. H. S. Bundy, but again in 1864, he and Bundy made the race, and the latter was victorious. While Mr. Hutchins was a great success as a law- yer he was not a success as a politician, and his party was very much worried at its failure to make him over into one. He could never make up his mind that he must be bound by a party caucus. He had the old- fashioned idea that he must use his own judgment, and be controlled by his own conclusions of right and wrong, and he was so constituted

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that he could not do otherwise. In congress, he voted for the aboli- tion of slavery in the District of Columbia, and he alone of his own party voted for the thirteenth amendment to the federal constitution. Whenever an opporunity offered, his old-fashioned anti-slavery aboli- tionist ideas would come to the front. In 1867, he and one other of his party were the only ones in Scioto County who voted in favor of the amendment to the state constitution granting negro suffrage. But Mr. Hutchins was old-fashioned in many things. Under the old constitution, he traveled over the circuit and practiced law, and he kept up the custom under the new constitution. He believed that there was such a thing as justice and that it was administered in the courts. He believed that a judge should not be approached about a matter in his court unless he was on the bench and in the presence of opposing counsel. There is no word in the English language, outside of slang, which will express the qualities he displayed in the trial of a case. The sporting man would have said he was the "gamest" man he had ever seen. Whatever may have been his inward feelings while engaged in a trial, he never expressed or betrayed the slightest surprise in its conduct, no matter what occurred. If his client broke down, if a wit- ness disappointed him, if the court ruled against him, or a jury verdict was unexpected, he never gave a sign of emotion or disappointment any more than an Indian would. If he had a case he expected to win, but lost it, to the public, he accepted the result as expected. He was calm and collected under all circumtances, and never lost his equipoise. If Gabriel had blown his trumpet at any time, no matter when, Mr. Hutchins would have lined up and said he was ready and he would have been ready. His reputation as a lawyer was coextensive with the state, and he was employed in many important cases. His cases for the Furnaces against the old Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad were car- ried on for twenty-one years and resulted in a victory for his clients. It is said the fees in this case were $65,000, but the amounts involved were large and covered freight overcharges for many years. No one thought he would ultimately be successful, but he believed in the causes and succeeded. In the Scioto Valley Railroad case, he took the claim of C. P. Huntington for $750,000, when it was worthless, and he main- tained a contest on it until it was paid in full with interest, dollar for dollar. For thirty years prior to his death, he was considered one of the ablest lawyers in Ohio, and his assistance was sought in weighty and great causes.

In his arguments to the court, he always spoke clearly and with great deliberation. In no part of the conduct of a case was he ever in a hurry or ever perturbed. If he believed in his case, he usually carried the court or jury with him from the outset. If he did not be- lieve in his case, he aimed to take up and impress on the court or jury, the one or two controlling principles, and let the others go. In this, he was very successful. His arguments were all well arranged, logical, forceful, clear, to the chief points, and brief.

In the case of Oliver Applegate v. W. Kinney & Co., involving some $200,000, and where it was sought to hold the defendants as quasi partners, he represented, with numerous counsel, the plaintiff, and Col. O. F. Moore, with numerous counsel, rerpesented the de-

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fendants. Col. Moore spoke three days. Mr. Hutchins closed for the plaintiff in one hour and carried the jury with him from the opening of the speech. While other lawyers had to work out by hard study the principles governing a case, they came to Mr. Hutchins by instinct. He could look into a case and almost immediately say what principles would determine it.

Mr. Hutchins was a high-toned old-fashioned gentleman. He was always tastefully and neatly dressed. He always paid the highest price for his clothing and had the best. He always preferred walking to riding in a carriage, and when past seventy, he walked with the spring- ing step of a young man. Though he aged in years, he did not in ap- pearance, or in manners. He always laughed at the idea of being called old.

Mr. Hutchins' motto must have been nil desperandum for he was always cheerful, always hopeful and always encouraging those about him. For the last thirty years of his life, he traveled much of the time. He always paid for the best accommodations on the train, always stop- ped at the highest priced hotels, and always took the best rooms. When- ever he waslikely to arrive home late at night, he would wire the fact and have a full meal ready for him on arrival. He uniformly preferred to sleep on a full stomach, and said that was the way animals do and thought that was best for mankind. A number of times in his history, he wasvery sick and hislife despaired of, but he never despaired, and surprised his friends and physicians by recovering. He may be said to have died in harness. While in the latter years of his life, he only took employment in important cases, he worked hard until stricken with his last sickness. In the earlier part of that, before the disease assumed a fatal turn, he was anxious to get out and go to work in the preparation of arguments for the Supreme Court, but when his disease took a fatal turn, and the fact was announced to him, he was not taken by surprise. He did not repine and grieve, and made no attempt to transact or close any business, but met the inevitable with the utmost calmness and composure. He died on the twenty-second of January, 1895, with a disease of the kidneys. He was the best illustration of a self-contained, self-composed man ever known to the writer He passed away in perfect peace, just as though he had been ready for the event all his life. To those, who knew him, he was the most perfect type of the true philosopher of modern times. He did not concern himself why he came into the world or about his going out. He did not con- cern himself what happened to him, good or bad, but simply undertook to make the best of every situation when it presented itself and as it presented itself.

The readers of this history would be happier and get more enjoy- ment out of this life if they adopted his philosophy.

Hezekiah Sanford Bundy

was born August 15, 1817, in Marietta, Ohio. His father was Nathan Bundy, a native of Hartford, Conn. His mother was Ada M. Nich- olson, of Dutchess County, New York, where they were married. In 1816 they removed to Marietta, Ohio. Two years later, Mr. Bundy's father settled near Athens where he leased college land and cleared and

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improved it. His title, however, proved invalid. He was killed in 1832 by the falling of a tree. In 1880, his wife died at the age of eighty-one years. Of their three children, our subject is the only one who reached maturity. In 1834 he located in McArthur and in 1837 went to Wilkes- ville, where he married Lucinda, daughter of Zimri Wells. In 1839, he moved back to McArthur, where his wife died in December, 1842, leaving three children, William Sanford, Sarah A., wife of Major B. F. Stearns, of Washington, D. C., and Lucy, now Mrs. J. C. H. Cobb, of Jackson County.

From 1839 to 1846, Mr. Bundy was engaged in merchandising in McArthur. Ohio. In 1844, he married Caroline, daughter of Judge Paine, of Jackson County, and in 1846, moved to the old home of his father- in-law, which he afterward purchased and where he continued to re- side until his death. His second wife died in 1868, leaving two daughters, Julia P., now the wife of U. S. Senator Joseph B. Foraker, of Ohio, and Eliza M., wife of Harvey Wells, the founder of Wellston. Mr. Bundy was again married in 1876 to Mary. M. Miller, who survives and still occupies the old home.

In his early life, he attended for a short time a private school under the charge of David Pratt, of Athens, but his schooling ceased when he was fourteen years of age. In 1846, he commenced the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1850. In the fall of 1848, he was elected to the legislature from Jackson and Gallia counties and voted to re- peal the black laws. In 1850, he was elected to represent Jackson, Athens, Gallia and Meigs counties in the house. In 1855, he was elected to the state senate to represent the present seventh senatorial district. In 1860, he was a presidential elector from his congressional district and cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln. In 1862, he was the Republican candidate for congress from the eleventh district of Ohio, but was defeated by the Hon. Wells A. Hutchins by 1900 votes. Two years later, he was again a candidate against Mr. Hutchins and de- feated him by 4,000 majority, and was elected to the thirty-ninth con- gress. In 1872, he was a candidate for the forty-third congress in the same district and defeated Samuel A. Nash by a large majority. In 1874, he was again a candidate, but was defeated by Hon. John L. Vance, of Gallipolis. In 1893, he was a candidate for congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Gen. Wm. H. Enochs, and was elected. Upon Mr. Bundy's retirement in March, 1895, he was ten- dered a banquet and reception at Jackson, Ohio, which was attended by Gov. Mckinley, and state officers. Senator Foraker, Ex-Governor Foster, General Keifer, General Grosvenor, and many others of Na- tional prominence; and to Mr. Bundy upon that occasion was given one of the grandest tributes ever witnessed in Ohio. He represented Adams County in the state senate and in his first and third terms in congress.

In 1843, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was one of the two first lay delegates from Ohio to the General Conference. In 1848, he bought the farm where he died and since then was largely engaged in the iron and coal interests in Jackson County, Ohio, and owned Latrobe and Keystone Furnaces. He also at one time owned the Eliza Furnace.

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His son, William S. Bundy, served in the 18th O. V. I. during the first three months of the Civil War. He then enlisted in Co. G. of the 7th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, September 20, 1862. He was severely wounded December 14, 1863, at Bean's Station in Tennessee. In Jan- uary, 1864, he was sent home on account of his disability and on March 22, 1864, discharged for the same reason. After his return from the army he married Kate Thompson, and had one child, the present Wil- liam E. Bundy, United States attorney for the southern district of Ohio. He died from the results of his wounds January 27, 1867, and his wife was killed in December, 1868, by being thrown from a horse.

Hezekiah S. Bundy was always remarkably popular among the furnace men of his own county. They were for Bundy for congress at any time and at all times. He was an excellent campaigner. While he was not trained and never sought to train himself in the arts of oratory, yet he was an entertaining and effective public speaker. The people came to hear him and were always pleased and instructed. Mr. Bundy was well informed in every detail of public affairs, and had a good memory. He had a most remarkable treasure of illustrative anec- dotes from which he could draw at any time. His reminiscences were always delightful. He thoroughly understood human nature, and al- ways kept in close touch with the common people. On the floor of the house, or in committee, he was familiar with the public business, and always performed his duties creditably to himself and acceptably to his constituents. On all public questions in congress while he was a member, he was usually in advance of the march of public senti- ment,-especially was this true of reconstruction measures. As a busi- ness man, he did much to develop the iron and coal industries in the region where he lived. He enjoyed to a remarkable extent the confidence and esteem of all who knew him and was universally mourned when he died at his home in Wellston, Ohio, December 12, 1895.

John T. Wilson.

'The words of Miss Edna Dean Proctor's poem are ringing in my ears. She inquires if the heroes are all dead; if they only lived in the times of Homer and if none of the race survive in these times? The re- frain of the poem is; "Mother Earth, are the heroes dead?" And then she proceeds to answer it in her own way, and she answers it thus :

"Gone ? In a grander form they rise. Dead ? We may clasp their hands in ours." * *

" Whenever a noble deed is done 'Tis the pulse of a hero's heart is stirred."

Then comparing our modern heroes with those of Homeric days, Jason, Orpheus, Hercules, Priam, Achilles, Hector, Theseus and Nestor, she continues :

"Their armor rings on a fairer field Than the Greek and the Trojan fiercely trod : For freedom's sword is the blade they wield, And the light above is the smile of God."

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HON. JOHN T. WILSON PATRIOT AND PHILANTHROPIST

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We have heroes in these, our days, who will compare more than favorably with those of the Homeric, or any subsequent times ; but hav- ing known them as neighbors and friends, and having associated with them from day to day, we do not appreciate them till death has sealed their characters, and then as we study them it begins to dawn on us that they have done things to be canonized as heroes.

Till since his death, we believe the public has not fully appreciated the character of the Hon. John T. Wilson, a former congressman of the tenth (Ohio) district, though it is his record as a patriot, and not as a con- gressman, we propose especially to discuss.

He was a hero of native growth. He was born April 16, 1811, in Highland County, Ohio, and lived the most of his life and died within ten miles of his birthplace. His span of life extended until the sixth of October, 1891, eighty-five years, five months and twenty days, and in that time, his manner of life was known to his neighbors like an open book.

In that time, living as a country store keeper and a farmer, and re- sisting all temptation to be swallowed up in city life, if such temptation ever came to him, he accumulated a fortune of about half a million of dollars, which, before and at his death, was devoted principally to char- itable uses.

To attempt to sum up his life in the fewest words, it consisted in try- ing to do the duty nearest him. He was never a resident of a city, ex- cept when attending to public official duties, and to expect a hero to come from the remote country region about Tranquility in Adams County, Ohio, was as preposterous as looking for a prophet from the region of Nazareth in the year one; yet the unexpected happened in this instance.

Till the age of fifty, he had been a quiet unobtrusive citizen of his remote country home, seeking only to follow his vocation as a country merchant and to do his duty as a citizen; but it was when the war broke out that the soul which was in him was disclosed to the world. He showed himself an ardent patriot. When government bonds were first offered, there were great doubts as to whether the war would be suc- cessful, and whether the government would ever pay them.

No doubt occurred to Mr. Wilson. He invested every dollar he had in them, and advised his neighbors to do the same. He said if the country went down, his property would go with it, and he did not care to survive it; and if the war was successful, the bonds would be all right. As fast as he had any money to spare, he continued to invest it in govern- ment securities. In the summer of 1861, he heard that Capt. E. M. DeBruin, now of Hillsboro, Ohio, was organizing a company for the Thirty-third Ohio Infantry Regiment, and he went over to Winchester and arranged with the Rev. I. H. DeBruin, now of Hillsboro, Ohio, that his only son and child, Spencer H. Wilson, then nineteen years of age, should enlist in the company, which he did, and was made its first sergeant, and died in the service at Louisville, Ky., March 4, 1862.

In the summer of 1861, Mr. Wilson determined that Adams County should raise a regiment for the service. He did not want to undertake it himself, but he believed that Col. Cockerill, of West Union, Ohio, would lead the movement ; it could be done and he sent Dr. John Camp- bell, now of Delhi, Ohio, to secure the co-operation of Col. Cockerill.

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That was not difficult to do, as Col. Cockerill felt about it as Mr. Wilson. It was determined to ask Brown County to co-operate, and Col. D. W. C. Loudon, of Brown, was taken into the plan, and the Seventieth Ohio Infantry was organized in the fall of 1861. Mr. Wilson undertook to raise a company for the regiment and did so, and it was mustered in as Company E.

The captain, the Hon. John T. Wilson, was then fifty years of age, and he had in the company three privates, each of the same age, and one of the age of fifty-five, so that the ages of five members of that company aggregated 225 years. Hugh J. McSurely was the private who was past fifty-five years of age when he enlisted in Capt. Wilson's Company. He is the father of the Rev. Wm. J. McSurely, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Hillsboro, Ohio, and has a separate sketch herein.

Capt. Wilson's company was much like Cromwell's troop of Iron- sides. It was made up of staid old Scotch and Scotch-Irish Presby- terians, who went in from a sense of duty. Col. Loudon, of the Seventieth O. V. I. says that Capt. Wilson did more to raise and organize the Seven- tieth Ohio Infantry than anyone else. At the time he went into the ser- vice, he was physically unfit, and could not have passed medical exami- nation as an enlisted man. He had an injury to his leg, from the kick of a horse years before, that greatly disabled him, but he wanted to go and felt he owed it to his friends and his country to go. He would not consider his own physical unfitness.

He led his company into the sanguinary battle of Shiloh. His per- sonal coolness and self-possession inspired his company, and he held it together during the entire two days' battle.

During the march to Corinth, after Shiloh, he was taken down with the fever, and by order of the surgeon was sent north. At Ripley, Ohio, he was taken much worse, and lay there for weeks, delirious and uncon- scious, hovering between life and death. Owing to the most careful nursing. he recovered. He was not able to rejoin his regiment until September, 1862, at Memphis, Tenn.

Col. Cockerill was then in command of the brigade, and made him brigade quartermaster, so he would not have to walk ; but it was apparent that he was unfit for service; and was imperiling his life for naught. Col. Cockerill and Lieut. Col. Loudon both told him he could serve his country better at home than in the army, and insisted on his resigning and going home. He resigned November 27, 1862. Col. Loudon says his record was without a stain, and none were more loyal than he.

Capt. Wilson was married in 1841 to Miss Hadassah G. Drysden. There was one son of this marriage, Spencer H. Wilson, born September 13, 1842, and whom he gave to his country, as before stated. Capt. Wilson's wife died March 23, 1849, and he never remarried.

Captain Wilson not only invested his fortune in the war securities and sent his only son and child to the war, but went himself, and served as long as he could. Could any one have done more?

In the summer of 1863, he was nominated by the Republicans of the seventh senatorial district of Ohio, to the state senate without being a candidate, and without his knowledge or consent he was elected. In 1865 he was renominated and re-elected to the same office, and served

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his constituency with great credit and satisfaction. In 1866, he was nominated by the Republicans of the Eleventh Ohio District for a mem- ber of congress, and was renominated and re-elected in 1868 and in 1870; though just before his congressional service, and just after it, the district was carried by the democracy.

When Mr. Wilson was first nominated for congress, it was not sup- posed that he was a speaker, or that he could canvass the district, but he made appointments for speaking all over the dictrict, and filled them to the satisfaction of every one. He made a most effective speaker, and moreover, the farmers all over the district believed what he said, and were justified in doing it. He was never present at a convention which nominated or renominated him for office, and never in the slightest way solicited a nomination or renomination.

He was the most satisfactory congressman ever sent from his dis- trict. Every constituent who ever wrote him, got an answer in Mr. Wilson's own handwriting, which was as uniform and as plain as cop- perplate. The letter told the constituent just what he wanted to know, and was a model of perspicuity and brevity. Those letters are now pre- cious relics to anyone who has one of them, and they are models of what letters should be.

If a constituent wrote for an office, he was sure to get an answer which would tell him whether he could get an office or not, and if Mr. Wilson told him he could get an office, and that he would assist him, he was sure of it. Mr. Wilson had the confidence of the President and of all the appointing officers, and if he asked for an office inside of the dis- trict, he usually obtained it, because he made it a rule never to ask for an office unless he thought he was entitled to it, and that it would be grant- ed him.

Mr. Wilson retired from congress at the end of his third term with the good will of his entire district, and with the feeling that he had served to their entire satisfaction.

On March 6, 1882, he gave Adams County, Ohio, $46,667.03 towards the erection of a Children's Home. The gift was really $50,000, but was subject to certain reductions, which netted it at the sum first named. As the county built the Home, he issued his own checks in pay- ment for it, until the entire gift was made. That Home is now one of the L'est and finest built institutions of the kind in this state. By his last will and testament, he gave to the Children's Home an endowment of $35,000 and $15,000 in farming lands. He also gave $5,000 towards the erection of a soldier's monument to the memory of the Adams County soldiers who had died or been killed during the Civil War. This momument has been erected in the grounds of the Wilson Children's Home, and occupies a site overlooking the surrounding country.

Mr. Wilson made many private bequests in his will, which it is not within the scope of this article to mention; but to show his kindly dis- position we mention that he gave $1,000 to a church in which he was reared and held his membership, and $1,000 to the church at Tranquility, where he resided. His housekeeper, a faithful woman, he made inde- pendent for life. As a residuary bequest, he gave to the commissioners of Adams County, $150,000 to be expended in the support of the worthy poor.

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It is to the interest of the state that every citizen should be law abid- ing; that he shall faithfully follow some occupation and support him- self and those dependent upon him; that he shall accumulate and hold property to guarantee his own independence and that of his family, and that he shall be able to contribute to the needs of the state.

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A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth, Part 38

Author: Evans, Nelson Wiley, 1842-1913; Stivers, Emmons Buchanan Publication date: 1900 Publisher: West Union, O., E.B. Stivers Number of Pages: 1101

Author: Evans, Nelson Wiley, 1842-1913; Stivers, Emmons Buchanan
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: West Union, O., E.B. Stivers
Number of Pages: 1101