History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 144

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 144

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Throughout the greater part of his active life there was scarcely an hour in which he was entirely free from pain. In 1866 he mar- ried Frances Bosworth, and soon after took up his residence in Cincinnati, where he remained until his death.

While engaging, immediately upon his re- tirement from war service, in active and ab- sorbing business, Major Dawes maintained an especially intelligent interest in military stud- ies, writing many papers for literary and army societies upon campaigns of the war, and gath- ering a large library of the records of the Re-

bellion, among its contents being many orig- inal reports and other written documents from Union and Confederate sources.

In one notable respect, that of the statis- tics of the opposing armies, Major Dawes came to be recognized by military historians as an expert authority, and his contributions to the Century Company's "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," as well as to some of the official documents of the War Department, were deemed by intelligent students to sweep away many of the Southern traditions of the Confederacy, in important campaigns. In these articles he made it very clear that Lord Wolsely's estimates of the relative strength of Union and Confederate armies was very far from the truth, and the noble lord's reply ut- terly failed to break the force of the evidence which Major Dawes had carefully collected. Especially valuable were his examinations of the composition of Lee's armies, at Antie- tam and Gettysburg, which demonstrated that the two opposing armies of the Union and Confederacy were pretty equally matched in respect to numbers-a view of the case en- tirely opposed to that heretofore presented in even the most impartial stories of these great engagements.

Nor were Major Dawes' literary activities confined to military studies, for he was a cor- responding and honorary member of State, local and European historical and folk lore societies, and edited several volumes relating to the early settlement of Ohio.

In 1867 he became engaged with William P. Cutler and others in extensive railroad con- struction and operation. The Springfield & Illinois Southeastern, the Chester & Tamaroa, and the Marion & Carbondale roads in Illinois, and the Logansport, Crawfordsville & South- western road in Indiana were built and oper- ated by them.

In 1872 construction of a railroad in Mis- sottri, called the Chester & Iron Mountain, was commenced. This enterprise promised highly profitable results, but the panic of 1873 came on. Major Dawes, after a gallant strug- gle against a hard commercial fate, was final-

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ly in 1874 forced into general bankruptcy of the times, and stripped of every dollar of prop- erty he had accumulated. But he was not idle for a day. He became again, in order, a con- tractor, builder, manager and president of dif- ferent railroads. In his later years he became successfully interested in developing the coal fields in southern Illinois. No doubt his in- tense devotion to business hastened the end of a life which throughout its whole course was characterized by enthusiastic fidelity to duty. Such a life may fittingly be classed among those described in his own words: "It is by the lives of such men as these that future gen- erations may estimate the priceless treasure committed to their charge. For if liberty is worth what liberty has cost, no words may ex- press its value."

EWETT PALMER, one of Marietta's most prominent public men, has been engaged in the practice of law in that city for many years, and has held nu- merons offices of public trust. He was born May 7, 1840, in Fearing township, Wash- ington County, Ohio, and is the youngest child of Jewett and Rachel ( Campbell) Palmer. The Palmers were among the early settlers in New England, the head of this branch having lo- cated in Rowley, Massachusetts, soon after the town was founded, in 1639. Maternally, Jew- ett Palmer is of Scotch ancestry. William Campbell, his great-grandfather, was a native of Scotland and came to America in 1766 after his marriage, settling in Mifflin County, Penn- sylvania. His third child, William, was the mother of Rachel Campbell, who was the moth- er of the subject of this sketch.

Jewett Palmer, Sr., was born in Orford, New Hampshire, May 18, 1797, and was a son of John Pemberton and Abigail ( Jewett ) Palmer. At the age of 16 years he enlisted in the War of 1812, and was in the army two years. His union with Rachel Campbell re- sulted in the birth of eight children, all of whom grew to maturity and reared families.

Jewett Palmer, son of Jewett and Rachel

Palmer, remained on the farm with his parents until his twentieth year, and then went to Chi- cot Pass, Louisiana, where he engaged in lum- bering during the winter of 1860-1861. in con- nection with a brother-in-law. The relations between the North and South grew more and more strained until he believed war to be inev- itable, and therefore returned to his home in Ohio, in order to cast his lot with the defenders of the Union. He arrived at Salem on April 11, 1861, and enlisted at Marietta in Capt. Frank Buell's Company, on April 17. This company subsequently became Company B, 18th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., which was re- cruited for three-months' service. At the ex- piration of this term, the regiment returned from the field in the latter part of July, and was disbanded at Marietta. Mr. Palmer then began recruiting a company for the 36th Ohio Regiment, then being formed at Camp Put- nam, Marietta, and was assisted in his task by James Stanley, of Salem, a comrade in the three-months' service. On August 12 they went into camp with a company of 98 men, which had been recruited in HI days. On August IO, an election of officers was held and Mr. Palmer was unanimously elected captain of the company. The regiment left for the field via Parkersburg, August 29, 1861, to join Rose- erans' army on the Gawley River, in West Vir- ginia. From this time on, his history and that of his company were substantially the same as that of the other officers and men of that gallant regiment, whose subsequent reputation for effi- ciency and valor was second to that of none in the Union Army. Captain Palmer was pro- moted to be major May o, 1864, and on July 2.1, of the same year, he was severely wounded in the left thigh at Kernstown, Virginia. On his return to the field, he was in temporary com- mand of the regiment, and while moving for- ward to repulse a reconnaissance of the enemy at Cedar Creek, his horse was shot from under him. He participated in the famous battle of Cedar Creek, on October 10, 1864. the last bat- tle in which the regiment took part. On No- vember 20, he resigned his commission as major and returned home. In 1865, he was

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elected clerk of the courts of Washington County, on the Republican ticket, and was re- elected in 1868, but declined to accept the nom- ination for a third term. During his second terin as clerk, he entered upon the study of law with Messrs. Ewart, Gear & Ewart. He was admitted to the bar in April, 1872, and at once began to practice law in Marietta. He was elected mayor of the city in 1874, and was re- elected in 1876. He served as chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Washington County, in 1875-1876, and was a delegate to the National Republican Convention held at Cincinnati, Ohio, in May, 1876. He was one of the "Ohio 44 for Hayes," who stood by the Governor until he received the nomination for the presidency. In November, 1877. he resigned the office of mayor, to accept the position of collector of internal revenue for the Fifteenth District of Ohio, under appointment of Presi- dent llayes. After relinquishing the duties of that office, Mr. Palmer resumed the practice of law, in which he has met with high success. He has also been identified with many business enterprises of Marietta, and has done much to promote the interests of the city. He again served as mayor of Marietta from 1894 to 1896, having been elected on the Republican ticket. Since July. 1898, he has been a referee in bankruptcy, under the act of August, 1898.

September 19. 1866, Mr. Palmer was joined in the bonds of matrimony with Saida M. Scott, only chikl of Theodore Scott, of Marietta, and they have two daughters, both of whom are living at home. Fraternally, the subject of this sketch is a past officer of the several local Masonic societies, and is grand master of the Grand Council of Ohio. Relig- iously, he is a member of the Unitarian Church, in which he has been an officer many years.

D R. JAMES MCCLURE, one of the oldest and most prominent physicians of Marietta, Ohio, was born in Meigs County, Ohio, in 1835, and is a son of James McClure.

James McClure was a boy when he re-

moved from Maine to Ohio, and there he fol- lowed farming until his death in 1856. He married Jane Ogle, who was born in Washing- ton County, Ohio, and died in Meigs county, at the age of 84 years. They reared five sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to matur- ity except one son, who died in infancy. The five sons participated in the Civil War as mem- bers of the Union Army. Dr. McClure is the only one of the children residing in Washing- ton County.

Dr. James McClure attended the schools of Meigs County, and also spent two years in Ohio University, at Athens, returning to his home in 1857. He began the study of medicine during the winter of 1859-1860, and attended lectures at Starling Medical College, during 1860-1861. Hle then practiced at Albany, Athens County, for two years, after which he returned and was graduated from Starling Medical College, at Columbus, in 1864. He was at once commissioned as assistant surgeon of the 23rd Reg. Ohio Vol. Inf., under Colonel Hayes, and served until the close of the war. He then resumed his practice at Albany, and remained there until. September, 1871. since which time he has practiced his profession at Marietta. He was alone until 1873, and on May I, of that year, became associated with Dr. Samuel Hart. This partnership continued uninterruptedly until November 30, 1901, when it was dissolved. Socially, Dr. McClure is a member of the American, State. County and City medical societies.

In October. 1866, the Doctor was united in marriage with Sarah J. Greene, who was born at Newport, Washington County, and is a daughter of Richard Greene. Her father, a descendant of General Greene, of Revolution- ary fame, came to Washington County at an early day. His only son is Hon. James B. Greene, of Newport, Ohio. Five children were born to bless this union, as follows: John B .; Ella; Harry; Charles Richard; and Frank Greene. Dr. John B., who is associated in practice with his father, went through the Marietta schools and for a time was a student of Marietta College, spent three years at the

HON. WILLIAM PARKER CUTLER.

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

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Ohio Medical College, graduating in 1896. spent one and a half years as assistant physi- cian at Athens State Hospital, and at present is serving his second term as county coroner and his second term as city health officer. Ella at- tended the grade schools and graduated from the Marietta High School, spent three years acquiring a musical education in New York City, and is a fine pianist and instructor in music. Harry, who attended the Marietta schools, and later spent two years in Marietta Academy and two years in college, was twice assessor of the Third Ward and spent a few years in railroading. Charles Richard, a grad- uate of the High School, Marietta College, and the Ohio Medical College, completed his course in the last named institution in 1901, and is now an interne at the Cincinnati Hospital. Frank Greene, who completed the high school course at Marietta, has for the past three years been in the offices of the Western Electric Com- pany at Chicago. Politically, the subject of this sketch has always been a Republican, and was councilman from the Third Ward six years, serving as chairman of various commit- tees. The last year he served in that body, he was its president. Dr. McClure erected his present fine home at No. 302 Second street, in the spring of 1880.

5 ON. WILLIAM PARKER CUTLER. In the death of William Parker Cut- ler, Washington County and the State of Ohio lost a prominent citi- zen who, for very many years, was a leading figure in business and political life. Few men of his day were more intimately as- sociated with public events, and few possessed more ability to meet the demands of every situation. Through his whole career he was devoted to the interests of Washington Coun- ty, and his services were of the utmost im- portance on account of his business abilities, high sense of commercial integrity and pure statesmanship.

William Parker Cutler was born at the old

homestead of the Cutler family in Warren township, Washington County, Ohio, July 12. 1812, and his death occurred on April 11, 1889, at Marietta, Ohio, where he had lived since 1872. He was the youngest son of Ephraim and Sally ( Parker ) Cutler. Ilis fa- ther was a man of affairs and much engrossed in public duties. For this reason the early training and education of William P. Cutler were under the supervision of his mother, who was a woman of cultivated mind and literary tastes, and of earnest religious feelinig. She left the impress of her strong character on the mind of her son. In 1829, he entered the Ohio University, at Athens, in the class of 1833, but at the close of the junior year, ill health obliged him to abandon his studies, and in the hope of regaining health he took a long horseback journey through the South. Upon his return he assisted his father in farming, his continued feebleness causing him to give up his cherished hope of a professional career.

In the great political campaign of 1840 he began to make public speeches, and his in- terest in politics, together with his ability, soon gained for him recognition from the leading men in the Whig party. In 1842 he was its nominee for Representative in the Legislature from Washington County, but he was defeated by George M. Woodbridge, who ran as an in- dependent candidate and received the support of the Democrats. In| 1844, he was again nominated, and was elected by a large major- ity. Notwithstanding his retiring disposition, Mr. Cutler soon acquired an influential posi- tion among his party friends in the Legisla- ture, and before the close of the session was recognized as a leader on the floor. In 1845 he was re-elected, and during this year he be- came connected with a stirring event in the history of Washington County. In July, 1845. three citizens of Washington County, Creighton J. Loraine, Peter M. Garner and Mordecai Thomas, while engaged in assist- ing runaway slaves to escape, were captured by a party of Virginians on the banks of the Ohio River, within the limits of Washington County, being forcibly abducted, and confined

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

in the jail at Parkersburg. No Virginian could be found to consent to bail them, al- though men like Nahum Ward, A. T. Nye, and William P. Cutler offered to indemnify their bondsmen in any sum. These men were tried and found guilty at the September term of court, at Parkersburg, but the question of the jurisdiction of the State of Virginia over the soil where they were captured was re- ferred to the Virginia Court of Appeals. In December the Ohio legislature met. Imnie- diately upon Mr. Cutler's arrival, Governor Mordecai Bartley sent for him and informed him that he had matured a plan for the res- cue of the prisoners. This plan was to or- ganize a company of about 100 men of the militia, at Columbus, place them under relia- ble officers, appoint a rendezvous near the Ohio River bank, where the men should quietly collect early on a given evening, secure boats, cross the river, take the three Ohio men out of jail and set them at liberty on Ohio soil. . Al- though Mr. Cutler was willing to further any reasonable undertaking, his judgment was averse to this plan, and he boldly told the Gov- ernor that it would inevitably result in a bor- der war, and ended the conference by urging him to delay action, at least, and await the trend of events. Governor Bartley was dis- posed to put his plan in action at once. feeling it his duty to secure possession of the men, but before this unwise and lamentable plan could be put into operation, Samuel F. Vinton made his famous argument before the Virginia Court of Appeals, and that court, at a special ses- sion held at Parkersburg, in January, 1846, admitted the prisoners to bail, each in the sum of $100, and each on his own recognizance. They were at once set at liberty, and the case never reached a final decision. In Chapter VI of this work the "Kidnaping Case" is discussed at length.

In the fall of 1846 Mr. Cutler was again nominated and elected to the state legislature. At that period the transportation facilities were so meager, that a journey from his home to Columbus, which is covered in five hours by rail, required a trip in a stagecoach con-

suming three days. On December 7th of this year Mr. Cutler assumed new responsibilities, and wrote his famous speech beginning as fol- lows: "The Whigs with great cordiality and unanimity have placed me in the Speaker's chair." In 1848, Mr. Cutler was warmly sup- ported for Governor, but the situation de- manded a candidate from Northern Ohio, and Seabury Ford was chosen. Later in the year, Mr. Cutler received. the Whig nomination for Congress, in the district composed of Wash- ington, Morgan and Perry counties, and after an active campaign was defated by William A. Whittlesey. In 1849 Mr. Cut- ler was chosen as a member, from Washington County, of the convention which formed the present Constitution of Ohio.

While a member of the Legislature, in 1845, Mr. Cutler was active in securing the charter of the Belpre & Cincinnati Railroad, and he was elected a director in the organiza- tion of the company in August, 1847. At a meeting of the Board, in September, he was appointed to prepare a concise statement of statistical facts and arguments favorable to the construction of the road. In 1849, at the re- quest of a number of Marietta citizens, he vis- ited Baltimore, to ascertain the prospect of the completion of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and a satisfactory connection with it. He met with little encouragement, for while the officers of that company preferred to make the western terminus of the road at the mouth of Fishing Creek, or at Parkersburg, the citizens of Wheeling had secured the passage of a law compelling them to build to that city. At the annual meeting of the Belpre & Cincinnati Railroad Company, in August, 1850. Mr. Cut- ler was chosen president. Surveys of the line' were at once commenced. After a vain effort to unite with the Hillsboro & Cincinnati Rail- road, a line was located from Chillicothe west, via Blanchester, to Milford, on the Little Mi- ami road, and east to Byers station. This part of the road was placed under contract in 1851, although but $550,000 had been subscribed. East of Byers, the only subscription was $100,- 000, from Athens County. Legislative au-

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thority having been obtained, subscriptions ag- gregating $350,000, were voted by Washing- ton County, Harmar and Marietta, and these, with individual subscriptions, representing $50,000, wer offered to the company, on the condition that its name should be changed to the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad Company, and that the road should be built through Bar- low township. Noah L. Wilson, a director of the company, had visited Philadelphia and obtained positive assurance of aid from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in case the proposition of Washington County was ac- cepted. Equally positive assurance came through other channels, that no aid could be expected from the city of Baltimore, or the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company.

A committee consisting of Mr. Cutler, Col. John Madeira, Judge Rittenhouse, an attorney of the company, and Allen G. Thurman, was appointed to visit Marietta and confer with the authorities in regard to the proposition. This committee unanimously recommended its acceptance "upon the terms, conditions and re- strictions therein specified." The report was adopted by the Board of Directors of the Bel- pre & Cincinnati Railroad Company, on Att- gust 12, 1851, the only dissenting vote being that of Allen Latham. The name of the line became the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad. As the entire line to Wheeling was un- der contract to be completed December 1, 1854, over 6,000 men were at one time em- ployed, and all the conditions of success seemed to be fulfilled when, without warning, came the news of the Crimean War. The work was stopped, and every workmen discharged.

Mr. Cutler's health, which had long been feeble, failed entirely, and he was obliged to resign in September, 1854, continuing, how- ever, to be a director. Later on, he was obliged, on account of the precarious condi- tion of his health, to abandon all his business and seek recreation in travel through lowa and Minnesota. Upon his return, about July 1, 1855, he was summoned to a Board meet- ing in Athens. The engineers who had been engaged for months in making surveys for a

modified line, reported that $1.000,000 would be required for the completion of the road from Athens to Marietta. This put the mat- ter entirely beyond the reach of the resources of the company, and under these circumstances Mr. Cutler felt obliged to again enter its ser- vice as a member of the committee on con- struction, the other members being Beman Gates and William S. Nye. In 1857 Mr. Cutler was elected vice-president of the com- pany, and in the following May he was elect- ed president, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Wilson.

Notwithstanding the difficulties and per- plexities which surrounded Mr. Cutler in the decade from 1850 to 1860, he did not relax his interest in public affairs. AAlways a "Free- Soil Whig," he hailed as the dawn of a new day the formation of the Republican party, whose organic idea was opposition to the ex- tension of slavery. In 1856 at the request of the Republican Central Committee of Wash- ington County, he held a series of joint dis-

cussions with Gen. T. C. H. Smith, the Dem- ocratic candidate for Congress. In 1857 Mr. Cutler was a delegate to the Presbyterian Gen- eral Assembly, at Cleveland, when the absorb- ing topic before that body was slavery. In 1860 he was elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress from the district composed of Mor- gan, Washington and Muskingum counties. The session of this memorable Congress was half over at the time of the defeat of the Un- ion Army at Bull Run. Immediately after the battle, a number of Ohio Congressmen met and each agreed to tender to the government a regiment of men from his own district, the secretary of war agreeing to accept the regi- ments if they could be raised without expense to the government. Mr. Cutler telegraphed to Melvin Clarke and Jesse Hildebrand, of Mar- ietta, on July 23rd: "Government will prob- ably accept an infantry regiment if ready in 15 days. Can you raise it? 1 will bear all incidental expenses of raising it." Following this loyal and patriotic action, the 36th Regi- ment Ohio Vol. Inf., was sent to the front in the month of August. When the extra session

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of Congress closed, on August 5th. Mr. Cutler came home, and was almost immediately tak- en violently ill with typhoid fever. For a considerable period it was feared he could not recover, and he was unable to return to Wash- ington until some days after the convening of Congress, in December.

On April 23, 1862, Mr. Cutler made a memorable speech upon a bill then before the House, the preamble of which declared that slavery had caused the Rebellion, and that there could be no permanent peace while it existed. Mr. Cutler. in the summer of 1862. was again nominated for Congress, in the dis- trict composed of Washington, Athens, Meigs and Monroe counties. Through the absence of thousands of voters who were in the Union Army, and were not then permitted to vote, the opponent of the administration carried Ohio in the fall election, Mr. Cutler being defeated by James R. Morris,' of Monroe County. He was never afterward a candidate for office, al- though he took an active part as a speaker in every subsequent campaign during the remain- ing years of his life. In the common accep- tation of the term, he was not a successful pol- itician, and whenever placed in nomiraton by his party it was because of a belief in his fit- ness for office, and in spite of his unwilling- ness to "make interest," as he used to express it. Except in 1842, he always received the full party vote in Washington County, and usually led the ticket.

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 144

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490