History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 113

Author: R. Sutton & Co.
Publication date: 1883
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 427

USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 113

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Photographers: C. W. Vandegrift, W. S. Fish.

Musical Instruments : William Pfeil, C. W. McKee, C. Schwerer, W. O. Amann.

Hotels: M. S. Barber's Florentine Hotel; H. H. Elliott's Burnett House; Bush's Bush Hotel; D. W. Reese's Reese House.

Livery Stables: Clay R. Joslin, Musselman & Wharton, L. Robins, McClure & Johnston.

Cigar Manufacturers: C. C. Sollenberger, H. S. Schultz, John Pfeil, A. Scherer.

Grain Elevators: Stone Bridge Grain Elevator; Sidney Grain Ele- vator. Harness Makers: George Hendershott,. James E. Irwin, Chism & Bausman.

Banks: German American; Citizens'.

Barbers: Christopher Dickas & Son, Charles Lawrence, Charles Pefferle.

Insurance and Real Estate: J. S. Laughlin, Samuel Mccullough, Bunnelle & Huddle, G. C. Anderson (ins.), C. Arbogast (real est.), Dan. Cochlin (ins.), J. W. Curd (ins.).

Saloons: William Shine, A. C. Alge, Ben. B. Amann, Mary Brice, J. L. Bush, Edward Crusey, Barbary Holder, J. C. A. Herstein, Emert Hays, Dennis Mulvihill, G. W. Moeller, Lewis Pfaadt, J. T. Riordon, J. M. Scott, George Schafer, Henry Steinle, Wagner House, Frank Shillmiller, H. J. Taylor, Charles Wolf, Joseph Weingartner, Nicholas Wallace, L. Zimpfher.

Wholesale Liquors: Charles Timeus, G. C. Kelsey, A. C. Alge.

Attorneys: H. Wilson, D Oldham, N. R. Burress, J. M. Staley, S. L. Wicoff, E. L. Hoskins, G. A. Marshall, W. D. Davies, J. S. Conklin, J. C. Royon, J. MeKercher, .J. E. Mccullough, A. J. Rebstock, T. J. Mc- Sweney, J. E. Way, S. J. Hatfield.

Physicians: H. S. Conklin, W. R. Keve, H. S. Conklin, Jr., H. E. Beebe, S. M. Collins, P. B. Beeman, A. Reddish, C. E. Johnston, D. R. Silvers, A. Wilson, C. W. Carroll, B. M. Sharp, J. D. Geyer.

Dentists: B. D. Wikoff, C. B. Orbison, J. A. Throckmorton.

Churches: Methodist Episcopal, D. G. Strong, Pastor; Presbyterian, R. McCaslin, Pastor; United Presbyterian; Baptist; German Lutheran ; German Evangelical; Reformed; German Methodist Episcopal; Catho- lic; Colored Baptist.

Lodges: Temperance Lodge No. 73 F. & A. M .; Sidney Chapter; Sidney Council; I. O. O. F. No. 60; Osceola Encampment; Sidney Temple Patriarchar Circle; Summit Lodge K. of P .; Neal Post No. 62 G. A. R.

Newspapers: Weekly Valley Sentinel and Daily Sentinel, Democratic, .J. T. Hearn, Editor and Proprietor; Shelby County Democrat, Demo- cratic, Gen'l J. O. Amos, Editor and Proprietor; Sidney Journal, Re- publican, Trego & Binkley, Proprietors.

NEWSPAPERS.

The Shelby County Democrat was established by William Ramsey in . 1849. The first issue was published on the first of January of that year. It was then called the Democratic Yeoman. Mr Ramsey continued its publication for about two years, when he died, and the paper passed into the hands of S. Alexander Leckey. On the 30th of January, 1852, under Mr. Leckey's management, the name of the paper was changed to Shelby Democrat. It was subsequently changed to Shelby County Democrat, but the exact time when it assumed the present name cannot be ascer- tained. During the time that Mr. Leckey had charge of the paper he took in partnership with him A. M. Hollabaugh, and in 1856 he sold his interest to Mr. Hollabaugh. Mr. Hollabaugh ran the paper a short time, and sold it to J. M. Miller, who only managed it a short time, and sold it to A. M. Dumbaugh. Mr. Dumbaugh did not succeed in the paper, and it was purchased in 1858 by A. Kaga, who came from Tiffin. Mr. Kaga was then a young man, and he made the paper an excellent one. In 1861 he went into the army, first as a three-month soldier, and after- ward as captain of a company in the 20th regiment. For a time after he went into the service the Democrat was run for him by a committee of Democrats. In the early part of 1862 Gen'l Thomas L. Young pur- chased the Democrat, and published it until October, 1862, when he went into the 118th regiment as major, and the paper again was taken charge of by a committee of Democrats, and placed under the manage- ment of W. N. Skidmore. In the summer of 1863 McGonagle & Lewis, of Cambridge, Ohio, purchased the paper, and it was published by them until 1871, when H. Hume bought out the interest of Mr. Lewis, and he and McGonagle published it until April 1, 1874, when J. S. Van Valk- enburg, then a member of the Constitutional Convention from Sandusky County, purchased the paper, and placed it under the editorial charge of W. N. Skidmore until the close of the Constitutional Convention, when he took control himself. Mr. Van Valkenburg died in December, 1875, and, on the 28th day of January, 1876, James O. Amos purchased the Democrat from O. O. Mathers, the administrator, and has been the edi- tor and proprietor ever since. During the time Van Valkenburg owned the paper he enlarged it from a twenty-eight to a thirty-two column paper, and afterwards to a thirty-six column paper. On the first of February, 1882, Mr. Amos changed the size from a four page to an eight-page paper, with fifty-six in place of thirty-six columns.

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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO.

Under Mr. Amos's management it has largely increased its circula- tion, and ranks as one of the best and most enterprising papers in Northwestern Ohio. It has always been true to the principles of the Democratic party.

The Valley Sentinel .- The first number of this paper was issued Sep- tember 1, 1880, by John T. Hearn and Van B. Baker. The latter gen- tleman retired from the paper after the second number was issued, and it has been under the management of Mr. Hearn, the present proprietor, since that time. The paper was started in response to a popular demand, and the fact that the Sentinel has grown in circulation and influence, with a large subscription list and a liberal advertising patronage, is evi- dence that there was an opening for the paper. The Sentinel is Demo- cratic in politics, but has always been noted for fairness and candor in treating political questions.

March 12, 1883, the proprietor of the Sentinel issued the first number of the Daily Sentinel, and that too has proved a success. It has re- ceived a generous support from the business men of Sidney, and its subscription list has been quite satisfactory to the publisher. The establishment of a daily paper in a town like Sidney is no ordinary event, and requires no small amount of nerve, but its success would indicate that its publisher had the judgment to perceive that the people would support his enterprise if it proved worthy of support.

The Sidney Journal, the oldest paper in the county, was established by J. Smith in 1832. Smith appears to have been an eccentric individual, and it is said he frequently walked from Sidney to Cincinnati, a distance of ninety-eight miles, where he purchased his paper and carried it to Sidney on his back. About 1842 the paper passed into the hands of William Armstrong and became the Bugle-blast of Freedom. The name afterward became the Aurora. A little later it became the Herald, and was published by Clinton Edwards until 1851. It next appeared as the Sidney Banner, and was published by J. P. Haggott about two years, when it was purchased by Samuel H. Matthews, who changed its name to the Sidney Journal, under which title it is still published. In 1861 it passed into the hands of P. A. Ogden, and was subsequently edited by J. H. McElroy, J. Dubois, and Bliss & Adgate. In 1869 it came into the possession of the present proprietors, Messrs. Trego & Binkley. The Journal is an eight-page paper, ably edited, and Republican in politics.

BIOGRAPHIES. HON. PATRICK GAINES GOODE.

This name is found not only in judicial records of Ohio, but also in the legislative records of the Nation. Judge Goode was born in Prince Edwards County, Va., May 10, 1798, and came to Ohio, near Xenia, with his father in 1805. Here he worked on a farm until sixteen years of age, when he entered the classical school of Professor Espy at Xenia. Three years later he followed the same instructor to Philadelphia, Pa., where he remained about two years, and then removed to Lebanon, Warren County, and began the study of law under Judge Collett. At the age of twenty-three he was admitted to the Lebanon bar, which then boasted of such legal lights as Thomas Corwin, Benjamin Collett, and other advocates of celebrity. Removing to Madison, Indiana, he entered upon the practice of law, but in 1828 he moved to Liberty, Indiana, and again in 1831 to Sidney, Ohio. At the latter place he stepped to the front rank of his profession, but as the country was yet new, he devoted a portion of his time to teaching. About the year 1832 he was appointed agent of the State Sabbath-school Society, for Shelby and the counties north of it. For several months he was zealously engaged in this field, organizing Sabbath-schools and otherwise laboring in the interests of the society's cause. In 1883 he was elected to the Ohio House, and was honored by a re-election the following year. In 1835 he was a can- didate for the Ohio Senate and received the certificate of election ; but as a number of votes for his opponent, Colonel Hunt, had been thrown out on technical grounds, the judge refused to claim the office to which he did not believe himself fairly elected. The following year he was elected to Congress from a district extending from Dayton to Toledo, and comprising fourteen counties. He was twice re-elected, but after the redistricting of the State he refused to be a candidate for a fourth term. In Congress he was an indefatigable worker, and received great praise from his constituents for his successful labors in behalf of improvements in the Maumee Valley. In 1844 the sixteenth judicial district was cre- ated, and was composed of Shelby and Williams, with all intervening counties, ten in number. Judge Goode was elected President Judge of this district by the General Assembly, for seven years, when the district was remodelled and the old constitution was superseded by the new. He then resumed the practice of law at Sidney, but finally abandoned this profession to enter the ministry. In 1855 the M. E. Conference gave him a temporary appointment to fill a vacancy, and the next year he was regularly appointed, so that by 1857 his full time was devoted to Gospel duties. In the fall of 1862 he attended the conference at Green- ville, Darke County, where, owing to his knowledge of parliamentary law, he was burdened by grave responsibilities. These, taken in con- nection with the arduousness of his preceding labors, seem to have over- taxed his endurance, for he only survived the conference about two

weeks, his death occurring at his home, October 7, 1862. On July 3, 1832, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine Whiteman, near Clifton, Greene County, O. They had three children, of whom two survived childhood. These were Catherine, who married Wm. Mccullough, of Sidney, O., and Benjamin W., who married Miss Anna S. Evans, of Franklin, O. Judge Goode was a lover of books, a classical scholar, and an earnest, persuasive advocate. In all the stations and relations of life he won the confidence and esteem of the constituency which he served and the people who had oppor- tunities of knowing him. Everywhere he was given credit for high- mindedness and a keen perception of justice, whether in the halls of Con- gress, on the bench, or in the pulpit. As a lawyer, too, he was said to have arisen above the abuses of that profession, and to have relied, not upon trickery or technicality, but upon the broader principles of fairness and justice. At the establishment of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, he became a member of the board of college trustees, and held the same relation to the institution up to the time of his death. As nearly as we can to-day estimate his life-work and individual character, we feel safe in saying he shed a lustre upon Shelby County, and is en- titled to the grateful veneration of the people not only of this county, but throughout that larger field to which his work and influence ex- tended.

HON. BENJAMIN LE FEVRE, M.C.

This gentleman needs but little introduction to the people of Ohio, less to the people of the 4th Congressional district, and none to the people of Shelby County, where it may be said he is familiarly known to every man, woman, and child. He is one of those large and genial individuals who can adapt himself to almost all the conditions incident to the organization of political forces. Although he lays no claims to ability as a public expounder of the principles of statesmanship or as an orator, he is possessed of that ease of manner and agreeableness of address which are calculated to make friends as they come in contact with the people. He belongs to an old family, and was born in Salem Township, October 8, 1838. During youth he worked on his father's farm, and did his reading largely at night by the light of a burning knot. During the school years he attended the log school-house until thirteen years of age, when he entered the Sidney school, then taught by a Mr. Arnott, in the old Presbyterian Church. After about a year's study here he worked along at farm labors until 1856, when he began teaching during the winter seasons and working and studying during the summer. He afterwards attended Miami University about three years and read law with Smith & Cummings, of Sidney, and in the mean time taught school to defray his expenses. He entered the army as a private in the Benton Cadets, and served through the Missouri campaign of Generals Fremont and Seigel, and was mustered out of the service at St. Louis in the spring of 1862, the Secretary of War having decided against the regu- larity of the organization. After the forced march at Springfield, Mo., he was promoted to 6th corporal upon the recommendation of Capt. Thos. L. Young, since Governor of Ohio. He next entered the 99th Ohio at Lima, and at the organization was promoted to adjutant, and served through the Kentucky campaign. At the battle of Stone River, upon recommendation of brigade, division, corps commanders, and General Rosecranz, he was promoted major, and served with the regiment in all its campaigns about Chattanooga. When the 99th and 50th Ohio . regiments were consolidated he was retained as major of the consolidated regiment, and was mustered out at Salisbury, S. C., in the summer of 1865, after the surrender of Johnson. After final discharge at Camp Dennison, Ohio, he returned home, and, after a spirited contest, was nominated by the Democrats as representative in the Ohio General Assembly, to which office he was elected. While serving in this posi- tion he took an active interest in legislation, and devoted his energies to the passage of the free pike bill, which had been introduced by the Hon. James Hall, of Toledo. He was then the youngest member of the 65th and 66th General Assemblies. While serving in the Legislature he was nominated for Secretary of State by the Democrats, but suffered defeat, with his ticket, as the Republicans carried the State by about 40,000 majority. At the close of his House term, he was appointed Governor of Washington Territory by President Johnson, but on account of his youth the appointment was withdrawn, and he was appointed Consul to Neuremberg, Germany, in the spring of 1867. After his return to the United States he spent a few months in various interests, and was finally employed by Col. Thos. A. Scott to look after the revenue cases of that gigantic corporation, the Pennsylvania Railroad. During the period he was with this corporation he organized the First National Bank of Lima, and held the office of vice-president of the institution about six years. His resignation of the position he held with the P. R. R. was caused by his nomination to the 46th Congress by his home district. The contest for this nomination was one of the fiercest ever waged in a mass conven- tion in this State, and lasted three days and three nights. On the 218th ballot Le Fevre was nominated by a majority of one and one-half vote. The contest was embittered and acrimonious, and from it sprang crimi- nation and recrimination. Still Le Fevre was elected at the general

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election, although by a greatly reduced vote. Entering Congress, he served on the committee on agriculture and the committee on military affairs, and introduced the first House bill for the suppression of con- tagious diseases among domestic animals. He also introduced 'the reso- lution providing for a department of agriculture and was made chairman of the committee. Espousing the cause of the soldiers, he introduced bills for the equalization of soldiers' bounties. His old district was composed of the counties of Shelby, Darke, Auglaize, Mercer, and Miami; but before the 47th Congress the State was redistricted, throw- ing him into a district composed of the counties of Auglaize, Allen, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Defiance, Shelby, and Van Wert. Five of these counties had been represented by Hon. W. D. Hill, and as the two members were thrown into the same district, a contest arose in the nomi- nating convention which was held at Lima. The contest, however, was soon over, as Le Fevre was nominated on the first ballot. He was re- elected by a majority of about 8000, although at the previous election his majority was only about 1800. During the 47th Congress he served on the appropriation committee. During this Congress, Ohio was redis- tricted, and Le Fevre found himself in the 4th district, composed of the counties of Allen, Auglaize, Darke, Mercer, and Shelby. The Demo- cratic nominating convention was held at Wapakoneta, and such was Le Fevre's hold upon the party that he was nominated by acclamation and elected to the 48th Congress by a large majority in 1882.

In the life of this man we can read the favoritism of fortune, for capri- cious as she may be, she has smiled upon him at almost every turn in his life. Make all the calculations you may as to probabilities, abilities, and determination, and yet it must be admitted that fate decides the general affairs of life. Le Fevre has been opposed by men of eminent ability and commanding oratory, and yet he has succeeded almost be- yond his most sanguine expectations. Once in Congress, it is readily seen how Le Fevre has retained his position, for as a campaigner he is tireless and never sleeps. While at home he mingles with the people so freely and happily that the term mixer acquires a broad significance. While absent at his place in Congress his constituents are kept under continual obligations to him, or at least in constant recollection of him, for that family is not to be found in his district to whom he has not sent out from Washington an occasional report, pamphlet, printed speech, package of garden seeds, or box of bulbs. Besides all this, by some apparent concert or coincidence, he receives more press notices touching his personal appearance, affability, and gallantry than any other member of any Congress. It is fate which favors him, and no one individual will presume to account for the caprices of this destiny.

JUDGE WILLIAM C. WYMAN.

The parents of Wm. C. Wyman were natives of County Wexford, Ire- land, where the father was born in 1780, and the mother in 1782. Their lives were passed in their native land, although their children drifted away to the land across the waters. Mrs. Wyman, nee Mary Furlong, was a close relative of Bishop Furlong, Prelate of the Diocese of Ferus, Ireland. Mr. Wyman, well advanced in years, passed away March 14, 1870, while his wife survived him some seven years, her death occurring September 7, 1877. They both died in their native county, and were survived by but two of their nine children. It will be proper here to relate an incident which was of much interest to the family and partakes · somewhat of the tint of romance. The oldest son, John, when eleven years of age, left home and shipped on board a merchant vessel, but the storms and calms of a series of years failed to bring any tidings to the anxious parents. Eighteen years elapsed and his brother William, then a boy of ten, was attending school at the " National School-house," when a stranger in the dress of a sailor one day approached the school children and made special inquiries concerning the Wymans, which at once sug- gested the thought to William that the stranger was his own brother whom he had never seen, but of whom be had heard much from an ever anxious mother. So, satisfying himself, he hastened to his home, and almost overcame the feelings of his parents by announcing the return of their long absent and unexpected son. The scene of joy which followed can only be imagined. The returned sailor was first mate under Capt. George H. Flanders, of the brig Keying, then lying in Liverpool harbor.

William C. Wyman, the boy who carried the glad news of his bro- ther's return to their mother, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, September 29, 1832, and remained with his parents until his eleventh year, when he shipped with his brother as cabin-boy on the brig Keying, which with a cargo of salt left Liverpool for Newburyport. The desti- nation was safely reached, and William commenced attendance at the "West Male Grammar School," while his brother shipped again in charge of one of Captain Cushing's vessels. From that time the brothers never met, as William had himself gone to sea before the return of Jolin from his first voyage. Ill health soon compelled John to abandon the sea, and he located in Norfolk, Virginia, where he married and reared a son and daughter. His health, however, never returned, and in 1857 he died in his adopted State. His family afterward moved to Scottsville, Albe- marle County, Va., where the mother and daughter still live, the son having died in 1863. William, on leaving Newburyport, secured a posi-

tion as cabin-boy on the brig Ark, commanded by Captain Johnston. From Beverly, Mass., the vessel started for Charleston, S. C., and made a boisterous and dangerous voyage. Off Cape Hatteras a storm raged with great violence, and the cabin-boy resolved that if once he reached the land he would give up entirely the " rolling deep." On reaching Charleston he applied himself to a search for work, but stood confronted by slavery, an institution of which he had never dreamed, and which he contemplated with aversion and hatred. That hatred did not die out, and so when the great issue came, although a Democrat, he gave his vote to the author of the " Emancipation Proclamation." Disappointed at Charleston he again turned seaward, and through the kindness of Cap- tain Black, secured a position on the Sarah Penerington, commanded by Captain Penerington, and bound to Liverpool. With this vessel he made two trips across the ocean. While returning the second time a three weeks' dead calm was encountered off the island of Cuba, where he first heard of the city of Cincinnati, to which some of the passengers were bound. From what he could learn of the town he resolved to seek it, and escape ocean life if possible. On arriving at New Orleans he was confronted again by that giant curse, Slavery ; but still he thought of Cincinnati, for which place he set out at once. On his arrival, his first friend was of the despised race, a free negro, who secured him a position in a grocery store. Soon afterward he was apprenticed at the plastering trade, which he followed until 1853 in that city. Coming to Sidney on something of a prospecting tour, he was pleased with the town and so settled here and followed his old trade. He was married in 1856, and has a family of seven children living. In 1875 Mr. Wyman was elected Probate Judge of Shelby County, to which office he was re-elected in 1878. His official career was highly satisfactory to his constituents and very gratifying to his host of friends. During his whole life he has been a Roman Catholic in religion, and a Democrat in politics. Of his bro- thers and sisters not already mentioned, we may add he has one brother living in Westmoreland County, Pa .; one sister died in Ireland; bis brother James came to America in 1856, and died the same year; another brother, Francis, enlisted in the 27th Horse Dragoons of the British Army, and died in the East Indies.

A. J. ROBERTSON.

The great-grandfather of the above-a Scotchman by birth-emigrated to the American Colonies about 1770 : his family consisted of his wife and three sons. They located near Philadelphia, Pa. These three sons all took a part in the struggle for independence. One of the three- Samuel-married a Miss Hendricks, near Philadelphia, in New Jersey, about 1784. They moved to Southern Ohio at the close of the last cen- tury and located within the present limits of Warren County ; here he died, but the date of his death is not known. Of his family we will only speak of Samuel, the second son, who was born near Elizabethtown, N. J., in 1787. He learned the brickmason trade, and is said to have built the first brick house in Preble County, Ohio. This was in 1811. While building this house he formed the acquaintance of Miss Susan Van Win- kle, of Preble County, whom he married the same year. In 1814 he entered the U. S. Army and received a commission as a major, by which title he was ever afterward known. They reared a family of eight chil- dren. About 1812 he entered a piece of land in Preble County, to which he moved his family and where he made his home during the remainder of his life. He died April, 1872; his wife died Oct. 1881, aged eighty- six years. Major Robertson was a prominent man in his community ; he was an extensive contractor on public works, was Associate Judge of his county, and also Justice of the Peace for many years.

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History of Shelby County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 113

Author: R. Sutton & Co. Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Number of Pages: 427

Author: R. Sutton & Co.
Publication date: 1883
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 427