USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. II, Pt. 2 > Part 8
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In 1879 Mr. Benjamin removed to Cincinnati where he was welcomed into both business and social life, and he continued to make this city his home until his death. For many years he was treasurer of the Block-Pollak Iron Company, but retired from active participation in business in 1893. He was prominent in Masonry, being a member of Cincinnati Lodge, No. 133, F. & A. M., and McMillan Chapter, No. 19, R. A. M. He also belonged to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Honor. He was an honored member of the K. K. Bene Israel.
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In 1883 Mr. Benjamin was united in marriage with Ida Lehman of Jacksonville, Illinois, and two children were born to them. Mr. Benjamin was a man of honorable business principles and of benevolent instincts. He was always a humanitarian and his purse was always open to the calls of charity. His remains were laid to rest in the beautiful United Jewish Cemetery on Walnut Hills and his memory is tenderly cherished by his family and by all those who were suffered to come into bonds of close ac- quaintance.
THOMAS MCDOUGALL.
The death of Thomas McDougall, on July 18, 1899, at his country home, at South Salem, Ohio, closed a life history which reads like a romance. Its beginning was in an humble home in Edinburgh, Scotland, and its end- ing, surrounded by all the appurtenances of wealth, and the loving tributes from the highest officials in the land, to which he came, a raw youth of 23 years, dependent entirely upon his own energy and ability.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1844, he sought wider opportunities in America in 1867, and found work as a machinist in Cincinnati. His energy soon enabled him to become an expert in his line of work, but his mind was set upon the law, and taking opportunity for study, he finally entered the Cincinnati Law School and was graduated in 1871. From the very beginning he displayed that ability which made him, at the comparatively early age of 54 years, one of the ablest lawyers in the State of Ohio. It is a well known fact that he was engaged in some of the most important liti- gation in Ohio's history, and handled some of the largest estates in Hamilton County, notably those of the Longworths, Mrs. Bellamy Storer, and the Gibson property. His business capacity was also most unusual. At the initial meeting of the National Manufacturers' Association held in this city, his plans were adopted, and have resulted in the great prosperity of that organization.
No less notable was Mr. McDougall's political career. No office seeker, always refusing office, he intuitively understood the great game of politics, and with advice and the wisest counsel assisted many an Ohio statesman far up the political ladder. No less a prominent citizen than the late Presi- dent Mckinley was glad to accept his support and advice, and to number
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him among his warmest friends. A beautiful floral offering from this sor- rowing friend occupied a place upon his bier. Engrossed as he was in busi- ness, law and politics, there was still another side to his character which was no less marked. He was a man of deep religious convictions, and from choice surrounded himself with Christian people and entered into the closest church affiliations. He was one of the leaders of the Presbyterian Church in America, and was a very important factor in many of the leading move- ments in that religious body in the past 25 years. Mr. McDougall was selected as one of the lay delegates to the Presbyterian General Assembly before which Rev. Dr. Briggs, of Union Theological College, was tried and convicted of heresy, and at a later date he took an active part in the trial of Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, of Lane Theological Seminary, these being matters of public history. He was originally a member of the Central Pres- byterian Church, but after his removal to his beautiful home on Alpine place, Walnut Hills, he became a member of the First Presbyterian Church, his transfer being regretted by the former congregation, for none could take his place. At one time he conducted a Bible class of 150 members and was wont to illustrate his teachings from current affairs, personal experiences and con- temporary literature. A man of his aggressive character and settled con- victions required much from others, but also demanded much of himself. His contributions to the church always equaled one-tenth of his income and often far exceeded that amount. In Mr. McDougall the sanctity of the Sab- batlı, and the worth of temperate living, always found a defender. The touching resolutions adopted by his fellow churchmen recalled his ability and faithfulness, his constant and generous contributions, his exemplary atti- tude, his discharge of the duties of elder, and his high regard for the Word i . .
of God.
Although deprived of a college education, he was a scholarly man, for he was always a student. His brilliant intellect was partly a natural endow- ment, and partly the result of a correct life, and a never ceasing. study of the greatest and best the world had to offer in literature, art, politics, relig- ion and human experience. . His wonderful power of expression came, in a measure, from his familiarity with the Bible, Cowper and Tennyson. As a boy he learned page after page from these loved books, while lying in the heather on the hills about Edinburgh on Sunday afternoons. He had a power of utterance.equaled by few .. His words were of the strongest
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and purest, and none ever passed his lips that could not have been spoken in the presence of the most refined woman. "He is the strongest personality I know", has been said of him, over and over again, by men who stand the highest in the land.
Mr. McDougall left a bereaved widow and five children. Citizens from all walks of life sincerely mourned one of Ohio's great men. Around his bier gathered notable members of church and bar, and a touching and pathetic event was the singing, for the first time, of a hymn composed by Mr. Mc- Dougall but a short time previously, and set to. the air of "Bonnie Doon." This brief memorial may close with its comforting words:
Ye gentle souls wha love the Lord, And live to do his biddin' here, Wha rest secure upon His word,
And ken His gracious presence near, Why should ye doo't His tender care Who careth, careth still for you? His ear is open to your prayer Wi' love that's ever fresh and true.
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CHARLES WOODWARD, M. D.
No history of the makers, builders and founders of Cincinnati would be in any way complete, without mention being made of the pioneers of the medical profession. One of these early physicians was Charles Wood- ward, who spent a long and useful life devoted to the work of his profession, leaving at his death more practical methods of treatment of many diseases and more scientific knowledge concerning many of the ills to which the flesh is heir.
Dr. Woodward was born in Philadelphia, October 31, 1803, and died in Cincinnati, August 16, 1874. He came of notable ancestry, being on the paternal side a grandson of the noted Col. Moses Woodward of Revolu- tionary fame, and being descended on the maternal side from a noted family of French Huguenot extraction, named Janvier, while his maternal grand- mother belonged to the family of Sir Roland Hill.
Dr. Woodward was graduated from Princeton College in 1825 and two years later from the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, coming to Cincinnati in the same year. Here he practiced his noble
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profession and in a noble way for 46 successive years. He was eminently successful, combining with his thorough knowledge a remarkable devotion to his chosen work and thus, while never seeking prominence, he became one of the most highly valued medical men of this part of the State. A quotation from the columns of a leading newspaper of the city, issued at the time of his death, gives a very complete estimate of the life and services of Dr. Woodward. The extract reads as follows :
"The story of Dr. Woodward's life is a brief and simple one and is sublime in its very simplicity. He sought not the honors of authorship, nor the applause that follows brilliant professorship. Only once did he permit honors to be thrust upon him, as was literally the presidency of the State Medical Association, in 1857. Day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year, went on the patient work which has made him the oldest practitioner in Cincinnati. In his life labor, nothing was given for show; nothing bid for professional or public applause."
Dr. Woodward was united in marriage in 1828 with Amelia Roe, who was a native of Savannah, Georgia. Dr. Woodward is survived by these children: Dr. Josiah L., Dr. William R., John H., an attorney, Dr. Warren R., Dr. Augustus J., Mrs. Daniel Andrews and Amelia E
HON. ISAAC M. JORDAN.
HON. ISAAC M. JORDAN, for many years one of the most prominent members of the Ohio bar, was one of the best known citizens of Cincinnati up to the time of his death. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born May 5, 1835, the youngest member of a family of II children. In 1837, the family moved to West Liberty, Ohio.
Mr. Jordan was thoroughly qualified for the prominent position he was called upon to assume in his successful business career. His naturally quick mind was matured and ripened by study, first in the public schools of his locality, later at Northwood Institute, and finally in Miami College, from which he was graduated in 1857. It was while a collegian there that he founded the Greek letter college fraternity, Sigma Chi, which now counts its members by hundreds and binds together residents the world over. An elder brother, the late Judge Jordan, was becoming well known as a jurist
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at Dayton, Ohio, and it was under the latter's direction that this youngest brother learned the principles of the law and jurisprudence. In 1860, Mr. Jordan came to Cincinnati and was accepted as a partner by Hon. Salmon P. Chase. Four years later he formed a legal partnership with his brother Nathan E. Jordan, to which firm Judge Jordan was later admitted, the firm name being Jordan & Jordans. The firm remained unchanged until the death of Judge Jordan, when Joseph W. O'Hara, who had been identified with the firm for some time, was admitted to membership, the style of the firm being changed to Jordan, Jordan & O'Hara. Isaac M. Jordan had his special place in the firm, possessing as he did the capacity for work and natural ability for investigation and the weighing of evidence, com- bined with the silver tongue of the pleader. Among the last cases engaging his attention, which attracted more than the passing interest of the public, was that of the United States vs. William Means and John R. DeCamp, which through his efforts terminated in favor of the defendant; also the case of Marshall Lafferty, when he and his associates, Senator Voorhees and Hon. J. E. Lamb, successfully defended this individual against the charges preferred by the Ohio & Marietta Railroad Company.
In political sentiment, Mr. Jordan was a lifelong Democrat, and was frequently approached as to his candidacy for political honors. In 1882, he was elected to Congress and served one term, but declined to accept a re- nomination owing to pressing business claims .. During the first administra- tion of President Grover Cleveland, he was tendered the appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Interior, but his business would not permit him to accept this office. Had Mr. Jordan chosen to remain in the field of politics, he undoubtedly would have become one of our country's leading statesmen.
A most lamentable accident, the result of carelessness on the part of an elevator attendant, caused the death of this popular and useful citizen, on December 3, 1890. It caused,a wave of regret to sweep over the city, where he had a wide circle of personal, as well as political and professional, friends. A man of the kindest impulses, charitable and generous to a fault, few knew him except to esteem and admire.
In May, 1863, Mr. Jordan was united in marriage with Elizabeth Phelps of Covington, Kentucky. Mrs. Jordan died June 5, 1903. Three of their five children are living, namely: Isaac M., a prominent lawyer of Cin- cinnati; Mrs. George B. Magoun, whose deceased husband's life is elsewhere
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recorded; and Mrs. H. W. Kinney. The beautiful family residence is on Clifton avenue. It has been stated that no funeral obsequies of any noted man of the city attracted a larger or more representative gathering, all anxious to show their measure of respect for one of Cincinnati's most es- teemed citizens.
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WILLIAM WOODS.
The death of William Woods, on September 19, 1902, removed from Cincinnati one of this city's most prominent business men, and a citizen of more than usual worth. Mr. Woods was of Irish extraction, and his successful business career, even from boyhood, proved that he inherited many of the best characteristics of that virile race. His grandfather, William Woods, whose name he bore, was born in 1760, at Carrigallen, Ireland, and came to this country at an early age, settling at Baltimore, Maryland. There the late William Woods was born, June 21, 1817. Owing to the reverses of his father and the latter's early death, the youth was compelled to leave school and at the early age of 12 years to begin the battle of life. With undaunted courage he sought work and filled positions as farm boy, country store clerk, and providently saved his money, thus accumulating means with which to make his way to a field of larger operations. At that time, 1839, the great railway system of the Baltimore & Ohio had not pushed as far west as Cincinnati, and to reach this city he was obliged to come by way of the old National Road. His pleasant manner and evident qualifications soon secured him a position in a dry goods house, that of Shillito, Burnet & Pullen, and there his services were recognized to be of so useful a nature that he was later admitted to a partnership.
For 20 years Mr. Woods was connected with that great business house with which he then severed connection on account of failing health. His business interests were purchased by the late John Shillito. After a year of recreation, spent mainly in foreign travel, Mr. Woods returned to Cincinnati, rejuvenated and ready to resume business, his opportunity coming in the shape of a partnership, in the paper business, with his brother-in-law, the late William H. Chatfield. Together these partners built up a great enter- prise which grew to be one of the largest in its line west of the Atlantic
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Coast. This business association lasted until the death of Mr. Chatfield, in 1889. An incorporated company was then formed, of which Mr. Woods was made president, a position he honorably filled until his death. Mr. Woods had many other important business connections; he was, with the late L. B. Harrison, one of the organizers and first directors of the First National Bank of this city; he was president of the Cincinnati Equitable Life Insurance Company, and had been identified with many local industrial and mercantile interests. . He accumulated wealth, but in those legitimate chan- nels which reflect only honor upon its possession.
In 1841 Mr. Woods was married to Elizabeth Martin Sharp, a daughter of the late John Sharp, who was a pioneer citizen. She died in 1885. Six children survive these parents, namely: Mrs. William Plankington, of Mil- waukee; John S., of Cincinnati; William H., of New York; Mrs. William H. Wilson, of Knoxville, Tennessee; Harry F., of Cincinnati; and Lizzie, now Mrs. Wilmot J. Hall, of Cincinnati. The second marriage of our sub- ject was to Mrs. Beach of California, and her daughter is the wife of Samuel H. Taft, who is a very prominent lumberman of Cincinnati.
Through an honorable life of 86 years, Mr. Woods maintained the integrity of character which will ever place his name high in this city. He was known for his, generous support of all religious bodies and his great charity. Among other institutions, the Children's Home, of which he was trustee since 1864, continually benefited by his gifts.
REV. MOSES MIELZINER, D. D.
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REV. MOSES MIELZINER, D. D., the late venerable acting president . of the Hebrew Union College, of Cincinnati, succumbed to an attack of heart weakness and passed out of life at his home in Avondale, on February 18, 1903, aged 74 years. This event removed one of the most scholarly mem- bers of the college faculty, and a man whose wide learning and eminently useful life not only enlightened and benefited those of his own religious faith, but were reflected with honor on the city of his residence. Dr. Miel- ziner was born in tlie little town of Schubin, Kreis Bromberg, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, being a son of Rabbi Benjamin Mielziner, who died in 1850, at the age of 50 years. Little authentic knowledge of this
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wise teacher is at hand, but an existing picture shows a fine head, the face reflecting kindness, earnestness and deep thought. His dress is that of the Polish rabbi and he most probably was of the type which characterizes that portion of the Akiba Eger's school which had made peace with modern educa- tion.
In recalling so conspicuous a character as Rev. Dr. Mielziner, it is nec- essary to refer to contemporary history. In 1825 the Prussian minister of public education issued an order, enforcing the establishment of public schools in the Jewish congregations of the Province of Posen, and hence the youth had the great advantage of growing up in a thoroughly Jewish atmosphere without being debarred from contact with modern civilization. Perhaps to this fact may be attributed a part of the happy harmony which always marked his character. Although Rabbi Mielziner has passed away, full of years, his first teacher, Mr. Braunhart, is still surviving, aged about 96 years. The latter was always very proud of his prominent pupil, regularly interchanged letters with him and received from Dr. Mielziner many marks of thoughtful remembrance.
The mother of Dr. Mielziner died when he was quite small, and as his father married again and the family increased in numbers, the lad left his paternal home and continued his education in the little town of Exin, where he took Talmudic instruction from Wolf Klausner, whose son Hirsch had written a Talmudic book. His secular studies he continued without a teacher, being thrown entirely upon his own resources, but realizing that to become thoroughly instructed he must have the proper training, he made his way to Trzemesno, now called Tremessen, where his older brother Ephraim lived, who was a man of the old type, a litterateur, a translator of German poetry into Hebrew. In those days Prussia had not yet adopted the policy of strict Germanization, and therefore the gymnasium of that city was Polish; as the youth was unfamiliar with the Polish language, he did not remain there. He next went to Posen in his search, attracted by the fame of Solomon Plessner, who was a strictly orthodox teacher, and at the same time a stu- dent of German literature, an enthusiastic Jew and a deservedly popular preacher. As already remarked, young Mielziner had imbibed that spirit of harmony 'which shrank from both the extremes of Judaism, and in this noted sage he found too close adherence to old ways to feel satisfied to become his pupil. Therefore he continued his travels and arrived in Berlin in 1845.
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After some preparation he entered the gymnasium, one of his schoolmates being the late Chancellor of the German Empire, Count Caprivi. These were eventful years for the Prussian capital as all students of history must recall, and the events had their inevitable effect upon the young and zealous student. Although conservative in his inclinations, he was a welcome and frequent guest in the home of Samuel Holdheim, the leader of the reform movement and preacher of the congregation, founded in 1845, that was the first in Jewish history to hold religious services on Sunday. In a like way he was a friend of Aaron Bernstein, the Ghetto novelist and scientific author. Both these distinguished men did their best to further the young student, and the former, who had been Land-rabbiner in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, rec- ommended Mielziner to his successor, David Einhorn, who appointed him as preacher and teacher in Waren, in 1852. The little country was then agitated by fierce religious struggles and later Einhorn accepted a call to a newly formed congregation in Budapest, and the government of Mecklen- burg appointed a successor of whom our subject could not approve; in spite of the entreaties of the people and even of the chief rabbi, he resigned the position after two years. The congregation honored him with gifts and marks of esteem. He then went to his brother, Solomon A. Mielziner, min- ister of a small congregation at Aalborg, Denmark, and soon after he was offered a position as minister in Randers, a Danish city. He acquired the strange language very quickly and soon was called to Copenhagen as the principal of a religious school with which a preparatory theological school was connected; one of his disciples was Prof. David Simonsen, who until recently was chief rabbi of that city. The liberal wing of this congregation soon pressed Dr. Mielziner to take the lead in establishing a reform congre- gation, but his peaceful nature was opposed to strife and he therefore was glad to accept, in 1865, the call of the congregation Anshe Chesed of New York City.
In his literary work is seen the profound scholar and the methodical teacher. In Copenhagen he wrote his valuable treatise on "Slavery Amongst the Ancient Hebrews", which was his thesis for his doctor's degree, which he received from the University of Giessen in 1859. He edited a Jewish almanac in the Danish language and wrote various articles for the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums, and for the Ben Chananjah, edited by Leopold Loew, and the latter, in recognition of his services, conferred upon him the
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rabbinical title. In New York he published several sermons in German which were received with approbation. His best work was done, however, during the time that he held the position of professor of Talmud and rab- binical literature, in the Hebrew Union College. "Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce" and "Introduction into the Talmud" are works which will ever reflect fame on their author. He was the successor of the late Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, whose sketch appears in this volume.
Quoting from the eloquent words of one of his old pupils, we repeat : "God bless him for all his faithful labors! He cannot but have gone unto a rich reward! He was dear as a father to us. He would welcome us as sons whenever he would meet us. His letters were always full of affection. He believed, heart and soul, in his old pupils. Some of us have never ceased to remain under his teaching. In our doubts we turned to him; in our per- - plexities we consulted him. Dr. Wise was our Yochaman ben Sakai, who rebuilt Judaism in a "new world"; Dr. Mielziner was our Hillel, the Babylon- · ian, the man of patient gentleness who never tired of teaching, whom no man might frown upon as an enemy. Peace everlasting unto the man of peace; his memory .will mean peace and uplifting to every grateful heart that en- shrines his image." He was conspicuously of a conservative temperament and he detested and avoided controversy, but his conservatism had also a positive side of conviction. Jewish customs and Jewish atmospheres were congenial and necessary to him, his home was stanchly Jewish and repre- sented in reality the poetry of Jewish life, beautiful in the mutual affection of husband and wife, father and children. His relations to his pupils were fatherly in nature, and of cordial friendship and consideration to his col- leagues.
Over a thousand persons filled the large auditorium of the Plum Street Temple on the occasion of the funeral services of the late Dr. Mielziner. The remains of the beloved teacher were taken, after a brief service at the late home, to the Temple and were tenderly borne by the senior class of the Hebrew Union College, in solemn procession up the center aisle to the altar. Following the bereaved survivors came the officiating rabbis, the faculty, board of governors, students of the college, executive board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, representatives of the Jewish Sabbath School Union of America, and a great concourse of those who wished to do the great teacher honor, from all parts of the country. The opening
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