Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 95

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

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established in the vicinity of the old home- stead, with the exception of one, who is a resident of Illinois, as will be noted later on.

Mr. Marsh has given an unqualified al- legiance to the Republican party from the time of its organization to the present, and is well fortified in his convictions as to mat- ters of public policy, being broad-minded in his views and having kept ever in touch with the questions of the hour. He has never been an active factor in polit- ical affairs and has never aspired to the honors or emoluments of public office. He and his wife have been con- sistent and zealous members of the Baptist church for the past thirty-four years, and their children have likewise held to the faith in which they were reared and are identified with the same religious denomination.

On the 8th of March. 1853. was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Marsh to Miss Elizabeth Harner, who was born in Warren county, this state, on.the 29th of May, 1832. being a daughter of John and Catherine Harner, her father having been a blacksmith by trade and having followed his vocation in Lebanon. Ohio, for many years, his death occurring in January, 1886. at the age of eighty-four years. His widow still survives him and has reached the venerable age of ninety-one years, being well preserved in mind and body for one of so remarkable age. Concerning the five children of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh the following brief data is en- tered in conclusion of this sketch : Albert, who was born on the 17th of January, 1857. was married on the 7th of March, 1882, to Miss Clara B. Denise, is a successful farmer: Douglas, who was born on the Ist of August, 1862, in Wayne county, Illinois, is now on the home place with his father :

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John H., who was born on the 16th of Feb- ruary. 1864, was married on the 30th of Oc- tober, 1890, to Miss Margaret Mantz. and they have one child, a daughter fifteen years old ; he is engaged in farming in this county ; Willard was born June 22, 1867, and on the 21st of February, 1889, was married to Miss Alice Bloss; they have one child. a daughter thirteen years old; he is engaged in farming in this county; George E. was born in Warren county, Ohio, April 15, 1854. was educated in the common schools and remained with his father until Novem- ber 27, 1887, when he was married to Miss Fannie Allen, a native of Butler county : they have nine children living and they re- side on a farm in this county, east of Ham- ilton.

ALBERT J. VAN HISE.

Albert J. Van Hise. the leading mer- chant of Pisgah and a business man of high standing and wide repute, is a native of But- ler county. Ohio, born in Union township on July 14, 1848. The Van Hise family, which is doubtless of Dutch origin, has had representatives in Pennsylvania from a very early date and for a number of years the name has been a familiar one in various parts of Union township, Butler county, Ohio, where the subject's father and grand- father settled when the former was a small boy. John Van Hise, father of Albert J., grew to maturity where the family origin- ally located and on arriving at manhood's estate married Miss Hester Carver, who was born in Butler county, the daughter of one of Union township's early settlers. The marriage resulted in the birth of six chil-

dren who reached the years of manhood and womanhood, Albert J. being the second son. He was reared in the village of Pisgah and as soon as old enough began making his own way by working for farmers in the vicinity. giving the summer seasons to this kind of labor, the winter months being de- voted to study in the public schools. Actu- ated by a desire to fit himself for business pursuits, young Van Hise subsequently en- tered the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College of Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in 1870, and a little later he en- gaged in the sale of sewing machines, which he continued for a period of six years with encouraging success.

The mercantile career of Mr. Van Hise dates from the year 1887. when he estab- lished the general store at Pisgah which he has since conducted and which under his ef- ficient management has become the leading establishment of the kind in the town. He carries a full line of goods demanded by general trade, has a large and lucrative pat- ronage and enjoys an enviable reputation as a capable, enterprising and far-seeing busi- ness man. Through his efforts a postoffice was established at Pisgah some years ago and he has had charge of the same to the present time. in addition to which position he also served a period of twenty years as trustee of Union township, being one of the prominent men and leading Democratic poli- ticians of the county.

Mr. Van Hise's activity in political cir- cles has made him a forceful factor in his party and for a number of years he has had much to do in shaping its policies and direct- ing its affairs in Butler county, being in- conventions and other assemblages, in the variably chosen a delegate to its nominating

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deliberations of which his opinions carry Huston, is a clergyman of the Baptist church weight and influence. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Sharonville, Ohio, and belongs to the Junior Order of American Mechanics at West Chester, in both of which organizations he is a leading worker, be- sides holding at different times official posi- tions of honor and trust. To omit from this record an emphatic commendation of him as a man, a genial, warm-hearted friend and enterprising citizen would leave untold some of his most pronounced characteristics. In business he reveals an energy and progres- sive spirit that accounts largely for the suc- cess which he has achieved and in social cir- cles his amiable qualities and easy good na- ture make him a favorite and cause his com- pany much to be sought after. A gentleman of excellent standing and wide intelligence, Mr. Van Hise has impressed his individu- ality upon the community in which he lives and the deep interest he has ever manifested in all movements and progressive measures for the material advancement of his town and the welfare of the people with whom he mingles has won him a conspicuous place among the representative citizens of Butler county.

CHARLES N. HUSTON, M. D.

The subject of this sketch is a native of Dearborn county, Indiana, having been born in the village of Lawrenceburg on the 28th of June. 1856. He is one of the repre- sentative members of his profession in But- ler county and is established in practice in the city of Hamilton. The Doctor is of Scotch lineage on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides. His father, Rev. David J.

and is now living retired, in the village of Goodland, Indiana, having attained the ven- erable age of eighty-two years and is well preserved in both his mental and phys- ical faculties. He labored long and zeal- ously in the vineyard of the Divine Master and it may well be said that "his works do follow him," and that he has not been denied the gracious harvest in its season. He was born .in Connersville, Indiana, on the 27th of October, 1821, and was educated in Franklin College, Indiana, being graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1843, while he acted as agent for the college for two years thereafter and then took up his ministerial labors as a vocation. though he had previously been en- gaged in work of this nature for several years in an irregular way. He thus labored for the long period of sixty years, and in April. 1903. the Blue River church, near . Connersville. accorded a reception to this venerable and honored clergyman and to his lifelong friend and colaborer, Rev. James M. Smith, who was ordained to the ministry on the same day as was he himself. In 1854 Rev. David J. Huston was united in mar- riage to Miss Anna E. Fain, who was born in Spencer, Indiana, and who died when the subject of this sketch was four years of age, his father subsequently being united in mar- riage to Miss Margret Windship, who is still living. Of the first union were born three children, all of whom are living, the Doctor having been the first in order of birth. His brothers. William C. and Thomas J., are .successful farmers of Jasper county, Indiana.

Doctor Huston passed his boyhood days in his native town and there received the rudiments of his education. When he was twelve years of age his parents removed to

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Rensselaer, Indiana, and there he contin- ued his studies in the public schools until he had attained the age of seventeen years. when he entered the Northern Indiana Nor- mal College, at Valparaiso, where he re- mained for two years, in the meanwhile be- coming imbued with a desire to prepare him- self for the medical profession, in which ambition he was encouraged by his uncle, Dr. Robert C. Huston, then a well-known and prominent physician of Oxford. this county. In 1877 he began reading of a technical nature under the preceptorship of his uncle, thus continuing for one year and making marked advancement in his knowl- edge of the science of medicine and surgery. In 1878 he was matriculated in the Medical College of Ohio, but circumstances neces- sitated his withdrawal from this institution before he had completed the prescribed course, and for the following seven years he was a druggist and practicing physician, being well equipped for his chosen profes- sion and lacking only the nominal leverage of a diploma and concomitant degree. In 1886 the Doctor returned to his alma mater. where he was duly graduated in the fol- lowing year, thus completing in due form the prescribed formula of the profession and securing his degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the spring of the same year he came to Hamilton and at once entered upon the active practice of his profession in which he has here continued for more than a decade and a half. receiving a representative support and holding prestige as one of the leading physicians and surgeons in this section of the state. During the first three years of his practice here Doctor Huston held the ap- pointment of infirmary physician, in which capacity he rendered most efficient service. contributing materially to his professional

reputation. He also served two years as city health officer and was for several years a member of the board of pension examiners for Butler county, being president of the board for four years. The Doctor is a man of the highest integrity, is independent in his views and has ordered his course upon a high plane of honor and usefulness, while his public spirit has been manifest in all times and seasons and has been directed to- ward the enhancement of the best interests of the community, while he has ever given his support to public charities and done even more in a private way, unknown save to those who have been the beneficiaries of his kindly deeds. He was active in securing the establishment of the Mercy hospital, whose great value to the city and to suffering hu- manity can not be overestimated. For one term Dr. Huston represented the third ward in the city council, and in this office his voice and influence were ever exerted on the side of law and order, justice and good govern- ment. To him is due the credit for ac- complishing a number of civic reforms, as well as the correction of certain evils in con- nection with the levying and collection of municipal taxes and the expenditure of pub- lic funds. In recent years Doctor Huston has taken special post-graduate work in the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and in this branch of his profes- sional work he has gained a very high repu- tation for his skill and for his exceptional discrimination in the matter of diagnosis. He is a member of the Baptist church, and Mrs. Huston holds the faith of the Metho- dist church. The Doctor has been a sup- porter of the principles of the Democratic party from the time of attaining his lega! majority. but he is not so insistently partisan that he fails to follow the dictates of his indi-

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vidual judgment in public affairs. He has in 1898, with a capitalization of two hun- been for the past seven years a member of the board of school examiners of Hamilton, and for a full decade has been a member of the directorate of Mercy hospital, in whose affairs he has ever taken the deepest interest. He has attained the Knight Templar de- grees in. the Masonic fraternity, of whose noble teachings he is most appreciative. In the summer of 1902 Doctor and Mrs. Hus- ton sojourned for three months in Europe, visiting England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and Italy, and making an ascension of Mount Vesu- vius. The tour was a most interesting one. the itinerary being well chosen, and they look back with marked gratification on the scenes and incidents of the same. ..

On the 31st of October, 1888, Doctor Huston was united in marriage to Miss Ella Davis, who was born in Lockland, Hamil- ton county. Ohio. but who was reared and educated in Keokuk, Iowa, to which place her parents removed when she was six years of age. She is a daughter of John P. and Elizabeth Jane (Blair) Davis, the former of whom was born in England, whence he came to the United States when nineteen years of age, while the latter was born in Butler county. They now reside in Hamil- ton, the father having retired from active business, while he was for many years a suc- cessful merchant.

CHARLES M. ANDERSON.

The Columbia Carriage Company is one of the most extensive manufacturing in- dustries in Hamilton. It was incorporated

dred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Mr. Anderson of this sketch was elected secre- tary and treasurer at the time of incorpor- ation, bringing to the business the ex- perience of years in the handling of ex- tensive and complex clerical affairs. His long continuance in the position he occupies is the best evidence of his special qualifica- tions. The Columbia Carriage Company gives steady employment to about three hun- dred and fifty mechanics in the various lines and the products of the plant are sold by eight traveling salesmen, and more than fifty jobbers throughout the United States and European countries. The annual aver- age value of the finished output will reach three quarters of a million dollars. The of- ficers of the company are Thomas L. Curley. president : J. E. Wright, vice-president, and C. M. Anderson, secretary and treasurer. All of these gentlemen are actively employed in the work, and each has a personal sketch in this volume.

Charles M. Anderson is a native of But- ler county, born at Bethany. Liberty town- ship, on the 15th of February, 1869. He is the eldest of three children born to John Elliott and Sarah E. ( Murphy ) Anderson, both of whom are natives of this county and representatives of prominent early families. The subject is a grandson, on the maternal side. of the late Hon. Peter Murphy, whose life career was essentially a part of the his- tory of Butler county in his day. His nu- merous descendants occupy positions of honor in the professional and business world. These ancestors are all of Scotch- Irish antecedents. William Anderson was the paternal grandfather, and was one of the pioneers of Liberty township, where he

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spent a long and useful life. Both of these ancestors achieved more than ordinary suc- cess in the social and business affairs of their day, and their memories will long be revered by those who have taken up the burden of life where they left it.

The father of C. M. Anderson spent his productive years in agricultural pursuits, but is spending the sunset of life in the retire- ment of a handsome suburban home and farm near Camden, in Preble county, where he and his estimable wife now reside. None of their three children are near them, the two daughters, Mrs. George H. Harkrader and Mrs. Chelsea C. Aydelatt, living in Day- ton, Ohio. Mr. Anderson, of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Cam- den, Ohio. He began his business career as assistant purchasing agent for the Me- Neal & Urban Safe and Lock Company. in Hamilton. He also had an experience of two years as bookkeeper and day clerk at the St. Charles Hotel, the principal hostelry in this city. He next accepted a position as bookkeeper and assistant business man- ager of the Republican News, resigning that office after nine months' service, to accept a more lucrative position with Thomas M. Boyd, who was then the trustee of the Louis Snider Sons Paper Company. He continued under this engagement some three years, during which time several changes were made in the office of trustee, himself and George P. Sohngen finally becoming the trustee who closed up the business to the satisfaction of all concerned. During the last eight or nine months of this service Mr. Anderson occupied his present position with the Columbia Carriage Company.

The marriage of Mr. Anderson occurred on the 6th of June, 1903, when he led to the

altar Miss Ada E. Marsh, a native of Leavenworth, Kansas. She is a daughter of Hon. William B. Marsh, a prominent attor- ney and now a resident of Eaton, Ohio. Mrs. Anderson was reared and educated in her native city and is a lady of high social standing in Hamilton. The domestic life of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson is most congenial and happy, and, though on the threshold of life's young morning. bids fair to grow in interest and beauty as domestic cares accu- mulate and the silver threads of full ma- turity give evidence of passing years.

JOHN A. GRAFFT. M. D.

That Dr. Grafft is a scion of one of the pioneer families of Butler county is evident when we state that his paternal great- grandfather took up his residence here in . the opening year of the nineteenth century. before Ohio had been admitted to the Union, being one of the first settlers in this now opulent and attractive section of the Buck- eye commonwealth. Our subject is a native of the county, which has ever continued to be his home, and he is one of the leading representatives of his profession in the city of Hamilton. He was born on a farm near Seven Mile, in Wayne township, on the 28th ` of November, 1866. The original Amer- ican progenitor of the Grafft family was Hans Grafft, who emigrated from Germany soon after the close of the war of the Revo- lution. locating in Maryland, where he be- came the owner of a large plantation, also holding numerous slaves. From this hon- ored pioneer the subject of this sketch is of the fifth generation in line of direct de-

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scent. From Maryland the family removed into Virginia and later representatives of the name established themselves in Ken- tucky, Abram Grafft, great-grandfather of the Doctor, having been born in Maryland. His mother was a French woman, whose maiden name was Mary Faree. This worthy man was the one to establish a home in the wilds of the present state of Ohio, whither he came from Bardstown, Nelson county, Kentucky, in the year 1800, locating near Seven Mile. in what is now Butler county, and being numbered among those sturdy and noble pioneers who laid the foun- dation of our present great commonwealth, . while the name has ever since been promi- nently and honorably identified with the history of Butler county. Samuel Grafft, the father of the Doctor. was born on the ancestral homestead, on the 19th of Octo- ber, 1841, and there passed his entire life, having been a successful 'and influential farmer and a man of exalted integrity of character. He married Miss Margaret Abraham, sister of the well-known Lot Abra- ham, whom all old soldiers in this locality will remember as an able and fearless cham- pion of their rights and as a zealous worker in the Grand Army of the Republic. Mar- garet A. Grafft, the venerable mother of the subject, died on June 1. 1904. Samuel and Margaret Grafft became the parents of two children, John .A., the subject of this sketch, and Mary, who is now the wife of Arthur Hunter, of Seven Mile.

Dr. Grafft was reared on the old home- stead farm and as a boy contributed his quota to its work. while his early educa- tional advantages were those afforded in the district schools. In 1882 he entered Miami University. where he spent two years in

preparatory collegiate work, and in 1885 he was matriculated in Wooster University, where he completed the classical and sci- entific course and was graduated with high honors, as a member of the class of 1889. After six years of close application to col- legiate work he felt the need of respite from mental application, and he passed several months in travel and recreation. He then became a student of medicine under the private tutorship of Drs. Merrill and Edwin Ricketts, of Cincinnati, under whose able di- rection he gained a most excellent prelimin- ary training for his chosen profession. In 1889 he was matriculated in the Miami Medical College, in Cincinnati, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated in 1892, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He at once established himself in practice in his native county, and has here attained high professional rank , among the successful practitioners in Hamil- ton. He continues to be a close and appre- ciative student and carries forward much individual research in his profession, so that he is constantly augmenting his pres- tige as a skilled physician and surgeon. Almost from the day of his graduation the Doctor has been closely allied with the pro- fessional societies, and he is at the present time secretary of the Butler County Medical Society, in which he has long been an active and efficient worker, being also prominently identified with the other professional or- ganizations and holding the high regard and unqualified confidence of his confreres. Dr. Grafft possesses in a marked degree the natural talents so essential to the success of a physician, being kindly and considerate and having that deep sympathy which tran- scends the mere emotion to become a definite

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motive. Early in his professional career he talization of one hundred and twenty-five was chosen a member of the board of ex- amining surgeons for pensions for Butler county, a position which he held for four years, during the last administration of President Cleveland. At the municipal elec- tion in April, 1903, Dr. Grafft was chosen president of the city council of Hamilton, and in this office he is proving a public- spirited and progressive representative of popular interests. In politics he is a loyal and uncompromising advocate of the prin- ciples of the Democratic party and is an in- fluential factor in its local councils, though he has never been ambitious for official preferment. He is affiliated with Jefferson Lodge, No. 90, Free and Accepted Masons, at Middletown, and with Hamilton Lodge, No. 93, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

On the 27th of April, 1892, was solem- nized the marriage of Dr. Grafft to Miss Jennie Beal, daughter of John and Rebecca Beal, of Hamilton, where she was reared and educated, being a graduate of the high school and a woman of gracious refinement and presence. Of this union has been born one child. Marjorie E., who is a winsome little lass of six years at the time of this writing.

THE FRED J. MYERS MANU- FACTURING COMPANY.

A business similar to that now operated by the above-named corporation was es- tablished in 1865, by Fred J. Myers, in Cov- ington, Kentucky. It was successfully oper- ated by Mr. Myers until 1886, when it was removed to Hamilton, Ohio, and incorpor- ated in February of that year, with a capi-

thousand dollars .. The officers and stock- holders are : Fred J. Myers, president ; John Wulftange, vice-president ; George C. Bram- lage, secretary, and Joseph Wulftange. treas- urer. The plant occupies large and com- modious quarters erected for the accommo- dation of a growing business, with special reference to both present and future needs. The main building is a handsome three-story brick structure one hundred and ninety by two hundred and ten feet in outside dimen- sions. This gives a floor space of seventy- five thousand feet to each floor. In addition to this, there are brick storage rooms, shops for special work, etc. The product of this mammoth concern consists of the manu- facture of wire goods, grille work, orna- mental iron work and hardware specialties. An annual output of nearly half a million dollars' worth of manufactured products reaches every civilized country on the globe. Three hundred and sixty skilled mechanics are afforded steady employment and good wages in this plant.

The gentlemen whose names appear as incorporators and officers are the sole own- ers of this industry, and each gives his special attention to some particular branch of the work. All are Kentuckians and their earlier lives were spent in the Blue Grass state. Mr. Bramlage is the only one of the firm who takes a special interest in matters outside of the business. He is one of the councilmen at large in the city of Hamilton and is otherwise prominent in political af- fairs.

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Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 95

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