USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Centennial history of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 39
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office, which he has since filled. While superintendent of schools at Man- chester he lectured at the teachers' institutes throughout the state during the summer vacations and also engaged in teaching normal schools, having as many as one hundred and sixty pupils. In 1898 he was granted a high school life certificate by the school examiners of the state. In his present position he has accomplished a work that has drawn to him world-wide at- tention, having instituted many new methods which have proven of marked value in educational work of this character. In all that he does he is actu- ated by a broad and enduring sympathy that prompts him to put forth his best service for the benefit of the unfortunate ones in his charge. Since com- ing to his present position he has been an active member of the National Educational Association, has served for one year as president of the depart- ment of special education of that association. He is also an active and lead- ing member of the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf and of the Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, and at dif. ferent times he has held official positions in these organizations. In 1904 he was appointed international juror of awards in the department of education at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Mr. Jones' first work, upon assuming his present position, was to put the school upon a proper educational basis and to improve the conditions of its inmates. In 1898 he secured the appropriation for the erection of a fine school building, which was erected and completed under his supervision in 1899, at a cost of ninety-one thousand dollars. He also secured a hospital building in 1908, at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. He has greatly augmented the educational advantages by adding the departments of cooking, gymnastics, house painting, cabinetmaking and art. He has also greatly in- creased the facilities for teaching speech and lip reading, having now twenty teachers engaged in that work. He has added a high school department and has extended the time for which pupils may remain in school from ten to thirteen years. The number of pupils has increased thirty per cent in the past fourteen years. During his administration the buildings have been practically remodeled throughout, new steel ceilings, new plumbing, new furnishings and electric lights having been installed, while in other ways the buildings and equipment have been greatly improved. He is putting forth every possible effort through educational and manual training to equip the students with the means of living independent and useful lives.
On the 26th of November, 1885, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Cora MePherson, of Mineral Springs, Adams county, a daughter of A. H. Mc- Pherson, a merchant and hotel man of that place. Mrs. Jones is also taking an active part in the work of the institution and has served as head matron during her husband's administration. Four children have been born unto them, of whom three are living: Marjorie MePherson; Carrie Louise, now a junior at the Ohio State University; and Pauline, a freshman at Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts. The fourth, Helen, died at the age of one year. All three daughters are graduates of the Central high school.
In his political views Mr. Jones has always been a republican. He he- longs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Central Ohio School Masters Club.
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For many years he has been an elder in the Central Presbyterian church and is likewise its treasurer. Fond of reading, he gives his attention largely to the American Statesmen series and kindred works, being much interested in the lives of those who have molded the destiny of the nation and left their impress upon publie thought and action. His own work places him in a prominent position among those whose services have made the world better. He has been a leader in the movement for the education of the deaf, con- tinnally studying out new plans and methods whereby they may be in- structed to speak and to gain for themselves the pleasures that come from rich sources of knowledge. His methods of work have elicited universal at- tention and commendation and in many instances have been incorporated into the work of similar schools.
FRANK C. EATON.
Frank C. Eaton, treasurer of the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Com- pany, was born in Sullivan county, New York, on the 28th of June, 1851. His grandfather, David Eaton, whose birth occurred in Massachusetts, subse- quently took up his abode in New York. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, was a civil engineer by profession and lived to attain the age of eighty- five years. The father of our subject, Darwin G. Eaton, who was born in Chautauqua, New York, in 1835, engaged in teaching and for thirty years was professor and principal of the Packer Institute at Brooklyn, New York. His demise occurred in Brooklyn in 1894. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ann Collins, is a daughter of Mrs. Fannie W. Collins and is still living in Brooklyn at the age of eighty years. She was for many years en- gaged in teaching in Albany, New York.
Frank C. Eaton received his preliminary education in the Brooklyn Polytechnic School and later pursued a classic course at Williams College, winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1872. Subsequently he spent a year in European travel, incidentally giving his attention to the study of French and German. In 1873 he went to Indianapolis to engage in the wholesale book and stationery business. while in 1880 he became a member of the firm of Bowen, Stewart & Company, now the Bobbs-Merrill Com- pany, in which connection he remained until 1882. In January of that year, at the time of the organization of the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Company, he was elected to the office of treasurer of the corporation. His executive ability and superior business qualifications have proven important elements in the prosperity of this concern, which has steadily grown and developed until the original capital of one hundred thousand dollars has been increased until it is now two million dollars, while the company stands among the foremost establishments of this character in the United States.
On the 11th of June, 1879. Mr. Eaton was united in marriage to Miss Alice Wright, a daughter of General George B. and Hetta A. Wright. Her father, who was a prominent citizen of this state, was railway commissioner of
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Ohio for several years and was the receiver of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railway at Indianapolis. For many years he was numbered among the influential and respected residents of Columbus. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have been born three children. Esther, who is a graduate of the Columbus high school and also of Vassar College, won high honors at the latter institution and was prominent in dramatic work. Jeannette, who is also a graduate of the Columbus high school and Vassar College, likewise took an especially active part in literary and dramatic societies. Webster is now a student in the Columbus high school.
In his political views Mr. Eaton is independent, voting for men and measures that he believes will best conserve the general welfare, without re- gard to party affiliation. Throughout the period of his residence in Colum- bus he has been connected with the Congregational church, in which he has served for several terms as deacon and is also a member of the Men's Social Club. Ilis wife also has been active in church and social circles and is identi- fied with the Plant, Flower & Fruit Guild. Mr. Eaton has been treasurer of the Godman Guild Settlement House and was financial secretary of the Children's Hospital for ten years. He is a valued member of the Ohio Club and also belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa and the Sigma Phi. two college fra- ternities. The family home at No. 398 West Fifth avenue is the center of a cultured society cirele and its inmates are well and favorably known through- out Columbns.
JUDGE DEWITT C. BADGER.
While reared amid the quiet environment of farin life with no indication in his youthful days that the future held anything unusual in store for him, Judge DeWitt C. Badger has nevertheless made continnous progress in pro- fessional lines since attaining manhood and the angle of his usefulness and activity has constantly widened until his influence has been felt as a potent and beneficial factor in legislative circles and even more strongly in munici- pal affairs.
The old home farm in Madison county, Ohio, was his birthplace and his natal day was Angust 7, 1858. His parents were Benjamin and Mar- tha (Willoughby) Badger, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was of Virginia lineage. The ancestral record in the maternal line is char- acterized by a display of valor and loyalty when the war clouds have gath- ered over the country, the grandfather and father of Mrs. Badger having participated in the Revolutionary war and in the war of 1812 respectively. While devoting his life to general agricultural pursuits, Benjamin Badger has at different times been called to public office for, without desire on his part for political preferment, his fellow townsmen have recognized his worth and ability and demanded that he serve them in the discharge of certain official duties. He may have served unwillingly but always well. He still lives upon the old homestead farm in Madison county.
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After leaving the grammar schools Judge Badger attended the Bloom- ingsburg Academy in Fayette county and Mount Union College, and between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one years he engaged in teaching in the district schools, while his leisure hours during that period were devoted to the study of law. Admitted to practice at Columbus in 1880, he opened a law office in London, where he remained until 1892, in which year he was called to the bench, being elected common pleas judge for the local sub- division of the fifth judicial district. He remained on the bench ten years and declined to become a third time a nominee for the office. His decisions were models of judicial soundness, being based upon the law and the equity of the case, and besides showing a thorough mastery of the questions in- volved, displayed also a rare simplicity of style and an admirable terse- ness and clearness in the statement of the principles upon which the cases rested.
Judge Badger has not only been connected with the execution but also with the framing of the laws inasmuch as he was elected to congress from the twelfth district in 1902. Previously he had served as prosecuting attorney of Madison county. On his retirement from congress he resumed his law practice and in 1895 he was elected mayor of Columbus, serving for one term. That his administration received popular endorsement and approval is indi- cated by the fact that he would have been again nominated had he not refused to stand for reelection. Preferring the private practice of law he again entered upon active work as counselor and adviser, and his ability has placed him in a prominent position among the lawyers of the capital city. He finds recreation, interest and profit in agricultural life, owning several large and productive farms in Madison county.
In 1885 Judge Badger was married to Miss Sidney Slaughter, a native of Madison county. They have three interesting children, Minnie, Florence and Clinton Badger. Their home is attractive by reason of its cordial hos- pitality. The Judge's circle of friends also includes many of his associates in fraternal lines. When twenty-one years of age he became a Mason and has since taken the degrees of the commandery and the Scottish Rite, and has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with a college fraternity. In politics he has ever been a stalwart democrat and while holding stanchly to his political convictions and his opinions on other subjects of vital moment, he is always tolerant of the opinions and convictions of others.
C. E. PFEIFER. M. D.
Dr. C. E. Pfeifer is one of the more recent additions to the ranks of the medical fraternity in Columbus, beginning practice here in 1904. but al- ready he has a business which is making heavy demands upon his time and energies. He was born in Galion, Ohio. August 29. 1874.
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His father, Peter Pfeifer, was a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and came to the United States in 1830, when five years of age, with his father and the family. In 1840 a removal was made to Galion, Ohio, where for many years the Pfeifer family resided. Peter Pfeifer was a man of broad culture and education, who for some time engaged in teaching school while later he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits and subsequently engaged in merchandising. He married Miss Susannah Helfrich, who was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The death of Mr. Peter Pfeifer occurred in 1901, when he was seventy-five years of age. He left the impress of his in- dividuality for good upon the community where he resided, his worth being widely recognized. He had one brother, Fred Pfeifer, who served as a soldier of the Civil war.
Dr. Pfeifer pursued his early education in the schools of Crawford county, Ohio, and when sixteen years of age, being an adventurous and vigorous boy and anxious to see the world, made his way to the Pacific coast. In 1897 he went to the Klondike where he remained for about three years. He prospected but did not strike gold in paying quantities and therefore turned his attention to the bakery and restaurant business in Dawson, con- ducting the enterprise with good success. He relates many interesting in- cidents about that city and the Klondike. He experienced all the hard- ships of packing over the Chilkoot Pass and roughed it in the mining camps of that country at a time when the work of civilization and improvement seemed scarcely begun there. The lack of transportation facilities made provisions very high and when he was engaged in business in Dawson a fifty-pound sack of flour sold for one hundred and twenty-five dollars and a loaf of bread for a dollar and a half, while a piece of pie and a cup of coffee brought a dollar. Because of the high prices he made money rapidly but like the great majority who are attracted by the gold discoveries put much of it back in the ground in prospecting for the precious metal. When he first passed through Skagway there was but one tent on the site of the town. Two years later when he revisited the place on the return trip, it was a modern and well built city of five thousand inhabitants. He watched with interest the rapid growth and development and his description of life there is very entertaining. as he was a close observer and possesses a retentive memory.
Following his return to "the States" in October, 1899, Dr. Pfeifer de- termined to study medicine and with this end in view spent one year in a private school. He was then enrolled as a student in the Ohio Medical Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in 1904. He began practice on the 16th of June, of that year, opening an office in Cohimbus, where he has since remained, and the growth of his practice is indicative of his thorough understanding of all the principles of the medical science and his correct application of his knowledge to the needs of his patients.
In December, 1904. Dr. Pfeifer was married to Miss Julia Taylor, a daughter of Harvey Taylor of Columbus. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and has served as master of Humboldt Lodge, F. & A. M .. while in the Scottish Rite he has attained the thirty second degree. He is
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also a charter member to the Alpha Kappa Kappa. He has professional membership with the Academy of Medicine, and the Ohio State Medical Association. He has been for three years instructor in Dieteties in the Star- ling-Ohio Medical College and has been on the staff of the free dispensary since his graduation. His professional labor is regarded as of value by the general community and he enjoys the respect of his brethren of the medi- cal fraternity by reason of his striet conformity to a high standard of pro- fessional ethic -. He is a popular man, making steady progress in his pro- fession and gaining steadily in the friendship of those with whom he comes in contact.
LOUIS G. ADDISON.
Louis G. Addison came from among the deep valleys and lofty summits of southeastern Ohio, where he met nature face to face and learned many of her ways. He stands today as a prominent representative of the legal fraternity in the capital city and also as a valued factor in various business enterprises, being especially well known in financial circles. He was born in Perry county, Ohio, April 29, 1861, and is a son of Edward and Clara (Wisehurt) Addison, who were married at Zanesville, Ohio. Mrs. Addison, however, was born in Franklinton. district of Columbus, and was related to General Charles C. Waleutt, of this city, one of Ohio's distinguished military officers. Edward Addison served as a soldier throughout the greater part of the Civil war, in- cluding the celebrated march with Sherman to the sea. His brother-in-law, John Wisehart, was also a member of the army, while three uncles of Mrs. Charles Addison were soldiers of the Civil war, two of whom were killed in action at Stone river. The survivor of the three was an officer who, after the close of the war, resided at Chillicothe, Ohio, and attained prominence in civil life.
Louis (. Addison pursued his education in the country schools of Perry county and showed great aptitude in the assimilation of knowledge. He started ont to make his own way in life when but twelve years of age, for the family numbered fourteen children and he proposed to save his father the burden of taking care of one member of the family. He songht service in various lines of business as opportunity offered and when still quite young engaged in teaching in the district schools, being accounted one of the most efficient public school teachers of his part of the state. He also sold books at different times and was steward of the college club when in the university, so that by various respectable and honest methods he paid his own way, not only providing the material things of life, but also meeting the demands of his nature for advancement in educational lines. He completed a course of phil- osophy in the Ohio State University in 1887 und then in preparation for the bar pursned a law course, winning his Bachelor of Law degree in 1891. During his college days he found a friend in Judge Nash, who promised him that after he had finished a course of study in law that he should enter the Judge's office.
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LOUIS G. ADDISON
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ASTCH. LENOX AND
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This promise was fulfilled and his early association in the practice of law proved of the utmost value to him. He is today at the head of the well known law firm of Addison, Sinks & Babcock, taking rank with the leading law firms of the city and numbering many of the important corporations of Columbus and central Ohio among its clients.
From the beginning the law practice of Mr. Addison has witnessed phe- nomenal growth. As a corporation lawyer he has few equals in the middle west and in this connection he represents many of the largest business concerns of the capital city. He is in love with his profession and few men possess his indomitable energy so that, as the years have passed, he has won notable suc- cess in the conduct of legitimate interests and has established himself in a prominent position at the Ohio bar.
While Mr. Addison regards the practice of law as his real life work and gives to it the major part of his attention, he has yet extended his efforts into other lines and various business concerns, in which he is financially interested, have profited by his wise counsel and keen discrimination in the complexities of business life. He is a director of the Security Savings Bank, the Groveport Bank and the Reynoldsburg Bank and is also a director of the New York Coal Company, the Buckeye Transfer & Storage Company and numerous others, while of the Columbus Gas & Fuel Company, he is general counsel.
On the 18th of September, 1901, Mr. Addison was married to Miss Lida Kinsell, of Moscow, Ohio, and they have one child, Frances Ruth. Mr. Addison is a man of great affability combined with that quality which, for want of a better term, has been called, magnetic personality. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Columbus, Ohio and Columbus Country Clubs and he is also a member of the Franklin County Bar Associa- tion. His life record indicates most clearly that force of circumstances, natural ability and well developed powers can carry an individual into important re- lations notwithstanding the fact that early environment and lack of oppor- tunity seem to constitute a bar to progress. Strength of character can at any time overcome circumstances and merit in the end will win success. Mr. Addison is today in a prominent position in relation to business interests while without invidions distinction he may be termed one of the foremost corporation lawyers of the state.
FRANK R. SHINN.
A man of keen perception, of clear sagacity and nudaunted enterprise, the seces- of Frank R. Shinn is also due to a great extent to that quality which has enabled him to successfully understand and control men and affairs. Through successive stages of development he has worked his way upward and is vice president and cashier of the Citizens Savings Bank and a prominent figure in financial cireles in Columbus. He was born in the capital city. July 20. 1861. his parents being W. H. H. and Mary J. (Craver) Shinn, the former a native of Hillsboro, Ohio, and the latter of
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Lebanon, Ohio. The father was an agent of the Little Miami Railroad be- fore it was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and afterward was agent for the lines of the latter in Columbus. He was also one of the incorporators and one of the first directors of the Citizens Savings Bank. He died in 1874, but is still survived by his wife.
Through grade after grade of the public schools Frank P. Shinn con- tinued his educational progress until he completed the high-school cours. by graduation in June, 1878. In September of that year he entered the Citizens Savings Bank as messenger boy and has filled all of the various positions in the bank up to and including that of cashier, to which he was elected on the 1st of June, 1882. After twenty-one years in that capacity he was also chosen vice president on the 1st of July, 1903, and now gives his attention to the duties of the dual position. He was but n lad when he entered the bank and had no intention of remaining, accepting the posi- tion there merely as an expedient until he could get something better to do. He promptly and diligently performed every task assigned him, however, and his services were soon recognized as of such value that he was promoted, and round by round he climbed the ladder to his present position. Aside from his duties in the bank he served on the loan committee of the clearing house with John G. Deshler and F. W. Prentiss during the financial panic of 1907.
In 1904 Mr. Shinn was alternate to the republican national conven- tion which met in Chicago, and has always given that party his support at the polls. He is a member of the Columbus, Arlington and Wyandotte Clubs, and is popular in these different organizations, being regarded by his many friends as a man of worth who has by his own unaided efforts worked his way upward to a position of affluence. His life has been one of industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable business methods which he has followed have won him the confidence of many. Without the aid and influence of wealth he has risen to a position among the leading figures of Columbus and his native genins and innate ability have constituted the key which has unlocked for him the portals of success.
WILBUR TAYLOR ELDRIDGE.
Wilbur Taylor Eldridge, who is well known as a valuator of and dealer in real estate in Columbus, his native city, has manifested in his business career those qualities of enterprise und diligence which are indispensable concomitants of all success. Born in the capital city. August 29, 1858, he is a son of Charles Eldridge, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who came to Columbus in 1839 when a youth of sixteen years. In early life he learned the miller's trade and following his marriage in 1850 he engaged in the retail grocery business, becoming one of the prominent, valued and honored merchants of the city. He continued in active trade here until 1890, when a handsome competence which he had acquired enabled him to
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