USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, Ohio, from the founding of Franklinton in 1797, through the World War period to the year 1920 > Part 57
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· William A. Platt was also prominent in civic affairs of Columbus. He served as a mem- ber of the original board of trustees of Greenlawn Cemetery, aided in the selection of a suit- able site for the same and was president of the association for twelve years. Governor Chase appointed him a member of the State House Commission in charge of the erection of Ohio's new State House, then in course of construction, and he continued a member of the commis- sion until the capitol was completed. His death occurred August 8, 1882.
On September 2, 1839, William A. Platt was united in marriage with Fanny A. Hayes, of Delaware, Ohio. Her death occurred July 16, 1856, leaving one son and three daughters.
Rutherford H. Platt of this review was prepared for college at Phillips Academy, And- over, Massachusetts, then entered Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1874 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He studied law and entered Columbia Law School, New York City, from which he was graduated with the class of 1879 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws; soon thereafter he was admitted to the Ohio Bar and immediately began the practice of law in Columbus.
Mr. Platt was for three years professor of pleading and practice in the Law School of Ohio State University and he was for five years a member of the commission appointed by the Supreme Court of Ohio to conduct the semi-annual examinations of applicants for admis- sion to the bar. He was a member of the Ohio Board of State Charities from 1901 to 1913. He was president of Greenlawn Cemetery Association for a number of years, is a member of the board of trustees of Starling Medical College and of the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. In May, 1917, he was nominated to the Governor by the Common Pleas Judges of Franklin county for appointment to the board to be formed to administer the selective ser- vice law in Franklin county. Thereafter he aided in the selection by the Governor of the members of the five boards for the city of Columbus and Franklin county, and himself served as Chairman of Local Board No. 3 of Columbus throughout the war. He has been president of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad company since 1913.
Mr. Platt is a member of the Franklin County Bar Association, also the Ohio State Bar Association. He belongs to the Columbus Club, the Columbus Country Club, the Scioto Country Club, and the Yale Club of New York City.
January 8, 1887, Mr. Platt was united in marriage with Maryette A. Smith, a grand- daughter of the late Judge Joseph R. Swan, of the Ohio Supreme Court. To their union the following children have been born: Robert S. was graduated from Yale University in 1914, then took post-graduate work in geology and geography at Chicago University. In the late war he was commissioned Captain of infantry ; served as an instructor in two successive officers' training schools at Camp Grant, Rockford, Fl., and commanded a company in the 82nd in- fantrv, 16th Division, when the war ended. He is now a member of the faculty of the Uni- versity of Chicago. Rutherford H., jr., was in his junior year at Yale University, class of 1918, when war was declared. He left college to join the National Army, was commissioned a first lieutenant of artillery and served with the 323d regiment, field artillery. He partici- pated with his regiment in the hard fighting of the last six weeks of the war and was with the army of occupation on the Rhine. He married in August, 1917, Eleanor, daughter of George T. Spahr, of Columbus. Since his discharge from the service he has joined the pub- lishing firm of Doubleday, Page & Company and is on the staff of the World's Work. Joseph S. is preparing for college and Emily is at home.
No family has been better known, more influential or highly respected in Columbus for nearly a century than the Platts.
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HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
HENRY GUMBLE. The name of Henry Gumble, lawyer, needs no introduction to the people of Columbus. Possessed and imbued as he is to a large degree with the elementary principles of the law, his addresses before the court or jury, his briefs and written opinions have ever been models of perspicuity and force, and plain to the comprehension of all. But while he has distinguished himself as an attorney, he has a greater claim to the respect of the people of central Ohio in his sturdy integrity of character and his life-long course as a friend of justice.
Mr. Gumble was born in the city of which he is still a resident on August 20, 1863. He is a son of Max and Miriam (Wise) Gumble. The father was born in Baden, Germany, in 1832, and in that year the mother was born in Bavaria, Germany. They immigrated to America in early manhood and womanhood and were married in Boston, Massachusetts, from which city they came to Columbus, in 1858, and here they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1896 and the mother passing away in 1898. Max Gumble was one of the well known business men of the capital city for many years.
Henry Gumble received his early education in the Columbus grammar and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1880. He then entered Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1883. He was admitted to the bar in 1884 and soon thereafter entered the practice of his profession in Columbus, continuing two years, then in 1886 he accepted a position as assistant disbursing clerk of the lower house of Congress and spent three years in the national capital, He returned to the private practice of law in Columbus in 1889, becoming a member of the law firm of Outhwaite, Linn, McNaughton & Gumble, which firm became Outhwaite, Linn & Gumble upon the death of Mr. McNaughton in 1891. Retiring from the above firm in 1896 Mr. Gumble formed a partnership with his brother, Nathan, under the firm name of Gumble & Gumble, which partnership was termi- nated by the death of the junior member of the firm in 1911, since which time our subject has been engaged in the practice alone.
In September. 1917. Judge Sater, of the Federal Court for the Southern District of Ohio, appointed Mr. Gumble United States Commissioner, the duties of which responsible position he has continued to discharge with ability, fidelity and honesty.
Mr. Gumble is a member of the Franklin County Bar Association, of which he was at one time president. He also belongs to the Ohio State Bar Association. He is a member of the Columbus Athletic Club and the Progress Club.
On September 24, 1891, Mr. Gumble married Mollie Harmon, of Columbus. To their union a son and daughter have been born namely : Beatrice, who married Edwin B. Jacobs, a business man of Cincinnati; and Max H.
Mr. Gumble is a gentleman of pleasing address and is popular with all with whom he comes in contact.
WILBUR T. MILES has been one of the most active and progressive architects of Columbus since the beginning of his practice here in 1892.
Ile is the son and grandson of Methodist ministers, both well known and prominent. in their dav. throughout western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. His mother, (still living) is a Thoburn, being the youngest sister of James M. Thoburn, the well-known Bishop of India of the Methodist Church.
Following a special apprenticeship in a large engineering plant covering several years, Mr. Mills came to Columbus to complete his engineering education at the Ohio State Uni- versity, and although following the practice of architecture since leaving the University. he has personally specialized in the engineering phases of his chosen profession.
Several hundred buildings designed in Mr. Mills' office and supervised by himself and associates have been constructed throughout the Central States, and one at least in a foreign land. a large school for girls in Seoul, Korea. During the past four years his business has been an incorporated company-The Mills & Millspaugh Company-Mr. M. Laurence Millspaugh being associated with Mr. Mills, and the firm both designs and constructs build- ings of the better class, specializing in commercial structures.
Mr. Mills is the author of American School Building Standards,-a handbook of school architecture for the use of architects and boards of education, which has become a standard authority in its field and is in very general use throughout the United States and Canada. also in two or three foreign lands. This has naturally given Mr. Mills personally much
Edmund Shedd
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prestige as an authority on educational buildings, and has led to consulting employment with educational bodies in many parts of the country. He has also written a number of contributions for technical journals, and a paper for one session of the National Educational Association.
By way of innovations in his field of activities, Mr. Mills introduced into Ohio the method of lighting school rooms from one side only, now the generally accepted prae- tiee, and so far as known was the first arehiteet to make use of rough-surface brick, now known as Rug, Tapestry or wire-eut briek, instead of smooth faced press briek for out- side wall faeing of buildings.
Mr. Mills has two children: Wilbur T., jr., now a senior at Ohio State, and Miss Doro- thy, a musician residing in New York City. His wife, Minnie Luse Mills, has been for years a prominent organist and instructor in the theory of musie here in Columbus, and has appeared in recital in many large cities of the eentral states.
EDMUND EARL SHEDD. One of the best remembered business men of a past gen- eration in Columbus was the late Edmund Earl Shedd, one of the prominent pioneer mer- chants of the capital city, and a man who did mueh in promoting the general upbuilding of the same. Of Mr. Shedd's personality it may be said he was a man of strong and active sympathies; his temperament was ardent, sympathetic and his demeanor uniformly evurte- ous, and these and other attractive characteristics uneonseiously drew him an unusual number of devoted friends, upon whom, under all eireumstanees, he eould rely, and who, now that he has "passed over the river," revere his memory. He was a close student of human nature and comprehended with little effort the motives and purposes of men. A lover of truth and sincerity, perhaps, his most predominant trait was his sterling integrity. Of spotless character and unflagging industry and energy, he rose through his own efforts to a position of great usefulness and no little distinction and stood as a eonspienous exam- ple of symmetrieally developed American manhood, and his position as one of the repre- sentative citizens of Columbus for over a half century was cheerfully conceded by all who knew him.
Mr. Shedd was a resident of the Buckeye capital for considerably over three-quarters of a century, and for a period of sixty-five years was engaged in business here under his own name, and during his long and active career he built up not only one of the largest mereantile houses in his home eity but also an untarnished reputation as a useful, honorabl - and patriotie citizen.
The Shedd family has been in America sinec 1645, in which remote year Daniel Shedd emigrated from England and settled in Baintree, Massachusetts, colony. His direct de - seendent, Oliver Shedd (great-grandfather of the subject of this memoir), was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. fighting with the Colonial troops, and his son, Abijah Shedd, grandfather of our subjeet, married Joanna Farley, a daughter of Ebenezer Farley, who, as a "minute man," fought at the battle of Lexington. Abijalı Shedd, the second, father of Edmund E. Shedd, was a native of Hollis, New Hampshire, as was also his wife, Sophia Blood.
Edmund E. Shedd was born on a fa:m at the town of Bethel, Vermont, July 16, 1828. He was engaged in farming and mercantile pursuits at his old home town until 1816. in which year he came to Ohio. He had received a very good practical education when a boy and after coming west he taught sehool one year at Goodhope, Fayette county, this State, then spent a year at Hillsboro, and in 1818 took up his residence in Columbus where he spent the remainder of his long and useful life.
His first employment in Columbus was as a clerk for Brooks & Huston, wholesale groeers, with which firm he spent about two years, then took a position with the firm of Deeker & Hibbs, wholesale groeers, with whom he remained about three years. He was a close observer and while in the employ of these two concerns he mastered the various phases of the mercantile business, and in 1852 entered business on his own account by organizing the wholesale grocery company of Shedd & Miller. In 1856 Mr. John Miller was sueeeeded in the firm by Isaae Eberly, and for the next thirteen years the firm continued as Eberly & Shedd, located on the spot now occupied by the Southern Theatre.
In 1869 that firm was dissolved and Mr. Shedd organized the E. E. Shedd & Com- pany, and later admitted his sons into the firm as partners. In 1891 the firm became that
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of E. E. Shedd & Sons, moving into their large and well equipped building on North Front street. In 1901 the business was incorporated as The E. E. Shedd Mereantile Com- pany, of which our subject continued president until his death. By elose application, good management and courteous and honest dealings with his customers he built up a large and important mereantile establishment that grew gradually with the growing city. A large number of the best firms of Columbus traded with him continuously for a period of many years, which fact would indicate that they always received fair and just treatment by this old and well established house, the prestige of which has continued unabated to the present time.
Mr. Shedd was a member of the first board of directors of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and was for several years a director of the Fourth National Bank.
In 1852 Mr. Shedd married Aurelia Edna Thompson, a daughter of James MeMillan Thompson, of London, Madison county, Ohio. Her death occurred in 1903. To their mar- riage the following children were born: Virginia S., now deceased, married Col. Orlando J. Hodge, of Cleveland, Ohio: Franklin J., also deceased, married Anna Frisbie, a daughter of Charles H. Frisbie, of Columbus; Edmund E., jr., who married, first, Ella Lansing, of Chillicothe, Ohio; second, Aliee L. Anderson, Richmond, Va .; Frederick married Agnes Jeffrey, a daughter of Joseph A. Jeffrey, of Columbus; Harry, deceased; and Carlos Butler, who married Louise Krauss, daughter of George C. Krauss, of Columbus.
The death of Mr. Shedd occurred on Monday, April 15th, 1918, at the advanced age of ninety years. He is remembered as a successful business man, of pleasing presenee, a well read and manly man and one whose career was of much benefit to the general welfare of his home eity.
GEORGE H. BARKER. The greatest results in life are often attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualiities of common sense and perseverance. This fact having been recognized early in life by George H. Barker, an extensive coal oper- ator of Columbus, he seized the small apportunities that he encountered on the rugged hill that leads to life's lofty summit where lies the ultimate goal of success, never attained by the weak, ambitionless and inactive.
Mr. Barker is a native of Ohio and is descended from two old Buckeye families. His grandfather, John Barker, a native of New York state, came to Ohio in early days and settled in Perry county, while his maternal grandfather, James Dollison, was an early citi- zen of near Zanesville, Muskingum county.
Rev. David Goodin Barker, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Perry county, Ohio. He was for over a quarter of a century in the Baptist ministry in south- eastern Ohio, holding charges in Hocking, Perry and Fairfield counties, and died at Pleas- antville. He married Martha Jane Dollison, who was born near Zanesville. Following his death she brought her family to Columbus.
George H. Barker was born at Ewing, Ohio, July 27, 1873, and from his fourteenth year was reared in Columbus. He is a splendid example of a successful self-made man. It was necessary for him to become a bread winner at an early age and while attending school he carried a regular route on the Columbus Dispatch. Hc also worked during spare time and through the summer vacations at various odd jobs, at whatever he could get to earn an honest dollar. Being compelled to leave school at an early age, he secured a position as clerk in a prominent drug store and applied himself to the study of pharmacy but. as this did not prove to his liking, he took a course in a business college and became a bookkeeper in one of the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and later worked as bookkeeper for various business firms, and finally became secretary of a building and loan association.
In 1000 Mr. Barker identified himself with Maynard Brothers, operators of coal mines, first as bookkeeper, and two years later as sales manager. When that firm was incorporated in 1907 as The Maynard Coal Company he was elected vice-president, which position he has continued to occupy to the present time. He is also vice-president of the Superior Coal & Dock Company of Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota. He is secretary and treasurer of the Daniel Boone Coal Company of Hazard, Kentucky. Ile is vice-president and director of the National Coal Association of Washington, D. C., and a director in the City National Bank of Columbus. In all the above mentioned concerns his advice and
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influence have made for success and he is regarded as one of the leading coal operators of central Ohio. Through his close application, sound judgment and general ability he has forged his way up from an unpromising early environment to a position of influence and prominence in the affairs of Columbus, deserving much credit for what he has accomplished in the face of obstacles.
Mr. Barker has long taken an active interest in civic affairs and philanthropic work and has been a participant in the different Red Cross campaigns for war funds and in the "war chest" campaign. He was at one time president of the Columbus Young Men's Chris- tian Association. He is charitably inclined and gives freely of his time and means to worthy causes, calculated to be beneficial to his fellow men. He is a member of the Colum- bus Club, the Columbus Country Club, the Columbus Athletic Club, and fraternally, he is a Past Master of Kinsman Lodge of Masons, a thirty-third degree Mason, belonging to the Scottish Rite, Knights Templar and Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Barker was married to Lena Maynard, who was born in Sunbury, Ohio, the daughter of Burns L. Maynard, one of the founders of the Maynard Coal Company. They have one son and one daughter, namely: Margaret Maynard Barker, and Burns Maynard Barker.
The career of Mr. Barker might be studied with much profit by the youth hesitating at the parting of the ways, for therein are many valuable lessons, chief of which is the fact that to the young man of grit, courage, honesty and proper ideals there are no obstacles big enough to prevent him from attaining a large measure of success in this world, if he seeks it along legitimate lines.
EDWARD NEWTON HUGGINS. One of the best known members of the Franklin County Bar is Edward Newton Huggins, who has been practicing law in Columbus for the past thirty-three years, during which time he has met with continued success and has kept well abreast of the times in his profession. Concerning the sincerity of purpose, the un- questioned probity and uprightness of conduct and character, the ability and honesty of Mr. Huggins, it may be said, they are as well known and recognized as his name.
Mr. Huggins was born at Mt. Orab, Brown county, Ohio, November 6, 1860, and is of Buckeye pioneer stock. His grandfather, Robert V. Huggins, was a native of Lincoln county, North Carolina, and in very early days made the tedious overland journey from that state with a party headed by the Rev. Rankin, the abolitionist, and settled near Ripley, Ohio, where the party formed a settlement and as early as 1812 established what was known as "Red Oak" Church. A few years later Robert Virgil Huggins removed to High- land county, where he purchased a large tract of land, some of which is still held by his descendants after a lapse of more than a century. He was a strong abolitionist, and before the war between the states his five sons, also abolitionists, conducted an "under- ground railroad" and assisted many a slave in his flight for freedom.
James E. Huggins, son of Robert V. Huggins, the pioneer, and father of Edward N., was born in Brown county, Ohio. There he grew to manhood, attended the district schools and became a leader in public affairs. He was a delegate to the first convention of the Republican party held at Columbus. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-two years. He married Arethusa C. Diboll, a native of Connecticut and a daughter of Dr. William Virgil and Philena (Collins) Diboll, both descended from early New England families. Mrs. Diboll was of the old Collins-Huntington families, of which Collins P. Huntington, the great railroad magnate and philanthropist, and P. W. Huntington, the late Columbus banker, were descendants. Dr. Diboll brought his large family to Ohio in early days. Mrs. Huggins lived to reach her seventy-sixth year.
Edward N. Huggins was educated in the district sehools and the Hillsboro High School. He read law under Judge Samuel F. Steel, and his brother, Judge Henry M. Huggins at Hillsboro, and, in 1883, entered the senior class of the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar in June of that year, and entered the practice in Colum- bus the following October. He was first in the office of Henry C. and Edward L. Taylor for a few months, and in April, 1885, he associated himself with the late John G. MeGuffy, under the firm name of MeGuffy & Huggins. Three years later he became the associate
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of D. K. Watson, Attorney General of Ohio, which partnership continued about four years, when Mr. Huggins organized the firm of Huggins & Sowers, which later became Huggins, Sowers & Watson, Mr. B. G. Watson becoming a member. Then he became the senior member of the firm of Huggins, Johnson & Hoover, then of Huggins, Huggins & Hoover, and now he is the senior member of the firm of Huggins, Pretzman & Davies. His prae- tice has been general, running largely to corporation law, in which he is regarded as an expert and one of the most successful in the State. He is a member of the Franklin County Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association.
In 1892 Mr. Huggins was the Republican candidate for Congress in his district, leading a "forlorn hope," as the district was overwhelmingly Democratic, although he ran ahead of his ticket. Again, in 1898, at the urgent request of William McKinley, then President, he made the race for Congress and was defeated a second time, but only by seven hundred and two votes, while the Democratic majority was over three thousand. In 1908 he headed the Republican ticket in Ohio for clector-at-large. He was one of Senator Mark Hanna's most trusted lieutenants, and was for years a leader in the party in central Ohio and did much for its success.
On October 10, 1890, Mr. Huggins married Clara Morris, a daughter of Dr. W. W. Ellsherry, a noted physician and member of Congress from Georgetown, Ohio.
Mr. Huggins is a member of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Country Club and the Presbyterian Church. He has long been regarded as one of the repre- sentative citizens of the capital city, whose interests he has done much to promote, and where he is held in high esteem by all classes.
CHARLES H. LINDENBERG, president of The M. C. Lilley & Company, mannfac- turers of regalia, military and society goods, was born in Prussia January 14, 1841, the son of Theodore and Charlotte (Bisky) Lindenberg.
Theodore Lindenberg was graduated from a German university and prepared for the legal profession. He was appointed Judge for life and held a judicial position until the German Revolution of 1848, in which he participated, and which action caused him to flee the country in 1819. Coming to America in that year he located in Columbus, but owing to his inability to master the English language sufficiently to enable him to practice law in this country, he engaged in the manufacture of cigars in this city. Both he and his wife died in Columbus.
Charles H. Lindenberg attended school in Prussia and also the public schools of Colum- bus. He served an apprenticeship at typesetting on the Ohio State Journal and worked as a journeyman printer until the Civil War came on. In April, 1861, in response to Presi- dent Lincoln's first call for three months' troops, Mr. Lindenberg volunteered and was mustered into Company G, Thirteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Before the three months' service had expired he re-enlisted for three years' service in the same com- pany and regiment, and after his full term of service was mustered out and discharged as First Lieutenant. Returning from the war he followed his trade for awhile and then in 1865, joined M. C. Lillev, Captain John Seibert and Henry Lindenberg, a brother, in organizing the M. C. Lilley & Company, a partnership, for the publication of the old "Odd Fellows' Companion," a fraternal publication which in its time enjoyed a great success, its circulation reaching ultimately over twenty thousand copies monthly. In those days the manufacturers of regalia did not advertise to any great extent in fraternal or other pub- lications and M. C. Lilley & Company received letters from all over the west asking for information as to where regalia could be purchased. This led the company to enter this line of manufacture themselves in a small way and from that small beginning has grown the great M. C. Lilley & Company, now the largest house in that line in the world. The company was incorporated and Mr. Lindenberg has been its president continually, with the exception of one year, when poor health induced him to resign, only to resume the office a year later, after his health had been restored. Mr. Lindenberg was the organizer of the Columbus Brass Company, and has been its president since its incorporation. He also organized the Columbus Piano Company (now the Lindenberg Piano Company) and was its president for a long time, being succeeded by his son Paul. He has been active in the Chamber of Commerce, served on its board of directors and was elected president of the organization, but declined to serve for privat . reasons. He is a member of the Wells Post,
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