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 78
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 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
General Beatty was married April 17th, 1854, to Lucy M. Tupper.
CHARLES RICHARDSON MARTENS. It was once remarked by a celebrated moralist and biographer that "There has scarcely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful nar- rative would not have been useful." Believing in the truth of this opinion, expressed by one of the greatest and best men, the writer of this memoir takes pleasure in presenting a few of the leading facts in the commendable career of a gentleman who, by industry, persever- ance, temperance and integrity, worked himself from an humble station to a successful busi- ness man and won an honorable position among the well-known and highly estcemed men in the city of Columbus. For it is always pleasant as well as profitable to contemplate the career of a man who has won a definite goal in life, whose career has been such as to com- mand the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. Such, in brief, was the record of the late Charles R. Martens, than whom a more whole-souled or popular man it would have been diffi- cult to have found within the borders of Franklin county, where he long maintained his home and where he labored not only for his own individual advancement, but also for the improve- ment of the entire community whose interests he ever had at heart.
Charles Richardson Martens was born in the Lutheran parsonage near Amanda, Fairfield county, Ohio, on April 4, 1860, and died at his home in Columbus, Ohio, on January 1, 1920. He was the second in order of birth of four children born to Rev. David Miller and Alice (Richardson) Martens, the only surviving members of this family' being Rev. Herbert Mar- tens, of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, and Mrs. C. C. Eshelman, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, both parents also being deceased.
Charles R. Martens received his educational training in the country schools of Pennsyl- vania, whither the family had moved, but at the age of fourteen years he was compelled to go to work to assist in the support of the family, thus precluding any opportunity for further scholastic education. His first employment was in a general store near Amanda, and it was noticeable that the dry goods department of the store seemed to appeal to him stronger than any other part of the store. The training he received here was invaluable to him, for he was keenly alive to learn every phase of business life. In 1881 Mr. Martens came to Columbus and entered the employ of Weisman & Martens, who ran a dry goods store, the junior part- ner in the business being his brother, Herbert Martens. He remained connected with this store for eleven years, or until 1892, when he formed a partnership with Willis Bowland and J. J. Vonarx and established the Home Store. This enterprise proved a successful one and its growth was steady and permanent, thic firm being now known as the Morehouse-Martens Company, of which Mr. Martens was vice-president up to the time of his death. The store was founded with a force of twenty-one employees and from this modest beginning the busi- ness grew to the point which necessitated a force of over three hundred employees. Mr. Martens always took an active part in the management and direction of the business, the re- markable suceess of which has been credited largely to his personal efforts. Twenty-five days after the death of Mr. Martens, the store was totally destroyed by fire, it being one of the most disastrous fires in recent years in Columbus.
In the commercial, civic, musical and religious life of Columbus Mr. Martens was an active and prominent factor for years. He was an active member of the Chamber of Com- merce, of which he served as a director for two terms, and he was one of four members of that body who wore honor badges for having secured the greatest number of members in one year. He was one of the founders and a charter member of the Retail Merchants' Associa- tion. He was a member of the Business Men's Club of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation and in the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was a director, he took an especially active interest, having attended all the conventions of that organization both at home and abroad. In musical circles Mr. Martens was one of the best known men in Colum- bus, having been director of music at the Grace Methodist Episcopal church, and a member of the Orphicus and Arion clubs, which musical organizations were influential and active in
+44
HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
bringing to Columbus all of its great music events. As an active member of the War Camp Community Service, he led over one hundred community sings at the Auditorium and in recognition of his invaluable service in this line he was presented with an honor badge. In a military way, he was a member of the Old Governor's Gnards.
Religiously, Mr. Martens was a member of Grace Lutheran churchi, of whose official board he was a member, and he was very active in the Sunday school work of that church. Socially, he belonged to the Kiwanis Club, of which he was a charter member and a director, of the Columbus Automobile Club and the Columbus Country Club. In the Masonic order, he had attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, being a member of Goodale Blue Lodge, Scioto Consistory and Aladdin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also belonged to the Columbus lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Politically, he gave his support to the Republican party, though he never took an active part in political affairs.
June 3, 1891, Mr. Martens was married to Emma Wirth, the daughter of Dr. R. and Sophia Wirth, of Columbus, both of whom are deceased. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Martens, Rose Helen Martens and Don David Martens, both of whom are now at- tending college. Although Mr. Martens' life was a busy one, his every-day affairs making heavy demands upon his time, he never shrank from his duties as a citizen and his obliga- tions to his neighbors and his friends. Always calm and dignified, never demonstrative, his life was, nevertheless, a persistent plea, more by precept and example than by public action or spoken word, for the purity and grandeur of right principles and the beauty and elevation of wholesome character. He had the greatest sympathy for his fellow men and was ever will- ing to aid and encourage those who were struggling to aid themselves against adverse fate, yet in this, as in everything else, he was entirely unostentatious. To him lrome life was a sacred trust, friendship was inviolable and nothing could swerve him from the path of recti- tude and honor.
EDWIN REES SHARP. Edwin Rees Sharp, banker and financier and President of the State Savings & Trust Company, has been closely identified with the business history of Columbus for over forty years, during which time he has won recognition as one of the city's notable men.
Mr. Sharp is the grandson of John Sharp, the pioneer surveyor and engineer of Frank- lin county, who came to Ohio in 1809 and assisted in the survey of the old National road, and he is the son of Abram and Harriet (Rees) Sharp, both of whom were natives of Frank- lin county.
Edwin Rees Sharp was born at Groveport, this county, October 24, 1858. He began his business life in 1874, when, as a boy of sixteen years, he entered the Commercial Bank of Columbus as a messenger. In 1892 he resigned as Teller of the Commercial to become Cash- ier of the State Savings & Trust Company, of which he was one of the incorporators, and of which he was elected President in 1902. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Scioto Valley Traction Company, has been one of its Board of Directors since its incorpora- tion and is now its vice-president and treasurer. He was also one of the organizers of the Co- lumbus Citizens' (now the Ohio State) Telephone Company, of which he is a director.
As man and boy, Mr. Sharp has witnessed the growth of Columbus from a small city into the third one of the state and he has contributed to and has been and is a part of that growth.
He is a member of the following clubs: Columbus, Athletic, Columbus Country, Scioto Country, Wyandotte, the Ohio Society of New York, the Ohio Archaeological and Historical So- ciety of Columbus, the American Academy of Political and Social Science of Philadelphia.
Mr. Sharp married Flora Field November 22, 1881, daughter of Silas N. and Sarah J. (Kelsey) Field, of Columbus. Her grandfather William Kelsey was one of the pioncers of Columbus and for a number of years was proprietor of the old American House at the cor- ner of High and State streets, finally going to St. Louis as proprietor of the famons old Planters Hotel. Her grandfather Field was also one of the pioneers of Columbus. They have two children: Edwin Rees Sharp, jr., now Major in the National Army. He was married in 1917 to Marian Brooks, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thos. S. Brooks, of Columbus. Esther Davidson Sharp who married in 1909, George T. Johnston, of Columbus, their three children being George T., Albert T., and Sarah Janc.
445
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
GEORGE SILAS PETERS. The career of George Silas Peters, who is now living in honorable retirement in his attractive home in Columbus, is an interesting and varied one, the major portion of which has been devoted to the practice of law. He has been a resident of the capital city for nearly a half century and was one time mayor and he has long been well known and influential in civic affairs, doing much for the general welfare of the city and county, whose interests he has had at heart ever since taking up his residence here.
Mr. Peters was born on the home farm in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 11, 1846, and is descended from two sterling pioneer Buckeye families. Hc is of Scotch-Irish descent on his paternal side, and the Peters family has been in America for at least four generations. The Ohio pioneer of the family was John Peters, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who was born near Petersburg, Virginia. William L. Peters, father of George S. Peters, was a native of Pickaway county, Ohio. He married Susan Hoffhines, who was born at Hagers- town, Maryland, the daughter of George Hoffhines, who removed from Hagerstown to Picka- way county, Ohio, in the year 1810, bringing his family and household goods in wagons over- land, his wife riding behind the outfit on horseback, and carrying her young daughter in her lap. The Hoffhines were of German stock.
George S. Peters was reared on his father's farm in Pickaway county, and there he assisted with the general work when a boy, attending the common schools during the winter months. He began his active life by teaching school, which profession he followed several years. Although he was making a most creditable record as an educator, he decided to abandon the school room and turn his attention to legal affairs, and with this end in view he came to Columbus in May, 1872, and entered the law office of Chauncy N. Olds as a law student. Being ambitious and applying himself assiduously to his Blackstone and Kent, he made rapid progress and was admitted to the bar in December, 1873, and soon thereafter began the practice of his profession in Columbus as a partner of Luke G. Byrne, under the firm name of Byrne & Peters. This partnership terminated in 1881, in which year Mr. Peters was elected mayor of the city of Columbus, the duties of which office he discharged to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned.
After leaving the office of mayor Mr. Peters practiced law alone until 1887 in which year he was appointed United States attorny for the Territory of Utah, a position he held, with credit to himself and satisfaction to the authorities at Washington, D. C., until 1889, during which period he was ex-officio attorney general of that territory. His successful hand- ling of these important offices indicated that he was not only a man well versed in the law, but that he had courage, tact and indomitable energy. He did much to bring about a better order of things in that country in those early days of lawlessness.
Returning to Columbus in 1889, Mr. Peters resumed the practice of law, in partnership with William J. Clarke, under the firm name of Peters & Clarke. In the early nineties he became a member of the law firm of Booth, Keating & Peters and continued with the same until he retired from active life, January 1, 1917. During this long period of active prac- tice at the local bar he ranked as one of the leading legal lights in central Ohio and built up a large and lucrative practice. He figured in many of the big cases in the Columbus courts for some four decades and he met with great success, both as an advocate and a trial lawyer.
Governor Hoadly appointed Mr. Peters a member of the board of managers of the Ohio penitentiary, and as head of the board he had much to do with putting the parole law in operation which had just been passed when he assumed his duties on the board. He wrote the rules and regulations for the granting of paroles to the prisoners. This was the first real step taken towards prison reform in the entire country.
Mr. Peters is a director of the Seioto Valley Traction Company. He is a member of the Columbus Club. the Columbus Country Club, Magnolia Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons.
On November 27, 1877, Mr. Peters was united in marriage with Flora E. Rarey, a daugh- ter of Laypol E. Rarey, of Groveport, Franklin county, Ohio. To this union three daughters have been born, namely: Grace R., Florence May, who married Ferdinand P. Sehoedinger of Columbus, and Mary Louise. Mrs. Peters died July 21th, 1918.
THE MILES FAMILY. The Miles family of Ohio is an old one in this state and in America. The family was established in America in colonial days and in Ohio in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
The Ohio pioneer was John B. Miles, who was a Vermonter, born on March 28, 1801,
446
HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
and was the son of John and Chloe (Jarvis) Miles, both natives of Vermont, the former born July 8, 1767, and the latter on August 15, 1762.
John B. Miles came to Ohio when he was a young man, making the last stage of the long journey from Vermont in a flat-boat down the Ohio river from Pittsburgh to Meigs county, where he settled and established a home by hard work and perseveranee. He took up government land and founded the town of Rutland, which he named in honor of the Vermont town of that name, where he lived . before leaving New England for the West.
John B. Miles married Mary Johnson, who was born in Meigs county, Ohio. Their oldest child was Columbus Jarvis Miles, who was born at Rutland, Ohio, September 18, 1829. He devoted his attention to general farming and stock raising in Meigs county, later remov- ing to Mason county, Virginia, now embraced in the boundary of West Virginia, and there he continued agricultural pursuits. Later in life he engaged in merchandising at Gallipolis, Ohio, in which city he passed his last years. He married Elizabeth Hopkins, who was born in Meigs county, April 10, 1829. She was a daughter of Thomas Drake and Elizabeth (Sargeant) Hopkins, and through her the Miles family is deseended of the old Hopkins family of Revolutionary War fame, also of the Drake family of England, the latter including the famous admiral, Sir Francis Drake. The children of Columbus J. Miles and wife were named as follows: Adelia Gertrude, born at Rutland, Ohio, February 27, 1854, and resides in Columbus; Violet Luella, born at Racine, Ohio, May 24, 1854, died in 1859; Mary Augusta, born in Mason county, West Virginia, August 1, 1859, married B. C. McCullough of Cabell county, where they settled, now residing in Columbus; Hattie Arvilla, born at Racine, Ohio, August 31, 1862, died in November, 1914; Charles Ellsworth, born at Gallipolis, Ohio, December 19, 1865, resides in Columbus; Oscar Elmer, mentioned in the latter part of this sketch, was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, and resides in Columbus; John Battelle, Born at Galli- polis, this state, June 9, 1870, also resides in Columbus.
Osear Elmer Miles, a well known life insurance man of Columbus, and a son of Colum- bus J. and Elizabeth Miles, mentioned above, was born at Gallipolis, Ohio, February 22, 1868. He attended the public schools until 1886, when at the age of 18 he entered the business world and has steadily advanced since that time. His first employment was at a salary of $3.50 a week in a grocery store at Gallipolis. Late, he was employed in a wholesale dry goods house at Catlettsburg, Kentucky. From there he went to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, as salesman for a dry goods concern. In 1889 he eame to Columbus and took a position with Dunn, Taft Company, merchants, having charge of the silk department, with which firm he remained until March, 1892, when failing health compelled him to give up business, and he went to California to recuperate. Regaining his health in 1894 Mr. Miles entered the life insurance business with the John Hancock Mutual Life Inusranee Company, with which he is still eon- nected. He has met with unusual sueeess in this line of work, so much so that he is today the Columbus agent for the great John Hancock Company, and for many years has been one of the largest producers with the company.
Mr. Miles is a member of the Masonic Order, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Franklin Park Methodist Episcopal church, (a Methodist since the age of 16) is a member of the Columbus Athletic Club and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the active members of the old Arion Club, which was the pioneer musical organ- ization of Columbus, which revolutionized organized music in this city, and which laid the plans for a building devoted to musical affairs, which was the beginning of the movement resulting in the splendid Memorial building of today.
On April 20, 1908, Mr. Miles married Helen R. Powell, daughter of Jerome and Lney Powell, of Columbus, and to them twins have been born, August 29, 1910, a son and daugther, Monford Powell Miles and Elizabeth Adair Miles.
WILLIAM CHARLES WILLARD. William Charles Willard was born in Columbus, May 22, 1872, son of Charles Douglas and Mary E (Davis) Willard, both natives of Colum- bus and each representing honored pioneer families. The paternal grandfather, John Willard, was one of the early business men here, owning and operating a line of eanal boats and was a merchant and warehouse man, widely known in this section of the state. For many years he was prominent in the affairs of his city and country.
William C. Willard attended the Columbus public schools and began his career in 1889
447
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
as messenger for the Commercial National Bank. In 1891 he went to Colorado and there spent two years in the banking business, returning to Columbus in 1893 to take a position with the Clinton National Bank. When the Clinton National Bank and the Hayden National Bank werc consolidated into the Hayden-Clinton National Bank, he was made teller. In 1904 he was promoted to assistant cashier and in 1913 he was elected president and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. Willard is also vice-president and treasurer of the Columbus Savings Bank; and is identified with the following concerns: The Columbus Railway, Power & Light Company; Toledo & Ohio Central R. R. Co .; Kanawha & West Virginia R. R. Co .; Cincinnati Northern Ry. Co .; Kanawha & Michigan Ry. Co .; Zanesville & Western Ry. Co .; Toledo Terminal R. R. Co .; Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling R. R. Co .; Cincinnati, Sandusky, & Cleveland R. R. Co .; Ashland Steel Company, Ashland, Ky. ; the Kelly Nail & Iron Company, Ironton, Ohio; the Smith Agricultural Chemical Co. He is a trustee of Grant Hospital, is a member of the Columbus, Athletic, Rotary, and East End Tennis Clubs and is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
On June 4, 1891, Mr. Willard was united in marriage with Anna Lilley, of Columbus, daughter of the late M. C. Lilley. To this union three children have been born as follows: Catherine, who married J. Stanton Mossgrove, of Columbus; Elizabeth, a student in Smith College, and Ann, who is studying at the Columbus School for Girls.
SAMUEL GROENENDYKE MEMEEN. One of the well known and influential busi- ness men of Columbus is Samuel Groenendyke McMeen, a man who has been willing to work hard for his advancement, having started at the foot of the ladder of success, reaching a position of responsibility and distinction in the world's affairs without the aid of anyone.
Mr. MeMeen, consulting engineer and public utility executive, and vice-president of the E. W. Clark & Company Management Corporation, is a native of Indiana, born in the village of Eugene, November 28, 1864. He is a son of James and Ann (Groenendyke) McMeen. After attending the public schools he entered Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana, where he spent two years, 1883 and 1884. He began his business career in 1885 in the telephone service with the Central Union Telephone Company and, diligently applying himself to his duties, his promotion was rapid. He became assistant engineer in 1893 and chief engineer of that company in 1896, remaining in the latter position until 1904, in which year he became a member of the firm of MeMeen & Miller of Chicago. In 1914 he became vice-president of the E. W. Clark & Company Management Corporation, a Philadelphia concern, with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also maintaining an office in Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. MeMeen is a fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, a member of the Western Society of Engineers, also of the National Electric Light Association, the Amer- ican Electric Railway Association, the Telephone Pioneers of America and other similar organ- izations. He is also a member of the Union League Club of Chicago, the Columbus Athletic Club, the Columbus Club and the Scioto Club.
Mr. MeMeen is married, Mrs. McMeen having been Miss Auta Judith Proctor, of Ashta- bula, Ohio. They have one son and one daughter, the latter being the wife of Dr. Ivor Gor- don Clark, of Columbus.
He keeps well abreast of the times of all that pertains to electrical matters, on which he is regarded as an authority and his talents as an engineer and manager of electrical plants are recognized by all who have come in contact with him. Morover, he is a man of fine personal characteristics which make him popular with a wide circle of acquaintances.
MITCHELL C. LILLEY, JR. That the career of such a man as the late Mitchell C. Lilley, jr., for many years a prominent man of affairs of Columbus, Chicago and Florida, besides being treasured in the hearts of relatives and friends, should have its public record also, is peculiarly proper because a knowledge of men whose substantial reputation rests upon their attainments and character must exert a wholesome influence upon the rising generation. While transmitting to future generations the chronicle of such a life, through the medium of local history, it is with the hope of instilling into the minds of those who come after the im- portant lesson that honor and station are sure rewards of honest, persistent individual effort. He was one of the most representative citizens of the capital city of the great Buckeye com- monwealth and in every respect a worthy son of a worthy sire, being a member of one of the
448
HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
oldest and most highly esteemed families of this locality, members of which have been promin- ent in various walks of life here for considerably; over a century.
The subject of this memoir was born at the old homestead in Columbus, Ohio, November 26, 1869. He was a son of Mitchell C. Lilley, sr., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. The younger Lilley grew to manhood in his native community and he received his early education in the public schools of Columbus, then attended preparatory school at Law- renceville, N. J., after which he entered Yale University, where he made a splendid record for scholarship and from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1894. He continued a student the rest of his life and became an exceptionally well informed man along general lines, which academic and scientific information was greatly augmented by habits of close obser- vation and by contact with the world. Upon leaving the university he returned to Columbus and engaged in the lumber business in which he made a very auspicious start, but in 1903, seeking a wider field for the exercise of his business talents, Mr. Lilley removed to Chicago where he engaged in manufacturing, finally locating at Fort Meyers, Florida, where he was engaged in the wholesale fish business on a very large scale, which he continued with increas- ing success until his death. He was regarded by all in that section of the South as a young man of exceptional business qualifications and a man of splendid personal attributes, who won and retained the good will and admiration of all with whom he came in contact.
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.