USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I > Part 112
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 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
Mr. Platt was one of the men of strong personality who mark the early history of Columbus. He had great force of will and character, quick perceptions and rare judgment in all matters, a sympathetic temperament, and that perfect integrity and fairness of mind which inspire full confidence and respect. Thoroughness in all that he undertook characterized his whole life. He had a love for horticulture and was never happier than when enjoying the recreation of work in his garden, trying a new experiment in grafting or grape culture, or giving his attention to one or another of the infinite matters of interest to be found by the lover of nature in a well ordered garden.
In 1855 he planned and built a new residence at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Cleveland Avenue, at that time an almost suburban location. The house stands today a monument to his good taste, and illustrates the generous scale on which all his undertakings were carried out. After nearly forty years it is one of the most spacious, sightly and comfortable residences of Columbus. Three
865
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
acres of land around this residence gave scope for horticultural recreation, and for many years, while his health was strong and the scantier markets of that time were an incentive to private gardening for the supply of one's own table, Mr. Platt took great pleasure and pride in producing on that three acres, and sharing with his neighbors, the very finest fruits and vegetables of all sorts, large and small. The newest varieties of grapes, strawberries, pears, melons and the more prosaic potato, were there, and flowers, especially roses, in profusion. Another characteristic was tondness for all the animal kind, especially horses, and they seemed, as is often the case, to recognize in him their especial friend and master, becoming attached to him and subject to his will in an unusual degree.
He married Fanny A. Hayes, of Delaware, Ohio, September 2, 1839. She died July 16, 1856, leaving a son and three daughters. Prior to this bereavement Mr. Platt, with his wife, entered fully into the social life of Columbus, and freely shared in the maintenance of its wide hospitality. He was always a kind and genial neighbor, and generous, considerate host. Even after his increasing deafness and the bereavement of life had caused his gradual withdrawal from society entertain- ments, he was cordially observant of all hospitable rites, and always showed a fine courtesy, which was the natural expression of his considerateness for others. In 1863 he was married to Sarah Follett of Sandusky, Ohio, by whom he had three daughters.
Mr. Platt died on August 8, 1882, after an illness of several months, borne with characteristic fortitude.
HON. JAMES KILBOURN [Portrait opposite page 184.]
One of the most widely known of the pioneers of Franklin County, was born in New Britain, Connecticut, October 19, 1770. He died in Worthington, Ohio, April 9, 1850. Until the age of fifteen he worked with his father, a farmer in moderate circumstances, and enjoyed but few opportunities for instruction. At that time, his father having met with reverses, compelling him to part with his farm, he left bis home and apprenticed himself to a clothier. Seven months of each year he devoted to his master, his only compensation being his board and instruction in his trade; the remaining five months he hired himself to farmers to procure means to meet his other expenses. During the first three summers of his appren- ticeship he was principally employed by Mr. Griswold, father of Bishop Griswold of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The future Bishop became his warm friend, and with his assistance he acquired a considerable knowledge of the classics and mathematics. About the commencement of the fourth year of his apprenticeship, his master relinquished all claims to his serving as an apprentice, and gave to him the entire charge of the establishment. November 8, 1789, he was married to Lucy Fitch, daughter of John Fitch, of Philadelphia, the inventor and builder of the first steamboat in the world. During the next few years he was extensively engaged in merchandising and manufacturing, meeting with large success, and early acquiring a competence. During this time he continued to pros-
55
866
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.
cente his studies, and also devoted much time to various objects of public utility. He had early in life become a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church and often officiated as layreader. About the year 1800, he presented himselfas a can- didate for orders in the church, and was ordained by Bishop Jarvis, of Conneeti- ent. He declined several advantageous calls to vacant parishes, having formed a project of emigration to Ohio, then regarded as the " Far West." In the winter of 1801-2, he succeeded in obtaining seven associates, who desired him to explore the country, and if he thought expedient, purchase land enough for forty families. Accordingly, in the spring of 1802, he started on his first expedition to Ohio. Ile traveled the first three hundred miles by stage to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, near the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, thenee, carrying a heavy pack, he walked over the mountains to Pittsburgh, 150 miles; thenee continned traveling on foot more than a thousand miles through the eastern part of the territory. After a careful survey of the country, he fixed upon a desirable location, and returning home completed the association of forty members, know as the " Scioto Company," and closed the contract for a township of 16,000 acres he had previously selected.
In the spring of 1803, he again started for the West, on horseback, followed by a millwright, blacksmith, with other laborers and a family in two wagons. At Pittsburgh he purchased millstores, irons, and other supplies, which were sent down the Ohio River to the mouth of the Scioto, and then taken in a keelboat to the new purchase- now Worthington. Mr. Kilbourn arrived at the point of des- tination some weeks in advance of the others, and on May 5, 1803, he cut the first tree on the purchase. Upon the arrival of the party, they at once proceeded to clear land and put in seed for potatoes, corn, turnips, etc. The also erected a blacksmith shop, school building, place of public worship and twelve cabins, and commenced a dam across the Seioto River and laid out the town. Mr. Kilbourn then returned to Connecticut and conducted his own and ten other families to Worthington. The entire colony now numbered one hundred persons. Nearly all of the adult members united with the Episcopal Society and were constituted a church under the name of St. John's Parish, of which Mr. Kilbourn was appointed Rector. Ever active and efficient, he visited the neighboring settle- ments, and other parts of the State, preaching and organizing societies, many of which became and remained permanent churches. Many and arduous duties had already devolved upon him aside from those pertaining to his profession. He superintended all the affairs of the colony, and the calls upon his time for the transaction of public business rapidly increased. Up to this time he had never entertained the thought of leaving his clerical office, but his fellow citizens began to urge upon him the importance of his taking the lead in their civil affairs, and having procured the establishment of a western diocese by the General Conven- tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he retired from the ministry, in 1804. Upon the organization of the State Government of Ohio, he was appointed a civil magistrate and an officer of militia on the Northwestern frontiers. In the spring of 1805, he explored the south shore of Lake Erie and selected the site of San- dusky City. About this time he received, unasked for, the appointment of United States Surveyor of a large portion of the public lands. In 1806, he was appointed
867
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
one of the first trustees of the Ohio College at Athens. In 1808, he was elected one of three commissioners to locate the seat of Miami University. About this time he was elected major of the Frontier Regiment, and soon afterwards lion- tenant-colonel, and then colonel. This last office he declined, and also resigned his former commission.
On the organization of Worthington College in 1812 he was elected president of the corporation. During the same year he was appointed by the president of the United States a commissioner to settle the boundary between the public lands and the Great Virginia Reservation. Immediately after the completion of this service, which was performed under circumstances of much peril, he was elected to Congress. On his return home at the close of the second session, he was unani- mously reelected colonel, and was prevailed upon to accept. In the fall of 1814 he was again placed in nomination for Congress, his opponent being General Philemon Beecher, previously Speaker of the House. Colonel Kilbourn was elected by a vote of more than two to one. At the end of the Fourteenth Con- gress, he dechned a renomination. While in Congress the interests of the Great West were the objects of his special care. He was the first to propose donation of land to actual settlers in the Northwestern Territory, and as chairman of a select committee, he drew up and presented a bill for that purpose. About the commencement of the war with Great Britain, it being extensively known that he had a knowledge of manufacturing and some spare capital, he was requested by friends in New York, and urged by the President and his Cabinet and mem- bers of Congress, to embark in the manufacture of woolen goods for clothing the army and navy. Although remembering the ruin of all engaged in similar enter. prises during the War of the Revolution, he was induced to join a company for that purpose, in which he invested all his ready capital and incurred liabilities to a large amount.
On the declaration of peace, there being no further demand for army woolens, the company met with great loss. He sustained the whole establishment until 1820, when the factories at Worthington and Steubenville were obliged to close. He now found himself at the age of fifty years, with a large family, most of them young, deprived of everything he had accumulated in his long and busy life. With his customary energy and spirit, he took up his surveying apparatus again and went into the woods. For more than twenty years he was much of the time busily engaged in this calling, and it is safe to say that he has surveyed more town- ships, highways, turnpikes, railroads and boundary lines than any three other men in the State. By the practice of his wonted industry and enterprise he in a short time acquired a good degree of independence. In 1823 he was elected to the Ohio legislature, and served with distinction in that body. Soon after this he was appointed by the Governor of Ohio to select the lands granted by Congress towards the Ohio Canal. In 1838-9 he was again a member of the General Assembly. He was the presiding officer at the great State Convention at Columbus, July 4, 1839, for laying the corner stone of the Capitol of Ohio; also at the noted Whig Convention February 22, 1840. It may be added that, after arriving at the age of seventy he was called to preside at more than half of all
868
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.
the conventions and meetings of every kind which he attended. Colonel Kilbourn declined all publie offices, except that of assessor of real and personal property for the County of Franklin, the duties of which office he performed until 1845. when he resigned. But although retired from active public life, he still felt a great interest in public affairs, and during the six years ending with 1848, he delivered more than one hundred addresses on state and national policy. He died at his residence in Worthington, April, 1850, aged eighty years. He was twice married. His first wife died soon after his removal to Ohio, and in 1808 he was married in Worthington to Cynthia Goodale, sister of Doctor L. Goodale.
JOHN OTSTOT [Portrait opposite page 200.]
Was born in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1804. His father, Adam Otstot, had come to Pennsylvania with his parents from Germany before the Declaration of Independence was issued. His mother was born in York County, Pennsylvania. John attended the district school for two years and a half, and this comprised all his schooling. At the age of seventeen he started in to learn the trade of wagonmaker. When twentyone years of age, he decided to come west, and finally located in Columbus in December, 1824. He walked the whole distance of 500 miles, aided by nothing but a stout staff, and carrying his knapsack, which weighed fifteen pounds. This feat he performed in the remarkably short time of ten days. Shortly after his arrival in Columbus he engaged in wagonmaking with Mathias Kinney. At the end of two years Mr. Kinney died and Mr. Otstot bought his shop. He remained in this business for thirtyseven years, finally retiring from business in 1863 to look after his real estate, of which he had acquired considerable. In 1885 he was appointed Street Commissioner to superintend the improvement of the streets, and in connection with his appointment occurred an incident which shows the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. The City Council, with which the appointment rested, was a Democratic body, yet they unanimously appointed Mr. Otstot, who was and is a Republican. Under his careful superintendency a large saving took place and economical ways were injected into the methods of the commission. The steadiness and constancy of his character is shown by the fact that from the time he first came to Columbus to the present day, a period of sixtysix years, be has always lived upon the same lot. For forty years he has been a member of the First Presbyterian Church, and for fortyfive years a member of the Odd Fellows, having joined Columbus Lodge, Number 9, in 1845. He has passed through all the chairs of the order, and was treasurer for fifteen years. He was also trustee of the same lodge for a period of thirtyone years. He also belongs to Camp 6, I. O. O. F., and is now colorbearer of the Canton Number 1, I. O. O. F. HIe is one of the oldest living members of the Old Pioneer Association. He was a member of the Mechanics' Beneficial Society from its beginning in 1825 to its ending about 1880. For thirtyone years he was its trustee. It owned the build- ing now known as the Eagle Drug Store, southeast corner of High and Rich streets.
869
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Mr. Otstot was married on August 5, 1829, to Eleanor Van Vorst, who bad come to Columbus from the State of New York. They had thirteen children, namely, Catherine, afterwards Mrs. Henry Deahl; John ; Elizabeth A., afterwards Mrs. Henry Behmer ; Amanda, afterwards Mrs. William Smith; Adelia, afterwards Mrs. Samuel W. Williams; Charles, Lucy, Oliver, Woodberry, Charlotte, after- wards Mrs. Philip Lukop; Edward, Frank A. and Albert.
Mrs. Otstot died in 1861. In October, 1864, Mr. Otstot married Mrs. Matilda Wofford, nee Webb.
CHRISTIAN FREDERICK JAEGER [Portrait opposite page 224.]
Was born in Heilinrode, in Hesse Cassel, Germany, on August 11, 1795. His par- ents were Rev. John J. Jaeger, a minister of the German Reformed Church, and Maria Jaeger. When Christian was four years old his father died, and his mother moved with her children to Hesse Cassel, where they were educated. In 1811 he was admitted to the Westphalian Artillery School, where he pursued his military studies under able instructors until 1812 or 1813, when the French were driven out of the city by General Zernicheff and the Russian army. After the battle of Leipzig, young Jaeger joined the allied forces of his native land. Ile entered the Kur-Hessian army, which formed part of the North German allied army, and was commissioned second lieutenant. The Germans pursued the enemy into French territory, but the corps to which Mr. Jaeger belonged took no part in any severe battles. After the treaty of Paris, he returned to Germany, where he continued in service as an officer of the Kur-Hessian army. He was successively promoted to first lieutenant and captain, and made commandant of the flying artillery corps, in which he served until 1832, when he was relieved from further service by his own request.
He was married in 1821 to Johanna Henrietta Brauer, who was born on Jan- uary 28, 1799, and died in Columbus on February 10, 1868. They emigrated to America with their children in 1834, leaving Germany in April and arriving in New York in July. Intending to go to Missouri they took steamer on the Hudson to Albany, then traveled on the first horse railway built in America to Schenec- tady, from Schenectady by canal to Buffalo, then by steamer on Lake Erie to Cleveland, where again they embarked on a canal boat. On arriving at Lock- bourne, they found the feeder of the canal broken and the boats could not come up to Columbus. The children and baggage were therefore conveyed in a large wagon, while the rest walked to Columbus. As the cholera was raging with great violence, they decided to remain in Columbus Several months after his arrival, Mr. Jaeger bought 140 acres of land on South High Street, where he continued to reside up to the time of his death.
Mr. Jaeger's family consisted of cleven children, seven of whom were born in Germany. Those who grew to maturity were Dorothea, Herman W., Henry, who died in 1846, Maria, Joanna, Edward, who died in 1876, Frederick, Matilda and Emma. Mr. Jaeger took an active interest in politics, but never held any office.
870
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS
MILBURY MILLER GREENE [Portrait opposite page 240.]
Was born in Lewiston Falls, Maine, on May 11, 1830. His father, David Greenc, who was of New Hampshire family, was one of the first to engage in the manu- facturing of boots and shoes by organized labor, a business which has developed into such immense proportions in the East. In the fall of 1839, he founded the first factory at Auburn, Maine. On his return home from Pittsburgh, where he had gone to introduce his goo.ls, he was detained in the Alleghany Mountains for over a week by the fury of a snow storm, then raging. This delay eaused him to reach New York in time to take the illfated steamer Lexington, which was burned on Long Island Sound, and he was among the lost. His body was afterwards found in a boat firmly wedged beneath the ice. His wife, Lymtha (Miller) Greene, was born in Kennebunk Port, Maine, and died in Athens, Ohio, November 5, 1884, at the age of eightysix.
Young Milbury Greene attended school at Lewiston Falls Academy, which he left at the age of sixteen in order to care for his mother. After leaving school he was in the employ of Joseph D. Davis & Co. While there he formed an acquaintance with Walter H. French, from New Hampshire, who was a railroad contractor and at that time engaged in building a part of the Maine Central Rail- way through the town of Greene, adjacent to Lewiston Falls. Mr. French hav- ing taken a contract on the Vermont Central, at the town of Bolton, midway between Montpelier and Burlington, he was desirous that young Greene should accept a position with him, which he accordingly did, and spent a portion of the years 1849 and 1850 on this road. In September, 1851, Mr. French offered to take him as a partner in any work that might be secured. Having received an invita- tion from Captain Kennedy, formerly an engineer on the Vermont Central, and then chief engineer of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, which was partially under construction from Cincinnati to Marietta, Mr. French decided to go west with Mr. Greene and bid for the work, the contract for which was to be let that fall. They started from Manchester, New Hampshire, on September 7, 1851. On Tuesday, September 16, they reached Chillicothe. Here they met members of the firm of Cushing, Wood & Co., who contracted for the building of the Marietta & Cineinnati road between Blanchester and Chillicothe. Upon their invitation, Mr. Greene and Mr. French investigated various parts of the work and soon became satisfied that, though they were thoroughly conversant with New England work, railroad construction in Ohio was of such a different character that before they could successfully compete with Western builders a more thorough knowledge of its details would have to be acquired. They, however, made an estimate on twenty miles of the road, which only served to confirm their former conclusion. Mr. French was obliged to return to Manchester. Mr. Greene determined to remain and master the difficulty. For this purpose he engaged to act as paymaster for the firm of Cushing, Wood & Company, and to take charge of their books. Here he remained for eleven months, during which time he made himself thorough- ly familiar with the details of Ohio railroad building. He was now ready for business. A partnership was formed under the firm name of French, Dodge &
871
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Company, composed of Walter H. French, of Manchester, New Hampshire, J. B. French, of Lowell, Massachusetts, Arthur Latham, of White River, Vermont, Frederick Dodge, of Lynne, New Hampshire, and M. M. Greene. On September 10, 1852, they made a bid for the heavy work to the Ohio River at Belpre and Marietta, which amounted to 84,000,000. The bid was accepted on the following day. Mr. Greene made the estimates. On October 8, he returned from the East with men and supplies.
After the completion of this contract he bought a salt works property in Southern Ohio, which business he engaged in for a time. Here he first conceived the idea of building the Hocking Valley Railway, which was commenced in 1865. He entered enthusiastically into the work of promoting the enterprise, devoting much of his own time and private means to the preliminary surveys and to the securing of local subscriptions. Finding inadequate encouragement at home and along the line of the proposed railway, he visited Columbus, a comparative stran- ger, and entered upon the task of awakening the interests of its substantial citizens to the importance of the railway to the material prosperity of the city. At first he met with but little encouragement, but finally at his earnest soli- citation, a meeting was called, at which some half a dozen publie spirited citizens were present. At this small gathering, so able was his presentation and advocacy of the merits of his proposed enterprise and its future value to the city of Columbus, he secured the promises of cooperation of these few citizens. He emphasized his own faith by offering personally to repay all money subscribed for making further surveys should it be found that his representations were not true. The immediate result of the meeting was a subscription of $1,150 by the few gentle- men then present, to make a survey. An engineer was employed to make the survey, whose report indicated a better line than Mr. Greene had represented. Steps were than taken to secure stock subscriptions, the name being changed from that of Mineral to that of Columbus & Hocking Valley Railroad Company. Mr. Greene personally soliciting subscriptions at Columbus and along the line, obtained in a few weeks $750,000, and the Columbus organization was thereupon perfected. Contracts were made for the construction of the road and the equip- ment, additional stock subscriptions meantime being secured. In a comparatively few months, the first train of Hocking coal was brought to Columbus. From this small beginning has developed the present Columbus, Hocking Valley & Toledo railway system, to which more than any other enterprise does Columbus owe its first onward and upward impulse, demonstrating its peculiar advantages as a manufacturing and commercial city. His was the leading, guiding and directing mind in the operation and policy of the road from its inception until its sale by the stockholders. After completing the Columbus & Hocking Valley road, Mr. Greene, as president, built the Columbus & Toledo, and the Ohio & West Virginia lines. In 1881 these roads were consolidated under the name of Columbus, Hock_ ing Valley & Toledo Railway Company, of which Mr. Greene was president. His career as a railroad man was continuous from 1848 to June 30, 1886, when, at a meeting of the board of directors, he resigned the presideney on account of ill health and need of rest.
872
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.
In December, 1886, he organized the Clinton National Bank of Columbus and was elected its president, which position he occupied at the time of his death, which occurred on June 26, 1887. Mr. Greene's entire business career was marked by sound judgment, great energy, sagacity and probity.
In 1853 he was married to Martha K. Gould, of Portland, Maine, whose death occurred October 29, 1891. His family consisted of three daughters and two sons.
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.