History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 76

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

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The escape of Wetzel from a terrible death was most remarkable, and was only brought about by the sagacity and faithfulness of his dog. It is regretted that the early writers have failed to tell us when and where Wetzel was born, and when he died. The grave of such a pioneer should be marked by a tablet to record his won- derful triumph over his savage foe.

MATTHEW ADDY. There is no better strain to the mingled blood of the American people than that which comes from that hardy and unconquerable race known as the Scotch-Irish; and it is to this people that Matthew Addy, one of the

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most progressive, enterprising and successful business men of Cincinnati, traces his ancestry. The name of Addy itself, however, is English, and Mr. Addy is really one- half English, one-fourth Scotch and one-fourth Irish. Years of hardship, of perse- cution and of battling for their rights and their liberties have given the Scotch-Irish a pluck and hardihood, and an independence which are the prominent traits in their character. These are the qualities that, transplanted to the broader field of action offered by the New World, have made so many men of this race prominent.

Mr. Addy's grandfather left the North of Ireland, and came to Canada at the end of the eighteenth century. He himself was born in Montreal on the 15th of April, 1835, and is an exemplification of the bitter remark made by the late Premier of the Dominion, that Canada was raising men for America. It was in 1857, after a complete education at home, that Mr. Addy left Montreal for Cincinnati, believing that life here offered much more than in the land of his birth; so, practically, all of his days have been passed in the city of his adoption. He is a wide-awake Ameri- can, takes a keen interest in political affairs, and his advice is eagerly sought and followed by party leaders. Since the time of the war he has been a careful student, not only of the money questions that have from time to time troubled the Republic, but of that, perhaps, greater question respecting the tariff. When there was such a great agitation over the tariff in the years immediately following the Civil war, he was the president of the Cincinnati Tariff League, and did great service in the cause .of Protection. He believes that Canada, when he was a young man, was, because of its free-trade principles, a hundred years behind the times. Now that it is imi- tating the great Republic, of which it is the neighbor, and has adopted protective duties, he thinks it is but fifty years behind the times. Mr. Addy has written and spoken frequently on this living question of the hour, and his interest in politics, aside from the interest that every man has in a good and honest government, has always been to forward the cause of Protection.

In business Mr. Addy started out independently in January, 1863, the first firm being Addy, Hull & Company. Later this became Addy, Hull & Ray, and still later the firm name took its present form of Matthew Addy & Company. At first. the firm did a general commission business, cotton and iron being its chief staples. Mr. Addy was one of the first to see that the cotton trade was going to pass away from Cincinnati. Observing the change in conditions ruling in that staple (for it was not long after the war that cotton ceased to be king), he at the same time saw the rising importance of Southern pig iron. He accordingly dropped cotton and took pig iron up more vigorously, studied the question of pig iron with assiduity,. and he is now recognized as one of the men whose judgment on that staple is authoritative. At the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia he was one of the In- ternational Committee in this department, to decide on the awards, and to-day the firm of which he is the head, handles more Southern pig iron than any other house in America. Mr. Addy is as well known to the public as president of the Addyston Pipe & Steel Company as on account of his private business. The Addyston Pipe & Steel Company grew out of the old Gaylord Iron & Pipe Company, which was later the Cincinnati & Newport Iron & Pipe Company, finally changing to the Addyston Pipe & Steel Company. This is a corporation with two immense plants; the parent one at Newport, and the larger and more modern one at Addyston, an industrial suburb on the banks of the Ohio river, some thirteen miles west of Cincinnati. It has a larger annual capacity than any other similar manufacturing concern in. America, and it has been brought to its present development largely through the business enterprise and sagacity of its president.

In private life Mr. Addy is known as a model gentleman, quiet and unobtrusive. in his ways, and at all times ready to do his duty to church and society. He lives upon Mount Auburn, in one of the grand old mansions there which he has further adorned by the addition of a picture gallery, one of the finest and most notable in.

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the West. He has a great love for art, which he has indulged in a thoroughly intelligent and appreciative manner. The treasures of his gallery are one of the sights of Cincinnati, and fortunate indeed is the stranger who is invited to see them. Altogether he is one of the men of whom Cincinnati is justly proud, a man who, in the years of the city's growth, has had a great deal to do with adding to her material prosperity and intellectual advancement.

JAMES J. FARAN. One of the few really eminent citizens of Cincinnati, who was born in the town and spent his whole life here, was Hon. James J. Faran, who made his impress on his time as lawyer, editor and statesman, and whose career spanned the whole period of the city's wonderful development from a river town, more sig- nificant than actually great, to one of the few large cities of the United States. His history is a part of the city's history as his life was a part of the city's life. He was a factor in its upbuilding and during several generations its citizens have been proud to do him merited honor.

Mr. Faran was born in Cincinnati December 29, 1808. He acquired his early education in this city, and in 1831 was graduated from Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. Immediately thereafter he took up the study of law, which he pursued with such well-directed application that in 1833 he was admitted to the bar. Not long afterward he entered upon his long and notable political career. In 1835 he was elected as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, and he was again elected in 1837 and in 1838, for at that time the old rule was operative under which

members were elected for but one year. At the session of 1838-39 he was elected speaker of the House, in which position he impressed the public forcibly by his fairness and courtesy, and won the admiration of practical legislators of all parties. In 1839 he was elected to the State Senate, to which body he was again elected in 1841 and in 1842, and was chosen speaker of the Senate for two terms. In 1844 he was nominated and elected by the Democracy of Hamilton county to represent his District in Congress. He was re-elected in 1846, and was conspicuous in Congress during the entire administration of Mr. Polk. He voted for the " Wilmot Proviso," restricting the limits of slavery, served on some important committees and was in every way devoted and useful to the public welfare. In 1854 Governor Medill appointed him one of the commissioners to supervise the erection of the present State House. In that year the "Know-Nothing" wave swept over Ohio, and destroyed the Democratic party in all parts of the State. In 1855 the "Know- Nothings" of Cincinnati nominated for mayor James D. Taylor, the proprietor of the Cincinnati Times, which vigorously opposed the elevation of any foreigner to any public position. Mr. Faran was nominated by the Democrats to oppose him, and after a campaign which has been characterized as "the bitterest and most excit- ing fight ever known in the Queen City," he was elected mayor, and "Know-Noth- ingism " was made unpopular in this city. President Buchanan appointed Mr. Faran postmaster at Cincinnati, but he was removed from office before the expira- tion of his term because of his sympathy with Hon. Stephen A. Douglas on the Kansas-Nebraska question. This necessarily brief summary of his public services affords but a faint idea of their extent. For him to be a member of a legislative body was to be one of its leaders, and the times in which he was prominent were times that tried the stamina and developed the caliber of men. His associates were . great. In the Ohio legislature, in his day, it was not a case of being a giant among pigmies, for many of his were men of mark then and afterward, Even more pro- nounced than his unquestioned ability was his uncompromising integrity-his devotion to principle and to the right as he understood it. His service to his fellow citizens as mayor of Cincinnati is historic. During his administration a condition bordering on anarchy, marked by several riots which were brought about by inflammatory editorials in the Times, and by the action of members of the famous "midnight order," gave place to the influence of law and the spirit of impartiality which suc-

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ceeded the "Know-Nothing " movement as a species of retributive reaction. During the latter portion of his public life, Mr. Faran was best known to the general community as editor-in-chief of the Cincinnati Enquirer, when that journal was the exponent of Jeffersonian Democracy. This paper Mr. Faran and Washington McLean, in 1844, purchased of John and Charles Brough, and he was one of its proprietors until 1881. His literary aspirations had developed early, and his editorials in the Democratic Reporter, written in 1834, while he was in college, during the race for Congress between Gen. R. T. Lytle and Judge Bellamy Storer, attracted no little attention. £ The friendship between Mr. Faran and Washington McLean was of lifelong duration, and was never marred by such dissensions as are likely to arise between business partners. When in Cincinnati the two were almost always together, and after the removal of Mr. McLean to Washington, D. C., they corresponded with assiduous regularity. After his retirement from the postmastership, Mr. Faran decided to accept no further political honors and responsibilities, and though fre- quently urged to become a nominee for governor and other high offices, he steadfastly refused, devoting himself more and more closely to private and home life, consenting only to serve his State as delegate to the Baltimore Convention, in which he was a conspicuous figure.

Mr. Faran was married, in 1840, to Miss Angelina Russell, daughter of Robert Russell, of Columbus, Ohio, and their five children were Mrs. J. T. Wann, of Cleveland; Mrs. Dr. J. M. Dickson, U. S. A .; Mrs. George A. Pritchard; Mr. James J. Faran, Jr., and Mr. Charles R. Faran. Mr. and Mrs. Faran celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, in March, 1890, and their guests and well- wishers included the best and brightest representatives of professional and fashion- able life in Cincinnati and throughout the State. The death of Mr. Faran occurred early on the morning of December 12, 1892, when he was within about a fortnight of being eighty-four years of age. He passed away quietly and peacefully, without a thought on the 'part of his family that he was never again to answer to their call. His death caused a profound sensation throughout the city of his birth, and to whose welfare he had devoted the energies of a life both vigorous and protracted, and brought forth expressions of regret from all parts of the Union. His long career was one of usefulness, ever characterized by a most earnest endeavor to employ his splendid natural gifts to the best interests of the people he represented in public life and to the perpetuation of the principles of Democracy as laid down by the founders of American independence. He was of a temperament to make many friends and few enemies. His towering form, as erect in his eighty-second year as it was in the prime of sturdy manhood, was familiar on the streets of his native city until the very end of his brilliant and beneficent life. Upon the occasion of their golden wedding Mr. Faran was described as "a man of fine carriage and clear cut face whose mien was 'a reproach to men half his age;' Mrs. Faran as deliciously like a marquise of the ancient regime, with her tall slight figure and well poised head." All in all Mr. Faran's life was an eminently satisfactory one. As lawyer, statesman, editor, man of affairs, success waited upon him as a handmaid, and his home life, as husband and father, was blessed beyond the common lot.

HENRY BESUDEN, one of Cincinnati's most prominent and highly honored- citi- zens, was born in Germany, November 14, 1825, and is a son of Ludwig and Mary (Schnitger) Besuden. His father, who was a farmer, came to America with his family in 1843, and located on a small farm at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio. Ludwig Besuden was born November 10, 1796, and died April 17, 1878; his wife was born January 10, 1803, and died April 12, 1867. Of the children, four reached majority, and of these Henry is the eldest and the only survivor.

Henry Besuden was educated in the public schools of his native country, and began his business life by learning the trade of cigar maker. Though this was not agreeable to him, he followed it in all, as an apprentice and journeyman, three and

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one-half years, when, having accumulated a few hundred dollars, and seeing a good opening, he rented a small store in June, 1847, engaging in the sale of tobacco and cigars. Soon after he commenced the manufacture of cigars, employing at first only three or four men. Under Mr. Besuden's management the business grew rapidly. In 1851 he had the means to warrant liis purchasing leaf tobacco direct

. from New York City, which he did, and besides manufacturing cigars from it, he sold portions of his purchases to other manufacturers. He added all kinds of man- ufactured tobacco to the products of his store, and sold in boxes and half boxes to cigar stores, fruit stores and retail groceries. In January, 1858, when he admitted his youngest brother Frederick, as partner, his pay roll numbered twenty men. In 1857 while Mr. Besuden was in New York purchasing tobacco, the almost incredible failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company occurred, conclusive proof in itself that the financial panic of that time was at hand. He had already purchased to the extent of $30,000, but notwithstanding the dismal outlook in business he con- tinued to buy until the amount had reached about forty thousand dollars. As was customary, this was bought on credit of four and six months; but he paid it all before it was due, which ever after gave him unlimited credit in New York markets. About twenty thousand dollars of this indebtedness was to Crawford & Palmer, then the largest tobacco jobbers in New York. By the prepayment of this money, the members of that firm afterward declared that Mr. Besuden had tided them over a crisis in their affairs and saved them from financial ruin. This act added much to Mr. Besuden's credit in New York, which was already almost unlimited. In remembrance of this kindness the firm of Crawford & Palmer on January 1, 1858, presented Mr. Besuden with a beautiful pitcher and goblet of hammered silver appropriately inscribed, which he still has in his possession, and which he can leave to posterity as a cherished heirloom. After admitting his brother into partnership, they engaged in the purchase and sale of leaf tobacco in every form, and continued in same until 1864, after which they confined themselves exclusively to hogshead tobacco. They dealt in all the markets of the country, where they were recognized as being among the heaviest and shrewdest buyers. They sold to nearly all the large American manufacturers, and had the largest export trade of any firm in Cincin- nati, selling through their commission merchants in New York to several European governments, notably France, Spain and Italy. Their commission merchants made a single sale to the Italian government of 10,000 hogsheads, 1,892 of which belonged to Messrs. Besuden, for which they received nearly a quarter of a million of dollars. Frederick Besuden died in 1884, and our subject continued the business alone until 1888 when he retired from active life. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Besuden was not only one of the earliest extensive dealers in tobacco in Cincinnati, but was dur- Possess- ing upward of forty years one of the most enterprising and prosperous.

ing a thorough knowledge of the tobacco markets of the world, he stands as one of the foremost of those who made possible the tobacco market, which is one of Cincin- nati's best regulated lines of commerce. When Mr. Besuden took his initial step in business, his father offered him money, but he refused it, taking only his wise council which he seems to have been well qualified to give, for he especially warned him against either the endorsement of another's responsibilities or asking the same, a principle to which he always adhered, but which did not prevent his generous nature from frequently giving assistance to those whom he found in need of it. Before he was thirty years of age he was offered admission as a partner without capital by one of the largest tobacco establishments in New York. It only required the presence of his honest countenance, and the fact that he was a good judge of all kinds of leaf tobacco, to establish credit, as was often demonstrated even among total strangers. His credit was practically unlimited; in fact at times too much so. Knowing the absolute security of the loan, money was often forced upon him when his investments might better have been lighter. Upon one occasion he refused a volunteered loan of two hundred thousand dollars.

Henry Desuden

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Mr. Besuden resided in Cincinnati for many years, first on Everett street and later on Clinton, always in a most elegant and spacious home. In 1854 he pur- chased eleven and one-half acres of land in Columbia township, and soon after built thereon a cottage which he used as a country residence. In 1877 he erected on the same premises a large brick mansion, which for elegance and convenience has not, perhaps, an equal in Cincinnati, and occupied it on the second day of Jan- uary, 1878. Mr. Besuden was married May 18, 1848, to Miss Margaret Vurdemann. John H. Besuden is the only living child born to this union, and is now operating his father's farm, formerly known as the "General Groom farm," a plantation of 700 acres; four miles from Winchester, Ky. Our subject was married a second time, July 19, 1882, to Miss Mathilde Reif, daughter of Adam Reif, of Columbia township, and they are the parents of the following named bright children: Fred- erick, David, George, Mathilde, Henrietta, Chauncey and Waldemar, who are being educated at home by a governess. Mr. and Mrs. Besuden worship at the First English Lutheran Church, of which they are generous supporters. He is a Repub- lican in his political views, but would never seek or accept a public office.

OBED J. WILSON, descended from good old Puritan ancestry, was born in Bing- ham, Maine, August 30, 1826. His father, Rev. Obed Wilson, was a leading and influential citizen of that State during its early history, and intimately associated for many years with its civil and religious affairs. He was a member of the Terri- torial Convention of 1820 and 1821 that framed the constitution of the State, and a representative to the first session of the Legislature that convened after its adoption. Subsequently he was repeatedly a member of both House and Senate, always dis- charging the duties of his position with ability, fidelity and satisfaction to all. Consecrated to the ministry in his youth, he became a zealous and successful preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, laboring early and late for nearly forty years, never sparing himself, but promptly responsive to every call of human need and Christian charity. He was a ready, effective, and eloquent speaker, a wise and judicious counselor, and an active and earnest worker in various fields of usefulness -a good man and a devout Christian. He gave his sons as favorable opportunities for securing a liberal education as his circumstances, and the character of the educa- tional institutions of the State at that time, would allow. One son died in Water- ville College; three were educated at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary; Obed, the youngest of seven sons, received his education at home, in the public schools, and at Bloomfield Academy.

In 1846, at the age of twenty, he came to Cincinnati, secured a situation in the public schools, in which he taught five years, meanwhile studying law. In 1851, his eyesight becoming seriously impaired from over-use, he found himself obliged to abandon his studies, give up teaching, and seek such occupation as would allow complete rest to his overtaxed sight. The position of traveling agent for their schoolbook publications was offered him by Winthrop B. Smith & Co., and promptly embraced. After traveling a few years, finding his sight greatly improved, he accepted a flattering offer from Mr. Smith, and took a settled position in the pub- lishing-house, first as correspondent and literary referee, and later as editor-in-chief of its publications. Upon Mr. Smith's retiring from business, Mr. Wilson became a member of the firm of Sargent, Wilson & Hinkle, and, a few years later, senior member of the firm of Wilson, Hinkle & Co. Business rapidly extended, and under the energetic and able management of himself and Mr. Hinkle, the house became, without question, the largest schoolbook publishing concern in America-perhaps in the world. Too close application to an extensive and exacting business seriously impaired Mr. Wilson's health, and he was advised to seek rest and restoration in a trip abroad. Accompanied by his wife and her niece, Miss Fannie M. Stone, he spent the summer and autumn of 1869 traveling in Europe. While in Rome, he received a dispatch informing him of the sudden death of one of his partners, and

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immediately returned in midwinter to America. Re-engaging in business with increased energy and devotion, the next seven years were given to unremitted, unsparing, downright hard work.

Having obtained satisfactory pecuniary success, Mr. Wilson resolved upon grati- fying a life-long desire. He withdrew from active business in 1877, and entered upon a course of extended travel. During the ensuing five years, accompanied by his estimable wife, as enthusiastic and energetic a traveler as himself, he visited every country, capital, and considerable city of Europe, spent some time in North- ern and Eastern Africa, and several months in Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. In 1882 he returned to America, and settled down among his books, resolved upon an extended and systematic course of study; and to close and varied study the next four years were given. In the autumn of 1886, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson again left home upon a more extended journey than hitherto. Accompanied by two of their nieces, Miss Cora Stone and Miss Florence M. Wilson, they proceeded to the Sand- wich Islands in the mid-Pacific, where they spent the winter. In the spring they sailed for Japan, spent some time in interesting and instructive travel in the king- dom of the Mikado, crossed to China, visiting several of its important cities, and returned to Europe by way of Farther India, India, and Egypt. Reaching familiar ground, several months were devoted to revisiting well-remembered places, afford- ing their nieces an opportunity of seeing many of the most famous cities of the Old World. Late in the autumn of 1887 the party returned to America, having com- pleted a delightful and highly gratifying trip around the globe. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson again visited Europe during the summer and autumn of 1892, spending their time wholly in England, Scotland, and Ireland, mainly seeking less noted places unfrequented by the general tourist.

Mr. Wilson has a beautiful home in Clifton, Cincinnati's oldest and most attract- ive suburb; and here, surrounded by works of art, souvenirs of many lands visited in his varied travels, and with a large and well-selected library, he lives a retired life, shunning rather than seeking society, and still a hard student. Mr. Wilson is a Republican, but not a partisan; a member of no Church, but a sincere believer in the positively good of all religions. In 1853 he married Amanda M. Landrum, of Augusta Ky., daughter of Rev. Francis Landrum, well known, admired, and loved throughout Kentucky and southern Ohio, during the early half of the century, as an eminent, zealous, and successful minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have no children.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 76

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