USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Centennial history of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 65
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In June, 1890, Mr. Murphy was married at Bellefontaine. Ohio, to Miss Martha Bunker, a daughter of Benjamin and Bessie (Williams)
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Bunker. Her father removed in his early youth from New Hampshire to this state. One of her ancestors owned the land on which Bunker Hill Monument now stands. Mrs. Murphy passed away in July, 1905, leaving in the care of her husband their three children, Rex, Bessie and Don, aged respectively. seventeen, thirteen and eleven years. In the accompanying portrait Mrs. Murphy appears with her husband and eldest child. She was a most charitable woman and of a sweet and gentle disposition, loved by all who knew her.
EDWARD M. MOOAR.
Prominent among the energetic and successful business men of central Ohio is the subject of this sketch, whose life history most happily illustrates what may be attained by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose. Integrity, activity and energy have been the crowning points of his success and he stands today as a prominent factor in mercantile circles, being president of the Isaac Eberly Company, jobbing grocers. one of the leading wholesale concerns of the city.
Mr. Mooar was born in Covington, Kentucky, August 23, 1845, and is a son of Mark and Charlotte ( Wright) Mooar, who were natives of New Hampshire. Removing westward at an early day, they made the trip by way of the canal and water route to Covington, Kentucky. After a short time there passed they became residents of Cincinnati, where for many years the father engaged in the cooperage business. A life of usefulness and activity was ended when he passed away at Clifton, near Cincinnati, at the age of seventy-six years, death coming to him without warning, being occasioned by heart trouble.
Edward M. Mooar was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati to the age of thirteen years, when he began carrying papers. It is hardly pos- sible to find a city-bred boy who at some time has not had either a paper route or sold to the transient trade on the street corners, and like many other men who have made their mark in the world Edward M. Mooar thus started ont in the field of commerce. He was imbued, however, with the desire to at- tain something better and utilized every opportunity for advancement. In time he became bookkeeper in the Cincinnati branch of the house of William Jessop & Sons, steel manufacturers, of Sheffield. England. He continued with that firm until he reached the age of eighteen, when he enlisted in the One Hundredth and Thirty-seventh Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. and after serving the period of his enlistment was mustered out and entered the United States Quartermaster's Department under Colonel D. W. H. Day. remaining in this service in North Carolina for nearly a year after the clos of the war, or until all of the government property in that state had been di -- posed of.
Mr. Mooar came to Columbus in January, 1866, at the age of twenty. and at once took up the settlement of the Ohio war claims against the general
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government, continuing in this service during the administrations of Gover- nors Cox, Hayes and Noyes-a period of eight years. Some idea. of the service rendered the state by Mr. Mooar in this connection is conveyed in the following paragraph, taken from Executive Documents, 1873:
"Probably no state in the Union has succeeded in collecting so large a proportion of its 'war claims' at so small a proportionate cost as Ohio, While in most other states the expense of collection has been from two to ten per cent of the amount collected, it has cost Ohio only a fraction over one-half of one jer cent. This result is largely due to the energy, business tact and fidelity of Mr. E. M. Mooar, who has had charge of these claims for several years. A large experience in accounts, united to sound judgment and a positive talent for unraveling intricacies, renders him peculiarly fit for the work."
Retiring from the state service in January, 1874, Mr. Mooar spent a year on the western prairies, riding horseback and living outdoors for the benefit of his health. On his return to Columbus, in December, 1874, he entered the employ of Isaac Eberly & Company, ns bookkeeper and a few years later was admitted to a partnership, continuing in business as a mem- ber of this firm until January, 1902, a period of twenty-seven years. At this time he retired from active business with the intention of taking a long rest, of which he was much in need. He has since spent much time in travel but in May, 1908, he was elected president and treasurer of the Isaac Eberly Com- pany and took charge on the 1st of June of that year. Other business inter- ests have claimed his time and attention ; he was a director of the Ohio National Bank from the time of its inception until 1906 and for one term was a di- rector of the board of trade.
On the 17th of February, 1876, Mr. Mooar was married to Miss Anna 11. Hull, of Warren, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John H. Hull, a promi- nent citizen of Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Mooar have two children: Mrs. Henry M. Powell, of Columbus; and Harry L., of Zanesville, Ohio. The parents attend the Broad Street Presbyterian church. Mr. Mooar has traveled exten- sively throughout the United States, and through his varied business experi- ence, travel and observation he has become a man of broad general infor- mation and of liberal and progressive views. He has made an untarnished record as a business man, and is justly held in high esteem in the community in which he has lived so long. Industry and fidelity to duty have been his dominant traits through life, and his own self-respect has been to him of far greater importance than wealth, fame or position.
BENJAMIN A. MATHEWS.
Benjamin 1. Mathews, who represents the Standard Oil Company in the southern part of the state, and who as its manager is one of the most influential factors in the business circles of the city, is a native of Canada, where his birth occurred in the year 1859. The responsible position which
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he occupies as a business man and financier is the result of his own exer- tions, inasmuch as when a mere lad he was compelled to go out into the world for himself and make his way on the strength of his own efforts. His parents were Aaron and Caroline (Crabtree) Mathews, his father having been a native of Canada, where his birth ocenrred in 1833, and his mother a native of England, who was united in marriage in Canada about the year 1855. For many years the elder Mr. Mathews conducted a general merchan- dise business in Canada and later became a well known cement contractor in Cleveland, Ohio, moving to the Forest City during the year 1875. He departed this life in Los Angeles, California, in 1903, his remains having been interred in Lake View cemetery, Cleveland.
The boyhood days of Benjamin A. Mathews were spent in Canada, and there he acquired his education in the public schools and, upon completing his studies, at the age of fifteen years he learned telegraph operating, which he followed for about one year when he removed to Cleveland with his parents, in that city securing employment as a clerk in a clothing establishment. That position he held until the year 1886, when he became connected with the L. D. Mix Oil and Naptha Company, in the employ of which firm he remained for some time and, owing to his business qualifications and use- fulness received promotions until he was made a traveling salesman. In this position he served six months, at the expiration of which time, upon the death of Mr. Mix, he was made general manager of the company and con- tinuod to officiate in this capacity until 1892. when the business was dissolved. upon which Mr. Mathews was made general manager of the specialty depart- ment of the Standard Oil Company, with headquarters at Cleveland, this state. On May 15, 1893, he was transferred to this city, where he is acting in the same capacity, having charge of the company's interest in the south- ern half of the state. Since affiliating himself with this firm, by his con- stant application to duty and the profound interest he has taken in the busi- ness, always being on the alert to work for the welfare of the company. he has been instrumental in more than doubling the volume of trade, and is today one of the most efficient men in its employ.
In 1884, in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Mathews was nuited in marriage to Miss Hattie B. Mix, and the couple have the following children : Lucile; Lozenzo D .. manager of the Columbus Realty Owners Company, of which his father is president: Dorothy: and Webster. Mrs. Mathews is a member of the Columbus Country Club, and the pressure of his business affairs being such as to require his almost undivided attention he does not find time to devote to social or fraternal organizations. He is, however, well known for his charitable disposition and his efforts in behalf of the general welfare of the community, and, as president of the Columbus Protestant Hospital, was instrumental in securing its present new and commodious quarters. He is a prominent and active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, having bern president of the Local Church Extension Society for several years, and has been superintendent of Sunday schools in the following churches: First Church and Enclid Avenne church, Cleveland and Broad Street church. and Madison Avenue churches this city, and has been president of the board
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of trustees of the Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal church since its organ- ization in 1902. Mr. Mathews is a man whose successful career is due solely to his inborn resources, and it has been through his industry and perseverance that he has risen to his present station of prominence, in which he figures as one of the city's most substantial business men.
HON. FRANK RATHMELL.
Hon. Frank Rathmell, judge of the court of common pleas, holds in connection with his chosen profession a position of distinctively relative precedence. He was born on a farm near Lockburn, Franklin county, Ohio, October 15, 1855, and was the fifth in order of birth in a family of nine children, whose parents were John and Susan (Frank) Rathmell, the former a native of Franklin county, Ohio, and the latter of eastern Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Rathmell, came from easteru Pennsyl- vania to Ohio prior to 1820 and located on the Big Walnut between Columbus and Groveport, where he established a blacksmith shop, receiving a large patronage from people who were emigrating westward, his place being on one of the main traveled roads. He also owned and conducted a farm, con- tinuing in active business in this county until his death in 1855. John Rathmell was reared to the occupation of farming, and chose it as a life work, meeting with very desirable and well merited success in that under- taking. He held a number of minor offices and was known in the com- munity as a representative citizen whose aid could always be counted upon to further progressive public movements. Both he and his wife have now passed away.
Reared on the home farm Judge Rathmell spent his youthful days in the manner of most lads of the period, dividing his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of an education in the country schools until he was nineteen years of age, when he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Deleware, being there graduated in 1882 with the Bachelor of Science degree, in a class numbering fifty-five members. He became a mem- ber of the Phi Beta Kappa society, membership in which is bestowed as a reward of scholarship. After leaving college he spent two years as principal of the high school in Logan, Ohio, but regarded the profession of teaching merely as an initial step to other professional labor, as he had determined to make the practice of law his life work. He was well equipped for his chosen profession by thorough preparation in the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1885, being admitted to practice the same year. He entered upon his professional labor in Columbus in 1886 as junior partner of the firm of Rankin & Rathmell, which existed for a year, while later he was for several years senior partner of the firm of Rathmell, Dyer & Webb. Mr. Rathmell is recognized as a man of decided ability, of unswerv- ing honesty and integrity of character, of sound convictions and splendid energy. His success as a lawyer has come as a direct result of his talents
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and their proper utilization. He is patiently persevering; possessed of a mind that is analytical and readily receptive and retentive of the funda- mental principles and intricacies of the law; gifted with a spirit of devotion to wearisome details; quick to comprehend the most subtle problems and logi- cal in his conclusions; fearless in the advocacy of any cause which he may espouse. Few men have been more richly endowed for the achievement of success in the arduous and exacting work of the legal profession.
In 1892 Mr. Rathmell was elected judge of the common pleas court and has continuously served on the bench to the present time, covering a period of seven years. He took to his duties a thorough understanding of the law, as the result of wide experience in practice and broad study, and his decisions have at all times been based upon the most earnest desire to secure justice. He is a member of the State and County Bar Associations, and thus keeps in close relations with his fellow practitioners in the law.
Judge Rathmell is also well known by reason of his devotion to matters of municipal progress and general improvement. He was for years a mem- ber of the school board, serving as its president for one year, and for two terms he was a member of the city council. He renders stanch allegiance to the republican party in whose ranks he has been an active and zealous worker, while his services and influences in that connection have been duly appreciated.
In 1893 Judge Rathmell was married to Miss Emily Felch, of Colum- bus, and they have a daughter, Margaret. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in that organization and in social circles are most cordially and favorably received. Judge Rathmell is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree; Knights of Pythias; Ohio Club; and the Phi Gama Delta fraternity. In 1892 he took an extensive trip abroad, traveling through England. Ireland. Germany, France, Italy, Belgimn and Switzerland, gaining thereby that knowledge and culture which only travel brings. He is recognized in Colum- bus as a man of scholarly attainments in his profession, progressive in his citizenship and loyal in friendship, and none occupy a more enviable posi- tion in the regard of their associates than dors Judge Rathmell.
HARRY OLMSTED.
The Olsteds have been makers of history since Franklin county was reclaimed for the purpose of civilization by the white race and thus re- deemed from the dominion of the Indians. Through a much more remote period representatives of the name had figured in connection with notable achievements that have shaped American history. They were prominent in New England during the earlier period of American colonization, and Francis Olnisted fought to free the colonies from the yoke of British tyranny and was one of the army that witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne. Wounded in battle, he was afterward compensated in part by his government, who
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awarded him a pension throughout the remainder of his life. In the east he married Miss Chloe Case, and in 1808 became the founder of the family in Ohio, removing from his old home near Hartford, Connecticut, to Frank- lin county. He settled in that district then known as Blendon Four Corners about the middle of December, having spent six weeks in making the journey to the then "far west." On his way to Ohio he had crossed the North river, at Newburg, New York ; the Delaware river, at Easton, Pennsyl- vania; the Susquehanna river at Harrisburg. Pennsylvania; the Ohio river at Wellsburg, West Virginia; and at times his way lay through an almost impenetrable forest. Minerva park now covers the site of the old home where Francis Olmsted passed away in 1828.
His family numbered five sons and two daughters, of whom Colonel Philo Hopkins Olmsted had a notable carcer at Columbus. He was about eleven years of age at the time of his arrival in Ohio, his birth having oc- curred in Simsbury, Connecticut, February 26, 1793. He gained a fair edu- cation for pioneer times and assisted in the arduous task of clearing and developing a new farm in the midst of the wilderness, working on the old homestead until 1810, when at the age of seventeen years he secured a posi- tion in the office of the Western Intelligencer at Worthington, of which his father was one of the proprietors, the paper being then edited and pub- lished by a Mr. Griswold. In 1814 after the seat of government had been established on the bank of the Scioto river a mile east of Franklinton, the printing office was removed from Worthington to Columbus, and the name of the paper changed to the Columbus Gazette. Colonel Olmsted continued with the paper and soon after purchased Mr. Griswold's interest, becoming its proprietor and publisher. It was a strong whig journal and its local posi- tion at the seat of government made it an important element in directing the policy of the state and imparted to its editor an influence and prom- inence rarely attained by members of the profession in after years. Again and again Colonel Olmsted was appointed printer to the state, and after a time the Gazette was merged in a daily paper established at Columbus by George Nashee, Judge Bailhache and Colonel Olmsted. About 1832 the last named sold his interest to Joseph B. Gardner and for several years de- voted his attention entirely to public service. In 1838, however, he became the proprietor of the old National Hotel in Columbus, then a noted stage house on the west side of High street, where in 1840 he entertained General William Henry Harrison, at that time presidential candidate. The follow- ing year Colonel Olmsted disposed of the hotel and in 1842 opened the City Hotel, at which he entertained Martin Van Buren during the presidential campaign of 1844. In 1845 he became proprietor of the United States Hotel, which remains one of the old landmarks of the city. Colonel Olmsted con- ducted business there until 1850, when he retired to private life.
His military and official service entitle him to more than passing notice. At the expiration of the second war with England, in 1812, he joined a cavalry organization recruited at Columbus, was elected its colonel, and at its head started for the seat of war by way of Sandusky, but when within one day's ride of his destination he was met by a courier sent to announce
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the end of the war. He was prominently identified with the military affairs of the state, however, for many years, and in all of his official relations main- tained a character of scrupulous probity and uprightness, his fitness for lead- ership and his recognized loyalty to the public good led to his selection as a member of the city council, where he served from 1819 until 1822, and again from 1831 until 1834. During his last term he was the mayor of the city and was again elected chief executive officer of Columbus in 1837 to fill out the unexpired term of Warren Jenkins, while in 1838 he was once more chosen for the position. He exercised his official prerogative in support of many needed measures of reform and improvement. and whether in office or out of it gave substantial aid to all the projects for the upbuilding and welfare of the city. In 1832, when the population of Columbus was about two thou- sand, he celebrated the opening of the canal by getting together a fleet of three boats and going with cannon and brass band and a large deputation of citizens to Chillicothe, where their arrival created a great sen-ation. this being considered a magnificent celebration. When the Civil war was in progres he traveled extensively through Ohio and West Virginia buying stock for the United States army, and doing everything in his power to up- hold the federal government at Washington. He was six times a member of the Ohio general assembly and left the impress of his individuality. wise statesmanship, and unquestioned patriotism upon much of the constructive legislation of that period.
In 1817 Colonel Olmsted was married to Miss Sarah Phillips, of Mer- cersburg, Pennsylvania, who died in 1875 at the age of seventy-six years, while the death of Colonel Ohnsted occurred in Columbus, February 20. 1870. He had lived in this city for more than half a century, loved and re- spected by the community in which he had so long resided and to which he had endeared himself by the disclosure of a multitude of virtues which adorned the character of a pious Christian and noble, conscientious fellow citizen.
Charles H. Olmsted, the son of Colonel Olmsted, who carried on the work of progress and development instituted by his grandfather and fol- lowed out by his father, was born on West State street in this city, in 1825, and was the fifth in order of birth and the last survivor in a family of twelve children. He attended successively the public schools, the Granville Acad- emy, and Athens College, and in 1849 he was a messenger of the Fargo Ex- press Company between Cincinnati and Sandusky, running over the old strap bar railroad on which it was impossible for a train to make a speed of more than fifteen or sixteen miles per hour after leaving ten miles of better track which ran into Cincinnati. He lived to witness remarkable changes, not only in methods of travel, but in all lines of life. He was present at the laying of the corner-stone of the state house in 1839, and also when the corner-stone of an addition to the state house was laid in 1899. He owned and conducted a grocery store from 1853 until 1860 and afterward retired from business life, spending his remaining years in well-earned rest. To the last he maintained the deepest interest in Columbus and her welfare, and few residents of the city had more intimate knowledge of the events which
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shaped her progress and molded her destiny. His early political support was given to the whig party and upon the organization of the republican party he joined its ranks and continued as one of its stalwart supports.
Charles H. Olmsted married Miss Elizabeth Broderick, of Columbus, whose death occurred January 6, 1890. Her father, the Hon. John C. Broderick, was at one time recorder of Ohio, and prominent in the public life of the state. A native of Kentucky, he married Elizabeth Delano, whose father settled at Marietta, Ohio, in an early day, and in 1815 removed to Columbus, where his brother Heury Delano, was a pioneer merchant. The death of the Hon. John C. Broderick occurred in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Olmsted had three daughters and a son, Mary, Florence, Sarah and Harry.
The last named is a well known representative of a family which has played an important part in the history of this city. His birth occurred in Columbus May 21, 1867, and when sixteen years of age he entered business cireks as an employe in the wholesale grocery house of Isaac Eberly & Com- pany, there remaining for thirteen years, promoted from time to time in recognition of his ability and fidelity. He withdrew from that house in 1896 prompted by a landable desire to engage in business on his own ac- count. He is now president of the firm that gave him his first introduction into business, and the house today is credited with having sales of more than a million dollars per year.
It was but natural that Mr. Olmsted's connection with the firm of Isaac Eberly & Company carly gave him an insight into the coal business, and he is now actively allied with several of the large coal enterprises of the state. He is president of the Equitable Coal Company, having an output of one hundred and fifty thousand tons annually, and he occupies a similar con- nection to the middle States Coal Company, having an equally large output and owning extensive property in Ohio and West Virginia. In the latter company he is associated with Thomas Huntington, as treasurer, and F. G. Hatton as secretary. His business interests are thus of mammoth propor- tions and in their control he displays marked executive ability and un- daunted enterprise, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
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