History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 72

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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7,460

PART II.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

PERTAINING TO CINCINNATI.

DAVID SINTON was born in County Armagh, Ireland, of Anglo-Saxon ancestry, who lived in Scotland, near the English border. His father, John Sinton, was a linen manufacturer. When David was three years of age, the family came to this country, locating for a time in Pittsburgh, Penn., where they remained one year, then removing to West Union, Adams county, Ohio. Here David attended school irregularly up to his fourteenth year, when he obtained employment in the store and tavern of James McCague, at Sinking Springs, Ohio, at four dollars a month, as salesman and tavern assistant. After two years in this service he came to Cincin- nati, but, dissatisfied with his early experience here, soon returned to Sinking Springs, again securing employment at a slightly increased salary. A few years later he again came to Cincinnati, and was for a time engaged in a commission business. This proving unprofitable, he sold out and went to Washington Court House, where he took charge of Dr. Boyd's dry-goods establishment, which he managed success- fully. He next moved to the Hanging Rock iron region, and took charge of the landing and river business of James Rogers & Company, of Union Furnace. The business of this company was the manufacture of hollow-ware, pig iron, etc. It was succeeded by the firm of John Sparks & Company, and Mr. Sinton, when about twenty-two years of age, was made general manager of the entire works, shortly thereafter becoming a part owner of the property and business of the company. He rebuilt the Union Furnace, and built the Ohio Furnace, the two having the capacity for producing a large amount of pig iron for that period.

In 1846 Mr. Sinton returned to Cincinnati, and opened an office for the sale of his iron and other products, since which time he has been a resident here. Through his success as an iron manufacturer, and in his real-estate and other investments, as well as his manufacturing interests, here and elsewhere, he has accumulated a large estate, and he has built many substantial and elegant buildings, adding much to the wealth and beauty of the city. In many ways he has shown a most unselfish and commendable public spirit. He gave to the Young Men's Christian Association bonds to the value of $33,000, which subsequently greatly appreciated in value, affording an annual income of $2,100. He gave to the same association the additional sum of $25,000 toward the building of the new edi- fice at the corner of Walnut and Seventh streets. To the Union Bethel he gave $100,000 in Cincinnati bonds, and supplemented this munificent gift by the payment of $10,000 of the Bethel indebtedness. For the building of the Art Academy in Eden Park he gave $76,000, and the sum of $10,000 toward the erection of the Art Museum. Mr. Sinton offered to give to the city a rostrum with esplanade with figures in bronze of the most celebrated American orators, to occupy Fifth street, between Main and Walnut, and to be used for public meetings. Mr. Sinton's pro- posed gift involved a cost to him of $250,000, and in anticipation of the acceptance of his offer by the city authorities he went to considerable expense. It was one of the conditions of the offer that all street-car tracks should be removed from the por-

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

tion of the thoroughfare named, and as the city council failed to take action looking toward this end, the city is forever deprived of this contemplated magnificent orna- mentation.

Mr. Sinton was a stanch advocate of the building of the Southern railroad from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tenn., and some years prior to that undertaking sug- gested the wisdom of an offer by Cincinnati, to the individual or company who would construct such road, of a bonus of one million dollars, provided the States of Ken- tucky and Tennessee would subscribe an additional like sum. It was Mr. Sinton's intention, in the event of such offer being made, to himself undertake the building of the road, he having caused a survey of the projected road to be made, and this line was eventually adopted. Mr. Sinton's project contemplated the ultimate exten- sion of the road to the Gulf of Mexico, with its terminus in Pensacola, Fla. The pecuniary loss to Cincinnati through its failure to adopt Mr. Sinton's suggestions can be readily computed.

During the Civil war Mr. Sinton was a Union man, but as a rule voted for the best man regardless of party. Though largely self-educated, and engaged during the greater part of his life in the management of large and active interests, he is at the same time well read in nearly all departments of literature. He is self- reliant, original in his business methods, as well as successful, and is given credit by his associates for a large share of common sense and sound judgment.

While engaged in the iron business near Hanging Rock, Mr. Sinton was mar- ried to Jane, daughter of John Ellison, of Manchester, Ohio, and he has one child, a daughter, the wife of Charles P. Taft, president of the Times-Star Company.

JAMES GAMBLE, who was one of Cincinnati's most prominent citizens, was a native of "The Graan," near Enniskillen, Ireland. After the overthrow of Napoleon Bona- parte at Waterloo, business in Great Britain, which had during his war been exceed- ingly active, became excessively dull. A great deal of financial trouble occurred, and George Gamble, having become involved in heavy losses, as a consequence came with his family to Cincinnati in 1819.

In 1821, the eldest son, James, then eighteen years of age, went to learn his trade as soap and candle maker with Mr. Bell, whose factory was in what at one time was a rope walk, situated on Sycamore street above Sixth, where St. Xavier College now stands. The young man's wages for the first six months was his board only; for the next six months his board and nine dollars a month. After working at sim- ilar, but slightly increasing, wages, in succession for Hollingsworth, Boggs, and Daniel Ames & Company, Mr. Gamble began the business of making candles on his own account in 1828, on the West side of Walnut street, just above Fifth. A year or so later he removed to the east side of Walnut, where the government building now stands, and from 1834 to 1836 made soap and candles on the south side of Water street between Plum and Western row, now Central avenue; then sold out to his partner, Mr. Knowlton, and, in 1837, began business with William Procter on Western row. Thus with many trying circumstances, and from a small beginning, was established the firm of Procter & Gamble, which is now one of the most exten- sive and best known institutions of its kind in the world.

Mr. Gamble was a man of much native ability, and driven as he was into a strange country by force of financial circumstances, he put forth every energy to succeed, and when death came, April 29, 1891, at which time he had nearly com- pleted his eighty-ninth year, he could justly feel that he had achieved the success of an active Christian man of business. His wife died in 1888 at the age of seventy- six years. When the Procter & Gamble Company was incorporated, Mr. Gamble, on account of his declining years, although he never retired, took no official position in the new organization. [See Chapter XX, p. 322.]

Mr. Gamble married Elizabeth A. Norris, by whom he had ten children, seven of whom attained their majority: Miss Mary E. Gamble; James N .; George, who died

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

at the age of twenty-nine years; William A. ; David B. ; Edwin P., who is engaged in farming at Sunning Hill, Bourbon Co., Ky., and Miss Lillian F. Gamble. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble, as were also his parents, were lifelong members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which during nearly his whole life he was an officer. Politi- cally he was originally a Whig, later a Republican, but the multitudinous cares of such an active business life as his was, together with a natural disinclina- tion, prevented him from becoming a politician.

JAMES N. GAMBLE was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 9, 1836. He obtained his early education by private instruction, and was graduated from Kenyon College in 1854, receiving the title of A. M. three years later. He also took a special course in chemistry in the University of Maryland and New York City. During his entire business life he has been connected with Procter & Gamble, and he was elected vice- president of the company at its incorporation in 1890. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and was made a member of the Book committee by the last general Conference. In his political views he is a Republican, and, though not an aspirant for public office, has served as member of the council in Westwood for upward of eighteen years; in 1894 he was elected mayor.

WILLIAM A. GAMBLE, born in Cincinnati September 1, 1845, received his educa- tion by private instruction and in the public schools. He was in the employ of Robert Clarke & Company for a few years in the capacity of clerk, after which he became a member of the firm of Procter & Gamble. He is treasurer of the Ohio Mutual Life Insurance Company, and vice-president of the Lake Side Company. He has been for a number of years, and is still, a member of the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Company, manufacturers of pig iron. On October 3, 1872, Mr. Gamble was married to Miss Francisca W. Nast, daughter of Rev. William Nast, D. D., of Cin- cinnati. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the workings of which he takes an active part. In his political views he is in sym- pathy with the principles of the Republican party. He resides in Avondale, where he has built a beautiful home.

DAVID B. GAMBLE, secretary and treasurer of the Procter & Gamble Company, is a native of Cincinnati, at the public schools of which city he was educated, graduat- ing from Hughes High School in 1865. He then engaged in the book business as salesman for R. W. Carroll & Company, remaining four years, after which he entered the employ of Procter & Gamble, where he occupied various positions about the works. He later became a member of the firm, and has occupied his present posi- tion with the company since its incorporation. Mr. Gamble was married September 13, 1882, to Miss Mary A. Huggins, of Chicago, Ills. This happy union was blessed with three children, Cecil H., Sidney D. and Clarence James. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble are members of the Presbyterian Church of Avondale, in which town they reside. Though not an aggressive politician he has always been a loyal adherent of the Republican party.

HON. REUBEN ANDRUS HOLDEN, one of Cincinnati's oldest and most highly respected citizens, was born in New Ipswich, N. H., August 9, 1813. By the death of his father he was left an orphan at the age of three months. The family consisted of five children: Ira, Amos, Edward, Reuben A., and a daughter, Ann, whom the widowed mother supported and educated by her own efforts, and to whom she imparted that moral and religious training so peculiar to stern New England life.

As a youth, Mr. Holden worked upon the farm until his sixteenth year. He got his first ideas of barter and exchange in carrying butter, eggs, berries, etc., to the village store, and selling them for groceries and dry goods. At sixteen years of age he went to Weymouth to school, and made fire and swept out the office for a lawyer to pay expenses for six months; from there went to Mason village, N. H., to live with a Mr. Elliott, who kept a country store, and here he took his first lessons in

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

mercantile life. Here they sold everything " from a pennyworth of snuff to a silk dress." It was while thus employed, at the age of seventeen years, surrounded by many of the allurements and temptations of life common to the times, that Mr. Holden became convinced of error, and was converted to Christianity, uniting with the Baptist Church. At nineteen he left his native State with sixty dollars of his hard earnings, and went to Boston, Mass., from there setting out for Ohio. Soon after his arrival in Cincinnati, he wrote a long letter to his mother and uncle in which he described his trip. The original letter, dated April 7, 1832, is now in his possession, and the following facts concerning his journey are taken from it: Leav- ing Boston March 20th, he proceeded to Providence, R. I., where he took the " splendid " steamboat, " Franklin," for New York, which he described as "a very large and populous city also a very dirty place." While there he went to see Gov- ernor Wilkins, whom he described as very fat, and who "keeps a boarding house." The next morning he took a boat for Philadelphia. At New Brunswick the pas- sengers where transferred overland about forty miles in twelve stages, and then they took the steamboat again on the Delaware river. He wrote of Philadelphia as follows: "The next morning, March 23, found myself in the handsomest city in the United States. The streets are very wide, long and neat. I should judge by the looks that some of the streets were four miles long." He remained in Phila- delphia three days, and then went to New Castle where he "took the railroad to Frenchtown, a distance of sixteen or seventeen miles." He then took the steamboat again for Baltimore, where he arrived at five o'clock in the evening. On the follow- ing morning he proceeded by railroad to Fredericksburg, and there took the stage for Wheeling. He described this portion of the trip as follows: "Stopped in Hagerstown in the evening about ten o'clock, took tea and got ready to go to bed when the stage driver said that the stage was ready. Set out at twelve o'clock at night over the mountains; found the roads to be exceedingly bad; came near turn- ing over many times. In the morning as soon as it was light, found ourselves in Bedford. Took breakfast and went on again up and down, up and down; arrived at the highest Alleghany at midnight; called up the folks to get tea. Started at two o'clock, passed through Mercersburg and Somerset, crossed the Monongahela river in a skiff, passed through Washington, Alexandria, etc., to Wheeling, making a trip of eleven days from Baltimore to Wheeling. Had but one night's sleep besides what I got in the stage. Took the steamboat for Cincinnati as soon as we arrived in Wheeling." He mentioned many sights and incidents of this trip, nota- bly a sudden jarring of the boat, at first thought by some of the passengers to be an explosion of the boiler, but which proved to be an almost harmless collision with another boat.

His brother Amos, some years his senior, had preceded him two years, and was keeping a store in Noble row, on the east side of Main, near Front street, the firm being Holden & Bicknell. When Holden and Bicknell dissolved partnership in 1834, he remained with his brother as bookkeeper and assistant in the store, some- times making trips east to purchase stock. He soon formed a partnership with his brother Amos in the wholesale boot and shoe business at No. 4 Main street, the firm being A. P. & R. A. Holden. In that business he continued two years, when he and S. T. Smith built a steamboat called the " Zephyr." It was started as a " temper- ance " and "Sunday-observing " boat; but the public did not sustain the enterprise. It was put in the general carrying business on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the western tributaries of the latter river. On one occasion he went up through the great Red River Raft as far as Fort Townsend, in the Choctaw nation; while there, the river fell, and they were left for six weeks until a rise took them off again. They had to go through canebrakes twenty-two miles on foot to the nearest post office. He saw much of the abhorrent customs pertaining to the slave trade while thus employed and traveling-the whipping-post, the auction-block and the mana-

Western

Biogl Pub Co,

R.A. Hoolden

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

cler. Selling the " Zephyr," he took an interest in the " Waverly," of which for a while he was captain; it plied the waters of the Upper Mississippi. He finally abandoned seeking his fortune upon the river, and returned to his family in Cincin- nati. Here he engaged once more with his brother in the boot and shoe business, at the old stand, No. 4 Main street, and remained until 1846, when they quit that business and went into partnership with Mr. Hoffman in the grocery and produce business, on Main street, opposite the old courthouse, the firm name being Holden & Hoffman. Here they made " feathers and ginseng" a specialty. About 1849-50 they began shipping ginseng to China, their shipments being made in sailing ves- sels. From four to six months were consumed in making the trip, returns from which were not received for a year or more. In 1848, when Mr. Hoffman retired, the firm name became A. P. Holden & Company. In 1852 A. P. Holden died, and the business was then conducted by Mr. Holden alone for a few years. After that he had various partners associated with him, the firm name being R. A. Holden & Company, and he continued in business until 1889, when he retired from active life. In 1861 the establishment was moved to No. 67 Vine street, where it is still continued by Samuel Wells, a former employe and partner of Mr. Holden.

In 1832 Mr. Holden united with the old Baptist Church on Sixth near Walnut, and he aided materially in building the Ninth Street Baptist church. In 1853 he bought and occupied his present beautiful home on Mount Auburn, and soon after removing thither he assisted in organizing a Sunday-school under a large tree where the Kensington Row now is. That was the beginning of a religions move which resulted finally in building the present Mount Auburn Baptist church, toward the erection and support of which Mr. Holden gave and continues to give most liber- ally. While a teacher of the Bible class in the old Sixth street church, Hon. Stan- ley Matthews, afterward one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, was one of his pupils. Mr. Holden was one of the founders of the Mount Auburn Young Ladies Institute; one of the eight gentlemen who built it and estab- lished it on a financial footing, thereby securing to Cincinnati and the immediate vicinity one of the most desirable institutions of learning. The building now belongs to Christ's Hospital. He was a member of the jury in the celebrated suit instituted by the United States Government to fix the compensation to owners for property condemned as a site for the new custom house in Cincinnati.

In 1863 the superior court of Cincinnati appointed Mr. Holden a director of the House of Refuge, a position he has since occupied, and from 1881 to 1890 he was president of its board of directors. During the thirty-one years of his directorship Mr. Holden has given a large amount of valuable time to the interests of this institu- tion, more than most men actively engaged in business would feel that they could afford. He has always appreciated the value of the Refuge, one of the noblest institutions of Ohio, and has always given his services gratuitously and gladly. Since its organization he has been one of the directors of the National Lafayette Bank; was a director of the Cincinnati & Baltimore railroad; and for several years was a trustee of Dennison University, at Granville, Ohio. He has been closely connected with the Associated Charities, being at one time president of the Mount Auburn branch; is a member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- mals and Children; and is also a director of the Home of the Friendless. Besides giving his time and attention to these various institutions, Mr. Holden has always been a liberal giver of "material aid," not only to organizations in which he is personally interested, but to all charitable objects and to churches of all denomina- tions. To almost every worthy object his purse strings have been loosened. Of him, it can be truly said that his left hand knows not what his right hand does. His charities are of the unostentatious kind, and many a want has been supplied, many an aching heart gladdened, which none know of but the giver and the recipi- ent. Thus he is, and thus he has been, serving his day and generation, and he has

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part of his reward in the high personal esteem in which he is held wherever he is known. At his advanced age he is still in the enjoyment of remarkably good health.

Mr. Holden was married, at Oxford, Ohio, to Miss Aurelia C. Wells, a daughter of Mr. Oliver Wells, who built the first type foundry in Cincinnati, the first west of the Alleghany Mountains. This happy union was blessed with five children: Emma A., now Mrs. James C. Crane; Laura H., married to S. Phelps Cheseldine; Kate A., wife of Maj. William E. Crane; Florence C., who married Charles E. Wilson, and R. A. Holden, Jr., all of whom reside on Mount Auburn in their own homes not far removed. It is one of the joys of Mr. Holden's life that his children are all around him in the evening of his life, for thus he has been the better enabled to share liberally his means with them. Quiet, modest, unostentatious, with frugal habits, his own requirements have been very limited, while he has been very liberal to others. And it is one of his greatest sources of pleasure to see his family, while he is yet with them, enjoying the blessings Providence has placed in his hands. Contact with the world, a long hard struggle at first; many a disappointment in business, but never a failure; many a loss, doubtless through the faithlessness of others, but never a load too heavy to bear-these things may have grieved, but they did not discourage him. His Christian fortitude, his faith, never failed, never for- sook him. In the possession of wealth, surrounded by a loving family, by troops of friends, spending his time partly in business, partly in church enterprises, partly in noiseless, numberless ways of doing good, and notably in discharging the duties devolving upon him as director of the House of Refuge, where his name is both loved and honored, he is recognized by all as a true benefactor of mankind, and one of Cincinnati's most highly honored citizens. His is a noble Christian character, and his life has been a fit model for all coming generations. Whatever of success he has achieved he attributes to his adherence to the principles of the Christian religion. And for this reason his life has been as beneficent as it was successful.

LEWIS GLENN was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 1, 1823, a son of Robert and Mary (Miles) Glenn. On his father's side he was of Scotch descent, his grand- parents having come direct from Scotland in 1784. His mother was the daughter of Benjamin and Anne (Piles) Miles, representatives of old Maryland families. Robert Glenn was born January 1, 1785, and died October 11, 1832. His wife was born September 7, 1787, and died March 17, 1863; they were the parents of seven chil- dren: Barbara, Nancy, Robert, Milton, Mary, Lewis and Sarah Jane.

When Lewis Glenn was but nine years old, his father died leaving him to be reared by his mother. On March 21, 1842, he was married to Lucy Maria Lewis, who was born August 17, 1825, a daughter of Elisha Slater and Kasiah (Steele) Lewis, both of whom were descended from the first settlers of Connecticut. To this union were born eight children, two of whom are living: Mrs. Lee R. Keck, and Mrs. A. G. Corre. Soon after his marriage Mr. Lewis went into the lumber busi- ness with his brother, Milton Glenn, as a partner. The Glenn sawmill was in the East End of the city. This business venture was a great success, and Lewis Glenn laid the foundation of his fortune from its profits. After being in the lumber busi- ness for a little more than thirty years, the partnership was dissolved, Milton Glenn retiring from active business and Lewis Glenn becoming interested in the Cincin- nati, Portsmouth, Big Sandy, and Pomeroy Packet Company, U. S. Mail Line, and the Cincinnati and Memphis boat lines, and was for sometime president of the Citi- zens' Insurance Company. For a good many years he was a stockholder and direc- tor of the Fourth National Bank. He was not only prominent in both insurance and steamboat circles but also among business men. His life was a very successful and happy one until about two years previous to his death, when he was stricken with paralysis and obliged to give up business.

Mrs. Glenn died October 13, 1887, and Lewis Glenn was not long in following her, he passing away at the old family residence in the East End, March 22, 1888,

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aged sixty-four years. A newspaper of that time says of him: "He was prominent in insurance and steamboat business circles. His business career had been one of success. In all the varied positions of responsibility and trust he has filled he has enjoyed the highest esteem and the entire confidence of all classes of citizens."

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 72

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592