USA > Ohio > Allen County > History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens > Part 37
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Dr. Bennett's education along literary lines was liberal, including the common and high school courses, at Batavia, Woodward High School, at Cincinnati, and Ohio Wes- leyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. After leaving college, he was trained in business methods for two years at Bellefontaine, Ohio. For four years, 1886-89, Dr. Bennett was en- gaged almost continuously in laboratory and medical study and he received medical degrees and diplomas from the medical department of the University of Wooster (now Delaware), Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888; from the medical department of the University of Cincinnati (the Medical College of Ohio), in 1889, at the latter institution winning the coveted Dawson prize, a handsome gold medal for the best surgical dissection. This was but the first of many honors won.
During these four years of study and close application, for five months he served as di- rector of the Clinical Medical Dispensary in' Cleveland, and for 10 weeks as chief dispens- ary clerk of the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati.
In 1888 Dr. Bennett located for the prac- tice of medicine' at Bellefontaine, Ohio, en- tering into partnership with his preceptor, Edwin A. Swan, M. D., M. E., one of the best diagnosticians in the State. This connection brought the young physician into a large and varied general practice, an advantage he duly appreciated. While here he first made a spe- cial study of diseases of the eye and refractive errors and had already won attention by his careful and thoughtful methods, when he be- came still more deeply interested in the then young science of electro-therapeutics, and soon took up work on that line, recognizing its great value from the beginning. In search of a wider field for his operations he removed to Lima in 1889, and this city has been his home ever since (except for an interval of 10 months in 1896), and here he has won honors and reaped large financial rewards. During the in- terval above mentioned, Dr. Bennett served as superintendent of a large mineral-water bath and electric cure sanitarium, in Indiana.
Dr. Bennett's success in his chosen line, as exhibited in his successful experiments and his
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useful inventions of electrodes and apparatus, as well as his numerous contributions to the medical and electrical press, attracted the fac- ulty of the National College of Electro-Thera- peutics, at Indianapolis, Indiana, where he went for a course of instruction, who tendered him a position in that body, in 1896, and he has been associated with this well-established in- stitution ever since.
This college, which is now known through- out the entire world, was the first correspond- ence school of its kind ever organized. It was founded in January, 1896, and has ever since been doing an extensive increasing corres- pondence. Its teaching has extended to every continent, the records showing that it has sat- isfactorily and successfully given instruction in electro-therapeutics to over 2,000 students at their homes, many of whom afterward came to the college seeking personal instruction, a number of whom have become noted spe- cialists.
When the health of the founder, Dr. Wil- liam F. Howe, gave way, and he was com- pelled on this account to seek a different cli- mate, the school was removed to Lima, Ohio, and Dr. Bennett was elected general secretary and treasurer of the college, and assumed en- tire charge of the correspondence and business part of the school work. He also became the editor and publisher of the college journal, The Electro-Therapeutist, which has met with much public favor, and has just closed its ninth year's volume. Dr. Bennett gives per- sonal instruction in general electro-therapeu- tics, and the demonstration of apparatus, and technique, to students. He also enjoys an ex- tensive and lucrative practice in his specialty, while his many inventions and improvements in electrodes are being sold, and are in use, all over the world. They are constructed on sci- entific principles, and each year finds them more in demand, as the medical profession, and public becomes more and more convinced of the great value of electricity as a remedy. Dr. Bennett's private offices are equipped with an elaborate and extensive selection of up-to- date electrical apparatus. much of which is of original design and construction.
Dr. Bennett has been, and still continues to be, a prolific writer in his special line. He is the author, editor and publisher of the "Electro-Therapeutic Guide," which is recog- nized as the most condensed, concise and thor- oughly practical book on the subject, which has ever been issued. It is intended particu- larly for the use of the busy physician, and it contains the only complete electro-medical dic- tionary. Its popularity may be judged by the fact that the demand has already exhausted six popular editions and the seventh is now in use. Dr. Bennett has also compiled and published the only complete and scientific resume of the subject of electrocution, to which he has de- voted a great deal of scientific study.
In addition to the medical degrees men- tioned, Dr. Bennett has received the regular degree of Master of Electro-Therapeutics, from the National College of Electro-Thera- peutics, this honor being given in Indiana, and he has also been the recipient of the same, as an "honorary degree," from the Eastern Col- lege of Electro-Therapeutics, at Philadelphia. He holds diplomas conferring both the regular and post-graduate title of Ph. G. from the Ohio Institute of Pharmacy at Columbus, and the degree of D. P., from the Chicago School of Psychology. He also was given the first "hon- orary degree" of Master of Physiological-The- rapeutics, from the Cincinnati Post-Graduate School of Physiological-Therapeutics, and is a consultant to that institution. For several years he served as city physician and also police surgeon, to the city of Lima, served also as a member of the Lima Board of Health, and has been examiner for a number of the leading life insurance companies. He thus has had a wide and varied experience in treating all kinds and classes of ailments, and he is often consulted and quoted as an authority in mat- ters electro-medical.
Dr. Bennett is a valued member of the Na- tional Society of Electro-Therapeutics, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Physi- cians and Surgeons, and is a charter member of the American Roentgen Ray Society, and of the American Electro-Medical Society. of
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which he was vice-president in 1904. At its convention in 1905, when the name was changed to that of the American Progressive Therapeutic Society, Dr. Bennett was honored by election to the presidency. As is natural, other schools and cities want his services and influence, and he has received numerous flat- tering offers, from prominent metropolitan specialists, schools and electrical houses, to leave Lima for other points, all of which he has declined, preferring his present congenial field.
On January 19, 1887, Dr. Bennett mar- ried Carrie Elizabeth Deeds, of Bellefontaine, Ohio. They have one son-Clark Leroy. The home of Dr. Bennett and family is located at No. 125 North Pierce street, Lima. In 1901 the Doctor built a handsome four-story apart- ment residence building at Lima, known as the "Elektron," which he subsequently sold. Its total cost was $25,282.76, and the sale was effected at a considerably higher figure and was consummated June 17, 1905.
In national politics Dr. Bennett is affiliated with the Republican party, but his busy life gives him very little opportunity to be an active politician, even if his tastes led in that direction. However, he finds time for many social pleasures in his hospitable home, and in · numerous fraternal orders. He is an Odd Fel- low, a Modern Woodman, a Good Templar, an Oriental, a Khorassan, and is a prominent member of the Senate team of the famous Lima Lodge No. 91, Knights of Pythias.
Dr. Bennett is well and favorably known "both at home and abroad, as a physician, sci- entist, inventor, author, poet, and student. In addition to his scientific writings, he has also written many beautiful poems, which have been pronounced by able critics to be "literary gems," and which have been widely copied, in both literary and medical publications. If questioned what he considers three of his greatest blessings, it is probable that he would reply in his genial way: "to be alive at the beginning of the 20th century; to be young ; and to be in the enjoyment of splendid health." That he may continue to enjoy these blessings which promise future usefulness and added
honors, and, as youth necessarily departs, find just as desirable middle and advanced age, is the united wish of thousands who have come under his influence either personally or through his writings.
L AMBERT Y. COCHRUN, the leading dry goods merchant and notion dealer, at Spencerville, belongs to one of the old-established families of the county. Mr. Cochrun was born in Allen County, Ohio, and is a son of Simon and Lucinda (Miller) Cochrun, a grandson of Wesley Cochrun and a great-grandson of Rev. Simon Cochrun.
Rev. Simon Cochrun was a very early set- tler of the county, one of the pioneer ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and had fought in the patriot army during the Revolu- tionary War. He was born about 1756 in Montgomery County, Kentucky, and very early in the '30's migrated to Ohio and settled in Allen County. Of his three sons, Wesley, the grandfather of our subject, entered land four miles north of the city of Lima, in 1832. He was born in Kentucky, in 1800, had served in the War of 1812, and at the age of 32 years was already a family man. He developed a fine farm from the wilderness, was a promoter of religion and education in his locality, and concluded a life of 85 years in useful service to his family and community. Their humble home of logs was one of good cheer and hos- pitality, as it was also the gathering place for the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the locality, the whole family hav- ing been closely identified with its establish- ment. Seven of his children reached matur- ity, namely: John, Simon, William, Rebecca, Susan, Jane and Sarah. John Cochrun be- came a farmer in Franklin County, Ohio; Re- becca is deceased; Susan, widow of A. G. Pague, lived and died on the old Cochrun homestead; Jane became Mrs. West and re- moved to Texas, and Sarah became Mrs. Mc- Guire and lived at Ada, Ohio.
Simon Cochrun, father of Lambert Y., was
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a man of native ability and acquired education. He was born in this county in 1822, and died at his home in Amanda township February 11, 1895. He became one of the leading educators of the county, teaching a number of years and training three of his sons to the profession. In 1855 he settled in Amanda township, where the remainder of his life was passed. He mar- ried Lucinda Miller, a daughter of William and Nancy Miller, who resided some two miles west of Cairo. Mrs. Cochrun survived her husband, and at the time of her death was a resident of Spencerville. The five children of this marriage were: James, a prominent busi- ness man and well-known citizen of Spencer- ville; Lambert Y .; William, who died at the age of 17 years; Elizabeth, who died when 22 years of age; and Jasper L., a farmer of Amanda township.
Lambert Y. Cochrun was carefully reared and well trained in agriculture on the home farm, where he lived until his 16th year. He passed creditably through the public schools; in 1869 completed a course at the National Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, and began teaching when 17 years of age. He thus con- tinued for five years and then decided to enter into business. In the spring of 1875 he formed a partnership with Joseph August in the hard- ware and grocery business, which the firm continued for 18 months, when Mr. Cochrun withdrew and resumed teaching. In the spring of 1878 he reentered business, purchasing a stock of groceries and opening up in a small frame building, which has since been replaced by a business block of fine proportions. Hav- ing made a success of his grocery, he enlarged the scope of his enterprise by adding a line of boots and shoes, and was preparing to still further expand the establishment when the disastrous fire of 1884 destroyed both prop- erty and stock. In a very short time, however, he had completed the erection of his present two-story brick building, the second to be con- structed of that material in Spencerville. He now has a commodious store, 26 by 90 feet in dimensions, and equipped in modern style, as befits the leading dry goods emporium of the place. His well-selected stock would do credit
to a city of much larger population than Spen- cerville, and Mr. Cochrun takes pride in the fact that he satisfies a very discriminating pub- lic. An excellent business man, his patrons find him also a courteous gentleman with whom it is a pleasure to deal.
On March 31, 1872, Mr. Cochrun was married to Margaret E. Berryman, who was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, July 9, 1852, and is a daughter of Russell and Elizabeth (Whetstone) Berryman. These children were born to this union, viz: Bert C., Carrie M., Jannette, Raymond F. and Frank W. All sur- vive with the exception of Raymond F., who died aged six years. The family home, one of the most comfortable and attractive in the place, is also one of the most hospitable. The young people are all bright, intellectual, culti- vated young Americans, who enjoy social pleasures with zest, and many literary pro- grams have been carried out in their pleasant parlors. Mr. Cochrun and family are con- nected with the Baptist Church.
Mrs. Cochrun represents one of the old Ohio families. Tradition, well established, tells of the beginning of the Berryman family on American soil. Seven brothers of the name came from England, the names of the five preserved being John, James, George, William and Thomas. Prior to the Revolutionary War they emigrated to New Jersey, and from William Berryman have descended the Berry- mans of Ohio. £ He had left England on ac- count of religious persecution, afterward join- ing the patriot army and fighting under Wash- ington. His death is not recorded, but as his family resided in New Jersey it is probable that he died in that State. One of his sons-his namesake-emigrated to Virginia, after the Revolutionary War, settling in the vicinity of Wheeling, whence he removed to Montgomery County, Ohio. He then settled on a farm near Dayton, and subsequently removed to what afterward became Auglaize County, entering 200 acres of land in Logan township and re- siding upon it until his death in 1830. He joined a Virginia regiment in the War of 1812, and was buried in Amanda township.
William Berryman (2) married, in Vir-
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MR. AND MRS. SOLOMON H. ARNOLD AND FAMILY
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ginia, Rachel Clauson, who was born in New Jersey. When she was a child her parents had emigrated to Virginia. These grandparents of Mrs. Cochrun reared five sons and four daughters-the third son, Russell, becoming the father of Mrs. Cochrun. He was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1815, and died January 9, 1878. When he came to Allen County with his parents he was seven years old. During his boyhood he spent much of his time with the Indians, so mastering the Shaw- nee tongue that he was able to talk fluently in it. His life was mainly passed on the home- stead. Although a strong Democrat, he was not anxious for political preferment, the only office he ever accepted being that of director of the County Infirmary. He was married (first) to Margaret Slain, of West Virginia. who died in 1846, leaving three sons and two daughters. His second wife was Elizabeth Whetstone, and Mrs. Cochrun is the fourth member of a family of five daughters and three sons.
Mr. Cochrun has always been an active and useful citizen. For two terms he served as corporation clerk; two terms as treasurer of Spencer township; 14 years as a member of the Board of Education, and its treasurer for eight years; one term as township clerk, and six years as a member of the Town Council.
S OLOMON H. ARNOLD, proprietor of the "Golden Ridge Stock Farm," which is located in sections 9 and 10, Jackson township, is one of the rep- resentative self-made men of this lo- cality as well as an honored survivor of the Civil War. Mr. Arnold was born in Tusca- rawas County, Ohio, 12 miles east of New Phil- adelphia, August 10, 1843, and is a son of Hickman and Martha (Garree) Arnold.
The grandparents of our subject were Sol- omon and Barbara (Stonebrook) Arnold, who were born in Pennsylvania. They were early settlers in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where the father entered land and also followed his trade of cabinet-making. The family is of German
extraction. Hickman Arnold, father of. Solo- mon H., was born in 1820 in Tuscarawas County, and died on his farm there in 1848. He married Martha Garree, who was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, March 16, 1827, and still survives residing in the vicinity of Beaver Dam. She is a daughter of Joseph and Mar- garet ( Cochran) Garree, the former of whom was born near Yorkville, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Scotland. They had two children, viz : Solomon H. and Joseph. The latter died May 12, 1903, in. Fulton County, Indiana, where he was engaged in farming. During the Civil War he served one year in the 15Ist Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf.
After a period of widowhood, Mrs. Arnold, mother of our subject was married to Samuel Fackler, and they had these children : Philip, of Union County, Ohio; Catherine (Welch), of Hardin County, Ohio; Isaac, of Richland town- ship; Simon W., of Beaver Dam; Eva (Hesser), of Larue, Ohio; Henderson, of La- Fayette, and three children, who died in in- fancy. Mr. Fackler is now deceased.
Solomon H. Arnold remained on the farm on which he was born until his father died and his mother subsequently remarried, when he was about six years old. The family then lo- cated on a farm five miles south of New Phil- adelphia, where Solomon remained until he was 10 years old, when his stepfather purchased a farm of 160 acres at Beaver Dam and removed the family thither. When but 14 years of age the youth began to care for himself by working for the neighboring farmers, and as he was economical and thrifty, by the time he was 18 years old he had sufficient capital to warrant his purchasing a farm of 100 acres of timber- land, which he finished paying for from the proceeds of his day labor.
Early in 1864 Mr. Arnold located in Bu- reau County, Illinois, and in March entered the employ of the firm of Moss & Fettro, who oper- ated flouring mills there, but he resigned this position on May 6th in order to enlist for serv- ice in the Civil War. He entered Company A, 139th Reg., Illinois Vol. In., under Capt. E. R. Virden, Col. P. Davidson and General Mer- edith. The regiment was mustered into the
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service at Peoria, Illinois, on June 6, and was ordered to Cairo where it relieved the 122d Regiment. The command to which our subject was attached was then transferred to the com- missary department and later was assigned to the duty of transporting prisoners up and down the river, continuing in this employment until the ranks were thinned by measles to which our subject fell a victim in August. He also injured himself by carrying a heavy box of guns and was therefore placed on the sick list.
Mr. Arnold was entered at the Cairo hos- pital and was detained there under medical care until his regiment was sent in pursuit of Bragg, who made his last stand at Pilot Knob. Our subject did not accompany that expedi- tion, but was dismissed from the hospital and ordered home on a furlough. He was honor- ably discharged at Peoria on October 28, 1865. Having profitably spent his furlough at Prince- ton, Illinois, he returned there and engaged as a carpenter with the firm of Archer & Robbins, but in the following November he returned to Allen County.
On January 25, 1866, Mr. Arnold was mar- ried to Sarah Emeline Millikin, who was born August 27, 1843, in Richland County, Ohio, and died June 5, 1904. She was a daughter of Thomas B. and Elizabeth (Moore) Milli- kın, the father a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and the mother, of Monroeville, Ohio. The children of this marriage were: Thomas, of Bath township, who married Alma Cramer and is the father of Mabel, Madge, Harley, Wava and Herbert; Emmet B., of Marshall County, Kansas, who married Belle Robison and has three children-Stanton, Maud, Hazel, Joseph and Minor; William A., of Jackson township, who married Eva LeRue, and has these children-Roy, Thurman, Gene- vieve and Merrill William; Joseph, who mar- ried Dile Ransbottom, has had two children (now deceased) and resides with his father on the farm; Carey C., who married Clara Heff- ner and resides near. the homestead, and is the father of Rolla, Walter, Wilbur, Garold and Velma Levern; and Isaac Fremont, who died aged two years. The death of the mother of
these children was a great blow to Mr. Arnold and family, and a matter of deep degret to all, who fully appreciated her as a kind neighbor and a faithful friend. With Mr. Arnold she took the most affectionate interest in her bright, intelligent grandchildren and her love was re- turned by them all.
After his marriage, Mr. Arnold removed to a farm of 100 acres two miles from the one on which he now lives. This he sold two years later and bought the 160 acres composing the homestead, for which he paid $6,000. Five years later he erected his present modern brick residence at a cost of $3,000, which was the first brick house built in the vicinity. He erected also a substantial barn, 57 by 40 feet in dimensions, and has added such other buildings as became necessary. Later Mr. Arnold bought the 240-acre Milikin farm adjoining, 40 acres of which he sold to his son, and on this property he built a barn 40 by 60 feet, and made many improvements thereon, including the building of a wind pump. He has cleared 30 acres of each farm. He also owns an in- terest in a farm at Beaver Dam. He has been a very extensive dealer and raiser of fine stock and the results of the 10 large stock sales which he has conducted indicate that the products of the "Golden Ridge Stock Farm" have a first- class reputation throughout the State.
Politically, Mr. Arnold is a Democrat and cast his first vote, while in the army, for Gen- eral McClellan. He has been township trustee, served six years as infirmary director and has been many times selected as a delegate of his party to important conventions. He belongs to Mart Armstrong Post, No. 202, G. A. R. at Lima ; is president of the Farmers' Institute, of Jackson township, and was a member of the local grange until the work of the order was discontinued in the township. He is a member and a liberal supporter of the Meth- odist Church, being one of the trustees ; he was formerly Sunday-school superintendent and president of the township association.
Personally Mr. Arnold, like the other men of his family, is of fine presence and large and generous stature. He recalls his great-grand- father, John Garee, as of similar appearance,
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and remembers sitting on the latter's knee and listening to his tales of the War of 1812 and of the pioneer struggles with the Indians. Mr. Arnold's only brother, the late Joseph Arnold, weighed 229 pounds, was as large mentally as physically, and a very successful business man. The younger generation is also coming to the front, and the indications are that Mr. Arnold will have reason to be as proud of his grand- children as he is justified in being of his chil- dren. Mabel, when a little miss of 10 years, successfully passed a very difficult examination at the Boxwell examination; she graduated from the Lima High School in 1905, and is now teaching in the Garfield School, Lima, as a substitute.
A group picture of the Arnold family ac- companies this sketch, being shown on a fore- going page.
€ ZEKIEL HOVER, the veteran ice dealer of Lima, was born in this county in 1849 and has lived here all his life, having been reared and edu- cated in Shawnee township. His father was Charles Adgate Hover, who came to this county in 1833 with his parents, Ezekiel and Sarah (Adgate) Hover, and followed agricultural pursuits throughout his life. Charles Adgate Hover married Adaline Smed- ley and to them were born eight children.
The subject of this sketch was reared on the farm and followed agricultural occupa- tions until 1875, when he located in Lima and engaged in the ice business, which he has since conducted. For 28 years the company was known as Thomas & Hover, his partner being John Thomas, who retired in January, 1902, leaving Mr. Hover in sole possession of the business. In addition to his large ice business, which he has conducted so profitably, Mr. Hover is interested in various enterprises, and is an energetic, enthusiastic citizen whose in- fluence is an inspiration to his community.
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