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 71
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Mr. and Mrs. Van Sickle are members of East Broad Methodist Episcopal Church, and both are popular in the best circles of the Capital City.
ANDREW TIMBERMAN, M. D. There was a time when every practicing physician was called upon to look after the ailments of all the myriad classes in the various phases of medicine and surgery, and up to comparatively recent times this custom was continued, but now we have departments in medical science and specialists in all departments. The field is so vast that the man who now attempts to master all branches of this great science gets only a scattering knowledge and is never capable of effective work in any. One of the best known oculists and aurists of Columbus is Dr. Andrew Timberman, who is regarded as a very scientific and capable man in his line.
Dr. Timberman is descended from two pioneer families of Butler county, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Mathew Timberman, a native of Pennsylvania, settled in Butler county in 1811. Jacob Flickinger, the maternal grandfather, settled there a few years later. Andrew Timberman, sr., father of our subject, was born in Tennessee in 1806, but he spent practically all his life in Butler county, Ohio, dying there in 1889. His wife, Elizabeth Flick- inger, was born in that county in 1826 and her death occurred in 1908.
Andrew Timberman, jr., was born in Hamilton, Ohio, May 10, 1864. He was gradu- ated from Otterbein University with the class of 1887, and he attended the University of Michi- gan in 1890 and 1891, then entered Miami Medical College from which he graduated in 1894. being valedictorian of his class. He was resident physician and surgeon of the Cincinnati General Hospital in 1894 and 1895, and in the latter year he went abroad and studied in the Universities at Halle, Leipsic, and Vienna, also in the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital in Lon- don. He took a special course in ophthalmic surgery in India in 1910. He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1894, and Bachelor of Arts in 1903.
Dr. Timberman located in Columbus in 1896 and has since confined his practice to that of an oculist and aurist, in which lines he has been very successful and built up a large and lucrative patronage, being one of the best known men in these branches in central Ohio. In 1900 he was appointed professor of ophthalmology at Ohio Medical University, and in 1906 when that institution was amalgamated with Starling-Ohio Medical College, he continued his professorship with the combined institution. Starling-Ohio Medical College became the medical department of Ohio State University, and Dr. Timberman was professor of ophthalmology of the latter until 1913 when the entire faculty resigned by request in order that the dean of the department might reorganize the same, and in 1915 Dr. Timberman was re-appointed to his old position. He has discharged his duties as a professor in a manner that has brought just praise from the board, the rest of the faculty and the students, being regarded by all as an expert in his line and a man who has the ability to inculcate his ideas in others. flis students, who are to be found all over the country, are proving to be very successful in their work.
Dr. Timberman is ophthalmic surgeon to St. Francis Hospital and the Protestant Hos-
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pital. He is a member of the consulting staff of the Sailors' and Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Xenia. For years he was oeulist to the Pennsylvania and Norfolk and Western Rail- ways, having resigned that position only recently. He was elected president of Columbus Academy of Medicine in 1900. He belongs to the American Medical Association, the Amer- iean Ophthalmologieal Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolarygology, the American Otological Society, the Mississippi Valley Medieal Society and the Ohio State Medical Society. He was a member of the Columbus Board of Education from 1906 to 1911. He is an elder in the Broad Street Presbyterian Church. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, belongs to the Columbus Athletic Club and the Columbus Country Club.
Dr. Timberman was married in 1895 to Lelia Stanbery, a daughter of Hon. Elias Stan- bery, of MeConnelsville, Ohio.
WALTER ADELBERT JONES. "Earn thy reward; the gods give naught to sloth," said the old Greek sage, Epicharmus, and the truth of the admonition has been verified in human affairs in all the ages which have rolled their course sinee that day. Walter Adelbert Jones, manufacturer and banker of Columbus, and a scion of a sterling old Buckeye family, has, by ceaseless toil and endeavor, attained a large degree of success, while yet young in years, in his chosen life work, and at the same time has gained and retained the confidenee and respect of those with whom he has come in contaet.
Mr. Jones was born at Kent, Portage county, Ohio, July 10, 1878. He is a son of Walter R. and Lydia (Davidson) Jones. The father was born at Clyde, New York, the son of Samuel C. Jones, a native of Wales, who was a pioneer window glass manufacturer of this country and for many years identified with that industry at Clyde, New York. Walter R. Jones learned the business under his father and became one of the earliest manufacturers of win- dow glass in Ohio, conducting a large establishment at Toledo for many years. His wife, Lydia Davidson, was born at Bellevernon, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1847, a daughter of the Rev. James Davidson, a Methodist minister, who served as postmaster at Bellevernon, under appointment from President Grant. He was the son of a soldier of the War of 1812.
Walter A. Jones received his early education in the publie schools of Kent and the Toledo High School, then entered Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he was graduated with the elass of 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon after leaving college he became associated with his father in the manufacture of window glass and as a manufacturer and in- ventor of glass-making machinery has continued to be identified with that industry to the pres- ent time, although by no means limiting himself to that line, for he is a man of broad and comprehensive business ideas, with varied and distinet talents. He has many important inter- ests aside from the manufacture of glass. He was one of the organizers of the United States Window Glass Company of which he is president. He is also a partner in the firm of W. R. Jones & Co., which company does a very extensive business in the sale of both domestie and export glass, handling the output of factories located in Ohio and West Virginia. The pro- nouneed sueeess of these important enterprises has been due in a great measure to his able and judieious management and foresight. His plants are modern as to equipment and system, and an inereasing annual business is carried on, the produets of each plant finding a very ready market over a vast field. A large number of skilled artisans and employes are on his payrolls.
In civic affairs, Mr. Jones is very active and influential. He has done much for the gen- eral upbuilding of the capital city during its later years of rapid growth. He is viee-presi- dent of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and member of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, and has long been an official of different boards and commissions which have done such com- mendable work in local war work since the United States entered the European confliet. He has been one of the active leaders of the local campaigns and is a member of the U. S. War Board for the Glass Industry.
He is President of the Columbus Country Club, a member of the Columbus Club, the Columbus Athletic Club, the Seioto Club, the Society of Sons of the American Revolution, the Phi Gamma Delta, and is a member of the board of trustees of the Ohio Wesleyan University, and President of the Trustees of the Franklin Park Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a member. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to the Ancient Arabie Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
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On March 22, 1898, Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Emma M. Butler, a daughter of the late Henry Butler, of Van Wert, Ohio.
CLAUDE MEEKER. In placing the name of Claude Meeker in the front rank of the men of affairs in Columbus, justice is rendered a biographical faet recognized by all who know him well. Although a quiet and unassuming man with no ambition for public position or leadership, he has contributed and still contributes much to the general welfare of his home eity, while his admirable qualities of head and heart and the straightforward, upright course of his daily life have tended greatly to the substantial standing of the circles in which he moves and have given him a reputation for integrity and correct conduet such as few achieve.
Mr. Meeker, who is a stock broker and dealer in investments and securities, was born in Columbus, December 20, 1861, the son of George W. and Harriet (Hatch) Meeker, both natives of Ohio. The father was a prominent citizen and publie man of Columbus for many years, at one time mayor and also served as secretary of the Democratie State Central Committee, which position he held at the time of his death.
Claude Meeker was reared in his native eity and was educated in the public schools, the College of Nebraska and at E. K. Bryan's Business College. He began life for himself in newspaper work, and for several years was a member of the staff of the Cincinnati Enquirer. In 1889 he was appointed private secretary to Governor James E. Campbell, and in 1893 President Cleveland appointed him United States consul at Bradford, England. After his term of office expired he returned to Columbus and entered his present business.
Some of the early members of the Meeker family were among the very first colonists from England to arrive in America, two brothers crossing the Atlantic to our shores in 1639. They located on the site of what is now New Haven, Connecticut. One of them, William Meeker, removed to New Jersey in 1664, where he purchased land from the Indians and founded the town of Elizabeth, where very soon was gathered a colony known as the "Asso- ciates." These men and women were refugees from the injustice and tyrrany of Governor Carteret. The old home near Newark, New Jersey, built by William Meeker, who died in 1690, still stands and is in the possession of his descendants. During the Revolutionary War, the house was occupied by Josiah Meeker, who, with his eighteen sons, gained fame in the Colonial Army.
There are many descendants of these early members of the Meeker family now scattered throughout the country, many of whom have achieved fame or distinction in various fields of endeavor.
Claude Mecker seems to have inherited from his forebears a strong literary bent and he was only eighteen years old when he began his career as a journalist in which he met with signal success. At twenty-one he had become the editor and part owner of a sprightly and successful weekly, soon thereafter becoming a regular contributor, mainly of trenchent political articles to many of the most influential newspapers in America, including the New York World, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, St. Louis Republic, Washington Post and other well known monlders of public opinion. However, it was in Cincinnati that Mr. Meeker rose to promin- ence as a newspaper writer and had the broadest and most valuable newspaper experience, for he was at various times on the staffs of the Enquirer, Post, and Times-Star, all metropolitan dailies of that city. He was for some time chief politieal writer for the Enquirer, and it was through this influential position that he was made secretary to the Governor of Ohio, in 1890 and 1891. And it was owing to his widely known influence as a writer in support of Demo- cratie principles that President Grover Cleveland appointed him to the important post in the consular serviee at Bradford, England in 1893, which city was at that time the greatest woolen center in the world and the largest commercial consulate under the United States govern- ment. He discharged his duties there in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the administration.
Mr. Mecker has been very successful as an investment banker and broker sinee turning his attention to business in 1897. He makes a specialty of investment securities, high grade stocks and bonds.
Just before entering the consular service, Mr. Meeker was married on July 1, 1890, to Elizabeth Parks, a daughter of Dr. J. M. Parks of Hamilton, Ohio, a pioneer physician of the Miami Valley. To Mr. and Mrs. Mecker one son and two daughters have been born-all in Yorkshire, England, namely: Marjorie, Campbell and Marion.
Claude Merkez
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Living in the heart of the Bronte country, elose to those famous sisters' birthplace, it is only natural that Mr. Meeker, while consul at Bradford, should have visited that interesting literary shrine, where so many famous books were written. As a result of his visit there Mr. Meeker wrote for the Cineinnati Times-Star some very interesting papers on "Haworth, the Home of the Brontes." These, in 1895, by order of the Bronte Society, were published in book form at Bradford, England, and are regarded by literary people everywhere as being valuable for their historical and geographieal aeeuraey as well as for their literary grace and eharm. Among other notable articles, written from time to time by Mr. Meeker, might be mentioned a chapter, contributed in 1913 to T. E. Powell's work entitled, "The Democratic Party of the State of Ohio."
Mr. Meeker is an amateur gardener and poultry fancier, these being his chief hobbies. His fine country residenee, "Melrose," where he is able to indulge his horticultural tastes, is at Bexley, a charming Columbus suburb. He has a large and carefully selected library and, being familiar with the world's best literature and having traveled extensively, is a most en- tertaining conversationalist. Moreover, he is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, being genial, companionable and of splendid eulture.
HENRY ARCHER WILLIAMS. One of the prominent men in the affairs of Columbus and Ohio is Henry Archer Williams, for many years a leading legal light of his native com- monwealth. Reetitude, moral foree, integrity, innate love of justice, exalted sense of bonor, and unflinching advocacy of that which is effective and right, are well defined elements of his personal character. Add to these industry and mental equipment and we have the key to his sueeess as a lawyer and publie servant.
Mr. Williams was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 1, 1864. He is a son of the Rev. Charles H. and Harriet (Langdon) Williams. He attended the Springfield public schools and was graduated with first honors, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, from Witten- berg College, at Springfield, with the class of 1885. His alma mater conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts in 1890. He read law but before he was admitted to practice Governor Joseph B. Foraker appointed him commission elerk in the exeentive office and while serving in that capacity he was admitted to the bar, in October, 1887. Later he was admitted to practice in the federal courts and the United States Supreme Court. In May, 1890, he began the praetiec of law in Columbus, first in the office of Judge Nash, where he remained for about five years, then, from 1898 to 1907 he was a member of the firm of Dyer, Williams & Stouffer. In 1907 he became a member of the firm of Williams, Williams, Taylor & Nash, which firm continued until 1915, when he became second member of the firm of Taylor. Williams, Cole & Harvey.
On March 1, 1895, Mr. Williams was appointed assistant prosecuting attorney of Frank- lin county, serving one term. In 1900 President MeKinley appointed him supervisor of United States eensus of Franklin, Fairfield and Lieking counties. In 1909 President Taft appointed him national bank examiner for the Pittsburgh-Cleveland distriet, in which capae- ity he served until 1913. He was secretary of the Taft National Bureau, which organization was largely instrumental in bringing about the nomination for President of William H. Taft in 1908, and he served as chairman of the Republican State Executive Committee of that campaign.
Mr. Williams served as a member of the board of directors of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce for two years, as first vice-president in 1916 and in 1917. In the latter year he was elected president of that body, and in 1918 was re-elected president, the first time in the history of the organization that a president was honored with a second term. He is an active member of the Beta Theta Pi College Fraternity and has served as a member of the national board of trustees of that organization. He is a charter member of Ohio Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and has served as secretary, treasurer and vice-president of the same. He is also a charter member of the Benjamin Franklin Chapter of the same society, which he has served both as vice-president and president. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and belongs to Aladdin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystie Shrine. He belongs to the Broad Street Presbyterian church and is a member of the official board of the same; is a member of the Columbus Athletic Club, the Columbus Country Club and the Kit Kat Club.
On November 24, 1887, at Springfield, Ohio, Mr. Williams married Elizabeth Lorena
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Thomas, a daughter of John Wesley and Sarah (Morris) Thomas. They have the following children, namely: Morris Holliday, Langdon Thomas, and Gordon Early, two of whom were in the service of the United States in the recent war, the eldest being Lieutenant in Field Artillery and the second in training for naval aviation when hostilities ceased.
JOHN FRANKLIN FERGUS. It is no invasion of the province of propriety to nar- rate or chronicle the achievements, eharaeter or the lesser or larger deeds of a man who is yet a living personality. The public likes to know the main facts in the lives of its leading men of affairs. Henee this biographical compendium.
John Franklin Fergus, lawyer, leading citizen, and executive head of The Park Savings Company, has been a member of the bar of Columbus for over a quarter of a century and has been closely identified with the Building and Loan interests of the city for almost the same length of time. He has therefore done mueh toward the latter day progress and prosperity of the Buckeye Capital.
The Fergus family is of Seotch-Irish stock and has been established in America since colonial days, when Francis Fergus took up his abode in Virginia, where he reared a large family, and helped to establish the Independence of the colonies by serving as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The Ohio pioneer of the family, General James Fergus, married Raeheal Marr of North Carolina, also of Seoteh-Irish stock and with her, penetrated the wilderness of Ohio, and seleeted a farm in Miami county and settled down to carve out a home from the primeval forest, experieneing the usual hardships of a frontiersman. He took an active interest in public affairs. He organized and commanded the militia of Miami county during the war of 1812 and there acquired the title of General. He later served as County Commissioner and was a member of the General Assembly of Ohio and of the Senate.
John Shannon Fergus, son of the Ohio pioneer, was born in Miami county and there he grew to manhood on the home farm and was married to Susan Black, and to their union was born John Franklin Fergus, the immediate subject of this sketch, on the old homestead in Miami county, March 8, 1863.
Mr. Fergus grew up on the farm where he assisted with the general farm work, and where in the winter seasons he attended the distriet school. Later he entered Ohio State University, where he spent four years, but left before graduating to teach school and study law. After two years in this work he returned to the University and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, from the law department, in the elass of 1892, which was the first class graduated from that department of the University. An interesting eoinei- dent is the faet that his son, Corwin A. Fergus was graduated from the same department twenty-five years after his father, being the first son of a law graduate of the University to graduate from that department.
Mr. Fergus was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1892 and in that year began the practice in Columbus. Two years later he was made the attorney of The Park Savings Company and in 1898 he was elected as its secretary and has held that position ever sinee. Then the Company had assets of one hundred thousand dollars, under his management it has grown to two millions.
Mr. Fergus married Ella May Addison, a daughter of Edward and Clara (Weishart) Addi- son and a sister of the Addison Brothers, attorneys of Columbus. She was born in Perry county, Ohio. Mrs. Fergus died on December 7, 1915, leaving the following children: Sne, who married Wallace II. Cumberland of Columbus, Ohio; Corwin A., who was graduated from the Ohio State University in 1915 with the degree of Master of Arts, and with degree of Bachelor of Laws two years later. He enlisted in the National army, May 14, 1917; and was called to the colors July Ist following. On September 17th of that year his regi- ment was ordered to Camp Sheridan, Alabama; where they became a part of the 37th Divi- sion and remained in training until July, 1918 when they shipped for France, where he actively engaged in the World War. He enlisted as a private, and was promoted to the ranks of Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Second Lientenant, First Lieutenant. He served with dis- tinction in the Baccarat seetor, in the great battle of the Argonne and in the final drive through Belgium in the closing weeks of the war.
Edward Shannon Fergus also volunteered in the service and was in training when the
Dr. Gro. M. Englan
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armistice was signed. He is now a student in the Ohio State University; Mary Frances and Carl F. are students in North High School.
Mr. Fergus was re-married in July, 1918, to Mary Frances Black of New Carlisle, Ohio. He is a member of the Masonic Order in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, being also a member of the Aladdin Temple of the Mystic Shrine. Hc is a member of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the North End Improvement Association and for many years has been a member of the official board of King Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Fergus has taken an active interest in civic affairs and is always ready to give his time and skill to promote the welfare of the community.
His long experience in making real estate loans has made him an expert on real estate titles and values, and in methods of conducting real estate transactions and his advice is largely sought for such services.
As a lawyer he is painstaking, earnest, persevering and honest in advising his clients, and in all walks of life he has shown himself to be a man of strict probity of character.
DR. GEORGE W. HOGLAN. It is a pleasure to write the biography of a man of unusual personal merit-the possessor of a combination of gifts so comprehensive that hap- piness and success in any enterprise is bound to follow the application of his qualities to the solution of almost any reasonable problem in life. The career of Dr. George W. Hoglan, who formerly ranked as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Columbus, and who is now one of the most successful and widely known insurance men in Ohio, would indicate that he is the possessor of those characteristics that make for success in almost any walk of life, and it also shows that he has not used these traits entirely for self aggrandizement, but that he has been a useful and public-spirited citizen, always doing what he could to promote the general welfare of the various communities in which he has resided. He is essentially a man of affairs, sound of judgment and thorough in what he undertakes. He has forged his way to the front over obstacles that would have discouraged many another, representing that type of progressive workers in the world's important fields of endeavor who believe in going ahead when they know they are right, disregarding all that would hinder or divert them in their chosen course. Moreover he has always enjoyed a reputation for honor and integrity of the highest order.
Dr. Hoglan was born in Newcomerstown, Ohio, February 11, 1861, the son of William and Mary (Viall) Hoglan, an excellent pioneer family of that section of the Buckeye state. Both parents are now deceased. Of their family of fourteen children-an cqual number of sons and daughters-George W. was the twelfth in order of birth. He spent his boyhood and youth in his native community and attended the public schools at Newcomerstown. He was ambitious and applied himself ardently to his text-books and equipped himself to teach school when but a boy. While engaged in teaching he studied medicine during his spare moments, having manifested a decided natural innate ability in this line very early in life. Later he studied at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, where he made a brilliant record and was graduated with the class of 1885, taking the highest honors ever granted in that institution, and higher honors than have been granted since that time. His grade was ninety-eight and one-half per cent, and he was the recipient of several medals as a result of his attainments in scholarship. These he prizes highly, as is most natural and right. In the opinion of his preceptors, no one not a genius in his line could have made the record he made in the study of medicine and surgery, nature having evidently set her seal upon him for big things as a man of medical science. This he proved in his years of practical application, he having been unusually successful in the practice of his profession, which he began in Columbus in 1885, immediately following his graduation, and continued with unabated success until 1904, his patrons being among the best people of the Capital City. He was frequently called into consultation in baffling cases in which his advice was always followed with gratifying results. He ranked very high among his pro- fessional brethren and was regarded as an authority by the medical journals on modern methods of practice.
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