USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 1 > Part 13
USA > Ohio > Allen County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 1 > Part 13
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tendered him by each of the political par- ties. In January, 1860, when the Union was threatened by the leaders of the Rebellion, the legislatures of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee visited Cincinnati to encourage each other to stand by the old flag. At a grand reception given them at Pike's opera house, Mayor Bishop delivered an address of welcome amid a storm of applause. In the September ensuing his Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, visited Cincinnati at the in- vitation of the mayor and received from him a cordial welcome. In February, 1861, when President Lincoln was passing on his way to his inauguration through Cincinnati, he was received in a speech by the mayor. During his administration the laws were rigidly en- forced, of which the Sunday ordinance, and those against gambling houses, were notable examples. Liquor selling and various other forms of Sabbath desecration were in the main suppressed. He inaugurated, amid much op- position, most important reforms in the man- agement of the city prison, work-house and the police.
Mr. Bishop has become widely known for his liberality and devotion to the Christian church. From 1859 to 1867 he was president of the Ohio State Missionary society, and was the successor of the late Dr. Alexander Camp- bell in the presidency of the general Christian Missionary conference, which office he held until 1875. He was president of the board of curators of Kentucky university from its or- ganization until 1880, when he declined a re- election; he was also one of the curators of Bethany college; also for many years trustee of the McMicken university. He was director of the First National bank for many years, and of several other business enterprises, as well as philanthropic institutions. He was a member of the Ohio state constitutional con- vention hield in 1873 and 1874, and was presi-
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dent of the great national commercial conven- tion held in Baltimore in 1871. He was one of the prime movers in that great enterprise, the Southern railway, the building of which he so successfully managed, having been a trustee from the beginning, and the laborious work of obtaining chiarters for the road is largely his.
In 1877 he was elected governor of Ohio by a majority of nearly 23,000 over the domi- nant party, and served two years with entire satisfaction to all parties. His first annual message was well received and complimented by the press generally. Upon his return to Cincinnati he was given a cordial and enthu- siastic reception at Lytle hall, where a large number of ladies and gentlemen had assembled to welcome him home. Since the expiration of his terin as governor he has been urged by his friends to accept the nomination for various important offices, but always declined.
Few men in the state can point to so many substantial benefits conferred upon society as the results of their single labors. Prompt de- cision, constant industry, sound judgment, and a desire to benefit his fellow-men, are his chief characteristics.
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HARLES FOSTER, twenty-seventh governor of Ohio elected by the peo- ple, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, April 12, 1828. His parents, Charles W. Foster and wife, the latter of whom was a daughter of John Crocker, were from Massa- chusetts, reaching Seneca county, Ohio, in 1827.
Charles Foster received only a common- school education, and went to Rome, now Fostoria, Ohio, when he was fourteen years old, where he was compelled to take charge of his father's store, and thus failed to secure a hberal education, which his father intended he
should receive, and for which he had prepared himself at the Norwalk seminary. His success in the management of the store was very marked, and he soon became sole manager. The town of Fostoria, named from the Foster family, was the result of the consolidation of Rome and Risdon, which lay but a mile or two apart. In 1870 Mr. Foster was induced to accept the nomination for congress at the hands of the republicans of his district, and he was elected by a majority of 776 over Hon. E. F. Dickinson. In 1872 he was again elected to congress by a inajority of 726 over Rush K. Sloane. In 1874 he was elected by a majority of 159 over Hon. George E. Seney, and in 1876 he was elected by a majority of 271. In 1878, the democratic party having secured a majority of the state legislature, in order to defeat Mr. Foster most outrageously gerry- inandered his district, and he was defeated by a majority of 1,255. In 1879 he was elected governor of Ohio over Hon. Thomas Ewing, by a plurality of 17, 129, and in ISSI he was again elected, by a plurality of 24,309, over John W. Buchwalter.
Upon the death of the secretary of the United States treasury, William Windom, Mr. Foster was appointed his successor by Presi- dent Harrison, February 27, 1891, and served until the close of the Harrison administration, March 4, 1893. The successful adjustment of the four and one-half per cent. loan was one of the notable events of his first year's admin- istration of the treasury department of the government. Of the $50, 869,200 of the four and one-half per cent. bonds, July 1. 1891. $25, 364, 500 were presented for continuance at two per cent., the rest being called in for re- demiption. No other financial officer of the general government has ever negotiated a public loan at so low rate of interest. Since retiring from the national treasury, M. Foster has been engaged in arranging his own financial
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affairs, which were thrown into confusion, while he was in public office by those whom he had trusted.
EORGE HOADLY, who was the twenty-eighth governor of Ohio, was born in New Haven, Conn., July 31, 1826. He is the only son of George and Mary Ann (Woolsey) Hoadly. Mary Ann Woolsey was a daughter of William Walton and Elizabeth (Dwight) Woolsey of New York, and she was a great-granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards, the famous New England theologian. She was a niece of President Dwight of Yale college, and the eldest daughter in a family containing among its members President Wool- sey of Yale college. Theodore Winthrop was her nephew and Sarah Woolsey, known in literature as "Susan Coolidge," her niece. George Hoadly, Sr., was at one time mayor of New Haven, Conn., removed in 1830 to Cleveland, Ohio, and resided there the re- mainder of his life, serving as mayor of that city five terins, from IS32 to 1837, and again one term, 1846-47.
George Hoadly, the subject of this sketch, received his preliminary education in Cleve- land, and when fourteen years old was sent to the Western Reserve college at Hudson, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1844. He then spent one year in the Harvard law school under the tuition of Judge Story and Prof. Simon Greenleaf, and after studied a year with Charles C ... Convers, of Zanesville, Ohio, then removed to Cincinnati and entered the office of Chase & Ball as a student. He was admitted to practice in 1847 and in 1849 be- came a member of the firm of Chase, Ball & Hoadly, the senior member of which was Sal- mon P. Chase. In 1851 he was elected judge of the supreme court of Cincinnati, and in 1853 formed a co-partnership with Edward Mills.
In 1855-56 he was city solicitor of Cincinnati, and in 1859 succeeded Judge W. Y. Gholson as judge of the new superior court, holding this office uutil 1866, when he resigned, in order to form the firm of Hoadly, Jackson & Johnson. He was a member of the constitu- tional convention of 1873-74, and served as chairman of the committee on municipal cor- porations. For eighteen years he was profes- sor in the law school at Cincinnati, trustee of the university, and of the Cincinnati mu- seum. He was one of the counsel in behalf of the board of education in its famous case of resistance to the attempt to compel Bible reading in the public schools, in which the victory was with the board.
Originally a democrat, he left that party and became a republican on the question of slavery, but during the campaign of 1876 sup- ported Tilden as against Hayes. In 1877 he appeared as counsel before the electoral com- mission and argued in favor of the democratic electors from Florida and Oregon. In isso he was temporary chairman of the democratic national convention which nominated W. S. Hancock for president. In 1883 he was elected governor of Ohio, and in March. 1887, he removed to New York city, became the head of a law firm there, and has resided there ever since.
In 1851 he married Mary Burnet Perry, third daughter of Capt. Samuel Perry, one of the earliest settlers of Cincinnati. He and his wife have had three children, viz: George, Laura and Edward Mills.
J OSEPH BENSON FORAKER, ex-gov- ernor of Ohio and United States senator, elect, was born near Rainsborough. Highland county, Ohio, July 5, 1846 His parents, who are still living, represent the
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agricultural class of the population of this' country, and upon their farm he spent his ear- lier years.
When the war of the Rebellion broke out young Foraker enlisted in company A, Eighty- ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, being then but sixteen years of age. With this regi- ment he served until after the fall of Atlanta, at which time, by successive promotions, he had risen to the rank of first lieutenant. Im- mediately after the fall of Atlanta he was detailed for service in the signal corps as a sig- nal officer on the staff of Maj. - Gen. Slocumi, commanding the left wing of the army of Georgia. After the marches through Georgia and the Carolinas he was promoted brevet captain of United States volunteers, and as- signed to duty as aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Slocum, holding this position until he was mustered out of service at the close of the war.
Returning home and resuming his studies, he graduated from Cornell university, Ithaca, N. Y., in 1869. To gain time lost while in the service of his country in the army he read law while attending the university, and was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, October 14. 1869, and he at once began in that city the practice of his profession. He was married October 4, 1870, to Miss Bulia Bundy, a daugh- ter of Hon. H. S. Bundy, of Wellston, Ohio, and they have five children, two sons and three daughters.
In April, 1879, he was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati, Ohio, and held this position until May 1, 1882, when he re- signed on account of ill health. Recovering his health he resumed the practice of the law. in Cincinnati, and in 1883 was nominated for governor of Ohio, but was defeated by his op- ponent, Judge George Hoadly. In 1884 he was a delegate to the national convention of the republicans which met in Chicago, and as chairman of the Ohio llegation, placed Hon.
John Sherman in nomination before the con- vention for the presidency. In 1885 he was again a candidate for governor of Ohio, and this time was elected, defeating his former opponent, Judge Hoadly, and in 1887 he was re-elected governor of the state. In 1888 he was again a delegate to the republican national convention and was again chairman of the Ohio delegation, placing Hon. John Sherman again in nomination before the convention for the presidency of the United States. In 1889 he was again nominated for governor of Ohio. but through the persistent cry of "third term- ism " he was defeated by James E. Campbell.
In January, 1892, he was a candidate for United States senator, receiving thirty-eight votes, but was defeated by Senator John Sher- man. This year he was a delegate at large to the national republican convention, which met at Minneapolis, serving in that body as chair- man of the committee on resolutions. The state convention held at Zanesville, May es. 1895, unanimously endorsed him as the repub- lican candidate for United States senater to succeed Hon. Calvin S. Brice, whose term of office will expire March 4, 1897, and at the November clection, 1895. a republican legista- ture was chosen by a majority of nearly 100, - ooo, which was practically instructed by the people to elect Mr. Foraker to the position named above. In obedience to these instruc- tions the legislature of the state, on January 14, 1896, elected Mr. Foraker United States senator from Ohio, for six years from March 4. 1897, by a majority, on joint ballot, of eighty-five, the majority in the senate being twenty-three, and in the house of representit- tives being sixty-two, the entire legislative ma- jority being, as stated, eighty-five. Mr. For- aker is, therefore, the people's choice for this high position, in which it is confidently pre- dicted he will confer honor on his native stato, even as he has had honor conferred upor him.
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In his speech accepting the office Mr. Foraker used the following language:
"I go there (to the United States senate) as a republican. I belong to that party. I believe in that party. I believe in its past; I believe in its present; I believe in its future. I believe it the mnost acceptable agency we can command in the administration of national affairs. I believe it is better calculated thian any other political organization to contribute to the strength, power, dignity, happiness and glory of the American people." After speak- ing in favor of the American marine interests and of the construction of the Nicaragua ca- nal he then referred to financial questions as follows: "I believe in bi-metallism. I be- lieve the world made a mistake when it de- monetized silver. I sincerely hope some safe way may be found for the restoration of silver to its rightful place alongside of gold as .a money of ultimate redemption. I shall favor every measure calculated in my judgment to bring about that result, subject always, how- ever, to the condition that it provides for the maintenance of the parity of the two metals."
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J AMES EDWIN CAMPBELL, ex-gov- ernor of Ohio, was born in Middletown, Ohio, July 7, 1843. He is a son of Dr. Andrew and Laura P. (Reynolds) Campbell, the former of Scotch and the latter of English descent. John P. Reynolds, the father of Mrs. Laura P. Campbell, was at one time a publisher of the state of New York, but later a resident of Madison, Ohio. The Rey- nolds family came originally from Devonshire, England. Jonathan Reynolds emigrated from Plympton Earl, in that country, in 1645, to America, taking up his residence near Plymp- ton, in the colony of Massachusetts bay, and from Jonathan Reynolds Mr. Campbell is of the sixth generation. By another branch of 1
"his family on his mother's side he is a descend- ant of Jolin Parker, who commanded the American troops at the battle of Lexington, the first battle of the American Revolution. Both his grandfathers were in the war of 1812.
Upon reaching his maturity Mr. Campbell began reading law. In the summer of 1863 he became a master's mate on the gunboats Elk and Naiad, and took part in several engage- ments, but on account of ill health he was dis- charged at the end of one year's services. During the winter of 1864-65 he was a law student in the office of Doty & Gunckel at Middletown, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. Beginning practice in 1867, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Butler county in 1875 and again in 1877. In 18;9 he was defeated for the state senate by twelve votes. Up to 1872 he was a republican, but then voted for Greeley, and has since acted with the demo- crats. He was elected to the Forty-eighth. Forty-ninth and Fiftieth congresses, and in 1889 was elected governor of Ohio. In 1891 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by Maj. Mckinley. In 1895 he was the third time a candidate, but was defeated by the pres- ent incumbent of the office, Hon. Asa S. Bushnell, by a plurality of 92,622 votes.
On January 4, 1870, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Libbie Owens, a daughter of Job E. and Mary A. (Price) Owens, the former of whom was a native of Wales, and the latter of Welsh descent.
ON. WILLIAM MCKINLEY, who has recently retired from the governor- ship of Ohio, is one of the most dis. tinguished politicians of the state and nation. His ancestry lived in western Pen- sylvania, his father, Wilham Mckinley, who died recently at the age of eighty-five years. having been born on a farm in Pine township.
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Mercer county, that state-a farin which was recently and may be to-day in the possession of the Rose family, which is related to Mr. Mc- Kinley, and of which ex-mayor W. G. Rose of Cleveland, Ohio, is a member. William Mc- Kinley, Sr., was in the iron business all liis life, as was also his father before him.
Gov. William McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, January 29, 1843. He was educated in the common schools, in the academy at Poland, Ohio, and in the fall of 1860 he entered Allegheny college at Mead- ville, Pa., with the view of taking a full college course; but owing to sickness he was obliged to return home before the winter came on. During the winter of 1860-61 he tauglit a dis- trict school, and intended to return to Alle- gheny college, but in April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon by the rebels, and the spirit of patriotism in young McKinley's heart was so strong that he enlisted in, company E, Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private soldier, and in that company and regi- ment be marched and fought in the ranks for fourteen months. His regiment was with Rosecrans and Mcclellan in Virginia and West Virginia. . His first battle was that of Carnifax Ferry. After this he joined the army of the Potomac and fought with Mcclellan. Subsequently Private Mckinley was promoted, first to second lieutenant September 24. 1862; then to first lieutenant, February 7, 1863, and then to captain, July 25, 1864. Then he served on the staff of Gen. R. B. Hayes and was afterward detailed to act as assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Gen. George Crook. He was with Sheridan in the Shenan- doah valley, in the. battles of Winchester, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, Opequan, Kerns- town, Cloyd Mountain and Berryville. For teritorious conduct he was brevetted major by President Lincoln, and after Gen. Crook's capture, in Maryland, he served on the staff 1
of Major Gen. Hancock, and later ou that of Gen. S. S. Carroll, commander of the veteran reserve corps at Washington, D. C. He was present at the surrender of Gen. Lee, April 9, 1865, was with his regiment all through its campaigns and battles, and was mustered out of service July 26, 1865, having been in the army four years and one month.
Returning to Ohio Maj. Mckinley studied law with Hon. Charles S. Glidden and David Wilson of Mahoning county, and then at- tended the law school at Albany, N. Y. In 1867 he was admitted to the bar. and in May of that year located in Canton, Ohio, where he forined a law partnership with Judge Bel- den, practicing in that relationship for two years. In 1869 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Stark county, notwithstanding that county was democratic usually by a reliable majority, but in 1871 he was lefeated for 're- election by an adverse majority of forty-five. In 1876 hie ran for congress, and to the sur- prise of the older politicians was elected, and was then continuously in congress, from his district (notwithstanding several gerrymanders made for the sake of defeating him), for four- teen consecutive years, with the exception of a part of his fourth term, when he was unseated by a democratic majority in congress and his place given to his competitor. He was a candidate for re-election to congress in 1890, but on account of fictitious alarm awakened by his political enemies as to the effect, and the probable effect. of the " Mckinley tariff bill," which went into effect about October 1, 1890, a little more than one month before the election, he was defeated, the majority against him and in favor of his competitor, Lieut. Gov. Warwick, being 303 votes. The year before the counties com- posing this district, which had been most out- rageously gerrymandered for the sake of ac- complishing his defeat, gave a majority to James E. Campbell for governor of 2,900.
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But while this defeat retired him from con- gress it at the same time made him governor in 1891, when he was elected over his opponent by a plurality of 21,511. In 1893 he was again elected governor by the phenomenal plurality of 80,995, his opponent this time be- ing the Hon. Lawrence T. Neal.
In ISS4 Maj. Mckinley was a delegate at large to the republican national convention which nominated Hon. James G. Blaine. In 1888 he was again a delegate at large to the republican national convention, and this time was in favor of the Hon. John Sherman for the party's candidate, but the complications then were numerous and difficult of solution, because of Mr. Blaine's refusal to be again the nominee. Many thought the nomination of Maj. Mckinley would solve all problems and harinonize all factions, but in spite of all argu- ments and all persuasions he remained true to his state and to himself by steadfastly refusing to permit his name to be used as a presidential candidate. Again, in 1892, Maj. Mckinley was a delegate at large to the Minneapolis convention which renominated President Har- rison, and in this convention, in spite of all remonstrances that he could make, he re- ceived within a fraction of as many votes as were given to the idol of the republican party. James G. Blaine, the latter receiving 182 5-6 votes, while Mckinley received 182 1-6 votes. President Harrison was, however, renominated ofily to be defeated by the present incumbent of the presidential chair, Grover Cleveland.
In his political campaigns he has mani- fested brilliant qualities as an orator. It is probably true that more people have heard him discuss political questions than have ever listened to any other campaign speaker in the United States. Thousands of people assemble to hear him; he always commands the rapt attention of his hearers, and he frequently clicits at least hearty applause. One of his
most notable addresses was that delivered at the Atlanta Chautauqua in 1888, upon the in- vitation of the late Henry W. Grady, the sul ;- ject selected for discussion being protection to American industries. Although the weather was threatening in the morning, and notwith- standing that the people had to ride on the cars about thirty-five miles out from Atlanta to reach the Chautauqua, yet there were assem- bled about 4,000 Georgians; and despite the deprecatory manner in which the subject of protection was referred to by the introductory speaker, yet Maj. Mckinley completely carried the day with his audience, a fact which indi- cates that the people of that state are inter- ested in the subject.
His great tour in the fall of 1894 is prob- ably without a parallel in the history of the United States. Everywhere thousands greeted him. For more than eight weeks he averaged seven speeches a day, and it is estimated that during that time 2,000,000 people listened to him. It is altogether likely that the secret of his power over an audience lies in his sincerity, as he employs no adventitious methods and is not amusing, his simple and single aim being apparently to convince by argument fairly and squarely.
Gov. Mckinley was married January 25, 1871, to Miss Ida Saxton, daughter of James A. Saxton, of Canton, Ohio, who is an ac- complished lady, but through illness is coin- pelled to remain at home much of the tinie. When health will permit she accompanies her husband on his travels. They have had boru to them two children, both of whom died in infancy. In religion both Gov. McKinley and his wife are Methodists, as were his father and mother, and he has placed a memorial window to his father in the little Methodist church at Poland, Ohio. His grandfather, however, was a Presbyterian, and was a member of the Lis- bon Presbyterian church from 1822 3 1839.
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during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Vallandig- ham, father of Clement L. Vanlandigham. Gov. McKinley's father died recently at the age of eighty-five, but his mother is still living, aged eighty-seven years.
SA S. BUSHNELL, governor of Ohio at the present time, is, without doubt and without qualification, one of the ablest men in the state. In many respects his career has been an exceptional one. His education and training have been those of a practical man of affairs, and to-day, at the age of sixty-two, having been born at Rome, Oneida county, N. Y., in 1834, he is one of the most clear-headed business men in the country.
At the age of eleven he left his home in the Empire state to begin his career in the Buckeye state, reaching Cincinnati in 1845, where he spent six years in the public schools, paying his own expenses by working out of school hours and in vacation seasons. At the end of the six years spent in Cincinnati he re- moved, in 1851, to Springfield, Ohio, in which city he has since lived and in which city he has acquired a princely fortune. His first three years in the "Champion City " were spent as a dry-goods clerk, during which time he be- came a thoroughly practical book-keeper, and at their expiration he was given a position as book-keeper with the old and well-known water-wheel firin of Leffel, Cook & Blakeney, which was even then doing an extensive busi- ness. This position he retained until 1857. when he forned a partnership with Dr. John Ludlow in the drug business, a partnership which lasted ten years, or until 1867. The only break in the continuity of his labors here was while he was engaged as captain of coin- Pomy E, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1864, in the Shenandoah
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