USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 35
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was appointed one of the assistants to the prosecuting attorney of Cincinnati by Hon. Miller Outcalt, being associated in this capacity with Hon. Rufus B. Smith. A year later he became a partner in his father's law firm, which in January, 1893, took the firm name of Hollister & Hollister. In the fall of 1893 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for the position of judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County and was subse- quently elected by a handsome plurality. He was reelected in 1898 to serve for a second term, having received not only the nomination of his party but also the endorsement of the Cincinnati Bar Association which is non- political in its character. At the expiration of his second term, in December, 1903, he resumed the practice of the law. Judge Hollister made a record upon the bench as an industrious, impartial and well equipped judge. He tried many cases of importance the best known of which probably was the celebrated prize fight case in which he issued an injunction against the pro- jected contest between Jeffries and Ruhlin, which, accepted as a precedent by the courts of the country, has practically put an end to this form of brutality.
Judge Hollister was married on June 2, 1887, to Alice Keys, a daugh- ter of Samuel Barr Keys and Julia (Baker) Keys, and a descendant of two of the pioneer families of the city. The family, including four children, reside on Madison avenue, East Walnut Hills.
M. DEWITT WOODFORD.
M. DEWITT WOODFORD, president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton and the Indiana, Decatur & Western railway companies, and largely in- terested in other lines, is one of Cincinnati's prominent exponents of business success. He was born in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, and is a son of Melancthon Smith and Harriet D. (Wheat) Woodford. Both the Woodford and the Wheat families originated in New England.
Melancthon Smith Woodford was born in New York, to which State his father had removed from Vermont, and for years he was a successful business citizen, dying there in 1890. His family consisted of five children, two of his sons being prominently identified with leading transportation lines,-M. DeWitt, our subject, and his brother, Walter R., wlio is vice-
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president of the Pittsburgh Coal Company, and formerly president of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railway Company.
After securing a good common school and academic education at Fre- donia, Mr. Woodford learned telegraphy and his introduction to railroad work was his entrance into the employ of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company in the capacity of telegraph operator; during his three years of service with that corporation he had charge of the impor- tant stations at Port Jervis and Jersey City, becoming chief operator of the Eastern Division. When he was called to Detroit by the controlling powers of the Michigan Central Railroad, he introduced the telegraph system in train dispatching, remaining with that road as chief dispatcher and super- intendent of telegraphs for 16 years, and having his headquarters for the greater part of the time at Kalamazoo. His progressive work in this direc- tion stands on record and his services were gladly accepted during three years by the Great Western Railroad, now the Grand Trunk Railway, of Canada. He then became assistant treasurer of the Chicago & West Mich- igan Railway Company, and during this period became interested in the Michigan Telegraph Company, and was its managing officer. This company was at a later date absorbed by the Western Union Telegraph Company, and Mr. Woodford resumed active relations with the railway service, and during the succeeding years filled the positions of superintendent of the Canada Southern, superintendent of the Fort Wayne & Jackson, general . manager of the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northi Michigan, and general super- intendent of the Wheeling & Lake Erie, serving the last named road for two years as vice-president, general manager and receiver and after its re- organization was again general manager and vice-president for two years and president for three years.
In June, 1889, Mr. Woodford became vice-president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway Company and its general manager, becoming . president in the following year; in 1893 he became president of the Cleve- land, Lorain & Wheeling Railway Company, and in 1895 of the Indiana, Decatur & Western Railway Company. He is also one of the interested owners of the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Company. Mr. Woodford has shown such rare capacity and administrative ability that lie stands at the head of the large railroad interests of this section, and his policy is upheld by every directing board with which he is associated. In 50
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Cincinnati he is a valued member of the Chamber of Commerce and he con- trols his great enterprises from his offices in the Carew Building.
'On January 5, 1861, Mr. Woodford was married to Helen M. Sprague, daughter of William Sprague of Kalamazoo, Michigan, their only child, Edith, becoming the wife of George R. Balch, purchasing agent of the Cin- cinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway Company. The family home is in Clifton.
HON. AARON FYFE PERRY, LL. D.
A name that stands preeminent among those that have given luster to the bar of Cincinnati 'is that of the subject of this sketch, who was born January 1, 1815, at Leicester, Vermont, and was a son of Aaron and Eliza- beth (Fyfe) Perry. He received his early education in the common schools. Subsequently he studied law and was for a time editor of a country news- paper. He entered Yale Law School in 1837 and the following year received his degree with his classmate and lifelong friend and neighbor, Alphonso Taft, and with Mr. Taft was admitted to the bar of Connecticut. In Sep- tember of that year he removed to Columbus, Ohio. The statutes of Ohio at that time did not permit of his admission to the State bar without two years of practice in Connecticut or influential friends in Ohio who would vouch for him. Being altogether unacquainted and having, as he himself subse- quently stated, no such friend or any other kind of a friend in Ohio, he was obliged to wait until 1840 before he could enter upon the practice of his pro- fession in this State.
His career at the bar, begun in 1840, continued for a period of 50 years, at the end of which time Mr. Perry retired from the practice which he had done so much to dignify. During his practice in Columbus he was associated at times with Governor William Dennison and Col. Henry B. Carrington. In 1854 he was invited by his classmate, Alphonso Taft, to come to Cincinnati and associate himself with the latter in the practice of the law. He accepted the invitation and joined the firm of Taft, Key & Perry, the second member of the firm being Judge Thomas M. Key. The firm was dissolved in 1861 by reason of the ill health of Judge Key, and Mr. Taft and Mr. Perry became associated as Taft & Perry. Upon the dissolution of this firm Mr. Perry opened a separate office for the practice
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of the law and in 1868 took as his partner Herbert Jenney, who afterwards became his son-in-law, with whom he remained in association until his re- tirement from the bar in 1891.
While living in Columbus he was elected in 1847 to the State House of Representatives as a member of the Whig party. He took an active part in the campaigns of that party and in 1852 was the chairman of the State Central Committee. Upon the formation of the Republican party, he allied himself with that organization and in 1864 was a delegate to the Baltimore convention that nominated President Lincoln for his second term. During the war Mr. Perry rendered such special valuable service to the cause of the North that he received public acknowledgment from Governor Dennison in his annual message and one of the defensive works thrown up near Cincinnati at the time of the threated siege of the city was named in his honor. In recognition of his services, he was many years afterward elected a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, under the provision of the constitution making eligible to that organ- ization gentlemen who in civil life had been distinguished for conspicuous and constant loyalty to the government.
In 1870 he was elected to represent the First Congressional District of Ohio, then largely Democratic, in Congress. He took a prominent part while a member of that body and was a member of the committee on civil service reform. He delivered a speech on that subject which attracted much attention, being one of the earliest discussions of the matter in Congress. He resigned before the end of his term and declined a reelection. In 1876 he headed the Ohio electoral ticket for Mr. Hayes and made speeches throughout the State in that candidate's behalf. Mr. Perry was one of the original members of the Board of Sinking Fund Trustees of Cincinnati ap- pointed in 1877 by the Superior Court of Cincinnati, and for. a time was president of that board, succeeding in 1884 Joseph Longworth, the first president, and serving until his resignation from the board in 1892.
At all times throughout his life, Mr. Perry gave much attention to literary pursuits and wrote much for publication. While in Columbus he had been a contributor to the Ohio State Journal and as such gave to the well known Congressman and wit, Samuel S. Cox, the sobriquet of "Sun- set." The first set of law books which he ever owned was purchased with money earned by writing. He prepared for "Swan's Statutes" the notes and
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abstracts of decision concerning the Virginia Military Land Law. While a citizen at Columbus, by invitation of the mayor of the city he delivered on March 1, 1848, a eulogy on the life and character of John Quincy Adams, who had just died. He also delivered the annual address before the Ohio State Bar Association at Toledo in 1887, and at various times through- out his life by his voice and pen made public his views concerning public affairs and his profession. In recognition of his ability as a writer and an orator and his accomplishments in literature generally, he received the degree of LL. D. from both Marietta College. and the Western Reserve University.
Mr. Perry's greatest prominence, however, was directly in the line of his chosen profession. He loved the law and was wedded to it. A slight physical infirmity (a defect in hearing) tended to encourage devotion to private study which made him one of the most learned members of his profession. To this learning was joined a strong sense of justice and of duty which led him at times to support causes more honorable than profit- able. One of his earliest cases involved the prosecution of certain parties who had abducted froni Ohio into Kentucky a colored man whom they held there as a slave. The victim had been a resident of Ohio for more than 16 years. In this case Mr. Perry was opposed by his old friend Noah H. Swayne, whom he afterward recommended to President Lincoln for appointment to the Supreme bench, and Judge John Brough, subsequently Governor of the State. Mr. Perry not only secured the liberty of the colored man but the conviction of the magistrate who had been a party to the wrong.
In the case of Vallandingham against General Burnside, involving the validity of the arrest of citizens by the military in the time of war, Mr. Perry was retained by the government to assist the United States attorney. Speaking of this, Hon. Judson Harmon in his address before the State Bar Association comments as follows: "It took a strong man to maintain debate with George F. Pugh, who was counsel for Mr. Vallandingham. It required a wise, safe, cautious and learned man, with ingenuity tempered with broad sagacity, to sustain Mr. Lincoln in the arrest of this distin- guished prisoner without rudely pulling down the pillars of the temple of Liberty. Without passing judgment on the merits of the case, it may justly be said that Mr. Perry's argument, which is reported in full, gives a good
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display of the extent of his learning, the clearness and fertility of his thought, his logical faculty, the force and nicety of his diction, his power of analysis, the play of his fancy, and his humor which gave spice without bitterness to his discourse."
In 1870 when by new legislation the Circuit courts of the United States were reorganized and new Circuit judges were to be appointed, Mr. Perry's character and prominence at the bar naturally suggested him as most fit for such an appointment. Overtures were made to learn whether the position would be agreeable to him with intimations of a formal in- vitation to follow if his answer were favorable. After mature reflection, although strongly attracted to judicial work, Mr. Perry concluded that the difficulty of hearing from which he suffered would so far prove an obstacle to complete and satisfactory performance of judicial duty that he ought not to accept the appointment. His frank statement of this conclusion ter- minated the incident.
In 1873 he was selected by the President of the United States as senior counsel on behalf of the government in the suit against the Union Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier, which involved enormous interests and millions of dollars. He was also leading counsel in the great railway suit of Jewett against Vanderbilt in 1881, concerning the Erie Railroad.
In the early part of January, 1891, Mr. Perry having completed more than 50 years of service at the bar, during which time he had maintained a position among the members of his profession unsurpassed in the United States, quietly notified his clients that he felt that the time had come when he had earned the right to retire from active pursuits. This occasion, a remarkable one in the history of the profession, was marked by a compli- mentary dinner at the Burnet House on Friday evening, January 16, 1891, tendered by the lawyers of Cincinnati to their distinguished associate. This dinner was presided over by Governor Cox and attended by Judge Sage, representing the United States Court, and by the entire Supreme Court of Ohio, which came from Columbus for the purpose, as well as by the leading lawyers of the profession of the city and neighborhood. When Mr. Perry rose to respond to the toast of the evening, the entire audience rose with him, a touching tribute showing the depths of respect and affection felt for him by liis friends and associates. In his remarks he contrasted the practice of the law of the half century previous with that of the time of
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speaking and reviewed briefly some of the changes that had occurred. Other speakers of the evening were Mr. Groesbeck, Mr. Ramsay, Judge Sage and Judge Mallon.
On January 20th of the same year the Bar Association tendered a reception to their fellow member which was also largely attended. After retiring from practice, Mr. Perry was given two years of life to enjoy a well earned rest with his family and friends. He died suddenly at his residence on Mount Auburn, March 11, 1893, in the 79th year of his age, and was buried two days later, just two days before the day when accord- ing to arrangement he and his wife were to have celebrated their golden wedding. His death caused universal regret throughout the city and called forth expressions of sympathy and appreciation from the press throughout the country as well as from many prominent citizens.
At a meeting of the bar of Hamilton County held March 23, 1893, in the rooms of the Circuit Court, the members of the bar expressed with appropriate resolutions their sense of the loss sustained. The meeting had for its officers Judge George R. Sage, chairman, and Thornton M. Hinkle, secretary, and the following committee prepared the memorial : William M. Ramsay, Patrick Mallon, E. W. Kittredge, John W. Warring- ton, George B. Hollister, William H. Taft and Rufus B. Smith. Addresses were delivered by Judge Taft and Mr. Kittredge and others. Other or- ganizations with which he had been connected, such as the Literary Club, , the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the State Bar Association, held memorial services in honor of their distinguished member.
Mr. Perry was versed in the law and took a particularly broad view of its principles. Although he received his training in the earlier days when forms and technicalities received more consideration than at present, he never permitted the principles of justice to be obscured by them. He had great respect for the learning and precedents of the past but the keenest of minds for the appreciation of the changing conditions of the present. His diction was pure and simple and very forcible. He had great courtesy of manner combined with the saving sense of humor and a keen and lively wit which, however, flashed to please and not to wound. As a result, no man was more beloved by the community, the young as well as the old. Children were especially fond of him and as they have grown older have
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come to realize that it was a privilege to have known one who was called by one of our most distinguished lawyers the last of the generation of great lawyers of Cincinnati to which he belonged.
Mr. Perry was married, March 16, 1843, to Elizabeth Williams, daugh- ter of Micajah T. Williams, one of the pioneers and leading citizens of early Cincinnati and the man to whom, with Alfred Kelley, the State is indebted for its canals. His children are: Mary, the wife of Herbert Jenney; Eliza- beth, the wife of Herman J. Groesbeck; Edith Strong, the wife of Dr. Fred- erick Forchheimer'; and Nelson Williams Perry, deceased, of New York.
JOSEPH COX, JR.
JOSEPH Cox, JR., of Cincinnati, was born in Storrs township, Hamilton County, Ohio, January 1I, 1858, and is a son of Judge Joseph and Mary A. (Curtis) Cox. His grandparents were Dr. Hiram and Margaret (Ed- wards) Cox. Dr. Hiram Cox was a man of high educational attainments and an able physician of Cincinnati, where he located in 1830. Mr. Cox is of Revolutionary stock, and his ancestors came from Virginia and Penn- sylvania.
Judge Joseph Cox was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1822, and came to Cincinnati with his parents in February, 1830. He received a superior college education, after which he entered upon a pro- fessional career as a lawyer. He rose rapidly in his profession. He served 15 years as judge of the Common Pleas Court and 14 years as judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Ohio. On May 9, 1848, he was married to Mary A. Curtis, a daughter of Benjamin R. Curtis of Richmond, Virginia, and they were the parents of four sons and two daughers. Judge Cox died October 13, 1900.
Joseph Cox, Jr., was graduated from Woodward High School in the class of 1877, and immediately thereafter entered the law office of Tilden, Buckwalter & Campbell, his duties being to examine deeds and titles, and to attend to conveyancing and minor suits. In the meantime he attended a course of lectures in the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was gradu- ated in 1879, being admitted to the bar the same year. He immediately began the practice of the law, becoming a partner of his brother, Benjamin
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H. Cox, and Charles W. Cole, under the firm name of Cole, Cox & Cox. In 1881, Mr. Cole retired from the firm, which then became Cox & Cox, con- tinuing as such until the father, Judge Joseph Cox, became head of the firm in 1882. Judge Cox resumed his duties on the bench in 1885, and the firm once more became known as Cox & Cox. In the spring of 1885, Joseph Cox., Jr., received appointment from City Solicitor Frank M. Coppock as the latter's first assistant. While serving in that capacity, he was leading counsel in many cases which involved hundreds of thousands of dollars. Upon retiring from that office, he resumed the general practice of the law, although commercial, insurance and real estate causes have formed the greater part of his practice. Since 1892 he has not been associated with any one, but has practiced alone. His knowledge of the law is thorough and covers a wide range, and he has attained particular success as a trial lawyer. Although his profession has claimed most of his attention, he is broad minded and takes a deep interest in literature and current happenings. He has traveled extensively, both inghis native land and abroad. He was president of the Young Men's Mercantile Library Association for one term, and has been a member of that body for many years. Mr. Cox resides at Madisonville with his wife and two sons.
WILLIAM GOBRECHT.
WILLIAM GOBRECHT, vice-president and general manager of the Orene Parker Company, Covington, who for many years sustained a very high reputation in business circles both in Covington and Cincinnati, died at his home, No. 927 Livingston street, this city, on June 2, 1902. The immediate cause of his death was blood poisoning, resulting from a serious surgical operation.
Mr. Gobrecht was born in 1846, at Wilhelmshausen, Germany, and came to Cincinnati about 1865. He was a man of business ability and for many years led a very active life, becoming identified with many business enterprises which helped to develop the commercial importance of the city. Between 1873 and 1878 he was connected with the internal revenue depart- ment of the government. After leaving the service he returned to Cincinnati, and in association with his brother, established what was known as the
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Gobrecht Architectural Iron Works, which was in existence for some 12 years. Its products adorn many public places, and the massive iron gates at the entrance to Spring Grove Cemetery came from this establishment. About 1892 he became associated with the Orene Parker Company, at Cov- ington, Kentucky, and at the time of his death was its second highest officer.
William Gobrecht was twice married. He first was joined in matri- mony with Rosalie Rupp, nee Glacker, by whom he had the following off- spring : Augustus G., at present with the Wabash Railroad, at Chicago, Illinois; Harry J., a baker in St. Louis, Missouri; Adolph W., who is with the United States General Consulate in the city of Mexico, Mexico; Edwin R., who is engaged in Y. M. C. A. work; and Robert H., who is in the Trans- vaal, South Africa. The last named has seen service in the British Army as dispatch rider, and was honorably discharged in 1902. For almost a vear he was with the British government in postal service at Pietermaritz- burg, Natal. Our subject formed a second union with Anna (Rother) Minck, who had two daughters by a former marriage, namely: Anna D. and Olga I. V. As a result of this union, Mr. Gobrecht and his wife had the following children: Emil H., who is living with his brother, Harry J. Gobrecht, in St. Louis; and William, who is at home in Cincinnati. All the members of his family hastened from their various homes to the bed- side of their beloved father, and all reached him except two sons, Robert H. and Adolph W. Gobrecht. Mr. Gobrecht was a man who possessed many friends, his genial disposition and kind heart endearing him not only to his immediate family, but to all who knew him.
WILLIAM MILLER.
WILLIAM MILLER, formerly president of the Miller Range & Furnace Company, and one of the most prominent and esteemed citizens of Cincin- nati, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, died at his home, No. 2621 Highland avenue, April 10, 1898.
Mr. Miller was born in 1831 in Bremen, Germany, and was 17 years of age and an orphan when he came to Cincinnati to seek his fortune in America. He arrived in this city with $1.25 in cash, and the first thing he
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did in the line of work was to saw a cord of wood in order to pay a friend, who loaned him 50 cents for the transfer of his trunk from the depot. He possessed characteristics and attributes which assure success,-honesty, indus- try and perseverance,-and during a business career of 40 years stood high in the estimation of the commercial world. He was a kind hearted and liberal man, and truly a self made one.
Mr. Miller turned a natural inventive faculty to good purpose and the foundation of his great fortune was the invention of the modern kitchen range, an invention which carried his name all around the world. It was his inventive genius which also placed on the market the modern, complete and satisfactory furnace, and wherever ranges or furnaces are in use, there the name of Miller is known. He became one of the industrial leaders of Cincinnati, his energy, perseverance and business ability bringing him to the front as a manufacturer.
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