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 79
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
Mr. Lilley was a member of the Board of Trade of Okechobee, Florida, which is a great fishing center. During his college days he was a noted athlete and was a member of the football teams of both Yale and the school at Lawrenceville, N. J. He was a very busy man but found time for recreation, being very fond of hunting. He delighted in life in the open and was a lover of the beauties of nature in their varied manifestations. Hc belonged to the Arlington Country Club of Columbus, the Columbus Club and the Columbus East End Ten- nis Club, also the Glenview and Edgewater Golf Clubs, both of Chicago. He was a member of the Broad Street Presbyterian church of Columbus and a liberal supporter of the same. Politically, he was a Republican and was active and influential in party affairs. He served for some time as a member of the Okechobee City Council and was a candidate for mayor of that city at the time of his death. He was chairman of the committee in charge of the deep- ening of the smaller streams in the locality of Okcchobee, a very large and important under- taking by the Government, so as to make possible the navigation of larger boats. He was a man of vision and entertained broad and comprehensive views for the future development of the locality of his adopted home.
On January 3, 1895, Mr. Lilley was united in marriage with Fanny Clark White, of Colum- bus, an only child of the late Dr. G. M. White and Sarah (Jackson) White, both now deceased. Her father was for many years one of the prominent physicians of Columbus. To Mr. and Mrs. Lilley these children were born: Elise Campbell Lilley, now living in Boston, Mitchell C. Lilley, the third, who resides with his mother in Columbus; Emily Doak Lilley, who makes her home in Los Angeles, California, and Frances Lilley, deceased.
The death of Mitchell C. Lilley, jr., occurred at his home in Okechobce, Florida, Novem- ber 21, 1915, when in the prime of life and usefulness, leaving behind him a host of warm friends and admirers wherever he was known.
JOHN BATTELLE MILES. One of the well known business men of Columbus and a former county official is John Battelle Miles, president of the Commercial Paste Company. During his residence in the capital eity his prestige as a straightforward and conscientious business man and substantial citizen has constantly increased, owing to his honesty, public spirit and his willingness to devote his time and attention to such movements as make for the public good.
Mr. Miles was born at Gallipolis, Ohio, June 9, 1870. For a history of his ancestry the reader is referred to the sketch of his brother, Oscar E. Miles, appearing on another page of this volume. He grew to manhood in his native city and was graduated from the high school there in 1888. He began his business carcer as clerk in a drug store in that city, later went to Chicago where he continued in the drug business. Finally he took a position as storekeeper for the Chesepeake & Ohio Railroad Company at Huntington, West Virginia, for a period of four years.
Mr. Miles came to Columbus in 1892 and was engaged in business pursuits until he was appointed deputy director of public improvements of Columbus. Later he was appointed
449
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
deputy clerk of courts of Franklin county, in 1905, in which position he served until 1910, being then elected clerk of courts of the county. He was re-elected in 1912 and again in 1914, thus serving three full terms. Upon leaving the office of county clerk in 1917 he again engaged in business as president of the Commercial Paste Company, which business he and his associates purchased and re-organized, and under his able management it is rapidly grow- ing to large proportions, the products of the company finding a very ready market owing to their superior quality.
Mr. Miles is a member of the Columbus Athletic Club. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On November 19, 1903, Mr. Miles married Imogene Ingram of Columbus, a daughter of the late William H. Ingram, a well known business man who came to this city from Cincinnati. To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Howard B., now (1919) six- teen years old; and Geraldine, eleven years old.
Mr. Miles gave eminent satisfaction as a public servant, as was indicated by the fact that he was retained so long in the offices entrusted to him. He was always prompt, courte- ous and faithful as well as scrupulously honest in the discharge of his duties, and he richly deserves the good will and high esteem in which he is still held by all who know him, and that embraces a large proportion of the people of Columbus and Franklin county.
WILDEN ELWOOD JOSEPH. There are few more inspiring aphorisms in our language than Emerson's famous "Hitch your wagon to a star." Posterity is indebted to the Sage of Concord for this noble counsel so universally needed. The privilege belongs to us all of gearing our lives up to lofty motives, of glorifying our commonplace and prosaic days with ideal sentiments and aspirations. There is happy suggestion likewise in reversing the good advice, to sense its truth from a slightly different angle. It is just as good philosophy, and in many ways perhaps more helpful, to read the words "Hitch the stars to your wagon." In other words, let the infinite forces help you, join with you in tugging your particular load up the hill, harness the mightiest power in the world to your human necessities. The life of Wilden Elwood Joseph, secretary of the Masonic Temple Association, and one of the prom- inent Masons of the state of Ohio, would indicate that he has ever striven to live up to high ideals and direct his efforts along well regulated lines, and therefore success has attended his efforts and at the same time he has established a reputation for right thinking and whole- some living, and what necessarily follows-good citizenship.
Mr. Joseph was born in Royalton, Ohio, August 10, 1854, the son of Joseph A. and Martha V. (Foreman) Joseph, both natives of Ohio, in which state their parents located in an early day.
When he was seven years old, the parents of the subject of this sketch, removed to Pataska, Licking county, this state, and there he grew to manhood and attended the public schools. He came to Columbus in 1874 and from that time until 1898 he was engaged in the manufacturing business, in which he met with a fair measure of success all along the line owing to his close application to business, his foresight and honest dealings.
In 1879 Mr. Josephi became a member of the Pataska Lodge, No. 104, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and he is still a member of the same. He at once became intensely interested in the sublime precepts of that time honored order and since then, now nearly forty years ago, he has passed through all the degrees in Scottish Rite and Knights Templar Masonry, and he is a Past Commander of Mt. Vernon Commandery, Knights Templar. He has been for many years secretary of the following bodies: Ohio Chapter, No. 12, Royal Arch Masons; Enoch Lodge of Perfection, in which he has reached the fourteenth degree: Franklin Council Princes of Jerusalem, in which he has attained the sixteenth degree ; Columbus Chapter, Rose of Croix, in which he has reached the eighteenth degree, and Scioto Commandery, in which he is a thirty-third degree Mason. He is also secretary of the Masonie Temple Association and the Masonic Fraternal Association. He is also recorder of the following orders: Colum- bus Council, No. 8, Royal and Select Masters; Mt. Vernon Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templar; Aladdin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Order of Royal Jesters and Red Cross of Constantine. He has been a member of the board of trustees and secretary of the Masonic Temple Association since its organization, and is the first and
450
HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
only recorder of Aladdin Temple, and was secretary of the Shrine Club before the Temple was instituted.
Mr. Joseph is also a member of the Junior Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Columbus Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Colum- bus Club. In all the positions enumerated above he has discharged his duties most ably and faithfully and to the eminent satisfaction of his fraternal brethren. He is one of the best in- formed men on Masonry in the state, and one of the most active in the work of the various Masonic lodges. What is more, one would judge from his daily life among his fellow men that he tries to live up to the sublime teachings of Masonry, and he is therefore highly es- teemed and respected by a very wide acquaintance.
Mr. Joseph married Sarah E. Broom, who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, the daugh- ter of the Hon. Hugh Broom, of that county. To this union one daughter has been born- Ledra Joseph.
JONAS M. McCUNE. It has been said by those in the habit of superficial thinking that the dead are soon forgotten and, according to one of America's great poets, "All that breathe will share thy destiny; the gay will laugh when thou are gone, and each one as before will chase his favorite phantom." Whether this be a universal truth or not, it is safe to say that few men of a past generation in Columbus will linger longer in the memory of the citizens of Franklin county, who were contemporaneous with him, than the late Jonas M. McCune. This is due to the fact that he had the qualities that impress men. Prominent and prosperous in business, he established a character for integrity, public spirit and the social amenities of life.
Mr. McCune was a native of Vermont, and was descended from two old families of that state. William McCune, his grandfather, who lived at Brattleboro, Vermont, commanded a company in the Revolutionary War, while his father, John McCune, who was born in the town of Brattleboro, was for many years a man of prominence in his home community and he held at different times the offices of selectman and a member of the school board. John McCune mar- ried Sarah Harris of Brattleboro, a descendant of one of the Pilgrim families that came to America on the historic "Mayflower" in 1620.
Jonas McCune was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1822, and there he spent his earlier years and attended school. In 1841 he came to Columbus, Ohio, and began his business career here as a clerk in a hardware store, owned by Grear & Abbott. He applied himself dili- gently and, being honest and courteous, his rise was rapid, and in 1848 he became a silent partner of the firm. He mastered all the ins and outs of the hardware business, and in 1856 he organized the wholesale and retail hardware firm of J. M. McCune & Company, which subsequently was changed to that of MeCune, Lonnis & Griswold, and he continued as senior member of that company until 1895, the large success and rapid growth of which was due very largely to his able management and judicious counsel. He was also a director in the Columbus Rolling Mills, the Columbus Gas Company and was president of the Columbus and Eastern Railway Company, which is now a branch of the Hocking Valley Railway System. He had a genins for organization and whatever he turned his attention to resulted in success. He insisted on punctuality, honesty and fair dealing among all his employes and his integrity in the business world was never questioned. And he died in 1907 at an advanced age, loved and respected by all who knew him. He was regarded as one of the leading men of affairs of the carlier period of Columbus' material development.
Jonas McCune was married in 1840 to Catherine Lumley, of Columbus. She was a native of Rochester, N. Y., and came, with her parents, to Granville, Ohio, in 1832. Her death occurred in 1859, and in 1889, Mr. McCune married Mrs. Evaline M. Mills, a daughter of Edward Gares, of Groveport, Ohio.
Edward Lumley McCune, son of the subject of this memoir, by his first wife, was born in Columbus, March 27, 1855, and here he grew to manhood and received his early education in the public schools, later attended the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. He read law and was admitted to the bar in this state in 1877. He served as claim agent for the Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking Valley Railroad Company, and also for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a member of the Columbus Board of Education for two terms, and the last year of his second term was president of the board. He was also president of the Columbus City Board of Real Estate Appraisers, and during the administration of Mayor
451
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
George S. Marshall he served as director of public safety for the city. In all these positions of public trust he discharged his duties in a faithful, able and highly satisfactory manner.
Fraternally, Mr. McCune belongs to the Masonic Order in which he is a thirty-second de- gree Scottish Rite Mason, also belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is a member of its military committee. During the period that America was in the world war he was very active in the work of the Red Cross and other relief movements, and since the organization of the Columbus Chapter, American Red Cross, he has been its secretary, purchasing agent and chairman of the military relief committee, also a member of the executive committee. In fact, he has been giving his entire time and attention to this laudable work.
On July 12, 1876, Mr. McCune married Eva E. Black, and to this union the following children have been born: Sarah C., who married William E. Rex, of Columbus; John, de- ceased; Edward L., who is engaged in the insurance business in Seattle, Washington; Lillian, deceased; Margaret, deceased, and Robert, deceased.
HENRY SMITH BALLARD. Another of the talented young lawyers of Columbus who is rapidly forging to a place in the front ranks of the local bar is Henry Smith Ballard, senior member of the law firm of Ballard, Jones & Price. The secret of his success in his chosen field of endeavor is due to his persistency and honesty.
Mr. Ballard was born at Coal Grove, Lawrence county, Ohio, November 15, 1880. He is a son of John and Jane (Sparling) Ballard. The father was also born in the same county and state as was the subject of this sketch. He was a descendant of Captain Bland Ballard, an old Indian fighter and associate of Daniel Boone. John Ballard, father of the Captain, was a native of Virginia, and was the founder of the now numerous family of Ballard in Ohio. The members of this sterling old family have done much toward the active upbuilding of the Buckeye state in a general way.
John Ballard, father of our subject, devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits in Lawrence county, also was known as a successful business man. His death occurred when his son, Henry S., was but a boy. His wife, Jane Sparling, was also a native of Lawrence county, and a daughter of George W. Sparling, a Virginian and a pioneer of Lawrence county, Ohio. Her death occurred in 1915.
Henry S. Ballard was reared in Lawrence county, this state, and attended the public schools of Coal Grove. At the early age of fifteen years he began his career by teaching school in his native county, continuing in educational work for seven years, during which period he read law. He was a successful instructor but believed a larger field awaited him in the legal world. He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and soon thereafter began the prac- tice of his profession in the city of Columbus where he has since remained and has built up a large and lucrative practice as a result of his splendid record in the local courts.
Mr. Ballard began taking an active interest in public affairs early in life and in 1911 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Franklin county, the duties of which office he con- tinued to discharge in an able and highly acceptable manner until 1915, in which year he became first assistant attorney general of Ohio, continuing in this responsible position with success until 1917 when he returned to private practice, forming the law firm of Ballard, Jones & Price in that year.
Since the United States entered the European conflict, Mr. Ballard has shown his patri- otism by taking a very active part in war work, and as chairman of the Soldiers' Advisory Board of the Young Men's Christian Association he has held meetings all over central Ohio and organized many movements.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Order, Knights of Pythias, and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Republican Glee Club, the Business Men's Gymnasium Club, the Lawrence County Society of Columbus and an associate member of Wells Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
On June 30, 1909, Mr. Ballard was united in marriage to Grace E. Forney, a daughter of David and Abigail Forney, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, and they have one son, Henry Sparling Ballard.
Mr. Ballard is a public-spirited citizen and always ready to aid in any worthy cause.
EDWARD PERRY TICE. No matter what line of work one is engaged in he should strive to become an expert in it, which will not only result in better remuneration, but a greater
452
HISTORY OF COLUMBUS, OHIO
degree of satisfaction and pleasure all around. If one goes at his work in a half-hearted, slip-shod manner very little good will be accomplished and little satisfaction gotten out of it. In fact, it is not too much to say that poor work should never be done, for it is very often worse than nothing - detrimental. Realizing this fact at the outset of his career Edward Perry Tice, member of the firm of Tice & Jeffers, general managers of the Midland Mutual Life Insurance Company of Columbus, has always tried to do well whatever he deemed was worth doing at all. Therefore he has succeeded in his life work.
Mr. Tice is a native of Ohio, born at Buford, Highland county. His grandfather, John William Tice, a native of Holland, emigrated to America about the year 1810 and settled first in New Jersey, coming on to Ohio in 1838 and located first in Clermont county, later remov- ing to Monroe county where he spent the balance of his life.
Daniel L. Tice, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, in 1837. He has devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits and is still living on a farm in Highland county. His wife, Mahala Dunham, was born in Clermont county, this state, in 1843 and her death occurred March 7, 1916. Her father, Robert Dunham, a Scotchman, came to America in young manhood and was a pioneer of Clermont county, devoting his life to farming.
Edward P. Tice was reared on the home farm where he assisted with the work in the fields during his boyhood, attending the district rural schools in the winter time, later attending Ohio Northern University, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Bache- lor of Arts in 1900. Ile then went to Yale University and was graduated with the class of 1906, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He made an excellent record for scholar- ship in both these universities.
When seventeen years of age Mr. Tice began teaching school and when he was twenty- five he was appointed school examiner of Highland county, which position he held for a period of nine years, from 1898 to 1907. He was very successful as an educator and did much to build up the schools of Highland county, making them equal to the best common schools in the state. He was progressive in his ideas and introduced many of the best and most ap- proved modern methods in the schools of that county.
Mr. Tice finally decided to give up educational work and turn his attention to the life insurance business, which he did in the year 1906, taking a position with the Midland Mutual Life Insurance Company of Columbus, being the first man to sell insurance for that company. His success and progress in the life insurance field has been rapid though consistent, and today he is senior member of the well known insurance firm of Tice & Jeffers, general managers of the Midland Mutual Life.
Just how much credit is due Mr. Tice for the growth of the field work of this company must be left for others to estimate, but it is a conservative statement to say that he and Mr. Jeffers have proved to be vital forces in the development of the Midland, which has grown rapidly in prestige and importance since they began devoting their energics and attention to its affairs.
Mr. Tice is a member of the Columbus Athletic Club and the Scioto Country Club. Hc also belongs to the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On June 15, 1907, Mr. Tice was united in marriage with Kathryn L. Boring, of Colum- bus, and to their union the following children have been born: Ruth Elinor, Virginia, and Edward Perry, jr.
Mr. Tice is a man who keeps in touch with educational and public affairs and lends his support to all worthy movements having for their object the general public welfare and he is a man of excellent personal characteristics which make him popular with all classes.
EDWARD REINERT, M. D. There is generally a wide diversity of opinion among the people outside the medical profession in their estimate of the skill and ability of a particular physician. A family is likely to pin its faith to some practitioner and distrust all the rest. If there is a member of the profession in Columbus and Franklin county who has successfully fought down this prejudice, and now stands secure in the confidence of the general public, that man is Dr. Edward Reinert, a man whose research in the fields of science has produced such pronounced results as to leave no question of his knowledge of his profession.
Dr. Reinert, who is now a member of the Ohio State Board of Administration, is a native of this state, born at Ripley, Brown county, November 18, 1873, the son of Louis and Fred-
453
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
ricka Reinert. Louis Reinert was a native of Germany, from which country he came to America when a young man. He learned the baker's trade at which he worked during the first years of his life in this country in Cincinnati, Ohio. He finally located in Ripley, this state, where he established a bakery which he operated for some time or until his death, some twenty- five years ago. His wife, Fredricka, was also a native of Germany, and was brought to America when a child by her parents. She is now making her home with her son, the sub- ject of this sketch, and is at this writing in her eighty-third year.
Dr. Reinert's early education was secured in the public schools of Ripley. In 1890 he be- came a clerk in a retail drug store in Cincinnati, later attended the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated in 1893, with the degree of Ph. G. He decided to take up the medical profession instead of devoting his life to the drug business, and with this end in view he entered the medical department of Ohio State University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine with the class of 1897, and in that year he entered practice in Columbus, and he had soon built up a large and satisfactory patronage among the best families here. He has held a very high rank among his professional brethren for twenty years and has been very successful as a general practitioner and surgeon.
In 1898 Dr. Reinert was appointed night physician at Ohio State Penitentiary, which position he later resigned to accept the appointment of surgeon to the Columbus City Police Department. Later he was made assistant superintendent of the City Health Department. He gave eminent satisfaction in these various positions of trust, and during all this time he continued in the general practice.
On April 27, 1918, Governor Cox appointed him a member of the State Board of Admin- istration, the duties of which position he assumed on May 1st of the same year and which he is very ably and faithfully discharging.
Dr. Reinert, together with Dr. R. R. Kahle, recently purchased the old Keeley Cure Home on Dennison Avenue, and after remodeling will open it as a Radium Hospital, the only one between New York and Chicago and the fifth one in all the United States.
Dr. Reinert is a member of Magnolia Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, also belongs to the Franklin County Medical Society and the Ohio State Medical Society.
The Doctor married Mary Sebold of Middletown, Ohio, and to their union one son has been born-Raymond S. Reinert, who is now at Culver Military Institute, in Indiana.
Dr. Reinert is a public-spirited man and interested in whatever makes for the general welfare of the people of the capital city, and he is in every way deserving of the high esteem in which he is universally held.
JAMES M. LOREN. The record of James M. Loren, lawyer and well known citizen of Columbus, contains valuable lessons for the youth starting out in his serious life work, for it shows what may be accomplished, even in the face of obstacles, if one has the right mettle in him and follows the right ideals.
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.