USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 17
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. Dr. Langdon attended the public schools in Cincinnati and was in- structed in higher branches by private. tutors and later entered upon the study of medicine with the late Dr. Clendenin of this city. Prior to his grad- uation in 1881 from the Miami Medical College, he was the successful can- didate in the competitive examination which made him resident physician for the full term at the Cincinnati Hospital, giving him the practice and experience so eagerly sought by ambitious graduates. In 1882 he was made assistant demonstrator of anatomy at the Miami Medical College, later chief demon- strator, and in 1884 he accepted the chair of descriptive and surgical anatomy, which he filled until 1889, when at his request the duties were divided and he especially devoted himself to surgical or applied anatomy. In 1891-92 he was curator and microscopist and acting pathologist to the Cincinnati Hospital; for a time was lecturer in clinical medicine at the Miami Medical College;
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and was physician and surgeon to the Home for Incurables. During all these years of public work he carried on an active private practice. He is at present professor of nervous and mental diseases at the Miami Medical Col- lege and physician in charge of the wards for nervous diseases at the Cincinnati Hospital. He is also medical director of the Cincinnati Sanitarium for nervous and mental disorders, located on College Hill.
Dr. Langdon is a man of scientific education and extended travei, and valuable experience has been gained in the schools and hospitals of London, Glasgow, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna and Paris; he numbers as personal friends many of the eminent practitioners in those great medical centers. He is a mem- ber of the American Medical Association, and has been chairman of the section of nervous and mental diseases. He is also a member of the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine, the Walnut Hills Medical Society, the Hippocrates Club of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, the American Ornithologists' Union, the Association of American Anatomists, and is fra- ternally connected with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Lang- don is a corresponding member of the Boston Zoological Society, the Linnean Society of New York and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For a long period he has been a contributor to various journals.
Dr. Langdon was married April 3, 1884, to Rhoda A. Fletcher, who is a daughter of Samuel F. and Elizabeth D. ( Hiatt) Fletcher, of Richmond, Indiana, and two children have been born to them,-Fletcher and Rowena.
DANIEL VAUGHN, M. D.
On the 6th day of April, 1879, at the Good Samaritan Hospital, there passed from among the living a man of profound intelligence, marvelous memory and great learning-a man of whom it has been written that he was the "'only man among the hundreds of thousands of our people (Cincinnati) whose name will survive the next century." Daniel Vaughn was born at Glenomara, County Clare, Ireland, and was a son of John Vaughn. Receiv- ing his early instructions from a tutor, he was at the age of 16 years placed under the care of his uncle, Daniel Vauglin, a Roman Catholic priest who afterward, in 1845, became Bishop of Killaloe. Entering the academy at
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that age, our subject began the study of Greek, Latin and mathematics and . certain branches of physics. About 1840 his uncle, desirous that he should become a priest, advanced money for his attendance at a theological school in Cork. Upon reaching Queenstown, however, it is said that the sight of . the American liners there determined his future course and he embarked for the United States in order to pursue his favorite studies with greater free- dom and untrammeled by church influences. Reaching Virginia, he visited the institution conducted by Dr. Campbell, but soon left for Kentucky, reach- in the "Blue Grass" region about 1842, where his abilities were recognized by Colonel Stamps, of Bourbon County, who made him his guest and, sub- sequently, instructor of his children. The library of Colonel Stamps proved a Godsend to the ambitious student and its contents were soon mastered. The fame of the young scholar having gone abroad, a school was formed in Colonel Stamp's house, for the instruction of the more mature young people in higher mathematics, the classics, geology, physiology, geography and as- tronomy.
In 1845 Professor Vaughn accepted the chair of Greek in a Kentucky college, at the same time pursuing his scientific studies. After seven years, he returned to his former benefactors, where he tarried two years and then, attracted by the libraries of Cincinnati, removed to this city. Previous to this, however, he had journeyed on foot to this city for the purchase of books. His thirst for knowledge was intense. In 1851, while residing at Stamps', he became a member of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science. To eke out an existence, he lectured before schools, teach- ers' institutes and colleges in Oxford, Lebanon, Cincinnati, Cleveland and other cities until 1856, when a pulmonary affection compelled him to retire from the lecture field. His early scientific papers which were ignored by the publishers of Stillman's Journal, the leading American scientific pub- lication, were published readily by the British Association for the Advance- ment of Science and by the Philosophic Magazine. In 1856, with a view to popularizing astronomy and other sciences, he wrote numerous pamphlets at the request of a number of teachers before whom he had lectured. His articles now began to attract attention on both continents. Though having great respect for the famous astronomer Laplace, he differed in his views on the nebular hypothesis, because of its variance with mathematical inves- tigations, and his views were subsequently proved correct by Professor Keeler,
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of Allegheny Observatory. Professor Vaughn was proficient in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin and Greek, pursuing his investigations in the original tongues.
In 1860 Professor Vaughn was elected to the chair of chemistry in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, which position he is said to have filled with ability for 12 sessions. Visiting Lexington, Kentucky, in 1873, he delivered public lectures at the Sayre Institute and the Baptist School. He returned to Cincinnati in 1874 and from time to time lectured and wrote papers which brought a scanty living. How he managed to survive the process of starving and freezing to which he subjected himself was an enigma to his friends. He steadfastly refused aid except as work from his associates. Finally, in 1878, a course of lectures was arranged for him and, again, a second course, but his end was drawing near. By habit of life a recluse, few knew him either by name or sight. The passing for years through our streets of this worn, stooped figure was almost unnoticed. It was with difficulty that his friends could find his lodging place. Finally a servant girl disclosed the fact that an old man was dying in destitution in a West End tenement. There he was found April 1, 1879, in a wretched condi- tion, prostrated with hemorrhage from the lungs, in a cheerless room, with only a chair, a bedstead with a pile of rags, an old stove and coffee pot. He was taken by friends to the Good Samaritan Hospital, where for five days later he who had been the world but not of it was released of his gentle spirit.
Professor Vaughn was shy, undemonstrative and diffident. It is said that he seldom spoke first to an acquaintance and when introduced "would 'extend his hand with apparent diffidence or reserve, not with the warmth of a hearty shake but rather with a cautious presentation of the finger-tips." He was kind hearted and loved children and good men and women, and was grateful for favors if allowed to earn them and was glad to render scientific aid to professional and public men-too often without remuneration. Upon a lecture platform it was difficult for him to begin lecturing, hesitating until his eyes rested on those of a familiar friend. Although not a church member for years, he died in the Roman Catholic faith. .
Professor Vaughn did not practice medicine, holding only the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine, conferred on him May 19, 1855, by the Ec- lectic Medical Institute.
Prof. John Uri Lloyd, who was intimately acquainted with the subject of 38
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this sketch, has paid the following beautifully pathetic tribute to his memory : "Prof. Daniel Vaughn was fitted for a scientific throne, a position of the highest honor ; but, neglected by man, proud as a king, he bore uncomplain- ingly privations most bitter and suffered alone, until finally he died from starvation and neglect in the city of his adoption. Some persons are ready to cry 'Shame! Shame!' at wealthy Cincinnati; others assert that men could not give to Daniel Vaughn *
* He would not beg, and knowing his capacities, if he could not procure a position in which to earn a living, he pre- ferred to starve, and the only bitterness of his nature, it is said, went out against those who, in his opinion, kept him from such employment as re- turned a livelihood to scientific men, for he well knew his intellect earned for him such a right in Cincinnati. Will the spirit of that great man, talented Daniel Vaughn, bear malice against the people of the city in which none who knew him will deny that he perished from cold and privation? Com- memorated is he not by a bust of bronze that distorts the facts, in that the garments are not seedy and unkempt, the figure stooping, the cheek hol- low, and the eye pitifully expressive of an empty stomach? That bust rests in the Public Library he loved so well, in which he suffered so uncomplain- ingly, and starved so patiently."
CHARLES WEIDNER, JR.
CHARLES WEIDNER, JR., county clerk of Hamilton County, Ohio, and a very popular and efficient official, was born in Cincinnati, in 1856, and is a son of Charles Weidner and Appolonia Metzger, who came from Pitts- burg by flat-boat down the Ohio River to Cincinnati in 1829. The father of Mr. Weidner served as a member of the 4th Reg., Ohio Vol. Cav., all through the Civil War.
Until the age of 16 years, Mr. Weidner attended the public schools, and then learned the trade of stonecutting. He entered into politics early, and in 1899 was made deputy sheriff under Sheriff Taylor. In 1900 he was elected county clerk, a position for which he is eminently qualified, possessing not only the necessary ability, the utmost acuracy and memory of details, but also the genial, pleasant manner so desirable in those who are called upon to often serve a very unreasonable public.
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Mr. Weidner is well known in all circles in this city. At one time he was president of the School Board, and during his administration many needed improvements were made. During the late carnival, Mr. Weidner was secretary of the committee that did so much to cause the poor children of the public schools to recall that time with gratitude for the practical gifts then received. His instincts are those of a generous, kindly nature, and his charities have been widely distributed, but in an unostentatious manner.
Mr. Weidner was married to Minnie Huster, and the family home is located at No. 1730 Young street. He is president of the Ringgold Building Association, and has served as director of the Young Men's Blaine Club. Fraternally, he is a Mason.
CAPT. JOHN C. RENO.
CAPT. JOHN C. RENO, for many years a prominent river man and a well known former resident of Cincinnati, died at Minneapolis, Minnesota, in February, 1902. His career was a very active one and replete with success, his business interests being many and varied.
Captain Reno, who was of French descent, was born in Loudonville, Richland (now Ashland) County, Ohio, in 1822, and was one of three chil- dren. His brother, Capt. Frank X. Reno, is a resident of Cincinnati; his sister was the wife of the late Dr. Thacker. Captain Reno received his early education in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where he spent his boyhood days, and at an early age came to Cincinnati, where he drifted into the river busi- ness and gradually worked his way to the top. As a member of the firm of Reno & Brother, Pearce, Reno & Grover and Sample, Reno & Cassilly, he did much to build up the interests of the city in the years previous to and following the Civil War. At an early date he purchased a large tract of land near the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, at a very small figure; it became a very valuable piece of property and he accordingly sold his river interests in 1884 and moved to Minneapolis to better care for his interests there. Nevertheless, he continued to keep in close touch with his old-time business associates and to take a deep interest in the welfare of the Queen City. His death was sincerely mourned by his relatives and many friends here.
Capt. John C. Reno was joined in marriage with Jane Howard, a daughter
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of William J. Howard, ex-mayor and a man of prominence of Pittsburg. To this union were born three sons and one daughter, namely: Howard, Wil- liam, Alexander and Virginia, who married Allen Ives. Our subject was a Republican in his political belief. His remains were brought from Minne- - apolis to the home of Capt. Frank X. Reno on Walnut Hills and interment was had in Spring Grove Cemetery. Mrs. Reno survived her husband but a few weeks.
STEPHEN BURR MARVIN, M. D.
STEPHEN BURR MARVIN, M. D., who is a successful physician of Cin- cinnati, and who since 1893 has been prominently identified with the drug business in this city, was born and educated here. He is a son of Dr. John J. and Harriet E. (Guilford) Marvin, residents of Pleasant Hill, the former of whom is a very prominent physician and surgeon.
Dr. John J. Marvin was born in Shelby County, Ohio, and was reared on his father's farm. He studied the Homeopathic school of medicine, came to Cincinnati and graduated with honor at the Pulte Medical College and . became a favorite lecturer on anatomy. He is very well known in Cincin- nati and stands high in the profession.
The subject of this article prepared himself very thoroughly for his present profession, studying the science of medicine at the Medical College of Ohio and pharmacy at the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy. In May, 1884, Dr. Marvin first entered the drug business as a clerk with John Weyer, but a year later became associated with the drug firm of Wilmot J. Hall & Company, and in 1890 became manager of the John Roseline pharmacy. In 1891, he was made manager of the Toph drug business. In 1893 he began his medical practice and also embarked in a drug business of his own, which has forged to the head and now commands the best patronage of the city. An able physician, Dr. Marvin thoroughly understands the action of drugs and thus is a most reliable dispenser of them. He has devoted years to their study, use and effect and is thoroughly qualified on every point.
On June 14, 1893, Dr. Marvin was married to Nellie King, who was born at Ashland, Kentucky, and is a daughter of James and Mary (Carr) King. In politics Dr. Marvin supports the Republican party. He is a mem-
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ber of the Stamina Republican League; Blaine Club; Vattier Lodge, No. 386, F .. & A. M .; Kilwinning Chapter, No. 97, R. A. M .; and Mohawk Lodge, No. 150, I. O. O. F. Dr. Marvin is also vice-president of the Board of Education and an ex-member of the Union Board of Cincinnati High Schools.
JAMES E. MURDOCH.
There are few names which recall more memories to the citizens of Cin- cinnati than does that of the late James E. Murdoch, the venerable actor, whose death took place at his home in Vernonville May 19, 1893. Mr. Mur- doch was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1811.
Every period of a life of one so gifted'as Mr. Murdoch possesses more than a passing interest for the general reader, and is preserved by devoted family and friends as precious memories. From his early youth he was a lad of brilliant parts and striking appearance, and in old age, with mental faculties unimpaired, he was still physically conspicuous. In his full vigor, he is de- scribed by admirers in terms of high eulogium. His education was pursued with a view to his becoming an actor, his talents appearing very remarkable in childhood, and his first appearance before the public was on October 29, 1829 (when he was 18 years of age), in the play of "Lover's Vows," an adaptation from the German of "Kotzebue," at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Until his final retirement from the stage, he was associated with the leading actors and actresses of his time and assumed the rôles of most of the stage favorites, often creating the greatest enthusiasm. It would require a much more gifted pen than that of the present biographer to in any way do justice to the great genius of James E. Murdoch.
Mr. Murdoch was an enthusiastic advocate of the great advantages to the people of a national drama, and in the years between 1846 and 1856 he brought out, at great expense to himself, four plays founded on leading historical events of America; "Witchcraft,-A Tragedy of Salem," "Jacob Leisler,-The New York Patriot," both by Cornelius Mathews, the poet and critic of New York; "The Lovers of Accoman,-An Episode in the Bacon Rebellion in Virginia;" by Mrs. Elizabeth Ellet; "DeSoto,-The Hero of the Mississippi," by George Mills of Baltimore, Maryland. All these plays received the endorsement of the best literary critics of the time, such as
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Parke Goodwin, N. P. Willis, Edgar Allen Poe, Horace Greeley, Margaret Fuller and others.
In 1842 Mr. Murdoch, then managing the National Theatre in Boston, left the stage and turned his attention solely to teaching elocution and to lec- turing. His first essay in the latter was before the Boston Lyceum. The subject, "The Stage, Its Uses and Abuses," was received with every mark of approbation by the audience and called forth from the general press high encomiums for its literary character and the graces and power of its delivery. This was followed by a series of lectures and illustrative recitations of Shakes- perian plays of tragedy and comedy, delivered in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. In his school of elocution in Boston he was patronized by such pupils as Governor John A. Andrew, Hon. Charles Sumner and Hon. George S. Hillard.
Enthusiastically devoted to the art of elocution as developed by Dr. James Rush of Philadelphia, of whom he was a protege, he wrote three books on the subject, the first, in collaboration with the celebrated author of Massachusetts, Prof. William Russell, called "Orthophony," then "A Plea for Spoken Language" and "Analytic Elocution," published by Van Antwerp, Bragg & Company. Later in life he wrote a book of theatrical reminiscences called "The Stage" (Stoddard Pub.).
On his return to the stage, in 1845, he commenced a course of "star" engagements at the Park Theatre in New York as "Hamlet," "Othello" and "Macbeth," acting these and other important characters for the first time. The triumphant success achieved in that city was repeated in Boston and followed up in Philadelphia. He then visited the Western and Southern States and at length became one of the leading theatrical "stars" of the whole country, reaping a golden harvest in the almost unanimous verdict of the American press as a highly qualified and intellectual actor of tragedy and comedy. The following article from the New York Morning News of No- vember 1, 1845, speaks for itself :
"It was Mr. Murdoch's great good fortune, last night, to close tri- umphantly an engagement which, taken in the conviction it has produced in the general mind of the new performer's great talents, and in the hope it has excited of a brilliant future career, is one of the most successful ever played in America. Since the first day of Edwin Forrest it is the most decisive success achieved by an . American actor; and it is accompanied by
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many incidents which give it peculiar interest and significance. Mr. Mur- doch, whom we shall not do the injustice to overpraise, has acquired the favor of the people, the united voice of the press, and a powerful body of supporters from all ranks. He has succeeded in calling out better criti- cism on his performance than has been accorded either to Mr. Macready, Mr. Anderson, or Mr. Kean. He has played in tragedy and comedy with equal success; and has raised in all true play-going hearts a strong desire for his early reappearance on the New York boards."
The Philadelphia Pennsylvanian of April 25, 1846, quotes the following from the New York Evening Post :
"Beyond comparison, Mr. Murdock is the most intellectual actor New . York has seen for many years. The soul of eloquence, that intense and per- vading leaven diffused throughout the entire scope and reach of the mind's action, exalting to its quality all it embraces, stamps the efforts of Mr. Mur- doch, in whatever light exhibited, with a peculiar and unmistakable mark. We apprehend in his impersonations not only the full sense of the author's text, but a grace and beauty-a distinctive charm of transmission, greatly enhancing it. Add to this his faultless elocution, his perfect taste and natural advantages of voice and figure, and we hazard the proposition that at the present time there is no superior upon the stage to Mr. Murdoch. He has a fine figure, a noble, highly-cultivated and most agreeable voice, a graceful personal bearing, an accomplished mind, perseverance, energy, and, to sum up all the essentials, he has genius."
In 1857, after traveling through many parts of England, Scotland and Ireland, while making a brief sojourn in London, Mr. Murdoch received an offer from Mr. Buckstone of the Haymarket Theatre to try his fortunes on the London stage. The success of the American actor in England was complete, judging from the unequivocal endorsements of the London Times, Advertiser, Morning News, Punch, and a dozen other metropolitan papers. The Times of September 23, 1856, said :
"The 'Inconstant' has been revived to introduce an American actor of acknowledged fame for the first time to a London audience. Mr. Murdoch, we learn from a 'Memoir' which has been published, has graduated in every domain of the stage, and has been successful in each. That he is an artist as well as an actor is evident. It was in the last scene-that in which the 'Inconstant' hero finds himself in the deadly grasp of the bagnio bullies,
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and only releases himself by his presence of mind and assumption of pleasantry and vivacity-that he was the most successful. We have seldom witnessed anything better than his delineation of hysterical joy when the soldiers arrive, and his forced effort to appear unconcerned. Nothing abler could have been wished for; and it brought the curtain down in triumph. Mr. Murdoch was recalled with enthusiasm; for the impression that he had made upon the spec- tators was undoubtedly real. Nevertheless we shall be glad to see him in other parts-parts of more essential weight and gravity, wherein we conceive he is more likely to shine-before we join in the verdict of satisfaction which the public last night so unequivocally expressed."
From 1845 to 1861, Mr. Murdoch was one of the most popular and distinguished actors, both in tragedy and comedy, on the American stage, ranking with Forrest, Macready and the elder Booth. He left the stage in the height of his fame and theatrical prosperity and devoted his whole self to the cause of the Union, raising money for the Sanitary Commission, cheering and encouraging the soldiers in camp and hospital, never in any form asking or receiving compensation while the war lasted. He was a friend of Grant and Lincoln, having their cordial endorsement. Old Cincinnatians can well recall his patriotic speeches, and who that heard him recite in Pike's (old) Opera House in Cincinnati in 1864, "Sheridan's Ride," written for him by his friend Thomas Buchanan Read, can ever forget it. Mr. Murdoch was intensely patriotic. Two sons entered the Union Army at the call of their country,-Thomas Forrest and James Edward, -both enlisting in the ranks. He was with difficulty dissuaded from entering the ranks himself. At the suggestion of Governor Edward F. Noyes, he was elected a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, being one of the three civilians in Ohio thus distinguished. This he considered the crowning honor of his life.
Mr. Murdoch was not only honored in America, but also in England. In London he was elected an honorary member of the Garrick Club, his name being suggested by Buckstone and seconded by Thackeray and Charles Reade. He had a like honor conferred on him by the Essex Head Club, which owed its origin to Dr. Samuel Johnson.
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