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 80
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Mr. Loren was born on the farm in Plain township, Franklin county, Ohio, November 30, 1849. He is a son of the late Jeremiah and Charity (Montgomery) Loren, natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively. The father came to Franklin county at a very early date. and in 1834 settled in Plain township. In 1852 he removed his family to Dela- ware county, Ohio, bought land in Harlem township, and passed the remainder of his life in that part of the county, dying on his farm near Sunbury in 1886 in his eighty-first year. His wife also died on the home farm in Delaware county a few years later. They were known to their neighbors as honest, hard-working, hospitable people.
James M. Loren was reared on the home farm, where during nine months of the year, hc assisted with the general work, which included rail splitting, wood chopping, sheep shearing, milking of cows, etc., etc. The other three months, in the winter time, he attended the schools of that vicinity, often walking two miles through the snow to get there. Later he attended the graded schools of Sunbury, Ohio, (the late Colonel Frambes, of Columbus, having been the principal of the Sunbury schools at that time.)
Mr. Loren began teaching country schools when he was nineteen years old, and taught geography and writing school of evenings. He began his teaching in Monroe township, Lick- ing county, Ohio, boarding with Mr. Hanover, one of the school directors, to whom he paid his board by "ditching" in the fields evenings, mornings and Saturdays. He also taught one
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term each in Delaware and Franklin counties. While teaching he always paid a hired man to work in his place on the home farm.
In 1873 Mr. Loren came to Columbus and was employed in the sale of pianos and organs, and was finally taken into partnership by his employer, C. H. Walker, under the firm name of C. H. Walker & Company, afterwards Walker & Loren, dealers in pianos and organs. In 1877 he traded his interest in that business for city.real estate. He then began the study of law in the office of Judge J. W. Baldwin in Columbus, and in 1880 was admitted to the bar by the Ohio Supreme court. He formed a partnership with W. T. Colville, of Knox county, Ohio, formerly professor of modern languages at Kenyon College, under the firm name of Loren & Colville; and later he formed a partnership with D. E. Williams, of Columbus, under the firm name of Barger & Loren, and still later with J. H. Vercoe, as Loren & Vercoe.
During all this period Mr. Loren was more or less interested in the real estate business, especially in the development of the North side, where he built his present home, at the cor- ner of King avenue and High street, into which he moved at the time of his marriage, in 1878, and where he has resided ever since.
In 1890 Mr. Loren was appointed by Mayor Bruck as the Republican member of Colum- bus' first board of public works, of which board he was chosen president. In 1891 he was elected to succeed himself on the board of public works for a term of four years, and was largely responsible for the building of the High street viaduct and the Union station, giving that public improvement special attention; and at the end of his second year on the board, when contract for that work with the various railway companies and the Union Depot Com- pany was signed, he resigned from the board, although he had three years to serve and the salary was three thousand dollars per year, but his private business was such as to require all his time and attention.
Mr. Loren served as chairman of the Franklin County Republican Committee in 1890 and chairman of the City Republican Committee in 1891. He was twice elected a director and once first vice-president of the Columbus Board of Trade.
He was closely identified with the family of the late Governor Dennison, and handled the large real estate interests of the Dennisons. He was also associated with the late Herman G. Dennison, with whom he occupied a suite of offices for many years. He laid out, platted and sold Dennison's Place, Dennison Park, Dennison Summit, North Broadway and other ad- ditions and subdivisions between Columbus and Worthington.
He also bought the land, which he platted and on which was built the club house at Columbus Beach, Michigan, the summer home of many leading families of Columbus, at Indian River, Cheyboygan county, Michigan, and for a number of years was president of the Columbus Beach Club. He was a charter member of the Columbus Club, and of the Columbus Board of Trade, now Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally, he is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason.
Mr. Loren married Miss Annabel McMillen, of Sunbury, Ohio, in 1878, two children were born to them, namely: Mary, who married Walter Jeffery, dicd, leaving a daughter, Mary, now ten years old; James, jr., who was graduated from the law department of Ohio State Univer- sity, was admitted to the bar and engaged in business with his father until he enlisted in the United States Naval Training School at Pelham Bay, New York, in July, 1918.
Mr. Loren has always had the welfare of Columbus at heart and has given freely of his time and means to promote her interests along legitimate lines and is deserving in every way of the esteem in which he is held in Franklin county.
FREDERICK NICHOLAS SINKS. One of the well known lawyers of Columbus, Frederick Nicholas Sinks, has behind him a sterling Ohio ancestry, being of the fourth gen- eration of his family in Ohio on his parental side and of the third generation on his maternal side. His great grandfather, Nicholas Sinks, sr., who was a native of Pennsylvania, settled at Williamsburg, Clermont county, this state, in 1802, and in that county his son, Nicholas, jr., grandfather of Frederick N. Sinks, was born in 1803. Nicholas Sinks, jr., was a merchant at Williamsburg for a number of years and there his death occurred in 1845. He married Martha Ann Poscy. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Samuel D. Preston, who was a pioneer merchant of Columbus, he and his brother Louis P., conducting for many years a successful dry goods and general store in this city.
George W. Sinks, father of our subject, was born at Williamsburg, Ohio, in 1835, and he
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moved to Columbus in 1856 to accept the position of teller in the old Clinton Bank, and in 1861, when that bank liquidated he became identified with the National Exchange Bank of this eity. He filled different positions with the National Exchange Bank until 1879, in which year he became president of the Deshler Bank. When the latter was reorganized into the Deshler National Bank he continued as president until 1904, at which time he retired from aetive busi- ness life. He was one of the organizers of the Gas & Fuel Company in 1888 and was a mem- ber of its board of directors and its executive board. He was also a director in the Columbus Railway & Light Company, one of the organizers and president of the Peoples Building & Loan Association, and he laid out the Deshler, Sinks & Hoover and the Garrison Park Plaec additions to Columbus. Ile was one of the original members of the Columbus Board of Trade and for many years he was in charge of the financial affairs of the Columbus Female Benevo- lent Society, and of the Hannalı Neil Mission and Home of the Friendless. He served as treas- urer of the Republican State Central Committee from the elose of Governor MeKinley's first term until the close of Governor Bushnell's second term. He was identified with the civic affairs of Columbus and took an active part in all movements for the welfare of his home community, in which he was popular and influential, in faet, for many years he was regarded as one of the leading citizens of Columbus, honored and esteemed by all who knew him. He was a business man of unusual aeumen and foresight and his genial disposition and exceptional personal qualities attracted to him a host of friends.
George W. Sinks was married on December 1, 1861, to Eloise Preston, a daughter of the late Samuel D. Preston. She was born in 1815, and her death occurred on July 5, 1906, leaving the following children: Clinton Preston, Frederick Nicholas, and Ann Eliza; the lat- ter married Richard Jones, jr., of Columbus. The death of George W. Sinks occurred in 1915.
Frederick N. Sinks was born in Columbus, Ohio, August 24, 1872, and here grew to man- hood and received his early education in the public schools, then took a course in Yale Univer- sity, from which he was graduated with the elass of 1894, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He then entered Ohio State University, from which he was graduated in 1898, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar in that year and soon after began the practice of his profession in his home city. In due course of time he has built up a very satisfactory practice and become a well known figure in the local courts. He has maintained a high standing at the bar to the present time.
Mr. Sinks served as secretary to Governor Nash from 1902 to 1904, and in 1907 he was appointed referee in bankruptcy, United States court, for Franklin and Madison counties. He served as a member of the Franklin County Draft Board in 1917 and 1918, and was otherwise active in all work relating to the war. He is identified with several corporations and a direetor in the Columbus Gas & Fuel Company, also a dircetor in the Columbus Club of which he has long been a member. He is a member of the Seioto Country Club and Elks.
Mr. Sinks, like his father, has always been identified with the Republican party and is still an active and influential member thereof.
Mr. Sinks was married in 1899 to Katharine DeFord Thurman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Allen W. Thurman of Columbus and a granddaughter of the "Old Roman." They have one child, Allen Thurman Sinks, who was born in 1907.
AUGUSTUS THEODORE SEYMOUR, one of the prominent lawyers of Columbus, is a native of Nebraska, but is a descendant of an old Ohio Family. His paternal grandfather, John W. Seymour, was a native of Connecticut and came to Ohio from Stamford, that state, in the early canal boat days. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Licking county. Later he invested in Nebraska lands, went to Nebraska City and built the "Seymour House," which was one of the leading hotels of the eity for a number of years.
Theodore Holly Seymour, father of the subject of this sketeh, was born in Lieking county, Ohio. He married Elizabeth Barribal, a native of Knox county, this state. Early in the seventies he went to Nebraska City and for a time had charge of the "Seymour House." In 1875 the family returned to Ohio, loeating at Mt. Vernon, where they established their future home.
Augustus T. Seymour was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, August 22, 1873, but was reared in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, being two years old when his family brought him there from the West. He attended the Mt. Vernon public schools and was graduated from the high school there, later was a student at Oberlin College for two years. When a young man he began
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studying law and in order to fully equip himself for this profession he entered the law de- partment of Ohio State University, from which he was graduated in 1891. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in December, 1895, and the following year began the practice of law in Colum- bus in the office of John J. Chester.
Taking an active interest in public affairs, Mr. Seymour was appointed assistant prose- cuting attorney of Franklin county in 1900, whch position he continued to fill until 1905 when he was appointed prosecuting attorney to fill the unexpired term of Edward L. Taylor, jr., who was elected to Congress. Upon leaving the prosecuting attorney's office he formed a partnership with J. E. and L. F. Sater under the firm name of Sater, Seymour & Sater, which firm continued until the senior member went on the federal bench, and then became Sater & Seymour. In 1908 the present firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease was formed. In November, 1917, he was elected a member of the Columbus Board of Education and when the new board was organized in January, 1918, he was chosen vice-president. He is deeply interested in modern educational problems.
He is a member of the Franklin County Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Club, the Columbus Country Club and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
On June 5, 1902, Mr. Seymour married Evelyn Owens, of Newark, Ohio. They have two children: James O. and Augustus Theodore, jr.
SAMUEL S. WYER. Samuel S. Wyer was born on a farm in Wayne county, Ohio, Feb- ruary 18, 1879, and is the son of David and Catherine (Eicher) Wyer. This branch of the Wyer family has been in America for several generations, as is evidenced by the fact that one of that name is buried in Boston Commons, where no burials have taken place for over a century. Joseph Wyer, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Pennsylvania, from which state he came to Ohio and settled in Wayne county, where his son David was born and is still living.
The mother of our subject was also born in Wayne county, the daughter of Daniel Eicher, who married a Steiner. The Eichers were from France, having originally lived near the Swiss border, and the Steiner family came from Switzerland, near the border of France. The mother of the subject of this sketch is deceased.
Samuel S. Wyer spent his early life on a farm in Wayne county. He attended the rural schools until he was fifteen years old, then began his practical education in a machine shop at Barberton, Ohio, continuing at this for two years. He was ambitious to obtain a higher edu- cation, and during these two years he studied mechanical drawing and engineering, taking a correspondence school course. From 1896 to 1899 he was draftsman in a machine shop at Barberton, and also advanced his education during those years by diligent night study, where- by he prepared himself for college. In 1899 he entered Engineering College of the Ohio State University, working his way until he finished the prescribed course, and was gradnated with the degree of Mechanical Engineer with the class of 1903. In that year he worked as an engineer, and in 1904 entered professional work independently, opening an office in Colum- bus, Ohio.
For many years Mr. Wyer has been deeply interested in and has made a study of public utility problems in general, and natural gas problems in particular, with special attention to and investigation of the economie features of production, transmission and distribution of nat- ural gas, natural gas service problems, valuation of the properties of natural gas companies, and to many other questions effecting the production, transmission, distribution and sale of natural gas.
Mr. Wycr is the author of a treatise on "Producer Gas and Gas Producers," and treatise on "Regulation, Valuation, and Depreciation of Public Utilities." These two volumes are standard works and have been received with flattering and laudatory notices by the profes- sional press all over the country. Mr. Wyer has also written more than twenty-five profes- sional papers dealing with various phases of public utility problems. The Smithsonian In- stitution, Washington, D. C., recently published a paper written by Mr. Wyer on "Natural Gas, its Production, Service and Conservation."
Mr. Wyer is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Gas Institute; also of the American Electrolysis Committee, made up of twenty-one engineers making a nation-wide study of the electrolysis problem, and until re-
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cently was a member of the National Committee on Gas and Electric Service, which was one of the cooperating committees on the National Defense Council. Mr. Wyer resigned from this committee to act as Chief of Natural Gas Conservation for the United States Fuel Administration. He is also a member of the Columbus Athletic Club.
FRANK A. DAVIS. Not all of us can succeed in more than one line of endeavor. As a rule it requires years of preparation, study and practical experience to reap more than medi- ocre success. It seems that Frank A. Davis, lawyer and man of affairs of Columbus, is a man endowed with a versatility of talents, for he has sueeeeded in various lines of endeavor. He has always applied himself very assiduously to whatever task he set himself to perform and, being courageous when he knew he was on the right track, has never permitted the ord- inary obstacles that lie in the pathway of every one to deflect him from his course.
Mr. Davis is a native of the great Empire state and is descended from an old Long Island family. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Davis, and his maternal grandfather, James Smith, were sea captains and in their regular line of duty visited all parts of the world both being skilled mariners of the early seafaring days of this country. Benjamin F. Davis, father of the subjeet of this sketch, also followed the sea, commanding a merchant vessel for forty years. And thus his immediate ancestors being men who "went down to the sea in ships," it is not surprising that Frank A. Davis himself should spend four years at sea in his earlier life.
Mr. Davis was born at Sag Harbor, Long Island, on November 13, 1858. He is a son of Captain Benjamin F. and Ruth (Smith) Davis, both born on the eastern end of Long Island, and there they grew to maturity, attended the common sehools, married and established the family home. They finally came to Columbus where they spent the rest of their lives, the mother dying in 1893 and Captain Davis twenty-one years later, in 1914.
After graduating from the high school at Sag Harbor and attending Bridgeport (New York) Academy for two years, Mr. Davis, then in his seventeenth year, signed on in the merchant marine and spent four years in the West Indias, Mexico and South America trade, sailing out of New York City. But not desiring to follow the sea and believing that his talents lay in another direction, he returned to his old home at Sag Harbor and took up the study of law, later entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he completed the law course, graduating from that institution in 1881, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Michigan bar at Detroit in 1881 and in 1883 was admitted to the Ohio bar at Columbus, in which eity he immediately began praetieing his profession, and here he has since remained. Mr. Davis built up a large and satisfactory practice and attained a high rank at the local bar. In 1884 he was appointed first eity solicitor, in which office he served one year. This is the only public office he ever held. In 1905 he retired from the practice of the law to devote his time to corporate affairs in which he was largely interested.
In 1903 Mr. Davis was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Scioto Valley Traction Company, and when that road went into operation in 1901, he was elected president and general manager, which position he has sinee held continuously. Under his able manage- ment the road has proven to be a very successful enterprise.
In 1898 he was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Columbus Citizens Tele- phone Company, and he was instrumental in the merging of that company with the Ohio State Telephone Company in 1914, sinee which time he has been chairman of the board, and this company too, has been very successful under his dircetion.
Mr. Davis is a member of the New York Yacht Club, the Sag Harbor Yacht Club, the Columbus Club, the Columbus Country Club, the Seioto Country Club and the Columbus Ath- letic Club. He is also identified with a number of local charities as trustee, particularly the Home for the Aged, and the Children's Hospital.
In 1892 Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Carrie Johnson, a daughter of Thomas and Marilda ( Williams) Johnson, of Franklin county, Ohio. To this union one child was born, Ruth Davis, who died in 1903 in her seventh year. The wife and mother passed away in 1911, and in 1915, Mr. Davis married Margaret Tewksbury Johnson, widow of Albert Johnson. Mrs. Davis was born at Portsmouth, Ohio.
Mr. Davis is a man who takes an active interest in whatever tends to promote the general good of his home eity, and, being public-spirited, obliging, charitable and honorable in all his relations with his fellow men he is held in high esteem by all who know him.
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IRVIN WILLIAM SHERWOOD, M. D. Belonging to Franklin county's enterprising class of professional men, Dr. Irvin William Sherwood, of the West Side, Columbus, is deserv- ing of specific mention in these pages. To the active practice of medieine he has given not only the gravity of his thought and the truest exereise of his abilities, but the strength of his personality and the momentum of his character.
Dr. Sherwood was born on the home farm near Newark, Ohio, June 24, 1869. He is a son of Benjamin Franklin Sherwood and Sarah (Haslop) Sherwood, both natives of Mary- land. They removed to Ohio at the close of the Civil War, loeating on a farm near Newark, subsequently removing to Delaware, this state, where the father is still living, the mother having passed away in 1902.
Dr. Sherwood spent his early boyhood on the farm where he made himself useful with the usual chores that fall to the lot of the rural youngster the world over. After attending the publie schools he entered high school at Galena, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the class of 1891. In that year he took up teaching, securing the necessary certificate at the county institute where he made excellent grades. He continued teaching school for twenty- seven terms, becoming one of the popular and efficient educators of that seetion of the state. During this protracted period his services were in great demand as a teacher and he was popular with both pupils and patrons. He did much to better the publie school system in the locality where he taught, introducing many modern methods. Having an insatiable desire for higher learning he always attended school during the summer months during the vacation period, instead of idling the time away or employing it unprofitably, as do so many teachers. In this way he worked through college, and was graduated from Ohio Northern University with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
Finally deeiding that the medical profession held greater laurels for him than he could obtain in educational work, Dr. Sherwood gave up teaching and entered Starling Medical College at Columbus, and making an excellent record, was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1901. Not long thereafter he began the practice of his profession at his pres- ent location, 1001-1003 Sullivant avenue, Columbus. During this period of seventeen years he has built up a large and satisfactory practice among the best families of the West Side.
Dr. Sherwood is a member of the Columbus Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Med- ical Society, and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he holds membership in Humbolt Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Franklin Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of the World. He is also a member of West Park Methodist Episcopal church. He is president of the West Side Board of Trade and is a booster for his seetion of the capital city, whose every interest he has at heart.
Dr. Sherwood married Mabel Carpenter, of Olive Green, Ohio, and to their union two daughters have been born, namely: Hazel, who married Roy Ferguson, of Columbus, and Ethel, who married Herbert Waterman, also of Columbus.
The Doctor has remained a profound student and has therefore kept up with modern medical research work. He is one of the best known and respected citizens of the West Side.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BOWEN. Change is constant and general, generations rise and pass unmarked away, and it is the duty of posterity as well as a present gratification to place upon the printed page a true record of the lives of those who have preceded us on the stage of action and left to their descendants the memory of the struggles and achievements. The years of the honored subject of this memoir are a part of the indissoluble chain which links the annals of the past to those of the latter-day progress and prosperity, and the history of Columbus would not be complete without due reference to the long, useful and honorable life Mr. Bowen lived and the success he achieved as an carnest, courageous laborer in one of the most important fields of endeavor.
Benjamin Franklin Bowen was born near Wooster. Wayne county, Ohio, on February 12, 1827, and was the son of Lot and Rebecca (Whittaker) Bowen, both of whom were probably natives of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On the paternal line, he was descended from sterling old Welsh stock, while on the maternal line he was of Scoteh aneestry. His father. Lot Bowen, was for some years master of a sailing vessel owned by Stephen Girard and used in the river and coast trade. He married Rebeeea Whittaker early in the year 1800 and in 1808 eame to Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their lives as farmers. Their first location was in Wayne county, but subsequently they located in Clark county. The subject
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