USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Centennial history of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 42
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divines that visited Trinity and when he died he left a bequest that con- tinues as one of the elements of support in the church work.
The death of Mr. Whiting occurred December 22. 1903. A man of the utmost dignity, whose carriage was circumspect and upright, he yet had a keen sense of humor and especially enjoyed a good story. He was widely recog- nized as a man of noble purpose, scrupulously exact in all of his business dealings, and put aside every opportunity that would have enabled him to take advantage of his fellowmen. In all of his personal, business and church relations his life was so correct and his demeanor so modest and unselfish that he won the respect and love of all, and when he passed away the press of the city paid a glowing tribute to his memory and the good work that he had done. Well might his friends and colleagues say of him:
"He was a man; take him all in all I shall not look upon his like again."
NORMAN DEWEY PERRY.
While materialistic philosophy may exclaim :
"Thou knowest 'tis common; all who live, must die, Passing through nature to eternity,"
it does not take into account the force of an example or the value of cherished memories that remain as a benediction to those who come into contact with an upright. honorable life. While Norman Dewey Perry did not register ¿necess, as some men measure it, by the accumulation of great wealth, he builded for himself an honorable character and all through his life drew to himself the respect, confidence and good will of his fellowmen. He had reached the age of eighty-five years ere he passed away on the 8th of January. 1899, being at that time with his son in Indianapolis, Indiana. His race of life had been well run and there remains to his family and friends the memory of kindly counsel, of unfailing sympathy and his own unsullied honesty.
The birth of Mr. Perry occurred November 26, 1813. He was of Eng- lish descent, tracing his ancestry back to Edmund Perry who. about 1615. left England while Oliver Cromwell was ruling over Great Britain, and sought a home at Plymouth, Massachusetts. When, in the days of religious persecution, the Perrys, who were of the Quaker faith, could no longer endure to remain in Massachusetts, they removed to South Kingston on the waters of Narragansett bay. During the Revolutionary war Benjamin Perry, son of Freeman Perry and uncle of Oliver Hazard Perry, went to Connecticut and was married near Hartford to a Miss Jewett. They became the parents of two daughters and six sous, including William Perry, who was born in Angust. 1782. He wedded Martha Dewey whose birth occurred in 1785, while their marriage was celebrated in 1805. They became parents of three children-Emily. William and Susan-while still living in Con- nectient prior to the war of 1812. During the second period of hostilities
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with Great Britain William Perry, who was one of the minute men, was ordered to New London, as the British were threatening to bombard the town, and it was during his absence that the subject of this review was born. In 1816 his parents with their children removed to Chautauqua county, New York, and in the wilderness built a log cabin and a sawmill on the Canadaway creek. A large number of the Catarraugus Indians were close by and all of the hardships of pioneer life had to be met.
Between the ages of six and ten years Norman Dewey Perry had the privilege of attending school for six months each year but after that spent only three months each year in school until fifteen years of age, the remainder of the time being devoted to work on the farm. Following the mother's death he went to his brother-in-law to learn the paper-making trade, at which he served a four years' apprenticeship, and when nineteen years of age, as the result of correspondence, he obtained a situation in a large paper mill at Toronto, Canada. He started on foot and alone, with but ten dollars in the world, working much of the way, for he had no money with which to pay stage fare. As he felt it necessary to hoard his little sum of money he at times was able to purchase but one meal in twenty-four hours. After a long and tedious journey, however, he reached his destination and began work at four dollars per week and board. receiving that wage for two and a half years. Many a week he put in eighteen hours a day, beginning at six o'clock Monday morning and working until midnight on Saturday. For fifty years he remained in active connection with the paper trade. His experi- ences in Canada were in some ways unique and interesting. When the mill was foreed to shut down because of the hard winters, the headraces being frozen over, he attended parliament and listened to many of the able speakers of that day, being present also at the trial of William Lyon MeKenzie.
In the fall of 1835 Mr. Perry left Canada, expecting to stop at Dunkirk, near his old home, but a storm prevented the ship making that port and eventually they reached Detroit, Michigan. As he had a sister, Mrs. Emily Foster, living in that city and an uncle, Chester Perry, at Ypsilanti, he decided to visit them, and after so doing, took a boat bound for Buffalo. In due course of time he reached home and soon afterward started with his father for the west with a horse and open spring wagon. Their destination was Chicago but at Norwalk, Ohio, Mr. Perry was induced by his brother- in-law, Andrew Sprague, to take charge of a paper mill there, formerly managed by Mr. Sprague, who wished to give up the position in order to go to Michigan. At that time Mr. Perry had but three hundred dollars in his pocket which he gave to the mill owner in exchange for two lots. The venture, however, was not very profitable, for it was about this time that president Jackson vetoed the United States bank bill and directed all state banks to issue largely to meet the public wants. The result was the "red dog" and "wild cat" bank bills and consequent hard times, for money was not good out of the neighborhood in which it was issued.
It was in January, 1836, that Mr. Perry married Miss Susan Allen. and on the 27th of November of the same year a little daughter. Mary. afterward Mrs. Buell, was born. Feeling that the mill at Norwalk would
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not give him a good living, in April, 1837, he secured a team and removed to Cuyahoga Falls, about one hundred and twenty miles distant. There he obtained a position in a paper mill and the following spring went to Zanes- ville, Ohio, to accept what he believed was a better position. He worked for twelve hours each week day for a dollar and a quarter per day and boarded himself, but after four months found this insufficient for the needs of him- self and family and started to walk to Wheeling, West Virginia, seventy- five miles away. From that point he proceeded to his old home and there obtained a position at putting up a wrapping machine and operating it through the winter. In July, 1839, he was offered a position at Delaware, Ohio, where a mill was being built, and removed his family there, consist- ing of his wife, daughter and a son, the latter being Albert A. Perry, born at Cuyahoga Falls, March 6, 1838. At Delaware he assisted in installing and then in operating the mill machinery but in November, 1840, the mill was destroyed by fire. With characteristic energy, however, he assisted in its rebuilding and within one hundred days work was resumed. For many years they manufactured the printing paper for the state, for at that time there was no paper made in Columbus or Cleveland. Around the mill grew up a little village which, on the 4th of July, 1842, was christened Stratford on the Olentangy. For a third of a century this village continued to flourish but following the financial panic in the '70s its manufactories were closed and its business enterprise became a thing of the past.
Mr. Perry worked in the mill at a dollar and a quarter per day until 1847, when he took charge of the mill at a salary of ten dollars per week- as much as was ever paid at that time. In January, 1850, he became partner in the mill, joining the firm of Williams & Andrews, who had been sole proprietors up to that time. He also became jointly interested in their store and real estate, the firm deeding to him a sixth of the whole, valued at forty thousand dollars.
In April, 1849, Mr. Perry was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife and had previously lost a little daughter. On the Ist of April, 1850, he wedded Mary A. Christ, who was born at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, No- vember 17, 1825, and in 1831 had been taken by her parents to Delaware county, Ohio. In the spring of 1852 Mr. Perry traded his home for a dwell- ing opposite the stone mill. In the meantime his son, William R. Perry, was born January 19. 1851, and in the new home occurred the birth of W. Irving Perry, August 31, 1852; Florence N. Perry, December 30. 1853; and Oliver Hazard Perry, February 23, 1855.
For several years the paper mill in which Mr. Perry was a partner continued to flourish but on the 17th of February, 1857, the firm suffered the loss of twenty-five thousand dollars by fire, the print mill being destroyed. It was rebuilt, however, and operations were resumed. The task of getting good wash water was a difficult one until finally they bored for water and after going down in rock two hundred feet got a good supply of water running about one hundred gallons per minute. Business was carried on along the usual routine until 1863. While the war largely advanced prices in many other lines, there was no marked advance in paper or paper material until
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1863. Late in the fall of 1862 the firm took a contract for the state printing paper at a little less than eight cente per pound. The following year prices began to advance but the firm kept operating the mill until their losses amounted to five thousand dollars. Mr. Perry then went before the legis- lature and stated his case. It seemed that he would be successful in getting what he wished up to the time of the final reading of the bill, when a mem- ber from Franklin county brought up a bill to increase the price of printing and binding on state contracts. Other members felt that if there was to be an advance on all state contracts they would grant it on none. The Wil- liams, Andrews & Perry Company then refused to make more paper and when sued for non-performance of contract won their suit. They contin- ued paper manufacturing for several years, during which time prices were very good, at times thirty-one cents per pound being paid for state paper. In the meantime Mr. Perry had purchased a farin and the good sale of the mill products enabled him to clear his mill and his farm of all indebted- ness. But in 1866 he was over-persuaded by his partner, James Andrews. to open a store in Columbus. That did not prove profitable, however, and paper continued to decline in value until at length the mill was disposed of at forced sale. Then, after fifty years' connection with the paper business, Mr. Perry turned his attention to other pursuits.
It was in the fall of 1879 that he established a grocery at the corner of Hunt avenue and High street in Columbus, having in the meantime re- moved to this city in April, 1874, at which date he had erected a brick res- idence ou East Fourth avenue. He continued in the grocery trade until 1881 when he sold out and took up the real-estate business in connection with John Walsh. In this he met with success and continued in the business until the fall of 1889, when, because of ill health, he went to Tucson, Arizona, and spent the winter, accompanied by his wife. Their winter months were spent there with their sons W. R. and W. I. Perry, and in the spring of 1890 they returned home by way of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City.
The death of Mr. Perry occurred January 8, 1899, and it was after he had reached the age of eighty years that he wrote an extended account of his life almost entirely from memory. While he had closely applied him- self to the conduet of business interests he had also shared in the work of public progress in various lines of usefulness and helpfulness. On the 19th of September, 1860, he was invited to Cleveland, Ohio, to share in the cele- bration held at the unveiling of a statue of Commodore Perry, this being the anniversary of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. He gave his political alle- giance to the republican party after its organization and he was long a de- voted and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active part in its work and contributing generously of his means to its sup- port. He was a delegate to the first state Sunday-school convention held in Ohio, and attended other conventions of his church, doing all in his power to promote its progress and extend its influence. Death came to him when he was in his eighty-sixth year. He passed away at the home of his son in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the funeral services were held in the Third Avenue Methodist Episcopal church in Columbus, on the 11th of January.
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his son- acting as his pall-bearers. Measured by eternity's standard. his life was a grand snecess aud well might the words of the poet serve as his epitaph :
"Beautiful twilight at set of sun; Beautiful goal with race well run; Beautiful rest with work well done."
OLIVER HAZZARD PERRY.
Oliver Hazzard Perry is treasurer of the Columbus Buggy Company, and his position in business circles and in the regard of his fellow townsmen i- indicated in the fact that he is now the president of the Columbus board of trade. He was born February 23, 1856, at Stratford, Delaware county, Ohio. His father, Norman Dewey, a native of Hartford, Connectient, was born November 26, 1813, and extensive mention of him is made above. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Christ, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and in 1831 was brought to Ohio by her parents. Her father was Jonathan Christ, who traveled with a wagon train and settled in Stratford, Delaware county. The death of Mrs. Perry occurred January 12, 1908.
In the country schools Oliver H. Perry began his education but am- bitions for further opportunities in that direction, he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and the Ohio State University of Colum- Ints. When his collegiate course was completed he took up the study of law and read for two years in the office and under the direction of the firm of Wood & Jones of this city. In 1878. however, he abandoned his law study to accept a clerical position with the Columbus Buggy Company. There the business ability and enterprise which he displayed won him promotion and in time he was made cashier. When the business was incorporated in 1897 he was elected treasurer of the company and remains in that connection. When he first entered the business it was of small and inconsequential pro- portions but the trade has grown rapidly until it now extends to every state in the Union and to various foreign countries as well. The volume of bus- iness annually transacted is represented by a large figure and the success of the undertaking is attributable in no small degree to the efforts of Mr. Perry.
It was on the 16th of June, 1891, that Mr. Perry was united in marriage in Columbus to Miss Mary Eva Minor, a daughter of Daniel and J. A. Minor of this city. Mrs. Perry is quite active in usical and club circles of Colmin- bus and presides with gracions hospitality over their attractive home. Mr. Perry is also a lover of music and possesses not a little native talent in that direction. In carly life he was for many years a member of the Republican Glee Club of this city. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and he was a delegate to the national convention which
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met at Philadelphia in 1900 and nominated MeKinley and Roosevelt. He has been active to some extent iu county and local politics but never as an office holder, though frequently he has been tendered nominations. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Ohio Club of Colum- bu- and he is the vice president of the National Association of Agricultural Implement and Vehicle Manufacturers. He belongs to the Third Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee and he is also a tru-tes of the Protestant Hospital and of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is now the president of the Columby- board of trade. having been elected for the fiscal year of 1908-9. While interested in all these different organi- zations and giving the weight of his influence as well as his service for their npbuilding and advancement. he has yet confined his attention largely 10 his business and through its development and growth has contributed to the material welfare of the city, while from his work he has also personally re- ceived substantial benefits.
DON MARQUIS OSBORNE.
Although one of the more revent arrival in Colmubus, the record of Don Marquis Osborne, president of the Ostorne & Sexion Machinery Company. is considered a valuable asset in the business circle- of the city. From each experience which he has undergone in his life he has gained knowledge that is prowing of preaunt value. Many fail because of an Snabbty to grasp, under- stand and utilize the lessons which are to be Turned day by day in the actual affairs of life, but Mr. Osborne has made good use of his opportunities and has ever builded for the future upon his past experiences.
A native of Circleville, Pickaway enmity, Chis, he was born May 15. 156s. and traces his ancestry back to Corpora! John Osborne, of the English army. who came to America to ane the ni ther wa gy in the Revolutionary war. As he h gin to understand the word is which her ersind. however. he de- screed and joined the vierists, participating in the four struggle which brought independence to the region. He was essess'y promoted through que-
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met at Philadelphia in 1900 and nominated Mckinley and Roosevelt. He has been active to some extent in county and local polities but never as an office holder, though frequently he has been tendered nominations. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Ohio Club of Colum- bus and he is the vice president of the National Association of Agricultural Implement and Vehicle Manufacturers. He belongs to the Third Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee and he is also a trustee of the Protestant Hospital and of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is now the president of the Columbus board of trade, having been elected for the fiscal year of 1908-9. While interested in all these different organi- zations and giving the weight of his influence as well as his service for their upbuilding and advancement, he has yet confined his attention largely to his business and through its development and growth has contributed to the material welfare of the city, while from his work he has also personally re- ceived substantial benefits.
DON MARQUIS OSBORNE.
Although one of the more recent arrivals in Columbus, the record of Don Marquis Osborne, president of the Osborne & Sexton Machinery Company, is considered a valuable asset in the business circles of the city. From each experience which he has undergone in his life he has gained knowledge that is proving of present value. Many fail because of an inability to grasp, under- stand and utilize the lessons which are to be learned day by day in the actual affairs of life, but Mr. Osborne has made good use of his opportunities and has ever builded for the future upon his past experiences.
A native of Circleville, Pickaway county, Ohio, he was born May 15. 1868. and traces his ancestry back to Corporal John Osborne, of the English army. who came to America to serve the mother country in the Revolutionary war. As he began to understand the conditions which here existed, however, he de- serted and joined the colonists, participating in the long struggle which brought independence to the nation. He was gradually promoted through suc- cessive ranks until he became a general in the American army, Remaining as a resident of this country, he was the founder of the family to which D. M. Osborne belongs.
Josiah Osborne, the father, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, and re- moved to Pickaway county after the Civil war, in which he had participated, serving as a private in the regular artillery. Later he was made commissary sergeant and went with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea. Follow- ing the close of hostilities he engaged in the retail grocery business at Circle- ville, Ohio, for a number of years and in 1905 removed to Columbus, where he conducts the same line of business. He has now reached the age of seventy- two years and his life of intense and well directed activity should put to shame many a man of younger years, who, grown weary of the struggles and respon- sibilities of a business career, would relegate to others the burdens that he
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DON MARQUIS OSBORNE
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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should bear. Josiah Osborne was married in early manhood to Miss Margaret Custis, a lady of German and English lineage, who was born near Balitmore, Maryland. Her father belonged to a German family of excellent connections. During her early girlhood Mrs. Osborne came to Ohio with her mother and died in this state in 1876.
D. M. Osborne was a student in the public and high schools of Circleville, Ohio, and for a period of four years. between the ages of nineteen and twenty- three, he was employed as a carriage woodworker. Thinking then to enter upon a professional career, he matriculated in the Nornal school at Ada, Ohio, where he pursued a legal course and was then admitted to the bar. In 1888 he became a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, where he continued in the practice of law for three years in the office of his cousin. J. A. Osborne, a prominent at- torney, who was making a specialty of general civil and patent law. Mr. Os- borne of this review, however, abandoned the active work of the profession in 1902 to enter the employ of Strong, Carlisle & Hammond, dealers in machin- ery. He represented that firm as a salesman with the object of fully mastering the business and remained in their employ until January, 1907. During the five years in which he was connected with the house he gradually increased in efficiency and ability until he became recognized as the best salesman represent- ing that company. He thoroughly acquainted himself with the trade and the methods followed in business life, and on the expiration of that period he or- ganized a partnership known as the Osborne & Sexton Machinery Company. In January, 1908, the business was incorporated with Mr. Osborne as president. The headquarters of the company are at Columbus, Ohio, and from this point they have controlled an extensive business which is growing rapidly along substantial lines. They carry a complete stock of machinery of all kinds, such as iron working, brass working and wood working tools and machinery. They also handle complete power plants with either steam or gas engines and deal in electrical equipments. They take contracts for machinery such as concrete mixers, graders, hoists, etc., and carry a full line of transmission supplies used in connection with heavy machinery equipments. They are sales agents in state of Ohio for the American Woodworking Machinery Company of Rochester, New York, the largest house of the kind in the world, and they also represent many other concerns handling power and electrical equipments. The position of such a house is gauged by the character of the concerns which it represents and the Osborne & Sexton Machinery Company handle only the output of the best known and most prominent machinery houses in the country. Since its inception the business has shown a remarkable growth and deals largely with Columbus buyers in their line. The business has met a long-felt want in this city, where a machinery supply house was needed, for previously it was neces- sary to trade with Cleveland or Cincinnati houses if the purchaser wished to secure tools and machinery of any description. They employ several salesmen at this point and also conduct a Cincinnati sales office. Mr. Osborne is also president of the Century Manufacturing Company of Columbus, engaged in the manufacturing of drawing materials.
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