USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Centennial history of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Vol. I > Part 57
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E. K. HIBBS
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ark, Ohio, and the high school at Grogan, this state. He is a member of the Builders' Exchange and of the North Side Board of Trade and is widely recog- nized as one of the prosperous, popular and worthy representatives of his pro- fession, occupying a handsome suite of offices in the Columbus Savings & Trust building.
As a companion and helpmate on life's journey Mr. Hibbs chose Miss Kathern Ginby, a daughter of Thomas Ginby, who is a well known citizen of Columbus. They occupy a commodious and attractive residence at No. 517 West Fifth avenue. In his political views Mr. Hibbs is a stanch republican, while his fraternal relations are with the Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Red Men of America. His life has been preeminently that of a business man who is concentrating his time and energies upon his private affairs in the ac- quirement of a gratifying measure of success, which he well merits.
HERVEY W. WHITAKER, M. D.
While Dr. Whitaker is well known in Columbus as a successful phy- sician he is known in the scientific world as an ethnologist although his studies have been prosecuted for his own interest and not for pecuniary profit. He was born in Montgomery county, near Clarksville, Tennessee, August 15, 1857. He comes of a family of English lineage, established in America in the early colonial days when representatives of the name settled in Maryland. His grandfather, George Washington Whitaker, was person- ally acquainted with every president from Washington to Grant, passing away during the administration of the hero of Appomattox, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. His wife was of Welsh lineage, her father having settled in North Carolina, while both families removed at an early date to Montgomery county, Tennessee.
Dr. Hervey M. Whitaker, father of Dr. Whitaker, was a native of Ken- tucky and in early life studied medicine, which he practiced for many years in Montgomery county, Tennessee, becoming one of the most prominent physicians of that section of the state. He made a professional visit only twenty-four hours prior to his demise, which occurred when he was sixty- seven years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Williams, was a native of Nashville, Tennessee, and died in 1905. They were the par- ents of three daughters and two sons, the brother of Dr. Whitaker being a resident of Nashville.
Reared in the state of his nativity Dr. Whitaker supplemented his pre- liminary education by study in the University of Tennessee and with broad literary knowledge to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the super- structure of professional learning he entered the Starling Medical College in 1879 and was graduated in 1881, his studies being directed in a large measure by Dr. Loving, a noted physician of that period. He has since taken post-graduate work in Philadelphia, and considerable hospital expe- rience has added to his knowledge and capability. In July, 1881, he was
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appointed assistant surgeon in the United States navy, and during one of his several cruises he spent much time among the islands of the southern Pacific. While there Dr. Whitaker became much interested in the subject of ethnol- ogy and his researches and investigations along that line led to his making a special trip to Easter Island for the Smithsonian Institute. He also made several cruises to Europe and his extensive travel has brought him an intimate and interesting knowledge of various countries concerning which he has studied broadly acquainting himself with the history of the ancient as well as the modern peoples.
In 1890 Dr. Whitaker located in Columbus, where he has since given his attention largely to the general practice of medicine. He belongs to the Academy of Medicine, American Medical Association, the State Medical Soci- ety and the Mississippi Valley Medical Association. He has attained high rank in Masonry, having taken the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite while with the nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has also crossed the desert. Literature furnishes his chief source of recreation and a few minutes' conver- sation with Dr. Whitaker indicates the breadth of his reading and his scholarly attainments. Study and travel have made him the most interesting companion and his researches have covered various fields of scientific investi- gation. He has contributed to various literary journals but is at present en- gaged in the practice of his profession and is also acting as associate professor of the practice of medicine.
NOAH CHERRY.
Noah Cherry, the well known proprietor of the Cherry Hotel at Canal Winchester, was born on the 15th of June, 1857. His father, Andrew Cherry, whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania, May 13, 1820, was married on the 18th of April, 1839, to Miss Sarah Miller, who was born in Adelphi, Ohio, September 9, 1817. At the time of his marriage, being then only nine- teen years of age, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Ross county, Ohio, and with resolute spirit and a determination to succeed, the young couple established their home in the undeveloped and unsettled region. Andrew Cherry cleared his one hundred and sixty acre tract unaided and in due course of time was rewarded by annual harvests of golden grain. He also erected his first log cabin and made his home on the place until 1863, when he disposed of the property and in 1873 purchased what was known as the Job Zeigler farm, comprising one hundred and sixty-six acres in Fair- field county. There he resided until 1899, when he retired from the active work of the fields and took up his abode in Waterloo. In his farming opera- tions he met with a gratifying and well merited measure of success and was widely recognized as a model exponent of agricultural interests. He won many prizes for the excellent quality of his corn and wheat and also raised high grade cattle, hogs and horses, always having a fine specimen of the noble steed for sale. His demise, which occurred in 1903, was the occasion
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of deep and widespread regret. In politics he was a sturdy democrat, while his religious belief was indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, in the faith of which he reared his family. For more than a quarter of a century he had survived his wife, who was called to her final rest in 1877. Mr. Miller, the father of Mrs. Cherry, was also numbered among the pioneer settlers and was noted as a successful hunter and trapper of the early days. His wife, a typical pioneer woman, was an adept in the art of spinning and weaving and made various garments for the members of the household. The record of the children of Andrew and Sarah (Miller) Cherry is as follows: George, born January 31, 1842; Mrs. Margaret Dixon, whose birth occurred September 15, 1844; Mrs. Catherine Miller, who was born February 13, 1848; Mrs. Ann Gley, born October 11, 1849; Mrs. Mary Knepper, born May 14, 1851; Mrs. Harriet Sailor, born October 15, 1854; Noah, of this review ; and Alfred, who was born October 10, 1860.
At the early age of ten years Noah Cherry assisted in the operation of the home farm, performing as much work as a man, and up to the time he was twenty-one years of age he gave his father the benefit of his services, receiving no recompense save his board and clothes. He was married at the age of twenty years, eleven and a half months but remained with his father until he had fully attained his majority, when he rented a tract of land and sowed it to wheat, from the sale of which he received his first cash capital. Purchasing a team and farm implements, he rented a piece of land for two years and on the expiration of that period disposed of his entire possessions and removed to Shelby county, Illinois. He there rented some property and bought a complete line of farm implements but at the end of eighteen months his wife was taken ill and he was compelled to return to Ohio, where he operated his father's farm for six years. Subsequently he bought a farm of eighty acres but after residing thereon for three years he sold the property and in 1896 purchased the Cherry Hotel at Canal Winchester, which he has since owned. It is a model hostlery and Mr. Cherry also conducts a fine livery stable in connection therewith. Save for the assistance of his estim- able wife, he has gained his success entirely through his own unremitting labor and unflagging diligence. Though but eighteen years of age at the time of her marriage, Mrs. Cherry at once proved herself a capable and efficient helpmate. A number of men were employed on the construction of a railroad in the vicinity of her home and she took upon herself the task of boarding nineteen of them for four weeks. They fitted up an outbuilding for lodging purposes and she provided their meals and did all other neces- sary work. She now manages the Cherry Hotel-a line of activity for which she is rarely adapted, being a cheerful and untiring worker and one who finds pleasure in providing for the comfort of her guests. Mr. Cherry gives his attention principally to the livery business and the buying and selling of horses and is the owner of a very fine German coach horse which was im- ported direct from Germany.
On the 19th of May, 1878, Mr. Cherry was united in marriage to Miss Hannah M. Washburn, whose birth occurred August 27, 1860. Her father, William Washburn, who was a ship builder by occupation, passed away when
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she was but three years of age. Unto our subject and his wife have been born three children: Nellie I., whose birth occurred at Canal Winchester, January 21, 1879, became the wife of Otis Haynes on the 14th of October, 1896. She now has two children, namely: Fay M., born July 10, 1902; and Carmen Evelyn, born December 15, 1906. Ralph A. Cherry was born in Shelby county, Illinois, April 14, 1882, and on the 19th of September, 1900, wedded Miss Rachel R. Woolshire, by whom he has two children: Francis O'Neal, born April 30, 1902; and Bernice E., born January 16, 1907. Henry Frank Cherry is a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, his birth there occurring on the 29th of January, 1894. Both Mr. and Mrs. Noah Cherry have a host of friends and acquaintances throughout the community and are widely recognized as substantial upright and respected people.
CHARLES E. BELCHER.
Charles E. Belcher, teaching school at the age of sixteen years, has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources, his life being marked by an orderly progression that has brought him professional prominence. He is now recognized as one of the strong and successful members of the Colum- bus bar and as one of the active working members of the administrating party in Ohio. A native of Lawrence county, this state, he was born February 4, 1870, and is a son of Dr. John W. and Mary (Stuart) Belcher. The father was a native of Kentucky but of Virginia parentage and of Revolutionary stock. The great-grandfather, George Belcher, served with General Green through the Carolinas and was wounded by a gunshot at Guilford Courthouse. He was afterward made a colonel of the colonial troops of Virginia and thus aided in the cause of independence during the Revolutionary war. The same patriotism and military spirit was manifested by the father when, during the Civil war, he joined the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. On one occasion, while on the march, he became ill. He had previously studied medicine and being unfit for field service, he was placed in a hospital at Gal- lipolis, Ohio, as steward. When the war was ended he gave his attention to the practice of medicine in Lawrence and Gallia counties, devoting thirty years to that work, after graduating from the Miami University at Cincin- nati. For some years now he has lived retired, enjoying a well earned rest in the evening of life. His wife was of Scotch-Irish lineage and also came of a family represented in the American army during the Revolutionary war. For many years she was engaged in school teaching, being recognized as a lady of superior intellectual attainment. She, too, survives, Dr. and Mrs. Belcher being now residents of Montana.
Charles E. Belcher attended the public and select schools of his native county and pursued a scientific course in the normal school at Valparaiso, Indiana. He engaged in teaching for ten years, beginning at the age of sixteen, and in the schoolroom he displayed much ability in imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired. In the meantime he
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took up the study of law and was admitted to bar in June, 1895. In March of the following year he began practice in Ironton, Ohio, where he remained for ten years, and not only succeeded in winning a large and distinctively representative clientage there but also became recognized as one of the prom- inent representatives of democracy in that part of the state. He was nomi- nated for congress in the ninth district but was defeated and in 1900 for presidential elector on the democratic ticket but like the remainder of the ticket met defeat at that time. He continued in practice in Ironton until January, 1906, when he came to Columbus and is now a member of the well known firm of Marriott, Belcher & Connor. He has already become well known as an able lawyer ere his removal to the city and has always enjoyed a good practice here.
On the 8th of March, 1896, Mr. Belcher was married to Miss Lexie V. Gates of Gallia county, Ohio, and they have two children, Charles H. and Bessie M. The family attend the Indianola Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Belcher is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the Franklin County Bar Asso- ciation and has the good will and friendship of many of the leading mem- bers of the legal profession here. He is manifesting in his practice a thorough grasp of the law with his ability to accurately apply its principles, and his clear, precise diction and logical deductions are factors in his effective- ness as an advocate.
HENRY MAETZEL.
Henry Maetzel, who is capably filling the office of chief city engineer and is also connected in a consulting capacity with Henry Maetzel & Com- pany, architects of Columbus, was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of August, 1866. The father, George H. Maetzel, a native of Germany, crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1856, locating in Providence, Rhode Island, where he engaged in architectural and engineering work. During the time of the Civil war he was engineer of the United States arsenal at Providence, Rhode Island, and when hostilities had ceased he removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, there accepting a position with the Pittsburg Loco- motive Works. Subsequently he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railway in the civil engineering department and was prominently connected with the construction of the company's shops at Dennison, Ohio. In 1868 he came to Columbus and was with the railway for one year, after which he engaged in business as an architect, thus continuing with gratifying suc- cess until his demise in 1892. His wife, also a native of the fatherland, landed in Baltimore after completing the ocean voyage and was a passenger on the last train that went from Baltimore to Pittsburg before the bridges were burned at Harper's Ferry. She was married to Mr. Maetzel in 1865 and still survives him, having now attained the age of sixty-four years.
Henry Maetzel obtained his preliminary education in the graded and high schools and in 1885 entered the Ohio State University, where he re-
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mained for two years. He then entered the employ of his father and sub- sequently accepted a position with the Pennsylvania Railway in the motive power department, being thus engaged until 1889. In that year he went to Germany and took up the study of general engineering in a school at Mitt- weida, Saxony, finishing the three years' course in 1892. On returning to the United States he entered the service of the Columbus Bridge Company, with which he remained as draftsman for a year and a half and then became assistant city engineer under Josiah Kinnear, being placed in charge of the High and Front street viaduct work. He resigned the latter position in 1895 in order to become a candidate for the office of surveyor of Franklin county and, being elected, assumed the duties of the new position in January, 1896. By reelection he remained in the office of surveyor until September, 1902, his service thus covering a period of six years and eight months. He then established himself in business as an architect and consulting engineer and was then successfully engaged until March, 1906, when he was appointed by. the public service board as chief engineer of Columbus. During his county administration he erected nearly all the important bridges of Franklin county and introduced the system of permanent bridge floors which has since been generally adopted. He is widely recognized as a most successful and prom- inent representative of his profession and is a valued member of the Colum- bus Society of Architects, the Columbus Board of Trade and the Olentangy Club.
On the 5th of December, 1901, Mr. Maetzel was united in marriage to Miss Lottie Ellis, a daughter of A. J. Ellis, a retired engineer of the Penn- sylvania Railway. Mrs. Maetzel has a brother, O. K. Ellis, who is super- intendent of the Franklin county infirmary. Unto our subject and his wife has been born one daughter, Lillian, now four years of age.
Mr. Maetzel is a devoted member of the Independent Protestant church, has attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry and belongs to the Colum- bus Collectors Club and the American Philatelic Society. He resides in an attractive home at No. 165 Deshler avenue, and for his present position in business, financial and social circles he deserves much credit, having ad- vanced through his own labors and genuine worth.
JAMES TIMMS.
One of the most successful of the self-made men of this community is James Timms, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, October 23, 1836. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Emery) Timms, were natives of Virginia, but in 1837 they came to Ohio, locating in Malta, Morgan county. At the time of his parents moving to Ohio, James Timms was not a year old. He acquired his education in the schools of Morgan county and on leaving school learned the pattern-maker's trade, which proved congenial to him, as he at that age showed evidence of his inventive genius.
JAMES TIMMS
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On December 31, 1857, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Timms married Miss Mahala Ann Havener, and after a happy married life of nearly a quarter of a century, they were in 1882 separated by death. Mr. Timms was loyal in his devotion to his country during the Civil war, for he was a member of the Ohio National Guard, who went to meet Morgan of the southern army, and later saw active service as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Volunteers.
While living in Malta he designed an adjustable car truck, which was designed to run either on the narrow or standard gauge railroad. About this time Sextus Scott and other gentlemen interested themselves in his patent so in 1880 Mr. Timms moved to Columbus, and through their energy there was organized a company which resulted in the building of the Capital City Car Works. While the works were under construction the company built a car at the Gill Car Works, which was fully tested out on the narrow and standard gauge roads, which were in operation at that time. The works were fully equipped to build cars of the standard dimensions and was working in very good order when one of the largest stockholders forced the company into the hands of a receiver and the property was sold to the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road Company. "Mr. Timms then, being out of employment, went to work at his trade.
Through the influence of E. B. Wall, superintendent of motive power on the Pan Handle Railroad, Mr. Timms was induced to try his hand on a car coupler, which he did, and invented what is known as the Timms car coupler. That was his first invention in that line of what is known as the vertical plane type. He induced Orland Smith, R. M. Rownd, S. P. Peabody and W. F. Goodspeed to take hold of the device, which they did and formed a com- pany known as The Timms Car Coupler Company. W. F. Goodspeed at the time was interested in the Buckeye Malleable Iron Company, a small works, employing about seventy-five men, who made a few couplers which were placed in service, and it was not long before the two companies consolidated, calling the company the Buckeye Malleable Iron & Coupler Company. With- in a very short time Mr. Timms invented the Buckeye coupler, which proved to be a very satisfactory car coupler. The business soon increased, and the company enlarged the works until it covered three and one-half acres of land and turned out about five hundred and fifty couplers and other castings per day. Turning out so many couplers, it became necessary to devise means to anneal the couplers some other way than in pots, so Mr. Timms invented an anneal- ing furnace which did away with the pot system and which saved the com- pany ninety cents on each and every complete coupler made. The furnace had a capacity of holding eighty-five to ninety tons of castings at each heat ; about seven hundred men were employed at the works. The next coupler Mr. Timms brought out, was the Major, which was largely manufactured at the new steel plant, and which they are now making exclusively. During the year 1901 the coupler business grew to such an extent that it was neces- sary to build a new plant, which resulted in the Buckeye Steel Castings Company, with a working force of twelve hundred men and one of the largest plants of its kind in the country. Mr. Timms feels very proud that he
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is the father of a business that has brought hundreds of thousands of dollars into the city.
For more than five years he has not been connected with that company, but finding that a retired life was contrary to his nature, he associated him-' self with Z. L. White, R. M. Rownd, Foster Copeland and others in the Buckeye Fertilizer Company of Buffalo, New York. In 1905, he journeyed to Europe on business and pleasure, and on his return he and his son designed an entirely new coupler called the Excel, which is by far the best coupler ever produced and which is being manufactured on a royalty basis by the Scullin-Gallagher Iron and Steel Company of St. Louis, Missouri, one of the largest plants in the southwest, employing two thousand two hundred men and capable of melting four hundred fifty to five hundred tons per day. Mr. Timms has taken out a great many patents, all of which pertain to railroad equipment, and is still working out new devices.
His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Baptist church on East Broad street, and through his generosity its erection was begun. He is a very useful man, because of the use he has made of his talents and his opportunities, his thoughts not being self-centered, but are given to the minis- tering of life's problems and the fulfillment of the duties as a man in his re- lations to his fellowmen and as a citizen in his relation to the city, state and country.
Mr. Timms is the father of three children, a son, James O., who lives on a splendid farm of two hundred twenty-eight acres, twenty miles north of Columbus ; and two daughters, Mrs. Hattie M. Maugans, who lives in her home on Monroe avenue; and Mrs. Charles S. M. Krumm, who owns the home on Bryden road, and with whom her father lives.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER TAYLOR.
William Alexander Taylor was born in Perry county, Ohio, April 25, 1837. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Owens) Taylor, natives of Lou- doun county and Fauquier county, Virginia, respectively. They came to Ohio in 1817 and located on the farm on which they lived the rest of their lives, reaching the ages of eighty and ninety-one years respectively. Thomas Taylor and Joshua Owens, the grandfathers of William A. Taylor, were sol- diers and officers in the Virginia Line in the war of the Revolution and both were present at the surrender of Yorktown. The respective Taylor-Owens fami- lies are traced back to John Taylor, a dissenting preacher of Gloucestershire, England, 1616, and the Owens of Wales, 1642. The aunt of Mary (Owens) Taylor was a sister of General Simon Kenton. The seven sons and five daughters of Thomas Taylor, Jr., all reached years of maturity, William A. Taylor of this review being the eleventh in order of birth. The father, Thomas Taylor, Jr., with four brothers, served in the war of 1812. Five of his sons, including our subject, enlisted in the Civil war, two being killed in action and a third dying from injuries received. The husband of one of his daughters
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