USA > Ohio > Hardin County > A twentieth century history of Hardin County, Ohio : a narrative account of its historical progress its people and principal interests, Vol. I > Part 41
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
It, too, is "the great chamber of initiation."
The Civil war definitely settled that what the people want in the public press is the newest facts about the real things. The firing on Fort Sumter marked the birthday of the new era in newspaperdom, local as well as general. In Hardin county for instance, the people wanted the news from the battlefields and of loved ones, and they wanted the plain facts about the status of the government. Everywhere they wanted accurate news, not views of politicians. The press gave graphic accounts of events, the people did the rest. The editorial column of course is still a place for pungent eomment, distinctive opin- ions on debatable questions, special pleadings and advocacy; but the modern press is found giving over its news columns wholly to news- to live facts and reports in which the people have shown interest. In early days here as elsewhere it was expected of a newspaper that it should continually heap vituperation upon its competitors and that the quill should be dipped regularly in a handy pot of blue vitrol, but not so the modern prospering newspaper. There was another phase: In 1843 journalism was looked upon as an avocation, but now it is a voca- tion. It is a legitimate business. All these changes have been for the better; and as a result there has been evolved a great institution, as
392
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
"ondoyant et divers" as the personality of Michel de Montaigne, you may say-but it is an institution of the land; and one which as a whole makes for the common good.
At the same time that journalism became a business proposition it became a profession; and men while they are in the business to make a livelihood are at the same time generally endeavoring to maintain their papers in a high place of usefulness to their fellowmen. While there are some few papers published corruptly in every nation, the general American press, and especially the country press, is held true and close to the people; and it is not strange that statesmen recognize in it, "the regent of sovereigns and the tutor of nations."
CHAPTER VIII.
NOTABLE PEOPLE OF HARDIN COUNTY
NEHEMIAH GREEN-THOMAS CARNEY-WILLIAM E. STANLEY-SOL- OMON L. HOGE-LUTHER M. STRONG JOHN S. ROBINSON-DR. GUY P. BENTON-ALBERT E. SMITH-HENRY S. LEHR-DR. LEROY A. BELT- MRS. EFFIE S. BLACK-MRS. KATHERINE O. MCCOY-FRANK S. MONNETT -JACOB PARROTT-JOEL K. GOODIN-JAMES C. HOWE-DR. HENRY A. TOBEY-JOHN W. HILL.
NEHEMIAH GREEN. Born at Grassy Point, Hardin county, Ohio, March 8, 1837. Died at Manhattan, Kansas, January 12, 1890. Nehe- miah Green came to Kansas in March, 1855, a lad of eighteen, and with his two brothers, George S. and Louis Fisher Green, located in the new town of Palmyra, now Baldwin, Douglas county. In 1856 he returned to Ohio to enter the Ohio Wesleyan University; in 1860 he became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in 1862 enlisted in the Eighty-ninth Ohio regiment, where he served as lieutenant of Company B. Resigning on account of ill health, he later, after partial recovery, enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio, and served until the close of the war. Immediately thereafter he returned to Kansas, and was pastor of the first Methodist Episcopal church of Manhattan. In November, 1866, he was elected lieutenant governor, and upon the resig- nation of Governor Samuel J. Crawford in November, 1868, he became chief magistrate of the state. In 1870-71 he was presiding elder of the Manhattan district, but was obliged, on account of ill health, to give up active work. IL,e was a member of the legislature of 1881, his last public service, of which session his brother, George S. Green, was also a member .- Kansas Historical Collections, Vol. 10, 1907-08, p. 266.
THOMAS CARNEY. Born in Kenston township, Delaware county, Ohio, August 20, 1820, died at Leavenworth, Kansas, July 28, 1888. The father of Governor Thomas Carney, James Carney, was a farmer and died early, leaving a widow and four boys, the oldest being six years of age. Thomas was the second son and had attained the age of four years at the time of his father's death. He remained on the farm
393
394
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
until he was 19, when he left home for the purpose of going to school, having in his possession just three dollars and sixty-two and one-half cents. He went to board with his uncle, Elijah Carney, who lived at Berkshire, Delaware county, Ohio, where he remained but a short time on account of his limited means, and after doing farm work he went to Columbus and secured a position in a retail dry goods store. His firm moved their business to Kenton, Hardin county, where he accom- panied them and continued in their employ some two years. At the end of this time he went to a wholesale dry goods house in Cincinnati, where after working a little more than five years, he became a member of the firm, Carney, Swift & Company. In November, 1851, he married Miss Rebecca Ann Kennedy, native of Kenton, Ohio. In 1857, on ac- count of failing health he purchased a farm in Illinois and engaged in the stock business. In 1858 he sold his Illinois property and came to Kansas, establishing himself in Leavenworth in the first exclusively wholesale business in the state.
He took an active interest in the public affairs of Kansas and in 1861, was elected a member of the state legislature from Leavenworth county. The following year he was the Republican candidate for gov- ernor and was elected, taking over the office January 12, 1863. During the troublesome period of his administration he constantly displayed patriotism, generosity and great executive ability; even pledging his private fortune during a critical financial period in the affairs of the state.
Governor Carney gave to Lawrence $1,000 for the relief of its peo- ple after the Quantrell raid, and he also contributed $5,000 toward the establishment of the State University in that city. In 1875, he retired from active business, and died in 1888 from a stroke of apoplexy. Four of his sons grew to manhood-Edwin L., William W., Harry C. and Charles T. Mrs. Carney died at Leavenworth, September 25, 1895, and is buried by the side of her husband in the cemetery there.
WILLIAM EUGENE STANLEY was born in Knox county, Ohio, Decem- ber 28, 1844; in 1846 he removed with his parents, to Hardin county, where he was rearcd. He was educated in the common schools of the county and was a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University for a short time, after which he read law with Bain & King of Kenton, Ohio, and later with Conover & Craighead at Dayton, and was admitted to the bar at Kenton in 1868.
In 1870 he came to Kansas, locating first in Jefferson county, where he remained two years, during which time he served as county attorney. In 1872 he went to Wichita, and there he was elected to the office of county attorney, holding it for three terms. In 1878 he was elected to the state legislature, where he served one term and in 1898 was the re- publican candidate for governor against J. W. Leedy, populist, whom
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY 395
he defeated; he was reelected in 1900. At the expiration of his term as governor he was a candidate for the United States Senate but was defeated by Chester I. Long. He was made a member of the Dawes Commission in 1903, which position he later resigned and is now engaged in the practice of his profession in Wichita.
Governor Stanley was married in 1876 to Miss Emma L. Hills of Wichita, and they are the parents of three children, two sons and a daughter.
SOLOMON L. HOGE was born on a farm near Zanesfield, Logan county, July 11. 1836, Ile received his early education in the public schools of Bellefontaine and early decided to study law. He entered the office of Judge James Kernon of Bellefontaine, and later entered the Cincinnati Law School from which he graduated in 1859.
At the opening of the Civil war, Mr. Hoge became Lieutenant of Company G, 82d Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was soon promoted to be captain. He was wounded at the battle of Bull Run, and forced to resign from the service. He served as Judge Advocate and Court Mar- tial General at Washington, D. C., and at the close of the war was appointed First Lieutenant 6th United States Infantry. He was on duty in Washington the night Lincoln was assassinated, and realizing the great danger to the members of the cabinet that fearful night, lie organ- ized an emergency regiment of troops and sent detachments to guard each home. This prompt act probably defeated the plot to assassinate all the cabinet officers. After the war Lieutenant Hoge went to South Carolina where he served as Associate Judge of the Supreme Court for some years. He was then elected to the Forty-first Congress from John C. Calhoun's old district, and in 1872 elected Comptroller of South Carolina. He was also elected to the Forty-fourth Congress from South Carolina. In 1877 he returned to Kenton to practice law. and re- mained a citizen of this city until his death. He was one of the organ- izers of the First National Bank in 1881, of which he was then elected vice president. Six months later he was chosen president and, contin- ued the rest of his life to hold this position. It was in 1860 that Judge Hoge first located in Kenton and formed a partnership with Colonel A. S. Ramsey.
Judge Hoge took an active interest in politics all his life and was often called upon for public speeches. President Taft's first political speech was made in Hardin county during the Garfield campaign, when Judge Hoge escorted the rising young attorney to Roundhead, Ohio, where he made a rousing speech for the candidate for president. While making a trip through this county last fall President Taft referred to this occasion and recalled the fact that it was his maiden effort in politics.
Solomon L. Hoge was married June 7, 1860, to Mary M. Runkle who
.
396
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
survives with two children, Hamilton E. Hoge who succeeded his father as president of the First National Bank and Miss Frances. Another daughter, Mrs. Virginia McCreery, was very ill at the time of her father's death and a few weeks later passed away. Judge Hoge died in a sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan, where he had been taken for treatment February 23, 1909, and his body rests in Grove cemetery. He was a member of the G. A. R. and the Loyal Legion and was held in high esteem throughout this and other counties of Ohio. To the end of his life he took an active interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his country and his community, and the large company of sorrowing citizens at his funeral testified to his standing in his home city.
LUTHER M. STRONG was born near Tiffin, Ohio, June 23, 1838. Like many other public men his boyhood was spent on a farm attending country school when possible and helping with the farm work. When he grew older he taught in the country in the winter and attended school at an academy in the spring and fall. At the outbreak of the rebellion he enlisted in Company G, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, soon becoming captain of the company. About September 1, 1861, the regi- ment proceeded to Kentucky, and from then on until the close of the war Mr. Strong saw active service. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Pickett's Mills, Nashville, Columbia and many others, being wounded twice while in the discharge of his duties. He rose rapidly and reached the rank of colonel before the close of the war.
In January, 1867, he was admitted to the bar and at once located in Kenton. In the fall of 1879 he was elected to the state senate, and re- elected two years later. In 1883 he was appointed judge of the common pleas court by the governor to fill a vacancy and in November, 1892, he was elected as member of congress from the eighth congressional district of which Hardin county formed a part. Hardin county has had but two representatives in the national congress, General J. S. Robinson and Colonel Strong, and both discharged their duties in a creditable manner. At the close of his first term Colonel Strong was again nominated, and elected by a larger majority than at first. At the close of his publie carcer he retired to his fine farm at the edge of Kenton, and there lived a quiet life until his death on April 26, 1906.
JAMES S. ROBINSON was born near Mansfield, Ohio, October 14, 1827, and grew up on his father's farm with only such advantages as were afforded by the district schools. At the age of sixteen he learned type setting in the office of the Richland Bugle, Mansfield, and continued in newspaper work for many years. In January, 1847, he came to Kenton and took charge of the Kenton Republican, being at that time not quite twenty years old. As editor and manager of this paper, he continued
397
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
until the Civil war broke out when he enlisted ( April, 1861) in Company G, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Mr. Robinson's war record from the first was brilliant, and he rapidly rose from a private, through the successive promotions, until he reached the rank of brevet major general on March 13, 1865. for meritorious services. He participated in the bat- tles of Bull Run, Cross Keys, Resaea, Peach Tree Creek, Bentonville, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and many others, and was severely wounded at Gettysburg. He participated in the famous march to the sea and was present at the Grand Review at Washington at the close of the war.
General Robinson was clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1855-6 and once served as postmaster of Kenton. He was chosen chair- man of the state central committee of the Republican party at the close of the war and filled the same office in the state executive committee 1877-79. Later he was commissioner of railroads and telegraphs. In 1880 he was elected a member of the National Congress from the ninth district of which Hardin county was then a part, and two years later was again chosen to represent this district. He had a notable career in congress, one of his bills forever settling the controversy over the Virginia Military lands between the Miami and Scioto rivers, which had been dragging along for many years.
General Robinson was married at Marion, Ohio, to Miss Ellen Spaulding on June 28, 1848, but Mrs. Robinson soon died leaving one son, William S. On November 8, 1858, he was married to Miss Hester Carlin. of Findlay, and two children were the result of this union, Parlee C. and Miss Jennie, both of whom now live in Kenton. General Robinson died January 14, 1892, and was buried in Grove cemetery. His funeral was attended by Governor MeKinley and staff and many state officials, besides prominent men from all parts of the state.
DR. GUY POTTER BENTON. Guy Potter Benton, son of Daniel Webster and Harriet (Wharton) Benton, was born May 26. 1865, in Hardin county, Ohio, on a beautiful farm just south of the city of Kenton. He was educated in the common schools of his township and afterward attended Ohio Normal University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Baker University and University of Wooster. At these various insti- tutions of learning he received the degrees of A. M., D. D. and LL. D. In his young manhood Mr. Benton taught country school in Hardin county, and for some time edited a newspaper in Belle Center, Ohio. but very soon left with his family for Kansas. In Kansas he continued the profession of teaching, being superintendent of the Fort Scott, Kansas, schools from 1890 to 1895; assistant superintendent of public instruction for the state of Kansas, 1895-6; professor of history and soeiology. Baker University, 1896-1902. He was also president of Southeastern Kansas Teachers' Association, 1892.
Dr. Benton was married in Areadia, Kansas, to Miss Dolla Konantz,
398
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
September 4, 1889. He was called to the presideney of the famous Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, an institution that has had a long and illustrious history, in 1902, and has sinee been at the head of the school. Since Dr. Benton has taken charge it has grown wonderfully and many new buildings and mueh new equipment have been added, the number of students has steadily increased and at present the college is enjoying an era of prosperity never before known in her history.
In spite of his ever increasing duties as head of the college, Dr. Benton finds much time to preach and lecture, being in demand as a public speaker, and he also has many outside duties to elaim a share of his time. He was secretary of the Conference College Association, 1904; chairman of the Ohio Committee of the College Association on Eduea- tional Policy for the state, 1904-5; president Educational Society of Cincinnati Methodist Episcopal Conference, 1904-5; president Ohio Conference of College Presidents and Deans, 1906. Ile is also a lyeeum lecturer and a clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal church. He was state president of the Young Men's Christian Association of Ohio, in 1904, and chairman of the committee on Religions Work, State Assoeia- tions, 1909.
Ilardin eounty is justly proud of Dr. Benton, and Miami University made no mistake in calling him to have charge of the affairs of this historie old institution of learning. Dr. Benton and family reside in the president's house on the campus, and his address is Oxford, Ohio.
ALBERT E. SMITH was born December 16, 1860, at New Richmond, Clermont county, Ohio. He was edueated in the common schools and later in the Clermont Academy and the Ohio Wesleyan University. In young manhood he received a call to the ministry, and joined the Central Ohio Methodist Episcopal Conference in 1887. During his ministerial career, which lasted until 1905, he filled several important appointments, one of these being the First M. E. church of Marion, Ohio.
Mr. Smith was married in 1887 to Miss Harriet Vergon and to them have been born seven children. He was elected president of the Ohio Northern University located at Ada, Ohio, June 27, 1905, and is still serving in that capacity. Sinee Mr. Smith has had charge of the school there have been many improvements, and the enrollment has greatly inereased.
HENRY S. LEHR was born March 8, 1838, at Oldtown, Mahoning county, Ohio. That part of Mahoning county was then included in Trumbull. Mr. Lehr's father had gone security for a brother who was speeulating largely in western lands, and when the panie of 1857 eame on both the brothers were ruined, and had to begin life at the foot of the ladder. Henry S. Lehr was born in a rented log cabin, and his parents moved sueeessively to Stark and Wayne counties when he was quite
399
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
small. The lad could not speak a word of English until he was eight years old, and was first sent to school when twelve. His first school- house was a small log affair without even a blackboard, and the term lasted, in winter, three months. The district was small, so there was never a summer school. At the age of sixteen he began teaching (1854) after going to school in all twelve months. In the summer and fall of 1854 he attended a ten week's term, under the celebrated Alfred Hol- brook at Marboro, Stark county, and to him the youthful teacher owes much of his enthusiasm and learning.
When he began teaching Mr. Lehr had been through Ray's arithme- tie five times, nearly through two grammars, Mitchell's geography and atlas, half through Ray's algebra (first part) and the common school readers and spellers. He says he left school Friday morning, and walked sixteen miles to Canton without dinner, paid five cents for crackers for supper and took the night train for Wooster. The account of that day's experience is given in his own words. "I sat up all night in the Wooster station on reaching the place, washed in a pail near the station in the morning, wiped with a bandana handkerchief, combed with a cent wooden comb, paid three cents for crackers for breakfast and then went to the examination for county teachers." The young student found the examination to his liking, as it was oral and he had not had much experience in writing. There were fifty-two applicants for certificates that day, and in giving them a little lecture one of the examiners remarked that some of the teachers had been teaching twenty years, but "that boy"-pointing to Mr. Lehr-"would carry home the best certificate of all." The youthful applicant had eaten a two cent dinner of crackers that day, after losing a night's sleep, but that encouraging remark enabled him to walk home without supper, a dis- tance of six miles, carrying his possessions in a red carpet bag without much weariness.
But the next thing was to get a school. Young Lehr weighed less than one hundred pounds and was only sixteen ; whereas school direc- tors in those days were looking for big strong men to manage the troublesome pupils during the winter months. Finally his brother suggested going after dark to apply for a school, a plan that worked admirably ; for he was employed at fourteen dollars per month, twenty- six days in the school month, and board around the district, for a term of three months. At the end of the term the directors hired him again and raised his salary without being asked to do so. After that first term he never needed to go after dark to apply for a school.
From this time on, Mr. Lehr spent his time teaching in winter and going to college in the spring and fall. He also tried during the winter months to keep up his studies as best he could while teaching, but could not always keep with his class. In April, 1861, he enlisted at Wooster, but was rejected on account of his size. He went back to his studies,
400
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
but again enlisted in the fall of sixty-one, only to be again rejected. Again he went to school and taught, but in May, 1862, he enlisted in the Eighty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was accepted. IIe was discharged in September of the same year. After that he was in poor health for some months, taught, went to Mt. Union College, and in August, 1864, again enlisted in the army ; this time in the One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was diseharged from the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, May 20, 1865, and the next fall read medicine in Alliance, Ohio. That winter he taught village school in Stark county. All this time his great desire was to go to Missouri to teach, but his father tried to persuade him to give up that plan for fear he would be killed. So he read medicine for a while to please his father, but the great passion of his life was to instruct, and he soon went into that profession to stay. His great sueeess in drawing pupils to him led him to think that he would like to establish a Normal school, and he soon began looking about for a location.
It was a fortunate thing for Hardin county that Mr. Lehr decided upon the village of Johnstown, afterward Ada, for his undertaking. His proposition to the authorities was that they hire him to take charge of their sehools regularly a few years, admit foreign pupils, and allow him the use of the public school building while not needed for school purposes ; and he would found a Normal school that would bring stu- dents flocking to the plaee. Among other things he predicted, or rather promised, that in twenty years the school would enroll 5,000 pupils, but this is about the only thing about his plans that he never realized, as the attendance has not reached that number yet. Professor Lehr began teaching in Ada in an old building April 9, 1866.
From that day until the present the school, now known as the Ohio Northern University, has flourished. Under the able guidance of President Lehr it could not do otherwise, and thousands upon thousands of students who found the larger colleges too expensive for their purses have been edueated here and fitted for positions of trust and usefulness in the busy world. To eall the roll of graduates would be to name men and women high in every profession and position, while a list of the men and women who have labored to instruet the students would astonish many who know even a great deal about the University. While not actively engaged in the work at present, Mr. Lehr is still President Emeritus of the college, and is keenly alive to all that eon- cerns this growing institution. He was at the head of the college thirty-six years and four months, retiring some years ago from active duties. He has donated to the school many interesting relies among which are the flag his grandfather earried at Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth, his father's military commission from the State of Penn- sylvania, and one of his epaulettes as Brigadier General in the Militia of that state and a furlough granted another ancestor in Germany in
401
HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
1727. President Lehr saw the school he founded reach an enrollment of 3,349, which was the highest mark while he was president, and surely this ought to satisfy anyone.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.