USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 49
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
He was elected Recorder of Wooster, in April, 1867 ; was ap- pointed Postmaster of Wooster, in May, 1867; re-appointed in March, 1871, and re-appointed in March, 1875. He was a mem- ber of the National Republican Convention, held at Chicago, in 1868, that nominated General U. S. Grant for the Presidency ; has been a member of the Republican State Committee at different times, and for eight years Chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Wayne county. In August, 1870, he became one of the editors of the Wooster Republican, which position he occu- pies at the present time.
He was married on the 26th of September, 1866, to Miss Mary E. Brigham, of Vienna, Michigan, a lady of refined culture, and of most estimable qualities.
Though comparatively a young man, it will be discovered by a hasty retrospect of the preceding thread of narrative that the ca- reer of Captain McClure has been somewhat active, remarkable and brilliant. His first desire and characteristic tendency was for books and systematic intellectual discipline. He was a scholar at fifteen, when he entered upon his college course. When a boy he was conspicuous at the debating club, and wielded the cudgel of argument with marked ability against older and more experienced antagonists. There was always a fascination to him, from boy- hood, in open and public discussion. He believed, from the out- set, that both sides of all topics admitted of logical presentation. From this summit of opinion it mattered little to him which side of the question elicited his thought. All disputation to him was development, and grains of truth lay promiscuously about him.
There were great cardinal principles, germinant truths that all
554
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
conceded, but then there were theories that needed sifting, dog- mas to be exploded, and vast accumulations of doubts that would recede before the glancing eye of analysis and rational dissec- tion. His comprehensive and receptive mind, with his assimi- lating and reflective habits of thought, became necessarily crowded with its own creations ; hence it became essential for him to seek and enjoy disputation, and, by a rule of practice, to acquire finish and grace in oratory. At college, he not only sustained himself in the various branches of the curriculum, but was esteemed as one of the popular, eloquent and graceful orators of the institu- tion.
His patriotism was of the intense and aggressive order, and as a soldier, his courage was of that kind that made no provision for a retreat. In the illuminations of bursting shells he could see the sweet dawnings of peace. Hundred pound cannon balls pro- claimed victory. He had faith in bayonets and the stout arms that pointed them forward. Trenches well filled with dead men showed the conflict to not have been in vain. The simple words, " Charge, boys!" embodied the whole gospel of a nation's deliver- ance. He shrank from no duty, however perilous-went where he told others to go. Personally brave, calculating and cool, there was inspiration in his valor. In the civilian domain of life, he is active, zealous, imperturbable and free from imperialism.
As a lawyer his acquisitions are varied and accurate. In the preparation of cases he is careful, critical, and with witnesses is polite, seeking only the unfolding of fact and truth. To the court he is circumspect and dignified, and in addressing the jury is con- vincing and argumentative. He has capacity of concentration, and power of amplification. His delivery is calm and attractive, and his style infused with nerve. Terseness and appropriateness of diction, combined with an elastic vigor of illustration, are the con- suls and ministers of his thoughts.
In politics he is a Republican, of the zealous and pronounced type. He is an American, every inch of him, in all his views and principles-the very atmosphere of his soul is nationality. Of late, he has largely devoted his time to politics, is well versed in the principles of the Constitution and the various functions of its intricate and beautiful mechanism. He has studied the system in the writings of its august founders. As a political manager he has forecast, sagacity and directness. As a political speaker he has popularized himself throughout Ohio, having actively participated
555
WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
in the State campaigns since 1864. He is familiar with the politi- cal traditions and history of the whole country-understands the machinations of partizan leaders, and is in no wise tender in regard to exposing them. On the stump he displays alertness in compre- hending his subject, patience and labor in investigating it, and vol- uble and ready eloquence in enforcing his deliberate and well- weighed conclusions.
He has a voice exceedingly well modulated, of extraordinary volume and flexibility. His action is vigorous and emphatic, his analysis discriminating and acute, his conclusions enforcing his propositions with the certainty and boldness of a demonstration. He has remarkable intimacy with language and immense facility in expressing himself. He is not compelled to accept the first word that offers itself, but out of the multitudinous variety of the whole he chooses those that suit him best. Hence his orations are ele- gant and beautiful fabrics, constructed out of the smoothest and most compact material. They need no hewing or dressing, veneer or stucco work, for they are adroitly shaped and formed by the symmetrical masonry of the workmen of his brain. In all his public efforts he is exquisite and happy. Moreover, there is earn- estness about him that emphasizes all his utterances. He can hold an audience for two hours as easily as an athlete could Tom Thumb or Commodore Nutt, riveting their attention with the trip- hammer of argument or delighting them with startling rhetoric.
His career as editor has been somewhat brief, but in the dis- charge of his journalistic duties he has hinted at surpassingly greater possibilities than he has already achieved. His recent articles upon the national finances have been widely copied through- out the country, and exhibit historical research and mature reflec- tion. He writes with a practised hand, a graphic eye, and his editorials are vivid pictures of the times. He speaks out bold and bluff, and sticks to what he says. He is independent and progressive in his views, and will not suffer his opinions to be measured by any Procrustean rule or standard. He will go bare- foot rather than walk in iron shoes. It may be said of him, as of Diderot, "he writes good pages." Clearness and comprehensi- bility are emphasized in all his written productions. Vivacity, far-darting brilliancy, keenness of theoretic vision, gaiety, touches of humor, sallies of invective, coupled with depths of practical insight-all are characteristics of his pen.
Captain McClure is involved in pursuits sufficiently arduous and
556
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
responsible to employ all his time and faculties. He is now so sit- uated as to realize the eminent advantage of early habits of study, mental labor, and the general knowledge acquired by systematic education. Outside of his legal and other official duties he still finds leisure for historical research and other branches of study. While his temperament is more practical than poetical, more real than romantic, and while he may not have the poet's appreciation of his brother singer, he finds a richer mental pabulum in Macau- lay, Hallam, Buckle and the scrutinizing Hume.
He is one of the best historical scholars in the county, the shelves of his library bristling with the classic, literary and scien- tific authors of the present and past ages. As a conversationalist Mr. McClure is fluent, and in this province is always capable of rendering his meaning irresistibly clear.
Socially he is of a frank, unrestrained and hopeful character. He is affable in the circle of his friends, and always accessible to strangers. He is not one of those who believe that virtue, honor, and the good that was born into the world have disappeared, or be- come corrupted, but has implicit faith in the higher and nobler civ- ilization of the race.
The American is to be the one civilization, the English the universal language, and pure Saxon blood is destined yet to stimulate and feed the brain of the world.
COLONEL E, P. BATES.
Edward Payson Bates, a chip cut from the southern side of the Buckeye tree, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, May 5, 1838. He spent the earlier portion of his minority upon the home prem- ises with his father, who was a model farmer, and who was scrup- ulous in all matters of taste, and supremely methodical in all his work. No man in his neighborhood surpassed him in the condi- tions and appointments of the farm. He managed a fine dairy and thorough-bred, blooded cattle constituted no insignificant portion of the tenantry of his fields.
"No more golden butter or better bread and pies," says Col. Bates, "ever burdened a table than his good wife could make." But while the father of Colonel Bates bestowed all needful atten- tion upon the farm, he was not forgetful of the more vital and vastly more important demands of the moral and intellectual con- stitution of his children. Here was a responsibility which he care-
557
WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
fully weighed, and from the gravity of which he sought no evasion. Selecting one of the best methods of mental improvement, of stim- ulating inquiry, and of establishing in the sanctuary of home the basis of moral culture and the higher mental conditions, he kept constantly before his family a variety of choice and excellent books, which, when the intellect cloyed with these, could be alternated with a half dozen of the best weekly and monthly periodicals of the country. Thus it will be seen that the earlier intellectual training of the family of Mr. Daniel Bates was not neglected.
In 1856 Mr. E. P. Bates, then a lad of eighteen years, entered Kingsville Academy, Ashtabula county, Ohio, remaining there a period of about three years. From this institution he went to Hillsdale College, Michigan, but before consummating a college course Sumpter was fired, the rebellion inaugurated, old cohesions rent asunder, and society north and south was drifting to the atomic and chaotic state.
This was too much for the impetuous and patriotic nature of Colonel Bates, so in April, 1861, he enlisted as a private soldier, serving three months in the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in West Virginia, in Rosecranz's brigade.
September 20, 1862, he received a Captain's commission, when he at once proceeded to recruit a company for the 125th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Emerson Op- dycke. His services were continual in the Army of the Cumber- land ; was with General Sherman until the capture of Atlanta, re- maining with General David S. Stanley's corps, under General Thomas, which was intended to confront and destroy Hood's army.
In consequence of Colonel Opdycke being summoned to com- mand a brigade, and in the absence of other field officers, the com- mand of the regiment devolved upon Colonel Bates, which com- mand he retained from and after the battle of Chickamauga to the spring of 1864, during which time it distinguished itself in the battle of Mission Ridge and in East Tennessee.
He commanded the regiment at the battle of Franklin, one of the most desperate and destructive of the war, considering the number of men engaged, and for courageous conduct in that sanguinary conflict was honored with the rank of Colonel of Vol- unteers by the War Department, upon the recommendation of Major-General Thomas. There being no vacancy in the regiment to be filled by the State, he was subsequently commissioned as Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, not, however, mus-
558
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
tering as either, but following the fortunes of the regiment and the 4th corps (General Stanley's) to Texas, where, November 13, 1865, he was mustered out of service.
After a brief respite thereafter he embarked in life insurance in a general way with his brother, ultimately contracting with the North-western Mutual Life of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to superin- tend the work in Ohio, with the accession, afterward, of West Vir- ginia to their field of management. Determined on making the business a permanent life-work, they concluded to make Wooster their focus of operations, whither they came in October, 1866.
It is apparent at a glance that the record made by Colonel Bates during the war is a signal and enviable one, and of the character to arrest attention and compel admiration. He may regard his reputation safe, as a soldier, since he wore the insignia of a Colonel upon the recommendation of the old war-horse, Thomas, the Charles Martel of the war, for heroic and meritorious conduct.
It might logically be presumed from the record and executive na- ture of the man, that Colonel Bates is equally efficient and capable in plying the arts of peace as those of war. As a practical business man we doubt if he has many superiors. Alertness, penetration, rapidity of perception, combined with sound judgment, accuracy of detail and scholarly attainments, render him a successful operator and a formidable competitor. If the war-cloud of the South tossed its lurid shadow between him and a college diploma, we doubt not but he graduated in a school of harder lessons and sterner tutors. He learned the elocution of cannon, the arithmetic of bullets, the geometry of curving, cavorting shells, and the language of the bursting bomb, less fascinating, perhaps, in its interpretation than the Greek or Latin. To say this much, he has entered upon life with a sound body, a stout heart, a strong arm and brain.
" The wild deer lives within his blood, The falcon in his eye."
He has personality, force of character, names by which we choose to designate original and vigorous manhood; these nature endowed him with, and they are her best gifts. A man had better have his face on the sole of his boots than to have no individuality. He is a vigorous man, and he makes his blows tell. There is no trouble in getting fire, if you know how to hit the flint.
Colonel Bates has pith and force, and place him where you may, they must tell. He is possessed of deep sagacity, a thorough
559
WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
and clear comprehension of causes, readily discovering effects. He enjoys life to a remarkable degree, and will adhere to it tenaciously. His temperament is sanguine, and he has no desire to pass from under his barber till he is both bald and gray. He enjoys an anec- dote as well as Dick Steele, and will spear an opponent with a jest in a minute. The social element in him is strong. He loves his friends and grows merry in their society, for to him there is no happiness in the world in which love and mutual confidence do not enter. Nor will he soon forget the parental roof or voice.
Good humor and congeniality have each a throne in his heart. He has faith in the world, notwithstanding Adam's mischief-con- fidence in man though the curse be upon him-for overlay human nature as you please, here and there some bit of rock or mound of aboriginal soil will crop out with the wild flowers growing upon it, sweetening the air.
One little episode occurred in the life of Colonel Bates about twelve years ago that we neglected to record in its chronological order. The merest allusion to this event will indicate that he has. not been entirely impervious to the attractions of the gentler sex. But in this respect he is only human. For there are moments, most assuredly, when the citadel of the heart is not so strongly fortified as others. At any rate, who that has arrived at years of maturity can say he has never been subject to the sway of woman. Is it not curious how Cupid will wedge himself into the recesses of the human heart. As his arrow penetrates that fortress the stern warrior becomes docile as a child and is disarmed of his prowess. Bonaparte seized empires, but Josephine captured hearts. The statesman on whose words hang the destiny of nations becomes the humble suppliant. The orator who holds entranced the multi- tude, is struck dumb. The poet who luxuriates in the ideal; the practical man who scorns the theorist, and laughs at the dreams of the poet-all, each in turn, succumb to the summons of the little despot.
The lady to whom the heart of the Colonel surrendered was Miss Mary A. Powers, of Youngstown, Ohio, to whom he was joined in marriage, March 7, 1866.
Colonel Bates is yet a young man, having barely put on his regalia for the world's parade and life's great show. What he may yet, with his possibilities of business, be able to accomplish before he touches his zenith or the dimming of his star, is not for us to say. His powers and energies are now directed in the great work
560
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
of Life Insurance. This is the focal point of his thought and labor, and to this one object he has converged all the lines of his life.
IRA H. BATES,
Second son of Daniel Bates, was born in Oneida county, New York, September 18, 1833, being the senior of the Bates Bros., now located at Wooster. He remained with his father, who was a farmer, until he reached twenty-one years, when he concluded he would open up another field for the exercise of his faculties.
He was willing that his experience on the farm should now con- clude, and so he determined. It may have required more effort on the part of Mr. Bates than we imagine to sever his relations with the farm, as he was greatly attached to the sports and pastimes of rural life. He seems to have had the fondness of the Englishman for his gun and dog, and, we are told, sometimes exhibited this fondness to an extent that would well-nigh indicate a lingering aver- sion to work that sometimes had a tendency to engender grave and even formidable suspicions in the paternal mind.
He probably believed, with the Arabs, that the days spent in the chase are not counted in the length of life, or with Henri Quatre, that manly exercises are the foundations of that elevation of mind which give one nature ascendancy over another.
He finally determined upon an education, and soon every energy of body and mind were bent in that direction. The help that he obtained in this project was summoned from his own re- sources. It was the man inside shouting bravo to the man out- side ; the jewel addressing the casket; the letter talking to the en- velope.
After a protracted course of study, punctuated with intermis- sions and paragraphed with delays, he graduated with honor at Hillsdale College in 1862, being a member of the first class that took a full course at that institution.
The societies of the institution were reduced to organization during his term, and for his devotion to their interests, his labors for their welfare and personal sacrifices, his name is kindly cher- ished in their annals.
Like many other earnest students, after his withdrawal from college he entered upon the profession of teacher, in which occu- pation there was to him pleasure and delight, and to which he seemed to be wedded. Conscious of his ability to communicate,
1
561
WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
instruct, explain and analyze, he had the power to command at- tention, the quick ingenuity to hold it, and consequently impres- sions were transferred from his to the pupil's mind as readily as the color to the canvas from the artist's brush.
He first began the vocation of teacher, after graduation, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where the fine public schools of that city attest his efficiency and worth, and to whom they are to this day "indebted.
Protracted years of hard study, and two years of confinement and labor as a teacher, debilitated and prostrated him in health so that he well-nigh exchanged his life for his devotion. It was now deemed necessary to abandon the school-room, and acting upon the advice of friends, and especially his brother, E. P. Bates, he wisely resolved to forever relinguish it with its dark airs and its dense, noxious atmosphere.
Accordingly, in the spring of 1866, with his brother, E. P. Bates, he entered upon the work of Life Insurance, which has been developed upon an enduring basis, and which to-day employs the best genius and commands the strongest talent of the civilized world.
Mr. I. H. Bates was married to Carrie M. Allen, of Winnebago county, Wisconsin, March 6, 1866, by which union they have two children-son and daughter.
Mr. Bates is in his life's prime, and his powers and capacities for business are barely matured, so that he can look forward hope- fully and confidently to many months and years of labor and use- fulness.
While he was eminently qualified to have entered upon any of the public professions, he mapped out for himself a different path, in which he has few if any equals.
He is a masterly scholar, a student of history and a learner, as when at the college or academy, for he is not of that class who be- lieve that all knowledge is acquired in the school-room, and that after that all is perpetual vacation and repose. He is not a poli- tician, but is decidedly well-informed upon the history of American politics and the issues that to-day divide the parties and distract the country.
His is emphatically of the reflective order of mind, and he arrives at conclusions only after careful thought. He has enough of secre- tiveness to hold the world at fair advantage, and with him the remainder of judgment is seldom expressed.
36
562
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
He forms few friendships, but lasting ones. His motto is, "The friends thou hast and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel." To his personal friends he is warmly, if not passionately attached, and the link betwixt him and his kin- dred and family is of solid gold. He is the center of a pleasing group of domestic virtues. His intelligence, courtesy and affability have won him many friends in this community. He is a finished, straight-out, decisive, practical man, having faith in the prevalence * of right, the triumph of truth, and is as full of honor as an April brook of water. His motto is,
"Fact shall be fact for me, and truth the truth forever."
QUINBY OPERA HOUSE.
This handsome structure is located on the corner of North Buckeye and Larwill streets. It was finished and formally opened and dedicated to the public, for all purposes, on Thursday night, February 1, 1877, by Miss Effie E. ElIsler, with the full dramatic company from John Ellsler's Euclid Avenue Opera House, Cleve- land, in Shakspeare's beautiful comedy, "As you Like it."
This building was the enterprise of the "Quinby Opera House Association," composed of the following gentlemen: E. Quinby, Jr., President; E. P. Bates, Secretary ; J. H. Kauke, D. Q. Lig- gett, Ira H. Bates and D. C. Curry. They have presented Woos- ter with a splendid place for public resort, unequaled out of a city of the first-class.
The dimensions of the Opera House are 70 by 104 feet; the auditorium 60 by 70 feet, encircled on three sides by roomy balco- nies, the whole having a capacity for 1,000 persons. D. C. Curry & Bros. were contractors for the erection of the building, and C. M. Amsden the architect. D. Graham, theatrical architect, of Chicago, designed the stage. Charles Gasche, artist, was the con- tractor for all the decorative painting, in the work of which he was assisted by Messrs. Busch, Pinney and Diehl. The opera chairs were cast by B. Barrett & Son, and upholstered by John L. Smith; the furnaces, water and plumbing by A. Saybolt; gas fitting by W. S. Leyburn; plastering by William Carnes; tinning by Aaron Lehman.
It was named in honor of Mr. Quinby by popular demand and against his protest, and over his veto.
563
WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
ARCADOME HALL-THE BAUMGARDNERS.
The building of Arcadome Hall,* a product of the chainless mind of Joseph H. Baumgardner, formed a period in the history of Wooster. It was the first public hall of any consequence given to the city.
The ceremony of its dedication occurred December 18, 1857, of which its proprietors, Messrs. Baumgardner and Samuel Woods, gave due notice. Colonel Benjamin Eason was president of the occasion, and Dr. L. Firestone orator. Numerous toasts were offered, and responses made by Revs. Durbin and McFarland, Wil- liam M. Orr, Esq., Eugene Pardee, Esq., John Irvine, Esq., Dr. W. S. Battles, and others. The following sentiment was offered to Dr. Firestone :
Our Orator-Whether at driving out a fever with jalap, or a fit of blues with a joke ; tuning up a bass fiddle or a broken constitution, he is always equal to the emergency ; and like a true flint, as his Dutch name indicates, strikes fire every time the steel touches him.
The title " Arcadome," by which it was popularly known, was coined in the poetic fancy of E. G. Clingan. We here subjoin Mr. Clingan's dedicatory poem :
Now behold the march of genius, Here the mighty secret lies, In the building of a nation, In her worth and enterprise; With the arm of resolution Carves she out herself a page, On the roll and grand achievements Of a fast, progressive age.
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.