Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 56

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149

USA > Ohio > Butler County > Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio > Part 56

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).

fu attorneys to be secured from the bar of the state. He never asked assistance in the prosecution of a criminal case, but, con- fronting his wily opponents, met their mo- tions and concentrated efforts with charac- teristic zeal and tenacity. The notorious strangler, Alfred A. Knapp, was tried and condemned to the electric chair during the last year. The Keelor murder trial resulted in conviction, but the verdict was set aside because of faulty instructions to the jury, after which the defendant plead guilty to murder in the first degree, and received a life sentence in the penitentiary. The Thomas case was tried on an indictment for first-degree murder, the jury returning a verdict of second-degree murder, and the defendant was sentenced to life imprison- ment. The Welner case, indictment for first-degree murder, resulted in acquittal. In the Spivey riot cases, one of the two de- fendants was convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years in the penitentiary, and the other died before trial.

The Bishop "faith cure" case was one involving somewhat peculiar conditions, upon which the higher court was asked to establish a ruling, or precedent. The par- ties were indicted for manslaughter, on the charge of criminal negligence on the part of the parents of a child seriously burned. They relied upon prayer as a curative agent, and refused to call medical aid, or to admin- ister medicines. The supreme court estab- lished a ruling that "No conviction could follow, in the absence of a positive and di- rect statute covering such a case."

In the Barret and Willard grand lar- ceny cases, wherein the defendants were in- dicted for stealing diamond rings, of the value of twenty-five hundred dollars, Bar-

rett was convicted and sent to the peni- tentiary for a term of years. Willard was twice tried as an accessory and was finally acquitted. Besides these, there were many minor criminal cases brought to trial by Mr. Gard in his official capacity, in all of which he demonstrated his ability as a lawyer, and entire fairness and honesty as a mediator be- tween crime and justice.

Mr. Gard was his own successor in 1900, receiving at the polls a very strong endorsement of his services, from the peo- ple of the county. No man ever retired from a public office in Butler county with a more general recognition of his ability and special fitness, than Warren Gard.

Not alone in legal lore is Mr. Gard a leader, but in the social and political world he is recognized as a moulder of public thought and sentiment. As an orator, it is said that his equal does not exist in Butler county, and, whatever the topic chosen, his well-stored mind and ready use of language enable him to speak with fluency and readi- ness. He was one of the principal speakers at the memorial services in Hamilton, on the death of President Mckinley, his asso- ciate being Hon. H. L. Morey, now de- ceased. It is said by those who heard this address that it was a masterpiece of elo- quence, pathos and oratorical sublimity. As a campaign speaker, Mr. Gard is in- structive and inspiring; his arguments are forceful. his similes pleasing, his compari- sons rich and fertile in advanced thought. As a leader in the political affairs of Butler county. Mr. Gard has a future bright with party honors, should he decide to claim them, and as an attorney in private practice, should he thus decide, his future career will be crowned with deserved success.

Digitized by

Google

35247

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

Warren Gard is the youngest of two liv- ing sons and one daughter, deceased, born to Hon. Samuel Z. and Mary (Duke) Gard. Both parents were natives of Butler county, the father born in 1832 and the mother in 1840. Samuel. Z. Gard has spent his life in the legal profession, and, when in active practice, was considered one of the ablest attorneys at the Butler county bar. He was prosecuting attorney of the county from January, 1862, until January, 1866, and also served a year by appointment in 1871, in the same office. He was educated at An- tioch College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, then under the jurisdiction of the renowned edu- cator, Horace Mann. He read law under the tutelage of Hon. Alex F. Hume, of Hamilton, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. Owing to delicate health, he has not been in active practice in recent years. He has been a lifelong Democrat and an able and influential advocate of the doctrines of his party.

Homer Gard, the eldest son of S. Z. Gard, is managing editor and principal stockholder of the Hamilton Evening Dem- ocrat, the oldest paper in Butler county. He is also the present city clerk. The daughter. Nora, died in infancy.

The subject of this review retired from the office of prosecuting attorney on the first Monday in January, 1904, and is now established in pleasant offices in the Reily block, engaged in private practice. He is an affable, companionable gentleman, de- voted to his friends, and zealous and ambi- tious in his profession. His official career, and the prophecy of future honors, are very properly a part of the history of Butler county.

JOHN C. BRAUN.

John C. Braun, county recorder of But- ler county. was born in Hamilton on the 24th of April, 1865. He is descended from a well-known German family and well sus- tains the prestige established by his an- cestors. His parents were John and Mar- garet (Nill) Braun, who came to America in youth, and were married in Hamilton. Here the father engaged in work at his trade, that of a carpenter and contractor, but he did not live long to enjoy the fruits of his labors, 'dying on the 12th of June, 1876, at the age of forty-six years. His widow, now well-advanced in years, nobly took up the battle of live alone and reared and educated her family of four children, and still bears the name of her first love. Her home is in Hamilton.

The eldest of this family is Mary, a maiden lady, whose home is with the fam- ily of the subject; Jacob is a well-to-do con- tractor and builder in this city; Emma is the wife. of Joseph Long, a machinist in Hamilton; the subject of this sketch is the youngest. He received a good common- school education and took up the active duties of life at an early age. His general character was such as to inspire confidence upon the part of employers, and while yet in his teens he secured a position as book- keeper with the Martin Mason Brewing Company. This was practically his life work up to the time of his election to the office of county recorder, having served about twenty years in the employ of this well-known firm.

During the agitation of local political matters in the summer of 1901 the friends

Digitized by

Google

35248

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

of Mr. Braun urged his candidacy for the office which he now holds. But, while he had always taken an active interest in politi- cal affairs, and was recognized as a stanch Democrat, he had no idea of ever being a candidate for public office. However, the entreaties of his friends prevailed and he entered the canvass, backed by many loyal supporters. His nomination and election followed and he took possession of the office on September 1, 1902. He is an avowed candidate for renomination, and since it is a long-established custom to concede two terms to each efficient county officer, it is more that probable that Mr. Braun will be his own successor in 1904.

The subject of this sketch was married on the 24th of June, 1889, selecting for a life companion Miss Josephine Huber, a na- tive of Hamilton and daughter of the late proprietor of the Butler House, Andrew Huber, deceased. This was a very happy union, cemented.by the advent of three lit- tle daughters. But it was of short duration. The loved wife laid down the trials of life and passed to the other shore on the Ist of October, 1898. Since her demise the de- voted sister, before mentioned, has assumed the care and training of the motherless chil- dren, with that unselfish devotion so char- acteristic of true womanhood. This dis- play of sisterly love and sympathy has miti- gated, in great degree. the poignancy of grief incident to his early bereavement, and Mr. Braun and his little family are com- paratively happy around the domestic fire- side. But there is still a "vacant chair," which no earthly devotion except a mother's' can ever fill. The daughters are named Norma, Lorene and Josephine. Mr. Braun is a member of St. John's German Evan-

gelical church, the religious home of his an- cestors. Of the social orders, he holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Fraternal Order of Eagles and Royal Ar- canum.

JOHN M. SYMMES.

John M. Symmes was born in Fairfield township, Butler county, Ohio, on the 15th of August, 1833, and is a descendant of the historic Symmes family. He was educated in the common schools of Fairfield township and followed farming for a period of several years. He later took up the vocation of carpentering and also the agency for a patented iron fence, being successful in both ventures. On November 29, 1866, he was married at Cumminsville, Ohio, to Miss Jennie McMakin, to which union the fol- lowing children were born: Cora, Maude and John. Mr. Symmes is a member of the Masonic fraternity and has ever taken a deep interest in the welfare of the order. It may be stated as an interesting fact that when General William Henry Harrison passed through this country on his way to the battlefield of Tippecanoe he borrowed of Celadon Symmes. Sr .. the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, a sword and sash and a pair of pistols, which had been carried and used by Col. John Cleves Symmes in the war of the Revolution. The sword was subsequently restored to the family and has been handed down as an heirloom to the oldest son in the family ever since, and is now in the hands of the sub- ject of this sketch. while the pistols are in the hands of the Ohio Historical Society at Columbus.

Google

Digitized by

353

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

JOSEPH W. CULBERTSON.

An enumeration of the representative citizens of Butler county would be incom- plete without specific mention of the well- known and popular gentleman whose name introduces this review. A member of one of the old and highly-esteemed families of this part of the state and for many years a public-spirited man of affairs, he has stamped the impress of his individuality upon the community and added luster to the honorable name which he bears. Joseph W. Culbertson, formerly one of the leading ag- riculturists of Turtle Creek township, War- ren county, Ohio, but now living a life of honorable retirement in the city of Middle- town, is a native of Piqua, Miami county. this state, and the son of William and Mary Culbertson, the father born in Pennsylvania, the mother in the state of Ohio. The Cul- bertsons are of Scotch-Irish descent and, as stated above, the family is an old one, its history being traced to the colonial period. The subject's grandfather was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and the son of a Revolutionary soldier who bore a dis- tinguished part in the struggle for independ- ence, serving throughout the war in the capacity of major. William Culbertson was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, and came to Ohio in 1832 as a con- tractor on the Miami and Erie Canal, hav- ing had charge of a great deal of the exca- vation and masonry work on that waterway. When a young man he learned the brick and stone mason's trade, which he followed dur- ing the greater part of his life and for some years after his marriage he lived at Piqua, where he built and operated a mill, in addi- tion to which he also devoted considerable 23

attention to the pork-packing business. Mary Coe, who became the wife of William Cul- bertson, was a daughter of Rev. James Coe. She lived a long and useful life, dying in 1898, her husband having preceded her to the grave in the year 1873. William and Mary Culbertson reared a family of eight children, seven of whom survive, their names being as follows: Eliza A., wife of James S. Mitchell. living near Hamilton, this county ; Fanny J., who married W. A. Eu- daly, a prosperous farmer of Lemon town- ship and a prominent Sunday-school worker: William L., one of the representative agri- culturists of Butler county; Ettie M., now Mrs. George Shields, of Warren county, Ohio; Dr. James C. Culbertson, a · distin- guished physician of Cincinnati and editor of the Lancet and Clinic, one of the leading medical journals of the state; Belle, wife of Dr. J. M. Hunt, of Lytle, Ohio, and Jo- seph W., of this review, who is the second in order of birth.

Joseph W. Culbertson was born July 13. 1843, in Piqua. Ohio, and grew to young manhood on the family homestead near Blue Ball, in Lemon township. Reared un- der the wholesome influence of outdoor life on the farm, he early developed habits of industry and grew up strong of body and with well-defined purpose to make the most of his opportunities and to become of some use to the world. During the summer sea- sons he assisted his father on the farm and in the winter time attended the country schools until the age of fourteen, after which he pursued his studies in the Monroe Acad- emy until completing the prescribed course of the institution.

Realizing the need of a more thorough scholastic training, Mr. Culbertson subse-

Digitized by

Google

354

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

quently entered Jefferson College, Canons- burg, Pennsylvania, where he remained un- til the middle of the junior year, and made a creditable record as a diligent and critical student. While attending this institution he became acquainted with a young lady of Canonsburg, by the name of Henrietta M. Allison, an acquaintance which eventually led to their marriage, the ceremony being performed on May 3, 1865. Mrs. Culbert- son, whose birth occurred near the above place. on March 31, 1840, is the daughter of Andrew Allison, whose father, Hon. James Allison, was for many years one of the leading public men of western Pennsyl- vania. In an early day he served as judge of the Washington county court of common pleas, was elected to the legislature a num- ber of terms and always took an active part in local and state affairs, having been rec- ognized among his fellow citizens as a leader of thought and moulder of opinion.

Immediately after his marriage Mr. Cul- bertson moved to a farm near Blue Ball, Warren county, and from that time until 1899 devoted his attention exclusively to agriculture, which he prosecuted with a large measure of success. He proved a model husband and by persevering industry and judicious management succeeded in ac- cumulating a handsome competency, which enabled him, in the fall of the above year. to turn his farm over to other hands and take up his residence in the city of Middletown, where, as already stated, he is now living a retired life .. Mr. Culbertson is one of the enterprising, public-spirited men of Butler county, and as such has ever manifested an abiding interest in progressive measures for its growth and development. Mr. Culbert- son was the first president of the Franklin

Farmers' Club. All of his transactions have been characterized by scrupulous integrity and a high sense of honor and by reason of large success, unblemished character and a just and liberal life, he has nobly earned the universal esteem which he today enjoys. In politics he is a stanch and unwavering Democrat, and for many years has been a zealous worker for his party as well as a ju- dicious adviser in its councils. He was twice nominated for office, that of repre- sentative and county commissioner, but by reason of the large normal majority of the opposition, failed of election, although car- rying much more than the strength of his ticket in the two campaigns.

In every walk of life Mr. Culbertson's aim has been to do his duty as he sees and understands it and his friends feel proud of him as an intelligent. high-minded citizen and useful member of society. While giving his attention to his business interests and conscientiously discharging the duties of citizenship, he finds time amid these claims to devote to the higher obligations growing out of man's relation to his Creator. He was reared a Calvinist and has always stood loyal to the creed, being at this time a mem- ber of the First Presbyterian church of Mid- dletown. in which for several years he held the position of superintendent of the Sun- day school; his wife and family also belong to the same congregation. Mr. Culbertson comes of an old Presbyterian family, his parents having been earnest and devoted members of the church, and it is a fact worthy of note that the churches in Piqua and Troy were organized by his grandfather, the former as early as 1817, the latter a few years after that date. To Mr. and Mrs. Cul- bertson three children have been born,

Google

Digitized by

355

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

namely : Mary L., wife of John P. Hark- rader, a farmer of Warren county, Ohio; Martin A., deceased, and Belle, who mar- ried William B. Foreman, of Middletown.

HENRY MALLORY, M. D.

The subject of this review enjoys the distinction of being the oldest practicing physician in the city of Hamilton, but if this were all, the honor would be one of indif- ferent order. There is therefore a further consideration in the case at hand. for in public repute Dr. Mallory not only stands at the head of his profession in the matter of years of active practice, but also holds this position of priority by reason of his skill and success as a practitioner. Like most men who have passed the confines of . the mediocre in their chosen life work, he began at the foot of the ladder and wholly through his own efforts attained the exalted position which is his today.

Dr. Mallory is a native of the Old Do- minion state, having been born in Botetourt county, Virginia, on the 27th of February, 1822. In that early epoch even the patri- cian old commonwealth of Virginia was not far removed from that indefinitely desig- nated quarter known as the "frontier," much of the country being wild and un- developed. Though the exigencies of time and place measurably deprived him of the educational advantages enjoyed by the youth of the present generation, the subject had at the age of seven years made some ad- vancement along the lines of elementary education. At that age he accompanied his parents on their removal to what was then

considered the far west, the family locating in Richmond, Indiana, while a few years later they plunged still more deeply into the wilderness, settling on a tract of wild land near the present town of Newcastle, that state. The older sons in the family were soon compelled to depend upon their own resources for support and education. At the age of sixteen Dr. Mallory left the pa- rental home, never again to return to the same for a place of permanent abode. His associates were, by reason of the environ- ments, mostly laboring men of the rougher type, and among them he found but few congenial spirits. For the most part they considered brawn vastly superior to brain in the struggle for an existence. With these surroundings it is almost phenomenal that a boy of our subject's tender age at the time, entirely self-dependent and engaged in the hardest kind of manual labor, should ever have thought of higher educational at- tainments and of ultimately attaining pres- tige in an honorable and dignified profes- sion. Dr. Mallory's first employment after leaving home was in connection with the construction of a public canal in the vicinity of the present city of Indianapolis, and the following six years of his life were spent in various sorts of manual labor, inter- spersed with a few terms in school. These were years of valiant struggle for the ac- cumulation of a little money. His habits of life were simple and his wants but few. Usually all his labor contracts carried with them provision for board, washing and mending, so that the somewhat meager emoluments of his labor were mostly laid aside for the proverbial "rainy day." At the age of twenty-two young Mallory began the study of medicine. a profession which

Digitized by

Google

356

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF

he had chosen in his boyhood years of serv- itude and for which he had made some pre- vious preparation by private study. He was graduated in the Western Reserve Medi- cal College, at Cleveland, Ohio, as a member of the class of 1850, while he had been en- gaged in the active practice of medicine for one year prior to receiving his degree from this excellent institution.

On the roth of July, 1849, Dr. Mal- lory came to Hamilton, being then in the full bloom of strong and vigorous young manhood. He at once entered the practice, which, as the years passed, was augmented by rapidly growing professional strength and popularity. Medical practice in those days meant something. Long and tedious rides on horseback, in summer's heat and winter's turbulence, with the old-time sad- dlebags thrown across the saddle. Through drifting snow or seemingly bottomless mud, the valiant physician made his way, faith -. ful to his trust and his noble calling and self-abnegating in his efforts to relieve the suffering. All this implied weary days and nights of constant vigilance and utter dis- regard of his own comfort and of even his own health. In the same year which rep- resented the inauguration of Dr. Mallory's professional labors here, there came the ever memorable scourge of cholera, the epidemic being so severe as to threaten the annihila- tion of the entire populace of the commu- nities in which the epidemic found foothold. This was a time to try the souls of the con- scientious physicians, and many of them succumbed to the ravages of the dread mal- ady from whose insidious effects they la- bored so strenuously and faithfully to save their fellow men.

On the breaking out of the war of the

Rebellion Dr. Mallory felt it his duty to lay aside his professional work and join the boys at the front. In 1861 he recruited a company of volunteers for the gallant Thirty-fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and of this company he was com- missioned captain. He led his command to the front and participated with his com- rades in several engagements. But the gov- ernment was sadly in need of experienced medical men, and Captain Mallory was finally persuaded to accept a position as sur- geon of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, with the rank and pay of major. He rapidly ad- vanced in the estimation of his superiors and completed his term of service as surgeon of a division. Dr. Mallory returned to Ham- ilton in the full consciousness of duty well performed, and here resumed his position as a leader in professional and civic affairs. For more than a half century he has main- tained that proud position, though wear- ing his honors without ostentation or undue self-esteem. No man living has done more for Hamilton than the venerable Doctor Mallory, and, as though not satisfied with the "three score years and ten" allotted to man, he is still actively engaged in life's work, his desire being to remain in the harness until he is called to obey the one in- exorable summons. Though now a debtor to "borrowed time" to the extent of more than eleven years, he is in full possession of all his faculties, active and energetic as a man of fifty, representing in an eminent de- gree the great desideratum,-"mens sana in corpore sano." He utterly ignores the idea of retiring from the active practice of the profession in which he has labored so long, faithfully and successfully, and he pursues his studies zealously, keeping in

Digitized by

Google

357

BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

touch with the advancements made in the Doctor a member of the permanent monu- sciences of medicine and surgery and being ment committee charged with the erection of the soldiers, sailors and pioneers' monu- ment, which is now in course of completion in Hamilton. Dr. Mallory takes an active interest in municipal affairs in his home city and has been instrumental in the inaugura- tion of many needed reforms in public service and affairs. To him possibly more than to any other physician not in public office is due the recently adopted system of preventing the spread of contagious dis- eases in the county, while he was one of the leaders in defining the methods to be employed. He is a member of the Butler County Medical Society, the Union District Medical Association, and the Ohio State Medical Society, in each of which he is revered as a man and a physician. In 1849 the Doctor was initiated in the Masonic fraternity. at Brownsville, Indiana, and he now has the distinction of being the oldest Mason in Hamilton. essentially a vital man of affairs. Dr. Mal- lory is a regular contributor to medical jour- nals and is a recognized authority, his writings being held in the highest value by his professional confreres. In addition to this he has also written many articles for the public press, while he has also made a valuable historic contribution, in a series of character sketches of those who were resident of Hamilton in 1849. This volume is most comprehensive and interesting and is retained as a cherished souvenir in many of the families descended from the old pio- neers represented in its pages. In his re- ligious life Dr. Mallory has been a most devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose faith he was baptized when three years of age, while it may well be said his has been the "faith that makes faithful." He is at the present time a mem- ber of the official board of his church in Hamilton, and has been for many years one At Brownsville, Indiana, on the 14th of September. 1843, was solemnized the mar- riage of Dr. Mallory to Miss Anna Maria Rider, and she proved to him a devoted companion and helpmeet during the half century of their wedded life. She was sum- moned into eternal rest on the 9th of Octo- ber, 1894, their golden wedding anniver- sary having been celebrated in the preceding year. Of the five children of this union two died in infancy. Of the three living chil- dren we enter the following brief record : Martha J. is the wife of Adam Dickey, of Hamilton; Imogene Alice is the wife of Dr. J. Thomas Knox, of Cincinnati, and Su- sanna is the wife of Nelson Williams, of Hamilton. A life of signal usefulness and honor has been that of the venerable sub- of its most zealous and effective workers. A number of years ago the Doctor wrote a history of Methodism in Hamilton, which was published by the Methodist Book Con- cern, of Cincinnati, and the same is a treasured volume in the archives of the local church. During the entire course of his active and eventful life Dr. Mallory has been recognized as eminently consistent in his Christian profession, exemplifying his faith in good works, being generous and charitable and a self-sacrificing worker for the good of humanity, both spiritually and temporally. As if the weight of years and the demands of his profession did not con- stitute a cause for exemption from other burdens, Governor Bushnell. appointed the

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.

Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 56

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1149

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149