USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 14
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In 1864 Mr. Engelke served with the 100-day troops, in the 165th Reg .. Ohio Vol. Inf., and has always loyally supported the government. He has many business interests, was one of the founders and directors of the Western German and the Atlas National banks and was one of the founders of the German Old Men's Home (Deutscher Altenheim). He is identified with many German societies, was several times president of the Cincinnati Turn- gemeinde, of which he has been a member for 47 years, and was one of the founders of the Turners' and several other building associations.
On October 17, 1857, Mr. Engelke was united in marriage with Char- lotte Ehrhardt, who was born in Germany. A family of II children were born to them, but only five members survive, namely : 'Frederick J. and Wil- liam, associated with their father in business; Augusta ( Mrs. William Klaus- meyer ) ; Henrietta (Mrs. Robert Morrison), of this city; and Mina. Mr. Engelke and family reside in a beautiful home on Mount Auburn. Mr. En- gelke is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Young Men's Blaine Club, German Protestant Orphans' Protective Association and Deutscher Pionier Verein of Cincinnati, and is immensely popular in those organizations. He is a man of intelligence and- extensive travel and one of the representative German citizens, thoroughly identified with all the interests of his adopted city. His portrait accompanies this sketch.
HON. CHARLES M. MYERS.
HON. CHARLES M. MYERS, president and general manager of the Cor- rugated Elbow Company, is one of the leading manufacturers of Cincinnati
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and a prominent political factor of this section of the State. He was born in 1863 at Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, and is a son of Ashbury H. and Emeline (Sprague) Myers, natives of Ohio.
Mr. Myers spent his boyhood until the age of 15 years in the northern part of the State, being educated in the public schools of Ashland. For the past 25 years he has been a resident of the Queen City, where he has been successfully engaged in business. He has been connected with the .
Corrugated Elbow Company since 1880, and was made manager in 1896. This concern employs some 15 or 20 men and has its office and factory at Nos. 112-114-116 East Liberty street: The company is engaged in sheet metal working, manufacturing corrugated and pieced stove pipe elbows, conductor elbows and shoes, and dealing in refined and planished iron, sheet steel, refrig- erators, etc. Mr. Myers is one of Cincinnati's most popular and enterprising business men.
Charles M. Myers began his political career in 1898, taking a very active part in the deliberations of the Blaine Club and the Stamina Repub- lican League. In 1901 he was elected a member of the 75th General As- sembly of Ohio, where he made a most creditable record and most ably served on the insurance, manufactures and commerce committees. The tact, good judgment and public spirit shown by him entitled him to the con- tinued confidence of his party, and in the fall of 1903 he was again placed in nomination for the General Assembly on the Republican ticket. Judging by the past, Mr. Myers has a bright political future before him.
In 1898 Mr. Myers was married to Pauline Ahrons, who died April 29, 1900, leaving a little daughter, Pauline. The family residence is located on Clarion avenue, Evanston. Mr. Myers was one of the commissioners of annexa- tion from Evanston at the time that village became a part of Cincinnati. Throughout his whole public life he has shown a deep interest in Cincinnati, while his private life has been such as to make him an honored and esteemed citizen.
JOHN B. PEASLEE, PH. D.
JOHN B. PEASLEE, PH. D., an ex-superintendent of the public schools of Cincinnati, is the eldest son of the late Reuben Peaslee. Esq., of Plaistow, New Hampshire, who was described by Hon. John S. Wells, United States
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Senator from New Hampshire, as the ablest man in that State; that he knew no man who could stand against him, and that he, himself, deferred to his judgment.
The ancestors of our subject, who landed at the port of Newbury, in 1635, were among the first inhabitants of Northeastern Massachusetts, and were pioneers in the settlement of Southern and Central New Hampshire. They belonged to the Society of Friends and suffered in common with their sect the indignities and proscriptions born of the religious intolerance of old colonial times.
The late Reuben Peasiee was conceded to have delivered the ablest speech, in answer to Hon. John P. Hale, ever made in the New Hampshire State House. As a prominent member of the convention of 1850 that met to revise the Constitution of New Hampshire, he prepared many of the existing statutes. Having drunk deeply of the fountain of knowledge himself, he took an interest in the education of the young. In 1841, he was married to Harriet A. Willetts, of New York City, who was a member of a family distinguished for both ability and business success. 1
John B. Peaslee, the subject of this sketch, was born of the above mar- riage, on September 3, 1842, and received all the benefits of the public school and the academy at Atkinson, New Hampshire. He then entered Gilmanton Academy, an institution of considerable celebrity at that time, and was there graduated in 1858, at the age of 16 years. The following year he was admit- ted to Dartmouth College where he was graduated with honors in 1863. Upon the cordial recommendation of Dr. Lord, president of Dartmouth College, he was appointed principal of the grammar school of Columbus, Ohio. In the fall of 1864 he removed to Cincinnati to assume the position of first assist- ant in the Third District school of this city. During the performance of his duties in that position, Mr. 'Peaslee studied law, attended lectures and in 1865 completed his law course at the Cincinnati Law School, being admitted to the bar of Hamilton County. In '1867, he was appointed principal of the Fifth District school, a position he filled with great success, and in 1869 was ad- vanced to the first place in the Second Intermediate school, where he remained until his election as superintendent of all the public schools of Cincinnati in 1874. Mr. Peaslee was of the greatest service to the public school system and few educators have been so generally upheld. Equipped by nature and education, lie seemed to so thoroughly comprehend the needs and require-
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ments of the great army of students that few could be found to cavil at his ยท decisions or doubt the wisdom of his judgment. For nearly four years, until he resigned, he served on the State Board of Examiners, during which time he received autograph letters from the poet Longfellow, Dr. J. G. Holland, John G. Whittier, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, bear- ing testimony of their appreciation of his work in that capacity.
On April 27, 1882, under direction of Mr. Peaslee, the school chil- dren of Cincinnati planted "Author's Grove," a "plat of ground covering six acres in Eden Park. A large number of trees were planted, each being dedicated to some distinguished writer, and granite tablets, each with the names of the several authors, were afterward placed near the trees. This is now one of the most delightful and attractive spots in Eden Park. On October 18, 1889, the American Forestry Congress planted near Agricul- tural Hall in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, a beautiful oak tree and dedi- cated it to Mr. Peaslee in recognition of his distinguished services in promoting the cause of popular forestry, and especially in introducing the celebration of Arbor Day by the public schools of Cincinnati, and thereafter of the country.
Mr. Peaslee has also invaded the publishing world, his "Graded Selec- tions for Memorizing, Adapted for Use at Home and in School" meeting with hearty approval. Of his other productions, "Trees and Tree Planting with Exercises and Directions for the Celebration of Arbor Day" and "School Celebration for Arbor Day" were published by the United States government in 1884; "Moral and Literary Training in the Public Schools" was published in 1881; "German Instruction in Public Schools, and Its Helpful Influence on Public School Education," in 1889; and "Thoughts and Experiences In and Out of School," in 1900. Mr. Peaslee was for 20 years a director of the Uni- versity of Cincinnati; has been a trustee of Woodward High School; for two years was president of the State Board of Examiners for Teachers; for nine years was a director of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio; for 20 years was a director of the Ohio Humane Society, and is a life mem- ber of the National Council of Education. He is also a member of the German Literary Club of Cincinnati, a trustee of the Cincinnati Teachers' Pension Fund, treasurer of the Cincinnati Free German Kindergarten Asso- ciation, and for six years was president of the Ohio State Forestry Bureau. Mr. Peaslee is a member of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, and in 1900 was a delegate of that body to the National Board of Trade. Numer-
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ous degrees have been conferred upon him, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1863 and Master of Arts in 1866 from Dartmouth College, Bach- elor of Laws from Cincinnati Law School in 1866, that of Doctor of Philos- ophy from the State University of Ohio in 1879, and in 1879 the University of Turin, Italy, sent a diploma of life membership in that renowned insti- tution of learning in recognition of the excellence of the Cincinnati school exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1878, which was superior to that of any other school competing.
On April 25, 1878, Mr. Peaslee was joined in marriage with Lou Wright, a daughter of Hon. Joseph F. Wright, of Cincinnati, on which occa- sion he was presented by his brother Knights Templar with the most elab- orate Masonic jewel ever manufactured. Mrs. Peaslee died July. 18, 1894, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. She was a lady of culture and refinement, possessing a charming character, and was one of the most popu- lar women of the city. Our subject is a Democrat in politics and in 1888 was elected clerk of the County Courts of Hamilton County, an office to which he was reelected in 1891, serving a period of six years. In 1895, he was a candidate for the office of Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket with ex- Governor James E. Campbell. In 1900 he was a candidate for Congress in the First Congressional District of Ohio. Mr. Peaslee is a member of the New England Society of Cincinnati, Dartmouth Alumni Association, and Zeta Psi college fraternity. He is a man of noble, generous instincts, of high, moral and intellectual standards, and wherever known is loved and respected.
CAPT. FRANK X. RENO.
CAPT. FRANK X. RENO, now living in retirement in Cincinnati, has been a resident of this city for over 50 years and for the greater portion of that time was actively engaged in business as a steamboat captain on the Ohio River. He was born in Loudonville, Richland (now Ashland) County, Ohio, in 1828, and is of French descent. His grandfather, Francis Reno, was born in 1756 and was ordained as a minister in 1793. He was one of the ear- liest settlers in what was then known as the Western country, and died in 1836, having attained the advanced age of 81 years.
Capt. Frank X. Reno accompanied his parents when they moved to
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Wooster, and thence to Beaver County, Pennsylvania. He came to Cincin- nati in 1850, and has been a continuous resident of this city ever since. He became a river captain and was widely known up and down the river, being associated a considerable portion of his active period with his brother, Capt. John C. Reno, who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902. He is at present living a retired life in his home at No. 2368 Kemper lane, which he pur- chased some 40 years ago.
Captain Reno married Cynthia Stowe, a sister of Judge Stowe, who is one of the famous members of the bar at Pittsburg, where he has served a number of years on the bench and has a great influence in politics. To this union were born three sons: Herbert N., Charles S. and Ralph F. Ralph F. Reno after obtaining a good preliminary education completed a course in medicine in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, since which time he has successfully practiced his profession in this city. Captain Reno is a firm believer in the principles advocated by the Republican party, which he consistently supports.
JAMES HENRY BUCKNER, M. D.
JAMES HENRY BUCKNER, M. D., a distinguished physician and surgeon of Cincinnati, was born in Burlington, Boone County, Kentucky, November 25, 1836, and is a descendant of English ancestors who established the family in America prior to the War of the Revolution. Representatives of this family have long been conspicuous in Kentucky, and have been honored both in military and private life. Dr. Buckner is a son of Henry M. and Etheline Elizabeth (Conn) Buckner, and a grandson of Harry M. and Eliza- beth (Catlett ) Buckner. The mother of our subject was a daughter of Capt. Jack Conn of Bourbon County, Kentucky.
Dr. Buckner was two years old when his parents settled at Covington, Kentucky, and there he attended the public schools. At the age of nine years he was a member of the preparatory department of Cincinnati College, but spent the growing years between 1847 and 1854 in healthful freedom on the Edgewood farm. Under the tutoring of Professor DeSota, at Danville, Kentucky, he was prepared for Center College and subsequently attended the academies at Exeter, New Hampshire, and Groton, Massachusetts. Later
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he matriculated at Dartmouth College which he left in the spring of 1857 in order to enter upon the study of medicine at Covington, with Dr. Evans of that city. Soon after he removed to Cincinnati and continued his medi- cal studies with Drs. L. M. Lawson and W. T. Taliaferro, and in 1858 en- tered the Medical College of Ohio, where he took three full lecture courses and was graduated in 1861. Dr. Buckner then formed a partnership with Dr. W. T. Taliaferro and in the same year was appointed examining surgeon of the United States naval recruits, being later assigned to duty on the gun- boat "Cairo," which gallant little ship was the first to reach Nashville after the fall of Fort Donelson.
On retiring from military service, Dr. Buckner engaged in private prac- tice, being made demonstrator of anatomy in the Medical College of Ohio in 1862. During 1866-71, he was professor of physiology in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, and later succeeded to the chair, of oph- thalmology and otology. For a period he was also lecturer at the Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati. In 1872 he resigned his various positions of responsibility to give himself an opportunity to make an extensive tour abroad, during which time he visited clinics in many cities and took a special course in diseases of the eye and ear at Vienna. Upon his return thus instructed and refreshed, he resumed his place in the hospitals and was elected to the staff of St. Mary's Hospital, in special charge of ocular and aural diseases. For one year, beginning in 1882, he was on the faculty of the Toledo Medical College, lecturing on ophthalmology and otology. In 1878 he was honored by election as president of the Cincinnati Academy of Med- icine, which was a just tribute to his professional skill and high standing. Dr. Buckner has been an extensive contributor to medical literature and his articles upon diseases of the eye and ear, upon throat surgery and upon the use of chloroform are regarded of the greatest scientific value.
On October 17, 1861, Dr. Buckner was joined in marriage with Jane Olivia Ramsey, a step-daughter of his preceptor and partner, Dr. Taliaferro, and a daughter of James Ramsey. She was a cousin of the late President Benjamin Harrison. Mrs. Buckner died in 1892, leaving two sons : William Thornton Taliaferro Buckner, a prominent real estate man of Cincinnati, and Henry Alexander Buckner.
William T. T. Buckner, son of our subject, married Elizabeth Irwin Harrison, a daughter of Carter Bassett and Sophia (Dashiell) Harrison of
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Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Dashiells are a very old and prominent Mary- land family. Carter Bassett Harrison was a brother of the late President Benjamin Harrison, and a grandson of President William Henry Harrison. William T. T. Buckner and wife are parents of two children, namely : Sophia Harrison , and Elizabeth.
Dr. Buckner is a member and formerly was president of the Walnut Hills Medical Society, and belongs to many other prominent medical associa- tions. In politics he is a Democrat. He is of an exceedingly generous nature and has liberally contributed to the support of churches and various charitable organizations.
HON. MILO G. DODDS.
HON. MILO G. DODDS was for many years a prominent attorney of Cincinnati and a leading Democrat, and his death removed one who had a very wide circle of both business and personal friends. Mr. Dodds was born in Cincinnati in 1845, and was a son of the late W. B. Dodds, president of the Miami Valley Savings Bank.
During the Civil War, when but a youth at school, he ran away from home and enlisted as a private with the 137th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., and served gallantly through the war, under Col. N. Harris. At the close of hos- tilities, having performed his patriotic duty, he returned to Cincinnati and accepted a position in the safe business, with the Dodds, MacNeal & Urban Safe Company, which company he represented in St. Louis for several years. Upon returning to Cincinnati, he engaged in the fire insurance business, and represented a number of the old line companies. At a later date he perfected himself in the law and was admitted to the bar, engaging for years in successful practice. He was appointed by Governor Foraker and served four years as a member of the first non-partisan Board of Police Commissioners, and also served three years as a member of the Board of Supervisors, con- tinning as such until August 1, 1902. In the various positions of responsibility in which he was placed and in all the exigencies of business life, he was found to be able, industrious, prompt and fair and these qualities gained him the continued good will and esteem of all who knew him.
In 1881 Mr. Dodds was married to Lotta Cuftom, who, with two chil- dren, -- W. B. Dodds, Jr., and Helen F. Dodds,-survives. Fraternally he
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was a prominent and active member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the Cuvier Club, Walnut Hills Business Men's Club, the Duckworth Club, and the Bar Association.
For some time before his death Mr. Dodds had been in indifferent health, from a brain trouble the result of a street car accident. Since his fall he had remained quietly at his beautiful home at No. 2812 Park avenue; a few weeks later, however, in order to have more skilled care, he was removed to the German Deaconess' Hospital in Clifton, and there his last hours were spent. He is recalled with deep family affection and with universal public esteem.
ISAAC C. MILLER, LL. B., M. D.
ISAAC C. MILLER, LL. B., M. D., one of the skilled and representative medical practitioners of Cincinnati, was born in this city, August 1, 1852, and is a son of the late Dr. Isaac C. and Elizabeth C. (Hey) Miller, and a grandson of John R. and Mary (Dunham) Miller. , John R. Miller was born in 1786 and came to Cincinnati in 1798. His wife was born in 1799.
Dr. Isaac C. Miller, Sr., was born August 24, 1815, and died July 15, 1856. He graduated from the Medical College of Ohio in 1844 and for 10 years was a most successful physician of this city. The mother of our sub- ject was born in Cincinnati, December 22, 1829, and is a daughter of Bar- tholomew and Elizabeth (Paull) Hey, the former of whom was born at Sherburn, Yorkshire, England, and died in Cincinnati in 1837 where he had been engaged in a mercantile business.
Our subject attended the public schools of Cincinnati until he was 12 years of age, his subsequent education being secured in England and Ger- many. Upon his return to America he entered upon the study of medicine, under Dr. John Davis, and graduated from the Miami Medical College in 1874 and immediately opened an office and entered upon the practice of his profession. Later he removed to Knoxville, Tennessee, but soon returned to his native State. For a time he tried a country practice in Green town- ship, Hamilton County, Ohio, but later returned to the city where he is able to keep more closely in touch with the progress of his profession. He is particularly skilled in many special lines although he is a general practitioner, and was connected with the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery as
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clinical assistant in the obstetrical department. Dr. Miller is very highly regarded in the profession for his skill and medical knowledge. Dr. Miller is also a graduate of the Cincinnati Law School of the class of 1896.
In June, 1877, Dr. Miller was married to Sophia Kisker, a daughter of Frederick and Sophia Kisker, who came to America from Westphalia, Ger- many. The one child of this marriage, Esther Alberta, is a graduate of Miss Lucy Sargent's School for Young Ladies, at Mount Auburn, Ohio. In poli- tics Dr. Miller votes independently and is more absorbed in the duties of his profession than in public matters.
CHARLES WESLEY KARR.
CHARLES WESLEY KARR, an attorney-at-law of Cincinnati, was born in Whitewater township, Hamilton County, Ohio, September 7, 1841, and is a son of Charles and Jerusha ( Harvey) Karr. His grandfather, Hugh Karr, removed to Whitewater township from Pennsylvania in 1797, and cleared the farm on which our subject and his father were born. Charles Karr mar- ried Jerusha Harvey, who was born in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, in 1810, and came with her father, Joseph Harvey, to Hamilton County, in 1816.
Charles W. Karr began his education in the common schools of his native township, and finished in Lebanon Normal School early in 1860. He then engaged in teaching school until June, 1861, when he enlisted in Com- pany E, 2nd Reg., Kentucky Vol. Inf., being mustered in as sergeant. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant by Adjutant-General Finnell for meritorious con- duct on the field of Shiloh, and was later advanced to the office of captain, serving as such in the same 'company he was mustered in. He served until June 19, 1864, and in that time was wounded but once and that slightly, at Stone River, December 31, 1862. Upon being mustered out he returned to Cincinnati and read law in the office of his brother, John Karr. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, and has continuously engaged in practice since, making a specialty of the prosecution of United States claims. In January, 1876, he was made assistant adjustant general of Ohio, and in August of the same year was appointed adjutant general by Rutherford B. Hayes, then Governor of Ohio, and later by Governor Thomas L. Young.
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It was during his term as such that the great railroad strike occurred, and this he met and adjusted with courage and tact. General Karr organized the Ohio National Guard, being the author of the ."Independent Militia Act" of April, 1870, the initiatory step toward the law which he subsequently drafted, and which was passed in 1876-77, under which the organization was effected. He has been actively identified with the Grand Army of the Republic since its organization ; was assistant adjutant general of the Ohio Department and, later, commander of George H. Thomas Post,' No. 13; he was one of the charter members of William H. Lytle Post, No. 47, and still retains his membership in this post. He is a member of the Union Veteran Legion, and is past master of North Bend Lodge, F. & A. M.
On November 17, 1879, General Karr was married to Elizabeth Platt, a daughter of Stephen H. Platt, a merchant of New York. Mrs. Karr, is a talented author, among her productions being "The American Horse Woman," now in general use as a book of instruction for ladies in the art of riding. The family residence is at North Bend, Ohio.
MARCUS FEDER.
MARCUS FEDER, one of the oldest and best known citizens of Cincinnati, died February 27, 1894, after a long and busy life. He was born in Prussia in 1818, and came to Cincinnati in 1862. He immediately became identified with the city's business interests and did much in the direction of extending the dry goods trade. His establishment for many years was located on Fifth street. After amassing a comfortable fortune, he retired from business activity many years prior to his death.
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