History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 85

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

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somewhat impaired, but still desiring to enrich his mind by observation, he spent two years in travel through a large part of Europe, Asia and Africa, meanwhile con- tinuing his studies with unabated devotion, and was for a time a student at the Uni- versity of Heidelberg. From 1846, the time of his return to America, until 1853, he studied and practiced law. Not only did he study municipal law, but he made himself familiar with the fundamental principles and science of government, making profound researches in civil law and the law of nations. In 1853 he was elected senator for Hamilton county, and served two years. From that date to the time of his death, about thirty-six years, he was prominent in the politics of his country, and for twenty years he held the highest offices in the gift of the State, and offices as important as any in the gift of the administration at Washington. Inher- iting from his father and grandfather a natural taste for public affairs; brought in contact from his boyhood with the leading public men of his day; having imbibed some of the intensity of feeling which characterized all political contests in the exciting period from the first administration of Jackson to the election of Buchanan, it is not remarkable that Mr. Pendleton early entered upon a political career; nor to the student of the history of his time is it at all strange that, while his grand- father was a Federalist and his father a Whig, he should have attached himself to the Democratic party.

At the early age of thirty-two he first entered Congress. He was elected in 1856, re-elected in 1858, 1860 and 1862, and served from December, 1857, until March 4, 1865. His former legislative experience was invaluable to him when he began this

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service. During his first term he devoted himself to the study of parliamentary law, and did much laborious work upon the committee of military affairs. By his charm- ing manner, fidelity to duty and high sense of honor, he won the confidence of the House, and made a strong impression upon the country. At the next congressional election not a man on the Democratic county ticket was successful, yet Mr. Pendleton was returned by a handsome majority.

This was the last Congress before the war, and it has passed into history as one of extreme party violence; but Mr. Pendleton conducted himself with such conserva- tism and good sense that he obtained a political prestige which he never thereafter lost. He stood with Douglas against the whole power of the administration, and in favor of the right of the people to form their own territorial governments with or without slavery. In common with many leading men of the North of both political parties he believed that it was possible to save the Union without the arbitration of war. He gave his ardent support to the Crittenden compromise and his most cordial approval to the Peace Convention held by the Northern States at Wash- ington, in February, 1861. During Mr. Lincoln's administration lie differed widely from the governmental policy and the management of the war, and had the courage of his convictions to vote against every measure which he regarded as violating the fundamental principle of liberty, or as being an infraction of the constitution of his country. He opposed the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in portions of the country remote from the theater of war, contended against the declaration of martial law, except in sections occupied by opposing forces, opposed every attempt to make the civil inferior to the military authority, and discouraged the centralization of the powers of the government; but never directly or indirectly did he give any aid or encouragement to the enemies of his country; and all his private acts and public speeches show an unalterable devotion to the union of the States. After the beginning of hostilities, in the extra session of Con- gress in 1861, he declared that he would vote for every measure necessary to enable the government to maintain its honor and dignity, to prevent the dismemberment of the Union or the dishonor of its flag. At every step in the progress of the war he voted to raise men and money to carry on the operations of the government.

When Gen. McClellan was nominated for President of the United States in 1864, Mr. Pendleton received the unanimous vote of the convention for Vice-President. In 1868 he was the choice of the great body of his party for President, and was defeated by Mr. Seymour at the last moment by only a few votes. He was, against his will, a candidate for governor of Ohio in 1869. During the six years from 1878 to 1884, while senator of the United States, he took an active part in all matters of national legislation. His influence was exerted for good upon several important questions, but as the author of the civil service measure he made for himself a place in our legislative history which would have distinguished him even had his previous career been one of obscurity. Without his untiring efforts in its behalf, it is thought that the bill would not have then become a law of the United States, and it is believed by many public men that to its passage and the faithful application and advocacy of its principles, Mr. Cleveland owed his election to the Presidency in 1884. Shortly after Mr. Pendleton's term as senator had expired, in March, 1885, he was appointed minister to the German Empire. On the eve of his departure, in recogni- tion of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens, and for his long, faith- ful and distinguished public service, a banquet was tendered him by leading Cincinnatians, irrespective of party. Upon this occasion Senator Pendleton spoke briefly of his official career, thus referring to his political course: "I have always trusted in the people, and have found inspiration in the assured confidence that with them the right would always vindicate the act. And now, looking back at these long years of service, acknowledging with due humility my shortcomings, consult- ing my own conscience, I have to say to you, my friends and constituents, that no single important vote have I ever cast, no single important measure have I advo-

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

cated, without a full sense of my responsibility to you, without the full conviction that it was for your good and without complete assurance that it deserved and would have your absolute approval, and I would not change any of these votes if I could." This was the last time that Mr. Pendleton spoke in public in Cincinnati. Seeming to have a premonition of the sorrowful event to come, almost overcome with emotion, he said: "The future may have long years in store for us-I do not know, but whenever the lengthening shadows indicate my life's sunset, the memory of this night shall cast a mellow light over every sombre hue, and illumine by its reflected rays the pathway of the dark valley." The German government received him with distinction and honor, and for more than two years he discharged all the delicate: duties of his position with the greatest tact and credit. His hopes were wrecked by the accidental death of his wife who had been his companion and the comfort and consolation of his life for more than thirty years. Stunned and oppressed by this. blighting loss, he was himself soon thereafter stricken with disease from which, though he rallied for a time, he never fully recovered. He longed for his native- land, and prayed that he might die in the city of his birth. On his homeward way he stopped at Brussels, and there his life closed. He was married in 1847 to Miss Alice Key, the daughter of Francis Scott Key, the author of the "Star Span- gled Banner." He left a son, Frank Key Pendleton, one of New York's successful lawyers, and two daughters, Miss Pendleton and Mrs. Arthur Brice, both of Wash- ington, D. C.

Mr. Pendleton had few, if any, superiors among the public men of his day. From his youth he had assiduously cultivated the art of public speaking, and yet he seldom spoke without long and careful preparation. His argument against the expulsion of Alexander Long from the House of Representatives, for words spoken in debate, for- legal ability and thorough knowledge of the nature and character of our govern- ment, has never been surpassed in our Congress, and is worthy to be regarded as a classic in the English language, and many others of his addresses and orations were- scarcely less noteworthy. He never spoke as a partisan, but always as a statesman and lover of his country. He was as chivalrous a knight as ever entered the lists of debate, and it was a maxim of his life never to be personal in debate or to abuse his antagonists, and to deal only with their opinions and their actions and with their party as a political organization. His style and manner of speaking were ornate. In all his relations of life he was guided by deep and profound conviction. His mind was strongly imbued with a moral and religious element, but he did not believe in mere dogmas and creeds, and was neither bigoted nor sectarian. He had a high sense of honor, and refused fellowship with any but honorable men. Proud of his good name, he lived a life without reproach, and his private character was unspotted as the untrodden snow. He was all his life a student, and in knowledge of political economy, history and the science of government he was unsurpassed by any man of his time.

HUGH F. KEMPER, senior partner in the firm of Kemper Brothers, at No. 168 Main street, Cincinnati, from about 1860 to the date of his death, was born on Wal- nut Hills, February 18, 1824, and died at his residence, No. 122 Park avenue, August 4, 1887. He was the eldest child of David R. Kemper, who was one of the fifteen children of Rev. James Kemper, the first Presbyterian minister west of the Alleghany Mountains, who settled in Cincinnati in 1790, and was for many years pastor of what is now the First Presbyterian Church on Fourth street, near Main. Rev. James Kemper purchased of John Cleves Symmes 140 acres of ground, extend- ing from about what is now McMillan street on the north, to Morris street on the south, and from Gilbert avenue on the west, to South Elm street on the east, and settled on this farm about the year 1800, building first a blockhouse, to protect him - self and family from the Indians, on the west side of Park avenue, just north of Windsor street, about where the residence of Henry C. Urner now stands. In 1805

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he built a house of walnut logs on the west side of Kemper lane, nearly opposite the entrance to Windsor street, which house, the oldest in Cincinnati, has been weatherboarded over, and still (1893) stands in good condition. The children of Rev. James Kemper settled on farms near their father, his son, David R., purchas- ing the one hundred acres adjoining on the east; there the subject of this sketch was born.

In boyhood, Hugh F. Kemper attended old Woodward, and, after entering upon a business career, was for some years in the commission business on Water street; afterward, until his death, he was senior member, as above stated, of the firm of Kemper Brothers, wholesale dealers in carriage goods and carriage trimmings. He was a man entirely without ostentation, but of granite integrity. He held many positions of trust. He was a member of the board of improvements of Cincinnati, in the days when that board served without compensation, but never cared to involve himself in politics. He was a trustee of Lane Seminary, and a member and elder of the First Presbyterian Church on Walnut Hills. The present building used by the congregation was built under his personal supervision, and he was a large contributor to the fund raised for its erection. He was a modest, unassuming, Christian gentleman. He died August 4, 1887, his departure sincerely mourned by an exceedingly large circle of friends.

In 1853 he was married to Mary Jane Miller, of Washington Court House, Ohio, whose death preceded that of her husband by a little more than two years. Six sons were the fruit of the marriage, namely: Willis M., David R., Frank H., Hugh F., Parke F., and Howard W., all of whom survive except Parke F. Kemper, who died February 22, 1893, aged twenty-six years. The eldest son, Willis M. Kemper, is an attorney at law, practicing in Cincinnati. He was married November 12, 1889, to Emily Fitz Randolph Runyan, of New Brunswick, N. J., one of the old families of that name in that State. The second son, David R. Kemper, is a successful business man, in the same line of carriage business here as his father was before him. He was married December 19, 1882, to Harriet Mason Tucker, daughter of the late Johnson M. Tucker, and granddaughter of Dr. George Fries, both of Cin- -cinnati. The third son, Frank H. Kemper, is an attorney at law, practicing in Cincinnati. He was president of the first board of legislation of the city of Cincin- nati, a board which in 1891 took the place of the old boards of council and alder- men. He was married October 12, 1892, to Elizabeth Oliver Perkins, a daughter of Henry A. Perkins, senior partner of the saddlery firm of Perkins, Campbell & Com- pany, Cincinnati. The two remaining sons who survive are Hugh F. Kemper, Jr., and Howard W. Kemper, both unmarried, and both engaged in business in Cin- cinnati.

JACOB HARBAUGH GETZENDANNER was born at Uniontown, Fayette Co., Penn., August 7, 1810, and died at Cincinnati, October 19, 1871. He was a son of Gabriel and Margaret (Van Houten) Getzendanner, the ancestors of both of whom were natives of Holland.

Jacob H. Getzendanner laid the foundation of his education at the academy of his native town, and with this as his entire capital started at the age of sixteen for the then Far West, Hamilton county, Ohio. An uncle, Lewis Getzendanner, one of the earliest settlers of Green township, invited his young relative to make his home with him, and here for several years the young man alternated between learning the trade of carpenter and assisting upon the farm, putting in his spare time at his studies. He early conceived an interest in the study of law, and in 1828, in which year he came to Cincinnati and established himself in business as a car- penter and builder, he commenced a systematic course of that study. As a builder he prospered, and some of the structures that he erected are still standing. His industry, ability and patriotism commended him to his fellow-citizens as the right material for public trusts, and he held a number of elective offices, all of which he

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filled with marked ability. As county commissioner and magistrate his services were especially noteworthy. He was admitted to the Bar when forty years of age, and spent the remainder of his life in the practice of his profession. During the closing years of his life his time was largely employed in the hearing of reference cases.

At the Bar meeting held three days subsequent to Mr. Getzendanner's death, the late Judge Bellamy Storer, presiding, the following committee to draft resolutions was appointed: Judge William Caldwell, Judge Stanley Matthews, Col. Thomas Henderson, Thomas G. Mitchell, and John F. Follett. This committee reported the following resolutions, which were adopted:

The Bar of Cincinnati, assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of a deceased brother, have heard with deep sensibility the announcement of the decease of Jacob H. Getzendanner. This unexpected event recalls to them those qualities which made their association and intercourse with him pleasant and gratifying, and furnishes the appropriate occasion to them of bearing witness to the sound qualities of his head and heart which marked him as a magistrate, distinguished for his discriminating judgment, strong common sense, nice appreciation of right, unbending love of justice and perfect integrity; which as a lawyer char- acterized him for modesty, frankness, and generous appreciation of others; which as a man exhibited him free from every jealousy and every meanness, abounding with all the amiable traits and impulses of a kind heart. Thoroughly grounded in the principles of his profession, he mauifested in a high degree its best and most honorable spirit; the native soundness and quickness of his intellect, and unerring seuse of justice amounting to an instinct for truth. This Bar deeply regrets his loss, and tenders to the family their sympathy. It is therefore

Resolved, That as a mark of respect the Bar will attend his funeral in a body.

Resolved, That the proceeding of this meeting be presented to the Courts of this county for record, and a copy transmitted to his family.

Jacob H. Getzendanner was married at the age of twenty-one to Elizabeth, daughter of Britton Ross, one of the pioneer settlers of Hamilton county, and for many years engaged in steamboating on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Of the children born of this marriage but two survive: Mary E. and Jacob C. Getzen- danner.

THEODORE GAZLAY, attorney at law, was born in Cairo, a small village near the Hudson river, in Greene county, N. Y., in 1815, the youngest in a family of twelve children. His brothers were James W., for many years a prominent attorney of Cincinnati; Sayres, a Presbyterian minister, and Aribert, an Indiana merchant. The father, James Gazlay, and the mother, Huldah (Carter) Gazlay, were born in this country, and both were of English descent. The father came to this city with his family in 1822, and here in the public schools Theodore Gazlay laid the founda- tion of his education.

As a lad, he learned the printing business in the office of the Independent Press, a weekly newspaper published and edited for a few years by his brother James W. He then formed a partnership and conducted a job printing business with James A. James for a period of three years. His health failing him in this employment, he abandoned it, and repaired to his father's farm near Lawrenceburg, where he began the study of law, which he subsequently pursued in Lawrenceburg, Rising Sun, and Patriot, Ind. He was admitted to practice in 1841, removed to Cincinnati shortly thereafter, and continued in the practice of his profession until 1885, when he abandoned it, now devoting his time to the management of his estate. Mr. Gazlay was for twelve years associated with the Ohio & Mississippi Railway Company, as its managing attorney. He acquired a competency from the practice of his pro- fession, and is, with his children, by inheritance from his nephew, Allen W. Gazlay, eldest son of James W. Gazlay, the possessor of more than a half million dollars' worth of real estate in the heart of Cincinnati.

In Lawrenceburg, Ind., in 1844, Mr. Gazlay was married to Jane E. Fitch, whose parents, Harris and Hannah Fitch, were of English and Irish descent, respectively. Of the children born of this marriage, one son and five daughters

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survive, viz. : William H. Gazlay, the Cincinnati agent of the Chrome Steel Works, of New York; Hannah F. Gazlay; Mrs. Huldah Miller, wife of Albert W. Miller, now, and for some years past, city clerk of Sandusky, Ohio; Mrs. Emma G. Donald- son, wife of Andrew Donaldson, one of the vice-presidents of the New York & Erie railroad; Julia D. Gazlay, a talented vocalist, and Mrs. Clara J. Kuhn, wife of Oscar W. Kuhn, an attorney of Cincinnati. Mr. and Mrs. Gazlay, son and unmar- ried daughters reside at No. 105 Park avenue, Walnut Hills; Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn at North Ingleside, Walnut Hills; Mr. and Mrs. Miller, at Sandusky, Ohio, and Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson, in New York City. Mr. Gazlay is a Republican, but hasnever had any aspirations for political preferment. His wife is a member of the Metho- dist Church.

HON. ANDREW J. PRUDEN, lawyer, was born January 19, 1818, in Cincinnati, and was the fifth of seven children, whose parents were Ebenezer and Mary Pruden, the maiden name of the latter having been Leonard. Both the latter were natives of Morristown, N. J., and went to reside in Cincinnati in 1808. In those early times there were no rapid modes of transit, and they only reached the city of their subse- quent residence by lumbering coach and slow flatboat. Ebenezer Pruden followed through life the occupation of a brick mason, and became a master mechanic of no inconsiderable reputation. Some of the finest private and public buildings in Cincin- nati are adorned by the specimens of liis skill and ingenuity. He died in 1863, at the age of eighty-seven years, just two years after the decease of his partner, who had reached the age of eighty-one.

The education of our subject was obtained in the common schools of Cincinnati, and by assiduity he made rapid progress in his studies. In 1835 he commenced work on a farm in Warren county, Ohio, owned by his father, and spent two years upon it. Returning to Cincinnati he entered Woodward College, and pursued the various studies in its curriculum for two years, and then commenced to read law with David Van Matre, for the practice of which he had a longing ambition. This new field of scientific thought occupied his attention closely, and when in December, 1841, two years after his commencement of the study, he was admitted to the Bar, he was in possession of a much profounder knowledge of its theory than that which has been won by students of longer years. He commenced practice immediately upon his admission, and with but little intermission this has claimed bis sole atten- tion and ability ever since. In 1846 he was elected member of the Cincinnati city council, and was four times successively re-elected, going out with the close of the year 1849. In October of this year he was by his constituents sent to the State Legislature, and in that capacity rendered conspicuous service in the interests of the city and commonwealth. In the fall of 1850 he was chosen prosecuting attorney of Hamilton county, Ohio, and by a re-election, in 1852, served in this office until January, 1855, during which time he succeeded in making for himself as fine a record as any man who ever held that position, and went out of office very popular. In the fall of 1854 the Know- Nothing party had carried the city of Cincinnati, by a majority of over 5,000 votes, when the Democratic party had small hopes of success, but thought if they could get their late prosecuting attorney to accept the nom- ination that his name would be a tower of strength to them, and he might be elected; therefore he was nominated to the office of police judge of the city of Cincinnati, together with James J. Farran for mayor, and they were accordingly elected by a handsome majority. His fine judicial record on this Bench secured his re-election in 1857, and in this capacity he completed his labors in 1859. From his retirement from the Bench until November, 1860, he was prominently identified in labors con- nected with the construction of the Atlantic & Great Western railroad, and upon the completion of this service resumed his practice, which has since exclusively engaged his attention.

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On August 19, 1841, Mr. Pruden was married to Mary A. Powell, by whom he - has one surviving child, Thomas Pruden, a real-estate agent of Cincinnati. He was married, the second time, April 7, 1894, to Mrs. Laura C. Carter, of Cincinnati. Judge Pruden's life has been one of great mental and physical activity. His record for acute analyzation and cogent reasoning is scarcely surpassed by that of any other jurist. He has been from an early age a member of the Presbyterian Church, and, like his father, has adhered to the principles of sterling Democracy. As a city councilman he was chiefly instrumental in securing the much-needed change from the soft limestone to the present boulder system of grading the streets of Cincinnati. To his labors in no small degree is due the erection of the House of Refuge, the Hamilton County Infirmary, and numerous other public institutions. He is a man of extensive social and political influence, and is highly esteemed by his fellow citizens.

RICHARD HENRY STONE, attorney at law, was born August 29, 1822, at Charles- town, Jefferson Co., W. Va. He is a son of the late Richard L. and Sara (Ains- worth) Stone, the former of whom was also a native of Virginia, of English descent, and came to Cincinnati in 1832. The subject of this sketch received a common- school education. He read law with Judge Nathaniel C. Reed, and later with Messrs. Morris & Reardon, attorneys of Cincinnati, attended the Cincinnati Law School, was graduated therefrom and was admitted to the Bar in 1844. He has been associated in practice with several well-known attorneys, among them Judge R. B. Warden, C. D. Champlin and R. H. Stone, Jr., but has during the greater part of his professional life, and is to-day, engaged therein alone. He is a Democrat. He was a member of the first Ohio Legislature, under the present constitution (1852-3), and clerk of the court in Hamilton county, from February, 1858, to Feb- ruary, 1861. He is a member of the Masonic Order. He was married in Cincin- nati, November 26, 1846, to Sarah W., daughter of Francis Landrum, a Methodist minister of Augusta, Ky., whose family subsequent to his death removed to this city. Of the issue of this marriage three sons and a daughter survive. The sons are Richard H. Stone, Jr., an attorney at law retired from practice; George W. Stone, an attorney practicing law in this city; and O. W. Stone, formerly for some years an employe of the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific railroad at this point, now of the American Cotton Oil Company, with headquarters in New York City. The daughter is Fannie M. Stone. The children are unmarried and reside with their parents at North Bend. The family are members of the Methodist Church.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 85

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