USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 27
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Mr. Heuck was born in Germany, November 1, 1834, and was one of six children born to his parents. His father was William Heuck, and his grandfather, Adrian Heuck, who was a noted Catholic priest. William Heuck was a notary public with a commission from the government of Germany, and upon his death was succeeded as such by his son Herman.
Hubert Heuck received an excellent education in his native country, and in 1854 at the age of 20 years came to the United States. He is a self made man, the credit for his great success being due solely to his own efforts. Cincinnati owes much to his energy, enterprise and business ability. It will be recalled that as early as 1875 he provided a commodious and attractive amusement house, when he built the old Heuck's Opera House on the cor- ner of 13th and Vine streets, which still occupies that site and is known as the People's Theater. Later, after his enterprise proved successful and the
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city demanded something still better, he secured the site of the old Coliseum on Vine street, and in 1882 erected there the present magnificent building, . an ornament to the city, which appropriately bears the name of Henck's Opera House.
During his long career as an amusement purveyor, Mr. Heuck has secured the best known attractions for the critical Cincinnati public. The amuse- ments presented by him include the productions of the Jefferson-Florence organizations ; the Hoyt farce comedies; the Bostonians; the Aronsons; the Kiralfys; and the America, German and Mapleson grand opera companies, together with other world-famous attractions. His efforts have been ap- preciated and he has met with a patronage which has been mutually bene- ficial and eminently entertaining to the citizens of the Queen City. In his vast business enterprises he is represented by James E. Fennessy, who has been secretary and manager for many years; our subject's son, George W. Heuck, serves as treasurer. In his present business he employs some 80 men in his various theaters. He is liberal and makes many charitable gifts, and takes a deep interest in anything pertaining to the interests of Cincinnati.
Mr. Heuck was first married February 6, 1866, to Christina Heran- court, a daughter of the late brewer of Cincinnati of that name, and three children were born to them: George W .; Alphonse, whose death occurred in November, 1887; and Tina. Mrs. Heuck died in February, 1870, and our subject formed a second union, October 3, 1882, with Emma Mitthof, an accomplished daughter of Theodore Mitthof of Lancaster, Ohio. Three children blessed this marriage: Carl H., a student in the University of Louisiana at Baton Rouge, where he is making a careful study of the sugar question in its various phases; Walter and Robert Mr. Heuck was reared in the Catholic faith. Fraternally he is a Mason. In national affairs, he is a supporter of Republican men and principles. During the Civil War he served as a captain in the Home Guards of Cincinnati with credit to him- . self and the city.
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COLUMBUS P. BRENT, M. D.
COLUMBUS P. BRENT, M. D., one of Cincinnati's most successful practitioners in medicine, was called to his eternal reward on. August 21,
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1901. He was well known to the elder generation of citizens, especially, and will be long remembered by them as a gentleman of the highest type, an admirable citizen and one whose goodness of heart and charitable deeds endeared him to all who knew him.
Dr. Brent was born in Cincinnati, November 23, 1833, and was one of a family of three children born to William and Janette (Lewis) Brent. He attended the public schools; was graduated from Woodward in 1851, and from the Miami Medical College in 1854, after which he engaged in practice. When the Civil War broke out he-was mustered into service as surgeon-major of the 54th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf. He also served as brigade and division surgeon, and was retained in the service until the close of the war.
During his civil life Dr. Brent was a member of the Board of Edu- cation, a lecturer on chemistry in the Miami Medical College, a member of the staffs of St. John's, St. Luke's and Christ hospitals, and physician to the Hamilton. County Jail. He was a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, Cincinnati Academy of Medicine, and of the American Medical the American Revolution, and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
On September 1, 1857, Dr. Brent was joined in the holy bonds of mat- rimony with Annie E. Dale, a daughter of Benjamin T. Dale. Her father, who died March 8, 1892, was a prominent citizen of Cincinnati. Our sub- ject left a widow and two children,-Annie Dale Brent and Laura Peyton, wife of Robert S. Finch, of Cincinnati,-to mourn his loss. He and his wife were faithful members of the Second Presbyterian Church. The Doc- tor was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery. Mrs. Brent died July 22, 1903, and was buried by the side of her husband in Spring Grove Cemetery.
JOSEPH KINSEY.
JOSEPH KINSEY, whose death occurred December 12, 1889, was one of Cincinnati's early and prominent business men, and at the time of his decease was president of both Post & Company and the Globe Rolling Mill Company, which concerns controlled a large amount of capital in this State.
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Joseph Kinsey was born near Baltimore, Maryland, January 18, 1828, and was a member of a family that for 200 years has prospered in the United States and has faithfully adhered to the principles of the Society of Friends.
The early ancestors of Mr. Kinsey came to America from England as early as 1677, the founder of the family purchasing a tract of 300 acres of goodly land, near the site of the famous "Treaty Tree" of William Penn. The annals of Pennsylvania tell of many distinguished members of the family, one being at one time Chief Justice of the State. In 1833 the parents of the late Joseph Kinsey moved from Baltimore, Maryland, to Wayne County, Indiana, locating on a farm, and there the youth was reared, probably with the strict discipline of the days when industry and probity were regarded as cardinal virtues. He was given the best edu- cational advantages afforded by the time and locality, and at the age of 14 years began to contribute to his own support, working in the store of William Owens, at Richmond, Indiana. In 1845 he made his way to Cin- cinnati, entering soon after the employ of J. K. Ogden & Company, at No 118 Main street. He continued with that firm for two years, subsequently filling a similar position with Clark & Booth and then entered the firm of Tyler Davidson & Company as a partner. Eight years later he severed that connection in order to buy an interest in the rolling mill firm of Worth- ington & Company, with which he faithfully worked until 1866, when the copartnership expired by limitation and the property of the firm was transferred into what became the Globe Rolling Mill Company, of which he later became president.
Mr. Kinsey spent the two succeding years at Southbridge, Massa- chusetts, where he soon became interested again in business enterprises: In 1868 he returned to Cincinnati and soon after was elected a member of the City Council, where his influence was felt in the forwarding of many of the important public interests of the city.
Although Mr. Kinsey never courted popular sentiment, his influence . was felt in many directions, and notably so in the various charitable organ- izations of this city, and the scope of his benefactions was so large that it was only fully known to himself, the Home for the Friendless and the Colored Orphan Asylum being particular objects of his generosity. He was vice-president of the Board of Trade and one of the leading members of the Industrial League. He was also one of the promoters of the Cin-
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cinnati Southern Railway and also of the Marietta & North Georgia Rail- road. He never changed his religious belief, retaining until the last, his membership with the Society of Friends, and ever regulated his orderly life in consonance with its teachings.
On December 15, 1851, Mr. Kinsey was married to Ann Frances Ammi- down, a daughter of Ebenezer Davis and Rebecca (Fisher) Ammidown, of Southbridge, Massachusetts. The four survivors of their 13 children are: Rebecca F., wife of C. W. Cole, one of the most prominent attorneys of Cincinnati; Oliver, who is secretary and treasurer of The Nottla Con- solidated Marble, Iron & Talc Company, located at Kinsey, Cherokee County, North Carolina; Isaac, who is manager of the Stoddard Manu- facturing Company, of Dayton, Ohio; and Sarah Genevieve, who married C. C. Boyd.
Mr. Kinsey was so long conspicuous in so many circles in Cincinnati, that his passing away was a matter of more than usual regret. He belonged to the "Old Guard," which yearly grows smaller and smaller and there are those who sometimes feel that "their like will ne'er be seen again."
HON. JOSEPH BENSON FORAKER.
The name of the senior United States Senator from Ohio, Joseph Benson Foraker, stands out conspicuous on the long roll of eminent sons of this State, whose acts, in war and in peace, have made its annals replete with brilliant achievements.
Senator Foraker's grandparents came to Ohio from the State of Dela- ware in 1825, and located near Rainsboro, in Highland County. The subject of this writing was born July 5, 1846. His father and mother were pious adherents of the Methodist Church, and actuated by religious sentiment they named their infant son Joseph Benson in honor of the great English preacher and commentator. Senator Foraker passed a portion of his boyhood as a pupil in the neighboring schools, and when 16 years old became a soldier in the ranks of the Union Army. He enlisted in Company A. 89th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., on July 14, 1862, in the midst of a period when thick clouds : lowered over the fortunes of the republic, and gloomy forebodings were rife. At the outset, private Foraker became a noncommissioned officer, and later
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was promoted to a lieutenancy. His regiment was assigned to the 14th Army Corps and took part in all its campaigns. He shared in the march of General Sherman to the sea and was an aid-de-camp of General Slocum in the advance through the Carolinas. He was the courier chosen by his commander to bear the welcome message of the capture of Savannah to the United States naval forces off the coast. Through the fierce ordeal of his service in the war, Joseph Benson Foraker, although a boy in years, bore the brunt of a man's battling, and displayed the same stern resolution and the same aggressive daring which have kept him always among the foremost defenders of justice and right in the civil policies of the nation.
Senator Foraker was but 19 years old when mustered out as a captain, on the termination of the great conflict. With the fixedness of purpose which had carried him so honorably through sanguinary scenes of strife, he lost no time in applying himself assiduously to the milder arts of peace. To acquire an education was his absorbing intent, and in furtherance of this design he entered Cornell University and graduated from that institution in . 1869. After preparing himself for the legal profession, he was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, and soon became one of its leading members. Un- wearying energy and faithful application to the interests of his clients, to- gether with his forceful mental characteristics, won for him quick public appreciation, and within 10 years from the beginning of his practice, he was elected judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati. As a jurist, he maintained and enhanced the high repute which he brought to the bench, and when he resigned his office in the spring of 1882, it was the consensus of Cincinnati opinion that the judicial ermine, honored in this city by men like Storer, Taft, Matthews and Hoadly, had invested no abler and juster arbiter of causes than Joseph Benson Foraker. ‘
Senator Foraker's political Republicanism is of a strenuous sort. It is inherent in his nature, and an inseparable feature of his mental and moral composition. At no time since the days of Fremont's candidacy could he have been otherwise than intensely radical, and in heartiest accord with the most advanced cardinal doctrines of his party. As a statesman, Mr. Foraker is one of the commnding few who mold civic policies, originate legislation of momentous import, and leave a potential individuality deeply impressed on the statutory records of the nation. As an orator, the subject of this sketch is a tower of strength. Grasping readily and comprehensively the
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essential substance of his theme, he presents its salient points with a lucid fluency and incisive force which never fail to persuade, convince, and stimu- late to action.
In 1883, at the age of 37 years, Senator Foraker received his party's nomination for the governorship of Ohio, but was defeated in the election by Judge Hoadly. In 1885, he was elected Governor over the same opponent, and in 1887 was again a successful candidate for that high office. The State Republican Convention of 1895 endorsed him as a candidate for the United States Senate, and the Legislature chosen that year elected him, in January, 1896, as the successor of Hon. Calvin S. Brice, for the term beginning March 4, 1897, and ending March 4, 1903. In January, 1902, he was reelected to be his own successor. His second term will expire March 3, 1909. As soldier, student, lawyer, judge, Governor and Senator, within the span of 40 years, Joseph Benson Foraker has done well his part in the arena of life. He has been faithless to no obligation, has disappointed no fond expectation of professional pride or patriotic fervor, and now, in the zenith of his fame as an orator and statesman, he stands for all that is pro- gressive and inspiring, all that is uplifting and adorning, all that is worthy and honorable and of good report, in the State of Ohio and in the country . at large.
WILLIAM WOOD.
The death of William Wood, in November, 1883, removed from Cin- cinnati a business man of long experience and a citizen who was identified with the commercial, moral and educational advancement of this city Mr. Wood was born September 18, 1808, on the Hudson River, in Dutchess County, New York, and was a son of the late Capt. Ebenezer Wood.
In 1822 our subject came to Cincinnati with his parents and his father engaged in a dry goods business . on lower Market street which was then the leading business avenue of the city. In 1831 William Wood purchased a stock of goods and leased the store containing them, at the northeast corner of Sixth and Race streets, from the late R. W. See, and there he became an auction and commission merchant, under the firm name of William Wood & Company. In 1834 he removed to a building which is no longer standing,
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the site being occupied by the Tyler Davidson Block, on Main street below Fourth, and took George Pomeroy as partner. The business proved suc- cessful and removal was later made to another building on Main street above Fourth, when the well known firm of Wood, Lockwood & Company was formed which operated extensively in dry goods, in connection with a branch house in New York City which was known as Lockwood & Com- pany.
Upon the dissolution of this business firm, Mr. Wood reentered the business world as a member of the firm of Hopper, Wood & Company, on Pearl street, which continued until 1842 when he withdrew to enter another line. He then formed a partnership with Edgar Conkling in the manu- facture of white lead and, when the latter withdrew, William Wood & Company continued until 1867. At this date the Eagle White Lead Com- pany was organized, under the laws of the State of Ohio, with a capital of $200,000, and of this company William Wood was made president ; his son, William C., vice-president ; and his son-in-law, John E. Douglass, sec- retary and treasurer. Mr. Wood was engaged in the manufacture of white lead, both before and after the formation of the Eagle White Lead Company, for 40 years, and developed it into one of the leading enterprises of this city.
On April 8, 1831, Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Mary A. Hopper, a daughter of Aaron Hopper. The children of this marriage were: Mary Elizabeth, who married James S. Burdsal; William Christie, of the Eagle White Lead Company, who married Fanny Good, daughter of the late Capt. John Good; Caroline Frances, who married John E. Douglass ; Edmund Sehon, who married Lizzie Bowen, was a cavalry officer during the Civil War and served on the staff of Brig .- Gen. Eli Long; Charles H., who married Sarah S. McKee; Alice S .; Virginia J. and James Franklin.
Since 1832 Mr. Wood was a devout Christian, and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Walnut Hills. For many years he was a member of the board of trustees, for 25 years a class leader and for 20 years superintendent of its Sunday-school. His heart was in religious and temperance work and he was most generous in his gifts to advance both. Among the old business men of Cincinnati, no name is more honored. His home life was singularly happy and there and in his church he will be sadly missed, while his undaunted courage and unflagging industry in the building
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of his substantial fortune point the way to those who are yet on the lower steps of commercial life.
William Christie Wood, eldest son of our subject, became president of the Eagle White Lead Company upon his father's death, but retired from that position in 1888, although still retaining a large interest in the concern. He married Fanny Good, daughter of the late Capt. John Good, and eight children were born to them, namely: Ida May; William, who died in July, 1891 ; Fanny ; Edmund; John P .; Albert S., of Rochester, New York, who is a skilled lithographer and high class designer; and Charles and Harry of Cincinnati. Ida May married William Wallace of Cincinnati; Mr. Wal- lace died in 1890, and his wife in 1894, leaving two children,-Grace and George B.,-who thereafter made their home with their grandparents. George B. Wallace is a young business man of New York City, being con- nected with the American Bank Note Company. Fanny married George Ritchie, a son of the late Jacques Ritchie, of Cincinnati, whose biography appears in this work; they have one son, Donald Wood. William Christie Wood is a member of Mount Lookout Methodist Episcopal Church. He has a beautiful estate in Hyde Park.
CHARLES THEODORE GREVE.
CHARLES THEODORE GREVE, whose portrait is shown on the opposite page, was born in Cincinnati on January 3, 1863. He is the son of Dr. Theodore L. A. Greve and Clara E. Emrie. His father, Dr. Greve, was a native of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and was educated in the Uni- versity of Kiel. He came to this country in 1849, and subsequently moved to Cincinnati in 1855, and for almost forty years conducted the drug store at the southeast corner of Sixth and John streets.
Charles T. Greve was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati and, afterwards, of Hillsboro, Ohio, graduating at the High School of the latter town in 1878. He entered Harvard College in the fall of 1880 and gradu- ated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1884. He thereupon studied law in the office of Bentley Matthews and at the Cincinnati Law School, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Law in May, 1885. In this latter month he was admitted to the bar of the State
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of Ohio and also to practice in the Federal courts, and immediately entered upon the practice of the law in Cincinnati. He continued his association with Mr. Matthews, part of the time as his partner under the firm name of Matthews & Greve, until 1889, since which time he has practiced his pro- fession alone. In May, 1894, he was appointed assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and served in that office until August 1, 1898, at which time he resigned to accept the position of referee in bankruptcy, which office by subsequent reappointments he still holds.
Mr. Greve is a Democrat in politics and in 1892 he was a candidate of his party for congressman for the Second Congressional District of Ohio, and in 1902 for Probate judge in Hamilton County. He was unsuccessful on both these occasions.
He has been for the greater part of twenty years connected with the newspaper press in Cincinnati and elsewhere, serving as literary editor on the Cincinnati Tribune during its entire life, and in a similar capacity for several years on the Cincinnati Times-Star. He was also associate editor of the work entitled "Bench and Bar of Ohio;" and author of the historical portion of the "Centennial History of Cincinnati." He is a member of the Literary Club of Cincinnati, Society of Colonial Wars, Society of Founders and Patriots, New England Society, The Cincinnati Bar Association, and . The American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Mr. Greve was married on October 23, 1895, to Laura Belle, daughter of Maj. E. V. Cherry, by whom he has two children : a son, Theodore; and a daughter, Cherry. He resides at Vernonville.
JOHN ROLL McLEAN.
JOHN ROLL MCLEAN, the owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer, was born in Cincinnati September 17, 1848. He is a son of the celebrated journalist, Washington McLean, who was also born in Cincinnati in 1816. The father was of Scottish descent and in his early days learned the trade of boiler making. After serving his time as apprentice, he associated with him a . former shopmate and established an independent boiler shop. The building which was used by the firm was erected by the owners with their own hands. He also gave much attention to the study of history and politics and before
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he was 35 years of age he became well acquainted with every important politician in his native State as well as those of national prominence. In 1852 he purchased the interest of Mr. Derby in the Cincinnati Enquirer and became a member of the firm of Faran & McLean. This paper at the time was the principal organ of the Democratic party west of the Alle- ghanies and for nearly 25 years it was conducted without change of control. He finally relinquished his interest in the paper to his son who subsequently purchased the other interests. In 1882 Washington McLean removed to Washington, D. C., where he had made large investments in real estate. He died in that city December 8, 1890 .. During a period of almost 40 years Washington McLean was regarded as one of the most influential politicians in the United States and earned for himself the title of the "War- . wick of the Democracy."
John R. McLean was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati and at Harvard. Immediately after taking entire charge of the Enquirer in 1882, he began to take a prominent part in the politics of his native State. For many years he had much influence in the management of the party and for long periods of time his influence has been supreme. In 1896 he was supported by his State in the National Democratic Convention for the presidential nomination and received 54 votes on the first ballot. In the balloting for the vice-presidential nomination, he led all others on the fourth ballot, receiving 296 votes while Sewall, who was nominated by an almost unanimous vote on the next ballot, received but 261. The im- pression was widespread at the time that Mr. McLean could have had the nomination had he desired it. He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio in 1889 but was defeated by Judge Nash. Mr. McLean is the Ohio member of the National Democratic Committee. Mr. McLean is married and for a number of years the residence of himself and family has been Washington.
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JOHN SPENCER DE STOVIN LITTLEFORD.
John Spencer de Stovin Littleford was born in Baltimore, Maryland. . June 25, 1823, of English parents.' Of a large family, he was the youngest and only son; while he was an infant, his parents removed to Charlottes-
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ville, Albemarle County, Virginia, his boyhood days being spent in that famous, old Virginia town. His father was a lawyer and surveyor. His mother, descended from a distinguished family, was a woman of culture and refinement, whose writings were well known throughout the Old Do- minion and the South; a volume of her poems, published at that time, at- tracted much attention and won for her considerable literary fame.
Approaching manhood, John S. S. Littleford became eager for the opportunities offered by the then new West, and at the age of 20 years left the parental roof. The tedious and, in those early days, hazardous trip on foot across the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River was to him but an incident and his subsquent arrival in Cincinnati after descending the Ohio River was accompanied by a determination to make the young city his home. After numerous hardships, he finally secured employment with one of the pioneer bakeries and by his energy eventually became a member of the firm, which was known as Charles Bennett & Company. He later pur- chased his original employer's interest and conducted the business by him- self and in his own name until his retirement, which was a half century after his arrival in Cincinnati. Once having the business under his sole direction, the products of his bakery became famous, and the Southern merchants were large purchasers of his crackers before the Civil War, the river being at that time the only medium of transportation. During the war he turned his attention to the manufacture of hard bread, commonly known at that time as "hard tack," of which he supplied a large amount to the government. It is worthy of note that he was one of the first to introduce machinery for the manufacture of crackers, the slow process of hand molding having been the only method known.
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