USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 46
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In the spring of 1890 Mr. Wetzler and his son, Edward Wetzler, launched on the jour- nalistic sea "The Lancaster Daily Eagle," which prospered from the first and today is one of the most popular of the daily papers in the state, while The Ohio Eagle has grown until it is one of the largest and most creditably managed weeklies in the state. Beyond a current newspaper literature, it has been strictly a political partisan paper. In 1828 it supported the claims of "Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson for the presi- dency against John Quincy Adams and after the National Convention of 1832, at which the supporters of Jackson adopted the name of "Democratic party," the "Eagle" continued to support the Jackson ticket in 1836, and the Van Buren ticket against Wil- liam H. Harrison and has always since been the Democratic organ in Fairfield county, which has never failed to cast a Democratic majority at each succeeding election.
When Thomas Wetzler died in 1899, his sons, Edward as editor, and Charles, as bus- iness manager, assumed control of the paper and both the daily and weekly publications have made steady and substantial advance- ment. In February, 1897, Daniel B. Tidd became city editor of the "Daily and Weekly Eagle" and has held that position uninter- ruptedly for fifteen years and for ten years Miss Fannie Wetzler has held the position of society editor and all connected with the paper strive to make each issue better than the last.
The "Eagle" enjoys the distinction of having been conducted under the same name longer than any other Ohio publication and is also one of the oldest newspapers in the state.
D. B. T.
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"ITEMS OF YE OLDEN TIMES"
Here is a brief item copied from "Der Ohio Adler" of the issue of 1809. It is trans- lated from the German :
.\ Marriage Cross-"I hereby forewarn every man not to trust my wife, Margaret, or lend to her on my account, because I have de- termined not to pay one cent for her after this date."
Governor Meig's proclamation, calling for volunteers to serve in the War of 1812 is also found in "Der Ohio Adler."
In the English edition is found this ad- vertisement :
One Hundred Dollars Reward-Run away from the subscriber, living in Moorefield, Har- din County, Virginia, on the 29th of April last, a negro man named Berry. He is about 20 years of age; height, five feet, eight inches, round shoulders, slender build. He is active and undaunted, but not viciously inclined ; reddish lips, stutters when closely questioned. Whoever will secure said slave in any jail of the U. S. so that I can get him again, shall re- ceive the above reward, and all reasonable charges paid, if brought home, July 15. 1815. WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM.
The following peculiar and interesting no- tice to the public appeared in "The Ohio Eagle." August 24, 1815, over the signature of George Bright :
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.
On Sunday last, the 20th inst., the follow- ing circumstance occurred at the great meet- ing, or love feast, held at the house of Casper Hufford. Raccoon Creek, three miles east of Lancaster. The subscriber, with his wife, at- tended said meeting. His wife, wishing to re- main there till Monday following, turned the mare she had been riding into a large meadow, in which about sixty other horse creatures were grazing. On the following Monday, the wife, intending to return home, missed the mare. and after a most diligent search, a dark
brown mare, without a bridle or halter, was found loose in Mr. Hufford's stable. No per- son present owning said mare, or knowing the owners thereof, the subscriber took her into his possession. Ile cannot conceive whether his creature was taken out of mistake for the one left behind in the stable : whether rode off or wilfully stolen.
"The subscriber's mare is a bright bay, eight years old, 14 hands high, shod before, strong built, a natural trotter, and has some saddle and harness marks. Should some per- son have rode her off, or out of mistake taken away said mare, and left his own in place thereof, he is hereby desired, in a friendly manner, to return the same immediately, as such incautious proceedings may bring on dis- agreeable consequences.'
LANCASTER GAZETTE
The "Lancaster Gazette" was first issued April 4, 1826, with George Sanderson and Benjamin Oswald, editors. The above men- tioned gentlemen were editors until early in 1830, when Mr. Sanderson became sole proprietor. In 1832 Philadelphia Van Trump, who was publishing the "Enquirer." became a partner and the paper was called the "Gazette and Enquirer." Two years later "Enquirer" was dropped and it became "The Lancaster Gazette." In 1838 Benjamin Moehler became sole proprietor and editor. In 1841 Percival and Van Forsen bought the paper. In 1850 it was sokl to George Weaver, editor, and with John Wright, pub- lisher. In 1852 it was soll to Thomas S. Slaughter, who after one year sold it to a company, with George McElroy, editor and was published by them for one year. Then followed Joshua Clarke, editor and proprie- tor, with William Kooken as publisher. "The Gazette" was then issued under the firm name of Clarke and Kooken until April. 1860.
In January, 1860, Dr. Hervey Scott pur-
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chased the "American Democrat and the Gazette" and combined them. Before the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion he sold to Robert M. Clarke, William H. Kooken and John M. Sutphen. In 1863 A. P. Miller bought R. M. Clarke's interest and the firm became Miller, Kooken & Sutphen. In February, 1866, S. A. Griswold became a member of the firm by purchasing Mr. Mil- ler's share. In 1871 the firm became the Gazette Printing Co., by admitting H. W. Griswold, I. E. Griswold and H. C. Drinkle.
The "Gazette" was always a partisan weekly, but supported John Quincy Adams in 1828 and Andrew Jackson in 1832. It then became the organ of the Whig party in Fair- field county. In 1855, when the American "Know-nothing" party was formed, absorb- ing not only the Whigs but all small factions and also a part of the Democratic party, the "Gazette" adopted the American ticket. Two years later (1857) upon the adoption of the Philadelphia platform, the "Gazette" be- came the supporter of the Republican party.
In 1849-50 a small daily sheet was issued, entitled "The Daily Gazette," and was con- tinued about two years. One of the princi- pal papers was published from the "Gazette" office during the fall of 1840, called "Log Cabin." S. A. Griswold retired on February 4, 1896, and S. A. Pursell became his suc- cessor. After Mr. Pursell retired as editor, Malcolm Jennings became editor for a stock company. Later Mr. Jennings and Charles N. O'Brien bought and continued to run the paper until it was sold to a stock company in July, 1908, with P. L. Clark as president and editor. Atbou a year or two later (Feb. 26, 1910, Mr. Clark resigned and C. J. Beach was elected) it was taken over by the pres- ent management, C. J. Beach, manager and editor and H. J. Danker, associate.
THE DEMOCRAT
Another of Fairfield's gool publications is "The Democrat," published on Wednesday and Saturday at Lancaster by The Demo- crat Printing Company, of which John F. Konkler is editor and general manager and C. H. Zarbaugh business manager. The of- fice of this paper is in the Smith Block, Nos. 113 and 115 North Columbus Street.
THE MESSENGER
The first newspaper published in Balti- more was called "The Messenger, and its first issue came out on Thursday, November 18, 1886, the work upon this first issue being done by Mr. B. B. Holland. It was first owned by William L. Mains. Mr. Mains sold to P. G. Evans in 1887 ; he kept it only a very short time, selling to George Sull, who in 1888 moved the paper to Rushville, Octo- ber 1, 1889, D. B. Kumler and William Bur- ton started the "Fairfield County News" and conducted it under that name until June 1, 1893, when Mr. E. O. Weist bought the paper and changed the name to the "Twin City News." Mr. Weist is still editor and proprietor and issues the paper weekly at Baltimore. It is a neat newsy sheet, with a wide circulation and a good advertising de- partment.
FAIRFIELD-PICKAWAY NEWS
The "Fairfield-Pickaway News," of Stoutsville, Ohio, was founded by H. O. Harden, Aug. 25, 1888. It is an eight-page paper. It has never changed hands, and is in a home of its own. The circulation is 600, subscriptions paid in advance. It is non- political, but independent in politics.
THE AMANDA HERALD
The "Amanda Herald" was established in 1 890. It is printed for the people of
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Amanda, Ohio. The "News" has been the official organ of the goth Ohio Vol. Inf. As- sociation, and the editor has been its presi-
dent-except one year-since the death of Capt. A. R. Keller many years ago. (See Pleasant Township.)
CHAPTER XIX
GREAT LIVES AND NOTED EVENTS
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Group I-Thomas Ewing, Sr., Hugh Boyle Ewing, Gen'l Thomas Ewing, Jr., Charles R. Sher- man, General Sherman, Hon. John Sherman, John Trafford Brasec, John Scofield Brasce, Judge Charles D. Martin, Governor William Medill. Group II-The Sanderson Family, Elisabeth Sherman Reese, Captain A. R. Keller, Hon. Henry J. Booth, Dr. Henry C. Ey- man, Nettie Kagay Gravett, Hon. John G.Reeves-Mount Pleasant.
GROUP I
Thomas Ewing, was born at West Liberty, Ohio county, West Va., December 28, 1789, and died at Lancaster, Ohio, October 26, 1871. He was reared in Athens county, and was the first graduate from the Ohio Univer- sity at Athens, which was then the only insti- tution of higher learning in the North-West Territory. He was reared amid the priva- tions of a frontier life, and secured an educa- tion by great effort and sacrifice.
He came to Lancaster in 1815, was ad- mitted to the bar the following year and quickly became successful in the practice of the law. For several years he was prosecut- ing attorney of Fairfield County, and in this position succeeded in stamping out the traffic in counterfeit bank notes. Mr. Ewing soon rose to distinction in his profession, his prac- tice being confined almost entirely to the higher courts. He took a keen interest in the political controversies of the 20's, and became the leader of the Whig party in Ohio, and in 1830 was elected to the U. S. Senate, where
he served for six years. In the Senate he ranked with Clay and Webster, in profound statesmanship and great forensic ability, re- ceiving from his colleagues the sonbriquet of the "Logician of the West." Though op- posed to the administration and in the minor- ity, he, almost single handed, forced a recon- struction of the laws relating to the post office department and the public lands. He pre- pared and carried through Congress the bill settling the boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan.
In 1841 he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by William Henry Harrison, but resigned some time after the succession of President Tyler. Upon the election of Presi- dent Taylor, he was called by him, in 1849, to fill the office of Secretary of the Interior, then newly created, and this great and difficult de- partment he organized and conducted until the death of Taylor, a year later, when he re- signed, and was almost immediately after ap- pointed to the U. S. Senate to fill the unex- pired term of Corwin. Upon its completion, he returned to the practice of the law.
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During the war he unreservedly supported the government, and his judgment on matters of state was frequently sought by Mr. Lin- coln. When the capture of Mason and Slidell brought England and the United States to the verge of hostilities. Ewing sent Mr. Lincoln the famous telegram that was decisive of the case .- "There can be no contraband of war between neutral ports." He then hurried to Washington, and it was his advice that finally prevailed and saved the country from a fatal conflict with England. After the war he op- posed the reconstruction methods of the Re- publican party and terminated all party af- filiations.
Ewing ranked among the greatest lawyers of his day, some of his legal arguments in the State and National Supreme Courts having been accepted and quoted by the bench and bar of that time, as authorities upon the ques- tions involved. In habits, he was simple and austerely temperate; in disposition, kind and considerate of others; in character, most hon- orable, lofty and patriotic. He was reared in no particular religious belief. but leaned to- wards Catholicity, into which faith he was re- ceived in his last days and lies buried in the Catholic cemetery at Lancaster.
HUGH BOYLE EWING
Hugh Boyle Ewing, son of Hon. Thomas Ewing, was born at Lancaster, Ohio, October 31, 1826. He was educated at the West Point Military Academy, went to California in 1849, returning east in 1855, was admitted to the bar, and in 1858 was married to Hen- rietta Young, of Maryland.
In 1861 he entered the army as major. shortly after receiving a commission as colonel and taking command of the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of South Mountain he commanded a brigade. and in that capacity he greatly distinguished
himself at Antietam, near the Stone Bridge. saving, by a brilliant movement, the left flank of the army from being driven in. Receiving the appointment of brigadier-general, he led the assault at Vicksburg on the 22nd of May. displaying signal bravery and ability in that desperate attack, and from that time until the surrender of the city, held an advance posi- tion of the army. From that time on until the close of the war, he commanded a divis- ion as major-general. As commander of the fourth division of the fifteenth army corps, he led the assault on Mission Ridge. gaining and holding the advance position in that engage- ment, although suffering a terrific loss. Af- terwards he served with efficiency and distinc- tion as commander of the Department of Kentucky, until the close of the war, when he was brevetted major-general. As a soldier. he endeared himself to his men, for, although a severe disciplinarian, he always led them in their desperate charges, and his military ability gave them assurance against needless sacrifice of life.
General Ewing was appointed by President Johnson, minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Holland. and discharged the cluties of that position with credit until re- lieved by his successor under the next admin- istration. Upon his return to the United States he engaged in the practice of the law in Washington, D. C., until 1874. then remor- ing to his boyhood home, Lancaster, where he resided until his death, June 30. 1905. As a man and citizen he was esteemed for his hon- orable character, genial disposition and high literary attainments. He was the author of "A Castle in the Air," "The Black List," and a number of shorter stories.
GEN. THOMAS EWING, JR.
General Thomas Ewing, Jr., the son of Thomas Ewing and Maria Boyle, was born
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in Lancaster, Aug. 7, 1829. He attended pri- vate school in Lancaster, Greenfield Academy and Brown University. At the early age of nineteen he was private secretary to Presi- dent Taylor. After this he attended Cin- cinnati law school and was graduated in 1855. Early in 1856 he was married to Ellen Ewing Cox, daughter of Rev. William Cox. For a brief time, Mr. Ewing practiced law in Cin- cinnati; afterwards, in 1857, moving to Leavenworth, Kan. He quickly rose to prom- inence as a lawyer and assisted in bringing about the admission of Kansas into the Union as a free state.
At the age of thirty-one he was elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the state of Kansas. In September, 1862, he re- signed the chief justiceship and entered the Union Army as Colonel of the Eleventh Regi- ment Kansas Volunteer Infantry. For gal- lant conduct in the battle of Prairie Grove, in December, 1862, he was commissioned a Brigadier-General. From June, 1863, t February, 1864, he was in command in the District of the Border, comprising the State of Kansas and the western portion of Mis- souri. Later he was in command of south- east Missouri. In the fall of 1864 he fought the battle of Pilot Knob in which, with a single regiment, he held Fort Davidson and its approaches for several days against an army of 15,000 men commanded by Gen. Sterling Price and then escaped with almost his entire command. His operations saved the city of St. Louis from capture by General Price.
After the war he practiced law in Wash- ington, D. C. Several years afterwards, Gen. Ewing moved to Lancaster and was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Ohio in 1873-74; a representative to Con- gress from 1877 to 1881, and was the Demo-
cratic candidate for Governor of Ohio in 1879. In Congress he was the leader in the successful fight to amend the resumption scheme, so as to provide that the greenbacks should be reissued instead of destroyed when once presented for redemption.
In ISSI General Ewing retired from Con- gress and politics. He settled in Yonkers, New York, where his two sons, William C. Ewing and Thomas Ewing, Jr., are living at the present time. He practiced law in New York City until his death which occurred on the 27st day of January, 1896. In alighting from a street car he was struck by a car com- ing in the opposite direction and sustained in- juries from which he died. He was one of the founders of the Ohio Society of New York in 1886, and its president until 1889.
"In his everyday life he was pure and un- selfish. Though full of high ambition, he was hopeful and cheerful under adversity and dis- appointment. In manner he was dignified and simple; in conversation, ready and inter- esting, full of humor and amiability. Al- ways generous and approachable, he had hosts of friends. No one appealed to him in vain. His hand gave help; his heart compassion. He was an affectionate son and brother, a loving father, a devoted husband."
In noting his death the "Cincinnati En- quirer said :
"Though Gen. Thomas Ewing removed to New York about fifteen years ago, he resided still in the warm affections of the people of Ohio. His death will be mourned in every community in which he ever lived. Thomas Ewing was an ideal gentleman. Handsome in person, easy and gracious in manner, and lofty in his ideas, he made a deep impression on everybody he met. He was a gallant and effective soldier, an able lawyer, a sincere statesman, and a politician who set a high
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moral example in the practice of politics. He riched with the choicest gems from the class- was worthy to be the son of the eminent ics. He made himself familiar not only with law but with whatever was worthy of reading outside the law. Thomas Ewing of old, whose name is in- separably woven in the history of Ohio and the administration of national affairs."
CHARLES ROBERT SHERMAN
Charles Robert Sherman, the father of John and William Tecumseh, was born in Norwalk, Ct., Sept. 17, 1788, of the best of New England parentage. He received a good education, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1810. The same year he was mar- ried to Mary Hoyt of Norwalk, who had re- ceived education at the Poughkeepsie Fe- male Seminary, one of the best of the early schools. This young couple started out in life equipped well-were of fine parentage both of them-had a good education, and, as was shown by their after lives, a firm de- termination to make their mark in the world. Without a doubt these splendid characteristics of these pioneer parents were evidenced in the lives and careers of their most unusual children. In 1810 Charles R. Sherman made the long trip to Ohio from Connecticut to look up a location. He came to Lancaster, decided to locate there, and returned east for his wife. In the summer of 1811 Mr. Sherman and his wife took their infant son, Charles Taylor, and started on that long and perilous journey. They trav- eled all of the way on horseback, alternately carrying the baby on a pillow before them.
During the pioneer years of Ohio, its law- yers were obliged to travel extensive cir- cuits to practice their profession. They ac- companied the courts from county to county and thus, as they traveled together and en- dured the same hardships and privations, the warmest personal friendships grew up between them. It is told that at one time Gen. Philamon Beecher, Judge William Ir- vin, Sherman and Ewing, were traveling to a southern county, when, because of swollen streams, they were delayed. Saturday night found them twenty miles from their destina- tion. At the home of a kind host they en- quired for public service on Sunday, not even thinking to pursue their journey on the Sabbath day. When told that there was no service on that day, it was agreed that Sher- man should preach. Word was quickly sent about to the settlers that a lawyer would preach that Sunday and the little church was filled with an audience who heard a fine ser- mon from one of God's heroes.
In 1823 Sherman was elected by the legis- lature judge of the Supreme Court, and per- haps the only man in Ohio who doubted his ability to fill the honored position was Charles R. Sherman himself. His official as- sociates were Calvin Pease, Jacon Burnet and Peter Hitchcock-names of renown in the judicial history of Ohio.
Established in Lancaster in the prosecu- tion of his profession, Mr. Sherman rose rap- Judge Sherman was an able and conscien- tious judge. His written opinions show a mind of choicest legal capabilities. They are clear and comprehensive and are respected by this and other states as judicial dicta of the highest authority. He won the affection idly to prominence. In two years after lo- cating here he was appointed by President Madison collector in internal revenue, and this position he held four years. But it was in the law that Charles Sherman made his reputation. His was a brilliant mind, en- and confidence of his associates on the
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bench, as he had that of his friends in pri- vate life, and above all he won confidence for his unswerving integrity as a judge and as a man.
In those early days it was required that the Supreme Court hold an annual term in each county of the state, two judges officiat- ing. Everywhere that Judge Sherman held court he made friends, while the younger members of the bar idolized him. He had entered the sixth year of his official term, was in the meridian of his life-only 41 years old-when about to open a session of court at Lebanon, Warren county, and when apparently enjoying robust health, he was attacked by a fatal malady and died before his devoted wife could reach his bedside. It was in Lancaster among his friends and neighbors that the grief at his death was in- expressible. It is said that men wept in the street. One who knows says that he had not a personal enemy in the world.
The subject of our sketch filled a high place, but what shall we say of that mother who was left with the care of eleven chil- dren, no one of whom had reached his ma- jority, and with limited means for their sup- port? No wonder John Sherman, in his autobiography, says of her, "Of my mother I can scarcely write without emotion, though she died more than forty years ago."
The friends of John Sherman came to her support in caring for her children. Mr. Ewing was perhaps the closest friend in Lancaster and he came to the help of the widow and adopted William Tecumseh into his own family, rearing and educating him with his own children, and when a suitable age procuring for him a cadetship at West Point. John Sherman went at the age of eight to make his home with a cousin of the same name at Mt. Vernon and here he re-
mained four years, returning to his mother at Lancaster at the age of twelve. The eldest son, Charles T., was for many years district judge of the northern district of Ohio.
In 1844 Mrs. Sherman removed to Mans- field, where John Sherman and the two youngest daughters made up the family. The children soon married and the mother kept house till her death in 1852. The eleven orphan children of Charles R. Sher- man form an illustrious family. The daugh- ters were all married to men who made their mark in the communities in which they lived. The sons were all prosperous in busi- ness or professions. Elizabeth married Will- iam J. Reese ; Amelia, Robert McComb, of Mansfield; Julia, John G. Willock of Lan- caster; Susan, Thomas W. Bartley of Mans- field, who became Governor of Ohio and judge of the Supreme Court, and Fannie married C. W. Moulton of Cincinnati. One granddaughter became the wife of Senator Don Cameron of Pennsylvania, another was the wife of Gen. Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A., another married Judge Samuel Reber of St. Louis, and a fourth is Mrs. Judge Granger of Zanesville.
The good mother lived to see her children well established in the world, and her two favorite sons just entering upon careers as wonderful and as honorable as any of the century.
GENERAL SHERMAN
The Shermans came from a long line of distinguished ancestry. They were of Eng- lish blood, descended from Edmond Sher- man, of Dedham, Essex County, England, who came with his family to Boston in 1635. The noted Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Senator Hoar,
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