USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 19
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On the expiration of that period Mr. Murphy formed a partnership with the late J. C. Patterson, which continued for thirteen years, and after its dissolution he was joined by C. W. Elliff in a partnership in which A. Emanuel became as- sociated in July, 1908. Their law business is now important and of a repre-
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sentative character, bringing them into close connection with the work of the courts in the trial of various notable cases. Mr. Murphy was for two years attorney for the Dayton school board. He is well known socially as a member of the Elks lodge, the Foresters, Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus, while his religious faith is manifested by his membership in the Catholic church.
THOMAS A. LEGLER.
Thomas A. Legler, whose name is an honored one in commercial and financial circles, is numbered among those whose intelligently directed industry in former years has brought them to a position where it is possible to live in business re- tirement without recourse to further labor. Moreover, he is honored and re- spected by reason of the fact that he is of that class of self-made men who have not feared to venture where favoring opportunity has led, the way, possessing the courage to meet conditions as they arise and a resolute will that has enabled him to overcome the difficulties and obstacles which continually beset the paths of business.
Born in New York city in 1832, he was a son of Joseph Legler, a native of Baden, Germany, in which country he was reared and married Christina Yag- ley. Coming to America, they remained in the eastern metropolis until 1833, when they removed to Dayton. The father was a millstone cutter. He continued his residence in this city until his death, which occurred when he was forty-six years of age, four sons and two daughters surviving him. Of this family three sons and the daughters are yet living and all are residents of Dayton.
In this city Thomas A. Legler was reared and acquired his education in the public schools of that day. Dayton was then a city of eight thousand popula- tion and Mr. Legler therefore, in the intervening years, has witnessed much of its growth and progress and through his business activity has contributed to the promotion of its commercial development. He was first employed in the office of the Journal, then a tri-weekly paper, published by Richard and William Cumley, with whom he continued for a year. He then entered a clothing store, where he remained for three or four years, after which he sold goods from a wagon for his employer, Salvator Schafer. On discontinuing that work he entered the wholesale dry-goods house of Pryne, Lytle & Shaw, remaining with that firm as a salesman for several vers. when he felt that his previous experi- ence and the capital which he had saved from his earnings justified him in en- gaging in business on his own account. He then joined John Fink in a partner- ship under the firm style of Fink & Legler, furnishing his experience and eight hundred dollars capital. They established a clothing store and the business was successfully continued for four or five years, when Mr. Legler withdrew and established a wholesale dry-goods store under the firm name of T. A. Leg- ler & Company. After two or three years the firm became Legler & Barlow, the junior partner, Theodore Barlow, having been the silent partner in the original firm. This relation was maintained continuously until the retirement of
THOMAS A. LEGLER
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Mr. Legler in 1906, and the house throughout that period ranked as one of the foremost wholesale enterprises in this part of the state, its ramifying trade in- terests covering a wide territory, while its close conformity to a high standard of commercial ethics won for it a most enviable and unassailable reputation. Mr. Legler still remains a director of the Third National Bank and a director and the vice president of the Teutonia Fire Insurance Company. His investments are well placed and his former success makes his name an honored one on com- mercial paper.
In 1860 Mr. Legler was married in Dayton to Miss Mary Barlow, a daughter of Theodore Barlow, and they have two daughters and two sons: Clara, now the wife of Edward Ohmer, of Dayton ; Ella, the wife of E. D. Grimes, Theodore Barlow and Thomas A., both of this city.
Mr. Legler votes with the democracy but has never yet taken an active part in politics. He belongs to the Dayton City Club and to the Sacred Heart Cath- olic church. A broad humanitarianism is manifest in his active cooperation with many measures for the benefit of the unfortunate and his generous support of various charities. For ten years he served as a trustee of the Children Home in Dayton and was also at one time a trustee of the State Hospital for the In- sane in this city. Dayton numbers him among its oldest residents, for through seventy-six years he has here resided, watching with interest the growth and de- velopment of the municipality. Events which are to others matters of history are to him matters of personal experience and his reminiscences concerning those things which have featured in the annals of Dayton are interesting and instruc- tive. He has at all times rejoiced in the city's growth and cooperated in many plans for its improvement and advancement.
NATHAN MORY.
Nathan Mory, deceased, was for many years a prominent merchant and busi- ness man of Dayton, the extent and importance of his activities making him a leading factor in the upbuilding and commercial progress of the city. Through- out his entire career, too, he was so careful to conform his activities to a high standard of commercial ethics that over his record there fell no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil. His example indeed was one well worthy of emulation and although ten years have passed since he was called to his final rest his memory is honored by those who were associated with him.
He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1822 and came to Dayton in early manhood with his widowed mother and with his brother Albert. Here he turned his attention to merchandising, engaging in the hat, shoe and fur busi- ness, which he followed for many years, building up an extensive and profitable trade in that direction. At length, however, he retired from mercantile life and engaged in the real estate business, in which he continued up to the time of his demise, in 1899. The spirit of enterprise and determination, and the ability which he displayed gave him a prominent place in the ranks of the leading and successful business men in the city.
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Mr. Mory was married in Dayton in 1862 to Miss Sarah C. Casad, and unto them were born three sons: Bert C., a Mason and an Elk, who died unmarried in 1880; Walter, who died in infancy; and Harry Casad, who belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Dayton City Club. He is well known in the social circles of this city and also in the First Baptist church. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and while he is in thorough sympathy with its principles he is not an active partisan.
COLONEL EDWARD A. KING.
Thrilled with the love and pride of country, it is well for the individual to pause and think that the present stability of this great republic rests upon the sacrifice of thousands of our loyal sons who laid down their lives on the altar of the nation that its unity might be preserved. It was thus that the record of Colonel Edward A. King was brought to its close. He was born in Cambridge, New York, April 3, 1814, and was killed in the battle at Chickamauga, Georgia, on the 20th of September, 1863. In early life he was a well-known man in Dayton, where he had lived for a number of years prior to the war and took an active and helpful part in promoting its business development and its progress along various lines. In 1842 at Cincinnati, Ohio, he was married to Miss Sarah McNaughton, who died in Dayton, November 17, 1866.
When Texas struggled against Mexico and won her independence, becom- ing a republic in herself in the southwest, Colonel King was among those who aided in attaining this result, being associated with many of the leaders in that struggle. Later when the war between the United States and Mexico occurred, ne volunteered for service and participated in General Scott's campaign leading up to the capture of the City of Mexico. He held the rank of captain of the Fifteenth United States Infantry. In 1853 he was appointed postmaster of Dayton, which position he acceptably filled for eight years.
That the fire of patriotism burned brightly within his breast is indicated by the ready response which he gave whenever military aid was needed. His age would have released him from service in the Civil war, but prior to that conflict he studied the questions which were bringing about the division between the north and the south and considered the constitutionality of the movement of the Con- federacy, and, believing in the right of the government to hold all of its territory and its people, he offered his services in the opening year of the Civil war, at once reporting to Governor Denison of Ohio with his company. He was placed in command of Camp Denison and without solicitation was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Nineteenth United States Infantry, being ordered to Indianapolis to organize his regiment. In the summer of 1862, when Kirby Smith invaded Kentucky, he temporarily took command of the Sixty-eighth Indiana Regiment to resist the enemy, and his regiment was one of those captured at the battle of Mumfordville when the Union troops were defending the garrison at that place. Colonel King, however, saved the regimental flag by wrapping it around his body and carrying it there until he was exchanged. Shortly before his death he was
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promoted to colonelcy of the Sixth United States Infantry. In the Chickamauga campaign he was in command of the Second Brigade, Reynolds' Division. Four- teenth Army Corps, and with his brigade he participated in the hard fighting September 19, 1863, at Chickamauga, where on the afternoon of the 20th he was killed by a Confederate sharp-shooter during a lull in the fight. His body was carried on the field on a caisson and buried at Rossville, being the only body taken off the field. The national government has erected a hansome shell monu- ment on the spot where he was killed.
CHARLES CHATLAND BOSLER.
Charles Chatland Bosler is well known in business circles of Dayton by reason of his connection with various enterprises, chief among which is the bakery busi- ness in which he is engaged in connection with his father. He was born in this city April 14, 1859, and is a son of Theodore Bosler. He acquired his educa- tion in the public schools of Dayton and in his early youth learned the baker's trade. After graduating from the local schools with honor he began his business career in connection with the dry goods house of D. L. Rike & Company, where his promotions were rapid. He was soon placed in charge of the silk depart- ment and his labors constituted a valuable asset of the house. In 1888, how- ever, he returned to the business with which he was first connected, joining his father, Theodore Bosler, in the conduct of a bakery which they now carry on in their own property on South Main street. Charles C. Bosler is also interested in other enterprises and has been successful in all his undertakings, for he seems to see from the center to the utmost circumference of possibilities and at ali times wisely utilizes the opportunities at hand.
On the 19th of September, 1888, in Dayton Mr. Bosler was married to Miss Ida Best and they have four children : Charlotte, Elizabeth Manton, Edwin Best and Theodore. In his political views Mr. Bosler is a republican interested in the success and growth of the party but never seeking office as a reward for party fealty. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. In all respects he is a thorough Christian gentleman, highly esteemed by those who know him and he lives in a beautiful and happy home in Dayton View.
ALBERT L. SHEARER.
Albert L. Shearer is the junior partner of the firm of Roney & Shearer, hardware merchants of Dayton, who for twenty-one years have conducted busi- ness in this city, maintaining throughout an unassailable reputation for commer- cial activity, increasing their business along the legitimate lines of trade and in harmony with the progressive ideas of the present day. Mr. Shearer was born on a farm in Montgomery county, Ohio, June 11, 1851, and is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of this locality. His grandfather. Moses
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Shearer, was a native of Pennsylvania and during the formative period in the history of Montgomery county established his home within its borders upon a farm in Wayne township where he carried on general agricultural pursuits for many years, his death occurring in 1874. His son, Christopher Shearer, was born on the home farm in 1827 and, having arrived at years of maturity he wedded Harriet Wright, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, October 6, 1829. Their marriage, however, was celebrated in Montgomery county, December 19, 1849, and they retained their residence in the latter county until 1856 when they removed to Shelby county, locating in Jackson township. There they lived until the spring of 1864, after which they spent one year in the city of Sidney and then located on a farm near Swanders, where they continued to make their home until the death of Mrs. Shearer, with the exception of four years passed in Mont- gomery county. Mrs. Shearer was an invalid for five years before she departed this life, December 2, 1908. Mr. Shearer still resides in Shelby county, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. In their family were six sons and six daugh- ters and the family circle remained unbroken by the hand of death until the mother passed away. The sons and daughters are as follows: Albert L .; John H., who is living in Los Gatos, California ; Martha, Mary, Clara, Effie and S. E. Shearer, who are on the home farm near Swanders, Ohio; Charles, living in Min- neapolis, Minnesota ; Will E., a resident of Cleveland; Warren W .. of Washing- ton, D. C .; Mrs. E. McCormick, of Jackson Center, Ohio ; and Mrs. E. W. Rich- ards, of Sidney, Ohio.
The eldest of the family, Albert L. Shearer, was reared under the parental roof to the age of nineteen years and completed his education by two years' study in the Dayton high school. He put aside his text-books when about twenty years of age and later canvassed and made collections for an agricultural implement firm. Subsequently he accepted a position as clerk in the hardware store of R. Barnett & Company and during his six years association with that house he gained comprehensive understanding of the trade and laid the foundation for his success in the same line in later years. He afterward became manager for the west side branch of the lumber business of C. White & Son, with whom he continued for eight years, after which he spent one year in the office of the Barney & Smith Car Works. On the expiration of that period he returned to the hardware trade in 1888, forming a partnership with H. Roney under the firm style of Roney & Shearer. They began business in the store which they now occupy and have been located here continuously since. Theirs is one of the old established hardware enterprises of the city with a large patronage and an extensive and well selected line of goods. From the beginning theirs has proved a profitable venture and that Mr. Shearer is widely recognized as a prominent representative of the hard- ware trade in the state is attested by the fact that he was honored with the presi- dency of the Ohio Hardware Association in an election to that office in 1908. Through the preceding three years he had served as its financial secretary and his efforts have been a potent force in promoting hardware interests and in bring- ing to the dealers such knowledge and experience as will prove of benefit in promoting individual interests. Aside from his activity in hardware lines, Mr. Shearer became one of the charter members of the West Side Building & Loan Company, of which he has now been the president for several years. He is also
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a director in the Farmers & Merchants Bank on the west side of the city and is a business man whose judgment is uniformly regarded as sound and reliable.
In 1881 in Dayton Mr. Shearer was married to Miss Julia B. Folkerth, a daughter of K. R. H. Folkerth, whose father, Russel Folkerth, was one of the first justices of the peace of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Shearer have a daughter, Edith L., now the wife of H. N. Hall, of Joliet, Illinois.
Mr. Shearer has been active and prominent in various lines outside of business. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum and is a trustee of Howard Council, No. 161, of Dayton. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, strongly endorsing the principles which have been its basic elements for years. For a long time he was actively interested in the Young Men's Christian Association, which he represented for some years in official capacities. He belongs to the First Reformed church, in which he has held all of the offices and is now a member of the board of trustees of the Central Theological Seminary of Dayton. He acted for a long period as superintendent of the Sunday school in his church and was for a considerable period a member of the advisory board of the home mission board of the Reformed church of the United States. It will thus be seen that he takes a keen interest in religious work and the various activities of the church, giving much of his time and influence to promoting these varied interests. In all things he measures up to the full standard of honorable, upright manhood and justly merits the high position which he occupies in the regard of his host of friends and his business colleagues.
ABRAHAM BAKER.
Abraham Baker, a farmer of Jefferson township, living on the outskirts of Dayton, which is his post-office via rural route, No. 6, was born August 8, 1854, at the county infirmary, of which his father, Aaron Baker, was superintendent at the time. The latter came to this state from Maryland, but his mother, who in her maidenhood was Miss Nancy Simpson, came to Ohio from Pennsylvania. Soon after settling in this county Aaron Baker became identified with local politics, and as he exhibited an aptitude for that kind of work was appointed superintendent of the county infirmary, holding the office first in 1850 and for several terms thereafter. Seven children were born to him and his wife: Abra- ham, David, Charles, Webster, John, Alice and Marilda. Abraham Baker, the eldest of this family, grew to manhood under the wise guidance of his par- ents. His early years were not marked by anything of great importance, though in their course he decided that he should like to learn the carpenter's trade, which he did, and in it acquired not a little skill, for he pursued it steadily for some time, but of late years he has been able to give less and less time to it as he has devoted hmself with greater zest to the cultivation of his farm. Not only does he look to improving his own place and conditions, he also works eagerly in the councils of the Agricultural Board of Montgomery county, in which he sits as a representative of Jefferson township, for the advancement of farming and the betterment of farm life throughout the county. His unselfish devotion to this
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worthy cause and his many and untiring efforts in its behalf should obtain for him the gratitude of his fellow-citizens.
On the 22d of November, 1878, Mr. Baker wedded the woman of his choice, Miss Mary Caylor, who was born on the 9th of October, 1853, a daughter of Uriah and Sarah Caylor, who live in this county. Mrs. Baker is a member of the Mount Carmel Reformed Church, to which, both in its work and social affairs she gives generously of her time and energy. Mr. Baker is not a member of any church though the life he leads is exemplary and evidences those qualities which we customarily denominate Christian. Mr. and Mrs. Baker live in a cozy little home, where they are always most cordial in their reception of their friends.
BRADBURY CILLEY COLEMAN.
Bradbury C. Coleman, a well known representative of fire insurance in Day- ton, was born on a farm in Colerain township, Hamilton county, Ohio, February 23, 1853, and when five years old was taken by his parents to Danville, Illinois, where he lived until fourteen years of age and then with his parents moved to a farm near the city. Up to that time his attention was largely occupied with the work of the schoolroom but when a youth of fifteen he put aside his text-books and began earning his own living by work on a farm with his father in Ver- million county, Illinois. There he continued until 1880, when he visited his father, who had located in Dayton about three years previously.
It was in May, 1881, that our subject became a resident of Dayton, where he soon afterward became connected with the insurance business. In this line he has continued to the present time. He makes a specialty of mutual fire insur- ance, representing all of the mutual companies who do an agency business in the state. He annually writes a large amount of insurance, thoroughly under- standing the business and the benefits to be derived by both the company and the clients. He faithfully serves the former and is also loyal to the interests of the latter, and his ability and enterprise in business have won for him continued advancement. In 1906 he incorporated the Dayton Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, of which he is now the secretary and manager. This has been constantly growing in the intervening years. When he began in 1881 he confronted many difficulties and obstacles as the old line companies were strongly represented. It required just such a man as Mr. Coleman, a man of unfaltering determination and indefatigable enterprise to clearly demonstrate to the public how much more beneficial the plan of mutual insurance is to the insuring public by way of secur- ing good indemnity at actual cost. He now represents sixteen mutual companies and is connected with eleven others and is considered one of the leaders in Dayton in fire insurance circles. While he is associated with these various companies and, as stated, has built up one of the largest agencies in Ohio, the public gen- erally does not fully appreciate what he deserves for so doing but men com- petent to judge of what he has accomplished speak in the highest terms of what he has done and of the manner in which he has achieved his success. In ad- dition to his insurance interests Mr. Coleman owns and operates a farm of one
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B. C. COLEMAN
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hundred and five acres situated five and a half miles south of Dayton in Van Buren township, the place being principally devoted to the raising of grain and high grade live stock.
In 1887 Mr. Coleman was married in Dayton to Miss Wilhelmina C. E. Mohme. They are pleasantly located in Dayton during the winter, the summer being spent on their farm. The hospitality of their home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Coleman belongs to both the subordinate lodge and the encampment in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is also connected with the Junior Order of American Mechanics. His religious faith is in ac- cordance with the doctrines taught by the Park Presbyterian church, in which he holds membership, while his political belief is that of the republican party. All through his life he has displayed many substantial qualities of character and is as well known and honored in business circles by reason of what he has ac- complished as he is respected in social circles by reason of his admirable qualities.
ROBERT NEWTON KING.
Robert Newton King, one of Dayton's capitalists, who since 1875 has made his home in this city, was for a long period connected with railroad contracting and stands today among those whose well directed efforts, business discernment and judicious investment have placed them beyond the pale where activity in business circles is a necessity.
He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1845, of the marriage of Lyman and Maria P. King, who although of the same name was not a relative. The father's birth occurred in Suffield, Connecticut, in 1812, and when a young man he located in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1886. He was early interested in furnishing the water sup- ply for the city and was identified with many large enterprises in Massachusetts. He was one of the pioneer paper manufacturers and was largely engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods.
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