USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Centennial history of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 7
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measure the basis of his unusual preservation of youth and activity in one of his years.
On December 4, 1861, Mr. Sinks was united in marriage to Miss Eloise Preston, a daughter of S. D. Preston, one of the pioneers of Columbus and for many years a leading merchant here. Mrs. Sinks died July 5, 1906, leaving two sons and a daughter: Clinton P., a broker residing in New York city; Frederick Nicholas, an attorney-at-law, who is now referee in bank- ruptey for this district and resides in Columbus; and Elise, the wife of Richard Jones, Jr., formerly of this city, but now a resident of Pittsburg, where he is council for the Republic Iron & Steel Company. Wherever Mr. Sinks is known he has won recognition because of his uniform ability and the power which he has displayed in business circles has gained him distinc- tion as well as prosperity. His manner is so engaging, his disposition so genial and his courtesy so unfailing that he has a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances.
WILBUR FRANK JOLLEY.
Wilbur Frank Jolley, who is manager for the Walter A. Wood Mow- ing & Reaping Machine Company, with office at No. 412 High street, Colum- bus, was born in Mansfield, Ohio, December 19, 1875, a son of James Thomas Jolley, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1850, and is engaged in the implement business at Mansfield, this state. The son was educated in the pub- lie schools of his native city and was associated in business with his father until 1895. when he was made salesman for the Milwaukee Harvester Com- pany, his territory covering northwestern Ohio, with headquarters at Fos- toria. After two years, however, his ability being recognized by the firm, he was promoted to the position of block man, with headquarters at Toledo. He was thus engaged until 1903, when the company was merged with the International Harvester Company and Mr. Jolley was retained in a similar capacity with the new firm until the fall of 1905. At that time, in connec- tion with other parties, Mr. Jolley organized the Union Storage & Transfer Company of Toledo and was made vice president of the company. The fol- lowing year, however, Mr. Jolley disposed of his interest therewith and com- ing to Columbus, has since acted as manager for the Walter A. Wood Mow- ing & Reaping Machine Company, having charge of the entire state of Ohio, with office at No. 412 North High street, the most important branch of the company in the west, handling the entire jobbing trade west of Ohio. In this connection Mr. Jolley displays excellent executive ability and through his efforts the trade in this section of the country has reached extensive pro- portions.
Mr. Jolley was married December 31, 1896, the lady of his choice be- ing Miss Agnes Westrick, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Walsifer) Westrick, of Defiance, Ohio. The father was born in Henry county, Ohio, December 12, 1843, and became a prominent harness and saddlery manu-
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facturer of Defiance. His death occurred January 3, 1906. The mother was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, January 19, 1846.
Mr. Jolley gives his political support to the democratic party. His fraternal relations are with the Masons and he is also a member of the United Commercial Travelers. He owns and occupies a nice home at No. 94 East Oakland avenue. Gradually working his way upward from the bottom round of the ladder, Mr. Jolley through his keen perception and foresight has passed from one position to another until he is now managing one of the important enterprises of this state.
JACOB REAB.
Among those who have passed away, leaving a memory that is honored and cherished by all, was Jacob Reab, a life-long resident of Franklin county and a public-spirited citizen whose devotion to the general welfare was ever above question. As a merchant, as a public official and in the rela- tions of social life, he commanded the honor and esteem of those with whom he came in contact.
He was born in Hamilton county, August 12, 1838. His father, Wil- liam Reab, was also a native of Ohio. while the grandfather, Jacob Reab, came to this state as a young man and here spent his remaining days, being identified with building operations, for in early manhood he learned the car- penter's trade. Since that time representatives of the family have been closely associated with the business development and substantial improve- ment of this section of the state. The family is of German origin. although founded in America in colonial days. Franklin county was still a pioneer district at the time of the birth of Jacob Reab, and Columbus was a city of little industrial or commercial importance, but the years have marked its progress and chronicled as well the progress and success of Jacob Reab.
His education was obtained in the public schools, and in early manhood he engaged in the dry-goods business in the southern part of the county, but seeking the broader opportunities offered by the city he removed to Colum- bus, where for five years he was engaged in merchandising, meeting there with a fair measure of success in that undertaking, then moved to Shadeville, where he ran a hotel for sixteen years, and later engaged in merchandising until 1894. He then came to Columbus, and was deputy county clerk under Charles Galloway. He was also an efficient official in other positions, serving for one term as infirmary director, while for a quarter of a century he filled the office of justice of the peace in Hamilton township. It was after this that he became deputy in the office of the county clerk under Mr. Galloway, and was retained by Mr. McCafferty. For twelve years he served as execu- tion clery in the office of county clerk, and his labors were at all times char- acterized by thoroughness, system and method. He was a general favorite about the courthouse, and was affectionately termed "Daddy" by his asso- ciates and colleagues. He was never too busy to be courteous and cordial, nor
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JACOB REAB
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FEEL YORK
1ST00, LENTEX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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never too cordial to be busy, and the faithful discharge of his duties won him the respect of all who knew him. He had many friends among the news- paper men, and in fact was popular with all who knew him ..
On the 28th of April, 1858, at Lockbourne, Ohio, was celebrated the mar- riage of Jacob Reab to Miss Mary Wolford, who was born in Coshocton, Ohio, and accompanied her parents, John and Mary Ann (Parish) Wolford to Lockbourne, where her father and mother spent their remaining days, the former devoting his attention to the occupation of farming. They were peo- ple of the highest respectability, and enjoyed in large measure the good will and confidence of those who knew them. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Reab was born but one child, John W., now deceased.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Reab was a Mason. He belonged to the blue lodge of Lockbourne, attained the Knights Templar degree of York Rite and also the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. His life was in har- mony with the benevolent principles of the craft and he was at all times what is known in this country as a "square man." Death claimed him when he was sixty-eight years of age, his demise occurring July 12, 1906. His body lay in state in the Masonic Temple, that his countless friends might look for the last time upon the once familiar features, and then it was laid to rest with Masonic honors. Few men in Columbus had a wider acquaintance nor were held in higher regard than Jacob Reab, who spent his entire life in Franklin county, and that his record was an upright and honorable one is shown by the fact that those who knew him best were numbered among his warmest friends.
SAMUEL MEDARY.
Samuel Medary was born in Montgomery Square, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1801, and his life record covered the irter- vening years to the 7th of November, 1864, when he passed away in Colum- bus. Those years were fraught with good deeds and characterized by a lofty patriotism that found expression not only in fidelity to the salient points of republican government, but in earnest and effective labor for municipal, state and national progress. His history, therefore, constitutes an important chapter in the annals of Columbus and of the state.
His youth was passed in Pennsylvania, where the family was founded at an early date. The name was originally spelled Madeira, and is still so pronounced. In the maternal line he was descended from Quaker ancestry that came to the new world with William Penn, and Samuel Medary was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends. His early education was ac- quired in the Norristown (Pa.) Academy, and when sixteen years of age he became a contributor to the Norristown Herald, his communications to the paper being in both prose and poetry. He afterward engaged in teach- ing and also continued his studies in the higher branches. In 1820 the fam- ily removed to Montgomery county, Maryland, and two or three years later became residents of Georgetown, D. C.
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It was in the year 1825 that Samuel Medary came to Ohio and settled first in Batavia, Clermont county. A man of strong character and marked individuality, even in the period of his early residence here, he left the im- press of his individuality upon the community in which he made his home, his opinions being a factor in molding early thought and action. Ile was twenty-six years of age when he was made county surveyor and school trustee, and later he was elected and served as auditor to the county. Per- haps his greatest work, however, was done in journalistic lines, in which connection his opinions through the columns of the press reached a wide number of people and proved an element in awakening a careful consider- ation of questions of general and vital import. In 1828 he established the Ohio Sun for the purpose of supporting General Andrew Jackson for the presideney. In 1834 he was elected as a Jackson man to the Ohio general assembly and was afterwards elected to the senate. When he had been a member of the legislature for two years he removed to Columbus and pur- chased the Western Hemisphere. later changing the name of that paper to the Ohio Statesman, continuing its publication until 1857. It became recog- nized as a power not only in Ohio but in all of the northwest and through the south as well. He supported the policy of Andrew Jackson in his con- test with the United States Bank and with ability advocated his views on the tariff. Probably no 'man enjoyed the confidence and personal esteem of President Jackson to a greater degree than did Mr. Medary. He pos- sessed a statesman's grasp of affairs, and few men not continuously in office had so intimate and accurate a knowledge of the grave political problems. The cry of "Fifty-four forty or fight!" relative to the Oregon boundary line question is said to have originated with him and because of his support of that measure he won the warm friendship of Stephen A. Douglas. Contin- uing as an influential factor in political circles, he was chosen as chairman of the Olio delegation to the Baltimore convention in 1844. Andrew Jack- son had written a letter to him urging him in the event of a discord to pre- sent the name of James K. Polk for the presidency, and in the midst of the highest excitement Mr. Medary produced this letter from the former president and the result was that Polk was nominated. Official honors had come to him had he not declined to serve. He had no particular ambition for office holding, but on the contrary believed that he could render his country equally valu- able services in the capacity of a private citizen through his editorial and campaign work. In 1853 he declined the honor of becoming the United States minister to Chili. In 1856 he was made temporary chairman to the Cincinnati convention which nominated James Buchanan as the democratic candidate for president and ou that occasion strongly advocated the nomi- nation of his friend, Stephen A. Douglas. The following year Mr. Medary accepted the territorial governorship of Minnesota, serving for two years, at the end of which time the state was admitted to the Union. He was also the last territorial governor of Kansas, acting as its chief executive in 1859-60. In his administration of the territorial affairs he displayed marked ability and keen discernment, and his course, especially in Kansas, was marked by such practical methods and such patriotic spirit that the press of both
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parties accorded him high commendation. In December, 1860, he resigned and returned to Columbus, where he established the Crisis, remaining the editor of that paper until his death about four years later.
All through the years of his manhood, while deeply interested in politi- cal affairs, Mr. Medary remained a helpful factor in other lines of progress and improvement. In early life he was devoted to horticulture and agri- culture and was instrumental in organizing the Ohio State Fair, and acted as its first treasurer and for several years was its president. With wonder- ful prescience he foresaw, at least in part. the future of the telegraph system and earnestly advocated the support and work of Samnel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph. Few men were capable of the mental concentra- tion which he displayed or had clearer insight into the involved questions of every character, whereby he was enabled to discriminate between the es- sential and the non-essential. It is said that he had the ability to write while keeping up a running conversation. His opinions and advice were often solicited upon varions subjects, while his statements were quickly given without any unnecessary haste, and came as the result of previous thought and consideration of the subject, and he was thus able to apply his knowledge in specific instances when the occasion arose.
Mr. Medary was married to Miss Eliza Scott and unto them were born twelve children. At one time he owned a very large and extensive estate in Columbus, but gave this in payment of security debts which he had in- curred for his friends. His life record found embodiment in the words of Pope:
"Statesman, yet friend to truth; a soul sincere, In action faithful and in honor clear; He broke no promise, served no private end, He gained no title and he lost no friend."
Few men have been the objects of more general affection than was Samuel Medary, and in 1869 a monument was erected to his memory in Columbus by the democracy.
DR. THOMAS R. SPARROW.
Dr. Sparrow was the son of Thomas Sparrow, who was one of the most noted lawyers in Ohio in his day, and was prominent in the banking and business development of Columbus. He was born in this city, December 16. 1850. After a course in the public schools, his academic education was pur- sued at Racine, Wisconsin, and. later, in preparation for a professional career, he matriculated in Starling Medical College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1873.
Dr. Sparrow became the first regularly appointed city physician of Columbus and was also an assistant physician at the State Hospital in this
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city. Later, on account of failing health, he went to Colorado where he practiced his profession for three years. After his return to Columbus, he relinquished the practice of medicine, and engaged in outdoor and business pursuits to the time of his death, which occurred on the 24th of May, 1896.
In was in 1872 that Dr. Sparrow was united in marriage to Miss Laura M. Medary, also a native of this city and a daughter of Hon. Samuel Medary, statesman, legislator and journalist who for many years was a dis- tinguished resident of the capital. Dr. and Mrs. Sparrow became the par- ents of six children of whom four are living: Flora M., now at home with her mother; William M., a resident of Chicago, Illinois; Thomas, living in Dayton, Ohio; and Elizabeth S., at home.
Dr. Sparrow was possessed of brilliant intellectual qualities, and of a kindly, modest and retiring disposition. In religion, he held to the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith. Mrs. Sparrow still survives her husband and yet makes her home in Columbus, where she has spent her entire life and where she has an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances.
ZENAS LEONARD WHITE.
A list of the business enterprises with which Zenas Leonard White is financially and officially connected indicates at once the prominent position which he occupies in business circles, and while his activity, diligence and sound judgment have carried him far beyond the majority and would make his history one of interest by reason of his successful achievements, he is by no means wrapped up in business interests to the exclusion of all recog- nition of his obligations to his fellowmen. On the contrary, his work on behalf of educational and religious progress has constituted one of the strong and salient features of his life.
He was born in Brown township, Delaware county, Ohio, a son of George and Elizabeth (Leonard) White. His grandfather, Fisher White, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He removed from his native state to Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he spent his remaining days. His son, George White, was born in Washington county in 1802, and in 1825 became a resident of Delaware county, Ohio, settling on a farm in Brown township, where he lived until 1855. In that year he disposed of his holdings there and took up his abode at Centerburg. Knox county, Ohio, while the last two years of his life were passed at Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he died in February, 1860. His life, at all times honored and upright, won for him the unqualified regard of those who knew him. In religious faith he was a Methodist and assisted in building the church at Eden. He was also a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 18, A. F. & A. M., of Delaware. In early manhood he wedded Elizabeth Leonard, a daughter of Joseph I.conard. who came from Green county. Pennsylvania, to Ohio at an early day and settled in Brown town- ship, Delaware county.
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Zenas L. White, one of a family of seven children, was reared upon the home farm until fourteen years of age and attended the district schools during that period, while later he spent two years as a student in the Center- burg high school prior to entering the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he completed his education. Going to Mount Vernon, he engaged in clerk- ing in a grocery store for two years, on the expiration of which period he returned to Delaware county and with his brother, Fisher White, opened a general store at East Liberty, in Porter township, under the firm name of F. & Z. L. White. They began business there in the fall of 1860 and Mr. White, of this review, soon afterward purchased his brother's interest, con- ducting his store at that point until 1865. He then removed to Cardington, where he remained for five years, and in 1870 removed his business to Delaware, continuing as the sole owner of the store, saving for a period of three or four years, when he had a partner. His growing success caused him to seek a larger field and in 1884 he removed to Columbus, opening his store at Nos. 102-104 North High street, where he still continues in the trade, having thus been identified with the commercial interests of the capi- tal city for a quarter of a century. For a time the business was conducted under _the firm style of White, Denman & Company, the partners being W. B. Denman and J. W. Stevenson. At the end of the first year, how- ever, Mr. White purchased his partner's interests and admitted his son, Homer E. White, and J. R. Lane to the firm, under the firm style of Z. L. White & Company. In 1892 his son died. Mr. Lane, however, continued in the business until 1897, when Mr. White became sole proprietor, con- ducting the store under his own name until February, 1904, when the Z. L. White Company was incorporated with the founder of the company as its president and manager. It would be superfluous in this connection to give an exact account of the business, for Columbus citizens have been well acquainted with the establishment for almost twenty-five years and know that the policy that has been pursued has ever been a most honorable one and that the store contains a large and well selected stock of goods, the busi- nes- keeping in touch with all that indicates progression in commercial lines.
As the years have passed and Mr. White has seen opportunity for profitable investment in other lines he has extended his efforts to various other enterprises and is now the president and one of the directors of the Buffalo Fertilizer Company, president and director of the Pennsylvania Fertilizer Company, at Seranton, Pennsylvania, president of the Columbian Building Loan & Investment Company, of Columbus, and vice president of the City National Bank.
Mr. White laid the foundation for a happy home life in his marriage to Miss Helen E. Blaney, a daughter of Judge George Blaney, of Porter township, Delaware county. They traveled life's journey together until 1878 and were then separated by the death of Mrs. White, who passed away. leaving a son and daughter: Homer E., who was his father's partner and died in 1892; and Anna W., a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University and now the wife of Edward D. Jones, professor of economics at the Uni- versity of Michigan. For his second wife Mr. White chose Miss Eliza Frey,
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of Porter township, Delaware county, a daughter of the Rev. James Frey, a Baptist minister.
Mr. White is much interested in the welfare and upuilding of Colum- bus. He is a member of the Board of Trade and a public-spirited citizen whose efforts have been far-reaching and effective in behalf of the city's sub- stantial growth. He is deeply interested in the case of religions progress and holds membership in the Broad Street Methodist Episcopal church of this city, in which he has filled all the offices save that of president of the board of trustees, while at present writing he is secretary and treasurer of that board. While at East Liberty he was a member of the Presbyterian church and acted as superintendent of the Sunday school during the period of his residence there. He has been a generous supporter of charitable work, is deeply interested in educational progress, and for fourteen years has been a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University, and founded the Hour E. White chair of economies in that university after the death of his son, with a thirty thousand dollar endowment. He has served for two years on the school board of Columbus, and for one year presided over that body. He is a trustee of the Chantanqua Institution, of Chautauqua. New York, and is a trustee and treasurer of the Protestant Hospital of Columbus.
His political allegiance is given to the republican party and although he has never been a politician in the sense of seeking or desiring office, he is ever mindful of his duties of citizenship and through his private inter- ests has borne an important relation to the public. Few men whose business interests are so important and extensive seem to find time for such active participation in matters relating to the general welfare. Mr. White, how- ever, has never been oblivious of his duties to his fellowmen and his labors have always been of a most practical character, accomplishing results along lines that have been extremely beneficial in promoting general progress.
J. UPTON GRIBBEN.
J. Upton Gribben, a successful and rising young architect of Columbus, was born in Allegheny, Peun-ylvania, on the 17th of July. 1873, his parents being Leonard and Adeline (Barr) Gribben, the former a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In the year 1877 they removed to Uhrichsville, Ohio, there remaining until 1891. Leonard Gribben, the father of our subject, was con- nected with the Pensylvania Railroad and now makes his home in Columbus. His wife was a daughter of John U. Barr, the first architect of Pittsburg. Pennsylvania.
J. Upton Gribben acquired his education in the schools of Uhrichsville and then went to Pittsburg, where he studied architecture under the direction of hi- grandfather for several years. Subsequently he was with the Pennsyl- vania Railroad in the motive power department from 1889 until 1891. in which year he entered the Ohio State University, completing the course in mechanical engineering in 1895. Upon leaving the university he entered the
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