USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 89
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
JOHN TRAFFORD BRASEE, in former years a leading light of the Fairfield County Bar, and one of the county's most eminent citi- zens, as well as one of the state's most eminent jurists, was born near Hillsdale, Columbia County, N. Y., December 24, 1800, a son of William and Magdalen (Trafford) Brasee. His paternal grandfather, Andreas Brasee, served in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the Tenth Regiment, Albany Company (Land Bounty Rights).
At the time of our subject's birth his parents were residing on the farm of John Trafford, father of Magdalen. Mrs. Magdalen Brasee died in 1808 and was survived a few years by her husband. Our subject, with his sisters Jane and Amanda, and his brother Morton, subsequently continued to live with their grandfather, John Trafford, until the latter's death in 1809. Then their uncle, Benjamin Snyder, came to live at the old home and John T. Brasee remained with him for about one year. From then until the year 1818 he was placed by his guardians, Perley Foster and .Aaron Reed, among different families, by whom he was employed in various occupations, being allowed to attend school occasionally in the winter months.
During the winter of 1817-18 he went to
school to Arnold Truesdell, a young man but a very competent teacher. He spent this time in improving his penmanship and in completing his knowledge of arithmetic. While attending this school he wrote into a book provided for the purpose the entire contents of Dabell's arithmetic and worked out every sum therein and copied the work into that book. Thus the whole subject became very familiar to him and he never afterward had any difficulty in solv- ing the most abstruse problems.
In February, 1818, he went to Canandaigua, in Ontario County, N. Y., where he was em- ployed by John W. Beal, a manufacturer of tin and copper ware, who had a store devoted to the sale of articles of his own manufacture, to- gether with hardware. He remained in the cm- ploy of Mr. Beal until the September follow- ing. While here he attended the Episcopal church, the rector of the parish being the Rev. Mr. Onderdonk, who afterward became bishop of Western New York. After he had been in Mr. Beal's store two or three months, his em- ployer started a branchi store in a more business part of the city, in a house owned by Asa Stan- ley, a tanner, who had a leather store there, and young Brasee was placed in charge of both stores, doing all the buying-a fact which shows that he had already established a char- acter for intelligence and general reliability.
After remaining here about six months Mr. Brasee decided to emigrate to Ohio. He and two companions hired a conveyance, put their trunks aboard and set out for Olean Point. When they reached the Allegheny River they found that the water was too low for naviga- tion. They waited here for it to rise until their patience became exhausted. They then built a flat-boat and started on their way, taking some food with them but depending for their meat upon the friendly Indians along the way. No white people were seen until they reached War-
784
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
ren, a little town on the north bank of the river. From here they went to Pittsburg, where they remained about ten days, waiting for their trunks, which they had left behind to be shipped to them by the regular boat as soon as the water should be high enough for navi- gation.
After their trunks arrived they took passage on a family boat owned by Roswell and Ora Crane, who were going to a point just below Portsmouth, where they had bought a farm. This point they reached in quick time. They then took passage on another family boat for Cincinnati.
The day after he arrived in Cincinnati Mr. Brasee started for Wilmington in Clinton County, being attracted to that place by hear- ing that two men from Hillsdale whom he knew-Arnold Truesdell, his old teacher, and Jacob Bosworth-had established themselves as merchants there, and from whom he hoped to receive employment. But on reaching the place he found that they had sold out their business and had no employment themselves. The next day, at the suggestion of his two friends, he called at the office of Isaiah Morris, the clerk of the court, and it was agreed be- tween them that Mr. Brasee should enter his employ as clerk and receive $15.00 per month, he to pay his own board, which cost him $5.00 per month. He remained here during that winter and until the middle of the next sumn- mer and was very attentive to what transpired there. It was at this time that he decided to become a lawyer.
Francis Dunlevy, a member of the conven- tion which formed the first constitution of Ohio, his son Howard, and Thomas Corwin, were the first lawyers from Lebanon. William R. Coal and James Radcliffe were the resident lawyers. Knowing his education to be defect- ive, Mr. Brasee made inquiry for the best
school in Ohio and was directed to the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio. He proceeded to Athens, reaching there shortly after the Fourth of July, 1819, and went to board with Gen. John Brown, with whom he boarded almost continually for seven years. He im- mediately entered the grammar school of the college, having about $100 of J. H. Piatt's money, which was the principal currency at that day in that part of Ohio. He gave it as payment on his board to General Brown.
He had not been in Athens long before he made the acquaintance of Henry Bartlett, the clerk of the court, and was employed by him to assist him whenever he had leisure time. After being there for a couple of years he taught a village school for one quarter. In January, 1824, Mr. Thomas Ewing was desirous of em- ploying a competent teacher to take charge of the Academy at Lancaster and Mr. Brasee was employed at $200.00 for six months, he first having obtained leave of absence from the faculty of his college.
Coming to Lancaster with Mr. Ewing, he stopped at John Noble's hotel. That evening, in the parlor of that hotel he met the trustees of the Academy. These included Mr. Ewing, Judge Scofield, John Noble, Samuel F. Mac- Cracken, David Reese and others. After in- forming him about their academy, the meeting adjourned with the understanding that he was to enter upon his duties the next day. They informed him that the institution had two de- partments, one for classical and advanced and the other for the younger scholars, that was in charge of a man whose name was Conger, over whom he was expected to keep constant super- vision.
He remained here without intermission for six months, which brought him to August, IS24-the time when the commencement at Athens too place. He returned to Athens,
.
785
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
graduated with his class and declined a reap- pointment as instructor in the Academy.
Soon after his return to Athens, Mr. Bart- lett, being an aged man, gave him charge of all his clerical work-dividing fees equally-and the possession of a room near his office where he could read law. He began the study of law with Joseph Dana, the professor of languages in the college, who came every Saturday night to examine him in his studies. In the spring of 1826-his two years of the study of law had expired-he having entered himself as a law student before his graduation. At that time he was well qualified for admission to the bar. When the Supreme Court met at Bur- lington in Lawrence County, he was examined by Judges Peter Hitchcock and Jacob Burnett and was admitted to the bar. He selected Gal- lipolis as a good place to open his law office. Thomas Irvin, who lived there had the winter previous been elected President Judge, and Samuel F. Vinton was then and for several years afterward a member of congress. He provided himself with a fine horse and other necessary things and began to attend the courts regularly in the counties of Gallia, Lawrence, Scioto, Pike, Jackson, Athens, Washington and Meigs, and at Point Pleasant, Va.
His practice grew far exceeding his expecta- tions, and by the fall term of 1829 he pur- chased a fine lot, paid for it and commenced the building of a two-story dwelling. In November of that year-1829-he was mar- ried to Mary Jane Scofield, daughter of Judge Elnathan Scofield of Lancaster, O. That winter they boarded with the widow of Ed- ward W. Tupper and in the spring following moved into their new home, which was just completed.
In 1832, while Mr. Brasee and his family were on a visit to Mrs. Brasee's father, Judge Scofield, they were persuaded to sell out in
Gallipolis and move to Lancaster-much against Mr. Brasee's will at first, for he had gained a valuable practice at Gallipolis and he considered the Lancaster bar already crowded with very able men, but he finally consented. Judge Scofield's only other child, Eliza, had just been married to James Stanberry, of New- ark, Ohio, a nephew of the Hon. Henry Stan- berry.
In the spring of 1833 they started for Lan- caster-Mr. Brasee, his wife and two children, Ellen and Jolın. They went from Gallipolis to Portsmouth on a steamer, thence by canal to Circleville, where they took a carriage and drove to Lancaster. They continued to live very happily in the home of Judge Scofield until the deaths of both Judge Scofield and his wife, which occurred in November, 1841- about two weeks apart.
Mr. Brasee's law practice became very ex- tensive, covering not only this state but ex- tending into numerous other states and into the United States Courts. Mr. Brasee first ap- pears in the Ohio reports in the case of Smith vs. Bing, 3, O., 33, which was decided in 1827, the year after his admission. The Ohio bar, during Mr. Brasee's active career, contained many able men, of great ability and legal learn- ing. He stood as a peer among them and was not only an able advocate and profound lawyer, but a highly cultured and agreeable gentleman. He was noted on the circuit for his apt and quaint anecdotes. He was a brilliant speaker and was very successful before juries. His arguments on the facts of a case were remark- able for their completeness in presenting the whole case, showing the mastery of the facts and an appreciation of the strong and weak points on each side, and ability to sift evidence, and apply it to build up his theory as to the truth of the matter. His leading characteristic was his knowledge of the law in its most ele-
786
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
mentary principles. In special pleading and in equity pleading he was a master and he was ready and proficient in all matters of evidence and practice, which made him formidable in the trial of cases. His forte was in arguments to the court. His mind was at once acute and logical and his industry was such that he was always found fully armed and ready for the fray, whoever might be the champion of the other side.
Though decided in his political views, he could not be called a partisan and was never voluntarily a candidate for office. After the dissolution of the whig party, of which he was a member, and before the formation of the Republican party, while the opposition to the Democratic party was in a transition and some- what chaotic state, he was in 1855 elected to the State Senate and he served during the two sessions of 1856-1857, and took an active and "leading part in the legislation of those two ses- sions, and particularly in perfecting the act for the "Bank of Ohio," which was his own idea. This law never went into effect in Ohio; it had the higher distinction of forming, with the law creating the State Bank of Ohio, the basis and prototype of the National Bank Act passed by Congress some seven years later.
During the entire period of his professional career his practice was much larger by far than any other lawyer at the Lancaster bar. He was a giant among giants and was both a bril- liant speaker and advocate and a profound jurist.
The Lancaster bar had national reputation, being composed of such men as Henry Stan- bery, Thomas Ewing, John T. Brasee and Hocking H. Hunter. Mr. Brasee came not as a stranger to Lancaster, having been a close personal friend and associate of the learned men of his day. He was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church and was one of the
three men who paid the debt on the church building.
Mr. Brasee's death took place on the 27th of October, 1880, when he had almost reached the age of eighty years. The following is an extract from the resolutions of the Lancaster Bar:
"John T. Brasee, the last of his generation at this Bar, reaching the Psalmist's fullest limit of human life-four score years-more than half a century of which was given to active duty in honorable professional labors, needs no formal eulogy.
"Few of us were born when he had already won the early triumphs of his fully rounded professional career. We grew 'in the glad- some light of jurisprudence' under the shadow of his acquired fame and learned from his ex- ample the sure way by which one must treat the rough and toilsome paths of professional duties-to such a goal as his-the trusted counsel, the winning advocate, the complete lawyer."
In the year 1860 he retired from active pro- fessional business and devoted the remainder of his life to the supervision and care of a large and valuable landed estate, accumulated chiefly through judicious investments of his in- come from the practice of the law. The estate which he left at his death was at that time the largest ever before administered upon in Fair- field County.
Mr. Brasee was the father of eight children, as follows: Ellen Eliza married Theodore W. Tallmadge. John Scofield Brasee, born August 19, 1832, died February 23. 1905. He mar- ried Mary Anna Dickinson, daughter of Dr. J. A. Dickinson, a prominent physician and surgeon of Newark. O .; Romaine died, aged three years: Mary Jane married Dr. J. H. Hammil, of Newark, Ohio; Clara Brasee married James Henry Salisbury, M. D., of
787
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
Cleveland, Ohio and New York City; Alice married George F. Witte, of New Orleans; Morton Elnathan was a lawyer of Columbus, Ohio; he died in 1870; George B. is a resident of Lancaster.
DARIUS TALLMADGE, SR., was born at Schaghticoke, N. Y., June 30, 1800, being the youngest of the fourteen children of Josiah and Margaret Tallmadge. The father, Josiah Tallmadge, died when Darius was two years old; the mother when he had attained the age of ten years. Darius lived with his brother David until he was about fourteen. He then went to visit his brother Peter, in Dutchess County, where he was em- ployed to teach school. At the age of twenty- one he went again to visit his brother Peter, who had moved to Varna, Tompkins County, N. Y. Here he married Sarah Ann, daughter of Jonas Wood and, having purchased forty acres of land, erected a small residence. As however, the revenue from his farm proved inadequate to his expenses, he became finan- cially embarrassed and decided to "go west" to seek his fortune.
In the spring of 1825, accordingly, he and another young man named Jewell, walked to the Alleghany River, where they purchased a skiff to take them to Pittsburg, Pa. Here they sold their skiff and worked their further pas- sage on a flatboat, landing at Maysville, Ky., on the Ohio River, in April. Here young Tallmadge found employment in buying horses for his wife's uncle, John Wood. The horses were taken by him overland to New Orleans, where they were sold, the return trip being made by steamer up the Mississippi River. He was next employed by a Mr. Blanchard, as overseer of his plantation of 500 acres, well manned with slaves. In 1826 Darius sent for his wife, and accordingly her
father sold his farm in New York and emi- grated with her and his entire family. Their first child, Theodore W., was born at Mays- ville, Ky., January 25, 1827.
In 1830 the family moved to Tarlton, Ohio, making the journey overland by wagon. The house they occupied was owned by Dr. Otis Ballard and was located opposite the old hotel. Dr. Ballard and Darius Tallmadge became partners in the purchase and sale of horses. During one winter Mr. Tallmadge kept his horses on the farm of Col. Noble, one mile from Tarlton and resided in that gentleman's house. Mr. Noble was the father of John W. Noble, who was Secretary of the Interior in Benjamin Harrison's administration.
An important change took place in Mr. Tallmadge's business prospects when he was soon after employed by the Ohio Stage Com- pany at a salary of $400 per year, with ex- penses paid while on duty. This sum repre- sented much more at that time than it would today. He was placed in charge of routes in the southern part of the State. the principal one being between Maysville, Ky., and Zanes- ville, O., via Chillicothe and Lancaster. This was the route necessarily taken by travelers bound east from central Kentucky, and Henry Clay was often a traveler over it, going from his home at Lexington to Washington, or return.
Mr. Tallmadge's salary was increased rap- idly until it reached $1,200.00. He then be- came a partner in the Stage Company and was given exclusive ownership of his indi- vidual lines, which were run in the name of "D. Tallmadge," which name was inscribed in gilt letters on the door panels of every coach. Soon after becoming a partner in the business, he moved to Lancaster, as that point was more convenient for his work. This was about 1833. He had by this time a second
45
788
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
son, James Augustus Tallmadge, who was Mr. Tallmadge's. first wife, was born April born at Tarlton, O., Sept. 4, 1832.
After a few years in Lancaster, Mr. Tallmadge purchased of a Mr. Myers, the large brick house on the west side of Co- lumbus St., between Mulberry and Union Streets, and remodeled it. It was afterwards sold to Theo. Mithoff. Later he purchased 500 acres of land of John Creed half a mile west of Lancaster, and here he built a fine brick residence, which was his home for several years. He built a plank walk from the city through the low lands to his gate, and planted a willow tree every thirty feet to shade the walk. Mr. Tallmadge purchased the entire stock of the Ohio Stage Co., which he owned until it went out of existence, being forced to the wall by the encroachments of the railroads.
His son, James A. Tallmadge, went to Val- paraiso, Chili, where he died of typhoid fever, June 26, 1856. The father did not learn of his son's death until six months later. He then sent a monument to be placed over his son's grave, which stone was placed by Dr. and Mrs. Trevitt, who were close personal friends of the family. Dr. Trevitt at that time was U. S. minister to Chili.
Darius Tallmadge Sr., was one of the or- ganizers of the Hocking Valley Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, in 1847, and was made its president, which position he held for twenty years. In early life he had joined the Masons and he subsequently attained the 32d degree. He was also an Odd Fellow. In the month of May, 1873 he was attacked by pneu- monia and died at the "Tallmadge House" on Friday, March 27, 1874. During his last sick- ness he was baptized by Rev. T. R. Taylor of the M. E. Church. He was buried in Elm- wood cemetery in the family burial lot.
Mrs. Sarah Ann Tallmadge, (nee Wood)
28, 1806. Their marriage took place Sept. 15, 1821, and she died June 23, 1849. Mr. Tallmadge's second marriage was to Elizabeth Creed, at Lancaster, Ohio, in October, 1850. She died in Trenton, N. J., in the year 1902.
THEODORE WOOD TALLMADGE, son of Darius and Sarah Ann (Wood) Tall- madge, was born at Maysville, Ky., January 25, 1827. He moved with his parents to Tarl- ton, Ohio, and then to Lancaster, in 1833. For several years he was a pupil in Samuel Howe's Academy. At the age of thirteen he was sent to Augusta College, Ky., on the Ohio River, twenty miles below Maysville, where lie remained two years. In September, 1842 he entered the Ohio University at Athens, O., and from here he went to Princeton College (N. J.), November 10, 1843, and after ex- amination was placed in the sophomore class, being then only sixteen years of age. He was graduated July 24, 1846 and received his B. A. degree, his M. A. degree being received in 1849. He studied law in the office of Henry Stanberry and was admitted to practice December 2, 1848. In 1849 he became a law partner of John T. Brasee under the firm name of Brasee and Tallmadge. This part- nership was dissolved in 1852. . In 1854 he became president of the Upper Wabash Bank, at Wabash, Indiana. He moved to Columbus, Ohio, in April, 1859. In 1861 he was made Quartermaster on the staff of Henry Wilson, ranking Major General of the Ohio militia. When the militia of the state was reorganized in the following May, Mr. Tallmadge was commissioned assistant quartermaster and Commissary of Subsistence by the Governor of Ohio, with the rank of Captain in the Ohio volunteer militia. In July, 1863 Governor Tod ordered the militia to Camp Chase and
789
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
Captain Tallmadge was placed on duty as Quartermaster. He also served in the West Virginia campaign on the staff of Gen'l Rose- cranz.
In March, 1862, Mr. Tallmadge established the business of prosecuting soldiers' claims at Columbus, Ohio, and was soon the most prominent claim agent in the State of Ohio. In October, 1878 he moved his office to Wash- ington. He was a member of the Federal Bar Association of Washington, D. C .; member of Burnside Post, No. 8, Department of the Potomac, G. A. R., and was elected three times as Chaplain. He served as Aide-de- camp on the staff of Col. Chas. P. Lincoln; also in the same capacity on the staff of Com- manders-in-chief, William Warner and Whee- lock G. Veazey, and Commander Dinsmore of the Department of the Potomac. The death of Theodore Wood Tallmadge occurred in Washington, D. C., December 2, 1904. Wealthy, cultured, and able in every sphere of activity to which he was called, he was a man of mark, highly respected, and esteemed by a wide circle of friends.
On October 2d, 1849, Mr. Tallmadge mar- ried Ellen Eliza Brasee, a daughter of John Trafford Brasee, of Lancaster, Ohio. She died February 2, 1865, at Columbus, O., and was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. They were the parents of six children-Mary, Sarah, Frank, James, Darius and Theodore, whose record in brief is as follows: Mary, born August 20, 1850, died February II, 1851. Sarah, born January 9, 1852, married Henry Alvan Stephens, of Cleveland, O., who is now deceased. Frank, born January 9, 1854, married Abbie May Hedges, at Pitts- burg, Pa., Oct. 1, 1879. Their children are Trafford Brasee Tallmadge, born July 28, 1880, who married, December 10, 1902, Ethyl Thompson, and has one son, Trafford Wood
Tallmadge; and Harold Hedges Tallmadge, born at Columbus, O., Nov. 5, 1883, who mar- ried Agnes Lee Smith, and died March 12, 1908. James, (fourth child of Theo. and Ellen), born June 6, 1857, died Aug. 14, 1858. Darius, born May 9, 1859, at Colum- bus, O., married Nettie Jones, December, 1884 and has two children-Helen, born Dec. 29, 1885, who married Paul Lindenburg; and Katherine, born January 1, 1894. Theodore (sixth son of Theo. and Ellen), born Nov. 1862, married Leah Gapen and has two chil- dren-Alvan Brasee Tallmadge and Elinore Cresap Tallmadge.
After the death of his first wife, Theodore Wood Tallmadge married secondly Harriot Washington Parks, June 27, 1867, a daughter of Maj. Andrew Parks and great grand niece of George Washington. Two children were born of this union-Flora, born Oct. 1, 1868, who died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 13, 1900, and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery; and Andrew, born January 16, 1870.
DANIEL BEERY TIDD .- The history of Fairfield County and Lancaster would hardly be complete without something about the Tidd family.
Alvertus L. and Nancy R. Tidd were resi- dents of Berne and Pleasant townships for many years and reared an interesting family of five sons and one daughter-Jacob L., Francis M., Charles Henry, Daniel B., Will- iam W. and Mary A. V. Tidd. The family became famous in its neighborhood for its musical and intellectual entertainment quali- ties and when they were all at home, before the children became scattered, their home was a popular place for neighbors and friends at which to spend social evenings, and be enter- tained with vocal and instrumental music and elocutionary efforts. So great was the talent of
790
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
the boys in this respect, together with a natu- ral gift for theatricals, that the "College Hill" school house in Berne township, which they attended for many years was made famous by the "spelling schools," and "exhibitions" fre- quently given during the winter terms. On these occasions the Tidd boys had leading parts in especially prepared programs, in which Francis always figured as a comedian-and no professional theatrical company ever pro- duced a better; Charles, William and Mary were the musicians, and Daniel B. frequently wrote the addresses and songs, the music of the latter being composed by Charles.
As the boys grew to man's estate they be- came widely scattered, Francis and William settling in Florida, Jacob L. in New York state and Charles H. in Arizona. Mary mar- ried in Florida, while on an extended visit to her brothers in 1891, and three years later died, leaving a bright little two-year-old daughter, Ruthı, who is now living with an aunt in Toronto, Canada. William died at Jacksonville, Florida, from an operation for appendicitis, in August, 1910, leaving a widow and one child-a son, Elvis, aged 18 years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.